Ottilie Update

It's been Ottilie's first visit to Germany to visit my family and it's extra special as she's the youngest great grandchild in the house. No 14 to be exact.
It felt very special to have my mums mum, my soon to be 94 year old grandma meet my latest addition.
Here are a few pics of our budding fashionista, complete in her gorgeous Italian cashmere dress by Cashmirino and her new Nordic cardi and cord lederhosen set from her auntie Marika.

Happy anniversary

As many of you know I'm obsessed with stationary, I can spend hours lost in Paperchase. Recently I discovered the most glorious American brand called The Rifle Paper Company and have been buying their notecards where ever I found them. When my friend Suzy in L.A offered to get Ottilie her own thank you cards as her baby gift I stumbled on the fact that Rifle Paper Co not only did personalised people cards but they created family portraits too. What a perfect gift for Tom I thought, a family portrait to sum up our ten years together. Plus you get a set of printed cards along with the framed portrait.
I sent them pics and descriptions of what we all look like and of course what we wear! Being a fashion editor this was super important for me. So I made sure Tom was wearing his favourite biker jacket, ray bans and grey v-neck whilst I'm pictured in my 'Deborah' dress by Clements Ribeiro and leopard heels whilst Phin is in his ubiquitous stripes and Mini is decked out in her favourite Stella McCartney broderie dress and cork wedges whilst even Ottilie doesn't escape unscathed with a bow in her hair.
Now where to hang this masterpiece!

Perfect portraits

Tom and I are celebrating ten years together and what better way to mark our time together than with a testament to the three gorgeous children we have made.
I've always wanted to have portraits done of the kids because although I snap away incessantly with my iPhone, having them painted on canvas is something different altogether. So it was serendipitous when my old friend, the fashion designer Sara Berman who I had worked with for years, styling and consulting for her eponymous label, decided to wrap up her label and take up painting instead. And unbeknown to me she was inspired to paint my children from the Instagram photos I post.
After getting in touch to see if she could use some more images for her work I wondered if she could imagine selling these first works to me? And lucky for me she agreed!
Tom, Ottilie and I visited her studio yesterday and had the most wonderful time catching up over a cup if tea, looking at her work and seeing her portraits of Phin, Mini and Ottilie close up.
Here they are...

Ottilie update

As promised for all those who don't follow me on Instagram here are some new snaps of Ottilie.
She's finally started waking up and loves to smile!

Dogtastic

I don't normally blog about other peoples parties but I felt I had to after being transported to dog heaven this weekend.
It was all thanks to Kate, indie's mum who went all out for her second daughter Cleo's 2nd birthday. A true creative genius with a flair for transforming the mundane into the extravagant.
Stuffed toy dogs were adorned with shades, pearls and tutus and turned into divas, rappers and their chauffeur.
From the balloons to the table decorations and the tower of cupcakes everything was dog tastic. But the piece de la resistance had to be the pug troupe who turned up an hour late only to refuse to jump through their hoops. Finally they did behave and delighted us all by pushing each other round in a pram. Only in Notting Hill. Only at Kate's parties! Bravo.

Dog tastic too

Bibbidibobbidiboo Beauty

What a day! What a treat! What an adventure!
Mini and her BFF Indie were indulged in an afternoon of decadence by their mummies. After a lunch of raspberry macaroons at La Duree they were whisked off to the brand new Bibbidibobbidiboo Beauty salon at Harrods for an hour of transformation. Two fairy god mothers in waiting were given the task of transforming our two ingenues into glistening princesses complete with tutu and tiara. Let the process begin!

Bibbidibobbidiboo Beauty 2

Look what lay behind those doors! A magical salon with lots of pink and powder blue and where the transformation from Bonpoint loving girl to chavtastic chick in Pepto Bismal pink occurs... Get ready mummies

Bibbidibobbidiboo Beauty 3

Now that she's settled in her seat it's time for the Croydon face lift and make up...

Bibbidibobbidiboo Beauty 4

With the transformation complete Mini and Indie pose in front of the castle, carriage and on their throne. What a day.

Caramel s/s 14 preview

 As many of you know Mini and i are big fans of Caramel baby & Child. Their designs are so delicious that i often wish i too could buy some pieces for myself. And its not just the girls pieces that excite, i adore their boys clothes too. I popped down to their Spring Summer press day to whet my appetite and yours for next season. Here are a few of my favourite outfits. Now i just have to be patient and wait for spring to arrive!

These linen embroidered dresses are the right side of hippy. They remind me of Summers in Greece and are available in this pretty cornflower blue and the white below. I might just have to buy the mini version for Ottilie too. I also love that once they get too short to wear as a dress Mini will be able to also wear it as a top!

And for my lovely fashion file ladies who have boys, I promised to add some bits for you too! I'm a huge fan of Caramel for boys. Their pants are so cool. These drop pants for toddlers are so comfy that i think i might get a pair for Ottilie too.

These pale blue trousers come in the most fantastic crinkle cotton, making them relaxed in feel with a drawstring waist and rolled up at the ankle - they're the perfect summer pant and i also really like this boxy cropped striped shirt with its two front pockets.

always love a bit of sunflower yellow and blue on boys

super cute retro 50's knits

I love the idea of Mini wearing this skater skirt and Ottilie matching in this romper. Such a fun way to do matchy matchy!

Caramel always does the cutest ditsy retro prints.

This 30's tea dress reminds me of Milly Molly Mandy, and i love their new range of skinny belts

This season there is a tomato red coat in store that i'm obsessed with, for summer they've brought out this turquoise coat complete with pink striped lining. I'm in love.

Something that Caramel always does brilliantly is their range of party dresses. What makes them so special is the fact they stay away from the obvious, giving pink, sparkle and lace a totally different spin, so much so they look just like they've sprung off the catwalk of Lanvin.

i love the idea of buying party separates rather than a dress. That way you get to mix things up with different tops, skirts, sweater and shirts - getting more looks for your money.

this gold lame dress is delicious

caramel have also teamed up again with Ancient Greek Sandals to make the best summer shoes

And if you cant wait that long, head into store now to pick up their oh so pretty pyjamas and nightshirts - the perfect outfit for Christmas morning.