Who's been watching the new season of 'THE APPRENTICE" UK?

Season 7 of The Apprentice just aired in the UK not long ago..


We were delighted to see Lord Sugar being interview by the Daybreak team: http://www.itv.com/daybreak/entertainment/tv/lordsugarondaybreak/ 10 days ago at Soho Hotel, London ... in front of Jim Thompson's fabric backdrop ...

This fun, colourful 'ESCAPE' surely made the atmosphere in the room less intense - at least for Showbiz Steve!


Come by Fox Linton Showroom (Chelsea Habour Design Centre, London)  to view it!

(Images are from ITV Daybreak and Firmdale Group websites)

The Real Food Festival

Just a little report on The Real Food Festival held at Earl's Court Exhibition Centre here in London;

Spotted;

4 baby buffaloes

3 really fluffy lambs

Tasted the best chorizo ever .. and it's not even from Spain. It's made here in the UK! Check out The Bath Pig's 3 different flavoursome cured pork sausages blended with smoked paprika and spices; Original, Spicy and Garlic and Herb. These tasted amazing with with roasted red peppers!

Bought some freshly grounded spices from Hertforshire's best kept secret The Saffron House.

Fish rillettes from La Paimpolaise was perfect with a special cocktail conjured up by St.Germain, "the first liqueur in the world created in the artisanal French manner from freshly handpicked elderflower blossoms."

Oh and not to forget Adlington's smoked duck breast ... so awesome it's hard to describe you just have to try it yourself!

Photos from adventure a few years ago

Found these photos which I took while travelling through Europe a few years back.

Enjoy!

ADANA

If you have been following my post since the beginning, you would have known that my man resides in a town he claims is in the 'middle of nowhere' in 'rural Turkey' ... known as Adana


This is my 3rd visit now and I'm ashamed to say that, today was the first day I dared to venture out to explore Turkey's 4th largest city. This sudden urge to leave his apartment while he was out working, was because it has been a few days without any exercise and I'm beginning to feel a bit frustrated with how lazy I have become (just cos it's holiday mode) ...


So I decided to combine my sight-seeing, jogging and finding my way around this city into one activity. (Just to digress a little .. the weather in London, where I live, was perfect. I left the English sun for this Turkish rain! ... so was feeling a bit annoyed as I thought I could do with returning with a tan! So when the rain clouds finally lifted, I thought .. perfect time to go for a run!)


Off I went ...


gosh it took my breath away .. the jogging (mostly - I think I caught up with the tan in the end. It was so hot!) and of course the sight:

Let your imagination run 'wild' ....

I'm sat (stuffed) but very contented in a little, simple but comfortable hotel on Utzschneiderstraße in Munich having spent the evening in a traditional Bavarian resto eating much more potato dumplings than my tummy could have handled. You must be wondering which part of the night made it more than mundane, well, I spent it with a great crowd including one of the most charming creative extraordinaire I've ever known. He goes by the name ... Douglas Little.

Some of you may have known him for his exquisite works for the windows of Bergdorf Goodman and Van Cleef & Arpels. His style, theatrical and beyond imaginative, capture the core essence of luxury retail. 

I was so honoured to have spent almost half a day around Munich with the man who has now become one of my top idols. Not only because of his fantastic works, but he is truly one of the most charming and amicable man for the talent that he exudes. As the evening crept in on us, I watched him put on the finishing touches to Jim Thompson showroom on Müllerstraße and got a brief glimpse of how a genius works!

Douglas turned our showroom into an exotic fantasy jungle, reflecting the essence of the rare and mysterious forest of the far orient and the indigenous animals of Thailand while portraying the lushness of Jim Thompson's luxury home furnishing fabrics while embodying the heritage of Thai silk which are nature to us.

So, if you're in town or passing by for an inspirational moment, I highly recommend you to come by our phantasmic jungle ... I promise you, here, you can really let your imagination run wild ...

No.9 Thompson

If you are an avid fan of Jim Thompson's fabrics you are probably already familiar with our sister range, No.9 Thompson. The concept of this new line was to be the response to the ever growing needs for simple elegance in home décor. 

No. 9 Thompson differentiates itself from the traditional Jim Thompson collection through its user friendly and accessible approach - regularly described by the customers as the 'casual range' ...

I would describe it as ... if Jim Thompson was Giorgio Armani, then No.9 Thompson would be its equivalent of Armani Exchange.

The collection aims to meet the expectations of the new and existing customers by providing the highest quality of fabric but also placing a new emphasis on accessibility and versatility. Due to the nature of the designs, the fabrics from No.9 Thompson evoke a sense of comfort and homeliness for a living space. 

Under the creative design direction of the wonderful Richard Smith, No.9 Thompson has also just launched its 5th collection titled, 'Opus'.

Here are a few of my favourite pieces ...

A FEW MORE PIECES FROM 'THE RITE OF SPRING' COLLECTION

Wow, last week has gone by surprisingly fast but I'm happy to report that I survived the busy week we had during London Design Week at Chelsea Habour Design Centre!

It was so nice to kick start the new week on Monday with such a nice sunny spell over London!

While out and about commuting this week, I've notice many high street clothing stores have changed their shop displays to welcome our long awaited spring ...


Looks like the tribal, traditional prints and the ikats are back. Talking of which ... how refreshing are Jim Thompson's 100% handwoven silk ikats from the new collection especially the lime green, 'Daphins' (last picture)

I love ikats .... i hope you'll do too!