With a whopping 117k Instagram followers, Skye McAlpine – writer, cook and blogger – must be doing something right. We love her family shots, but her words are beautiful too. Here, she discusses life between London and Venice…
Skye McAlpine is a writer, home cook and author of the Italian food and lifestyle blog, From My Dining Table. She lives with her husband and son, Aeneas, three. They divide their time between London and Venice, where she grew up.
Our mornings are … all about breakfast. It is my favourite meal of the day and Aeneas seems to have inherited my passion for breakfast foods. When we’re in Venice, we all get dressed and walk to our local Pasticceria, where we tuck in to freshly-baked brioche with an apricot jam filling and hot chocolate; and then we all go for a walk together. It is, I think, the most precious moment of the day. In London, I tend to make breakfast at home: usually some variation of toast with a really nice jam or honey, or perhaps a slice of homemade cake (fruitcake, yogurt cake or coffee cake) that I might have left over.
My kid mainly wears … La Coqueta Kids. My friend, Celia Muñoz is the creator and designer behind the brand and I absolutely love what she does. The clothes have an understated chic-ness to them which I just adore, classic but not too classic.
I cope with clutter by … trying not to have anything in the house that doesn’t feel precious to at least one of the three of us. This isn’t so much a solution to clutter, as we still seem to have far too many things and home can often feel crowded; but at least it is filled with things that we love.
I never leave the house without … my keys, phone, credit card and a pair of sunglasses. There is something about sunglasses that makes you feel glamorous, even if you are walking out of the house in your pyjamas.
When he is not looking I … check Instagram. I try not to be on my phone too much when Aeneas and I are together, though it is not always possible to switch off as much as I would like.
I encourage creativity by … reading bedtime stories with Aeneas and letting him fill in the blanks. It is so fun to listen to the unexpected stories he comes up with. We also cook together a lot: he helps me knead the dough for pasta, and we bake lots of biscuits and cakes together. The messier, the better. And then we get to lick the bowl.
I’ll never be able to part with ... my engagement ring. My husband chose it for me and I never take it off. It means the world to me.
When all else fails we … go for a long walk and treat ourselves to two scoops of gelato in a cone.
Follow Skye McAlpine on Instagram: @skye_mcalpine