sweets to finish

it is almost incredible how much the food adventures of the last few days - and there have been many - were dominated by sugary confections. Unfortunately only managed to document that something akin to the best cheesecake ever at Ottolenghi, and the feast Kevin and I embarked upon in the Hummingbird Bakery. It's probably wrong that your body has to deal with so much sugar as its first intake of the day, but it was such a great way to inaugurate the last day of 2010.

since November 2003

there are some days where a hermit lifestyle is entirely pleasurable, and i spent part of it today revisiting old Vogues + favourite editorials. i was always fairly confident i'd kept every issue of British Vogue since the first one i bought aged 14 and after tracking them all down, i ended up missing only one issue since Nov 2003. having never been very good at collecting anything, i take pride in this little feat.

Lily Cole and Gemma Ward by Nick Knight, April 2004

two of my favourite models for the best cover and my favourite Nick Knight editorial.

nobody can do English countryside + Balenciaga quite like Tim Walker, August 2006

Natalia Vodianova by Mario Testino, May 2008

it wouldn't be Vogue without some Kate Moss + Mario Testino, October 2008

let them eat cake, and ice-cream in winter

there was in fact two upsides to be found in the disastrous flight-delay situations of recent days. Well, a) being the comedy value of having been to Helsinki and b) that Jamie and I managed to find a day's overlap in London where there should have been none. I left my house to find snow on the ground, but I traipsed gaily off to Picadilly and the Fortnum's ice-cream parlour anyway because their ice-cream (strawberry and 12 year old balsimic vinegar / Amedei chocolate) is that good. We went halves on a banana boat and an Esterhazy cake, whilst Jamie regaled me with her typically comic tales - this time involving sleeping on the ticketing counter at Heathrow whilst living off mince pies.

can the best gift come before christmas?

i couldn't resist showing off the 'little thank-you' which A.W. sent to me after her Beijing-Shanghai trip. Proenza Schouler PS1 bag in beautiful suede for a lovely slice of New York to brighten up the miserable winter days.

H is for Helsinki

Despite my flights being cancelled, a switch to Finnair, and an added five-hour stopover at a bland airport, I just couldn't stop myself from laughing at the hilarity of having been to Helsinki.

snap-shot

i wanted a simple photograph with Lesley as testament to our insane work-bonding week that we pulled each other through, but then the photog But-Sou who snapped it behind the scenes at the dinner in Shanghai obliged by adding a personal flourish. love it. check out www.butsou.com.

shanghai coma

26/11 and I did survive. finally walked in the door from shanghai after having slept through both the plane flight and taxi-ride back home. the sight of my apartment greeted me with despair but i decided to leave it to be, because cleaning on my birthday seemed incongruous. shanghai had not been visited in four years but my three-day dash was rather limited to mostly the two blocks around the Peninsula hotel (which was spectacular). still ridiculously busy but i managed to rack up an insanely over-priced manicure (counter-balanced by discovering the amazing Chanel Blue Satin colour in the process), an amazing late supper which starts with delirious hunger and ends with being kicked out after closing, as well as having a chance to discover old treasures in my new-found friend Luoluo's vintage store (which I have plans to share at some point). i contemplated justifying buying one of the beautiful dresses she had on sale because it was my birthday imminently, but logic outweighed (i.e. what I would survive on for the next month). still i'm getting buyer's remorse and may have to work out a solution to that. sushi with some friends tonight at the old favourite and so excited for long-awaited catching up and lots of sake.