It was a salon appointment to Allerton's that took me to Victoria Gate in Leeds City today. Before the manicure, I popped into the fine UK department store of John Lewis.
Although I could take a lift, I find taking the escalator a vehicle of discovery. As a designer, I enjoy seeing what the showroom designers have installed since my last visit. I almost always step off at each floor and take the circle before climbing to the next stage.
But today brought a winged surprise! As I stepped off onto the second floor, "Home & Living," I was this close to this elevation (see photo above) of ginormous (giant + enormous) butterflies in the section for furnishing fabrics.
If you look closely, you'll notice that the Dos Mariposas are constructed completely from fabric, with batting for dimension, and wires for structure and antennæ.
I mentioned that when I step off the escalator that I like to make the circle before getting back on again. As a walked under the butterflies, turned and took on another elevation view I saw this installation of soft furnishings cushions, hanging like butterfly chrysalises!
I looked around me and found that I appeared to be the only one noticing this remarkable example of merchandise design. Clearly the designer(s) looked up for reference to get the installation details right. Similar to what we see in the photo above, chrysalises in the wild hang by the dozens, albeit more spread out for camouflage, but just like this in neatly aligned rows hanging from mesh or rods. Doesn't seeing this make you impatient for spring to arrive? The designers spell works!
Moving on to my salon appointment, and with my own experience of ADHD, it is hard for me to sit still long enough to have a manicure. Because my classical music season is about to kick off on the 22nd of February, I needed to take my glamour nails 💅 down to a practical length. I am playing a fundraiser event on that Sunday with the British Clarinet Ensemble, so whilst I'm in the neighbourhood, I'm hosting a Hive Friends Meetup on the 21st. Read more about it in this post: https://ecency.com/buzzparty/@alessandrawhite/a-hive-meet-up-savereferral=alessandrawhite
At 2pm, I still hadn't eaten anything and it was time to get back to the flat for the day's hosting of Cuppa Joe, Creative Work Hour, and Practice Not Perfect (The CWH Daily News with all the deets are published on 
This is the Leeds City Kirkgate Market near where I live and it is legendary for quite an array of international foods. This building of the large complex is the Market Kitchen where you can peruse prepared cooking.
There's a stand in the Market Kitchen that smells so heavenly every time I walk the shortcut through the marketplace. I decided that today was the day that I needed some spice from Jenny's Jerk Chicken. When it was my turn, I simply asked the counter attendant to pick something out for me to try. I said, "Surprise me!"
I was running short on time, so instead of joining the City folk at an indoor table, I asked to take it away and eat it at home. Good thing, too! As soon as I keyed into the flat, I could see by my notifications that Hivians were already entering our Zoom room to have our Cuppa Joes ☕️ together before setting off on another session of creating posts for Hive.
Thank you for coming to Victoria Gate and the Kirkgate Market with me today. It's always fun taking you with me wherever I go each day.
But for now, it's time to Power Up my 11 HIVE for 11 February! 💪🏽
Much love! 🥰
Alessandra