Tuesday Tales from the Week!

Hi everyone!

Hope you are having a lovely week! Its super cold here - I'm hoping it doesn't snow!! (Unless of course it comes down so thickly that you get a snow day!! :-))

Here are my "very girly!" Tuesday Tales this week!

Trying out a dark red colour on my nails perfect for winter against my wooly grey tights!

A Chi Chi Affair

I love buying new make up and I bought the new Chanel "Eclosion" eye shadow quad which should see me through until spring! Such lovely colours!

A Chi Chi Affair

Got glammed up for a night out with the H2B's cousins from Cape Town. Dinner at Chutney Marys (delicious) and then dancing! Here's me looking slightly tipsy!!

A Chi Chi Affair

Have a fab week!

Rachie xo

Rustic Wine and Cheese Party!

Oh to be this stylish! Look at this gorgeous wine and cheese inspiration shoot using rustic and natural elements styled by Alchemy Fine Events and Enchanted Dream Weddings and found via the lovely Celebrations at Home blog

My favourite elements are those gorgeous anemone flowers which look so modern and also the way in which all of the trees and herbs are planted in the same terracotta pots as it really adds cohesion to the table. The different heights work well too as do the simple white plates against that rustic wood.

I also love the simple and cost effective idea of using pears as decor and the muslin wrapped garlic which is a stylish idea tied with that black bow. The herbs as favours with the clean white labels are lovely too and the cheese labels add interest to the table.

http://www.christinechangphoto.com/

http://www.christinechangphoto.com/

http://www.christinechangphoto.com/

http://www.christinechangphoto.com/

http://www.christinechangphoto.com/

http://www.christinechangphoto.com/

What do you love about this? Have you ever hosted a wine and cheese party?

Rachie xo

Friday Home: Lavender Shortbread

Now Fridays are all about Friday Home I didn't want to totally neglect recipes as I really enjoy cooking and looking for inspiration. I came across these Lavender Shortbread on the lovely blog Forgiving Martha by Leah at Freutcake and I'm definitely going to try this one. They would make a beautiful hostess gift or would be perfect accompaniment to a pannacotta or white chocolate mouse for a dinner party. They are easy to make too!

Click over to Forgiving Martha for the full recipe. And if you are looking for culinary lavender I found some on Amazon here. 

Forgiving Martha

Happy Weekend!

Rachie xo

Valentines Day DIY

Valentines Day is fast approaching and I love this time of year. It's a time to cherish and spend time with your loved ones. What could be better than that? I found a couple of really cute DIY ideas to make your Valentines Day extra special!

First up these Valentines day fortune cookies that you can fill with a sweet treat. They would be so gorgeous for a dinner party put on each place. They are really easy to make too. See the tutorial that I found by Martha Stewart via Shauna Younge Dessert tables here.

http://www.marthastewart.com/

And then I found these cute brownie toppers from The Sweetest Occasion.  I've actually served brownies cut into heart shapes at a dinner party before but these toppers elevate it to a new level. They would be cute in cupcakes too. Find the tutorial here.

The Sweetest Occasion 

What are your plans for Valentines Day?

Rachie xo

Wedding Wednesday - The Shoes!!!

Well this is a bit of an exclusive for you! I have my wedding shoes!  I had been searching online for a while for a pair of gold shoes to go with my dress. I didn't want them to be too chunky, I wanted them to show some toes and they had to be quite high!

Then I spotted these ones in the sale by Kate Spade and they seemed to tick every box. So with fingers and toes crossed I ordered them reasoning with myself that I could always send them back if I didn't like them. They arrived a couple of weeks ago and I love them!! They are the perfect size and shape for my dress, I love the colour and height and they are so comfortable!! Seriously like the most comfy heels I own! It must be fate!  I also know that as they are so classic I can wear them on our honeymoon too!

kate spade

And they came with such a cute dust bag and lovely packaging too!

Very excited about wearing them! Shoes - tick!

Woop!

Rachie xo

Tuesday Tales from the Week!

Another week already! It's come around so quickly this week. Here's what I got up to!

We are really enjoying our new coffee machine that I bought H2B for Christmas, it makes great coffee, and it means we get to use our cute espresso cups that have been in the cupboard ages!! They are such fun colours!

A Chi Chi Affair

Slighting slipping from the new year health kick - we enjoyed yummy burgers at Byron!

A Chi Chi Affair

And my favourite buy of the week was this Kate Spade phone case! Its so graphic and fun and I love it!

A Chi Chi Affair!

Have a lovely week everyone!

Rachie xo

Masculine Vintage Candy Buffet

I always think there is not enough masculine party inspiration out there! I mean boys like parties too and its nice to celebrate the men in your life once in a while! That's why when  I spotted this Vintage candy buffet guest table from The Social Event Company that I found via Amy Atlas I knew I had to feature it.

The chocolate brown palate is super stylish and some of my favourite details are the popcorn in jars, the gorgeous cake pops and cute brown box favours (with Oreo cookies in!) I also like the peanuts presented in the martini glass - so innovative!

The props really make this and I'm so inspired to see what I can create from around my house, the old fashion clocks, those photo frames and the vintage cameras really pull this together to give it a old school masculine look.

http://www.joshuaryanphotography.net/

http://www.joshuaryanphotography.net/

http://www.joshuaryanphotography.net/

http://www.joshuaryanphotography.net/

http://www.joshuaryanphotography.net/

Click over to Amy Atlas here for more pics and the write up!

Rachie xo

Storing your favourite recipes!

I absolutely love looking for and collecting recipes, printing them from online, ripping them out of magazines and dreaming about what I can cook.  I currently store all my tear out recipes in this folder that I've had for a good few years now but I thought I would do a bit of a round up of other books and boxes on the market!

A Chi Chi Affair

How about storing your recipes in these gorgeous boxes? My favourite is the one from Rifle Paper Co that I have been coveting for ages. Its so stylish and I love the little cards that go with it. I also found this lovely one from East of India via Mollie & Fred - These would make such a lovely birthday present for someone who enjoys baking, They look so nice on your kitchen counter!

Rifle Paper Co

East of India

The traditional recipe book that you can store on your bookshelf along side all your cookbooks will always be popular.  I really like the vintage feel and the stripes on this one by 1Canoe2 available on Etsy that I found via Poppytalk and I also like this more traditional one from Paperchase.

1canoe2

paperchase.com

Finally I found this really great idea via Eatliveshop blog that I just love. Its a make your own recipe book from Blurb which is such a lovely idea to share with friends and family. My H2B's Mom actually made one for us full of South African recipes that we often use. I think it would be also be a lovely present to receive at a hen night, imagine all your friends sharing their favourite recipes in a book?  It would be so cute!

http://www.eatliveshop.com/

Happy Friday! I'm definitely going to do some baking this weekend!

Rachie xo

Lovely Table Centrepiece advice

I found this great article over at Celebrations at Home with some fab table centrepiece advice.  I love creating table centrepieces. They are such a focus on your table and they can really elevate things from drab to fab and make your table look special.  For me fresh flowers are a must, I love them! But this article covers other things to think about like size, thinking about blank space, height, and where people are sitting and it really has some great ideas so it's definitely worth a read.

There are also some lovely centrepieces ideas that you can see from the pictures below. I especially like the wooden blocks with the jam jars and the layered effect of using two tablecloths in the third picture.

Celebrations at Home

Celebrations at Home

Celebrations at Home

Do you have any tips when creating a lovely centrepiece?  Click here to read the article.

Rachie xo

Wedding Hair Part 2

I posted about wedding hair back in November when my lovely hairdresser moved to a new salon. This week I spent a few hours (well three!) having a cut and colour and as we chatted and I flicked through magazines we began to give the wedding hair more thought.

I spied this gorgeous picture of Nicola from Girls Aloud. I thought she looked stunning and I'm using it as inspiration! I'm loving the different tones and although I don't think my hair will be quite as big as this on the day I think its a really glamorous look. I'm also loving the make up and earrings but think this may look may be a bit fashionista for my wedding day.

The final picture is of Zooey Deschanel and I love the way she works her fringe into her down do.  I also like the soft curls. Im slightly undecided whether to grow my fringe it out and have it swept to the side and I'm going to consult my hairdresser about this next time. I also might wear some kind of hair piece so do let me know if you see anything lovely!

Happy Wednesday

Rachie xo

Tuesday Tales from the Week!

Hi everyone! Here are my Tuesday Tales for this week!

Delicious breakfast of eggs, pancetta and coffee in Carluccios! on Saturday morning.

A Chi Chi Affair

 Treated myself to some new cleanser and lip balm as part of my new skin care regime!

A Chi Chi Affair

I passed this stunning building which is actually a restaurant in London while on the way to Tottenham Court Road on Sunday.  You cant quite see from the picture but there is a stunning flower stall just inside the entrance. The flowers looked so beautiful.

A Chi Chi Affair

Happy Tuesday!

Rachie xo

Whimsy Kitchy 1st Birthday!

Hi everyone ! Happy Monday!

I'm so happy to share this really adorable boyish 1st Birthday party from Le Partie Sugar via Hostess Blog  Its one of the sweetest first birthday's I have ever featured! I love that its cute and cool at the same time!

The use of the moustache motif is such a cute logo and used on everything really pulls the party together. This little boy is one cool little dude!  I particularly love the stationery and those cute ginger bread men favours!

http://www.lepartiesugar.com/

http://www.lepartiesugar.com/

http://www.lepartiesugar.com/

http://www.lepartiesugar.com/

Best of all you can buy the party printables on Le Partie Sugars Etsy shop! Which details do you love in this party?

Rachie xo

Friday Home: Blanket Boxes

I've wanted a blanket box for like forever! It stems from having internal window boxes in my attic bedroom as a child I think. They are so useful for storage! So its one of the items that I'm hoping to get for the bedroom to place under the bay window or at the end of the bed.

Here are some lovely ones I have found!

I absolutely love the print on this one - and the colours are so fun too. I would love the matching pillows as well. This one is £219 from Made.

www.made.com

This is a much more classic look and I love the blue/grey colour. I'm definitely considering this one also from Made and £179

http://www.made.com/storage/bourbon-vintage-storage-bench-distressed-grey

I've always liked the idea of using suitcases and I am loving the print on this one! £400 from Blanche Dlys Designs

http://www.blanchedlysdesigns.com/furniture/voguetrunk.html

Finally this one is again very classic but has a kind of nautical feel. I love how chunky it is!  £435 from Occa Home



Occa-Home

 Do you have a blanket box?

Rachie xo

Fun Fonts and Cute Labels

As we've been designing the wedding stationery I've been looking at a lot of fonts and papers and there are some really great finds out there. I loved this free map alphabet font that I found by A is for Ampersand via Design Editor. Its so  fun and would be great for travel themed wedding. Download it here

http://amymorby.com/2011/07/20/free-map-alphabet-clipart/

l

I also found these lovely Peony wrap around labels  from How Joyful that I really liked especially as the colours really pop against the brown envelope.  The design is really pretty and they would really elevate your letter into something special!

http://www.howjoyful.com

Happy Thursday all!

Rachie xo

Wedding Wednesday - Music Choices

http://moonlightrainbow.tumblr.com/page/30 via Pinterest

I thought I would talk you through some of the music in our wedding in this post!  We're having a traditional church ceremony and are very lucky to have my good friend Gemma who is a classically trained singer singing during the ceremony. I would like her to sing a more modern piece but I'm not sure what the church will allow so she made need to sing something more classical. Either way I know its going to be beautiful!

For the drinks reception I'm thinking of a Spanish type guitarist to play some contemporary music. I thought it would fit nicely with the feel of the space and also be quite summery.

As much as I would have liked a band in the evening, we've had to make a compromise in the budget   somewhere so we hav  booked Sliding Vinyl who have been recommended by the wedding planner as our disco in the evening. I hope they will play a nice mix of tunes and get everyone up dancing! I cant wait for this part of the evening.

Do let me know what you think of my choices and let me know if you have any suggestions on song choice for the ceremony - it would be very much appreciated.

Rachie xo 

Tuesday Tales from the Week!

Phew the first week back at work after the holidays was a long one so I was glad to have a relaxing weekend!  Here's what I got up to!

My darling nephew turned 2 and I loved the robot card I bought him from Paperchase. It was so sparkly! Isn't is cute?

A Chi Chi Affair

Took a moment to go bowling with the family! It was actually very fun despite me coming last ! Boo!

A Chi Chi Affair

I bought some lovely flowers and decided to have a go at flower arranging using this tutorial  I was actually very pleased with my efforts and made this mini bouquet to give to my friend Gemma when we went over for dinner on Saturday night.

A Chi Chi Affair

Hope you had a good week!

Rachie xo