Only if for a night....

Hello there!

I hope you're all well?

I have come down with a stinking cold which is most annoying, I'm looking forward to an extremely early night tonight with a hot water bottle, a good DVD and a sausage casserole. I know, so rock 'n' roll!

But, last night I went to see Florence & The Machine, and it was a superb evening. She was performing at the o2 (which even if you live close to London is a MAJOR effort to get to, try 2 1/2 hours there and 1 hour 45 back, I got home at 1am and currently trying to exist on 5 hours sleep, cake is aiding this!!) and my friends and I had been looking forward to it for ages.

Florence is probably one of the more commercial artists that I listen to, I mostly listen to electronic music and indie, but I really like her style of song writing and as performer she's really rather special. Her vocals are incredible, her entire stage presence is incredibly theatrical, her costumes and sets are well thought out and perfectly executed and she brings so much energy to her shows. It really is a visual spectacle watching her live.

We started the evening with a delicious and extremely budget friendly meal at Thai Silk in the arena, the restaurant felt quite elegant and the food was great!

I had roasted duck with stir-fried vegetables

Lovely Isabelle & Stef looking after the showtime snacks!

Stef and I

I wore my new leather look disco pants, a black Element vest and a black crocheted jumper

We were sat quite far back and high up but still had a good view

I wasn't able to get many photos of Florence doing her thing as the battery on my phone started to die and so the flash would no longer work on the camera.

One thing I particularly like about Florence is her style as an artist, effortlessly blending pre-Raphaelite, gothic Victoriana and 20's/30's era fashions to make a look that helps to embody and personify her ethereal and dramatic music. She's brave and confident with her costume choices which I love.

So glad I went, I've been meaning to go to more gigs (I used to go to loads) and this was definitely a stand out one.

I'm pleased it's Thursday, I feel rubbish so I'm looking forward to relaxing over the weekend although I will be braving the Christmas shopping hoardes in Watford on Saturday to do the annual present buying pilgrimage with my Mother (I'm sure we'll use it as an opportunity to gossip over lunch too!).

Next week I am off to Cardiff for a short break - have any of you been? If so, recommendations for shops (particularly vintage or individual boutiques), restaurants and bars for yummy cocktails would be gratefully received!!

Lxx

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What a weekend!

Hi there people,

As those of you who read my blog were aware, it was one of my best friends' 30th birthday over the weekend. We're quite a close knit group of five and we're all turning 30 this year and next.

This time it was Uzma's turn.

We went out for a lovely dinner at our local Zizzis, I think they're one of the best chain restaurants because their food is always delicious and reasonably priced, the service is attentive and quick and they're good at coping with large parties of people comprised mainly of noisy rugby girls!!

I made some red velvet cupcakes to take along to the party....

The Christmas lights were up in Zizzis which made the place look very twinkly.

Uzma and I posing.

A very special present. My friends and I are clubbing together this year for our 30th's so we can buy something really memorable for each other. I love the curiousity on her face turning to pure unadulterated joy!!

There was some left in the kitty for some Champney's goodies too.

Er, someone high jacked the camera for his own evil purposes!!

Oooh and more cake.

And speeches.

You can't see it very well here but I attached a glittery '30' confetti to my cheek using lip gloss. It didn't stick for long!

Grrrrrrrrrrr, I love pizza!

As an aside, I was appalled later on in the evening by the attitude of bouncers nowadays. My boyfriend went to another bar with some of his friends while I stayed with mine, eventually I grew tired and my cheap fake Jeffrey Campbell shoes were starting to hurt a little so I attempted to phone him so we could go home. My phone for some reason refused to work so I left the bar I was in and walked around the corner to where he'd said he would be only to be faced with the rudest and most unhelpful bouncer I have ever had the misfortune to encounter.

He refused to let me in even though I wasn't drunk, explained to him that I wasn't interested in drinking in there and just wanted to find my boyfriend, showed him that my phone wouldn't work, was incredibly rational and polite when speaking to him, offered to let him search my bag and accompany me inside to ensure that I was telling the truth and not just desperate for a drink or to make trouble, all because of a 'policy' they have where people aren't admitted after 12:30am (it was 12:35am when I arrived there).

I would have thought that perhaps a situation like this would have come under 'extenuating circumstances' and that surely it isn't very responsible to leave a woman on her own to wander around in freezing temperatures without a working phone. I was told in an increasingly rude and hostile manner that my situation  "wasn't his problem".

So I decided to walk back around to the bar where my friends were so I could organise my travel home with them - only to encounter an equally rude member of that establishments' door staff who also refused me entry because of a 'policy' and thus ensured that I was cut off from anyone who would be able to travel home with me!!

Luckily I ran into my boyfriend further up the street as he had gone to a different bar and was outside putting his friends into a taxi so all was well in the end, but needless to say I was furious and disgusted by these men's treatment of me.

I am old enough (sadly) to remember a time when bouncers treated a woman with courtesy and kindness, especially if she was in a potentially harmful situation.

Both of these establishments will be receiving sternly worded letters from me but all of this has left me wondering if this is an attitude employed by door staff in general across the country nowadays or if it is a phenomenon unique to my local towns?

On Sunday I had a very lazy morning then baked a chocolate fudge cake to take round to my parent's house in the evening as it was my Mother's birthday over the weekend too.

It went down very nicely with a big helping of custard. 

I also cooked my parents dinner while I was there and made a stroganoff which is something I haven't cooked in a while!!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

I'm off to see Florence and the Machine tomorrow night which I am rather looking forward to so I'll post about that later in the week.

Lxx

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Shopping List Winter 2012

Hey folks!

Sorry for not posting in a while, life has been taken over by work and rugby.

This weekend I'm out to celebrate one of my best friends' 30th birthday so tonight I'm dashing to Westfield in Shepherd's Bush with some of my other gal pals to pick up her present (it's a very special one but at the moment it's a secret so I can't divulge further details until after she's received it!!).

What with it being pay day the urge is rising in me to blow a tonne of money on some new clothes as the shopping bug seems to have bitten hard lately. However I mustn't because I have to save my benjamins for Christmas presents for other people, booooooo!!

I have seen a lot of things that I like though and it coincides with the fact that I want to channel my inner goth of late. I used to wear a lot of goth clothing in the 90's and early 2000's, combined with lashings of riot grrrl attitude and with a nod to the quirky cartoon leanings of harajuku style. Over the last few years my sense of style became rather muted and more mature and recently I've started to wonder where that crazy goth girl went.

So I'm on a mission to dress more fun and bring her back!!

This is a rather meagre moodboard but kind of sums up the direction I want to head in.....

The sequin panda bag and velvet brothel creepers are from ASOS.

Leather skater skirt is from Ebay.

Owl bag is from Ebay.

I'm particularly taken with the 'Home Alone' themed Christmas jumper, seeing as it was (and still remains) one of my favourite films of the 90's. This is also from Ebay.

Blue earrings H&M.

Silver spike earrings are from an amazing online jewellery shop called Kukee, all their items are very cheap and they do some really fun and quirky things - perfect for yourself, a friend or for stocking fillers at Christmas!!

'Talk nerdy to me' t-shirt from Republic.

Dinosaur & moustache necklaces from Kukee.

I know a lot of people have items from Black Milk but I absolutely love their Cathedral skirt and if I get paid a whacking great bonus at the end of December I'm definitely going to buy it.

Galaxy maxi skirt from Boohoo.

Moustache smoking slippers from Boohoo also (I seem to have a thing for moustaches?)

Super cute cat t-shirt dress from Ebay.

Post to come soon with outfit shots from my last shopping trip (I've been lax I know) and an update from my weekend of 30's fun!!

Have a fab weekend all.

Lxx

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Insta-update. Again.

Hey folks!

So yet again I am sorry for my lack of presence lately, both from my own blog and from commenting on all of yours!!

I wish I could say it's because I've been really busy doing lots of amazing things. That's only half true. I've mostly been busy with work and although I've done some pretty cool stuff when I've found the time it's more a lack of motivation to write anything that's kept me away lately. Sorry.

However I do make a point now of taking as many photos as I can of all the things I do get up to seeing as the camera on my new Samsung Galaxy is pretty awesome and always with me!

So here's a little recap on some things I've been out and about at lately:

Eating obscene amounts of food on a recent visit to GBK at Westfield

Clare and I went to a private viewing at Angelika Studios - an art event worth going to in our relatively culture-less home town!!

I also went bowling one Saturday night with my sister, Oli and a couple of his friends. I was rubbish but not as rubbish as I thought I would be!!

The general ephemera in my room, for some reason my shelf looks incredibly wonky!!

New boots - I love them, they're really comfy and were a total bargain

Wrapped up warm ready for a day of manning the outdoor bar at my local rugby club

Bagels with pastrami, cheese, mustard, onion relish and dill pickles - amazing pick me up after a heavy night out

Hopefully I'll be back soon with plenty more to write about!!

Lx

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