VV Rouleaux

I'm a big fan of a beautifully wrapped gift. Sometimes I like to use something simple like brown butcher paper, or recycled mis-matched paper, or even newspaper. But I always love a ribbon. Like hot chocolate with whipped cream on top, a ribbon just makes a gift extra special and keeps you looking forward to what's underneath. I think my love for ribbons comes from my mom and grandma who always use ribbon on packages and could easily win a beautiful ribbon tying contest. Growing up they must have showed me dozens of times how to tie a big bow, but I'm still no ribbon tying pro. I could probably learn a thing or two about ribbons from Annabel Lewis, owner of the beautiful shop, VV Rouleaux, which is yet another amazing place I read about in The Traditional Shops and Restaurants of London.



Like a number of other shops featured in the book, this shop has a specialty, which is ribbons and trim, and quite an extensive selection of ribbons and trim at that. They carry various widths in a rainbow of colors of every kind of ribbon and trim imaginable. Grosgrain, satin, velvet, linen, organza; solids, stripes, dots, checks, pleats--they're all at VV Rouleaux on beautiful metal racks that line the shop wall to wall. The ribbons perfectly complement the equally extensive selection of trims, which include cording, tassels, pom poms, beading, and even feather and seashell trim. At the shop you'll also find beautiful head dresses, flower pins, and jewelry. VV Rouleaux blends ribbons trim like a beautiful bouquet that will please any gift giver, interior designer, or fashionista. Take a look at their extensive collection online, and if you're in London, be sure to see it for yourself! They have a few different locations, so find the nearest one to you here.

11 Month Birthday

Just a few more weeks until the big ONE! I'm so excited I'm already planning her dress and party hat set, which might be made with a special Liberty print! For now, though, we're still celebrating her monthlies. Yesterday we went to the park where I took these pictures of Lois playing with, and trying to eat, leaves and grass. She's wearing a Tea Collection top, or dress really, that my sister gave to me at my shower. What a cutie! She's doing all kinds of new, fun things lately. Her favorite things to do lately are: walk around furniture, try to take off her diaper (not looking forward to this progressing), try to feed herself with a spoon, try to feed me (she hands me little pieces of food, which is really cute), open and close things, and unfortunately she's fascinated with the toilet. Oh and I almost forgot, she LOVES music! At the first sound of any music she bops and sways to the beat. And she's starting to clap her hands sometimes, too. Here's to the last monthly birthday until the big one!

Kempton Park Antique Market

It was hard to leave Painswick, but I had a lot more to look forward to so I tried to focus on that as the train rolled away from the green hills. I was especially looking forward to the Kempton Park market that Artemis told me about. She said it was a little bit outside the city, but it was totally worth the trip. I'm not sure I'd go again alone with Lois, though--too many trains, and too many stairs, but I'm so glad I went. It was a beautiful day, and it was a great flea market! It's held twice a month in the parking lot of the Kempton Racecourse, which is huge (and a lot of dealers set up indoors as well). Although there was a mix of all kinds of things, this wasn't a junky-junk kind of flea market. I saw a lot of beautiful silver, vintage fabric, monogrammed linens, leather suitcases and bags, vintage clothes, jewelry, and adorable vintage toys just to name a few things. I thought the prices were reasonable for the things I asked about, and everyone was so nice. Every time I asked someone if I could take a picture, they seemed flattered and said yes. Here's a little bit of what I saw.

Footpath This Way: Painswick, England

When we weren't spending time in our comfy room at Byfield house, we were out exploring the area. It was overcast a lot of the time, so my pictures aren't nearly as pretty as these, but it was still so beautiful in person. Jill and Brett told us about the Stroud farmer's market (the larger town near Painswick), so we started Saturday morning there. The farmer's market was great and packed with people. We walked the winding streets, popped into a few shops, and grabbed some bread, cheese, and fruit to have later on our walk.

I thought this bouquet was so pretty. A florist at the market was making it, and she said it was for a bride's wedding later that day. Obviously it's upside down here, but it was so pretty. I wonder what the bride looked like holding it.

Saturday afternoon and Sunday we spent our time walking around Painswick. Jill and Brett gave us a map and pointed out some nice walks. We started by going down into the valley and found a footpath that led us through pastures, along streams, and through some of the local's gardens. On our walks the air was crisp and cool and smelled like a mixture of fresh cut grass, fire smoke, and with all those animals around, manure! But the combination was a perfect match for the scenery. I think Andrew got a little tired of me singing, or I should say shouting, "the hills are alive with the sound of music" over and over again! I know, wrong country. But I couldn't help it. Lets stroll, shall we?








On Sunday we also went to the Rococo gardens, which was wonderful too and just a few minutes walk from the town center, but I'd probably recommend just sticking to walks through town and the immediate areas. There's an entrance fee for the Rococo gardens, and you get to see a lot more for free just walking on your own through Painswick.

Both Friday and Saturday nights we ate dinner at a few of the local restaurants. Both had highchairs (whew) and were open early enough for us to bring Lois, so it was perfect. Painswick and Stroud were very family friendly towns. One restaurant in Stroud even advertised a playroom with wooden toys for the little ones. And our view with the sun setting each night was better than dessert.


Where should we go for our next weekend getaway? Maybe Marseille in a few weeks!

A Room With A View

We had a wonderful weekend at Byfield House, an incredible bed and breakfast in Painswick. Below was the stunning view from our bedroom windows when we got to Byfield House. And the view to the back of the house, overlooking the gardens, was just as captivating. The 400 year old house is rich with history and beautifully decorated with antiques that owners Jill and Brett have collected over the years. As you can imagine, with my family's style being what it is, I felt right at home. I could have just stayed in the house and its back garden the entire weekend! Our English countryside weekend was everything I was expecting and more. It's hard to capture just how beautiful it was there, but it's easily one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The best part of the weekend, though, was spending time with Jill and Brett in their lovely house. They treated us like friends and made us feel right at home. Every time we got back to the house I hoped they were going to be there. They were so gracious and just really fun to talk to. And Jill is a hoot! She has the best sense of humor and a childlike enthusiasm that is rare in adults. Here are a few pictures from Byfield House and the back garden. Tomorrow I'll tell you what we did when we weren't relaxing at the house, and I'll show you pictures from the village.

Our top floor guestroom was huge. We also had our own large, luxurious bathroom and there was even a second bedroom on that floor that we could have used but didn't need. I only realized today that I didn't take more pictures in our room, but it was great. And the bed and pillows were comfortable and plush. There were 6 down pillows--just the number I like. I love lots of pillows! Below is one pretty corner of our room. No need to bring books or magazines here, our room was filled with them.

They have another separate guest cottage with its own entrance and garden patio. The rest of the pictures here, though, are from some of the main parts of the house, the areas where Brett and Jill live. They thoughtfully said I could take pictures of their house and post some on my blog. Below are a few pictures from the room you see when you first enter the house. It's beautiful, warm and inviting, and smells great too. This room leads to all the other parts of the house--the garden, the kitchen, the sitting room, and a staircase that leads to the rest of the floors of the house.




A view into the kitchen. Andrew spotted their Aga stove right away and loved it. I loved the painting of the lady in the wild hat.


This is a view of part of the sitting room where we sat by the fire (yes, it was chilly enough for a fire!) and had wine with Jill and Brett and the other guests. Lois was asleep just upstairs so it was nice to have grown-up time.


A view into their beautiful blue bathroom downstairs. Just about everything in this bathroom was blue except these deep red flowers, which looked so pretty in the sunlight against all the blue.

The walls of the staircase leading to the bedrooms are filled with portraits.

The red room. One of the guest bedrooms.

The blue room. Jill and Brett's bedroom.

And the garden. Isn't it wonderful?





I'll leave you here in the garden to take it all in. It really was that special. And we weren't the only ones who thought so.