Pardon my french

ring. YSL. location. Paris !

There is nothing like the expression 'home sweet home' even after spending four glorious nights in Paris. I missed my bed, cars driving on the left and grab 'n' go food. But I am happy to have caught up with friends and made new ones. Even better was coming back to London to a relatively quiet Liberty, seeing as it was the last day of their sale. I was happy to see the YSL rings I wanted were back in stock and I also scored a wonderful Dries Van Noten blouse which I promise to show you in my next post !

So here are my favorite snap shots of randoms like my hotel room, Parisian apartments at night, the metro, and of course the best Louis Vuitton store on the planet. I used a Minolta AF Riva Mini, which happens to be a purchase from a previous trip to Paris :-)

Let it out so it can breathe

boots.Dune faux fur coat.vintage

Happy New Year! I am still in Paris, enjoying the new decade in the city known for its impeccable fashion, romantic atmosphere and entertaining customer service at restaurants. New Years was a blast, minus the part where french cabs after midnight are pretty much non-existent so my best friend Amelie and I walked / occasionally took off our heels / fought over a cab with 250 people in front of Hôtel de Crillon / took turns carrying our precious 1L bottle of Smirnoff all the way from Place Vendôme to my hotel off Champs-Élysées. But it was an experience I will never forget as we marched up the brightly lit Champs-Élysées looking straight at the Arc de Triomphe.

I have two more days left to catch up with old friends. I'm letting my she wolf out of the closet this year and so should all of you ... he wolfs included ! I decided to go old school and use a point and shoot camera for my Paris pictures, so I hope they come out okay and I'll post them up !

photos by Fabrice Mabillot

Going in for the kill

shoes. Givenchy

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Halleeeeelujah !

.. is the song that was playing in my head when my eyes caught sight of these babies. In the midst of all the chaos at Selfridges I raised it up in the air like a triumphant athlete and a little *bling* of light glistened across it. Then I quickly tucked the shoe close to me and with my friend acting as my bodyguard against the mass of psychotic women, I dashed to the nearest sales assistant to ask him for the other shoe.

So that was my little boxing day adventure and on the 30th I am off to Paris for New Years !

Choo Choo train

dress. Topshop. purse. Miu Miu

Who would have thought a few blocks down from my apartment I would get invited to a house party and end up being face to face with Jimmy Choo ! Finally I was having a conversation with the man himself instead of the shoe, as tends to be the case when I pass through the Jimmy Choo at Harvey Nichols. It was a lovely night, thanks to the lovely hostess, who was wearing a signed pair (sigh). I caught a cold walking back but it was worth sneezing "a Choo! " all the way home.

Strike a pose

British Vogue. April 1989 & January 2010

I spent a rather chilly morning at Portobello Market today with a friend. Browsing through vintage shops, I came across one that sold old Vogue magazines from the late 80's / early 90's. Funny, seeing as one of my "new years resolutions" is to collect Vogue magazines. I was lucky to get the 1989 Vogue as a gift , with a then 35 year old Kim Basinger gracing the cover just 2 months before the release of Tim Burton's successful Batman film and might I add a year before meeting Alec Baldwin [ ongoing custody battle ..blah blah... who gives a shit, eh? ]. And oh, the other chick is Rachel Weisz for those of you, who like me, were too busy drooling over Ralph Fiennes in The Constant Gardner to notice anything or anyone around him.

So I thought let me browse through the two and see what has happened in what is pretty much a decade between the two covers. So here are a few things I noticed:

1. There is shit loads of text on the cover seeing as we live in a world were advertisers and "10 ways to blow his mind" are needed to sell a magazine
2. Beauty giants are using younger people to sell products ... no brainer
3. Folks are still holding on to a "safe" and rather repetitive look with their ads. Look at the Coco Chanel ads
4. Models are skinnier (gasp!) and look more pissed off. Makes sense if no one fed you on set. Ha ha
5. MALE MODELS used to have a few editorial pages! But now they are pushed into the background, used merely as sexual props, and can no longer put their vogueing to practice like they did back in the day ... moment of silence
6. ... and the size of the magazine is smaller, with less pages. I guess we started caring about trees more at some point between 1989 and 2009

Winter wonderland

fur coat. vintage, Camden Market. jeans. Topshop. bag. Sanghera Usmani. boots. Marshmallow Mountain vintage

It's so nice to live in the center of London. Hyde Park is a five minute walk away. Topshop Selfridges and St. Christopher's Place are close enough to brave walking in high heels. And this evening my friend and I had the pleasure of venturing to the Winter Wonderland carnival in Hyde Park. a.k.a This is where parents and their offspring congregate. If it wasn't for the hot mulled wine or alcohol for that fact, I most certainly would have attempted suicide because on one side were the sounds of grown men screaming from the top of some Tower, and on the other some raging 3 year old letting the whole world know he is pissed off about something.

I love his big ego ...

Arena Homme +. Winter/Spring 09/10. makeup. Yves Saint Laurent

Today I went shopping for makeup. Something I rarely wear. Then I headed over to my friend's house to be greeted by Chuck the-future-father-of-my-children Bass laying half-naked on the couch. OK, technically he was in a magazine. But I decided to smuggle him into my purse. Anyone who invites people over to their house with a semi-naked Ed Westwick lounging on the sofa, should know their ass will be missing a certain Bass.

xoxo

Girl counting down to when she gets her presents ... !

It is better to give than to receive

Theory "Robena Airy" leather jacket
Chloe silk mousseline full-length gown
Alexander McQueen clutch
Cesare Paciotti "Dita" shoe
Alexander Wang suede and rib-knit biker jacket
Eddie Borgo bear claw zig zag ring
La Perla cocoon lace bra
Acne leather-look jeans.

So here is my Christmas wish list! If only you knew the number of times I practiced placing these items in an "online shopping basket", ready to hit the purchase button, knowing full well it would not go through. I know to some of you it may look meager but that's because in February it's my birthday and that's when I plan to go American psycho with the gift list. What do you want for Christmas?

Editorial: Pride Magazine Dec '09

coat. Aquascutum. dress and jacket. Chanel. tights. Woolford

I had the pleasure of doing a 10 page editorial for Pride Magazine. Styled by Charles Adesanya at WOUND Magazine. He pulled some amazing clothes! We shot at Hampstead Heath park in north London and let's just say it was not St. Tropez mid-august. Adding to that I had 5 men acting as the walls of our make shift changing room in the middle of nowhere. So you can only imagine what people walking their dogs were thinking when they bumped into us. LOL.

2010 //

[ images from theselby.com ]

In less than a month, we will be entering another decade. Kind of like a fresh start. Everyone asks each other about their new year's resolution or what they have done so far until now. What have I done? Well nothing other than the things I've had to do. like the time I had to go to kindergarten, and after that I had to go to elementary school, then middle school and high school. And my parents said I had to go to university.

Now what do I feel like doing come 2010? What do you want to start doing next year?

Have the courage to end that lousy relationship you are in?
Cut your hair?
Tell your family that secret you've been hiding?
Take a leap and move out of your town? that goddam country you've been living in all your life !?
Quit your job because despite there being a recession you can't stand that lousy office cubicle !?

Because we all know all of the above is easier and quicker than tryin' to lose weight ... again