PLAYFULNESS + CURIOSITY Page 7 of 20

Honeymoon (5): Pasta masterclass!

Posted on 2013-06-29 at 9:00 am.

And the honeymoon story continues… While at Borgo Santo Pietro we couldn’t help but indulge ourselves in a private pasta cookery class with the hotel’s Executive Chef. It was amaaaaazing. I just felt so happy in that kitchen, and one of the things that we made (the fresh tortellini stuffed with caramelised pear on a tarragon pesto) was possibly the best thing I have ever tasted in my life. Must buy a pasta machine…

Heaven on a plate – fresh tortellini stuffed with caramelised pear on a tarragon pesto

You can read my other honeymoon posts here: (1) Florence / (2) Castel Monastero / (3) Winetasting in Tuscany / (4) Borgo Santo Pietro / (5) Pasta masterclass / (6) Pisa and home

Honeymoon (4): Borgo Santo Pietro

Posted on 2013-06-26 at 9:13 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Continuing the story of our dreamy honeymoon (which seems like a long time ago now, even though it was only in April)…

We spent three blissful days at Borgo Santo Pietro, a stunning Italian villa in the Tuscan countryside, which turns out to have been awarded ‘Best Boutique Hotel in the World’ in 2012! I am not surprised – it felt like you were staying at a rich friend’s gorgeous country home. It is hard to find words to describe this place, so I will let the pictures do the talking.

This chandelier was in the toilet!

One night the kitchen was doing a special Tuscan dinner, but we had already sampled so much rich food we decided to opt for something more simple in their outdoor bar (in the picture above). And as everyone else was at the dinner, we ended up with the whole place to ourselves, with our own personal barman, a roaring log fire and deep comfy sofas to chill in as we sampled the best the local vineyard had to offer. We talked long into the night about the shared life we have ahead of us, and I think it was actually my favourite night of the whole honeymoon.

Although the days were warm, the nights were chilly, so we spent a fair bit of time by the log fires inside the house too – so cosy.

Such a special place…

You can read my other honeymoon posts here: (1) Florence / (2) Castel Monastero / (3) Winetasting in Tuscany / (4) Borgo Santo Pietro / (5) Pasta masterclass / (6) Pisa and home

Honeymoon (2): Castel Monastero in Tuscany

Posted on 2013-06-09 at 12:35 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

After Florence we headed off into the Tuscan countryside for some chill out time in a beautiful old converted monastery. I had read about Castel Monastero in several ‘luxury spa’ and ‘best hotels’ books – the name kept popping up again and again so we decided to try it out. The place was perfect for us after the manic few weeks that precede a wedding. It was so peaceful and relaxed, giving us plenty of time to reflect on the brilliant time we had at our wedding, as well as talk about the kind of marriage and life we want to share in the years ahead.

We borrowed the hotel’s bikes and cycled past the olive groves surrounding the estate, soaked in the spa (which we had completely to ourselves, complete with strange dead sea salt bath) and then came back to the stunning hotel bar for very welcome cocktails!

One of my favourite parts of this section of our honeymoon was the stunning Gordon Ramsay restaurant in the basement of the hotel. ‘Cantina’ is built inside a vaulted wine cellar, reached down a narrow set of uneven stone steps lit only with candles.

These photos don’t really do the place justice. It was so atmospheric and the food was divine, paired with delicious wines from the hotel’s own vineyard. They happily made things to order if what you fancied wasn’t on the menu, and nothing was rushed. We ended up eating here three times!

We discovered the best creme brulee in the world…

While at Castel Monastero we also hired a driver and went on a long tour of the local vineyards. Such fun! More on that in my next honeymoon post…

Every day of our honeymoon felt like a precious gift of time to relax, soak up the beauty of the Italian countryside, and spend time together. We are grateful to our families and wedding guests who contributed to our honeymoon as our wedding present. The gift of travel was the perfect gift for us.

You can read my other honeymoon posts here: (1) Florence / (2) Castel Monastero / (3) Winetasting in Tuscany / (4) Borgo Santo Pietro / (5) Pasta masterclass / (6) Pisa and home

Honeymoon part 1 – Florence

Posted on 2013-05-24 at 9:21 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

And so to the honeymoon story… After our brilliant wedding (pictures of which are coming soon), we headed off to Italy for our honeymoon. I don’t know what it is about the word ‘honeymoon’ but it has a dreaminess about it which perfectly describes how you feel when you are on one.

We flew into Pisa and took a train through the Italian countryside to Florence, a beautiful city packed with history and art at every turn.

We only had one night in the city, so spent many hours walking the cobbled streets, strolling through the Boboli Gardens, basking in the sunshine and eating gelato.

Borgo San Jacopo inside Salvatore Ferragamo’s beautiful Hotel Lungarno where we stayed

We had promised ourselves that we would eat and drink whatever delicious feasts we fancied while away, so we started with dinner at Borgo San Jacopo, a fine dining restaurant I had visited on my own a few weeks before Mr K and I first met.

Back then, as I sat by the window overlooking the River Arno shortly after my 30th birthday I made a promise to myself that when I met the love of my life I would bring him here – so it was the perfect place to start out Italian honeymoon.

You should have seen Mr K’s face when the ‘amuse bouche’ appeared as a gift from the chef. I think he thought this was the world’s tiniest starter (or some kind of culinary joke – but it tasted delicious!)…

Pop back soon for Honeymoon part 2, when we venture into the Italian countryside for a taste of Tuscany…

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You can read my other honeymoon posts here: (1) Florence / (2) Castel Monastero / (3) Winetasting in Tuscany / (4) Borgo Santo Pietro / (5) Pasta masterclass / (6) Pisa and home

Wedding countdown: Hen do!

Posted on 2013-05-20 at 1:49 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

It feels a little strange writing about this now when my hen do was back in late March, but I made a decision to take 5 weeks off around my wedding and honeymoon, and that included virtually no blogging or social media – so now I am back I want to share it all with you, even if it is a little late!

For those of you who have never heard of a ‘hen do’, it is what brides call the party they have with their girl friends before getting married (and boys have a ‘stag do’). In the US I think the closest thing would be a ‘bachelorette party’, although hen dos here tend to include going away for several days.

Anyway, because we had decided on a tiny wedding, I felt strange about the idea of having a large hen do with lovely friends who weren’t coming to the wedding, so instead I decided to have the World’s Smallest Hen Do (WSHD) with just me and my best friend Heather.

Heather and I met at university nearly 20 years ago, and have been like sisters ever since. Everyone used to joke that we seem to come as a pair, often getting us mixed up (although I don’t think we look alike!). We were actually born on the same day, so share lots of Taurean traits, and have a great excuse for celebrating our birthdays together!

Tradition has it that the bride-to-be gets dressed up in a lot of pink (often including variations on cowboys/tiaras/feathers etc) and totters around town in very high heels and a very short dress, drinking a lot and cackling wildly. But that isn’t really my scene, so we went for something else. For the WSHD Heather and I decided to take a trip down memory lane, and go to a spa up in the North East of England, near where we went to university (in Durham). It was a blissful few days, where we got to catch up properly on the details of our lives, get pampered, skim stones at the beach, and blow away the cobwebs on a blustery visit to the coast. Just my kind of trip away. Here are some pictures from this very special time…

Zipping off in Heather’s sports car for a few days away

We went via one of the most fabulous bookshops I have ever been too – Barter books, inside an old railway station. (I know, who goes to a bookshop on their hen do? But you have to realise this was MY hen do and I love bookshops!)

Off to the lovely Doxford Hall hotel & spa

We got lost in the hotel’s maze…

And every day Heather surprised me with a little gift to help me prepare for married life!

We spent one wonderful evening an incredible restaurant IN THE TREES!

(Above three images via The Treehouse Restaurant)

The Treehouse Restaurant is in the grounds of Alnwick Castle, where Harry Potter was filmed, and is as magical as you might imagine, and a whole lot more delicious than we had expected. You reach it via a wooden walkway and it is literally in the treetops.

(The North Face coat over a summer dress is never a good look, but it was freeeeeezing!)

We were blown along by crazy winds out at Bamburgh Castle

…where the shoreline reminded me of Cape Cod

…And we skimmed stones near the lifeboats at Seahouses, famous for the incredibly brave local resident Grace Darling (read more about her amazing story here)

Of course by then it was time for tea…

And we couldn’t resist this sweet little local shop with such a brilliant sign in the window (our kind of place).

We spent hours reminiscing about old times (shared adventures at uni, in Japan where we have both lived for several years, on holidays in Thailand, Greece and more…) and looked ahead to our plans and dreams for the future. What a special few days it was. We have decided to make it an annual thing, to get away in Spring for a few days, just the two of us.

And then it started to snow! We had to race back through the countryside to make it in time for my final wedding dress fitting, and this is what awaited when we got there:

A rowdy, drunken, sun-soaked hen do it wasn’t, but my kind of hen do it was. Thank you Heather!

Thought for the week (13)

Posted on 2013-05-13 at 9:00 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Time for some more Monday morning ponderings… we are bringing back our ‘Thought for the week’ series after a little break. And we are going to kick off with this!

Baby, you’re a firework. You’d better believe it. Go out and light up that sky…

I love business trips – wandering Boston

Posted on 2013-02-07 at 9:09 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

A few days ago I got back from a fantastic trip to the US, where I filmed a series of videos for this exciting new project with Lilla Rogers (more on that in the coming days!). When we had wrapped up filming I had a couple of days to myself in Boston. I love having a bit of down time in a new place after several days of work, to explore it and be inspired whilst gathering my thoughts before plunging back into my life back home.

Boston is a particularly good city for walking, and for sitting in cafes, and I did much of both those things. I wanted to share a few photos from my wanderings, so here you go… I just love the wreaths hung on so many of the brick buildings and lampposts, even though Christmas is long gone. They are so pretty and welcoming, and bring a warmth to winter.

I stayed at the lovely Encore B&B, a very cool little place inside a beautiful house owned by a former architect and theatre director. It is in the heart of South End, and I loved having the attic room with a balcony looking out over the snowy city.

The Encore B&B – My home from home for the duration of my stay in Boston

I feel very lucky to have this kind of business trip!

Thought for the week (6)

Posted on 2013-01-28 at 9:00 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

You don’t need anyone’s permission to do what you love.

Who is going to stop you? No one, I hope.

The finished product – a very special business sign

Posted on 2013-01-10 at 9:00 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Noren are beautiful, functional curtains traditionally used outside business premises in Kyoto to show that they are open, and also to provide a simple divider between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’. In yesterday’s post I shared a glimpse into the special 1-1 workshop I had with kimono designer Miura-san, who taught me how to make my very own noren for Do What You Love.

Today I want to share the finishing touches – which were added with the help of an artisan who makes her living adding the gold and silver flourishes to hand made silk kimonos (see above), from her attic studio at the top of her narrow wooden Kyoto house. It was a true privilege to see inside this cottage industry, and be shown the ropes by a veteran of 50+ years.

Firstly I was shown how to create a stencil of my design using sticky back plastic…

… then we added a kind of glue and carefully laid the silver leaf in place.

This was hoovered off…

and left my design, precisely outlined in silver. The long strip of linen was then cut into the original three panels which were sewn together and looped at the top to allow the curtain to hang from bamboo.

And here is the final result! The two birds flying towards the moon represent possibility, support and freedom.

In the bottom right hand corner the letters ‘DWYL’ are written in the style of a Japanese hanko-seal.

It is my very own handmade noren from Kyoto and I love it!

The magic of noren

Posted on 2013-01-09 at 9:00 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Making my own noren in a Kyoto studio

One of my most precious experiences in Japan was designing and making a ‘noren’ curtain under the watchful eye of the brilliant designer Miura-san in Nishijin, the traditional textile district of Kyoto. I started writing about this some time back in this post (‘Behind the scenes’) and this post (‘Sketching out’), but did not get round to finishing my story. However I really want to show you the rest of it, so here we go…

A noren is a fabric divider which hangs across the entrance of businesses all across Kyoto, providing a layer of privacy when the door is open, as well as protection from the sun and wind, and advertising space to announce what the shop or business sells. They are hung up at the beginning of the day to show a shop is open for business. Often made of linen and strung from bamboo, they usually feature delicate ink paintings or beautifully drawn Chinese characters. They are at once mysterious and inviting. And I really wanted to learn how to make one. So I asked Miura-san if he would teach me, and I made one for Do What You Love.

First I sketched it out, then I stretched the linen onto a genius contraption (below)…

We mixed up some rice wine ‘neri’ (a gluey solution which isn’t actually glue, but blocks the colour penetrating the fabric)…

…spread it over the areas of the design I wanted to keep the colour of the linen…

…and then brushed a sandy substance over it

Once that was dry, we brushed off the excess sand and were left with a perfectly masked version of my design…

The next stage was the part which saw the most stunning transformation – dyeing the linen in indigo dye. We cooked up the dye in the little kitchen at the back of the studio…

Painted it on with a wide bristle brush (note the bare feet – no shoes allowed inside in Japanese studios!)

These bamboo spreaders helped keep it taut as the linen dried. Love the stunning kimono backdrop – such an inspiring place to work.

We then covered it in a kind of resin to make the colour stay fast….

… and then left it to dry again.

The curtains are now nearly ready – they just need a bit of sparkly Kyoto magic, courtesy of an artisan who works from the attic of her tiny wooden house. Pop back tomorrow to see what we got up to, and what the final product looked like!