fiiiigaro! figaro figaro figaro!

Spotted a beautiful vintage car in pristine condition on the street near Victoria station today, and just had to take a closer look.

Turned out to be a Nissan Figaro. Not currently available in the US, but oh! the possibilities!


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Come to think of it, it's been a lucky 24 hours. Was out walking with my husband in Picadilly, yesterday evening, after work, and it was drizzling and cool and there were masses of crowds as usual but all was fairly calm because of the rain and the dusk. Suddenly I grabbed my husband's arm and whispered: LOOK! It's SOAMES! It was. He was out and about with his wife, looking just dashing. Went up to him, a bit starstruck. He didn't expect it, and was pleased. Mmm... So was I.

Violet is the name of a cake shop in London

Such a treat this past Friday: went with an American friend, her British husband, and their beautiful new daughter on a little jaunt to Violet, a teeny, tiny, little bakery near their home in Hackney, London's answer to Brooklyn. Violet is owned by Claire Ptak, a transplanted Californian who used to work at Chez Panisse, and now tempts the likes of Stella McCartney and Jamie Oliver with her cakes. I chose a clotted-cream cupcake with lashings of raspberry jam. Delight.

Pics from Violet, and from the rewarding blog, This is Naive.

wish you were here, from Cap Ferrat...

back now in London, after an absurdly beautiful weekend on the Côte d'Azur with a Catalan friend and three Italian friends of hers. We sunbathed on high, quiet rocks, ate trofie al pesto under umbrellas, and browsed in tiny shops smelling of incense and the sea.




Gràcies, Anna; grazie, Fede!

handmade toy blocks on etsy

So love these delicate, squat blocks, washed in watercolors and polished with beeswax. Their soft corners remind me of those sweet, buttery, chalky mints that you eat mindlessly while waiting for a table in slightly sketchy but really good Thai restaurants. (Available for $24 in the Etsy store of JustHatched.)