I’ve always wanted to go to a market in London: inexpensive-ish clothes, food, books and odds and ends all thrown together sounds like heaven, doesn’t it?

We spent most of our time around North London this trip, so Spitalfields Market was in my sights. I thought I was sniffing out a non-touristy part of London, but apart from this neighborhood becoming trendy of late, there has been a market at this location since the 1600s. So I’m about 400 years behind the times, but no matter. Chinese steamed buns taste delicious either way:

Just look at all this marvelousness! There are stalls of all kinds: indie seamstresses hawking their wares, vintage Penguin paperbacks, bowler hats, leather goods. The stall on the left (below) sells garlands for your hair so you can get your boho look down; pastries galore to the right:

Oh the food! Apart from the steamed buns, Matt and I consumed roughly three lunches in the span of three hours. We went to Leon (post upcoming) and fell in love with a stall called Rainforest Creations. Everything is raw and mostly sprouted. I know, I know, sounds terrible. I would have whole-heartedly agreed with you three months ago, but even though it doesn’t win you over with words like “butter” and “bacon,” I swear it is delicious. It was fresh and wonderful (who knew raw food could have so many flavors apart from “green” and “greener”?) and the colors are just amazing. We loved it so much we went back for seconds and bought thirds for dinner:

Still attempting to be a conscientious consumer on all fronts, I went easy on the buying: tricky thing when everything is fairly cheap and shiny (bit like a magpie, I am). I bought a summer striped dress for Cath (said it was made in England, so hopefully no sweatshop labor or labour) and an old Penguin edition of Gigi (when we were little, Cath and I wanted to be Leslie Caron’s Gigi. We had very little understanding of what a mistress/kept lady was, but it seemed to involve pretty dresses and walking around Paris. Done!).

I also got this sweater. It’s a brighter pink than this photo lets on.

And that was Spitalfields! Next London trip I hope to hit up another market. I don’t understand why we don’t have something similar in Atlanta. I mean, these British markets started outside and if they can have something outside in the rain and the cold, Atlanta can do it in the heat and humidity, right?

Update: Matt just pointed out this amazing blog to me called Spitalfields Life. I’m just dipping my toe in, but it looks to be amazing and is written daily by a Gentle Author. So even if you don’t have a London trip on the horizon, take a look at this blog to feel like you have your own Brick Lane tour guide.

—-

Dear Cath,

You would looooove Spitalfields and the whole east London vibe in general. It is pretty different from where we stayed in the past. Wouldn’t it be awesome if Decatur had something similar? I know there was that artist market, but it was missing the food and the vintage wares.

August seems much to far away.

LOVE,

Lar

Cath and I are nutty about London: the history, the Englishyness and the non-Englishyness (so diverse!), the food, the book shops, the shop shops, the old mixed with the new. . . we love it to bits and pieces. Last week when I visited for the first time in eight years, I really, really missed not having Cath there with me. So this post is a bit selfish (or twin-ish): a way to bring Cath with me on my trip!

“Licking the windows” (faire du lèche-vitrine = window shopping). Thrifitng and marketing abounds in London. So even if you don’t have gobs of money to spend you can do more than window lick:

I stopped by Fortnum and Mason to drool over their champagne and caviar picnic hampers and feel poor (cheapest thing was a £13 tin of tea – lordy!). Kate Middleton and the Queen were here just a week ahead of me. Our experiences differed slightly (I was shocked when no one offered me a free hamper!):

Even though it’s an incredibly congested city, the air quality (as far as cities go) is marvelous in London. Could it be the congestion fees, public transport and biker-friendly ways? I would be terrified to bike in London traffic, but almost convinced if I could lock my bike to one of these planters:

My highlight to the trip (apart from seeing old friends) was going to the super-hyped David Hockney exhibit at the Royal Academy. After hearing so many amazing things about it I thought it couldn’t be all that wonderful. Holy schmoly wholy, it was! Amazing fantasticness! I’d go so far to say it was the best exhibit I’ve ever seen (and I’m quite the museum-goer). The show was £14 which seemed steep until I saw it. Now I would gladly pay that daily to go back again and again:

London has amazing fast food, and I don’t mean hamburgers and pizza. Matt and I could easily stick to our vegetarian/gluten-free routine while going to a fast food chains around the city! This photo is from Itsu, but we also ate delicious healthy things at Leon and Pret A Manger:

Freshly juiced apple, lime and mint at Leon:

On our way to Spitalfields Market (upcoming post all about that glorious place!):

Have you guys been to London before? Where are your favorite places? Does it rank as one of your favorite cities? I love every big city I’ve been to (SF, NYC, DC, Chicago, Madrid, Paris, Rome, etc.), but London takes the (tea)cake for me!

—–

Dear Cath,

London (just like Edinburgh) does not feel whole without you. Everything we saw I tried to catalog in my head and tell you about — this blog post works much better than my old noggin.

Hope you had fun in class yesterday! See you on skype soon!

xoxoxox,

Lar

Cath and I have lived apart now for five months (minus our holiday stent in Paris), and I really, really, really don’t like it. Really, really, really. Six reallys. And it’s more of a hate rather than a dislike. I really(x 6) hate it.

We are obviously separate people living separate lives, but I’m not entirely sure I can deal with that. When we lived in Atlanta we didn’t see each other daily, but knowing that I could drop everything and be by Cath’s side in five minutes or less was key. Now I can drop everything and be by Cath’s side in 10 hours (if I had gobs of moola and no lay overs). I feel like I’ve adjusted to living abroad in every way except for that.

I really don’t feel quite whole being so far from her — it’s just one of those twin things. So in order to banish that feeling of half-ish-ness, I like looking at what her home looks like and to see what she’s up to (thank you, blog). So these photos aren’t meant to be a comparison, just a peak at how small the differences are between us each day — it makes those 10 hours distance feel more like five minutes.

—-

Dear Cath,

Miss you as per usual and can’t wait for our Skype date!

xoxox,

Lar

p.s. When are you moving here?

We’ve received a few requests about our green juice, so here’s the lowdown.

For those of you who think this looks disgusting and would rather stick to your chocolate turtle mochas (my favorite! it’s like desert in a cup for breakfast!), I totally understand. But seriously, green juice is quite tasty and instead of depleting your bod (but you taste so good Mr. Turtle Mocha!), it gives you tons of nutrients without making your body work so hard — by juicing, your body doesn’t even have to break down the fiber to get to the good stuff (wait, isn’t fiber good stuff? Yes! I’ll get back to that in a sec).

First things first, the recipe:

Our juice recipe is inspired by Kris Carr. You can of course change up what goes into your juice. When we run out of stuff, we just use what we have. We’ll also save broccoli steams from the previous night’s dinner and juice those.

If you want to see a juicing recipe in action, here’s Kris Carr making juice, not war:

No juicer? No problem!
You can make delicious green smoothies instead! There’s a great veggie-full green smoothie recipe at the bottom of this Crazy Sexy Life post.

Why bother with a juicer? Can’t I just stick to my blender?
Most definitely. A green smoothie is still uber healthy and nutrient-rich. A smoothie is also great if you need something to last you a little longer — it’s got more yummy fat from your avocado and vegan milk. The upside to juice is that it gets rid of the fiber so your body can absorb the nutrients better.

So where do you get your fiber? You eat whole veggies (and grains and legumes) in your other meals. I originally thought “ooo look at me ‘eating’ veggies in the morning, I don’t have to eat another veggie all day.” Sadly this is not the case — you are adding more delicious veg to your diet with juice (yea, you!), but you still have to eat your solid/whole veggies too. So it’s really a win-win once you get over the fact that you didn’t cheat the system (fist shake).

What do you know, you’re just a blogger!
Exactly! I’m not telling you to do this or that it is scientifically proven to enable you to climb mountains in a single leap and turn your pupils into rainbows and sparkles. Matt, Cath and I thought we would give juicing a go and see what would happen. So we’ve been drinking green juice every morning for five weeks. Usually that’s all I have for breakfast, but then I’ll have a snack before lunch (I tend to eat about every 2-3 hours). Matt eats museli and Cath eats oatmeal in addition to their green juice to get them through the first part of their day. By drinking it in the morning I definitely feel more awake and energetic. It’s not like caffeine with its jolt/instant stimulate. The energy I feel from the green juice is more continuous and never gives me a sugar crash.

We decided to blog about it just so those of you who want to try it, feel a little more encouraged. If you talked to me just six weeks ago, the idea of drinking leafy greens for breakfast would have made me look at you funny while I reached for my buttered crumpet and scrambled cheesy eggs. So I know a little information can help you get on your way.

So how about it? You guys gonna give it a go? Let us know and let us know how you feel!

Oh and don’t forget to enter our Shabby Apple Giveaway in Cath’s post below (if you don’t, I’ll be forced to post more fishy-face photos of myself on models’ bodies – creepy!):

Don’t you love “my” outfit? It’s from the Shabby Apple Inca Trail collection.

—-

Dear Kitcath,

I wanted to play Shabby Apple dress-up too. I think you look so much cuter, though I do have to say my background is better. Funny how Edinburgh can sometimes look like a dessert, huh?

Can’t wait for our skype date this weekend!

xoxoxox,

Lar

I know a lot of you well-traveled readers know about Airbnb already, but isn’t it fantastic? Cath used it last year when she went to L.A. for vacay. Matt and I used it when we first got to Scotland — we needed a temporary home for two weeks and a hotel was too pricey. And we turned to Airbnb for our recent trip to gorgeous lovely Paris.

Airbnb works two ways: you either rent an entire flat/apartment/house from someone or you rent a room and stay with your host. I know both of those options can sound sketchy. Staying in someone’s house, with their things? Or with them? Strangers?! Airbnb is based on trust, testimonials and reviews. And so far the system has worked really well. I know it might still sound sketchy, but that’s why I wanted to mention it here, and to show you some pics of the flat we stayed at in Paris.

(Those are linen sheets on the beds — ooo lala indeed!):

Don’t you love this chair I’m sitting on? I wanted to take it back with me, but it didn’t fit in my carry-on:

All our Airbnb hosts have always been super-informative about where to eat, how to get around, and provided us with clean and beautiful places to stay. Mark, our Paris host, left us with maps and detailed information on how to get to the grocery stores and use the washing machine. On top of that, his flat was just as beautiful as the photos we saw online (the photos in this post with the airbnb watermark are Mark’s) and Mark himself was such a sweet guy — we can’t wait to go back and stay at his flat again!

He even had fancy diptyque room spray in all the rooms:

There was a gorgeous back patio that looks like this in the summer (it was too chilly to use in December):

But still beautiful, with herbs in pots and lanterns with candles:

Cath blended right in:

Have you guys ever used Airbnb? We’re thinking about trying it for London, but they are a bit pricier there (i.e. the same cost as a hotel). Tell us your stories too!

p.s. Thanks you guys for all the encouragement about our new “diet” plans and all the helpful tips! I’ll let you know how we’re feeling in a few weeks time.

—-

Dear Kitcath,

Doesn’t it feel like we were in Paris together months ago? It’s been just about a month now- booo, too long!

I hope you have a really awesomely relaxed weekend — you so deserve it after the crazy, busy, stressful week you’ve had.

Oh, I’m still on my CSD cleanse even with this cold, but I’m doing more raw rather than cooked veggies. Something about uncooked spinach going down a sore throat makes the soul go cold, doesn’t it?

Love you!

Lar

p.s. I added this photo to our About page:

Helloooo Lovelies!!!

We are safely back from Pareeee and all snuggly wuggly in Edinburgh. We have loads of Paris pics to share with you — here is just one of Cath and I in Versailles — but we’ll wait until everyone has recovered from holiday-itis before we overwhelm you with pics (mainly food related).

We hope you have a most loverly, wonderful couple of days with family and friends and delicious food all ’round!

Love,

Cath and Lar

Bonjour, Lovely Readers!

We’ll be in Paris for the next six days! Our wifi situation will be touch-and-go, so we promise to take lots of pictures and share them with you when we get back.

After Paris everyone is flying to Edinburgh to spend Christmas here! Mince pies, Christmas puddings, turtle doves — and quality twin time!!! Edinburgh is close to Cath’s favorite place on Earth, so I can’t wait to run around the city with her again — and bring you guys along!

We’ll miss you this next week — but we’ll be thinking about you whilst we munch our pastries and take cheesy photos in front of the Louvre.

xoxoxo,

Lar (and Cath)

So I was ecstatic to find out that the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which had been closed for extensive renovations for two and a half years, had just reopened this past week! (I spent a summer as an intern at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. during the six years that it was closed for renovations and always felt kind of cheated).

I love the building. I’m usually not a big fan of neo-Gothic, but I feel like I’m entering Highclere Castle (aka Downton Abbey or Toleigh Towers) when I walk through the doors.

It’s a small space for a national gallery, but I think that makes for a nice change. You certainly don’t have a chance to get art fatigue or be overwhelmed, and it gives you time to enjoy all the historic, tartan-clad peoples. Here are a few of my favorites:

So, not all are tartan-clad. I call this one Mr. Fancy Pants/Trousers (studious art historian that I am). His actual name is James Hamilton (painted by Daniel Mytens in 1629). Just look at James’ heels (and spurs!). Chanel boots have nothing on his footwear. I think I’m quite fond of the 17th century just based on this portrait. Men could wear high-heeled slouchy boots and silver lamé. My kind of look for sure.

Here’s another nice looking man… and, in the inset, what he looks like dressed as a lady:

This is Prince Charles Edward Stuart (aka Bonnie Prince Charlie). In order to avoid his captors (one of many such daring-dos), he dressed as Flora MacDonald’s maid. Very convincing don’t you think? In fact, I don’t even think he needed the dress. (Flora is below):

I like Flora’s more feminine version of plaid: give it some bows, ruffles and balloon sleeves with arm slits. Lovely! Why should the menfolk have all the sartorial fun?

For those of you less fond of tartan, how about some more contemporary Scots, such as John Smith:

Don’t you just love his glasses? Mr. Smith led the Labour Party in the 90s — which of course I knew without reading the sign next to his head.

Sometimes the portraits come to life and join in a parade outside the gallery  (for the opening weekend festivities):

And here is one parting image of the lobby all dressed up for Christmas. Lovely, isn’t it?

Thanks for all the kind words on my Christmas decor, lovelies! I hope you have a fabuloso weekend!

—-

Dear Kitcath,

I wasn’t sure if you guys will be so overly-museumed after Paris, so we might not make it to the NPG. Did you remember I tried to get a job here when we were studying abroad in Edinburgh? Apparently I have a thing for portraits in general: talking about them and drawing them.

EIGHT more days! Yippeeeeee!!!!

Love,

Lar

*Holly Golightly

Do you remember Lar’s amazing wedding? Do you remember how talented her wedding photographer was? Well, photos of her wedding were featured today on Style Me Pretty – one of the biggest wedding blogs ever!

Two:

On the very day Lar and Matt’s wedding gets featured on SMP, they just happen to be flying over to Scotland – their future home for the next one, two or three years. Yep. Lar left today (sob!). I’ve pretty much been a blubbering idiot all day. Needless to say there have been a lot of tears. A LOT. But there’s Skype, GChat, Facebook, and, most importantly, this blog that will keep us close even if we’re thousands of miles apart. Expect a new AsianCajuns blog look in the next few weeks – something that will make it a little more obvious that we have now gone international. I’m even hoping to post some more videos. Who knows? Maybe we’ll have some Edinburgh vs. Atlanta posts. The sky’s the limit! In the meantime, travel safe, Lar and Matt. I miss and love you guys!

Original print from Society 6.

On Lar: DIY thrifted shirt • Gap skirt • Zucca bag • Capezio flats • Ann Finley bracelet • Kristen Coffin via Etsy rings

Happy Friday, everyone!!! Tell me about your fun plans for the weekend. Cath and I will be living vicariously through you because we’re spending the weekend working on different projects. Cath is painting all the trim in her house, and I’ll be purging the rest of my house and scheduling appointments before our departure to Scotland. Not fun, but totally necessary things – all of which I’m bad at. I used to be so type A, I think I’ve slipped to type B- as I’ve aged.

Oh one exciting thing I’ll be doing this weekend is getting together a styling project with my wedding photographer Aharon Hill. We are shooting an inspiration wedding editorial next weekend, and I get to be the stylist- yippee! I’ll be sketching and pulling together pieces all week. I’ll make sure to take some photos and see if you guys can guess the theme of the shoot (hint: our faux wedding couple will be dressed like Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in a certain movie they made together). Any guesses?