Summer Bucket List.

Last week the sun most definitely had it's hat on; and I was ready to wave goodbye to Winter and welcome SUMMER with open arms.
Unfortunately I think I was a bit premature....I've just come in from taking the dog for a walk and it was windy, rainy, cold and all in all pretty bloody miserable.
BUT whats getting me through these morbid Spring days is the thought that Summer is (fingers crossed) just around the corner.

When Summer begins i always think that it will last forever, but before I know it I'm back round the dinning table eating roast Turkey, singing Jingle Bells and thinking 'where the chuff did my summer go?'. So this year to make sure i don't miss a single second of it I've made myself a 'Summer Bucket List'- which I encourage you to do too! (it definitely makes it feel that summer is within reaching distance)

1)GET A TAN.

Frankly its not Summer if I haven't changed race.

 2)HAVE AS MANY BBQS AND PICNICS AS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE.

Being able to stay outside on a park or in a garden til the late hours with a few drinkskies and some amazing people is just whats needed for it to embrace the summer time.

3) TO PLAY VOLLEYBALL ON THE BEACH AND GO KAYAKING

Frolicking in the sunshine...plus if I'm rubbish I can just blame the sand 'i cant reach the athlete within on such a terrain!'

4)STAYING ON THE BEACH FROM MORNING TIL NIGHT.

Relaxing and getting a tan; and of course running into the sea without a second thought....but probably soon after (when your smuggling peanuts) regretting such a rash decision.

5)HAVE A WATERFIGHT.

My friends and I all seem to be growing up and becoming proper adults; so i think its important to not forget the immaturity within and just have some fun....
My battle tactics are already prepared.

6)SPEAKING OF IMMATURITY.

MESSY TWISTER. I saw this online and it just looks amazing. It doesn't necessarily have to be done in summer- but I'm sure the clean up will be a whole lot easier if done outside!

7) GO ON A ROADTRIP.

Not sure when, where or why....but thats all in the fun right?

8) BUILD A FORT.

And camp in it...of course!

9) MAKE HOMEMADE ICE TEA AND TIE-DYE T-SHIRTS.

Its the only time of year where I think I can be accepted in such a fashion faux pas.

 10) GO FRUIT PICKING.

Something me and my sister would always do with my Dad when we were little. It's a summer memory that will stay with me always and I'd love to go again and make even more fantastic memories. And failing that at least make some jam.

 

 11) HAVE AN OUTDOOR PARTY.

 Being able to cherish moments with friends in one of the last summers where chances are we'll all have time off together.

 

 12) GO TO A FESTIVAL.

Benicassim tickets have been BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKED!!! 

 

13)GO ON A BIKE RIDE.

Long summer days where you don't have to think 'oooo it might get dark soon' and can just peddle til you please. And of course stopping off at a nice pub to refuel.

 

14) POSSIBLE?

I have no idea if this is possible but if you break a glow stick and put it in bubble mixture it SHOULD make glow in the dark bubble....perfect for my outdoor party eh.

 

15) BEEN SOMEWHERE I HAVE NEVER BEEN BEFORE.

  My heart is already there....

 

So basically i want everlasting nights, lit only my candles and bonfires. And then to wake up to sun kissed mornings which are only interrupted by the sound of birds tweeting and friends laughing.

Articles....

Back in the summer I did some writing for an online magazine Planet Ivy and thought I'd link the articles on here if you (and any possible magazines who wouldn't mind me writing for them...you never know Comany's editor may be reading this now!) wanted to read any of them....

Holiday Suitcase Article

Top Bloggers article with interview with Suzie Bubble!

Fashion Icon Article

Wimbledon Fashion

Home Sweet Home

Decorative, inspiring ideas to make a room cozy, comfortable and organized....
 

Twinkle Twinkle.

Christmas brings such a magical feeling, and its so easy to get the holiday blues in the dreary months between December and April (when fingers crossed we'll skip the April shows and head straight into a bight and sparkling spring!) So to make that warm, fuzzy and festive feeling last just a TAD longer I've wrapped fairy lights around a cork board. (Something like a headboard, mirror or picture frame will also work)

A normal cork board could look a bit blah and dull, so I painted it with gloss white to make it a bit more fitting to a bedroom and less like a office :).

The novelty of the lights may wear off at some point....but until then I'll just enjoy dreaming under the stars...

Operation Organise.

Going out and you know the most perfect necklace that will go with your outfit only to find it bunched up in a massive ball with about 20 others. BUT there are so many easy and inspiring things you can do which can not only help to declutter the nightmare of your jewelry box but will also look fantastic. 
I got a small peg board that your would use for coats etc, painted it white and stuck it to my wall. Now all my necklaces stay tangle free AND when they're not accessorizing me they're accessorizing my wall- after all why have such pretty jewelry and then bury it away in a box!
Other things that will also work are bedposts, mirrors, picture frames, door knobs, cork boards.

 Crafty Creations.

I know my bedroom is not hosting a 1950 street fair, but I think I have an addiction to bunting. Its looks so cute and just so quick, cheap and easy to make. Just use old bit of miss-match fabric or why not try magazines :).

Okay so I know I'm not known for my amazing skills in carpenty, and its not a craft I plan on taking up any time soon. But TheWoodenLetterCompany (http://thewoodenletterscompany.com) allows you to to design your own hanging or free standing letters from about a fiver!

Jam Jars are another cute room accessory, you dont have to go out and spend loads of money on the chicest jars out there (infact I have no idea of anywhere chic jam jars are a top seller). Just use any ones you can get your hands on- they can be decorated with buttons/ribbons, or just be kepts simple by filling them with flowers or candles.

GetInspiredAndGetCreative....

Walking in a Winter Wonderlad

‘Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.’

-Edith Sitwell

Okay so I adore summer- sunshine, flip slops, ice lollies, bbqs. Everything about it puts a big smile on my face. So I can’t help but get a little bit glum (I say a little but glum, more of a grumpy old scrooge) when the leaves fall off the trees and the heating gets whacked up to 30. However, I’ve been told that it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile- and seen as our winter seems to last about 10 months of the year I can't help but think that if I keep my state of humbug up I’m just guna have and achy/ wrinkly face by the time August comes around. 
After all, what good is the warmth of summer without the cold of winter to give it sweetness!

Snow for more than just one day

One thing that is b e a u t i f u l  about winter is the possibility of snow. It takes away the grey clouds, the wind burnt face and the smell of wet dog in the house and replaces it with bright blue skies, the dying nature is blanketed in white giving it a new freshness, and a street that is usually bare is soon crowded with laughter. Unfortunately this is a rarity for us poor southerners- so I say why wait for snow! Bring a bit of snow into an otherwise gloomy season. It's all about white this A/W. I'm not talking about Saturday night fever (that is a look which should stay WAY back in the 70s). Use crisp fresh lines to brighten the darkest of winter days; but keep it simple with a few key white pieces in your wardrobe like a fluffy jumper to be contrasted with a leather high waisted skirt. OR make a statement with a mac, handbag or pair of shoes…..white stilettoes are not just for Essex!

Jumping for Jumpers

Preppy style is big this A/W and is perfect way to layer up and stay warm. But try not to look like you've decided to stay in a school uniform for the snowy season; make sure you put your own personal stamp on your outfits with bold print skinnies and fill your wardrobe with a mismatch of unusual jumpers with a variety of knits.

Don’t just curl up and hibernate

Winter seems to really take it out of us, the early nights and artificial heat makes us just want to snuggle up in bed in a pair of jammies and just never leave. And even though I am very much in favour of a good duvet day, we can’t miss out on life in fear of cold toesies.

WAKEUP!!! A hot coffee on a cold winter morning is just right to start any day. And don’t just crawl back into bed with your cuppa, get moving being cold is no excuse for not being active (that’s why it’s called a ‘warm up’) and the more you move the more you’ll wanna move.

….but what to do???

Skiing: it’s not just for the Alps, there are snowsports clubs popping up everywhere offering a range of lessons for all levels. It’s so much fun, great exercise AND gives you and excuse to start planning your next holiday :D.

Go for a paddle: Not quite! But the beach is not just for summer, head to the coast with a boot full of blankets, a bottle of wine and watch the sunset by a toasty fire.

Give yourself an excuse to get out.

Revamp your wardrobe! a new outfit is always a fantastic excuse for a night out. not to metion.... Winter is a perfect time for fashion- layering your clothes really allows you to get creative. Embrace the cold, get inspired and wrap up! A chunky knit scarf is a perfect accessory for you winter wardrobe- ware with skinny jeans, biker jacket, leather gloves and ankle boots….you’ll be off sofa and out the front door in no time.

Getting festive

Christmas is most people’s favourite part about winter, if not the whole year. But Christmas can often lose its magic... we get so swept up in the stress of it all and can become so consumed with thoughts of buying this and getting that, that we can forget it’s not what we get each other it’s about being with each other. Go back to basics. Get crafty with homemade crackers, decorations, mice pies, and Christmas cocktails. All fantastic things you can do with others as well as getting rid of the stress and possible resentment towards Christmas that seems to happen far too often.

…Did someone say cocktails?

Mulled Wine

•         1 bottle red wine
•          60g/2oz demerara sugar
•          1 cinnamon stick
•          grated nutmeg
•          1 orange, halved
•          1 dried bay leaf
•          60ml/2fl oz sloe or damson gin (optional)

Put the wine in a saucepan with the orange, sugar, bayleaf and the spices. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Taste to see if you want the wine sweeter, and add more sugar to taste. Off the heat, stir in the sloe or damson gin if you are using it. Strain into heatproof glasses and serve at once.

Hot Toddy
Put 1tsp of honey and a measure of whisky in a mug or heatproof glass. Add two cloves and half a cinnamon stick then top up with just-off-the-boil water. Stir in a slice of lemon and just enough lemon juice to balance the sweetness of the honey. Drink as soon as it doesn't burn your lips.

Christmas Kiss

• several splashes angostura bitters, to taste
• 350 ml cold champagne
• 500 ml blood orange juice
• 500 ml cranberry juice
• 25 ml Cointreau, or other orange-flavoured liqueur

Take some chilled champagne flutes and sprinkle some angostura bitters into the bottom of each. Half fill with champagne. Slowly add the fruit juices - half of each variety. You need to do this slowly or the champagne will froth everywhere. Top up with the Cointreau. . Garnish each glass with an orange twist and two maraschino cherries on a cocktail pick.

Mulled Cider

• 1 litres apple cider
• ½ inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 2 lemons, sliced
• 1 cinnamon
• 3 star anise
• 1 vanilla pod, slit down the middle and the seeds scooped out
• 200 ml bourbon whiskey
• 1 red apple, thinly sliced (optional)

 In a medium saucepan, combine the apple cider, ginger, lemon, cinnamon, star anise and vanilla pod and simmer on a low heat for 45 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove all of the spices and fruit and set to one side.  Pour a 50ml shot of the bourbon in to a glass and then fill up with the hot spiced cider mixture. Garnish with cinnamon sticks, star anise and thinly sliced red apple.

...And Breathe

Wow as if it’s nearly Christmas! I swear I just blink and a week disappears. But that being said when I look back it’s so strange to think about all that things that have changed in just one turn around the sun.  

Okay, so last year more drastic  changes seemed to take place- leaving a full time job, going to uni, leaving home, living by myself, getting back into the mind-set of studying, fending for myself ; all of which were very big and very scary leaps. Whereas this year things have definitely slowed down, and in a sense I’ve taken a step back by moving back home and commuting to uni.  Yet even though the physicality of my world is much more ‘same old same old’ it doesn’t mean that the changes I’ve made are insignificant in comparison. 

I think it’s so easy to look around us and think ‘they’re doing that so I should be doing this' ‘they look like that so I should change to look like this’ ‘THEY'RE GOING THERE SO I SHOULD GO HERE’ and ultimately feel an intense amount of pressure to measure up and emulate those who seem to be doing so well. 

So many of us have extreme personalities (or aspects of our personalities which are extreme) pushing ourselves to the absolute limit in order to achieve these things that we feel are so vital in order to have a fulfilled life… but even when you reach those limits  it’s not enough. You’re still unfulfilled.  You push harder.  A never ending glass ceiling.

So even though I haven’t ventured off into the smoke to lead a dramatic, exciting and nonstop life full of Gatsby parties and countless tales for me to blah on about when I catch-up with  friends at Christmas. And even though I am by no means now a fully functioning, well rounded, and admirable member of society- I feel I am that little bit closer, my mind that little bit boarder, and most importantly that little bit happier and more content with the way things are.

 I’m sure I’m not the only one.

One Week.

Here's just a few things that i have done/experienced/ learned /listened too over the last week :)

Read This Poem 

To a Passer‑by

The street roared round me, deafening.

Tall, slender, in deep mourning, regal woe,

A woman passed, lifting her furbelow,

Holding her hem up, graceful, wondering;

Noble and lithe, her leg was sculptural.

And I myself, with wild intensity,

Drank in her eyes, a sombre, stormy sky,

The sweetness that enthrals; the joy that kills.

A lightning flash ... then night! Love passing by,

Whose sudden glance bestowed new life on me,

Shall I not see you till eternity?

But it's too far! Too late! Never, maybe!

I know not where you are ‑ you, where I go,

You whom I should have loved ‑ and felt it so!

— Charles Baudelaire

I read this poem for my 1st week back and uni- it may seem unbelievably cheesey but to me it just seemed so honest, open and romantic. And who doesn't like a bit of romance.

Its set during a time when industrialization and population was booming and with it came this idea of the urban metropolitan crowd. A crowd which was filled with ever changing faces; a profoundly new and exciting experience for the time. 

Basically its all about what might have been, about things and people just passing by, about missed opportunity. He is intensely taken with her, and in just a moment she disappears. She is taken from his life forever and he feels from just that one moment he could have loved her.

Bought These Shoes

Literally wanted a pair of these badboys for toiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime- and got a cheeky 10% student discount and got to use £20 worth of vouchers towards them. BARGAIN!

And This Tea

Rooibos creme caramel and Bollywood Chai

Listened To This

Marika Hackman- 'here I lie' (and the rest!)

Singer, songwriter, guitar player, spokesperson...all in all one talented lady.  I've had the pleasure of seeing her live (if you get a chance to see her I STRONGLY recommend you doing so). With nothing but a guitar she manages to own a stage and mesmerize an entire crowd. With auto tune and all that palavar, its so rare nowdays to find a musician that sounds even remotely similar to what they do through a pair of speakers. But if anything Marikas recordings don't do her justice- her voice is utterly beautiful and and charming, griping you instantly. I also feel there are so many man-made bands around at the moment, it can make the music seem so lifeless and forced; but the comradery between her and the rest of the band is so nice to see- the whole thing just looks so effortless. Something that will give them a longevity that many fail to achieve. Her music is moving, inpiring and completely captivating and i just can't stop listening.

'Here I lie' is taken from the Burberry eyewear campaign and she has been played a few times on radio 1. This is very much only the beginning. So get listening now, so when shes a MASSIVE name you can say 'I heard her 1st'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWgDPm6M8BA 

Did Some Of This

Okay maybe not that exactly, but i did start skiing lessons. Its one of the funnest things I have ever done. An hour and half lesson felt like it lasted all of about 10 minutes- and i didn't even get cold (which if you know me well is a rareaty) and I'm proud to say that i didn't spend the entire lesson on my bum. Its great learning a new skill/hobby. Its SO easy to get stuck in the same old safe routine, life just becomes a bit stale. So I thinks its very important to try as many new things as possible. Personally I can be a bit of and adrenaline junkie; if I could id be white water rafting, jumping out of planes,and abseiling off some unnecessarily large cliff. But being a poor student in the flatlands of Norfolk its not always very feesable. But even if all that malarky aint your thing, its still so vital to push yourself to see what your truly capable of. 

I love a challenge and love achieving something I have set out to do, so its such a fantastic feeling making it down the end of the slope and i cant wait for next week- holiday in the Alps here I come!!