Tobias and the Angel

Another must visit. This shop had me ooh-ing and ahh-ing like crazy. From vintage fabrics and furnishings to running block print workshops, there's lots of inspiration to be had in this little haven.

The burbs

At the weekend I took a brief trip to London and was spoilt with the loveliest afternoon tea at The Orange Pekoe. I've been once before and it's most definitely one of my fave places for Afternoon Tea, especially because it's near where I used to live... ahh, I love the green burbs of London. Anyway, if you're ever in the Barnes area, a visit to the Orange Pekoe is a must! It's got a fantastic selection of luscious teas and they do to-die-for cakes.

Talking of cakes, where Uni is tailing off, I now have more time on my hands and so here's a little something I knocked up this very evening - so yummy:

Banana and Walnut Cake

150g softened butter

300g Self raising flour

3 ripe bananas

120g soft brown sugar

Dash of lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon rind

Handful of walnuts

2 eggs

2tbsp olive oil

I'm a lazy cook (life's too short for spending hours fussing in the kitchen) so I like to just chuck things together and see what happens. So where you should normally "fold" and mix in a "figure of eight", I kind of just bish, bash and bosh a recipe and more often than not, the results are truly tasty.

1. Mash banana with a fork until truly mushy.
2. Chuck in soft butter, sugar, lemon juice & rind, walnuts and mix thoroughly.
3. Add half the flour and one egg and fold until cake mix is wet again.
4. Add remaining flour and 2nd egg and mix thoroughly.
5. Mix in 2tbsp of olive oil (this will make the cake lovely and moist).
6. Place the cake mix in greased tin and cook for approx. 50 mins at 180 degrees.
7. Et voila.

Enjoy!!

Turntableware

Liking Ella Doran and Kavel Rafferty's vintage vinyl-inspired tableware.

Join their vinyl junkies evening on 17th June from 6pm - 9pm where they'll be launching this range.

Ella Doran Shop, 46 Cheshire Street, London, E1 6EH.

Summer tunes...

Summer Camp - Ghost Train (viral) from Paddy Power on Vimeo.

Cycle Chic Sunday

Although I've had my head buried in books for the last stretch of my degree work that's got to be in for 8am tomorrow (eek!), I had to escape to keep my sanity and so I booked me and the hubby to do a bicycle maintenance workshop by the lovely people at HEN who are running "Nice Green Sundays"; little workshops based around green living like recycled art, gardening etc.

Anyway, the workshop got me excited about using my bicycle more and I was truly inspired by the Cycle Chic movement and stumbled across Cycle Chic Sundays. How cool to get together on bikes, go for a leisurely ride, accompanied by a spritzer and a bit of lunch?! Sounds like my kinda Sunday!!

So now I want to find fellow ladies up for either a fortnightly or monthly Cycle Chic Sunday!! If you're local-ish to Hastings/ St Leonards and fancy getting together for a Sunday ride with a spot of lunch and vino, send me a message at jen@penandpringle.co.uk . Or even if you're not local, it might be nice to venture further afield! Just pop me an email. x

Make mine a...

...Cucumber Gimlet.

Loving this little concoction from Apartment Therapy.

Retail Therapy

I LOVE the V&A shop as they have such lovely things and at such good prices. I'm such a sucker for children's books and toys and this little chess set is most definitely one for my list.

Thirty Pence Pot

I love a rummage in a charity shop and I couldn't resist this little storage pot that cost me all of 30p. This'll be lovely in my kitchen, maybe as a sugar pot!

Stairway to heaven

Orla Kiely is one of my design icons and I'm currently getting inspiration for homes as I'm (fingers crossed) in the process of buying a period house. Saw this happy hallway and fell in love.

Source: Living etc

Paper Planet

ooh la la. A little something for you paperphiles. Check out this paper globe that you can colour in. And get this, when placed on its own, the globe sits at 23.4 degrees - the exact tilt of the earth's axis. Genius.

Source: twentytwentyone

Let's Colour

I love creativity that's used to make positive changes and I've been following the Let's Colour Project, a worldwide initiative that works with local communities to spread colour all over the world.

They've recently announced the next locations to undergo the Let's Colour makeover however it's during my final month of preparing to graduate :-( but I'm sure there'll be another chance!!!

Anyway, check out this inspiring vid of the work achieved so far: