Sunday Soundtrack - Valentine's Hearts.

(With apologies for photobooth mirroring).

As someone who regularly voices their dislike of Valentine's day when bearing witness to window displays at this time of year, I was very swiftly seduced by these chocolate hearts in Betty's shop-front.

The ones with the ribbons on are dark chocolate with raspberry ganache; the other is plain milk. You can buy them, among many other delicious treats, here. I look forward to the reaction I'll get from their recipients - so used to my cynical reaction to rampant February 14th consumerism.

As the years go by all I can conclude is that whether you love or hate Valentine's day, it's here to stay.

The Wipers - Window Shop For Love

Rubbish Art; Tim Noble & Sue Webster.

Real Life Is Rubbish, 2002

White Trash (With Gulls), 1998

I'm both disgusted and fascinated by the work of UK-based pair Tim Noble & Sue Webster, who position piles of junk to create their "shadow art." By recycling rubbish in this manner, they press me to think about the amount we as individuals throw away - and what we discard.

Dark Stuff, 2008

It's the piece above that actually makes me feel scared - the artist's now familiar profiles shown decapitated, and created from various mummified animals. It's at once so skillful, and so saddening and repulsive.

See more of their shadow sculptures here.

Wednesday Wishlist #3.

Beardmore Glacier blue lace agate stone necklace by Dear Oh Deer. Hand-marbled letter writing set by Over and Out Paper. Splash dyed hand painted tshirt by Two String Jane. Black patent Doctor Marten boots. Whale cotton tote bag by Rustic Country Crafts.

Haven't done one of these in a long while.

Happy first of February to you all - we can now definitively bid goodbye to the January blues; although these picks are still following a rather blue trend, I feel.

Oxfam Unwrapped...

... made my gift-giving so much more special this year.

In recent years, I have become extremely opposed to the whole "buying-for-the-sake-of-buying" attitude that sometimes comes along with Christmas.

So this year, alongside small gifts from small businesses (<3 etsy), I gave my loved ones:

Food For A Family

A Health Check

Clean Water For 10 People

Animal Care

Fertilizer

and Long life Learning.

We all have so much; so giving a gift that really matters is so important.

Go and take a look for yourselves here.

How would Lisbeth (and Larsson) feel about her "look"...?

Earlier this week, the Guardian offered a preview of Trish Summerville's upcoming clothing range for Swedish store H&M. She's the costume designer for David Finch's upcoming remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and the clothes will come out on December 14th, a week before the new film is released.

I posted a while back about Noomi Rapace in the original Swedish film (2009, Niels Arden Oplev) - I admired her style, but never would have imagined a clothing line to go along with this remake (which I feel is unnecessary as the original films are so perfect, and Noomi absolutely nailed the complex character of Lisbeth).

I devoured the entire Millennium Trilogy in about a fortnight, and was completely engrossed by it - it was practically all I could talk about. If memory serves, in the second novel Lisbeth actually visits an H&M store and buys a load of clothes; but I can't help but wonder how she would feel about a clothing range inspired by her - and how her creator, had he lived to witness the incredible growth of her fanbase, would feel about this idea.

I suppose I won't rule out seeing Finch's film, or wearing any of Summerville's clothes; but I do think Lisbeth would probably be pretty cynical about the whole idea, and I feel Larsson might find it a bit opportunistic and embarrassing.

And that maybe H&M would suffer some shocks to their IT system.

Lavish Luxuries: Jo Malone.

There's something both spooky and sweet about Jo Malone's latest campaign for her Wild Bluebell scent, which keeps catching my eye in the shop window on my wanderings. The image makes me think of a slightly sinister, supine fusion of Alice in Wonderland and Marie Antoinette, and the scent is apparently inspired by an eponymous contemporary fairy tale. I had thought I wouldn't like the smell (I normally find bluebell scents too sweet), but Jo Malone's blend is beautiful - it's fresh and feisty, and so different from what you'd expect.

Of course, at £36 for 30mls and £76 for 100mls, it most definitely is an absolute luxury, and one which I cannot permit myself. Jo Malone scents are so unique and wonderful, but I don't think many people I know would treat themselves to one very often, as the prices seem unjustifiable for spending on your self. However, my White Jasmine & Mint body crème which I was given for my birthday is just so perfect, and a little goes a very long way.

Extravagance aside, throughout the month of October, for each bottle of Red Roses Hand and Body Wash sold within the UK, Jo Malone will donate £5 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation's UK grants - giving you a very good reason to get yourself a wonderful treat, or buy one for someone special.

Little Luxuries: Bettys Macaroons.

This week, as my Mum was visiting, we sampled the macaroons from Bettys. This lovely picture from English Rose Rambles shows just how beautiful they are. I think that's one of the things I love most about macaroons; you almost can't bear to eat them.

Almost.

I am a self-confessed almond addict, and these are the perfect fix.

We got one of each flavour: lemon, raspberry, pistachio and chocolate. I had the pistachio one, and it was just perfect - crunchy and light, and gooey in the middle - and it tasted of real pistachios. My Mum & Grandad approved the lemon and chocolate, respectively. The raspberry was shared out in little nibbles between the three of us, and the verdict was that it was rather too sweet, but a beautiful colour.

Macaroons are such luxury items and the ultimate indulgence, so beautiful and delicate that you can't help but savour them.

Maybe living in York, so very close to a Bettys, will be a bit of a liability.

Paradoxale.

Of course, I'm about a year late in discovering this. But as usual two factors apply: 1- am generally not a (conscious?) follower of trends 2- I do not usually have €19 to spend on nailpolish. In fact, I question whether anybody should ever spend that much on nailpolish, and am rather disturbed that I did so. This colour almost makes me change my mind.

The picture below makes it look very purple, but it's actually more of a muted grey-brown, shot through with purple shimmer that shows up when you move your fingers, and most strongly in bright sunlight.

The first image from Cafe Makeup gives a better impression of what it's actually like to wear this, but I think part of its beauty is that it simply doesn't photograph loyally and is very distinctive. Both murky and shimmery.