Learning Danish. Blackburn Coffee, Paris, 10e. Photo by Marissa Cox.

Last week I gave myself a posting pause. I had lots of RDVs booked, places to see, meetings to attend... So there hadn't been much cooking, creating, picture-taking in my little FdB-land.

Two of said RDVs included checking out two, brand-new cafes that opened within 3 weeks of each other and about 3 blocks from each other; La Trésorerie and Blackburn, both located in the 10th arrondissement, which is looking to soon eclipse the 3rd as the coffee center of the city. 

Because she's just so much better at it than me, I'm pasting the links here to the reviews of both places my partner-in-café, Marissa, has just put up on her site Rue Rodier;

La Trésorerie

Blackburn Coffee

Enjoy! And happy Monday xx

UJB #2 :: Spring Inspired Styling

The brief for this month’s Urban Jungle Bloggers was two-fold - Judith and Igor asked for us to style our little green friends along the themes of 'Spring' or 'Easter'. I know already in Blogland Easter is upon us, and Easter crafts, DIYs and stylings are popping up left, right and centre. However on planet Lauren Lou Bate it’s a whole month away and I’ve not even started to think about the the chocolatiest of all holidays.

Spring, however, has arrived ridiculously early, there’s been absolutely no denying it! And, so far, the arrival of this joyous season has meant undertaking a huge Spring-clean of the apartment, purging crap unnecessary items accumulated in the FOUR years (yes, this month also celebrates my four year occupation of the “Beehive”) spent living in the same space, deep cleaning the kitchen and bathroom*, and rearranging the furniture and deco to better suit my our aesthetics.
 
One of the first areas I tackled was my desk and “office” area. Sitting down at my computer to work has to be a calm and inspiring experience, otherwise I avoid it like the plague. Which then equals no work produced, and a very cranky me. So, for my second installment of the Urban Jungle Bloggers series, I got to work with a bottle of my favourite pink grapefruit cleaning product, and using its scent as the inspiration, as well as a change-of-season cold I was suffering the day I shot these pics, put my desk-scape together in fresh, Vitamin-C-filled, citrusy harmony with the help of Marcus the ficus and Makmood*,  whose pot I decorated with some skinny washi tape.

Having these two plants around makes my desk feel more alive and energising. I now feel like celebrating each corner of the apartment I get through in my spring-cleaning mission with some urban greenery.
Pretty decent motivation if you ask me!

'To-do' list notepad from the new Garance Doré x Rifle Paper Co. stationary line, available at Colette. 

*Special thanks goes out to the man of the appart', Mr M, who helped me with this shoot by holding up my reflective foam core boards on a very dimly-lit afternoon, who cleans the bathroom - my most despised chore - without complain, and likes to give our houseplants really obscure names.

xx

Urban Jungle Bloggers is a monthly series initiated by 2 bloggers: Igor (Happy Interior Blog) and Judith (JOELIX.com). Every month we share ideas to create an urban jungle through styling ideas, DIYs and green tips & tricks. You can find additional inspiration on our Urban Jungle Bloggers Pinterest board and keep up-to-date via our Facebook page. Want to join? Use #urbanjunglebloggers on twitter and instagram. Or let let Judith and Igor know you're keen and I'm sure they'll share all the details. Let's bring some green into our homes and blogs!

Le Week-end 22.03 :: Paperboy and London Deco exhibition

This weekend started off brunching with the brunch buddy Lou, testing out brand-new joint Paperboy, just south of Republique. A rare Saturday evening free was spent with Marissa on a very quick "trip" to London, and Sunday was a very easy day recovering from a head cold...

#TBT :: The day I joined the (fashion) circus

:: Each Thursday I'll endeavour to share a #TBT post due to the plethora of things I've been meaning to share but were forgotten during the GBHo2013 - Great Blogging Hiatus of 2013 ::

This week's, first, #TBT post doesn't go back that far...

A handful of pics from when Katie and I joined the fashion circus for the day during the most recent Paris Fashion Week. Katie's enormous, very professional, Nikon got me an AAA in the craziness that had congregated outside the Chloe show at the Grand Palais.

 More papp-ed pics after the jump -->

Le Week-end 15::03

Image: @katiemitchellphotography

This weekend was full of coffee dates, sunshine strolls and birthdays.

Montmartre meandering

A conversation about how unfamiliar my river-side dwelling friends, Katie and Carin, were with the area of Montmartre led to this wonderful day. I've lived in the shadow of the Butte de Montmartre for four years now, it's long been my playground. I was more than happy to show my dear friends around on this rare sunny day a couple of weeks ago.

Katie thought the day would be a good opportunity to shoot her first set of photos for a new series she's starting about puppies and their owners. Daisy and I were more than happy to be the first off the rank. Carin thought it might be nice to take pictures of Katie shooting us. And then at once stage I whipped my phone out to get them both!

Despite being a bit awkward at the start - on my behalf, Katie, the professional, was breezy and calm all day - it was lots of fun helping her create these wonderful pictures. They beautifully encapsulate the endless love I have for my little furry friend and the magnificent day the three of us had wandering the north of the city, at one point crepes in hand.

While days like these are few and far between, they are magic while they last and I'll never forget this particular one for as long as I live. I am beside myself grateful that Katie decided to bestow her talent on me and my pup. If you are visiting or are living in the city with a little fur friend of your own, contact Katie for a little photo session. As a testament on how good Katie is with our four-legged friends, Daisy hates! has strong issues with everything and everyone, but Katie had her sitting in her lap by the end of the day. I'd say they are now best friends forever!

xx

H&M Home is coming

Announced in a tweet by H&M France on January 30, the very popular H&M Home line will soon be available in France. Firstly, there will be a corner dedicated to kids products launched in the Parisian de la rue Lafayette store from March 13, with two dedicated stores opening by the end of spring; one in the 13th (whhhyyyy???) and one at Mulhouse, in the Haut-Rhin region of France. E-tail will follow by the start of summer.

I have a love-hate relationship with H&M; I love that if I'm feeling really uninterested in anything in my wardrobe I can head to one of their stores for an inexpensive pick-me-up. I also think their basics are awesome. But I have to question how they can produce their items so cheaply... (This excellent video series by Planet Money gives you some insight. After you've watched that, and you should, it's brilliant, read this).

But, back to Home - I'm currently in the process of 'sprucing' mine. A little while ago I resigned to the fact that I will be living in Europe for a little while longer and decided my home should really be my sanctuary, not a temporary shelter.

So, after scouring the UK site I've chosen my picks from the current Home range.

1 Perfect next to the sofa for the knitting :: 2 For all the craft supplies I come home with before I file them away :: 3 To bring some sunshine inside :: 4 And, to go on the bed alongside my new Brakig cushion :: 5 A couple, lined up, full of bathroom things, and 6 :: Because, they're Galahs!! For a little bit of Home in the home.

All images; hm.com/gb/department/HOME

xx

**UPDATE; the full collection is now available online with the launch of the H&M France e-store - http://www2.hm.com/fr_fr/maison.html

Mardi Gras :: Swedish pancakes

Happy Mardi Gras! Or, as I like to call it 'Fat Tuesday'!

The one day I like to celebrate eating like a little piggy, whilst still managing to splutter between spoonfuls of awesome food "The diet (aka Lent) starts tomorrow!".

Traditionally in France, as at home, pancakes are eaten today each year (those lucky French, they get two Pancake days within the month!), as the day's common name in English describes. As I have been making Swedish pancakes of late due to my place of work, here is the recipe I've been handed down by my Swedish boss, despite the fact that in Sweden semlor are eaten today instead - my friend Anna has posted an awesome recipe for these over here.

Diet starts tomorrow...

xx

Paris Fashion Week (Le Week-end 02::03)

This week the fashion circus is in town. This is one of my favourite times of the year. Not because I follow the fashion world closely at all, purely because the city gets just that bit more colourful and there are always lots of fun events organised. Like the launch of Garance Doré's stationary line with Rifle Paper Co. at Colette on Saturday. Katie, Marissa and I went just for a little look-see and I left with a new phone case, To-Do notepad and a signed card. 

Pics 1&3 by Marissa, 2nd by Katie.

I had a bit of a nerdy fangirl moment. I've been a fan of Garance's work long, long before she was Mrs Schuman moved to NYC and her illustrations are my all time favourite. I think her posts on advice are so inspiring, I use Procreate because of her, AND she spoke at ALT!! 

Marissa has written about the new stationary line over here.

On Sunday, Katie and I met to take Daisy for a stroll through the Tuileries with some Angelina hot chocolate and ended up at the Grand Palais for a bit of a gawk at the commotion out the front of the Chloe show taking place in the back galleries. We bumped into the always lovely, but very exhausted Ylenia who was only half-way into her crazy week.

Oh, Bill!

More pictures posted through here...

One plant :: three ways

Urban Jungle Bloggers is a little, but growing, movement started by Judith and Igor to inspire people to bring more greenery and nature into their homes. I’ve followed Judith’s infectious love for greenery intently on Instagram but it was only last week, two days before this month’s episode, that I realised that I could perhaps play along, too. And was greatly welcomed to! Thanks guys!! This month’s episode of UJB involved styling one plant three different ways, something I’d be meaning to have fun with for a long time since I bought several little cacti and succulents, embarrassingly, ages ago. I chose this more cactusy-looking little guy, I don’t even know his kind, my green thumb is still very fresh. He’s looking a little pruney at the moment, but I don’t water him, just a couple drops every now and then, so I’m hoping he’s just in need of some decent vitamin D, like all of us are here in Europe!

So, just in time for the close of February, here they are…

Number one - Moroccan-inspired reading spot

Or, "all-the-stuff-Mr-M-bought-back-from-his-trip-to-Morocco-thrown-up-against-the-wall" reading spot.
I really wanted to see if I could freestyle macramé a hanging planter. Originally I thought of doing one in neon cord and it being really modern and fresh but then I found this beautiful linen string in amongst my supplies and further digging brought up the wooden beads and I realised that they would tie all Mr M’s Moroccan souvenirs nicely together. I liked the idea of sitting there lost in a book and having a little green friend, hanging by your head, for company. The banner was originally going to read READ but as I was cutting out the letters I realised that I could rearrange them and add an M to make DREAM to hang in my bedroom afterwards and then I liked that better. A DIY tutorial for the planter will come shortly, I promise!

Number two - souvenir shelf

This was the idea that sparked buying some little plants in the first place and putting together this little post. I’d souvenired this little can after our trip to Cap Ferret, where you can go in the afternoons and eat freshly shucked oysters directly from the oyster farmers, but because they are not allowed to have kitchens to cook other food to offer they serve little jars of pâté to eat alongside your chilled white wine and oysters. It’s the weirdest thing, but somehow works and is utterly divine. It’s been my favourite holiday so far so I thought of housing the little guy in the can I lugged home alongside some other highly memorable things and souvenirs. The can obviously offers no drainage so I had to get heavy with a nail and hammer to make some holes at the bottom so soil stays properly dry.

Number three - geometric dresser

Oh, to have a minimalist, clean dresser. This is another project that I had going on in my head for a while and think will be how I pot my little succulents. Posca paints are just the best! I liked the idea of a little fresh green life to great you in the morning as you are getting ready for the day. The cute triangles just make me happy. I also threw in a cheeky second plant, my air plant, who I love so so much! I’m going to call her Ellen. I propped her in a napkin holder and just strung her up with some white nylon. After the jump I’ve included some pics on how I DIYed the painted pot.

Thank you to Igor and Judith for allowing me be included in this month’s Urban Jungle Bloggers party. It was fun!

xx

Urban Jungle Bloggers is a monthly series initiated by 2 bloggers: Igor (Happy Interior Blog) and Judith (JOELIX.com). Every month we share ideas to create an urban jungle through styling ideas, DIYs and green tips & tricks. You can find additional inspiration on our Urban Jungle Bloggers Pinterest board and keep up-to-date via our Facebook page. Want to join? Use #urbanjunglebloggers on twitter and instagram. Or let let Judith and Igor know you're keen and I'm sure they'll share all the details. Let's bring some green into our homes and blogs!

Lovely lavender icing (Le Week-End 23::02)

This weekend I got sick. AND, due to it being school holidays at the moment, I was bestowed a long weekend this week. But I got sick and spent half of it on the couch. No fun, no fun at all.

Right before I came down sick, however, I made this lavender Earl Grey tea cake for a knitting afternoon tea I organised at my dear friend Katie's apartment - honestly, the two are definitely NOT related! While I didn't love the cake recipe - it needs a little tweaking - the frosting was a hit! And I can never, ever get frosting right! So here it is...

Coloured cake frosting (adapted from the Twinings site here)

Ingredients

+ 180 gms of icing sugar, sifted

+ 55 gms of soft, soft, soft butter

+ 1 tbsp vanilla essence

+ 1 tbsp milk

+ approx 10 drops of food colouring

Method

Using a spatula/ wooden spoon mix the icing sugar and the butter together until the icing sugar and butter are well combined - this I do every time the recipe calls for butter to be beaten with any kind of sugar, if I don't the sugar usually flies out of the bowl and I get bits of butter all over the walls, which I can't stand because it makes me feel like a muppet in the kitchen.

Add the tablespoons of milk and vanilla essence and mix with an electric beater until it goes nice and fluffy and creamy.
Add the food colouring a couple of drops at a time and mix lightly with the spatula/ wooden spoon, until you reach the desired colour.
Spread over cake and make pretty swirly patterns with the spatula or with a palate knife.  

xx

Tassel Gift Wrap DIY

Following on from my The Hive 14 inspiration post, here's a little DIY I put together for a gift I wrapped last year for a friend's birthday using a similar colour palette. Tassels may be my favourite things to craft. They are relatively simple, fun, and I like to think that each one has their own little personality. Make them mini, and like everything mini, their cuteness factor skyrockets! Also, once this gift is unwrapped the receiver also has a cute little garland to hang where they will!

Full instructions after the jump -->