London's streets are said to be paved in gold...but LA's vending machine's are full of caviar so it seems we have been overtaken in the rich stakes!! Just in case you have a desperate caviar craving in the middle of the night there are three of these vending machine's in Beverly Hills stocked with escargots, truffle oil and caviar from 5 to 500 dollars...all closely guarded by cameras to deter any tramps with expensive taste-buds! Recession?! What recession?!

The upside down glass vase couldn't be a better way to accentuate Magdalena F Merino's elegantly powerful sculptures. These were love at first sight and bring me back to my love of everything circus.

BING CROSBY'S WHITE CHRISTMAS

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
"May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white"

(I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow)

(I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
"May your days be merry and bright")
"And may all your Christmases be white"

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

There is no better time of year than this to indulge in all things so good (or should I say;- so bad!!) without a second thought or the usual pang of guilt.

Christmas is about family, although admittedly the pendulum swings ferociously from laughter and loving to fighting and insult throwing within a second around here which some may say only makes for more unpredictable excitement!
At winter's first cold snap I never fail to be over-come by christmas tingles...
Every year I say I will make my own christmas decorations...I am yet to get around to it this year but if you have better time management skills than I (!!) go and buy yourself some transparent baubles and fill with anything from feathers, sequins and stars to pieces of music sheets, pencil sharpenings and even little photographs for a personal touch then hang with pretty ribbon from the tree.

As a family, we don't have any christmas traditions to pass through the generations  so I have begun some of my own...and you should too!!
I began sending parcels to the troops in Afghanistan a few years ago every christmas. What was supposed to be a kind and selfless gesture actually ended up giving me hours of enjoyment wrapping cigars in funny paper and filling boxes with silly bits and pieces. To my utter astonishment one year I received a heart felt letter from 5 of the soldiers, thanking me whilst eloquently describing their surroundings and the lives they were living. I was blown away and it only shows that a tiny thought or gesture can go a long way!


The usual red and green colour code of this time of year doesnt wash around here...this is my mother's hobby...creative genius with an eagle's eye for perfection...oppulent, glittering and a perfectly sumptious christmas table setting.

Canapes served on butterflies

Feed your guests eyes before their stomachs...

I want you to fly like you want to

Over the world you were always too good for

You were a caterpillar whilst walking this earth

Now you can follow your destiny;

Flourish into a beautiful butterfly

Fly high

So so high 

Soaring through painless freedom.

Cuts and bruises 

Chains and shackles of evil

Finally fall away 

So open your heart and fly, fly away

My beautiful butterfly.

Looking into the distance

I know that one day,

One sacred day 

You will land on my shoulder

And we shall meet again.

My weeks conclusion is that the world is a balancing scale. For every kind, loving, conscientious human being there is a devil like one to match it.
Question: why is it the darkside seems to outweigh the light? Why do the good suffer? Be it cancer. Be it being caught in a cross fire in one pointless war or another. Be it a madman puncturing children to death spraying bullets from a rifle.
What kind of belief system can possibly be applied to the atrocities seen on an hourly basis in this upside down world?

To the most beautiful hen, my bestest friend and the happiest bride soon to be! I love you xx

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

Mahatma Gandhi

Salam aleykum! My eyes have been opened and my head has been turned. Bathed in it's dusty pink dusk hue, I leave Morocco with a heavy heart and dragging feet.

Quite the opposite to a year ago when I would have ridden anything into the desert over the hills; camel or donkey included, to hot foot it out of there as fast as anything could take me!What place on earth do you look over the raw, dry desert to a backdrop of snow covered mountains in the distance? Don't get me wrong, this is a complex country, filled with complicated rituals with difficult people crossing your path; especially being a foreign woman but once you understand the lay of the land and ensconce yourself within it, the positives outweigh the hardships by far.The diversity is mind-boggling- sand-boarding, kite-surfing, windsurfing, golf and lazy pool holidays are the norm but where it gets interesting is an hour from Marrakech there is an ever improving ski resort! Chances are this ski resort will be left untouched by the trashy types who have invaded every european ski station do date! Not the easiest holiday to pack for you may say and hand luggage is perhaps not an option with so many adventurous prospects but trust me, it will be worth it!I was once told when looking for somewhere with an edge to follow the film crews, which is true to form in Morocco with the ever growing list of films that are and have been filmed here due to the light at sunset being next to none.

The House of Wolf

This is where the three little pigs should have sought shelter from the big bad wolf blowing their house down! They would have been safely immersed in the cosy dynamic parallel world the house of wolf portrays. With a relaxed pub on the ground floor enticing everyone to musical bingo and caberet to stand up comedy and off broadway plays on their stage, to the mixology bar upstairs serving cocktails from watering cans and other exciting things like bottomless drinks. Move over Alice, this is definitely APT's Wonderland!Then the creeky attic stairs lead the way to another floor serving a delicious tasting menu. The staff are all so nice I'm persuaded they are on the cheshire cat's prescription drugs whilst serving your every need in a rooftop room with exposed brickwork and beams.What more could the three little pigs want?!

http://houseofwolf.co.uk/