Thursday 26 July 2012

Liebster Award.


Last week the lovely Sofi from 'Style-Ramblings' (great blog btw) messaged me saying that she had very kindly nominated me for a Liebster award. This award is basically a way of getting the 'little guys' noticed. For those of us with less than 200 followers, this award is pretty much a form of recognition, saying 'hello, we know you're out there'. If you get nominated, you have to talk a bit about yourself, answer some questions from your nominator and then pose a set of your own questions to your nominees. This is a great way of spreading the word of up and coming blogs, so thanks again Sofi!

I wanted to nominate 'Too Much Blush' (a British beauty blogger). For someone who is not big on makeup (I literally own a mascara, a kohl eyeliner, a concealer and two lipsticks), I really love reading blogs about it. This blog is down to earth and seriously cute with all the pink and flowers!

The rules are simple:
1) Post 11 things about yourself
2) Answer the questions the tagger has for you
3) Write 11 things for your 11 nominees
4) Tag those nominees in your post and tell them about it on their page
5) No tag backs

Eleven things about myself

1.  I love two things more than anything else in the world; earl grey tea and my dog.

2. I have just graduated from Warwick University with a degree in Biomedicine but all I want to do is pursue a career in something that I get to use some creativity for. 

3.  I find it really weird that Blogger doesn't recognise the word 'blog'. Errr durr? :S

4. I want four little cheeky monkeys when the time is right. Preferably three boys and then a girl. Fate, are you listening? Womb, ignore that. You are safe for a few more years yet!

5.   If it was acceptable to wear wellies everywhere, I would. 

6.  I need a pair of Reed Krakoff shoes. Like now. Oh and a Chloe bag would be nice too

7. We are currently having work done on our house, therefore meaning that we have had to move out. This also means that I am having to share a room with my 19 year old younger sister. This isn't that bad as she is as cute as pie (although she does grind her teeth...jhfkdf BLEURGH creeps me out!), however, it does mean that we also have to share the one tiny inbuilt wardrobe, which has been...let's just say...interesting.

8. After living with a house full of English, History and Classics geeks for the past 2 years I have decided to read all the great books, philosophers and Odysseys for the next year or two so I can finally join in with their very interesting conversations/at least have a clue what they are going on about. However, I'd like to see them tackle one of my cell biology books!

9. Me and one of my besties from uni have already planned our dream cafe that we are going to open in our thirties. It's going to be in the very hip Manchester and we shall sell delicious homemade, organic, healthy food full of quinoa and kale etc. We will also have gorgeous husbands with beards, bring our beautiful babies to work and open up the cafe at night for acoustic sessions and jazz evenings. Oh yeh, and the walls will be exposed brick because we are THAT trendy.

10. I cannot, for the life of me, walk in stiletto heels. Give me a big chunky heel/wedge any day. (This doesn't stop me wearing them though. I am determined.) 

11. I'm sad that this is the last 'bit about me'. I often find that blogs can lack a bit of personality sometimes (mine is no exception). I shall hence forth change my ways. My perfect writing style would be like that of Carrie's from 'Wish Wish Wish'. 

Eleven Questions from Sofi

1. Name one thing that makes me get up in the morning.
That would be the pain in my butt sun. No matter what time I go to bed, 7 o'clock I'm awake. I think you'd be safe to say that I was most definitely a morning person. 

2. Favourite artistic form of expression.
Definitely painting and drawing. I love nothing more than a humongous canvas and a big pile of oil paints.
3. Favourite soap smell.
The lynx shower gel that my boyfriend uses. Nom.
4. The best reward after a challenging day.
Well that would obviously be tea. But you can't beat a bit of country house rescue on 4od. Oh and the country living magazine. Jees I sound like such an old woman on here. 
5. Most listened to song of the week.
Spectrum (Say My Name) -Calvin Harris Remix, Florence + the Machine
6. Favourite restaurant/coffee shop.
Ok, this is really bad to admit this, but it's actually this small chinease buffet place called Oriental Star in Leamington Spa. My housemates and I used to visit it far too frequently whilst we were at uni. They basically do a takeaway box for £5 and you just go and stuff in as much as you can. I can honestly swear that I have never had food that tasted any better. After a long day at uni, there was nothing better than all squidging up together on the sofa and stuffing our faces whilst watching Supersize vs. Superskinny.

7.  Favourite holiday.
Definitely Christmas in the Alps.
8.  Place you would most like to visit.
I'd love to be whisked off to Paris for a long weekend :)

9.  A perfect evening is...
A BBQ in the garden with friends and family on a summer's evening.

10. Why blog?
I spent the past two years reading them and thought hey, I could do this too!
11. One thing you've learnt since you began blogging.
Do and wear what you want and don't care about what anyone else thinks. I've always loved fashion, but sadly when I was a bit younger and lacking the self confidence that I've grown into a bit more now, I used to never wear some beautiful items of clothing that I bought because they weren't what everyone else was wearing at that age.


Eleven Questions to my Nominee

1. What was the inspiration/reason behind your blog name?
2. Favourite season of the year?
3. Where do you shop the most?
4. Best cocktail you have ever drunk?
5. A really embarrassing fact about yourself?
6. Pet hate?
7. What's the best gift you've ever recieved?
8. Why start blogging?
9. What is your favourite hobby?
10. Best way to unwind after a long day?
11. Favourite movie?

I have really enjoyed this post and it's nice knowing that the few followers that I do have know a bit more about me now :) So thanks again Sofi for nominating me!
 

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Deco Utilitary.

Woke up early this morning on my day off with one seriously long list of things to do. With my graduation last Thursday I had the excuse to go on a shopping trip in order to find myself an appropriate dress. I'm so happy that all the A/W stock is starting to trickle in as shopping as of late hasn't been great with this years S/S trends in stores (I've been dreaming of tweed, leather and studs since the summer collections were released!).

However, before I rushed off out, I finally managed to start having a look at mixing the blog up a bit. Since creating this site back in January, the layout and detail of the blog has pretty much stayed the same. So after coming back all fresh and relaxed from my holiday I decided it was high time I tackle some of that pesky html malarkey. I was hoping for more of a simple and elegant feel to the site's layout. Still got a bit of work to do to it but I'm getting there!

The shirt is a new one from topshop ready for the cooler months later on in the year. I'm predicting and hoping that utilitary will be a big trend amoungst the high street stores this coming season. However, I love the new twist on it this year. It's all about the mix of the two; rough and glam. The earrings from H&M were a steal at only £6. I actually bought the, for another use that I'll be posting about soon, but I loved how they went with this shirt. I quickly threw on my new buys before we rushed off to look at the work being done on our house at the moment (we've had to temporarily move out as it's one big building site for now), hence the odd outfit choice and th messy garden in the background!
 

If you were wondering, no, they aren't my hands.












Friday 20 July 2012

Graduate.


Just a quick post today before I rush out! Yesterday saw in the culmination of my life's education and a lot of good times at university. It's true what people say, they really are the best three years of your life. Not only did I finish with a degree in my hands, I also made some great life-long friends. However, I have now entered the big wide world of work and don't really know what path to take yet. So if you know of anyone who is hiring, give me a bell ;)

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Holidays.

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! I've was working at the very wet and muddy Grand Prix at Silverstone and then jetted straight off to Menorca for a weeks holiday. After all the rain that we had over that weekend it was so nice to get away to some sunshine. However, being the idiot that I am, I forgot to take the camera because as usual I always leave my packing until the last minute. I therefore only have a few rubbish quality pics off my iphone of my holiday snaps to show you. 

Where we stayed in Menorca was great for big bustling markets that were held early in the mornings and late at night. They were full of local hand made jewellery and accessories as well as lots of food stalls with home made pastries and cakes (my favourite part of course!). I found the most beautiful ring along with some arm swag and the most amazing pair of hareem pants (think Aladdin..), but I'll show those on another post ;)

 
 




 Skirt: Topshop, Necklace: Topshop (old), Dress: Warehouse, Dress: Gap, Shoes: Accessorize



Monday 2 July 2012

DIY: Floral Headband.

With festival season well and truely upon us, I thought it was high time that I made this years floral headdress. This is such an easy DIY to try as it takes all of about half an hour to do and you don't need to go out and buy endless amounts of expensive new tools. 

All you need is a large bunch of fabric flowers in a variety of shapes and colours to add interest and dimesion to your head piece and some florist's wire. The fabric flowers can be found in local craft shops, markets or online. I bought a metre of ribbon as well to make a bow at the back as a little added touch  :)



 Take two pieces of the florist's wire.
Wrap two ends around each other.



Then bring the other two ends around your head and wrap around each other.
Don't make the head piece too tight as you still need to add the flowers.


 Now you have your head shape add extra pieces of wire to give a sturdier frame.


Use the biggest flowers to start with as these will be the main feature of your head piece.
Space them equally apart and then wrap them around the band.


 Now add the next biggest flowers.
Again, spread them equally apart.


 Finally add your smaller filler flowers.
Put these in all the leftover spaces.




Perfect to go galavanting off in at your next festival or even 
to perhaps wear in your local pub garden if the sun finally decides to rear its head.