Patch phase

Im not really sure why but I have a real thing for elbow patches. Last week my laptop exploded so I booked an appointment with an Apple 'Genius' on Regent Street thinking they'd send me home all mended. They didn't; Thanks to a techincal fault I have now lost everything - all my photos, my writing, my contacts. Everything. If one more person so much as whispers the word 'back-up'...

I know worse things happen but I left the store completely shell shocked -as if i'd been hit by a bus - and somehow ended up being unconsiously drawn accross the road into Liberty. I floated around for a while, not really able to concentrate and then suddenly, a moment of clarity. Infront of me was the most gorgeous purpley marl, wool APC jumper with chocolate brown, suede elbow patches. Just looking at it made me feel instantly better. Within about three and a half minutes I had tried on, bought and left the shop with swanky new jumper in tow. And for about an hour felt much better.

A.P.C elbow patch jumper in ceil.

www.liberty.co.uk

Total makeover

The exciting honeymoon period of being back in London has worn off already. Our four years in France seems like a distant memory and it’s only been six weeks.

I look however, like I’ve been back six years - and have been locked in a darkened room. My skin is grey and hair is flat. Probably slightly down to a combination of minimal sleep thanks to teething baby, absence of sun and large presence of cupcake shops on my daily walk route. Last week I decided enough was enough and it was time to do something about it. I seem to have been to about fifty weddings since getting back and am already a bit tired of recycling my trusty wedding ensembles. But last weekend one of my best friends was getting married and I thought it’d only be right to make a huge effort. Total makeover needed.

I normally have a magical lady called Lee who comes to the house and does my cut and colour for about £70 but she was a little busy having a baby so had to rather bravely go off piste and find someone new. I’ve always loved the look of Lockonego, partly because of it’s location next to my favourite restaurant ‘Eight over Eight’ and booked in there for my highlights. After a couple of hours with my new friends Glen and Jermemy I was as blonde and shiny as new.

Lockonego 0207 7951 798

My next genius new find is make up artist Netia Hibbert. Even more genius is the fact that she is also my next door neighbour. Netia’s been a make-up artist to the stars for the last ten years and specialises in natural makeup. She wants you to look like your not wearing any make-up just much prettier. She works from home in Chelsea but her arm can probably be twisted to come to you. I went to her for a lesson in day to night makeup and left desperate to get on the Gatwick express to the wedding so I could show off my new tricks.

A session with Netia costs £85/hour www.netiahibbert.com

Darjeeling Visions

Possibly the coolest luggage ever created, made by Louis Vuitton for Wes Anderson's film The Darjeeling Limited.

Pack it up, pack it in...

I'm not quite sure how to contain myself about these Liberty suitcases. I have a small bag obsession as it is but throw in a floral print and I'm speechless. They definitely need to be taken somewhere special, no slumming it for these beauties. And the next problem is which one to get....they look so pretty all lined up together...

Liberty print suitcases.

£60

www.liberty.co.uk

Dix points

If I'm ever stuck for present ideas I go to Liberty's Le Labo counter. Le Labo is a tiny parfumerie based between New York and Grasse that handmakes ten delicious scents. Each one is made on demand by two of the best 'noses' in the business. Their mission is to create "sensory shocks" irrelevant of what it costs; As far as i'm concerned - mission accomplished. Each smell is so fresh and pure, nothing like any of the other mass produced big name perfumes. When you've managed to choose a scent, candle or body lotion you can then personalize the bottles with a loving message. Serious brownie points.

www.lelabofragrances.com

www.liberty.co.uk

ivay: Lovely: Willow Rose Boutique

ivay: Lovely: Willow Rose Boutique

Paolo Roversi

Two of my favourite Paolo Roversi images

A taste of the Esotic

My new favourite find is jeweller Ombretta Vaccari. Inspired by the sea and pirates she hand makes beautiful one off pieces using bone beads, freshwater pearls, semiprecious stones, corals, feathers and gold. I bought a couple of necklaces from her when I first found her work and now dream of owning her whole collection.

Check out her work at www.esotic.co.uk and www.treasuresofesotic.blogspot.com

Wallpaper v Shoes

Interiors always used to bore me until quite recently. I guess until you have somewhere of your own to decorate you can't really imagine that hunting for fabrics and wallpapers or agonising over paint colours that look identical could be remotely enjoyable.

I realised this new found love the other day when faced with all the usual magazine choices, Vogue, Red, Instyle etc and I was strangely drawn to the interiors section instead. For the first time I chose Elle Deco over normal Elle. I think I got just as many butterflies yesterday going into Pimpernel on the New Kings Road as I did when I saw the new Isabel Marant Collection in the Bluebird. Is this what happens to you when you have a baby?

I think it's after being the size of a house when pregnant, then being permanently covered in sick for so many months that spending money on clothes kind of looses it's allure.

Saying that I've only been here for two weeks and haven't managed to be quite as restrained as hoped.

Here are my latest buy.

Made especically for the opening of her New York boutique these Isabel beauties have 6cms of heel hidden inside.

Getting me just as excited as my new trainers is a beautiful wallpaper I've found from Pierre Frey. There is slight problem with the price but Im thinking maybe one wall might be enough in a less is more kind of way?

Pierre Frey Erevan wallpaper in Cardinal

£103/roll

www.pierrefrey.com

London Town

I have been back in London for just two weeks and it already feels like we never left. Everything is exactly as we left it. The city, our home, our friends- all the same.

It sometimes feels like we're just here for a few days. I cant quite get used to the idea that I don't need to rush around at a million miles an hour to cram everything in or try to meet up with all my friends on day one.

It probably sounds a bit obvious but it's very important to me that home really feels like home. So in the months before we moved back I hired a decorator to re-do bits of the house. In every house i've ever lived in, I've always dreamt of having wallpaper but have never been able to come to a decision of which one to choose. If you added up the time I have spent looking at wallpapers one might think I have a small wallpaper problem. This time I have eventually made up my mind and gone for the beautiful Nina Campbell Birdcage Walk for a few walls in our bedroom and dusky blue Sanderson swallows for the staircase wall. There are very few walls covered but it has completely transformed the whole house.

Sanderson Swallows.

Oh I do love to be beside the seaside...

For as long as I can remember I've loved the sea. When we've earned our millions (or won the lottery) the first thing I'll do is buy a house on a beach somewhere.

Having the beach five minutes from the house has been one of the best things about living here and I'm going to loathe not having it on the door step anymore.

There are hundreds of beach bars and restaurants down here within a stones throw of another and each one is completely different to the next. The food on the whole in the beach restaurants isn't amazing. I know that that's quite a bold, sweeping statement but generally, before you've even walked through the door, you know what's going to be on the menu; you're never far from a sea bass, lamb cutlet, steak frites, moules mariniers or veal Milanese and they're usually pretty average in the taste department. Knowing this makes it really exciting when you find a really good, different menu.

Chaz and I on Pampelonne beach

Club 55

An obvious choice maybe but not somewhere necessarily to go for the food. I love it for the atmosphere, the pretty blue table cloths, the crudite platters, the veal Milanese, the champagne framboise, the owner Patrice, the people watching and last but certainly not least - it's actually the main reason why I love it here so much - is the boutique.

A tiny, white washed, wooden shack on the beach that is filled with the most beautiful creations you can imagine; Cotton lawn dresses, the softest sarongs, tiny delicate gems, hand painted wooden children's toys, huge piles of jewel coloured cushions and ditsy print bikinis. Corinne, the owner, the epitome of laid back French chic, has the best taste which means if you're in the mood to shop, you're in the right place.

The bar, restaurant and boutique at Club 55.

LE CLUB 55 Plage de Pampelonne Boulevard Patch 83350 RAMATUELLE - FRANCE 0033 (0)4 94 55 55 55

Plage des Graniers Graniers is very unlike all the other beach restaurants in St Tropez. For starters it's not on Pampelonne beach. It's a five minute walk from the town and is the most laid back, chilled one of them all. It's in it's own little bay where the sea's always calm there and is a real feet in the sand, old fashioned, family beach bar. There's no fancy wine list or swanky seafood platters with sparklers, just simple barbecued fish, the best moules farcies in the World and huge ice cream sundae style puddings worth their weight in gold. It could be my best. Chemins des Graniers 83990 Saint-Tropez 04 94 55 90 00

Figs and flowers v's Starbucks....

Now it's time to go and I'm beginning to feel a bit sick. The thought of city life slightly terrifies me. After all this calm, the space, the sea, the endless open skies and generally seeing no more than five people a day, it's going to feel like we've moved to another planet.

I'm most going to miss not having Chaz and Wolf to myself. We're used to spending every single waking second together and now I'm going to have to share them.

The pace of life here is similar to how I imagine retirement to be. Very very slow and laid back. Everything closes from 12 til 4pm so the window to get anything done is tiny. Then you have to write off August as locals just won't work then, or on a weekend, or a friday afternoon, you get the picture... In the beginning it was seriously frustrating but now we see it as completely normal and are amazed when we go somewhere and see things that are open at lunchtime.

I'm going to miss being able to walk out the door and pick a huge bunch of beautiful wild flowers, an armful of the most delicious figs or bunch of juicy grapes whenever we want to. Looking on the bright side I guess now, I'll be able to walk out my door and get that coffee I've been dreaming about instead.