Things I Love.....

The book that literally changed my life

The words on this page, in the parlance of the modern American teenager, like, totally rocked my world. Are you saying it’s ok to have a go at something you are obviously not capable of…. and totally fuck it up? Hell YES!! Cue all-round high fiving of one’s self. This was all the validation I needed in order to step forward and have a go.

Paul Arden’s books take basic self-help tenets and turn them into something visually beautiful and in doing so, make the message so much more potent. It worked for me. I ended up writing a book of my own.

American style breakfast on a Sunday morning...

A stodgy overcooked American style pancake, slathered in Greek yoghurt and fruit, washed down with several litres of tea and eaten whilst lying in bed, hair stinking of bonfire smoke from last night’s trip-down-memory-lane-house-party in Richmond and feeling pretty excited about this afternoon’s viewing of my 3 month old first cousin once removed Rita. Yep, that’s something I love.

The walking work of art

Owning a pet is a little bit like owning a walking work of art, albeit one that wakes you up every morning and demands to be fed. Edward Scissorhands is one such animal. In between treating our home like a cross between a luxury hotel, a feeding station and a private hospital – if I could knit that cat a jumper that said ‘Queen of F*****G Everything’ I would – he also looks perfect. Just look at the tips of those ears. Beautiful.

The present that you don't want to give away...

Me and my friend Nina have done this thing for years where, if we are giving a gift that we would quite like to keep for ourselves, we pass it over but keep hold of it until we are virtually tussling on the floor trying to grab the present back from each other. Its become a tradition that I don't think the lovely Anna Murphy of Stella Magazine will understand tonight when I hand her this book for her 40th birthday.

Its a special edition of Jane Eyre with gold and black laminate embossing on the cover and an illustration by Ruben Toledo. Its beautiful and I mourn its loss already BUT, I was given a special edition of To Kill a Mockingbird for my 40th and it was one of my favourite presents. So I'll have to.