Seeing RED

Anyone who knows me well is aware that black is frequently my colour du jour but today I realised that several things I wish to write about all for under the same vibrant shade that is RED!! Firstly, huge congrats to the charming Mr Eddie Redmayne who has won a Tony for his performance in RED.  I was lucky enough to go and see it when it was at the Donmar and it blew me away.  I wish Alfred Molina could have won too..his performance as the tortured Rothko was phenomenal.  Despite the efforts of my own personal art historian whizz (the boy) I never fully 'got' Rothko.  Even when I was taken round the marvellous retrospective at Tate Modern and had the boy go on and on about his genius...well, I kinda nodded along but between you and me, I was left a little cold.  John Logan's play and the astonishing performances from the two man cast actually made me re-consider and want to go back and look at his paintings all over again.  Another wow factor of the production was that they actually painted the sets live so the paintings, as backdrops, appeared before your eyes.

I have been pining to add this set of new Penguin books to my already over-filled shelves.  Part of a collaboration between Penguin and (RED) you can also give yourself a hearty pat on the back when you purchase them as 50% of the profits will be going to the Global Fund to help eliminate Aids in Africa.

I have to say that I think the cover for 'The House of Mirth' is my favourite..but that might be a personal weakness for the materialistic heroine Lily Bart slipping through,  Click on the link to Penguin above to check out the whole collection.

Now for a moment of huge self-indulgence..My latest craze is doing tapestry whilst slouched in front of trash tv on my increasingly rare nights in.  I have just finished one that I have been working on for SEVEN years! There is no decent excuse for this other than a) my laziness and b) I completely forgot about it, however, like all trends, it has re-emerged! The kits come from Jolly Red and I urge you to get involved.  My particular favourites are the Hearts and Stars patterns as they're in such vibrant colours, I feel slightly less grannyish.  I intend to have mine backed on bright fuschia velvet, not the conventional black as seen below.

Finally I have been pining after this H&M Garden Collection limited edition jacket for ages! I elbow fought my way to a store the day it was released but to no avail.  Finally after several weeks of stalking it on Ebay (and refusing to pay stupidly over the odds), I've managed to get it.  It's two dress sizes bigger than I am but I don't care, the exaggerated shoulders and rose embellishment are worthy of a couture piece and having it slightlybigger than I need it serves to emphasise this more! Expect pictures of me giving it it's test run soon!

My inspiration.....the wonderful Winona in Beetlejuice, have always had a complete girl-crush on her..