Blogs of Note to be Noted

Every now and again I peruse the Blogger 'Blogs of Note' list and to be perfickly honest generally don't find the selection that intriguing. But today, that changed.

On a whim I clicked open the 'Blogs of Note' section and skimmed the list. I came across this little beauty of a blog and felt it must be shared.

"Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century"

I highly recommend it for moustache fascination, wonder and awe. Plus the witty comments put the extra whiskers in each one for me.

Enjoy!

Moustache: British spelling

Mustache: US Spelling

Pugsitting

As previously blogged my sister went to Glastonbury last week with a big bunch of mates, asking me and The Big One to look after her little pug, Elvis, in her absence.

He's revealed himself to be quite a character!

'Elvis will be leaving the building' tomorrow when she returns and I shall miss the little piglet and his happy waggy tail greetings.

"The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue."
- Anonymous

Let Them Eat Cake

Last weekend I helped my friend The Roving Chef, sell her delicious wares at The Paradise Gardens Festival* in Victoria Park.

She had slaved away baking every type of cake you could wish for; Banana, Carrot (with cream cheese icing), Malt Loaf, Ginger, Lemon Drizzle, Apple, Chocolate, Coffee and Walnut, Victoria, Brownies and Red Velvet cupcakes!

Over the 2 day festival we sold soooo much cake! Luckily they was a bit left over for me and The Big One to take home, result!

* This was the only kind of festival I like, the non camping kind!

You can contact Hayley for delicious cakes and personalised cookery classes via her website (link above).

"A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes that he has got the biggest piece."

- Paul Gaugin

My New Manor

So my posts have been a bit slow in the publishing recently and this has been due to the wealth of local social life, cider (Perry is a new love), pubs and restaurants in the area which The Big One and I have moved to.

We have moved to Walthamstow Village and we both absolutely LOVE it! We have lots of local friends, loads of places to meet and the weather has been divine!

Here's my week to date as a new Wally Village Resident -

Monday: Local Pub Quiz and Curry at The Castle with my friend J-Row (he specified the blog name), he managed to persuade 3 of the locals (and last week's winners) to let us join their team and we WON! 

All 3 guys were really friendly and welcoming and it turned out one was a founding member of the local residents association, responsible for all the pretty planters, community garden and hanging baskets which make the village look that extra bit gorgeous. He explained to me that they arrange community gardening every Saturday and that Walthamstow was now a 'Britain in Bloom' contender due to their efforts.

One of the many local pubs above and below the delicious tapas restaurant

Tuesday: Slept in for the first time in weeks, tidied the flat and then The Big One and I walked to the local market to stock up on loads of fresh fruit and veg which we then cooked up in various ways for a lovely lunch.

Wednesday: Strolled to yet another local pub (see pic below) in the evening to meet friends who are now new neighbours, we sat outside, drank Perry and talked about village life, pets and their recent wedding til closing. Just divine.

another local cider source...

Thursday: After rehearsals headed to The Castle's beer garden with some mates for a night of local food, laughing, talking and yet more cider!

Friday: I took a couple of strolls in and around the village as I am 'pugsitting' and discovered an astro-turf, lots of pretty planters and a lots of beautiful village lanes.

I heart village life!

"The sun does not forget a village just because it is small"
- African Proverb

Sharing the Love....

Thanks to HawkandFallow I was watching and singing and dancing to this again recently. So I thought I'd share the love. I'm looking forward to her new album having had her last one Metropolis: The Chase Suite for a while now.

Retro-Fabulous!

In the Spirit of Festival Season

I am not a festival loving kinda gal.

I like a private shower, I like walls, heating, electricity and floors  - in short I'm a hotel kinda gal.

I have been to festivals, loads, probably too many as a child. You name a folk festival and I'll describe the tie-dyed outfit I was wearing and the clogging workshop I was being made to attend.

However it is Festival season, I am dogsitting my sister's pug, Elvis, while she attends the mud bath that is Glastonbury. She is beside herself with excitement. So much so that I started to consider the positives of festival living.

I do like the outfits - the freedom people feel to wear whatever you feel like -  maybe boho, fairy or even better a pirate.

But to be perfectly honest I dress like this in my normal housed life...I don't often choose to channel a fairy but instead a sailor/pirate/lady-who-lunches/white rabbit.

I do like a good wellie. There are not many opportunities outside of festivals to wear wellies, well not when you live, as I do, in London. Chunky knee high socks, denim cut offs and wellies. Lovely!

So in the spirit of embracing the enthusiasm for festival season I bring you the best wellies I could find.

"The (wo)man with the boots, does not mind where (s)he places her foot."
- Irish Proverb

Mission Impossible?

Just so you know, despite my slip up I am working away at the challenge I set myself last month to wear everything in my current wardrobe at least once before adding to it.

(I've just worked out I lasted 5 weeks before my minor offence today - it felt like months and months!)

I have tried to document my progress, mainly as evidence but also to help me tick items off.

only about 100 items/shoes to go.....

"Never wear anything that panics the cat." 

  ~P.J. O'Rourke

Dappers - Lully Lush!

Check out Dappers while you can on the iPlayer!

Written and created by the wonderful Catherine Johnson, Dappers is cheeky, sassy and bloody hilarious!

"They're a pair of sparky chancers, devoted to their toddler daughters and fiercely loyal to each other."

"... like Del Boy and Rodders in thongs"

I've just watched it and I've gone all 'Bristolicious!' in tribute.

If you miss it on the iPlayer then you can watch it on Friday on Beeb 3.

Dappers: young children/babies

Ooops....

I fell off the wagon this evening.

I innocently went looking for a black shirt for one of my many jobs and passing Urban Outfitters was alerted to the SALE! 

At the beginning of the year I longed for a lovely dress in Urban Outfitters which I deemed both beautiful and too expensive.

The idea that this love of mine was sitting adorned with a heavily reduced tag was just too much for me to bear, so in I went, searching for it. Within a few minutes, I had spotted it. The last xs hanging on the rail.....reduced from £50 to £24.99.

I held it, felt it and stared at it - could I, should I, break my promise of absolution??

Calmly I headed to the changing room....I reasoned that it may not look like I imagined and I certainly wouldn't break any promise before thoroughly examining it at every angle on me.

It looked amazing, I LOVED it! I started skipping about in it in the cubicle!

So with a fuschia pink high waisted bandage skirt in hand (reduced to £9.99!!) me and my new dress headed to the till.

And so there you have it....failure.

to state the obvious - neither of these images are of me but of urban outfitters models.

I am not proud but I am happy!

“I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it”

- Mae West

Lookie Lookie...

I got it!!! No joke it was the LAST one in Liberty! 

So here it is, my gorgeous new Alexis Bittar necklace....

Even the different length clasps looks pretty

4 different lengths - purrfect!

The shortest length

And guess who just won the CFDA Accessories designer of the year...

Accessory Designer of the Year
The nominees: Alexis Bittar, Marc Jacobs, Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough for Proenza Schouler
The winner: Alexis Bittar 

I heart Lucy

LUCY : I didn't tell a soul, and they all promised to keep it a secret.

Oh to be an Andrews Sister....

The clothes, the routine, the hair, the lyrics and the VOICES.

Love Love Love!

Sick of Feeling Sick!

I have been ill for 5 days now. Not bedridden ill but annoying, day disturbing, energy sapping ill.

I knew it was coming, I've been working like a mule, I moved flat and had a HUGE bundle of stress to manage. As soon as my stress load starts to get easier my body ALWAYS throws something at me. 

It started with an annoying cough a week ago, then became a sore, scratchy throat. Then it was a burning chest and throat and total loss of voice. Next a chesty cough and full blown head cold. Today,  (my first day off in several weeks) I had long lists of things to do so I had hoped today would be a doddle but no. Instead I felt weak, shaky and nauseous. The cough is now an irritating dry cough and the head cold is painful sinuses.

I am bored of it! I have things to do!

Despite my very indulgent moaning, I am fully aware that my annoying cold is not illness. I am not suffering.  I have a friend who knows full well what that is, he's one of the bravest people I know.

He has Cystic Fibrosis and 2 years ago came horrifically close to losing his lifetime battle with it.  Luckily he won, with the help of some brand spanking new lungs and he has been grabbing his new quality of life with both hands. He's just discovered he's diabetic but I know he will face that head on, like every challenge he's had, with great courage, good humour and inspirational positivity. 

 

Because that's just who he is. 

 

One hell of a tough cookie and a bloody great chum too.

Now if he can handle all of that, I can handle a stupid cold!

P.S Please sign up to the Organ Donor Register so more people like my brave friend can get the second chance they, and their families and friends, want so badly and deserve so much.

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." 

~Winston Churchill

Finding my Home Style

I had been in my old flat for 6 years, it was mine and The Big One's first home together and it was my second home after being a drama student.

When we moved in we furnished it with basics, whatever we could afford and a lot was hand-me-down. When we left to move into this new flat I wanted to start replacing our basics with items of style....but what was my style?

I started paying serious attention to art and furniture in an attempt to identify my inner interior designer. I have roped in my good friend HawkandFallow, whose personal domestic style is one which I highly admire, as a non paid interior design consultant. A couple of vague emails later I identified it, the concept which encompasses all I want to achieve in this new space.

Urban Poetry

I love the contrast of sleek, modern pieces against vintage chic. For me a few well placed period pieces inject warmth and homeliness into the stylish yet sometimes cold contemporary items I am drawn to.

I love things that have a history, that are unique and thrifty - I love a lot of Ikea's collections yet I don't want a home that anyone can buy, I want an atmosphere that only me (and my consultant) has created.  Quirky pieces that I picked up here and there. My wardrobe is made up of stories so why can't my home be?

Luckily for me HawkandFallow got it and she promptly started searching for images that we can communicate a common Urban Poetry with.

I'm excited!

Here are a few things I have found that will make up my cyber mood board.

So far they all work....right?

“"Style" is an expression of individualism mixed with charisma."

- John Fairchild