Something for the weekend

This week I discovered Found (above and below), the stationery mothership in Bath

Why writers should meditate

I love how Brian captured the light of the Indian summer

[Video] Pam’s take on the perils of  ‘compare and despair’ really spoke to me this week

Sinking into autumn with spiced apple cider and red wine chocolate cake (also: pear & almond chocolate cake with cider glaze FTW!)

This series of photos enchanted me (via Photo Jojo)

Have you seen Jane’s inspired new offfering?

6 So-Called Rules for the Creative Badass Woman

I love Ada’s outfit!

I didn’t want to love it, but the new iPhone 4S is tempting me ;)

Put your passwords on speed dial (via Patti)

How to Read More: A Lover’s Guide

Loving Alicia’s new series of photos, and Mia’s Polaroids always touch my heart (also: these and these)

This is so cool! (via Chris)

I want to go fragrance shopping in NYC

Bookshelf p0rn (via Bea)

I want one of these quilts so badly it hurts

Learning to Take Up the Space You Deserve

I was interviewed over on Lomography.com this week

And finally, this blog makes me chuckle

Enjoy! xo

Remembering Steve


“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Steve Jobs

What an amazing man. Thank you for all you have given the world, Steve. I will always always always be an Apple girl.

In need of some crafty relief


I needed some new dividers in my business Filofax. I call it my business Filofax because apart from holding my diary and all my notes for different projects, it makes me feel more business-like. I treated myself to an afternoon working in a cafe last week, pretending to be all location independent. But the truth is I work better when I’m at home, where I’m surrounded by the things that keep me anchored in my life. Where it’s quiet. But once in a while it’s good to get out there, and without the distraction of the internet i got two hours of work done alongside a very sweet mocha and a slice of apple cake.

But I digress.

A while back I invested in a metal hole-punch from Filofax. It cost far more than I wanted to spend on such an item, but it’s proved to be invaluable — I have a tendency to make notes on random bits of paper so being able to punch holes in them and file them in my Filofax is so helpful. It’s the little things, non? I do my serious writing in Scrivener and use Evernote obsessively (so good!), but nothing can beat a bit of paper and a pen. Nothing.

So with the aforementioned hole-punch in one hand and a pile of papers in the other I made some new dividers. I’d forgotten how much fun it is to play with glue and scissors! On one I stuck lines from a poem I had written, and on the other a poem by Carol Ann Duffy. I tried not to be too perfectionist about it and just paired up paper that seemed to go well together.

My business Filofax is now looking decidedly more crafty… and I really like it.

The Girl Effect

Last week I had lunch with my friend Megg. Even though we live near each other our work schedules tend to keep us apart, so we dove into our time together, gossiping and laughing as friends tend to do. As we walked back towards the train station we noticed a gaggle of teenage girls ahead of us. They were all dressed similarly — big hair, short skirts, you know the look — and while rolling my eyes I quipped that it must be a nightmare being a teenager these days. That it was bad enough waiting for the home phone to ring back in the 80s, so what must it be like now, when there’s social media measuring your popularity? What if you you have no Facebook friends? What if someone tweets something mean about you? What if embarrasing photos of you end up on the internet? It must be horrible!

Megg and I agreed that growing up in the 80s might have been easier.

But those teenage girls with their over-applied make up and blinged-out smart phones don’t know any different. It’s all just part of the world they’ve grown up in.

There are other girls in the world growing up with a very different set of problems.

Watch this video:

 

From the Girl Effect donation page: “There are 600 million adolescent girls living in poverty in the developing world. By giving one of these girls a chance, you start the girl effect. When girls have safe places to meet, education, legal protection, health care, and access to training and job skills, they can thrive. And if they thrive, everyone around them thrives, too.”

I want all girls to thrive. I want all people to thive. And in my heart of hearts I know it starts with the mothers, daughters, sisters and aunties. So while I’m doing what I can over here in my corner of the privileged Western world, I’m sending money to those who can directly help in the developing world.

Can you help too?

— Bloggers are circling this week to promote the Girl Effect, so add your voice and share here…

— Explore the Girl Effect site and get more informed

— Donate directly to the Girl Effect

— Donate to specific life-changing programs here

Let’s make a difference xox