I was in Golborne Road and Portobello Road this morning for a spot of shopping. The first thing I did was pay a visit to the Lisboa Patisserie to buy some of their Portuguese custard tarts. They are absolutely divine and even the distinguished chef Yotam Ottolenghi goes to this patisserie to buy them. There were eight in the box when I bought them! 

I then popped in to the Phoenix on Golborne. This is a gorgeous, quirky shop owned by Jess and I first met her when I did an Annie Sloan paint course with her in her shop. I adore her shop and always end up buying something.  She has beautiful flowers in many of the vases/containers she sells and I always end up buying one of the containers with flowers in them! I bought his beautiful old jug which I plan to use for cottage garden flowers.

I then went to my favourite store, The Cloth Shop, where I always find something to buy. I've bought the fabric from them for my sitting room revamp (roman blinds, curtain and armchair in linen) and I wanted to order some velvet cushions to put on my gorgeous newly upholstered sofa (see previous post on sitting room revamp). I ordered velvet cushions in orange velvet and gold velvet and then popped into the second hand shop opposite and bought this lovely crystal red vase for £8! I plan to cram it with red roses and place it in the centre of my dining table on Christmas day.

Anyone who lives in London or visiting London should visit Portobello Road but must ensure that they go as far as Golborne Road because Golborne is a fantastic road full of interesting stores, in particular Portuguese and Moroccan food stores, second hand and antiques store and other great independent stores.