FF XLI

These British problems made me laugh so much. The one above is my favourite. On my first day of work, a Tuesday, the binman I walked past said good morning. Now I see him every Tuesday. We've progressed to short conversations. I know all about his divorce and custody battle. I don't know his name. After 16 months of this, we've long passed the point where I can ask. Awkward! 

So Jes has made a second appearance in two weeks. I love this girl too much. Seriously though, look how freaking gorgeous she is! Beach inspiration right there. 

I've just discovered Shannen at My Friend Munster. Look how adorable she is! 

This is the most amazing wedding photo ever!

Word of May review

Source

Well, May was certainly a busy month. I managed to check off all five of my targets. Woohoo!

1 & 2. Visit somewhere new and meet someone new
Well, I did both of these when I went to Bristol and met Leona. Scary times but super duper exciting too! I also visited two new art galleries in London but that goes into my next target. 

3. Visit an exhibition
I ended up visiting three exhibitions this month- John M Armleder at Dairy Art Centre, Rachel Whiteread at the Gagosian Gallery and No Borders at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. 

4. Find a piece of inspiration in every magazine I read
I didn't actually read many magazines this month. However, I did find inspiration from every one I read. Rich styled my outfit, I designed covers for my favourite books and I wrote an open letter to Company. 

5. Read 4 books
I can tick this one off! In May, I read The Help, The Boy who Taught the Beekeeper to Read, The Hundred-Year-Old Man who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, and Thin. 

All in all, I'd make this a pretty successful month! 

May in Review

I've decided to start a new monthly feature- A month in review where I get to show you the best of my month. So, welcome to my first May in Review!

My favourite outfit

Rich chose this outfit. Only because I accidentally told him what to choose.

My favourite shoes

These shoes have quite a story to tell. 

My favourite book

One of the best children's books I've ever read.

My favourite day out

Well, this is hardly a surprise! 

Other favourites

An open letter to Company Magazine.

Creepy baby faces at St Paul's Cathedral.

Great street style at Judy's at Old Spitalfields.

A bank holiday picnic in the park.

Benefit Stay Flawless Blogger Party

I was very, very excited to be invited to the Benefit Stay Flawless party in Southampton on Tuesday evening. I bought my first piece of Benefit make up in 2010 (Some Kinda Gorgeous, if you're wondering) and, ever since, I've been obsessed! So I'm sure you can imagine my excitement at attending the party for Benefit's brand new product- Stay Flawless, a primer that promises foundation to stay perfect for 15 hours. Sounds good, right? 

How cute is this cushion! 

Here are the very lovely Ashleigh, Helen and Becca showing off Stay Flawless in all its beauty! 

The Benefit girls were on hand to dish out beauty tips and tricks. They also colour matched every attendee so we could find our perfect shade of foundation. 

 
 There were not enough of these cute speech bubbles to go around!

 Nearly everyone won a Benefit kit in the quizzes. Not me though. Sad face!

 Bubblegum-flavoured chewing gum. Yes, it's as amazing as you think it will be!

Becca really loves her make up brush!

It was a great night. Huge thanks to the Benefit team for being so lovely and putting on a great party! It was wonderful to meet some new bloggers too (and hello Helen's mum!).

We were very kindly given a goodie bag containing a foundation brush, Hello Flawless foundation in our shade and, of course, Stay Flawless itself. I'll have a review up very shortly so keep an eye out! Spoiler alert: I love it! 

101 in 1001 VII

I've had such a crazy month! It has been filled with the most exciting things! I've achieved a lot of things on my 101 in 1001 list. 

#6: Become art co-ordinator

How do you like my amazing drawing skills?

For those of you who aren't in education, subject co-ordinators are basically the people who are in charge of leading a subject across the whole school. It's been my medium-term ambition to be art co-ordinator ever since I was in uni and did an art leadership module. My plan was to achieve this goal around the 5-year mark, but I was offered it in my second year. I'm super duper happy! I don't actually start until September but I'm including it in this month's post. I'm just too excited about it to wait until then! 

#12: Attend a blogging event

I was invited to the Benefit Stay Flawless Blogger Party. It was a lot of fun and I met a lot of new people. 

#13: Meet a blogger in real life

I met Leona in real life. Eeeee! 

I also met Helen, Islay, Becca, Ashleigh, Pasha and more at the Benefit Stay Flawless Party. Phew, so many bloggers! 

#34: Visit Bristol

We met up in Bristol so I got another tick off my 101 list.

#44: Attend a Stuff & Nonsense Workshop

 I got to go to another one this month. 

#57: See all the exhibitions on my list

I saw another two exhibitions this month- Rachel Whiteread at the Gagosian Gallery and Quicksand at the Dairy Art Centre. I also went to visit the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. 

#96: Read 14 books

I accidentally included The Help last month when I hadn't actually finished it, so it's popping up again here. I have now reached my 14 book target so, based on a guide of 3 books per month, I'm planning to read another 31 before the end of my 1001 days. That, added to my current 14, gives a total of 45 books, which seems an awful lot!  

#101: Watch the backlog of films I've downloaded

I finally finished reading The Help and got around to watching the film. It wasn't as good as the book. There was far too much detail to be able to squeeze into a film. 

28th May 2013

Top: Charity Shop

Skirt: Topshop

Yesterday, I headed over to Southampton for the Benefit Stay Flawless Party. The invitation had cute Alpine girls with bunches and dirndl dresses so I thought it would be cute to dress similarly.

I bought this top from a charity shop a few weeks ago but I hadn't had the chance to wear it until last night. It's cute, right? 

The Fragrance Shop Discovery Club

Since I started blogging, I have seen so many subscription boxes doing the rounds. I've never been too interested in them due to the risk of paying £5 a month for a load of tat you don't want or need. Then I heard about The Fragrance Shop's Discovery Club. 

I am a total perfume addict so it seemed perfect for me. You pay £5 per quarter and, in return, receive a box every 3 months with 5 new perfume samples and discount vouchers for each fragrance. I much prefer the idea of a quarterly box rather than a monthly one. It seems less of a commitment. 

Nina L'eau Nina Ricci

I tried the original Nina fragrance a while ago. It was pretty but nothing special. This version is much the same. The top notes are extremely fruity. I had a strong smell of pineapple at first, which is odd as this isn't listed in the notes, but it faded away into an apple scent. The sillage is very soft so it's good for work.

Just Cavalli Cavalli

Cavalli isn't a design aesthetic I respond particularly well to. It's just a little too exuberant and glamorous for me. Somewhat unsurprisingly, I had the same response to this fragrance. The immediate scent is very sharp which thankfully fades quickly into white floral notes but dries down to an earthy fragrance, almost muddy. It has a medium sillage and longevity is crazy. It lasts hours and hours. Which would be great if I liked it. 

Lovestruck Floral Rush Vera Wang

I wasn't expecting much from this fragrance. The bottle looks so cheap that I expected the fragrance inside to smell pretty nasty. I was pleasantly surprised. The topnotes are a lovely fruity floral. I can smell blackcurrant, although it's not listed as a note, and it's a very pleasant summer scent. The longevity is very poor, however, although the medium sillage isn't bad. 

Couture La La Juicy Couture

To say I'm not a fan of Juicy Couture is an understatement. To me, it epitomises everything that is cheap and tacky. Remember the tracksuits circa 2004? Exactly. I fully expected this fragrance to live up to that memory but I was actually a little surprised. On first spritz, it's very, very fruity. Perhaps lemon or bergamot. Or grapefruit, even. As it dries down, it becomes extremely similar to DKNY Be Delicious, if a little sharper. For such a strong scent, the sillage appears to be quite soft. I'll be sticking with my DKNY. It's not bad but I already have something similar (and that bit more pleasant!).

Eau de Lacoste Lacoste

Judging by the packaging (which I know you shouldn't do!), I assumed this would be a very soft, light fragrance. I was right. It's a pretty, delicate fruity floral with top notes of pineapple and orange, fading to sandalwood and vanilla. It has a soft sillage and the longevity is not bad. I think this is my favourite of the pack.

I am pretty impressed with my first box from The Fragrance Shop. I can't wait to see what I get next time! 

27th May 2013

Sunglasses: River Island

Cardigan: River Island

Dress: Topshop

Shoes: Converse

I love this Topshop dress. It was a little chilly to wear it without the cardigan so you can't see it too well, but it really is lovely. It has an amazing ladder back (if that makes any sense). It's got elephants and crocodiles on! What could be better?

This is what I wore to the Donkey Derby today. Unfortunately, I forgot that the back of my neck was exposed since I was wearing twin braids, and I got a little sunburnt. Remember the SPF, kids! 

Donkey Derby

For the past 50 years, my town has held an annual Donkey Derby. I'm not sure if this is a phenomenon that takes part in other parts of the world or if it's unique to us. It features a series of donkey races as well as traditional village fete stalls and a fairground. 

Although I have lived within feet of the location for the past 3 years, I haven't actually been since 2003. Back then, I volunteered to be a jockey. My donkey came in 5th place, beating only my friend Marie, whose donkey decided to go back the way it had came. 

It was high time I returned after a 10 year absence (although no jockeying this time round! I think the donkey would buckle under my weight these days!) 



We had a voucher for a free climbing wall session. I wasn't really in the wall-climbing mood (a shock, I know!) so Rich had a go instead. 

How amazing is this book! 


Donkey racing is underway! 

There's always a kid or two who fall off their donkey (He was ok!) 


They really did smell like fruit! 





There's a private airport across the road from the playing fields so there are always planes flying overhead.