L E O N I E . W I S E

the garden party

this is your invitation to my summer garden party.
you are all welcome to attend – bring a friend if you wish – the more the merrier.
we’ll sit in the sunshine, sipping refreshing summer drinks, dressed in whatever we feel like wearing.

here’s a glimpse of what i’m wearing and will greet you with when you arrive.

you know… sometimes what a girl needs is a fabulous party frock… something she wouldn’t normally take off the rack, let alone try on (or buy). the beauty on the left is a dress i bought early this month. i am totally in love with this dress – it’s silk and cotton, frightfully girly and made by one of my new favourite clothing labels odd molly uncorporated.

of course, a girl always needs fresh flowers in her home. these peonies were smiling at me in the supermarket this morning – the perfect adornment for any summer garden party

and since it is summer, and so very english, please join me for a nice refreshing glass of pimms to sip joyfully in the afternoon sun. or sit back and relax with a light non-alcoholic iced tea if that’s what you’d prefer.

bittoo for two in the scooterworks window, london

i’ve actually been struggling a bit to find the joy in anything recently and the march one word challenge over at shutter sisters was a really great challenge for me and a way to drag myself up out of my self-dug misery pit.

the word for march is beautiful and today i decided to look for beauty in less obvious places. the photo i chose is one i took today, taking some time out of my busy work day (which i almost never do) to take a walk to a favourite (though very infrequently visited) cafe about 10 mins from where i work. it’s a quirky little coffee shop with mismatched furniture that doesn’t sell food, though people are welcome to take their own and stay a while, pull up a book or magazine or hang out with friends. they serve fabulous coffee and are open every night until the last customer leaves.

it’s got two amazingly cute little bikes in the front window, one of which i snapped with my new 50mm f/1.8 lens. it’s a wee rusty red & white bike with two blue seats that i’m sure i would have loved to play on had i been a whole lot smaller (and allowed to leave the shop with it!)

thanks again to shutter sisters for reminding me to look for beauty – it really is everywhere i choose to see it.