A week away

I admit, I am a bit of a homebody. I love the town where I live and I don't often feel the urge to get away, especially now I am lucky enough to be staying at home looking after baby E and pursuing my own projects rather than working in a job that doesn't quite suit.

But last week we packed up, hit the road and got away. We had a lovely week, split between a caravan in Dorset and a hotel in Bath. It was my first time in Bath and I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. I wandered the streets feeling like I was in a Jane Austen drama. We stayed at an amazing hotel where I could go swimming and sauna-ing each day. Bliss.

But my favourite part? Hanging out with my two boys. No one can make baby E laugh as much as his dad can.

Rain

I woke up today at 6 am to the sound of the rain and a baby snuffling beside me. He managed to go back to sleep but I lay awake and listened to the sound of the rain, one of my favourite sounds. It was made even better by knowing that I can stay in and have a quiet day cosying up on the sofa with two of my favourite companions. In true British style - what's the weather like where you are today and how does it make you feel?

Summer threads

Summer has truly arrived. I unpacked some of my summer dresses and hung them outside to air, which led me to thinking about the stories these pieces of fabric hold. These days I don't buy too many clothes. As much as I love clothes, I try and buy second hand or buy less and make sure they last me. I like the thrill of buying something new as much as any girl, but I also love like pulling 'old' clothes out of storage too. It's like meeting up with old friends you haven't seen for a while. The green silk dress reminds me of a lovely day in Kensington, of hot summer weddings and drinking pimms barefoot on the grass, and a visit to Lucca in Tuscany last summer. The blue dress started its life off as bright pink, bought for a birthday party which didn't quite work, and niether did the colour of the dress. It lay ignored and unloved in my wardrobe until I tried dying it blue, which gave it a new lease of life. It reminds me of sweltering week at the Avignon theatre festival in the south of France, and a night of dancing, drinking and hilarity, one of those nights that cements certain friendships and that you talk about years later.

The blue bird skirt I picked up on a holiday to San Francisco a few years ago, my first time in America and probably my best holiday ever. One day I wandered off by myself to the Mission district and found this in a thrift store. I would love to know who wore it before me. Its twin sister is worn by one of my favourite bloggers too. The red dress is a vintage Marks and Spencers dress, bought as present on a rainy day in Suffolk last year at the end of the summer. Its first outing is yet to come. I wonder what memories it will hold by the end of the summer?

What are your favourite summer clothes?

Away

I am back from a fantastic few days in Cornwall. We stayed here.

I am imagining what life would be like if every day you awoke to a sea that spread as far as the eye could see. To a perfectly clean bathroom and a hot powerful shower. To a breakfast with fresh napkins, pats of butter on white plates, jugs of fresh juice. Where the day stretched ahead of you, free from the to-do lists and jobs, and that tense little knot of all the things you feel you have to do but don't have time for. When instead you walk barefoot in the sand and think about your next meal. And come home to nap on a bed that's been plumped and made for you while you've been out. What bliss!