Gamble Street

Sunday night was a Gamble Street night. A 4 piece alternative rock band from London, Gamble Street are fab (and there's the added bonus that the bassist is the boys housemate and one of my good friends!!).

‘Gamble Street aim to be recognised as a monumental live act, making crowds jump to the beat of their powerful, alternative rock anthems the world over. From the upbeat, festival vibes of ‘Lucy’, to the epic, deeply emotional chords of ‘We’ll Find Our Way’, this is a band to be reckoned with who you’ll certainly be seeing and hearing more of in the very near future.’

They performed at a really cool Brighton venue, Sticky Mikes, and with a fab turnout and a lot of good friends it was an amazing night. There were two warm up acts and then Gamble Street as the headliners, by which point everyone was very happily merry and completely got into the swing of things!! It was an amazing night and Gamble Street are definitely going to go far! Make sure you check them out on YouTube and follow them on Twitter @Gamble_Street.

The Vintage Fair

On Sunday, the Vintage Fair came to town. The Corn Exchange was taken over by stands filled with beautiful vintage furs, exquisite pieces of jewellery, shoes and accessories galore! Despite working at the event I still found time to take a few snaps to show off the wares! The fair travels the country and comes to Brighton 3 or 4 times a year. At only £2 for entry it's well worth a look as prices are very reasonable - the majority of the stands seemed to have a £5 rail. What better way to spend a rainy Sunday than hunting out some gorgeous and unusual vintage pieces!

Instagram catchup

This week has been a busy one: a dinner party with good friends, baking incredible fairy cakes (vanilla cream cheese icing with chocolate and ginger nut pieces - serious yum!), prepping for the launch of Promenade magazine and the launch party on Thursday evening, lots of chilled snugly movie nights with the boy, some pottering in the lanes and some work for the Vintage Fair. I though an Instagram catch up was the best way to share it all! 

The aftermath of fairy cakes and dinner!

 

My gorgeous niece, Ona; she really is the chubbiest little beauty!

 

The fash soc girls posing ready for the launch party <3

 

Nat, the amazing lead singer from Gamble Street (blog post to follow!) who performed an incredible set at the Promenade launch party.

 

Issue #3 of Promenade - its fab, read it!

http://issuu.com/promenademagazine/docs/promenadespring

 

Lazy, hangover days. Some of the best moments are spent with friends still suffering from the night before at 10pm!!

 

Amazing finds in the South Lanes. I head to Rome in a month and these are incredible little snapshots, one of those things that I was just 'meant' to find.

 

Another one of the things I was 'meant' to find. Brighton really does have everything!

 

Jo Malone window display made me smile when I was pottering today :)

Promenade

In 2011, Fashion Soc was created at Sussex Uni and I was lucky enough to be handed the presidency of the society last September. Fashion Soc aims to provide a platform for all things fashion (& lifestyle, arts/culture etc so basically me down to the ground!) through a number of avenues and one of the focuses is Promenade magazine.  A bi-annual online publication, the magazine is written, produced and designed entirely by students and really does get better with each issue - not that I'm bias or anything! 

The magazine is run by a fab team of editors and to celebrate all of their hard work and dedication we like to host a party upon the launch of each new issue. The next is on Thursday evening and I'm far too excited! Taking place at one of Brighton's best kept and newest secrets, Funfair Club, the party will showcase the mag with a bang, with goody bags for guests,  a live band, make up artists, hair stylists and a ball pit in the middle of the club to top it all off, not forgetting the bed of nails of course!! 

In anticipation of the launch, we've released a few of the shots from the focus editorial, a piece on 'clashing'. They epitomise the trend of mixing and mashing colours, prints and fabrics and are both innovative and imaginative, with the chosen shots being a great central focus for the magazine. I've got a few samples to share, all photo credits to the incredible stylists (Charlotte Harding, Ruby Stone-Sharp & Kate Eringer). 

You can check out the new issue here on Thursday: http://www.issuu.co.uk/promenademagazine

And if you're in the Brighton area then the launch party is free entry if you guestlist in advance. 
More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/229280937208747/?ref=2

Macaroons, slot machines & far too many seagulls!

After a week of being in bed with flu, Saturday was a sunny day and my housemate Helen and I decided that we needed to get out and enjoy it. Brighton really is at its best when the sun shines!

We began by trekking up the hill to Kemp Town, a bohemian part of Brighton, filled with boutique cafes, quaint pubs and more charity shops than you can imagine! Right at the top of the bigbigbig hill is one of my favourite cafes, the Real Patisserie and Bakery. There are three branches of the patisserie, but the Kemp Town one is by far my favourite, tucked away at the top of St George's Road, with a single long wooden table in the middle of the shop; perfect for breakfast. We went for the macaroons. £1 each and incredible. I think I'm quite the macaroon connoisseur (basically I'm a bit obsessed!) and these really are good. 

Macaroons, and other yummy goodies. I'm gonna admit that I couldn't resist the last piece of sundried tomato, pesto, pine nut and roasted red onion pizza - amazing!

Helen had never had a macaroon before so after 21 years I decided it was time to change that and I think that she was convinced!! It was such a gorgeous day that we decided to take out our goodies and wander down to the seafront. We walked past the gorgeous town houses and the best balcony - imagine having breakfast with a view of the sea everyday. I would be out there wrapped in blankets, no matter what the weather I think!

We wandered along the promenade, considering how much nicer the beach is when it's not covered in half naked tourists but contemplated that we really should make more of an effort to somehow end up by the volleyball courts whenever possible to watch the beautiful boys playing. Brown, beautiful boys has to be one of the best bits of summer, and perks of living by the beach no?! 

Somehow, we ended up on the pier, playing with the slot machines. I completely regressed back to being ten years old and on cold English beaches with my parents for winter weekends away and loved every minute of it! Managing to resist the bucking bronco and rides was a challenge but somehow we managed to stay vaguely classy but we just about managed it and headed home to walk up in bed until the heating came on! The perfect way to spend a sunny Saturday. 

Pasta yumminess

This dish is perfect for either summer or winter. Quick to make, healthy, cheap and delicious; what's not to like! 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

Dried or fresh pasta (either work well)

Good quality Olive Oil

1/2 Lemon

3-4 Spring Onions

1/2 Cloves Garlic

Salt/Pepper

1/2 bag of Rocket/Watercress/Spinach leaves

Handfuls of Mint/Basil/Coriander/Parsley - whatever is growing!

Creme Fraiche to Serve

Taking inspiration from a gorgeous recipe by Delia Smith, this pasta really is deliciously simple! It uses what ever is growing in the herb garden at the time as well as spare salad leaves to make a great light meal that can be served anytime of day, either hot or cold.

Put a pan of water on the hob to boil and once bubbling rapidly, add the pasta, following cooking times and serving amounts as recommended on the packet.

Peel 1/2cloves of garlic and add them to a food processor, along with a a few spring onions. Add the salad leaves that you have in the fridge - rocket works well, as does watercress and spinach. Take small bunches of any herbs growing - i think mint, basil and parsley is a great combination but you could also use coriander. The key is to just keep the flavour combination fresh so things like rosemary and thyme aren’t so great for this dish. To this mix, add the juice of half a lemon, a good glug of extra virgin olive oil and a few twists of salt and pepper. Then whiz.

It really is that simple!

You can either leave the sauce fairly large and course or add a little more oil while its whizzing and make it into a smoother paste.

Drain the pasta and stir in the sauce. You can add more seasoning as required and a dollop of creme fraiche is also a nice touch if you fancy it. Serve hot or cold as a pasta salad.

This is a recipe where the quantities and ingredients will be altered to particular tastes the more you make it! Lemon zest, fresh chilli etc. could all also be included for example…

Enjoy!