A pretty speedy Poppet post

Oh helloes, hoomans.

It is I, Poppet-cat. It has bin proper long since I did type a message fur you all, but I have managed to sneak up to the pooter while Clur is messing around wiv some wrapping paper and I thoughted I would write you all a quick hello.

So helloes, from the house of cats. We have been here for over five years now, so we is well and truly in charge. A politician would purr pretty darn hard to have a mandate (or, if you will, a paw of approve) as strong as ours.

I are still in charge and am enjoying the new season of the warms coming on. I are also growing fond of invading the hoomans raum at night time and tucking up for a nap wiv them.

Leela is still her usual scraggly self. She did hate all the fireworks noisehs and bangs but those seem to have calmed down now.

Her favourite spots to be are at the very top of the stairs, curled up in a box, or having a sits on Maffoo when he is trying to work. She continoos to make some proper silly kittun noises, from chirrups to miaooooows to her high pitched purr.

Smudge, the noo kitten, is settling in okays. When he first arrived Leela-paws did NOT like him, but now they get on okay. He and I are friends, except when he challenges me for chikun or tries to sit on me. I ARE NOT FOR SITS!

Clur and Maffoo do like Smudge manehs and have done a okay job of teaching him the ways of the Poppet. And when he does forget I do employ my paw of disapprove, for I are boss. Smoodge has also made good frens with other families around here and likes to go there for snuggles and noms when our hoomans are buseh.

Fry are the same as ever, sweet and shy and not a fan of cameras (unlike me, I do looooooove them). He has been doing some guard-catting recently and loves to check everyone is safe safe safe.

Fry and Smoodge are great frens and I think Fry does love having another boy cat to hang out with. That does meen he can get pretty sad when Smudge goes off on bimbles, but he's getting used to it.

So that are our kittun news. All is well, there should be more chikun, and we are looking forward to Christmas when there will be many snuggles, many presents, and many hooman times. How are oo, hooman frens?

Right, I need a naps after all this work.

Purrs and paws,
Poppet-cat (BOSS)

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A Tipsy Afternoon Tea with Amara

One of the things I love about blogging is the community I get to be a part of. Like any group, there can be infighting, catty moments and jealousy, but in the main I find myself small enough and old enough (eleven years and counting writing my thoughts here!) to be able to trundle along quite happily in a little Claire-bubble. Like everyone I have good days and bad days, lists I make and lists I fail to make, but in the main I cannot complain about my lot. There have been a lot of good things, but I'm most grateful for the kickass women and men I've got to meet along the way, and the cool brands I get to work with and the fun events I get to attend.

One such event happened last week, when I was one of the lovely Erica's plus ones (she's so fly she got two plus ones - bow down :)) to an event hosted by the lovely folks at Amara. Amara is already a site I spending far too much time browsing (homewares are my homeboys) so I was delighted to be able to make the event and meet the team! 

Amara have a site just full to the gunnels with beautiful, stylish homewares, so it was no suprise that they chose one of the city's chicest hotels, the Sanderson, for their event. Once there we had a little time to recover from the rainstorm outside before taking our seats for the Alice in Wonderland themed tea; The Mad Hatter's Tipsy Evening Tea, to be precise. 

Trays were brought, beladen with miniature cocktails. The cherry liqueur, orange marmalade mini espresso martini and the dark chocolate and raspberry liqueur mini martini were flavoursome, creamy delights, but I especially adored the teacup cocktails comprising spicy mango syrup and Falernum rum infused with hot Mad Hatter tea and pear and rhubarb liqueur infused with hot Mad Hatter tea. The delicate fruit and floral flavours were exquisite! As well as these we sipped Perrier-Jouet bubbles aplenty as we chatted and giggled the night away.

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A little Anthropologie wishlist

There are a few stores which I visit which simply make me happy. Beautiful clothes, pretty homewares, lovely gifts, fabulous scents and pampering items, interesting books - all of these are the things I love to see, and purchase. And Anthropologie is always a place I like to visit to pick up some or all of the above. I popped into the beautiful Regents Street store the other day and just had to do a little wishlist post on a few things that caught my eye!

I couldn't find this exact set on the website, but I love the range of blues Anthro always stock.  Matthew's very good about the sheer range of plates I have in our house.

Speaking of, don't you just love these gorgeous melamine plates for picnicking or outdoor dining?

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Getting ready for Christmas

We are well and truly into the Christmas rush now. The last few cards and gifts need to be sent, the social whirl is in frenetic mode, and Mariah Carey is everywhere, like some kind of golden-voiced, glittery diva angel.

I approve.

As we head towards the celebrations proper, I am all about getting ready for Christmas. There are so many little things to do to ensure the festive period goes smoothly.

I like to check that our Christmas food orders are sorted and doublechecked (thank heavens for online shopping too, I must say). We're getting most of our stuff delivered by Ocado on the 23rd, and we have some delicious options on the list (Poppet is most interested in the large free range turkey crown of course!).

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Home etc: Sitting Room Plans

It's been a while since I've linked up with Home Etc, which is a shame because I always enjoy writing about our home. Right now it's a swirl of chaos as we get ready for Christmas visits, are putting up trees and wrapping dozens of gifts for friends and family, as well as trying to get everything spick and span and organised before I return to full-time work in the New Year! In between packing and sorting and wrapping, however, I'm having a very jolly time planning for how we are going to rearrange our sitting room in the early part of next year.

Our sitting room is currently made up of two parts - a front section with sofas, shelves, TV and a back section with a 'home gym' we rather optimistically installed when we first moved in. Four years on and the use it gets is so minimal we've decided to donate or sell the equipment in order to make one big sitting room with space for TV watching, book reading, and light work.

Matthew and I both have our own offices/studies too (both our careers require a healthy amount of take-home work, and it's lovely to have space to do this without impacting the others space) but I'm looking forward to having a little space in the sitting room where we can work alongside each other too. When I first moved down to London we both shared the cutest little study (it was less than 6 foot by 7 foot), and while we had to take turns moving our chairs out (we sat back to back, meaning negotiations if you wanted to stand up and get to the door), I loved have a little hub together. Having workspace downstairs also means that if we decide we'd like to repurpose a study at any point as a spare room / nursery / extra bathroom, we'd have that option. I'm also super excited to have more space for books!

We'll be planning in depth over the Christmas break (yep, this is our idea of fun - a notebook and a tape measure!), then saving up towards the project in the first few months of 2017, but in the meantime I'm enjoying browsing online and thinking up ideas. Now we've lived here four and a half years we know the house, we know what gets cluttered (him: shoes left in the middle of floors. Me: magazines and catalogues) and I'm having great fun thinking up methods for storing things and making it a space we can enjoy!

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Food: Cooking up a storm with KitchenAid

 

We all have the brands we love.

It could be a car brand. A shoe brand. A...pen brand (I don't know, you do you).

For me, the pages I keep bookmarked are invariably home and kitchen brands. I love our home and buying things to make it even more cosier and lovelier is something I really enjoy saving for and looking forward to. I've got out of the habit about writing about home stuff on the blog in recent months but I will be sharing more and more going into 2017 - I have me some projects planned.

But I digress. All the above to say, there are several brands whose sites I know well and whose products are very much on my wishlist. One such brand is KitchenAid. Ever since I first saw Ina Garten (who by the way, is goals) use one of their stand mixers, I knew they were a brand I'd love to use and have in my own home.

Imagine my delight, then, when a PR from KitchenAid emailed to see if I'd like to join the brand for a cookery lesson at their showroom in Wigmore Street, a stone's throw from the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street.

I had a wee look at the classes available and when I noted that there was a steak option, so the deal was done. I was so impressed with the class format - for £25 you get a great kitchen to work in (full to the brim with KitchenAid appliances, of course), a chef tutoring you, and all your ingredients. We were a merry group and had great time cooking chips, making rocket pesto and bearnaise sauce, and of course, learning all about steak and the various ways to get the most from it!

I kept on getting distracted by the beautiful stand mixers. I mean...

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Gift Guide: For the Happy, Hygge-filled Home

I'm going to be doing my gift guides a little differently this year. By nature a planner, I really enjoy having a good think about what to gift and for me the months of October and November are a fun season of thinking about presents and planning what to give. Add in all the fun that I had at various 'Christmas in July' events earlier in the year and I am just full to bursting with inspiration!

Rather than doing gifts guides for him, or gifts guides for her, this year I'm arranging my guides around themes, so the lists will address a certain interest, area or passion. Each post has an accompanying Pinterest board too, so I can keep adding great finds as I come to them! I hope these prove useful and that you might find an item or two that works for you.

Today's gift guide is for the happy, hygge-filled home. Hygge, long a tradition in Denmark, has really had a moment here in the last eighteen months, and the nation seems more than ready to curl up and hibernate! My board is full of gifts for those who like a cosy, welcoming home each winter. From beautiful homewares to guides to hygge living; sweet treats to bath-time delights, this is a group of gifts for the hibernators amongst us.

My pinterest board is at fifty items and growing, but I also wanted to share a few of my favourite items here on the blog.

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Happy Monday/Ten Happy Things #15

It's Monday, it's the start of the week, and I'm joining up as ever with Katy and Jasmin for a lovely, positive start to the week. Let's go!

1. A cosy weekend

Lovely, tasty meals, good wine and chats

Poppet loves using me as a cushion/vantage point

Really enjoyed catching 'Addams Family Values' yesterday on Channel 4. I'm a total wuss so horror movies are off the table for me, so spooky family/kids films like The Addams Family ones or Hocus Pocus are as scary as it gets!

Around this point of the year, when the fireworks for Diwali and Guy Fawkes' Night are having their usual fortnight of loud bangs and flashes, we always book a couple of home weekends so we can be around for the katzen. As fun as travelling and socialising are, it's also nice to hibernate a little too. Good, wholesome food, lashings of red wine, napping and kitty cuddles...I feel replenished and ready for a busy week!

2. Side Show

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