July Favourites

Not too many favourites this month as I haven't really been here but what I have been loving you will find below!

Music

Only a couple of new songs on the favourites this month, I haven't found a new album I've loved but I'll leave you with these two:

First up - one of my songs of the Summer ~ Milky Chance with Stolen Dance

Secondly - Holdin On by Flume ~ I haven't stopped listening to this and I'm still not sick of it

Books

A very long time ago I started reading a book called 'A Discovery of Witches' and completly loved it. After a little wait Book 2 'Shadow of the Night' came out and finally 2 years later, just in time for my holiday 'The Book of Life' was avaliable. These books written by Debroah Harkness are rich with Vampires and Witches but without the real cheesy-ness of Twilight. There is also a healthy dose of history in there that appeals to my desire to read about the past. These books are brilliant in their detail and also provide you with a romance and passion. My rating: The second book is the best in the series.   

Food/Drink

I hate fizzy water, I just don't get it. However mixed with my new favourite thing ~ Elderflower cordial it's a little bit tasty, very bubbly and makes me happy. It's also a healthier alternative, if like me, you quite like the fizzy pop.

Home

The last thing I need in the house is more mugs but I saw these and they were just too sunshiney to say No to! They also go wonderfully in my Yellow Kitchen and were only a £1 each from Asda. They have sold out of the yellow ones but they do have black ones which you can find here.

Does a month go by without me loving something from Wilkinsons? The homeware section is really good and nice and cheap.

This month I picked up these cute little bowls for £4.50 - perfect for dips when my friends pop over and we demolish a whole bag of kettle chips.

Life

I want to take more time and garden. It would be nice to look out of the kitchen window and not see an overgrown mess. I also want to bring the garden indoors, and my bright idea for this is to grow Chives and Basil in little kilner jars. I just think it will look really cute, and after my last herb garden got knocked off the windowsill by the cat I am taking no chances this time and they are on a shelf. They haven't grown yet but I will keep you updates on the progress!

 Also as many of you will have realised by my many blog posts I have just been on holiday! It was a fantastic holiday, and so lovely to have a chance to relax.

Told you there weren't many ~ also there are no fashion favourites this month as I have already written about all my new clothes purchases for the month here and I'm trying to abstain from buying more! Ha!

C xxx

A day in the life of....

So I've had a few people saying that they really liked my more honest approach to my life in my 'The Perfect World' post. It's always nice to get some positive feedback, especially when I ummmed and aaahed over whether to 'shatter the illusion' by posting it online for all to see.

I thought I might try and write a few more on how my life actually is rather than how I wish my life could be.

A prime example of this and one that shows just how lazy I actually am - a make-up artist friend of mine has invited me to an event on Tuesday to hang out with models. My first thought...'But I'll miss Big Brother!' wasn't exactly what my first reaction should have been (and yes it's still on and yes I really do enjoy watching it). I've basically turned into this boring woman in her twenties when instead of going out and whooping it up around town I would rather slob on the sofa. Every year I make a resolution that I am going to do more in London but I'm not sure why I bother. I make the same resolution about learning to drive and losing 2 stone but it's never going to happen, especially when I plan on winning the lottery so I can hire a driver and I'm never going to lose weight when there is fried chicken in the world.

This week I have actually been busy - I went to my friends house for drinks and a microwave meal on Monday, I worked an event on Tuesday, Wednesday is pub quiz night, Thursday I'm going to Wimbledon and Friday I am travelling to Bath. I am knackered though and all I want is to sit at home and watch reruns of Friends. I'm honestly so tired that I keep going to the toilet, resting my head against the wall and having 5 minute power naps. The tiredness might also have something to do with the fact that I drank 5 large glasses of wine at this event last night and got home late. I also threw up a little bit in my mouth on the way home, which meant I had that horrible burning sensasion in my throat for the whole hour and 20 minute journey home. To treat myself this morning after the horrible ordeal I bought a can of full fat Coke but upon opening said coca cola I realised it was in fact Vanilla. Vanilla! Why do they even make this crap.

So now I''m trying to keep my eyes open at my desk, whilst drinking a drink that's worse than Pepsi (and that's saying something) and contemplating how I can make it through the rest of the week without a)seriously damaging my liver b)ending up with massive bags under my eyes and c)not eating any of my 5 a day and living on microwave mac and cheese meals because they are convinenent. Fuck it - I might just go all out and get a kebab wrap on the way home instead. At least there will be lettuce and cabbage in it....

Ladies and Gentlemen. What it's really like to be a girl in her twenties living in London.

C xxx

June Favourites

The sun is shining and it's been a very happy month. Here are some things I've been loving in June.

Music

Clean Bandit's new album - New Eyes - is a brilliant summer album filled with lots of tracks that Clean Bandit fans will know plus some new fun tunes that evoke a sense of summer spirit.My favourite tracks are Telephone Banking and Come Over.

I am also loving this track from Budapest by George Ezra

Books

I have just started reading The Wrong Knickers by Bryony Gordon and it's as funny as the reviews say. It's current and about a girl who's my age who lives in London so what's not to love! I've been buying quite a few books recently for my summer holidays and am planning on doing a Summer Holiday book review soon.

Food/Drink

I have been loving ginger this month. Ginger Beer, Ginger Cider, Ginger with rum. It is most definitely my drink of the summer.

I had to work an event this month and there was the nicest man there selling his jams and chutneys. They are all homemade and very, very good. I got these two, but I might have to get in touch and try to order some of the BBQ marinade as well. You can have a look at the other's here

Home

I've not really been home shopping this month but I did pick up some silicon cupcake cases and I am never going back. I'm not even sure how I have gone this long without owning any!

Life

I went home for the first time in 6 months this month! I should see my parents more than I do really since they are only an hour away but it was lovely to spend the day at home in the garden having a BBQ and a chat. I am loving the fact that we will also get to see them on our holiday!

Fashion

You can find a list of all my new favourite fashion bits on my Pay Day Haul post!

I also popped into Primark and picked up a few items including a whole heap of amazing summer nails!

C xxx

The Perfect World

Do you ever get that feeling that everyone’s is having a bigger, brighter, more fantastic life that you are?

As a blogger and an avid blog reader I have read about so many other people’s lives and it’s sometimes hard to remember that what they are showing you and the image that they are portraying is one of perfection of their own making. Now don’t get me wrong – some of the blogs that I read, I really do think that their life is like that. Especially the lucky ones that are able to blog full time and are endorsed and sponsored to travel to far off places and go to amazing social events but the majority (I like to think deep down) are just a normal people.

I sometimes wonder what the image of me is. I like to think that I come off as a cool fun adult who lives in London, who hangs out with her close group of friends and goes to fun events, whilst maintaining my full time job and gaining a degree, all the while cooking and balancing a mixing bowl on one hip and sipping a drink with the other hand. Or maybe people just think I’m really boring, pretentious and they wish I would stop posting my blog columns on facebook and clogging up their newsfeed.

The thing is, the reason that I really keep the blog, is because it is a way to keep a diary of everything. Having failed spectacularly at keeping a handwritten one past my 22^nd birthday I now find that this is the best way to remember everything that I have done. I’m not going to lie, this is the whole point to this post – I do sometimes sit there and count my followers and wish that I had thousands of followers who hung on to my every word but I know that at least 40 people read my columns when I post them and that makes me happy (One of my posts reached 100 views the other day which made me smile lots!).     

It’s just so easy to portray a lifestyle that you want people to see on the internet. The amount of times that I have posted about something, and told a little white lie just to make it sound like I know what I’m talking about, before my friends – the ones who were there with me – call me out on it. Sometimes I’m not even aware I’m doing it! Photographs are the other easy thing to fake. The right light, angle and background can make the double chin disappear and the face seem radiant.  It is the same with pictures around the house. Look at my perfect tidy house, it is always this way with no mess at all…

Oh no wait……
 

We live in a world and a culture where everyone is always trying to keep this façade of perfect up. I want to know how all these other bloggers find people to take pictures of them as they walk down the street. I know that my friends wouldn't follow me around with a camera, waiting while I posed!  I say this not because I plan on changing it but because I am trying to make my own self aware that this happens so when I see someone else blog about that holiday with the pictures of perfect bliss:

Or the beautifully lit food shots that make your mouth water, I just have to try and remember that they have probably spent an hour trying to get that one shot and they burnt the first batch:

What do you think? Would you prefer to see the messy side of things, rather than the perfect? Would you prefer to hear about the slightly rotund girl who is forgetful, a bit of a bitch, loves a gossip and can’t go a day without eating cheese (hence the rotund-ness). The girl who spends 20 minutes taking pictures of food before she will eat it, and won’t let her boyfriend eat either. The one who much prefers to sit on the sofa watching TV than actually exploring the amazing city she lives in and who tried to cram a year’s worth of revision into 4 days because instead of revising she was baking lemon cakes and getting pissed with her friends.     

I just needed to have a bit of a chat today actually, and this is the most diary like post I’ve done in a long time. Sometimes I just need to sit down and talk. Not that it’s changed anything though – I’m still a bloody jealous person who wishes I could be paid to write a blog and travel the world but I guess sometimes it’s much more preferable to sit at home with the boy and the cat and eat an entire melted camembert with a four pack of cider.

C xxx

Street Feast

This weekend my friends and I hopped on some public transport and made our way over to Dalston for the much anticipated Street Feast.

Street Feast is a food and drink event that takes place in the evening (5-12pm) and has a variety of different 'restaurants' and a couple of bars that serve pint sized cocktails, ciders, wine, ales and beer. If you arrive before 7pm it's free entry and after 7pm it's £3.

As soon as you walk through the gates you are hit by the aroma of delicious grub, a lively atmosphere and a unique setting. There are seats, tables and fire pits spread throughout the open air venue (although there are covered sections).

The biggest challenge was deciding what to eat!

There' s a Pizza Pilgrims Pizzeria, a B.O.B's Lobster shack selling clam bake and Lobster Mac & Cheese and Smokestak pumping out the glorious smell of barbecued meat.

If you fancy Indian you only have to look as far as Rola Wala and Spit & Roast has you covered for all your Pulled Pork needs. In my eyes the piece de resistance was the appearance of Anne Mae's Mac & Cheese, which I first tried last year at Glastonbury and have been a worshipper of ever since.

Four different Bars sort out the thirst you will have worked up from all the food and you can either try the Gin Store and Cocktail shed or sample the cider from the pop up stall.

There are several different areas to the venue including a lovely area upstairs which is covered in pretty decoration and offers a view on the festivites.

As the evening drew in we sat and chatted surrounded by the bright lights of the Yard.

We had a brilliant time, we ate lots and drank more. It is currently running for 20 consecutive weeks in Dalston Yard from the 16th May - 27th September so if you are in London pop along because any excuse to eat scrumptious food is a good idea!

C xxx

Thoughtful Thursday

Reading ~ Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Loving ~ Cuddles with the cat whilst I read 

Wearing ~ Comfy leggings and fluffy socks

Anticipating ~ My course being finished, my exams over, and the 4 month break before the next one starts! 

Eating ~ Sundried tomato and feta pasta

Drinking~ Relentless energy drink

Wishing for ~ More money so I can buy the £200 worth of clothes I currently have in my shopping basket on Dorothy Perkins website

Craving ~ Dolly mixture

Listening to ~ From Eden by Hozier

Wondering~ If now is the best time to start redesigning my blog

Watching ~ Nothing. Although I really just want to catch up on The Vampire Diaries

Learning~ that I really should have started revising weeks ago....

Cooking ~ Homemade lemon cake

Searching ~ for the Sims 4 release date

Planning ~ If I can get away with going to the pub this weekend

Choosing~ the best way to procrastinate

Trying ~ very hard not to procrastinate

xxx

May Favourites

It's May Favourites time! I've been a bit busy with revising but here are some of the things that I've been loving this month... 

Music
There's a couple of singles and an album on my favourites list this month - 

Firstly Sleepless by Cazette

Secondly Goddess by Banks

And the album of the month is Flume - Deluxe remix. This is an album from 2013 but I have only just got round to giving it a proper listen and it's really good, especially some of the remixes.

Books

No new books for me this month unless you count the ones I have been reading for my course. If you fancy reading any nineteenth century literature I recommend The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. This has been by far the best book on the course. It's a story of love, marriage, betrayal and mystery told through lots of different points of view. There's plot twists and old school romance and it's just a really fun, easy to read nineteenth century novel.

Food/Drink

I have a new found love of croissants which although regrettably aren't the most healthy thing to eat but they just taste so darn good. 

Last month I discovered croissants in a can and I blogged about them here, so if you haven't already try and make some!

Home

After saying for ages that I needed cake tins I have finally got round to getting some and I was also gifted three, so now I can make as many cakes as I want and find a home for them all. 

The rose tins I found on Amazon for £5.99 and the set of three are £6.50 from Wilkinsons.

I was given some lovely ceramic mixing bowls as a present and they just look so pretty in my kitchen. I am loving open shelving at the moment and just wish I could redo my kitchen! Look at their beautiful pastel colour. I managed to hunt down their location so if you want to get these bowls you need to head on over to Sainsburys.

 Fashion

A couple of fashion pieces for you! I wish I had more money this month because there are some lovely summer pieces out at the moment that I am dying to get for my holiday but here are some I have purchased already.

Starting with this lovely swimsuit! I am just in love with floral so this is perfect!

Swimsuit - Next - £28

I love this midi skirt, as mentioned I am loving floral  and the best thing about this skirt - it has pockets!

Skirt - Dorothy Perkins - £22

Beauty

I recently went make up shopping for the first time ever with a good friend and a separate blog post will be coming about all of the things I bought but I thought I should mention my favourite item out of the whole trip which has to be my eyebrow mascara. Yes, you heard me right - eyebrow mascara. It helps keeps the eyebrows neat and darkens them slightly. It is also a hell of a lot easier than sitting there trying to fill in the brow line with a pencil or eyeshadow. This one is from Maybelline in the colour Dark Brown. Honestly this has been a revelation!

I feel like my favourites are a bit sparse this month but I will be on my 'summer holiday' and on a little break from Uni in June so I will have time to find and do more things that I'm sure I will love. Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading this post, let me know what you love this month! 

xxx

January Favourites

I keep meaning to do this post and then so much keeps cropping up. I have had such a busy month – I had an essay to get in and everything got a bit mad at work. Our bedroom ceiling also collapsed in earlier this month so I have been trying to get that sorted, as well as contributing to Miss Mint which I am having to work into my timetable.

So sitting down and writing a favourites post kept being put off! But it is the last day of January so when is a better time to do this :)

FOOD AND DRINK

I have been loving a lot of food and drink this month, which isn’t good because I am meant to have joined the masses in the ‘January Diet’ and instead I can’t get out of Christmas eating mode.

I have become addicted to this drink, it is coming up a close third to Coke and Cream Soda. If you haven’t tried it you really should. I love bubbles but they also do a non bubbly version if they dont make you happy.

I have also developed a slight love affair with Sweet and Salty popcorn. These little nuggets of goodness make me wiggle my toes with glee. Popcorn goes far too quickly in my opinion.

MAKE-UP

FINALLY after months of waiting I have managed to get my sticky little fingers on a Naked 2 Palette, but now I am faced with a dilemma. It’s so pretty I don’t actually want to use it.

MUSIC

I have discovered a new favourite band and they go by the name of Clean Bandit. I love their mix of classic, electro with a dash of pop thrown in. There new song just hit number one in the charts but I am loving Mozart's House and have been listening on repeat.

Mozart's House - Clean Bandit

Rather be - Clean Bandit

WEBSITES

No Surprises here - I have to champion Miss Mint. If you haven't gone and have a look please do, because it's pretty and full of fun things to read and well I write 2 columns, The London Monologues and Wanderlust,  so you have to go and look! 

FASHION

I have been fully embracing anything with long sleeves and to the knee when it comes to dresses because it is just too cold. I love this dress from Dorothy Perkins as it ticks both those boxes and is full  of gorgeous colours. There are loads of winter floral dresses available at the moment.

And those are my January Favourites! Hopefully next month won't be as crazy and I will be able to spend a little bit more time posting on here. I hope you have all had a good start to your 2014! 

xxx