Wintery Pursuits

This week, the first snow has fallen, Cambridge is resting beneath a powdery blanket of snow, and I am officially in wintery mode.

I always think there is something so magical about this time of year; the peacefulness of the English countryside frosted in white, the sound of the Cambridge college chapel bells ringing out against the lamplit cobbled streets, bundling up against the chill in snuggly layers, and the excuse to spent cold, dark evenings hibernating indoors in style. These are a few of my favourite ways to spend the season:

1. Indulging in all the most wonderful festive traditions. Deck the halls (or at least your own living room), go ice skating at an outdoor rink, listen to carollers singing outdoor, drink mulled wine, bake gingerbread, and snuggle indoors with hot chocolate and the most wonderfully cheesy holiday movies you can find.

2. Spending chilly evenings at a wonderfully grand old theatre or concert hall. Each year since moving to England, I look forward to the English National Ballet performing The Nutcracker (my very favourite ballet) at the London Coliseum, and this year is no different. My favourite Christmas tradition (I feel like an excited small child being read the most wonderful bed time fairy tale as I watch the ballerinas leap and twirl around the stage).

3. Play in the snow. If the snow falls where you live, make the most of it; build a snowman, have a snowball fight, take pictures of your favourite spots beneath a fluffy white blanket and wear your sparkliest jewels and snuggliest layers (but don’t forget the sensible footwear!).

4. Spend an entire weekend blissfully hibernating. When the weather is too cold and grizzly to fathom venturing outdoors, practice the art of blissful hibernation instead. Light your favourite scented candles, put on your favourite tunes, take a bubble bath, drink champagne and watch back-to-back Audrey Hepburn movies.

5. Throw a fantabulous soiree. Host a small but darling dinner party (complete with whimsical party favours), a movie marathon (with a popcorn bar), a board game night (with retro snacks and scrabble boards) or an afternoon tea party for your girlfriends.

6. Try a new recipe. I love putting my stove to good use on cold evenings (all part of the blissful hibernation) and have been baking homemade bread, pears poached in red wine and goats cheese tartlets. Delicious smells make a house feel like a home!

7. Indulge in decadent small pleasures. In winter, when hidden beneath thick, wooly layers, the temptation can be to hop out of bed and into the nearest warm clothes. But in my book, there is something so luxurious about slathering on a layer of decadent body lotion and slipping into the most gorgeous, silky lingerie I own (it’s all the more special because only I know it’s there).

8. Upgrade everyday essentials. As with the above, there is something wonderful about your everyday essentials having a touch of the fabulous about them. I’m gradually replacing all my tights, tshirts, sweaters, nightwear and other ‘ordinary’ wardrobe essentials with beautifully silky versions that feel a little more indulgent (hello, cashmere socks on icy days!).

9. Send a flurry of snail mail to friends near and far. Who doesn’t love getting post that isn’t a bill? Make your dear friends around the world smile with some delightful post in the mailbox. Hand-write a letter, make a list of all the things you love about them, spray it with your favourite perfume, pop in a few things you know they will adore and pop it in the post.

10. Do one thing in your own city you’ve always meant to try. It might be a wonderful museum you’ve always meant to visit, or a restaurant you’ve longed to try, or a neighbourhood you’ve never visited. Last weekend, I was lucky enough to go to the annual Carols from Kings service with the Clever Boyfriend (who is now a fellow at Kings College) – a beloved Cambridge tradition that I would watch on the BBC every year on Christmas Day with my family – and it was even more magical and moving in person and reminded me to always play tourist in your own city.

And with that, I’m off to put on my Ratpack Christmas album!

What are some of your favourite wintery adventures? I’d love to hear!

Love, Miss B xx

P.S. Just a reminder that you can now find me on Pinterest (I even have a board dedicated to my favourite wintery pursuits).

Autumnal Pursuits

Here in Cambridge, the wheel of the seasons has turned and autumn has arrived in a flurry of umber leaves. Although I am at my happiness when the skies are blue and the air balmy, I treasure the fact that in England, we experience each season in turn (a novelty to a girl who grew up in Australia).

As the leaves begin to fall and the evenings grow longer, I love watching the countryside change and then racing indoors after bracing walks to spend cosy nights indoors. These are a few of my favourite ways to spend the autumn (I’ll be aiming to check them all of again this season):

1. Leisurely weekend walks in all the most beautiful areas of my city as the leaves change colour – not missing a single opportunity to jump in a big pile of crunchy leaves underfoot, of course. I’ll be strolling along the Backs in Cambridge (the beautiful paths that line the River Cam, with magnificent views of all the grandest colleges), my family’s neighbourhood of Chiswick in West London, and the beautiful London parks.

2. Homemade pumpkin pies. The sweet, nutmeggy taste of my mother’s pumpkin pies is one of my earliest memories, and there is nothing quite as delicious as the smell that fills the house as it bakes in the oven.

3. Making the home decadently cosy; an inviting haven on cold, dark evenings. I’ll be stocking my place with gorgeous scented candles (to make coming home each evening that little bit more wonderful), good books and board games for rainy weekends, beautiful lamps to cast a warm glow, some jazz tunes and a few bottles of champagne for romantic evenings, fluffy pillows and snuggly blankets for cosying up.

4. Visiting new galleries and museums on grey days. When the skies outside are steely, I love venturing indoors for a hearty dose of cultural enlightenment in the form of a new exhibits or previously unexplored museums. I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve never visited more than a few rooms of the British Museum, so that is at the top of my list, along with the marvellous galleries around the Upper East Side when I head to New York later this month.

5. Spend a whole afternoon lazily browsing the shelves of a favourite bookshop, or sitting in a coffee shop with a stack of good reads. I love getting lost in the wonderful second hand bookshops of Cambridge, or spending hours lazily reading the papers over coffee and cake at Fitzbillies.

6. Visiting the farmer’s markets for new season produce. And then turning it into delicious soups and tartelets.

7. Apple-picking in the local orchard. Every year, the Clever Boyfriend and I ride our bikes (or amble through riverbank meadows for a wonderful hour) to the Granchester Orchards (a Cambridge treasure, where generations of students idle away sunny weekends; Lord Byron even immortalised it in a poetic ode). There, we sit beneath the apple trees for for tea and scones from the little outdoor cafe, say hello to the happy cows and geese in the meadows, and then cycle home with out baskets creaking beneath the weight of the freshly-picked apples and pears.

8. Packing a picnic (or better yet, an overnight bag) and venturing further afield, where the air is clean and the scenery beautiful. I love autumnal weekends away, even if they’re in my own city (see: last year’s ‘staycation’). This year, I’m planning a romantic weekend trip to Oxford (where I took the above picture) or the beautiful Cotswolds.

9. Changing my beauty routine to match my mood. Plummy nail polish, bright berry lips, winged eyeliner and glitter eyelids for when sugary pastels no longer feel appropriate.

10. Refreshing my wardrobe with beautiful new-season essentials. There’s something so satisfying about taking everything out of my wardrobe, having a good old clearout, storing away my summery dresses for the season and replacing them with snuggly new buys in the form of a gorgeous coat, cashmere jumpers and crisp new basics.

What are you favourite things to do at this time of year?

Love, Miss B xx

In the Wilderness

Last weekend, I ticked another item off my ‘30 Things to do Before I’m 30‘ list; I took a day off from my day job/real life, hopped on a train to Oxfordshire, and spent the weekend in the blissful Cotswolds countryside at Wilderness Festival with my friends at Hunter.

Now I’ve never been to a festival before, but I’m fairly sure this wasn’t your usual music festival. Set on an aristocrat’s rambling country estate (complete with manor house, rolling hills and meadows and two large lakes), it was a celebration of art, nature, creativity and music. Of course there were bands (we listened to The Temper Trap as the sun set) and an obligatory sea of pop-up tents in a neighbouring meadow*, but there were also literary lectures, philosophical debates, art and craft classes, yoga, horse riding, rowing, vintage markets, a prohibition-era speakeasy, midnight masked balls in the woods and spectacular banquets (Yotam Ottolenghi’s feast was really rather special). The whole weekend had an air of magic about it; from the thespians nestled in the woods telling tales of magical far-off lands, to the festival-goers lazing about in the long grass with flowers in their hair as the sounds of a New Orleans jazz band floated on the warm breeze from across a meadow and over a dale, I felt as though I had stumbled into a real-life reenactment of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.Along with my friend Dearne, I mostly spent the weekend wearing floaty white dresses, raspberry wellies and flowers in my hair (and dreaming of running off to be a ‘Temperley Bohemian’ more often), pondering the meaning of life and happiness, splashing about in the lake, treasure-hunting at the vintage stalls and dancing the charleston to a jazz-age brass band at 1:00am.

Beneath that golden light and restorative air of a summer’s day in the English countryside, I felt as though all my cares in the world melted away. I can’t wait to return next year!What is the most wonderful festival or celebration you’ve ever been to? I’d love to hear your suggestions!

Love, Miss B xx

* I’m slightly terrified of camping (I need a shower and a fluffy bed), so we stayed at the charming Bear Hotel in the postcard-perfect Woodstock just down the road.

Thank you Hunter for the most magical weekend!