Monday 17 June 2013

Life Lately #5

Finally home and free from exams so blog updates will become a regular occurrence once more - I have lots of things to share including a couple of fab new brands and of course a review of the fabulous opening show at Brighton Fashion Week, Zeitgeist. Here's a quick catch up from my week...


VIP tickets at Brighton Fashion Week ad the delish Tasty Little Numbers that were included in the goody bags.


End of exams in London, chilling out with my sister and niece in the sunshine.


Playtime!


Selling Saima Majid scarves at Spitalfields designers and makers boutique on Saturday - it's on one a month and is worth checking out. Blog post on one of the gorgeous jewellery brands to follow!


Delish cakes from Flavourtown Bake at Spitalfields. I couldn't resist the salted caramel although the Pimms special was incredibly tempting too!!


Heaven in a box!


And this little sign rings very very true...



More food porn, so tempting and the tasters went down very well indeed!

After the day at Sptalfields, I met mummy for celebratory end of second year Prosecco at Bedales, a really cute wine bar on the edge of the market. My sisters and niece popped along too and I was incredibly impressed at my nieces ability to flirt with and win over prett much all of the gorgeous Italian men in the bar- she's not even one yet, goodness knows what she'll be like when she's 20!


Car boot sale treasures; one of the best bits about coming home. [Vintage case, 50p; cushions, 10p each, Catwalk shampoo and conditioner; £2 each].


Brand new shoes, 50p. Gorgeous, summery and perfect with a little dress!


And incredible brand new Spanish boots, £1. Wedged heel, and will look fab with leggings or jeans on a winter eve!


And possibly the best find of the boot sale, Vero Moda dress, £3.


Being home as the tide comes in over the Estuary.


And gorgeous flowers on the windowsill. Home comforts and its definitely the little things - a full fridge being one of them! I'm so glad that summer has finally arrived! <3

Monday 10 June 2013

Life Lately #4

I finish exams tomorrow. Literally cannot wait. The fact that the beaut sunshine of last week has disappeared is sort of helping right now as every hour of the day is spent in the library but after tomorrow it can definitely come back. Please? The one thing that's quite fun about revising is the breaks; I live for them. Maybe 'fun' isn't quite the right term!! But seeing as pretty much everyone else in my life right now has finished, the breaks to be had are quite fun! Here's a little insight into my week:


The revision snacks getting me through- the M&S that is 2 minutes from my house is getting a ridiculous number of visits right now! And if you haven't tried it their chocolate cheesecake in the food to go section is delish!!


The highlight of my day last week: the sun came out and the roofs of the buses came off! Actually pretty scary though - look at how insubstantial those railings are!!


Bare legs and sunshine.


Summery nails - I know, overexcited about the sunshine but it really did make me happy!


Gorgeous night at Bohemia with the girlies before everyone heads home for summer.


And the incredible bundle of perfumes given to us by Morgan as she packed up her room - I mean, not wanting to use bottles of Boss and Chanel?! They have been firmly added to my perfume collection!

Revision break and catch ups with Robyn. Library break turned into a jug of Pimms but I'm pretty sure it actually helped my revision. Promise!


Views from the boys house party at the weekend. Just reconfirmed how much I cannot wait to move to London this time next year.


And obviously with the amount of time I've been sat in the library over the last few days my eBay addiction has reached whole new levels. I bought this little baby for a wedding I'm off to at the end of the month. Fingers crossed its nice as should be arriving today!


Procrastination and nail painting. Love this shade by Barry M.


'OOFD'. Made in Chelsea chill out time.  I haven't worn a nice outfit in weeks. Serious withdrawal!!


And the best break of all was a trip for macaroons with the boy. So so good! 


My week is summed up with the incredible news that Isabel Marant is producing a collection for H&M. I'm booking my place in the queue for November 14th now!! I love her style and chic designs and just wish that I could stretch the student budget to afford them. The collaboration is the perfect compromise and I will most certainly be setting some of my student budget aside!



Finally, if you're in London on Saturday pop down to Spitalfields as The Designers Makers guild are hosting a market deficated to British designers. Saima Majid will be selling the gorgeous new summer collection there, and there will be over 40 other independent designers selling a range of gorgeous products. Check out the website for more info or search them on Twitter!


London calling to the faraway towns

Saturday was a London day. The weekend couldn't have come at a better time and a revision break was more than necessary! I headed down to London in the sunshine for a friends houseparty, meeting the girls en route at Spitalfields for cocktails and supper! Having not seen the girls properly for a couple of months it was lovely to catch up and we went to Las Iguanas, and while its a chain I was really impressed with the quality of the food (and tequila!), even if the service was a little below par. I went for the Chimmychanga with rice, refried beans, sweet potato and spinach and would definitely reccomend it! The cocktails were filled with tequila and were delish!!




We headed over to the pub opposite the boys house and caught up with the impressive amount of school friends that had made it down from all over the country for the evening! After a glass or two of Aspalls we were ready to head to the boys, check out their gorgeous appartment - they both landed jobs straight in the city after graduation - and turn on the Taylor Swift, we really wern't feeling 22!!

 
 
And one of our hosts had passed out by midnight, Postman Pat at his side!!

The appartment has gorgeous views over the city and after a couple of g&ts we couldn't resist some pics with the lights of London behind!



 
 



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


It was a lovely night, very chilled out and filled with catch ups and lots of laughing which are always the best kinds of nights in my opinion! The mornings hangover cure was more than necessary though and it was not an enjoyable train journey back to Brighton to carry on with the revision!! I now can't wait for summer times and most importantly our holiday to here that is booked for September.



'Get Lucky'


 
In this film, created for the 2013 CFDA Awards (Council of Fasion Designers), male models sing Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" while showcasing the collections of Thom Browne, Michael Bastian and Duckie Brown, all nominated for the CFDA's "Menswear Designer of the Year." Thom Browne took home the honor. Take the combination of the work of three of the best menswear designers, a handful of New York's most attractive models and the song of the summer and this is the result.
I was fairly disbelieving when I first came across the video a couple of days ago but it definetely made my evening. The deadpan model stances combined with the upbeat song is a fantastic juxtoposition. As a marketing technique its amazing and I love seeing the innovative campaigns and concepts that are becoming oh so necessary to get noticed, especially in industries as competitive as the fashion world.
What do you think?

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Friday 7 June 2013

Gnocchi


This is one of my favourite recipies, delicious, quick and easy.


My sister always has a pack of Biona's Gnocchineti at the back of the fridge for lazy days but until I tried her recipe I was not a gnocchi fan. I found it to be stodgy and flavourless but this is something completely different! Available from most whole food stores, these little pumpkin babies are delicious!

Ingredients (serves 2)

Knob of butter
Pack of pumpkin gnocchetti
Good quality pesto
Handful of pine nuts or seeds, lightly toasted
250 grams of spinach
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to season

Gently heat a knob of butter in a frying pan and add the pack of gnocchi. Stir gently until crispy on the outsitde and heated through which will take 3-4 minutes. In a separate pan, dry fry the pine nuts or seeds. When the gnocchi is gorgeously crispy, add a spoonful of pesto and toss in the spinach and a drizzle of oil. Leave on the heat for a minute or two longer until the spinach is gently wilted, add the pine nuts and season to taste. This is the perfect supper for those lazy evenings whilst still being healthy and delicious - give it a try!

Thursday 6 June 2013

Summer days drifting away

Last night was a girly night. A more than necessary revision break and a chance for my housemates and I to catch up with the girls we lived with in first year and don't get to see nearly enough these days!! 

We headed for supper at Wagamama- a favourite for its fresh flavours and prices that aren't too horrific! Yasmin is a huge fan of the Chicken Katsu Curry and Helen and Chenel also succumbed! Morgan went for a spicy tofu dish, Cami Fish Ramen and I chose my staple of Prawn Raisukaree. All looked, tasted and smelt delicious! 

Wagamama has just launched their new summer menu and are offering visitors a chance to win £1000s worth of Wagamama vouchers - how delishhhh!!! You just have to tweet a pic of your favourite dish from the new menu, using the hash tag #newwagamama. Fingers crossed!


After dins we decided we fancied either dessert or cocktails - how could we possibly decide which?! We wandered the South Lanes and came across one of my best Brighton finds so far, Bohemia.


Cocktails, desserts, sofas, cool red lighting and quotes all over the walls, what's not to like really? Even the toilets were lovely with shelves for your clutch - it's the little things!




Couldn't resist a cheeky mirror shot and it proves that it's actually warm here at the moment and its vaguely acceptable to go out in bare legs again, finally!


And this was my incredible dessert: toblerone and dark chocolate cake with a fondant centre. So delish!! We also tasted a strawberry cheesecake which was gorgeously presented and Yamsin had a chocolate Martini which I have on good authority as being amazing!


The gorgeous girlies...


Bohemia have a live jazz singer on Thursday nights and a DJ on Fridays and Saturdays. With a fab looking food menu and lots more cocktails to sample this is definitely somewhere that I'm planning on returning to!

Morgan's off to spend 3 months in India as of next week and Cami's off to Paris - so jel- for a year abroad so this will be our last evening all together for a while and it was a fairly perfect way to say goodbye!