let love and friendship reign forever

image via wikipedia The Irish are well known for their rich tradtions. One of their really nice wedding customs is the Claddagh ring. The Claddagh Ring has remained very popular as an engagement and/or wedding ring. The symbolism is quite lovely. The heart in the design symbolizes love longed to be shared with one’s true love. The crown symbolizes undying loyalty and the hands symbolize friendship, which is, after all, the very foundation of love, with loyalty holding the two hands together. “With my two hands I give you my heart, and crown it with my loyalty” and “Let love and friendship reign forever” can be both found as meanings for the symbols together in this ring. There are many legends about the origin of the Claddagh ring and true or not, the Claddagh has become an everlasting symbol of love and marriage. Liv likes this story:

It starts with the likes of a fisherman who was kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery before he could marry his true love that remained behind in the Irish village of Claddagh. The fisherman ended up indentured to a goldsmith who taught him his trade. Thinking every day of the true love he left behind in the village of Claddagh, he decided to make a special ring for her should they ever be united again. He crafted a ring with two hands holding a heart, which had a crown above it. It was meant to represent love and friendship. Eventually, the fisherman (now goldsmith) was released and he returned to his village. To his great joy, he found that his true love had waited for him to return and then he presented her with the ring, which became the betrothal ring. The ring then became synonymous with faithfulness too, as they both remained faithful to each other even when separated by adversity and distance.

awww! …and they lived happy ever after… Liv loves happy endings.

You might also like this World Wedding Tradition Posts: the return of happiness, Henna and the prince on the white horse, thats how people role in Iceland

love is the ultimate outlaw

photo of Liv and Lav London November 2009 by GT

Love is also the ultimate outlaw! Did you know?

Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words "make" and "stay" become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free.

This quote is out of one of my favorite books Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins.

the glasshouse

Livs lastest interior/apartment crush that I can’t stop thinking about is the GLASSHOUSE a project from an artist couple in Tel Aviv. The idea behind it is Art should be presented in a place that allows staying

I met Lital Dotan & Eyal Perry a few months ago here in Berlin after an exhibition at a dinner party. Thats when they told me about their amazing project. Their whole house is not only their living space its at the same time an art project, where they are inviting artists from all over the world to live and work with them or alone on a project. They offer it as a residency. Its called Glasshouse because there is almost no room for intimitacy, except for the door to the bathroom, the place is really open. During the opening hours you can find on their website its open to public like a gallery space.

What is most inspiring for Liv is that they just decorated the place with found and old things almost randomly picked together and in the sum of its parts it became a really stylish and beautiful environment. I really want to have a place like this one day! An inspiring place to live and work. Can’t wait to see it for real. Hopefully Ill manage to visit them next year.

P.S: Love the white painted floor it’s like here in my studio!

You Got The Love

images via das rohmaterial and keepreal Liv loves this song by Florence And The Machine. Especially the Remix by XX. I am listening to it a lot right now and think its really inspiring. I am also in love with the style of Florence Welch. Florence is of my new muses for the current collection

crazy cake

image via Whisk Kid

The smooth white exterior makes the cake look completely normal, but once you slice into it you realize… OH SNAP! THIS CAKE IS CRAZY! This girl made it for her friends farewell party. Read the whole story and the original recipe here. I think this one would make for a stunning wedding cake. I love the frivolous design but im not too sure about the taste, all the food colorings and all the frosting. Maybe its worth trying to work on that before making one, anyone willing to try a vegan version for Liv?

You might also like this cake/food inspiration posts: about cake, make your cupcakes rock, black cake- rum rum hooray!