Trophy life pictures + Thomas Goode teacup inspiration

In "Trophy life: Ruffles and rocks, frills and fur - meet spring's high-maintenance woman" (May issue of Tatler) there are some beautiful and creative pictures. I just wanted to share these. 

It depicts a lifestyle that is far from my - and I'm guessing most people's - reality. Haute couture and long evening dresses, with not a strand of hair out of place... (People like this must go through loads of hairspray.)

Love the make-up. Note: lipstick, not lip gloss! 

In the bottom right corner of the collage, I've zoomed in on the teacup from the last picture. It instantly caught my eye. It's slim and elegant. The small print says that it's by Thomas Goode. Ever heard of it? Anyway I think I am now leaning towards slim teacups like that, not the big round ones... In any case, I have totally gone off mugs. 

Are there particular brands I should look at when I go shopping for new teacups? They need to be dishwasher safe! 

For the record it was Heidi Klum on the cover of this issue. 

My yoga ritual

Yoga is something I want to enjoy and look forward to doing.... with a little help from these friends.

1. Brew some tea. 
It's always good to drink and I never drink enough. So I make a pot of Aveda's comforting tea.

If you make it right, it can taste really sweet, even though there's no sugar in it. It's still a matter of trial and error for me but it has to do with using the right amount of tea leaves - the more the sweeter. But it's quite an expensive tea so you don't want to use too much. Trying to get the right balance is not easy. Also, infuse for longer and it becomes sweeter.

2. Keep a scented room spray within reach.
I have another product from Aveda.

There are different scented sprays for each of the chakras. I only liked the smell of chakra 2.

There's so much breathing through the nose in Kundalini yoga that it's nice to spray it in the room. I do find that I have to re-spray it every now and then because the scent is quite light and doesn't linger.

3. Have a blanket ready.
I love the fleece blankets from Ikea. Even if you only do the short warm-up sequence, you should relax afterwards - lie on your back in Corpse Pose with eyes closed. My body cools down so I stay warm with a blanket.

4. Music.
Only if I'm not doing a full session (one whole DVD), I like to have my yoga music playlist ready for the relaxation part. It really helps me relax, unwind and not get bored. As Maya Fiennes says in her book, "(relaxation) is when the body processes the information it has received, rests and absorbs the changes and the healing."


All we have to do is make time... maybe that should be number one on this list.