What a way to start the day

This morning I managed to drag myself out of bed bright and early (it was actually still dark but that's not the point) and jump on the first train out of my sleepy village to go to a 7:30am yoga class. 

The thought of this sickened me last night and again when the alarm blepped at me this morning but once I was out the house you really do know why you bother - the sunrise! I was far too wrapped up in staring out of the window trying to stay awake to even consider taking a snap until I got just past Battersea Power Station but even still the beautiful sky and mix of the industrial aspect really is quite something, don't you think!?

Well worth the early rise!

Prints - I'm slightly in love...

This season is all about prints - Aztec, Floral, Gatsby, Monochrome - you name it, it's bound to have a print on it. I absolutely adore the pyjama print look a la Stella McCartney, but completely agree with the many reports out there, it's perhaps not for everyone or everywhere, no matter how comfortable it is, after all imagine rocking up to a meeting with the boss in your pjs! 

I thought I'd start slow so I've dipped my toe into the print waters with this little lovely from H&M...

At just £7.99 you really can't start any better but it's got me hooked, there are now several items on my Prints wishlist and, unfortunately for me, it hasn't just stopped with fashion - oh no, now I'm obsessed with prints for the home too! You literally can surround yourself completely in as many contrasting-clashing-yet-wierdly-working-together prints as your heart desires. Here's my pick of the best I've seen so far...

Columbia Road Mustard wallpaper - £198 by Custhom at Moska.co.uk

Pineapple Crop Top - £40, Oasis

Aztec Placement Print Shorts - £14, River Island

Floral Duvet Cover - £70, Urban Outfitters

Printed Trouser - £39.99, Zara

I'm hot-footing it to Zara as soon as I hit 'Send' - might have to wait until payday for the beautiful wallpaper though...only 2 days away!

Grazia loves Satchels too!

We obviously love a good satchel or 5 here at S&S - as it turns out so does Grazia...

My little one from Cambridge Satchel Company is by far still my fave though, just look at the loveliness!

With Satchels clearly having a bit of a moment and Summer just around the corner the next addition to the collection has surely got to be the pink version of the above - you just can't beat a bit of Fluoro...

The Fluoro - £105, Cambridge Satchel Company

Pinterest - We've Arrived!

Satchels & Soap is now on Pinterest! Check us out...

Sunshine in the home

Could anything be more perfect for adding a burst of colour to the home than a stand-out, bold and bright side table?! It can subtly poke from next to the sofa or take centre stage in a space all of it's own - either way it's the ideal addition for a ray of sunshine this Spring.

Here are my favourites...roll on payday!

Polka Side table - £59, Made.com

Cage Side Table in Lime - £149, dwell

Miho DIY Table - £45, Joie de Vivre at Rockett St. George

Pushkar Footstool - £450, Couch GB at Not On The Highstreet

If these aren't quite within your budget why not try hunting for a second hand one at either a junk shop or car boot sale and painting it whichever bright colour takes you fancy - I might give this a go myself in fact!

My day in photos

This weekend has been far too glorious to be sat at a computer, hence the lack of posts. With Friday afternoon spent sipping vino, catching up with friends and celeb spotting in Soho (Eddie Redmayne & Jack Whitehall) - Saturday spent playing with my beautiful niece Chloe and bridesmaid dress shopping - and Sunday spent in a pub garden with a delicious lunch followed by a slightly overdue blitz of the house here's my Sunday in snaps - I stupidly didn't take any while it was sunny, oops!

Finally got around to boxing away the videos (i know!) and replacing with books

Afternoon bloom

My first attempt at homemade fishcakes...

Not so bad!! they tasted delish too.

Choccywoccydoodah - doo have to resist temptation!

For the last week or so I've been drooling over the arrival of Choccywoccydoodah to Newburgh Street/Foubert's Place. I had previously been into the Brighton store and had to immediately leave before buying and devouring everything in sight and now I have to see them every day!? Surely this is just too unfair!

The chocolate and cakes really do speak for themselves - some of them literally with words written with icing - they're beautiful, fun, extravagant, adorable and every other adjective in between. I wrote yesterday about the perfect tea party to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee, now I think I've found where to buy the perfect cake for the occasion...

Whether it's a small gift, Easter is just around the corner (this could be for yourself!)

Sheepish Sheep - £29.99

Milk Choc Crouching Bunny - £7

Choc Love Bird - £6.98

Or something a little more important...

Pansies Cake

All You Need Is Love Cake

Gatekeeper cake

There really is no excuse to delay so Choccywoocydoooo go and check it out, see if you can resist!

A Right Royal Tea Party

As we all know, it's the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June, and as my day job is in PR I've been working with very British themed bits and bobs for a while now. I'm pretty traditional at heart and the whole celebration of being British has got me dreaming of a very British garden party - something like this would be amazing...

Luckily there is lots of lovely stuff about that can make this slightly possible - here are just a few from my wishlist:

British-themed Paper Plates - £5 for 12, Bouf

Street Party Teacup & Saucer - £8, Linea by Michelle Mason

Union Jack Bunting - £7.50, M&S

Re-usable Union Jack Cupcake Wrappers - £7.95 for 12, Maisie Fantaisie

God Save The Queen Teapot - £19.95, dwell

and so the pooches don't feel left out...

Mutts & Hounds Dog Bed - from £48, Not On The High Street

Now all we need is weather like today's glorious sunshine and we're all set!

We all need a little random sometimes...

 

Mother's Day Madness

Yesterday was Mother's Day in the UK. A beautiful early Spring day with the sun shining, a crispness to the air and Mums everywhere taking it easy and being waited on hand and foot (or that's the plan anyway). I treated my mum to a beautiful plant, I wouldn't have a clue what sort of plant but it was orange and very prettily presented in a wooden pot. My brothers and I would usually organise a lovely lunch somewhere too but yesterday took a slightly different twist - it also happened to be my Nephew's Christening day too.

For weeks beforehand I was searching for the perfect outfit - being a Godparent puts a slightly more important edge on the chosen outfit, after all although it's not my day in the slightest I was still going to have to stand at the front in front of 80 people, even if they are mostly family. You may have seen my previous post regarding my ideal dress, a sublime Joseph dress (click here), if so you will also have seen that I'm on a budget so unfortunately it was completely out of the question - here's what I ended up with instead...

Pink body, Topshop - Green asymmetric skirt, Zara - Bag, Jocasi - Belt, H&M

Shoes, Aldo

The Skirt was bought in January and is no longer online, the belt is new, everything else I've had for a little while now - here are alternative suggestions...

Clean Vest - £25, Warehouse

Asymmetric Fine Pleated Skirt - £29.99, Zara

Flicker Heels - £60, Aldo

In the end of course it didn't matter at all, my gorgeous Nephew Chase looked adorable and that's all that anyone noticed, still though the billowy, floatiness of the skirt definitely put a spring in my step, my mum had a great day, my sister-in-law loved her fist Mother's day and it didn't rain - I couldn't have asked for a better day!

Living Etc do Bathrooms too...

 

I think 'Tubby' from Albion Bath Company is possibly the cutest bath tub I've ever seen...

'Tubby' bath tub - £2116, Albion Bath Company

Project Bathroom #4

For the past two weeks I've had to put up with a dusty, incomplete, grubby bathroom. As it stands, we have a bath - success! The taps do not work, instead we have a copper pipe temporarily in place that has to be turned on or off with a screwdriver, there is also only hot water - fail! Our lovely plumber friend is going to make the taps work today in return for a takeaway - as for when the bathroom will actually be complete, your guess is as good as mine.

In the meantime I've been dreaming of accessories and finishing touches - I know I'm a little ahead of myself but it's keeping me sane, here's my wishlist so far...

Brights Toilet Brush & Holder - £20, John Lewis

Traditional Toilet Roll Holder - £32, Rockett St. George

Hermione Glass Bottles, from £8.99, Zara Home

Mermaid Lampshade - from £26, Lush Lamp Shades

Hammered Accessories - from £10.50, Casa Couture at HoF

Decorative Coral Bowl - £89, dwell