2. Breaker Bay
I am an amateur landscape painter - a dabbler. In Wellington we lived on the south coast in Breaker Bay. I would cross the road in my puffer jacket and try to paint the energy and feeling of this particularly dramatic and beautiful coastline - there are lots of things wrong with the painting, but to me it will always be my Wellington. Cold, dramatic, beautiful and forever changing light.
3. Food magazines
I love the pictures and great recipes in food magazines. I cook most nights, which helps me to unwind - I think it's the whole idea of working with my hands and producing something that looks good and tastes fab that gets me going. I am always working from these magazines, but also cookbooks from Floridita's, Annabel Langbein and Jamie Oliver, to name a few.
4. Stanley Palmer
While I'm on landscape painting, my favourite at the moment is Stanley Palmer. Our friends Paul and Maritza have one in their living room - every time I'm there it is quietly glowing with its own serenity and tranquillity. I love the way he has achieved this calmness through the medium of landscapes.
5. Nosh
I'm a Nosh girl - I love going to get my food for the week, the music, the punters, the enthusiasts behind the counter, the pancetta chunks, the great agria potatoes that no other supermarket seems to be able to beat and their yummy breakfast sausages. I find this place very inspiring. I was once given some cheese to taste that, according to the guy serving, had just ripened that day.
6. Supreme
While I'm on my food rant, up here in Auckland, Supreme on Douglas St, Ponsonby, seems to have the coffee sewn up for this ex-Wellingtonian. Double shots are de rigueur and after a bit of coaching, the baristas in a few of my favorite cafes do it in a Tulip cup. The stronger the better - I know it's not the best for you but caffeine makes my world spin a whole lot faster with energy.
7. Chaise longue
My partner Brian and I bought a chaise longue from a friend who was off to Australia and we have loved it ever since. We have covered it, with the help of Brian's brother's staple gun, with fabric from the William Morris collections. A very scary undertaking considering the price and beauty of the fabric - I didn't want to get it wrong. It is still our most commented-on piece of furniture, and reclines in the corner looking very majestic - the kids love to snuggle up on it and count the parrots.
8. My tea service
I was driving home one day and spied it in this little junk shop, standing proud among all the dribs and drabs of other people's lives - a pale blue, German art deco bone china; very funky and makes all tea taste beautiful. We use it every day and I always marvel at its design, workmanship and beautiful colour.
9. Street style
Every day I visit various street blogs, which are a great way to see how people are wearing clothes. The little touches that show their personalities and the evidence of trends and how they wear them - it's always exciting to see people wearing colour and layering stripes with dots or masculine structure with feminine frills. We just went to see the documentary on the original street blogger, Bill Cunningham, who works for the New York Times - he is amazing in his dedication to capturing people exploring their personality through clothes. He's 70-something and still passionate about fashion and people.
10. Colour
Like a double espresso for your life, colour can energise and enhance. I'm an avid fan of wearing colour to bounce light off and into your face and make your eyes sparkle - do you notice someone wearing black or is your eye caught by someone wearing a beautiful red jacket? Colour takes a bit more thought but I think it is worth the effort - I was at a model casting the other day for fashion week and in one particular session all the models were dressed in black and they completely lost their individuality and looked very the same - whereas one model wore a green mini and she looked stunning.
