Monday 30 July 2012

Happy Birthday, Daddio!

Dedicating this post to you, Father dearest! Another missed birthday in Cornwall, damn the long distance but I'm sure you tucked away a few beers between you all anyway! We don't have many nice snaps together and this is terrible quality but from a lovely lunch a little while ago.


E x

Sunday 29 July 2012

Weekend #7

This weekend flew by so quickly! It was a little different from normal in that we went to J's parents for some R and R, back in the countryside.

J came to London on Friday eve and met me and some friends from work for a drink and to watch the opening ceremony. This was such a great atmosphere and really fun to watch with a big crowd and not just on the sofa in your pjs! Lots of cheering (and confused laughter) at many parts of it (Champion of the Earth - I'm sorry, what?!), but a really enjoyable evening overall.

Saturday we pelted back to Bucks. and caught up with some friends, spending most of the day in the sunshine in a beer garden - I'm never one to complain at that. In between, we caught up with and watched all of the goings on in the Olympics and filled ourselves up on yummy homemade grub.

We did plan to come back to London on Sunday, but the pull of home comforts was too much so we spent the rest of the day there, again, watching more Olympics fun. We went to the cinema in the afternoon and saw the Dark Knight Rises - worth a watch but not sure I would see it again. To be honest, it was rather hard to understand what anyone was saying, what with the facemasks and lots of mumbly American accents! I think this has been a resounding critique, so I have heard.

Anyway, more homecooked food and cups of tea and then we both pinged our separate ways, me back to London and J back to Southampton.

A band that we listened to a lot this weekend is one that we are going to see in October. The Gaslight Anthem are J's fave band and I managed to secure us some tickets to see them at the O2 in Brixton for a bit of a surprise for him. I really like their music too and so I am very excited to go - it's been ages since I have seen any live music (feeling old). This is the title track from their new album, which I have been enjoying. It is great music for putting on your car radio at full blast and singing along.


Wednesday 25 July 2012

New Friend

Okay, so this may be the world's most boring post ever written but I just wanted to share with you a new little friend that will be joining me in the blogging world. 

Basically, somewhere between London, France and Cornwall, I lost my camera lead. This meant I had no way of getting the pictures off my camera and on to my computer as my computer does not have a slot for SD cards (Damn you, Apple). Luckily, I managed to borrow a computer at work to take some ones off of the France goodies but obviously this was not a permanent solution. 

To solve my troubles, I nipped across to good old eBay and found this gem up for auction from this seller


I placed an almightily high maximum bid of £1 (!) and let fate do it's thing. I snapped it up for 69(lol)p in the end - absolute bargain. I loved it straight away as it was so small, much easier to carry around than a big lead and so simple. It did have to come all the way from Hong Kong so it took a couple of weeks to get here but hey, 69p and free delivery - who can complain at that.

E x

DISCLAIMER: I appreciate how dull reading this post is, I appreciate most people didn't even bother - amazing if you get this far! My explanation is that I mostly just wanted to check that it actually worked to upload photos and didn't distort them in any way too! Sorry, normal service will resume as of tomorrow :)

Tuesday 24 July 2012

Life's Treats

Sometimes, it's just the simple things in life.

I have been keeping this little blog now for just over two months. When I first started out, I had so many ideas and I wanted to write about everything. Two months, and a fair few posts later I am looking back over all the things I have written and deciding what direction to take from here onwards. There are so many blogs out there, covering all niches that it is hard to stand out in such an already saturated crowd.

Previously, it was just a mind dump for all the things I wanted to write about, covering all aspects of life. Looking forward, I definitely cannot afford to sustain a buy to blog nature, especially as I like to post daily! On the other hand, I don't want it to reflect something that isn't 'me'. 

Since starting this, and carrying on - this blog will just be a little piece of me, and all the things I like. I can't promise to post photos of my outfit every single day (I am not that interesting/stylish!) or to have a stream of expensive and luxury beauty products to review. Also, I don't cook from scratch every night so I can't write a million recipes. Most nights I have M & S fishcakes (stockpiled in the freezer) and a salad bag - interesting!

I suppose you could say, I will blog about all of life's treats. I promise to write about the little gifts I give myself every now and again. Be it that scrummy recipe with a big glass of wine, or that new mascara, or even better - a new pair of shoes :) but only when they are a treat. The other thing I do have a love for, are what products people use day to day and what they use up, expect to see a little of that on top! These are my favourite posts to read on other peoples blog so send them my way :)

E x

Sunday 22 July 2012

Weekend #6

Just a quickie one from me this Sunday evening, it is also a rather late one! I spent the weekend in Southampton so had to drive back this evening, anticipating that the roads would be chocca due to Olympic traffic so thought it would best to leave it as late as possible to leave. Luckily, the roads were fine and no hanging about.

We didn't get up to too much this weekend as J was on call again so we just sat in the garden, soaking up the rays. On saturday, we wandered in to town to mosey around the shops and we grabbed some lunch at Bella Italia on the way home - they had a delicious and bargainous lunch menu for a starter and a massive pizza for £7.95 - can't really go wrong. Back home for some more sun-soaking and some films.

Sunday was much of the same, although we threw in a delicious BBQ for good measure (which mainly looked a lot like this one!) It was too hot to do much else so we just happily sunned ourselves and I managed to finish the Hunger Games trilogy which was well worth a read. A friend has recommended I now read Divergent, by Veronica Roth so I may give this a go - love a good action book for the daily commute.

I am now tucked up in bed, slathered in a tan preserving after sun, hoping to maintain at least some hint of a summer glow for a few days! This evening, I have been listening to a bit of Dolly Parton. Now don't snigger, as some of her more laid back stuff is really chilled, plus, I quite like that whole bluegrass, haybale thing. This is the title song to a really laid back authentic, country feeling album and great for a late night drive on a Sunday.

 

Goodnight all!

E x

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Breton Stripes


Recently I popped to France with my family. Now, what trip to Brittany would be complete without picking up some trademark Breton stripes? I searched high and low over lots of markets to find the exact one that I wanted. I initially was looking out for a red and cream striped one but this little number caught my eye. It is made of 100% thick cosey cotton and I liked the 3/4 length sleeves. I wore it over last weekend and it made the perfect layer for this ridiculous English 'Summer' that can't make up it's mind from one minute to the next. Team it with a big cosey scarf that can be whipped off at any break in the clouds and you are set.



Fingers crossed I can make another trip back in the late Summer (fingers also crossed for some Indian sun!) and soak up some more French atmosphere. I could totally live with their easy pace of life...3 hour lunches...pastries...sunshine - bliss!

E x

Monday 16 July 2012

The Most Versatile Handbag Ever!

When we first got to France, we visited the town of Morlaix for some breakfast and a wander around. Our Gite wasn't ready until four so we had lots of time to kill. As we were scoffing down our coffee and croissants (5 minutes in and I'm already at the pastries!), they were setting up their weekly market outside. Lots of French treats to be found, some yummy and some a little bit strange but always enjoyable to have a look. 

My Mum, Sister and I were particularly taken by a stall selling all sorts of leather bags. Now I'm not talking your sleazy Italian type mass produced jobbies that you often see on market stalls, these were hand tanned, local animal, hand stitched little pieces of bag heaven. My mum fell in love with a Goat leather bag, I suppose most similar in style to a Bayswater but a of course, different and I spotted this little treat. It is in actual fact, a sheep leather bag - giving it that distinctive orangey-brown colour.


It is honestly the most perfect sized bag ever, especially for heading to work. I can cram in my Kindle, umbrella, all the general crap I carry around and much more. The separate pockets are great for putting in smaller things that you need to grab to hand quickly - i.e. USB sticks, I'm always losing mine in my other cavernous bags! The other great thing is the shoulder strap, no more tired arms!

One of the things I love the most about it is how it has that kind of vintag-ey look even though it is brand new, it's all a bit wonky and rough and ready so you know it was hand crafted, hopefully with love! Seeing as my birthday is coming up, this was another little pre-birthday treat so super lovely.

All in all, I think it was an absolute steal at 39 euros. It even has that authentic smell that you know means it is real leather. I absolutely adore it and have been using it ever since I bought it! The only annoying thing is my current purse is literally 1cm too long so it doesn't fit. I have been using one of the pockets inside as a purse instead. I love my purse too much to change it so this is something I have not figured out how to get around yet!

E x

Sunday 15 July 2012

Weekend #5

Well hello! It has been a little while since I have been able to write a blog post as things have been rather hectic recently. As I mentioned in my previous post, I took a trip to France for a week with my family. I actually got back to London last Monday, but as with all holidays - the week after you have been away and get back to work seems to counterbalance all the stress relief you gained from being away! I had a very busy week with getting back to work, lots going on and haven't had a free evening since.

This weekend has also been a rather jam-packed one as I wizzed down to Southampton on Friday night as J was on call, only to find out that a very good friend of his was having a birthday in London on Saturday night. Luckily we worked out a plan that meant we would be able to attend said birthday as it would have been such a shame to miss it. This did, however, mean wizzing back up to London last thing on Saturday - let's just say, I am getting to know the M3/M4 VERY well! I was treated to a little glimpse of the Red Arrows in practice and a few rainbows on the way down on Friday though, so not all bad. Usually I like this quiet time to pop my (very out of date) iPod on my car radio, belt out some cheesy tunes and recollect my thoughts. I spend so much of my time travelling squished in with other people and their armpits on the tube, it is nice to have this space to myself.

Following a late night last night, today we just took it easy, having a late breakfast at Cafe Rouge (yum by the way - will definitely be going back for their Saumon Benedict!!) and then just watching some telly this afternoon. This evening I intend to get things in order after my busy week and get back in to my routine again. Of course, this will be aided by a large glass of wine, some chocolate and a long hot soak in the bath. Whilst I was at home, I picked up some treats from way back at Christmas which included some Lush bath bombs so I will be popping them in my soak I think. I have never had one before so definitely a treat!

Lastly, I picked up lots of treats in France that I can't wait to write about so watch this space ;)

Just to end this post off in the usual style, I have been listening to Lianne La Havas this evening. I actually got this song from iTunes a while back as their free single of the week. This is a really great treat that I encourage everyone to try as you often pick up some real up and coming artists waayyyy before they release anything in to the mainstream - and it's free! I love her voice and think it's perfect for winding down, definitely check out her tracks if you like this sort of music. I couldn't find a studio version of this track, this is a live version but honestly - it sounds the same! The sign of a true artist I think.

Happy Sunday everyone :)


E x