The song of the day

Top 25

...of my favourite patios and outdoor retreats found on House To Home (chosen by Country Homes & Interiors and Homes & Gardens).

Happy 1st Day of Summer!

And this is the song that gets me in really summerish mood never mind the autumn outside my window :S

My latest DIY project - a chair

So finally I got myself to buy a sewing-machine and thus had no more excuses but to continue with my project - my room. The first task on the line was to reupholster one of the old chairs I bought. And this is what came out of it. Not a flawless perfection but done by myself, and that is the great part about it.

The second chair is on the agenda. I found some wood-engraving on the frame after taking of the old upholstery but I have to do some research and then I will reveal the story behind it - if any ;)

Yummy food photos

Yesterday I had a conversation with one of my friends who is an excellent cook and tries to come up with a food blog but she finds it difficult to make yummy photos of yummy food. I have to agree on that as I find taking food photographs very challenging myself. Coming back to my recent trip to London and the cookbooks I bought - deliciously looking food in tasteful pictures was the reason of my urge to buy them. One of the books was "Eating Together" from the Australian Women's Weekly (take a look yourself):

Eggs Benedict from Eating Together Photographer: Stuart Scott. Stylist: Kate Brown.

 and another buy of mine was Gwyneth Paltrow's "Notes from my Kitchen Table"

So what does it take to make a yummy photo of a yummy (or not) food? Thinking of that I remembered a story one of my professors told during my studies at the university. We were talking about the image and the perception of image when the professor told us that famous film director Alfred Hitchcock who was also famous for his sense of humour once threw a "blue dinner party" for his Hollywood friends. He asked his chef to prepare all the foods blue:  blue mashed potatoes, blue peas, blue meat and blue martinis. He was fascinated with human psychology and because of the fact that blue is not a natural colour for food he wanted to see if it would turn people off. And so it did. Many of his guests became queasy and some couldn’t even eat. So if we saw a pink lemon we would hardly choose it among the yellow ones I suppose. 

Today I took a risk and tried to take a photo of the food I prepared for dinner and it turned out quite well even being on a blue plate :) I believe it is all about the light, angle, close-ups, details (not having too many), composition, reflecting the structure of the food, and preferably having a rather good camera. And passion for either one - food or photography would be an advantage. Of course realising that blue pasta, chicken, mushrooms or zucchinis would definitely make a difference :) Which means people likely choose what they recognise. Isn't that one of the golden rules of marketing? :P

My beautiful Portobello's birdcage

This is how it looks in my living room. Love it. Couldn't choose which collage to post so I leave it up to you to choose :)

London, I love you!

One more time I will confess - I absolutely love London and it is my favourite metropolis of Europe. I went there again last weekend to have a look at Portobello street market which is being claimed to be one of the most famous street markets in the world and has become extremely popular after the romantic comedy "Notting Hill" starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant saw the daylight. It is indeed remarkable in size, range of goods and the atmosphere though I have to admit I am still a Camden Town fan.

I was lucky to find a beautiful birdcage for my living room interior, had a delicious cupcake in The Hummingbird Bakery (this was something my friend remembered even the next day :)), they have started exactly in Portobello in 2004, bought several great cookbooks in The Book Warehouse in Notting Hill and went for delicious meals to Soho's Thai Tho restaurant which is a place to return to because of the great food, lovely interior and very friendly staff.

Thai Tho Soho

London is a city which has casted a spell over me,  maybe I have lived there in my previous life :) It is a city where everyone can be as crazy as one wishes and nobody will really notice it or at least will pretend not to. It is a city of many talents, marvellous personalities, warm-hearted people and unpredictable weather. 

London, I love you!

P.S. Funny as it was staying in the hotel in Bayswater/Notting Hill area we found ourselves in the living area of Greek community which made me smile and say that Greece is following me everywhere. That country is another great love of mine. But that is also another story for another time :) 

The song of the day