Joyeux Noel

In a few hours, I will be in a plane to New-Zealand and finally be with my little family. When I get there, we will celebrate Xmas the French way for Mila who expects Papa Noel to follow her with gifts wherever she goes (which is fair enough I guess) and then 2 days later, the Kiwi way at the beach.

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you all the most wonderful and relaxing Christmas with your family. Lots of love xoxo

PS: I leave you with this wonderful card from Therese Sennerholt...my kind of girl
PS2: I'm taking this book with me, which was recommended by Nathalie Massenet...if it's good enough for Nathalie, it's good enough for me ;-)

Dans quelques heures, je serais dans l'avion pour la Nouvelle-Zelande, pour etre enfin avec ma petite famille. Des que j'arrive, nous allons feter Noel version francaise, parce que pour Mila c'est evident que le Pere Noel va la suivre avec ses cadeaux ou qu'elle soit, and deux jours plus tard, nous le feterons version neo-Zelandaise..a la plage.
Du plus profond de mon coeur, je vous souhaite un merveilleux et relaxing Noel en famille. Grosses bises

PS: Je vous laisse avec ce design genial de Therese Sennerholt...
PS2: J'emmene ce livre que Nathalie Massenet avait recommande dans le Times...Si c'est bon pour Nathalie, c'est aussi bon pour moi ;-)
(C) Design by Therese Sennerholt

Living Etc Subscription giveaway...

You know that I like to keep a positive spin on things and for me, there isn't a better way to end this year than to thank you for all the support you've been giving to this Blog and our gorgeous concept store.
I have met some incredibly talented people through this blog and I'm not talking just about designers but customers who became friends, like-minded girls (although given my age, I should say women) who thrived on being inspired, be creative and make the most of Life.
So, to say "Merci pour tout", I've teamed up with one of the most inspiring interior magazines to offer you guys the chance to win a free year's subscription to Livingetc

As usual, Living Etc's January issue is as inspiring as ever and is brimming with ideas to transform your home. Not that I'm biased at all :-) but I love the colourful and feminine home of Meg Matthews which feels uplifting, welcoming and free-spirited...and features our fuschia ball chair.
And if you're still looking for a great Xmas present, you can currently get 45% OFF on any 6, 12 or 24 months subscription!

Please note that the Living Etc subscription giveaway is open to everyone based in the UK or Internationally. You can enter up to eight times to multiply your chance to win either on our blog, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, your own blog, wherever you fancy basically
Competition will end at midnight on 31th January 2011 and the winner will be chosen at random. Good luck!

What Katie ate....in New-York

4 more days to go and I fly to New-Zealand.
3 days alone at home to finish painting our bedroom.
2 weeks of sun to recover from 8 weeks of carbs & no morning runs.
1 last post about the Living Etc Competition.
1/2 day at work and we close for the holidays and that's it...et bien non!
I got a little comment from Nicole and because I'm interested in people who leave comments, I checked her out and what did I find?! More goodies to share!!
Nicole Franzen is a food, lifestyle, travel Photographer who participated to the amazing food photography book Katie Quinn Davies put together and it's just too good to not show it to you before the holidays!!
And can someone get the girl a book deal please! This is too good to be online only! I want to read this book on my sofa with a cup of tea and take my time flickering through each page...

So here are a few of Nicole's amazing photos and you can see more here

4 jours de plus et je m'envole pour la Nouvelle-Zelande

3 jours seule a la maison pour finir de peindre notre chambre.

2 semaines de soleil pour me remettre de 8 semaines de feculents et pas de morning footing

1 dernier article pour annoncer le jeu concours de Living Etc .

1/2 journee de travail et puis on ferme pour les vacances or the holidays et voila c'est fini...et bien non!

Ce soir, Nicole a laisse un petit commentaire et comme les gens qui laissent des commentaires m'interessent, j'ai regarde ce qu'elle faisait et qu'est ce que j'ai trouve?! Plein de tresors a partager!!

Nicole Franzen est une photographe qui se specialise dans les photos culinaires, lifestyle et de voyage. Elle a participe au livre sublimissime de Katie Quinn Davies et c'est juste trop beau pour que je ne vous le montre pas avant les vacances !!
Et est ce que quelqu'un peut filer a cette fille un book deal please! Son livre est trop bon pour qu'il ne soit dispo que sur le net! Je veux lire ce bouquin tranquillou sur mon canape avec une tasse de the et prendre mon temps pour admirer chaque page..
Donc voila les superbes photos de Nicole et vous pouvez en voir plus ici

What Katie ate

Since I 'borrowed' one of her gorgeous photos to illustrate the chocolate pecan brownies I made last week, I had to show you the full monty and how incredibly talented Food Stylist, Photographer and foodie blogger Katie Quinn Davies is...
Pics below are a sneak peek of Katie's amazing Bumper Christmas Edition. Seriously what do they feed them in Australia to be so good with food photography...Donna Hay, Michele Cranston and now Katie (who is in fact Irish). Frankly if Katie releases this amazing digital mag into a printed book, the first copy is for me!

Vu que j'ai 'emprunte' une de ses magnifiques photos pour illustrer les brownies au chocolat et noix de pecan que j'ai fait la semaine derniere, il fallait que je vous montre la totale et a quel point, la styliste, photographe et bloggeuse Katie Quinn Davie est super douee.
Les photos ci-dessous sont juste un apercu de son magazine special Noel. Non serieurement, ils sont eleves a quoi en Australie pour etre aussi bons en photos de cuisine....Donna Hay, Michele Cranston et maintenant Katie. Franchement si Katie sort une version papier de son genial magazine digital, le premier examplaire est pour moi!

(C) What Katie ate

I like this...

Very warm, cosy and inviting...

From Hege Greenall-Scholtz via HEM

A corner of my bedroom: Annaleena Karlsson

Good morning!
This is the last post of 'A corner of my bedroom' series for 2010 but the series will be back in January because I still have plenty of beautiful bedrooms to show you from around the world.
Today, I'm very happy to share with you the bedroom of Annaleena, talented stylish and inspiring blogger of HEM. I totally fell in love with her stunning Countdown to Xmas tree and since then lost myself in the delights of her blog and her gorgeous home (I'm waiting for an invitation....:-).
Since it's the last one of the series, I would like to thank you for all your kind and inspiring comments. I'm not as good at the end of the year to leave comments back because it's just terribly busy here but I will catch up in the New Year.
Also next week to end the year on a very positive note, I have 2 good news!
First the BODIE and FOU January Sale will kick off on 23/12/2010 and you should know that the UK government is increasing the flipping VAT to 20% on 4th Jan. 2011 so it's best to order anything you want/need before 4th.
The second great news is that we've teamed up with one of my favourite magazines: Living Etc to get the BODIE and FOU followers the chance to win a one-year subcription to Living Etc...Yep! How cool is that?! (details to follow on Tuesday)

★★★★

Bonjour! Ce matin, c'est le dernier article de la serie "A corner of my bedroom" pour 2010 mais la serie sera de retour en Janvier parce que j'ai encore plein de jolies chambres a vous montrer des quatre coins du monde.
Aujoud'hui, je suis ravie de vous montrer la chambre d'Annaleena, une styliste de talent, et qui aussi derriere HEM, un blog magnifique. Je suis tombee amoureuse de l'arbre de l'Avent qu'elle a cree chez elle et depuis je me suis perdue dans les delices visuels de son blog et sa maison qui est superbe (j'attends mon invitation).
Etant donne que c'est le dernier article de la serie, je voulais aussi vous remercier pour tous les commentaires que vous prenez le temps de laisser. J'ai du mal a reciproquer en fin d'annee parce que j'ai trop de boulot ici mais je me rattraperais en debut d'annee prochaine.
Et puis comme c'est la fin de l'annee, je voulais la finir sur deux notes positives: La premiere c'est que les soldes de Janvier vont demarrer sur BODIE and FOU le 23/12/2010 et si vous vivez en Angleterre, vous devez savoir que le gouvernement va passer le prix de la TVA a 20% a partir du 04/01/2011 donc si vous avez envie/besoin de choses, c'est mieux de commander avant le 04 Janvier.
La seconde bonne nouvelle, c'est que nous nous sommes associees avec un de mes magazines de deco preferes: Living Etc pour qu'un ou une des abonnes du blog BODIE and FOU ait la chance de gagner un an d'abonnement gratuit a Living Etc...Yep! C'est pas cool ca?! (details du jeu-concours Mardi prochain)

★★From Annaleena★★
"Our bedroom is a wonderful place. A place for rest and romance. I like the simplicity and scandinavian pureness in our bedroom. It´s light, white and calm. Recycled items and jewellery are the pieces that dictates my bedroom style and gives the room that boho chic style that I love. My colours, white and black are dominating. The room is naked and easy just like the rest of our house, its just a simple bohemian modern bedroom. Good night. Love Annaleena"

Previously on A Corner of my bedroom:

Mine in London, It's Oh from Switzerland, Vosges Paris from Amsterdam, Sfgirlbybay from San-Francisco, HomeShoppingSpy from London, Kavka design from Poland, Designers' Block from Northumberland, Imke Klee/A View To from Paris, Emma Cassi in London, Casalil from Lille, Cecilie Molvaer Jorgensen in Norway

Chocolate pecan brownies recipe

Last Tuesday I organized a surprise diner party to celebrate Steve's Birthday*. I got him three vintage gas stations pricing signs from Three Potato Four (no 3, 6 and 5 to tell him that I love him every day of the year), this map from New-Zealand and these fabulous speakers which he loved! The fourth gift (in my book!) was a whole meal cooked by myself which, luckily, was a success...
Mila and I made chocolate pecan brownies for desert and here is the recipe...prepare yourself to die and go to heaven.
*mostly to make up for the fact that in the past 2 years, too busy here with Xmas orders, I totally forgot the first year and wished him a day too late the second year :-(

★★★★

Maman: "Mila..move"

Mila: "no"
Maman: "Mila move!.... I need to add the pecan nuts"
Mila licking the spoon: "No!...this is SO good.."

★★★★

Mardi dernier, j'ai organise un diner suprise pour l'anniversaire de Steve*. Je lui ai offert trois vieux signes de stations d'essence achete a Three Potato Four (no 3, 6 et 5 pour lui dire que je l'aime tous les jours de l'annee), cette carte de Nouvelle-Zealande et ces fabuleuses enceintes qu'il a adore! Le 4eme cadeau (selon moi) etait un repas entier cuisine par bibi et qui en plus etait super bon...

Mila et moi avons fait des brownies au chocolat et noix de pecans pour le dessert et voici la recette:
Vous aurez besoin de: 300g de beurre, 350g de chocolat noir, 6 oeufs, 450g de sucre brun, 1 csp d'extrait de vanille, 225g de farine, 150g de noix de pecan, du sel, du chocolat en poudre ou du sucre glace. Vous aurez egalement besoin d'un plat d'environ 20 x 30 x 6 cm et d'un cookie cutter en forme d'etoile.
Beurrez le plat et ajoutez du papier sulfurise au fond du plat, faite fondre le beurre et le chocolat au bain-marie. Battez les oeufs, melangez les avec le sucre et la vanille et ajoutez le tout au melange de chocolat.
Ajoutez la farine au tamis et ensuite melangez les noix de pecan et une large pincee de sel. Mettez le tout dans le plat et enfournez pendant 30 a 35 min a env. 180degres/thermostat 4. Testez avec un fin couteau. Personnellement, je les prefere quand ils sont un peu moux mais si ils coulent trop, laissez-les 5 min de plus. Laissez refroidir dans le plat, puis decoupez le chocolat en petits carres et decorez-les avec le cookie cutter et du sucre glace. Voila!! Vous allez mourir tellement c'est bon et allez straight to heaven!

*et aussi parce que cela fait deux ans de suite que j'ai tellement de boulot avec les commandes de Noel ici que j'ai completement oublie de lui souhaiter la premiere annee et je lui ai souhaite le jour d'apres la seconde annee :-(

(C) Beautiful image from What Katie ate

Dutch inspiration

By Day...
16/12/2010:
2pm: Crisis hit us...No more Royal Mail Dispatch Express labels. Over 350 parcels sitting on our packing table which we can't send.
3pm: Body gives in and neck gets stuck...purely and simply. I can't bent over, turn left or right without being in excruciating pain
5pm: off to bed to fool my body and make it believe I will relax
9pm: Steve emailed me from Hong-Kong where he and Mila on the first leg of their flight to N-Z
17/12/2010
8am: Neck back to normal, off to work
4pm: Call Royal Mail to track down supply order. Get told they may arrive the day after we've closed for the holidays. Stress level get a promotion...Email everyone I know at RM including IT and accounts to get someone to help...no luck
4.30pm: Call back RM. Luck strikes...The person on the phone tells me that I should have ordered them before...
And I'm sitting on my chair full of 'can do/there must be a solution' attitude...thinking...that's bound to help me...I have been working from 8am to 11 pm for the past 8 weeks, had our Customer Service Advisor leaving us suddenly for health reasons at our busiest time ever and all this girl can tell me is that I should have planned this...nevermind
6pm: Come up with a back-up plan to print label on normal office labels. Crisis sorted in 24 hours (call me Jack Bauer)
8pm: Order curry, skype Steve & Mila who are now in New-Zealand. Mila has already fed the cows, had ice-cream for breakfast and is watching Barbie...
By night
Since I saw this home in Elle Decoration, it has been the template of what I would like to achieve with our kitchen in London...a simple, yet functional space stripped of the unnecessary...no kitchen units on the walls to keep a sense of space, just simple shelves to display beautiful, organic tableware (mine is Vera Wang's Naturals first spotted at Merci in Paris and tracked down in the UK), ideally a mix of vintage, wooden furniture with industrial, concrete finishes and a big, big table to have at least 12 people around. So here is more images of one of my favourite homes.

Via Design shimmer

White bookshelf wallpaper by Y & B

Last September, we launched the 'ridiculously fab' Bookshelf wallpaper by Y & B and you can see here how you can transform a plain room into something amazing and striking! In the US, Nema workshop also revamped an Espresso cafe in Manhattan. The launch of the Bookshelf wallpaper has been a major success and on the back of it, Y & B have now decided to launch a white version that I love! While the colour printed one gives an Old England feel to a room, the white version has a Maison Martin Margiela vibe that I love very much!
The white Bookshelf wallpaper will be available mid-January 2011 from BODIE and FOU

En Septembre dernier, nous avons lance le 'ridiculeusement fabuleux' papier-peint Bookshelf par Y & B et vous pouvez voir ici comment transformer une piece sans attrait en une piece avec plein de charactere ! Aux Etats-Unis, Nema workshop avait revampe un cafe Espresso dans Manhattan. Le lancement du papier peint Bookshelf a rencontre un grand succes et du coup Y & B font maintenant lancer ce papier-peint genial dans une version tout en blanc que j'adore! Alors que celui en couleur donnait un look 'Vieil Angleterre' a une piece, la version en blanc a un cote Maison Martin Margiela que j'aime vraiment beaucoup!
Le paper-peint Bookshelf en blanc sera disponible a partir de mi-Janvier 2011 sur BODIE and FOU

Gorgeous Danish flat

I've already posted Mia-Louise's beautiful home in Denmark last May but she sent me another article about her home featured in Bolig magazine and I hadn't realized in the first feature how HU-GE and beautiful her lounge was! Her space is feeling so airy and relax....so homely and her beautiful handmade prints look even more stunning on her walls. I love how simple yet striking The Old Oak's Last Dream and The Drop of Water prints look above her bed...very scandi.
And I really thank her for mentioning BODIE and FOU to Danish readers as one of her favourite shops! Right..I'm off, I have brownies and diner to finish for Steve's surprise B'day diner.

J'ai deja poste des photos de la superbe maison de Mia-Louise au Danemark en Mai dernier mais elle m'a envoye un nouvel article de sa maison parue dans le magazine Bolig et je n'avais pas realise a quel point son salon etait grand et superbe! Sa maison a l'air tellement spacieurse et luineuse....si chaleureuse et ses belles illustrations ont l'air canon sur ses murs. J'adore le look de The Old Oak's Last Dream et The Drop of Water au-dessus de son lit..tres scandi.
Et je voulais vraiment la remercier pour avoir citer BODIE and FOU comme un des ses magasins preferes aux lecteurs danois! Bon je vous laisse parce quil faut que je finisse les brownies et le repas pour l'anniversaire surprise de Steve (recette demain). Passez une bonne soiree !

Breakfast with a princess

This morning I had breakfast with a Princess and her papa here. It was cool....they make fab eggs benedict and the Princess had babyccino all over her face. Then we went to buy a new pair of converse (yellow) because the Khakis from Barcelona are too small and a new pair of red gumboots because these are too small too. In the afternoon, the Princess painted a little white pig with pink paint and sparkling things. It was a really nice day...Hope you had one too. Have a nice evening!

Ce matin, j'ai pris le petit dejeuner avec une Princesse et son papa la. C'etait chouette....ils font des supers oeufs benedictes et la Princesse avec des traces de babyccino partout sur le visage. Ensuite, nous sommes alles acheter une nouvelle paire de Converse (jaune) parce que les Khakis de Barcelone sont trop petites et une nouvelle paire de bottes rouges en cahoutchouc parce que celles-ci sont trop petites aussi. L'apres-midi, la princesse a peint un petit cochon blanc en rose avec pleins de paillettes. C'etait une bonne journee...J'espere que la votre etait bonne aussi. Bonne soiree!

A corner of my bedroom: Cecilie Molvær Jørgensen

God morgen!
It's not a secret...I love Elle Interior Norway because it is a very inspiring magazine and on top of this, they've featured my favourite bag as one of their HOT BUY! So this morning I'm very excited to share with you Cecilie's bedroom who is Elle Interior Norway's Deputy Editor. Her home was recently featured in Elle Interior Norway so we also get beautiful images taken by Trine Thorsen. I'm in love with Cecilie's bed...this blend of textures, fabrics and hues of creams and greys are just so inviting and aren't these little porcelain figures adorable?

★★★★

God morgen! Ce n'est pas un secret...j'adore Elle Interior Norway parce que c'est un magazine plein d'idees et d'inspiration et en plus, ils ont publie recemment mon sac prefere dans leur liste des HOT BUY! Donc ce matin, je suis tres heureuse de partager avec vous la chambre de Cecilie, qui est Redactrice en Chef chez Elle Interior Norward. Sa maison a ete recemment publie dans le magazine pour lequel elle travaille et donc nous avons egalement la chance d'avoir de jolies photos prises par Trine Thorsen. J'adore le lit de Cecilie...ce melange de tissus, textures et ces tons de blanc casses et gris rendent son lit tres accueillant et ces petites figurines en porcelaine ne sont-elles pas adorable?

★★From Cecilie★★
"I am in love with my bedroom. Utterly and completely. The grey that covers all of the walls is perfect, making it cool and breezy in summer and warm and snugly in winter. Also, I love going to sleep being surrounded by things I care about, like the sculpture of a child I inherited from my grandmother, the alabaster egg bought on a trip to Italy and all the white porcelain figurines I’ve picked up at flea markets, bought new or been given by my other grandmother «just because they are so ‘you’». I like the fact that the Hee chair from Danish brand Hay is so strikingly «modern», almost cold, compared to the softness of the rest of the room. All in all? Utter bliss"

Next week: come and see Annaleena's bedroom corner

Previously on A Corner of my bedroom:
Mine in London, It's Oh from Switzerland, Vosges Paris from Amsterdam, Sfgirlbybay from San-Francisco, HomeShoppingSpy from London, Kavka design from Poland, Designers' Block from Northumberland, Imke Klee/A View To from Paris, Emma Cassi in London, Casalil from Lille

Good news...

Few more beautiful bags have been shipped yesterday from L.A. and we're going to receive a few more La Tropezienne tote bag with 5" straps in tan and more of the black La Trop. It's getting tight but we will still get them in time for Xmas which is very good news! We also have the blue messenger bag in stock!

la bonne nouvelle c'est que nous allons recevoir quelques sacs La Tropezienne tote en marron et aussi celui en noir. Nous approchons a grands pas de Noel mais nous allons quand meme les recevoir a temps ce qui est excellent. Nous avons aussi le sac messenger bleu en stock!

I like this....

A 'countdown to Christmas' tree...beautiful photo and stylism by Annaleena