Handmade loveliness

How rad are these hand-embroidered little brooches by Cape Town designer and crafter, Mariet! Love the style and the detail. See more at her blog, Kittens with Mittens.

A good idea, methinks

Monday morning... urgh...

 I hate waking up in the morning. I really do. It's just always too early, I'm not a morning person, and I just spend the whole morning daydreaming about my bed anyway. Craving it, even.
Anyway, I saw these words, got inspired, and so I'm sharing. Have a great week, everyone :)
Sharing is caring!

Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,

Dress festively every morning.

Don't skimp on colors and scarves.

Relish life with the people you love

Each and every day of your precarious life.

Each day is God's gift. It's all you get in exchange

For the hard work of staying alive.

Make the most of each one!

Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!

(adapted from Nadja Seale's words)

Check out Nadja Seale's blog: it's beautiful and always inspiring.

Parlez-vous français?

I love French. I studied it a bit at school and then had to stop because they canceled the class. 'Tis a tremendous pity.

So anyway, I just came across these lovely French phrases that have no English equivalent:

Dépaysement

The sensation of being in another country.

La douleur exquise

The heart-wrenching pain of wanting someone you can't have.

Chômer

To be unemployed, but because it's a verb, it makes the state active.

Profiter

To make the most of or take advantage of.

Flâneur

As defined in the book Elegant Wits and Grand Horizontals, it's "the deliberately aimless pedestrian, unencumbered by any obligation or sense of urgency, who, being French and therefore frugal, wastes nothing, including his time which he spends with the leisurely discrimination of a gourmet, savoring the multiple flavors of his city."

Esprit d'escalier

The literal translation is staircase wit, but it means to think of a comeback when it's too late.

Retrouvailles

The happiness of meeting again after a long time.

Sortable

An adjective for someone you can take anywhere without being embarrassed.

Voila/voici
It's so necessary that we use it all the time. "Voila" literally means "there it is" and "voici means "here it is."

Empêchement
An unexpected last-minute change of plans. A great excuse without having to be specific.

Très Bien!

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Take a look at my new Dorothy Shoes! I love them! :)
Not quite like Dorothy's, but dare I say a tad better, methinks. Just so cute!

Simple Pleasures

There's nothing quite like the feeling you get when you've just got a whole pile of new books to read. Snuggling up and completely losing yourself in a good book is one of my favourite things ever.
If you've got any reading recommendations, do let me know :)

Books, books, moar books!

So I've decided to create a list of the books I've read. I'll start adding reviews (not my own coz that's too much like school work) as from the current book I'm reading.
The point is hopefully to help fellow bookworms find cool books, and also to get recommendations from people of books they enjoyed.
But also just to have a list.
That is all.

Currently Reading: 
The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets  - Eva Rice

"The literary equivalent of a huge slice of chocolate cake. It centres around Penelope, an enchanting but slightly awkward teenage girl growing up in a crumbling country manor in post-war England - and of course, ultimately, it's a love story. The protagonists are so eccentric and interesting that it's impossible not to care about them. The descriptions are equally brilliant - the book really brings the 1950s to life, and the settings are, without exception, vividly, entrancingly detailed. The dialogue sparkles with wit, vigour and intelligence; at several points I laughed out loud - and the last few chapters actually made me cry, which I very rarely do over a book"

I really enjoyed this book. The descriptions of the beautiful old house and the parties... lovely. Laughed out loud a few times to :)

Already Read
Daydream Girl - Bella Pollen

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan
The Shining - Stephen King
The Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris
Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Pompidou Posse - Sarah Lotz
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer
Riddle Child - Annelie Botes
The Hundred Secret Senses - Amy Tan
You Spin Me Round - Sam O'Reilly
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
As you do - Richard Hammond
The world according to Clarkson - Jeremy Clarkson
The Deportees: and Other Stories - Roddy Doyle
Why the Tree Loves the Axe - Jim Lewis
The Witch of Portobello - Paulo Coelho
Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey - Chuck Palahniuk
The Cider House Rules (Black Swan) - John Irving
Sheltering Rain - Jojo Moyes
Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay
Becoming Madame Mao - Anchee Min
Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel - David Guterson
The Meaning of Liff - Douglas Adams
The Deeper Meaning of Liff - Douglas Adams
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams
Life, the Universe and Everything - Douglas Adams
Mostly Harmless - Douglas Adams
The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time - Douglas Adams
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish - Douglas Adams
The Alchemist's Daughter - Katharine Mcmahon
Ruby Red - Linzi Glass
Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson
Ah, Sweet Mystery Of Life - Roald Dahl
Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt
The Witches of Chiswick - Robert Rankin
Glitz - Elmore Leonard
The Four Temperaments: A Novel - Yona Zeldis Mcdonough
Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk
Diary: A Novel - Chuck Palahniuk
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - Patrick Suskind
Bloodsucking Fiends - Christopher Moore
Merde Actually - Stephen Clarke
A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
The Haven Home for Delinquent Girls - Louise Tondeur
The Black Dahlia - James Ellroy
The Kitchen God's Wife - Amy Tan
Saving Fish from Drowning: A Novel - Amy Tan
The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan
Stories We Could Tell - Tony Parsons
Five Quarters of the Orange - Joanne Harris
Chocolat - Joanne Harris
Like Water For Chocolate - Laura Esquivel
Lunar Park - Bret Easton Ellis
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha - Roddy Doyle
Angels & Demons - Dan Brown
Layer Cake - John J. Connolly
Empress Orchid - Anchee Min
I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
Self - Yann Martel
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Round Ireland with a Fridge - Tony Hawks
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
A Dirty Job: A Novel - Christopher Moore
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
It - Stephen King
Second Glance: A Novel - Jodi Picoult
Sushi for Beginners: A Novel - Marian Keyes
Rachel's Holiday - Marian Keyes
The Brightonomicon - Robert Rankin
The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul - Douglas Adams
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams
Wicked! - Jilly Cooper
The Ledge - Blanaid McKinney
A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz
One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson
Home Safe - Elizabeth Berg
Kick the animal out - Veronique Ovalde

To Read

Snuff - Chuck Palahniuk
Pygmy - Chuck Palahniuk
Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test - Tom Wolfe
Send in the Idiots: Stories from the Other Side of Autism - Kamran Nazeer
Fight Club: A Novel - Chuck Palahniuk
Invisible Monsters - Chuck Palahniuk
Clown Girl: A Novel - Monica Drake
Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon - Chuck Palahniuk
Choke - Chuck Palahniuk
Haunted: A Novel - Chuck Palahniuk
The Bonesetter's Daughter: A Novel - Amy Tan
Survivor: A Novel - Chuck Palahniuk
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories - Chuck Palahniuk
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Liars' Club: A Memoir - Mary Karr
Foop! - Chris Genoa
Last Chance to See - Douglas Adams

Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain

So I've been listening to this soundtrack a lot recently. Quite lovely...

 "Une femme sans amour, c'est comme une fleur sans soleil, ça dépérit."