If you go down to the woods today

If you go down to the woods today, you'd better not go alone.... because there is likely to be a massive party going on!



Dragging my muddy wellies through the forrest under the torrential rain, Latitude Festival chucked me knee deep into a joyous world of actual good music, arts, theatre, comedy and more! Highlights included The Naked and Famous and Foster The People, and now I just can't stop listening.

Want to see some videos? YES PLEASE.

The Naked and Famous



Check out Alisa Xayalith's hair.... It's "Karen O, Yeah Yeah Yeahs" meets my dream hair, but I promise this is not the only reason I love this band.



Foster the People





Can we go again please.

Pretty wall art... furry friends!

In the excitement of online shopping, Jess, Liv and I have given ourselves the new project of decorating the flat... first stop wall art!

I now have the most adorably cute forrest friends wall deco in my room!

Love it!!!

oh comely

Further to my previous post, I would like to welcome you to the UK, where Frankie is not distributed and a brand new bouncing baby is set to fill her shoes. oh comely, a London based magazine has recently circulated it's first issue through the cobble-stoned streets of the United Kingdom. This creative and quirky magazine offers the same charms as Frankie, dishes up very similar content and even mirrors the design layout.

When I first spotted a copy I was ecstatic, when I first purchased a copy I was unsure, when I fist read a copy I was convinced (well, almost). Was this teething toddler new and creative, or something we've seen before? It is a dangerous dance taking inspiration from those who do what they do oh so well, oh comely you have big shoes to fill. Nethertheless I have not dismissed you just yet. The oh comely blog is cheery and fantastic with local offerings - a must read, I trust in time the magazine will follow. Let's all give this magazine a chance to grow, the little muffin certainly has potential.

You can purchase a copy online, issue two was due to be distributed early this month so go hunt it down!

Madolyn misses Frankie

There is a delightful little Australian magazine I love dearly, her name is Frankie.

Frankie magazine offers a spread of clean white pages pasted with dreamy fashion editorials, crafty delights, and lyrical stories from founders Louise Bannister and Lara Burke as they spend their days op shopping and drinking cups of tea. Dedicated to celebrating music, arts, photography, fashion and pop culture's quirkier aspects, Frankie publishes the hidden treasures of Australian cities and abroad.

I miss this magazine so, can someone please send me a copy. I will love you forever!

The night is young. The night is always young: The Locals' Guide to Edinburgh

It's hard to find a quirky, non-touristy guide book that serves up recommendations of places you want to visit off the tourist trail, but when you do stumble across a good one it's a real treat. Word of Mouth Travels' 100% Made in Scotland city guide is like a friend in a foreign city letting you in on all their little local secrets.

On top of chapters delightfully titled "where to stay", "all you can eat", "Scots for weather", "beautiful walks", "drink and be merry" and my favourite; "you should be dancing, yeah" the book features a number of interviews with local legends including a fashion designer, a deli owner, a theatre producer, a musician and a parent and publican. You really do get a feel for a town that has so much character to offer.

The Locals' Guide is a pocket sized go-to guide for everything cool on the cobbled streets of Edinburgh, definitely worth picking up a copy.

(Now my personal tip, I picked up my copy from The Red Door Gallery in Edinburgh but when looking online was surprised to find The Locals' Guide to Edinburgh cheapest at Amazon.com)

No more cheap shots

Last weekend's Sunday Times UK offered up a side of Lomography goodness with your coffee and morning paper covering an article by Bryan Appleyard discussing the hot new world of lomography that has so many people sharing the analogue love.

Having spoken to die hard lomographers and converted digital photographers alike Bryan Appleyard wraps up in a neat two page spread why we are loving these brightly coloured plastic cameras with names that throw around words like multi-pinehole, spinner, splitzer, fish eye, Octomat and Diana, Holga and Lubitel.

If you have subscribed to The Sunday Times online you can read the full article online at thesundaytimes.co.uk/culture.

My ♥ is a marshmallow

One of my favourite blogs, Lucky Pony, pointed me to a site today that may in actual fact destroy me. I have a sweets addiction, and I mean addiction! Picture me hanging out in a dark alley with Pete Doherty and cocaine addicts alike, now replace the cocaine with dark chocolate baked cheesecake! It's not pretty, I promise you.

I tried to kick my sweets addiction the other week. I found myself on the edge, looking down into the abyss. I eventually resorted to banana and peanut butter on toast providing the fix that saved me from resorting to picking the sugar residue out from under my finger nails. Eww, enough of that because today I found heaven...

I am pleased to share with you Bakerella.com!!!! How amazing does this banana pudding look (and it ain't banana on toast)!



I also just found this amazing s'morey cupcake goodness! It's got cupcake, it's got marshmallow, it's got hot oozing chocolate. I need to leave this site, it is actually becoming dangerous.

Dear paper crane, can you fly?

I ♥ origami, I think it is such a superb pass-time.

Today at work I received a press release, this is standard it happens every day, but today I opened the envelope and out fell four delightful little paper cranes. They had been folded from the medical information leaflet you get inside pill packets.... a little bit cool.

If you consult doctor Google, you will of course end up at Wikihow at some point, but hey kids today Wiki doesn't let us down, there are simple instructions for origami beginners to follow. Even more exciting, whilst on my google image rampage I found Made by Jo on Etsy (oh how we love Etsy). Jo has a delightful store where you can buy tens or hundreds of paper cranes already made for you. This can only mean one thing, paper crane theme party time!! Go ahead and fill your life with origami delights!! I have just ordered the 24 printed cranes for USD$6, yeee!!!