After Noah

Generally in life people tend to look at the bad things that happen everyday. It is understandable. Rapidshare, for instance, is a complete scam. But sometimes we have to look the other way to realize that there are tons of awesome things in life as well. A good example of this is the Irish band God Is An Astronaut. Another perfect example is After Noah, a CLASSY shop full of furniture, toys, stationery and more. And because this shop is so cool, I'm going to upload a thousand photos, give or take.

Part of the window display

After Noah opened for the first time on May 11, 1990, at 121, Upper Street, close to the Angel tube station. The idea was to mix old vintage objects and furniture with contemporary homeware. Little by little, many shops began to appear in London selling small gifts and homeware items that looked more or less the same. After Noah's goal then was to always have something interesting and unique to offer, items that couldn't be found just anywhere. And I think they've managed to do it. Everytime I go into this shop, I get really excited.


Years after they opened, they started adding new items to their catalog. If in the beginning After Noah was a little store on 121, Upper Street, they soon decided to add toys to their shop and this proved so succesfull that they opened up the adjacent store, number 122.

Here you can find many kinds of toys, from teddy bears to musical instruments for kids, some books, marbles, and more. They also have a lovely little shelf near the entrance with some sweets that look quite vintage (but they taste good, don't worry) (HAH). All this and the fact that it looks so crowded makes me think of the Diagon Alley (of which I am a complete fan).


And, obviously, they have a wide selection of Schleich figures, which I've loved since I was a kid:


Besides all these wonderful things (I insist - this place is a PARTY), there's another area where they have some carefully selected stationery, including stamps, notebooks, sets of envelopes and letters, and, of course, maps (I may have already mentioned that I LOVE maps) and other beautiful papers:


I have to say though that this shop is quite expensive, but these kind of places usually are, at least from what I've seen. In some cases it's completely understandable (some furniture, for instance), but these maps were £3.50, so if there's one you like a lot, I'd suggest you go to Stanfords (a map and travel shop of which I'll talk about in the future) first to see if they have it there, as they are about a pound cheaper.

In spite of this it is a really nice shop and you should really go see it if you ever happen to find yourself wandering around Angel. And if you're looking for old furniture, there's also another floor downstairs with more homeware, vintage phones (with awesome color combinations) and more maps.


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I'll finish this SHORT post by saying that my brother and I have a cooking blog where we post nice recipes. He is studying to be a cook, and I take the pictures. I am translating them to English now, so if you ever run out of ideas when cooking, don't hesitate to check it out and post some comments if you think about recipes we should make!
It's called COULANT.

Blaze On

Hello friends.

These days I can't stop listening to Laura Veirs, especially her song "Where Gravity Is Dead", from her album Year of Meteors. I don't think she is the best singer ever, but her songs convey feelings of tranquility. Back in London I couldn't stop listening to Saltbreakers.

Also, I'm currently reading Faulkner's The Sound and The Fury and for now I can't understand a thing, as in, it's divided in four parts and the first one is told by a 33-year-old mentally handicapped man, and the second one (the one I'm reading now) is told in the mode of the stream of consciousness. But I've read that little by little the story is unveiled. I definitely hope so. I recently finished Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut and I enjoyed it very much. He rules.

Now, I'm here to talk about London mainly, so I'll stop straying from this topic and talk about Blaze On, a nice little shop one can find in Camden Town.


It's a little chain (little, because there are two or three stores as far as I know) owned by a family. After travelling through Thailand, they decided to start this business that focuses mainly on illuminations. I must say though that a lot of these lights are a bit corny (for my taste), with flowers, fairies, and stuff like that. But others are pretty simple and really nice, which you can see in the top part of the picture or in their website. My favorite ones are the white lanterns and the "radiant/ambient lights" (which I own, by the way). And the prices are affordable, so if you want to decorate your room, you know where to go.

Here is a picture of what was my bedroom in London, where you can see the lights I bought (some of them were blue and green even though you can't really see it).

Cath Kidston

Cath Kidston started a little business in 1992 in Holland Park, London. At the time, she would sell vintage fabrics, wallpapers and other objects that reminded her of her childhood. The store had quite a success and gradually the business started to grow, which prompted Cath to start making her own fabrics and homeware. Since then, her business has only thrived and she now has "merely" 28 stores all over the world including some in Ireland and Japan. She also sells women's clothing and accessories (purses, bags, etc.).


This is a picture of one of the shop windows of her store in 51, Marylebone High Street, which may help you get a hint of what her products look like. As you can see, she relies heavily on dots and flowers, which may be sometimes a bit corny, but generally, it rules (or so I think).

Anyway, I highly recommend you check her website so you can get a better idea of what she sells, and maybe you'll see something you like or find a store close to your home.

And, speaking of nice fabrics, my friend Martatu has recently started an online etsy shop where she sells little purses she has made herself with carefully chosen fabrics. She also recently finished a collection of dresses with prints of white rabbits and arctic foxes. ARCTIC FOXES!!!


Peace.