Thursday, 28 January 2016

SCANDI CHIC


A weekend away...just what the doctor ordered.

End of January, rainy, dreary, grey and who's super sensible and booked flights before Christmas?! In the sale!! 

Uh-huh, oh yea, that's me (insert smug looking emoji face).

Copenhagen baby, here I come!

Friday lunch to Sunday night - a whistle stop tour, a girls mini break, a few days to eat, drink and try and soak up some of that Scandi style that pictures so beautifully capture.

For now I'm attempting to cram my life into an x by y by w dimensioned holdall (carry-on bag only)...and it's not going so well...so far I have three outfits, a toothbrush, one pair of (hopefully) non-laddered tights and five pairs of pants...

I'll let you know how I get on on the fashion front.

I won't be posting on here but I'll be on my Instagram , obviously.

See you on Monday!

Oh and I realise that Camille is French but her style is just so Scandinavian - and her and Pernille together are just perfection.

Pic via Pinterest



Wednesday, 27 January 2016

SNEAKING INTO VOGUE


So I'm currently studying at the London School of Journalism. I've already done a term and have until April to cram my brain with as much information as possible to help me pass my exams.

So, of course, the next few months are going to be filled with job applications, scouring the web, interviews (hopefully) and a fair few rejections (probably).

I'm going to share with you a little secret that I'm sure the other several million girls sat behind a laptop typing away on a blog will also admit to...

I really, really, really want to work at Vogue. Like, seriously badly.

As someone who's had a subscription since 2006 and hasn't thrown away a single copy (not that I can now fit them all in my bedroom), I feel the only logistical next step in my love for the magazine is to work there.

Obviously.

Unfortunately the paragraph above doesn't make for a particularly convincing cover letter.
But I just thought I'd tell you guys.

And luckily the agonisingly chic Alexa Chung has made a couple of videos on how to sneak into ok legitimately apply for a job at Vogue.
The vids are amazing and make me want to camp outside Vogue House until they give in and hire me.

Not that I'm actually going to do that of course...that would be crazy...wouldn't it?!

Vid courtesy of VogueUK Youtube

Friday, 22 January 2016

GREEN FINGERS



I'm not sure why but at the moment I am craving a bit of greenery in my life.

No no, not the obligatory green juice Instagram shot but real living things.

Plants, trees, grass, anything that isn't grey in colour, I'm up for.

Maybe it has something to do with living in a city. Probably more something to do with the freezing weather we're having sucking any sign of life out of the ground.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of those days where the air hurts your chest but the sky is a piercing blue and the sun is low in the sky.

But green plants?! You just can't beat 'em. And nothing lifts a room like a plant.

More plant porn after the jump.

Tuesday, 19 January 2016

MADE YOU LOOK


This sign is on probably one of, if not the, busiest streets in London.

Portobello Road.
Blissful on a weekday. Pure hell at the weekend.

But I always wonder how many people have actually seen this artwork. How many people actually look at it. It's just at the start of the road when you're coming from Notting Hill, quite high up over a flat bit of roof that houses a garage. 

The wall is red brick and the sign is black and white. Nothing massively eye catching, nothing too outrageous. And nothing compared to the psychedelic colours of much of the street art in the area.

But for some reason it always grabs me.

I decided long ago to try and notice the details of a place I'm in. I think it comes from being an obsessive photographer of everything around me. I never want to take the photo that has been captured before. Where's the fun in having a duplicate of someone else's work?!

My imagination is in a constant state of heightened excitement whenever I wander through London. (Although not really so much this week as the temperature drops below that at which I want to be simply wandering!)
There's always so much going on, so much to look at, so much to be shocked by/laugh at/stare at/be generally amazed by.

I've realised that the reason I love to write and to take photographs is because my brain is just one big, giant, fluffy sponge, absorbing everything around me for later use.

And I tell you what?! Apart from sometimes being unable to sleep, and always having to keep a pen and paper by my bed, I'm rather a fan of my sponge-like brain.

So next time your marching along the streets of your city, look up, look around you.

Be a sponge.

Make yourself look.

And be all the better for it.

Pic shot on Sony x55

Thursday, 14 January 2016

EARN YOUR STRIPES


It is from my sick bed that I write. Me and the rest of the world right?!

Why is it, second week into January, when everything is picking up, when the to do list is ever lengthening, that one always ALWAYS gets sick?! 

I'm bored and kind of hungry but not really. And completely addicted to The Affair. 

Not all bad I guess.

Also stumbled across this incredible shoot from last months British Vogue. Making me dream of being sun kissed and wrapped in a big striped button-down shirt. Oh and shot by one of the most amazing photographers in the bizz.

P.E.R.F.E.C.T.I.O.N

Vogue UK Jan 2016

See more of my love of stripes over on @ivrashton Pinterest *STRIPES*

Monday, 11 January 2016

NOTICE THE DETAILS


Sometimes, especially when it gets dark at 4pm and you have no plans for the afternoon and your flat mate is out, it's easy to work yourself up into a bit of a state.

Suddenly minor issues are blown massively out of proportion. Problems you didn't even realise you cared about manifest themselves into giant, impossible-to-ignore situations.

Bigger questions like what am I doing with my life?
Do I need to get another job? (I'm currently a part-time student working two jobs at the same time. But this is London!)
Do you think anyone will notice if I wear the same outfit two days in a row?

To the tiny niggling concerns like when did I last wash my hair? Or how off really is that veg? 

But then I remember to breathe. I put the kettle on, wrap myself up in a rug, have a scroll through Instagram (and maybe a biscuit) and I'm back in the room.

Because guys, realise that you don't need to sweat the small stuff. Or even really the big stuff. 
Not on a cold, dark and rainy Monday evening anyway.

Just notice the details and be grateful for them.

Pic iPhone6

Saturday, 9 January 2016

SHIRT ON SKIN


Ok I'll admit it. 

Right now I'm not thinking about the million and one things I've left myself to do before school starts again next week. And I'm not thinking of my best friend's birthday present that I still haven't got or the fact that I just spent the money I'd saved on a top I do not need. 

And I definitely am not thinking about the open box of Lint chocolates sitting on top of the microwave...

No, I'm thinking about this campaign. About the simplicity of its beauty, of the two women who feature in it and the perfect shirts that adorn one of them.

Kate and Daria. 

A match made in genetic heaven.

Why oh why do my mirror selfies never ever look quite this good?! Even if I do try and filter them in black and white. 

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful shoot after the jump.

Meanwhile those chocolates just seem to have fallen into my lap...resolutions?! 

Oh leave me in peace. It's the weekend.

Sunday, 3 January 2016

DRINK MORE LEMONADE


So it's 2016. A new year once more.

Where did the last one go?!

I have spent the last three weeks in a semi-food-comatosed state, blissfully unaware of and totally ignoring the reality of life. Unfortunately tomorrow is the first Monday of the new year and thus brings with it the harsh awakening that I have been so avoiding.

Having trawled my way through both the Telegraph and Times newspapers this weekend, I have no idea which vegan/paleo/veggie/*insert other food fad here* diet to follow, nor which bizarre new exercise regime I should undertake.

And so I feel like I may just ignore them all.

That is not to say that I am going to neglect the diet/exercise trend entirely. That would be foolish considering the whale-like state I'm currently in.

But having glanced at the newspaper front pages in the Co-op, it feels a teensy bit like people are completely and utterly obsessed with the change you must undertake in your own life come January.

I'm all for great resolutions, most of which I never stick to, but come on. I don't need to read five different magazines and find five different ways of improving/detoxing/self-helping my life. 

My goals for 2016 look something like this:

1. Get a job. Like a real, proper job that I feel excited about and proud of. Or at least a few interviews
2. Stop eating chocolate after every meal. Seriously, it's getting out of hand
3. Remember to polish my shoes for said potential job interviews. Scruffy boots just aren't really an option
4. Stop stalking other peoples' lives on Instagram. Maybe just live my own
4. Stop giving a f*** about things that don't matter

Oh and try to blog more. But I say that every month don't I?! But seriously, I mean it this time.

Realistically, why don't we just drink more lemonade?

Pic taken in LA, shot on Sony x55