Saturday, December 31, 2016

REFLECTING ON 2014



I cannot believe that yet another year has passed. My Dad once told me that as you get older time passes quicker and now I completely understand what he meant. 2014 has been a complete roller-coaster of love, happiness, creativity, progress, stress, sadness, confusion and pride; needless to say I've been so consumed by life that this last year has whizzed by!

I began 2014 recovering from months of run down illness that just didn't want to shift - it took a long Christmas break to fix me. I was in a dead-end job, which was making me grumpy, insecure and depressed. To make matters worse I didn't have any money to spend outside of work so I was bored and restless too. I filled my weekends with Matt, photography tests and blogging to keep sane. I feel very proud of everything we managed to achieve on those weekends.


It wasn't until late summer that I finally had the guts to move on and try my luck at freelancing. It was really, really tough coming from an in house job with little industry experience and putting myself out there to find work. Although it was stressful and I'm now worse off financially than I was before, taking that leap of faith was the best thing I've ever done. I spent four or so months outside of suppressing office walls focusing on myself and my career, meeting new people and seeing a side of London I'd never seen before; my eyes were opened up to a completely new way of life.  

Most importantly, all of the above has now lead to an amazing job opportunity, which I'm very excited about and starting next week! I'll tell you about it in more detail in the new year I promise! For now though I'm just about to pop into central London to brave the January sales. First point of call, Cos, of course - and I guess I'll also be checking out my other high street favourites for a few bargains, Topshop, Forever 21, you know the sorts. I hope you've all had an amazing 2014 and here's to an even more wonderful 2015 ahead!  



Thursday, December 29, 2016

BOXING DAY WALK & MOTEL LEELA SHIRT

On boxing day I went for a walk on dartmoor with Matt, my Mum, and Alfie the dog. These days when I return to Devon I find myself truly appreciating how beautiful the area is with its vast landscape of rolling hills, forests, woodland, rivers and tors. Seeing Matt's photographs of these things has emphasized its beauty somehow, and now when I do go back, I try to go on as many walks as possible! I still find London the most inspiring place on earth, (though I haven't yet seen much of the world so this may well change), but there's definitely something magical about being high up on dartmoor with seemingly endless space around you.


Here I'm wearing my new Motel shirt, which I got at their most recent event. I don't often, (if ever), wear red, but this is a really lovely deep, pinkish red with a cute pattern all over it. It's also a great oversized fit with a batwing shape that's very flattering!





























































HAT FROM TOPMAN
ASOS JEANS 
DR. MARTENS SHOES 

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Merry Christmas 2015!


Merry Christmas everyone; I hope you're all having a lovely Christmas break! Just like every year, I've spent the past week in Devon with Matt, my family and the rats. We've filled our days and nights with walking, eating, drinking, playing board games and watching films, its been magical.


Bella

Matilda

Jessie

On Christmas day I wore my new playsuit from The Fifth. It has ties at the waist which can be knotted at the front or back so I decided to have it at the front to make the outfit look a little more dressy. Oh and my new bag is from & Other Stories, I bought it whilst in Copenhagen!


Tuesday, December 27, 2016

CHRISTMAS DAY | 2014



This Christmas has been wonderful. Following our fantastic trip to Copenhagen, (rain and all), Matt and I travelled down to Devon where my family live and we've spent the last few days eating, drinking, relaxing, playing games, watching films, walking the dog and generally having a Christmassy time.

Christmas Eve is always my favourite part of the festive holiday; it's exciting and in our home we always have roast dinner on the evening of the 24th rather than the 25th so that it's more relaxed. This year my friend Ria popped over for a catch up and to exchange presents too... she's nearly 6 months pregnant and is looking so well! After dinner we'll usually play some board games before watching a film and putting my younger sister to bed. This time we all sat down to watch The Snowman.












Christmas day was lovely as always; we spent the morning opening presents then went to my Auntie's for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I wore my new Farhi by Nicole Farhi roll neck, which is so snuggly! You can treat yourself to 10% off on orders over £100 at Repertoire Fashion at the moment by using the discount code FASHIONSEAT10.... the code lasts until 20th January; enjoy!

Matt and I also went for a late afternoon walk as the sun was setting, which was really pretty. Some of my favourite presents received were my Dot by Marc Jacobs perfume and an amazing selection of books; Not that Kind of Girl, Bob Mazzer: Underground and The Wes Anderson Collection. I'll show you these in more detail when I manage to sit down and look through them properly. Matt also bought me a beautiful Cos dress, (though I may have to exchange it for another size, booo), and a film camera. I also went to see my Dad and more family today and he gave me a sparkly new Olympus Camera to use for blogging! Feeling well and truly spoiled!

I hope you're all having a fabulous holiday. Where did you spend you Christmas and what were your favourite presents?






CHRISTMAS 2013!


I just wanted to say a quick hello and show you some of the amazing gifts that I received this Christmas… this year was particularly special as I spent it with Matt, and my family to of course, and we spent the day opening presents, eating delicious food, playing games and watching television. Perfect.

Mum and Dad bought me the beautiful shoes pictured above, (I can't wait to wear these once back in the city and away from all the muddy fields), and they also surprised me with lots of retro toys from my childhood which was fun! I will try to get them all photographed to show you. My biggest surprise of all however was the shiny new iPad mini that Matt bought me! I think he secretly bought it for me so that he can use it to, (joking), but wow what a wonderful surprise and so thoughtful! Did you get everything you wanted this Christmas?









Saturday, December 24, 2016

A DAY OUT IN SHOREDITCH

Before disappearing to the countryside for two weeks over the Christmas period, Matt and I decided to take a break from work and our laptops and go for a walk in London's beautiful Shoreditch. One of the things I love about this area of London is its diversity; one minute you're walking down Brick Lane surrounded by graffiti, the next you're on Columbia Road, which has a very quaint, small town feel about it.

After getting the train to Old Street we headed to Columbia Road to pick up some last minute Christmas presents, unfortunately the gallery that I wanted to visit was closed so we had a wander around the other shops instead before heading to Byron for a burger! We also met a friendly squirrel on our travels!




























Here's a photo of me looking super happy whilst walking to Columbia Road! I do apologise if you're sick of this coat by the way; it's one of my favourite items of clothing and I tend to live in it through winter! I paid just £8 for it in a charity shop about three years ago…. merry Christmas eve by the way! I hope you're all having a wonderful time with your friends, families, boyfriends, girlfriends and/or pets! I've had a lazy day of eating, playing board games and watching Christmas films, I also got my hair cut this morning and took the dog for a walk!


COPENHAGEN | PART 2

Following a day of rain, (luckily on the Friday Matt had bought me a new waterproof jacket from the Danish brand RAINS), we decided to head out in Norrebro on the Saturday evening. First we went to Cafe Plenum, which did delicious cocktails and had a lovely, cosy vibe. I'm always intrigued by nights out abroad as club culture tends to be very different from the UK everywhere else, so we ended up in a grotty nightclub called RUST, which was so bad that it was good! We ended the night with a kebab, obviously, and got in around 4am. Good times!  


On Sunday morning we went to Jægersborggade, which is a lovely, arty street in Norrebro reminiscent of London's Columbia Road. Here we found a selection of quirky art galleries, cute cafes, bakerys and trendy clothing shops; I really liked a little shop called Tricotage, which sold some very cool underwear and boots.  



On Monday, our final day, we took a trip to Christianshavn, home of the autonomous Christiania. Admittedly I was a little apprehensive about the place having heard mixed reviews but it was actually quite interesting and we took a nice walk around the lake. As I said about Nyhavn I would really like to visit again in summer to see how the vibe changes with the seasons as I imagine it's more buzzing when it's warmer and sunny.

Overall I really enjoyed Copenhagen; it's very pretty, the people are friendly and there's lots to do and see. I would definitely recommend this city for shopping, (for fashion and homeware), or if you just fancy a relaxing cultural break. Merry Christmas everyone x






5 THINGS I'VE LEARNT ABOUT DENMARK

1. IT RAINS. A LOT.
2. EVERYONE IS REALLY HAPPY
3. THERE ARE BIKES EVERYWHERE.
4. IT'S CLEAN AND STYLISH
5. I LOVE IT


TOP PLACES TO VISIT

1. TIVOLI (CHRISTMAS MARKET AND THEME PARK)
2. NYHAVN (BEAUTIFUL ARCHITECTURE)
3. STROGET (AMAZING HIGH-STREET SHOPPING)
4. ELMEGADE (QUIRKY CAFES AND VINTAGE SHOPS)
5. JAEGERSBORGGADE (GALLERIES, CAFES AND INDEPENDANT SHOPS)
6. THE BRONX BURGER (YUMMY BURGERS AND HOT CHOCOLATE)
7. WOOD WOOD (DESIGNER SHOPPING AND MAGAZINES)
8. STORM - DESIGN, ART FASHION (DESIGNER SHOPPING AND MAGAZINES)
9. STUDIO TRAVEl SHOP (VINTAGE SHOPPING AND MAGAZINES)
10. URBAN SHOP (FOR GIFTS AND HOMEWARE)
11. THE LAUNDROMAT CAFE (A GREAT BREAKFAST)