Mydeco Blog Awards!

I can truly say its been a mad couple of weeks and I am all LDF'd out!! It has been phenomenal going to all the events and not to mention the private parties, a girl can really get use to this. I loved having the opportunity in reporting back for Mydeco and for the London Design Festival. I still have a few highlights to share with you but will do so in the upcoming weeks...

One of these I will share with you today which was the Mydeco Blog Awards Ceremony held a couple of weeks ago at the V & A. It was lovely to see all the bloggers again and to finally meet Katie from Confessions of a Design Geek, winner of Best Interior Blog in the UK. It was also a pleasure meeting fellow blogger Carole from Dear Designers. So great to interact with all these people that share the same passion and drive as you.

It was a lovely evening with the company of Jo and Daniel from Mydeco and not to mention the lovely US interior designer Brad Ford  who presented us with our award, quite surreal really. 

I cannot thank enough for all those that voted and made this possible for me and for all the support I have received from Mydeco. Thank you guys, I have really enjoyed the ride!

 The amazing Awards designed by the lovely guys from Splendid.

The man himself Brad Ford handing over my award.

An ecstatic me!

The amazing other blog winners! From left: Jenny & Melissa from Puff and Flock, James from Weheart, Katie from Confessions of a Design Geek and me :)

Happy Monday - And then the fight started...

One year, I decided to buy my mother-in-law a cemetery plot as a Christmas gift.

The next year, I didn't buy her a gift.

When she asked me why, I replied,

"Well, you still haven't used the gift I bought you last year!"

And that's how the fight started....

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My wife and I were watching "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" while we were in bed.

I turned to her and said, 'Do you want to have sex?'

'No,' she answered.

I then said, 'Is that your final answer?'

She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying, 'Yes.'

So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend."

And that's when the fight started...

*****************************************************************

My wife was standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror.
She was not happy with what she saw and said to me,

"I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly.
I really need you to pay me a compliment.'

I replied, "Your eyesight's damn near perfect."

And then the fight started........

*****************************************************************

My wife sat down next to me as I was flipping channels.

She asked, "What's on TV?"

I said, "Dust."

And then the fight started...

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More Literary Trivia

After his avowed enemy Randolph Churchill went into hospital to have a benign tumur removed, Evelyn Waugh said 'What a typical triumph of modern science to find the only part of Randolph that was not malignant and remove it'.

Sir Walter Scott and Percy Bysshe Shelley used five other pseudonyms. Thackeray used 11 and Jonathan Swift fifteen. Georges Simenon used 23 and John Creasey a massive 25. But way out in front with 325 was the Russian comedian (born 1868) Konstantin Arsenivich Mikhailov.

The largest ever British publication was the 1,112 volume British Parliamentary Papers published by the Irish University Press . The full set weighs over three tons. Its production involved £15,00 of gold ingots and the skins of 34,000 Indian goats.

When Noel Coward was told that an intellectually challenged actor had blown his brains out, he said 'He must have been an incredibly good shot'.

Timothy Dexter wrote a book in 1802 called 'A Pickle for the Knowing Ones'. It had no punctuation at all. In 1838 he added a page with various grammatical appendages - colons, semi-colons, commas, exclamation marks, etc. He suggested that these were for readers to scatter throughout the text wherever they wished.

The phrase 'Right on' appears in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (Act 3 scene 2).

Honoré de Balzac wrote 'Le Père Goriot' (one of my favourite books) in forty days to pay off his debts. He kept himself going with endless cups of black coffee and worked around the clock.

When a woman she didn't like said 'I can't bear fools', Dorothy Parker responded 'Apparently your mother didn't have the same difficulty'.

Denise Robins once told Barbara Cartland she had written eighty-seven books. 'That's nothing,' Cartland replied, 'I've written 145'. 'I see,' said Robins, 'one a year!'.

The original title proposed for 'Pride and Prejudice' was 'First Impressions' while 'War and Peace' was to have been 'All's well that ends well'. 'Of Mce and Men' would have been 'Something that happened' and the proposed title for 'Gone with the Wind' was 'Ba Ba Black Sheep'.

Charlotte Bronte published her first book of poetry privately - it sold a massive two copies!

Oliver St John Gogarty was once involved in a law suit with a fellow senator. When asked if he thought it would come to a battle of wits, he responded 'No, I wold never fight an unarmed man'.

Pick A Chair, It's ProjectUDesign!

Over across the pond something quite exciting is happening. Have you heard of ProjectUDesign?  Let me enlighten you. It is basically a competition developed by BiOH, Century Furniture, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and Ultrasued. Students from SCAD had to design eco-friendlier wing chairs which are made of soy-based foam and upholstery made with recycled materials. 

Starting with 15 students they have now reached 4 finalists. What's great is you can take part by voting for them on facebook.

Such a great opportunity to get involved for such a great cause. Interior design is great but even better when we are doing something that is friendlier to the environment. 

So go on, help out by voting for your favourite deign. My personal favourite is the Bunscombe design, but they are all so great so its only fair to show them all here on my blog. Go on pick your favourite wing chair!

The contest will run through until October 19th 

Solitude

Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air
In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire;
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.

Blest, who can unconcern`dly find
Hours, days, and years, slide soft away
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day.

Sound sleep by night; study and ease
Together mix`d, sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please
With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

[CARTOON] How old are the Flintstones?

Early Flintstones commercials

<center><br /><a href="http://pastexpiry.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAzTl2vxemPkPvSxgBvre1-jNCPCx4dndGMmhlMqtm_dn1GCgilmueh5IXqIV1Qkp331NFEGBjVZubGjoLWYIN4LeMPUEjGVyWqtATRiCwC5Yk2GpUMoeVzbJw4xmFMe4QPRnrBMEtvyg/s320/The+Flintstones+(1960).jpg" title="[CARTOON] How old are the Flintstones?. images, pictures, Flintstones, animated, cartoon, entertainment, prehistoric, spoof, " border="0"></a><br><br />Courtesy of <a href="http://pastexpiry.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Past Expiry Cartoon</a></center><br />
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Felicity and Kara

Strictly Come Dancing begins in earnest tonight. I really do enjoy this show. The music, the dancing, the glitter, the celebrities, the professional dancers, the cynical comments of the judges, the intrigue, and the suspense are all great sources of amusement.

Felicity Kendal OBE (born 25th September 1946) became a household name almost overnight after she landed the lead role of Barbara Good in the hugely successful 1970s BBC sitcom The Good Life. The show was a huge hit, attracting over 17 million viewers at its peak. Felicity became an overnight sex symbol with her tomboy character her dungarees and wellies. She's still my number one sex symbol!

Felicity was born in Warwickshire, England but raised in India where her parents ran a classical travelling theatre company. She made her stage debut at 9 months old as a changeling in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Although she is still remembered for The Good Life she has had a number of other hits under her belt such as Solo, The Mistress, Rosemary & Thyme and most recently in the hugely popular revival of family favourite Doctor Who.

64 year old Felicity Kendal will be dancing with Vincent Simone.

Another girl who struck me as rather attractive on the preview show was Kara Tointon. Not being a watcher of soap operas this was the first time I had ever seen her but apparently – and not surprisingly - this star of Eastenders was voted 'Sexiest Actress' at the 2008 British Soap Awards.

In 2008, Kara took part in the Sport Relief version of Strictly, partnering Mark Ramprakash, and won.

Kara Tointon will be dancing with Strictly new boy Artem Chigvintsev.

I shall also be enjoying Claudia Winkelman’s ‘It takes two’ at 6.30pm every weeknight which keeps us up to date with all the latest gossip and practising.