PINK BABY

Let's just say, I have a bit of a thing with pink. I'm totally drawn to it. Not the fluorescent kind; more of a soft, baby pink. Which is why when Millennial Pink became a thing, I was happy and sad at about a 6:4 ratio. 

Happy = more pink products on the market. 

Sad = more chance of pink becoming too much of a trend, that it'll be considered outdated at some point in the near future. 

Anyway, I digress. I teamed a Carhartt WIP sweater with Urban Outfitters Mom jeans, purely for fun. I'm probably not going to wear this outfit to pop to Aldi, but I just found it too aesthetically pleasing to not share. 

SATURDAY DRESS UP

♫ Currently listening to : Sampha -  Blood On Me

Sometimes I get bored and decide to rummage through my wardrobe to see what outfits I can put together. I mean, it's not like I have anything else to do (tidying, reading, socialising, having a life...) 

I found this American Apparel shift dress, teamed it with some ASOS sock and shoes and a cute Tokyo-inspired bag from my girl at Carton Magazine. 

15 SEX AND THE CITY GIFS THAT SUM UP WEDDING PLANNING

Planning a wedding can be an emotional rollercoaster. Here are 15 Sex and the City GIFs that encapsulate some moments you might experience in the run up to the big day...

1. When the venue manager tells you that, actually, it won’t be possible to ride into the ceremony on a horse. Not the answer you were looking for…


2. When you have your first bridesmaids' get-together…


3. When you find the dress…


4. The four words your fiancé should never utter while you’re going through a table plan dilemma…

THE 15 STAGES OF WEDDING PLANNING IN FRIENDS GIFS
5. When your Maid of Honour suggests that you might be going a little overboard with the DIY…


6. When someone tells you the world doesn’t revolve around your wedding…


7. Your sister's considerate words of encouragement when you're telling her about your pre-wedding diet plan...


8. When you realise that just maybe you’re being a bit of a bridezilla…


9. When you have to make a choice between a pair of Louboutins, or a designer suit for your groom…


10. When you can't decide on accessories so you choose them all...…


11. When you imagine a life free of wedding planning…

PLANNING CHECKLIST
12. When you try (and fail) to pretend that you’re fine after being told that one of your maids is sick, and the prosecco might not arrive on time…


13. The reoccurring dream you have every night about walking down the aisle…


14. What you want to do when you see someone at the wedding that didn’t RSVP (awks)...


15. When the big day comes and you’re an absolute goddess. Huzzah!

All images from GIPHY

(This post was originally written for Perfect Wedding magazine)

BERLIN TRIP

Three days in Germany's capital.

Visit: Cupcake Bakery

Visit: Daluma

Visit: Monkey Bar

Visit: Flea markets

Visit: House of Small Wonder

Visit: House of Small Wonder

I've wanted to visit Berlin for so long so I decided to take a trip with a friend in April. It's an amazing city and SO good if you're vegetarian or vegan. 

WHERE TO STAY

We rented an apartment in the Friedrichshain district which is super quirky and cool, with plenty of coffee shops, boutiques and amazing scenery.

WEATHER

We went in April and it was pretty cold! 

PLACES TO VISIT

We packed a lot into our trip, but these were the highlights for me.

CUPCAKE BAKERY

Amazing treats (try the banana bread!) and loads of vegan options.

DALUMA

Lots of superfood options, the coolest interior, but unfortunately the pretentious staff let it down a little when we visited.

MONKEY BAR

On a hotel rooftop overlooking the zoo. The view and cocktails were worth the hour-long queue.

FLEA MARKETS

There are loads around the city that are definitely worth a visit. 

HOUSE OF SMALL WONDER

Such a cool spot - the interior design was incredible, the food was delicious and the staff were super-friendly. 

WANTED : Not-quite-spring purchases

Spring has not quite sprung, but my wish list of new season items is growing by the minute. Here are some of the things I want, but can't quite afford.

Satin Bomber, Mango

Round Sunglasses, Ray-Ban at ASOS

Urban Renewal Vintage Tan Fringe Jacket, Urban Outfitters 

HOW CARRIE BRADSHAW SET WRITERS UP FOR FAILURE

Image : Yassein Gonzalez on Pinterest

You know what everyone always says about Disney giving them unrealistic expectations about love? Well, the same goes for Carrie Bradshaw and her ridiculously lavish life as a columnist. As a writer myself, here are a couple of 'life according to Carrie' expectations that came crashing down when I hit my mid-20s.

Freelancing is a walk in the park

So, apparently, writing one column a week makes you enough money to pay for your Manhattan apartment, a thousand Cosmopolitans a week and fund your unhealthy habit of buying ugly, overpriced shoes. Wrong. Strike one, Carrie. 

Exciting things will happen on a weekly basis 

And they'll make such perfect ideas for your column, the stories will virtually write themselves. Just sit back and let the magic happen. And, may I add, even though you print every single detail of your friends' sex lives practically on a live feed as they're telling you, they'll still be happy to divulge their deepest, darkest secrets to you. Dude, if I did that to my friends, they'd all be conveniently washing their hair every time I wanted to meet up.

Smoking is sexy

It's not. Carrie probably stunk of ashtray.

Eating out every night is totally normal

Believe me, I wish it was, but unless you're raking in an incredible salary ( cough Point 1 cough), this is not a realistic lifestyle. Stop using your oven to store shoes and get the potato waffles on the go. 

It's ok if the guy you love is a total dick to you 

Let's be honest, if he didn't want you then, it's unlikely that he'll want you however-many-years later. Big even fucked up their wedding, for god's sake, and she still married him! Girls, please do not let this give you false hope. If he's not that into you now, don't expect him to realise and come running to Paris for you. Move on, marry the Russian. 

A room full of clothes 

Yes, I live alone and my spare room is a closet for my designer clothes. That's totally normal.

Sleeping with a new man every week is ok

And also a sure-fire way to STD heaven. Let's leave it at that.

Your friends will be at your beck and call

It's a nice idea but I'm just going to put it out there that it's extremely unlikely that four women with demanding jobs, relationships and kids will have as much time to sit around brunching as these ladies do. Unless you're Miranda and can afford to hire a Magda so you can go to lunch and complain about Steve.

Still, I can't deny that I do love SATC, and one thing I have taken away, as a freelance writer, from Ms Ashtray McShoe Addiction is to commence an inner monologue à la Bradshaw whenever I start writing... and I wouldn't have it any other way! 

NEW YEAR, NEW MAKE UP

♫ Currently listening to : Turnover - Sasha

I entered 2016 wearing more make up than ever, but that's because I got some great products from Santa. Here are my new favourites: 

WHIRL LIPLINER - MAC

An amazing shade of powdery brown. 

VELVET TEDDY LIPSTICK - MAC

Looks amazing with Whirl.

BROW ZINGS - BENEFIT COSMETICS

I've always been a brow pencil girl, but I've been totally converted to this brow powder and wax kit.

PRO-RADIANCE ILLUMINATING FLASH BALM - ELEMIS

Acts as a moisturiser and a primer, and does exactly what it says on the box. 

CONTOUR STICK SET - KIKO MILANO

Blends really easily. 

MADONNA INN - SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP PART 2

So, we stayed at the INCREDIBLE Madonna Inn on our way down to LA. We were pretty poolside-hammered for the majority of our stay (I blame the waiter who kept bringing us vodka juice cocktails) but I still had the best time ever. Highlights include - nighttime swimming, the themed rooms (we stayed in Love Nest), seeing Nev from Catfish, being married off to someone's sons over the phone, champagne flavoured cake, the toilet that had a bum wash... the list goes on. If you're a fan of anything pink, fluffy and amazingly-tacky - then this is the place for you! 

SHE PIZZA

ANIMAL FREE FOOD

♫ Currently listening to : Descendents - Rotting Out

My current food obsession is anything with soy sauce. I can't get enough of it.

I went in to a Chinese supermarket today and it was a dream come true for me. I managed to buy a giant pack of tofu, soy sauce (obviously), a tub of coconut oil and some tiger balm for under £10.

As I'm avoiding all animal produce at the moment, I'm eating a lot of stir fried vegetables. This recipe is really quick and easy but still a good source of protein.

-Soak the tofu between a few sheets of kitchen roll and then chop in to cubes
-Stir fry an onion and the tofu in a small teaspoon of coconut oil for about six minutes. I prefer the tofu when it's slightly crispy around the edges
-Add broccoli, kale and spinach and stir fry for a few more minutes
-Add soya sauce
-Eat

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP PART 1

♫ Currently listening to : Foo Fighters - Greatest Hits

We did it! 500 miles of California; and it was bloody beautiful. I have holiday blues, for sure.

Our first stop was San Francisco. The weirdest thing is I had absolutely no expectations of San Fran... out of everywhere that we'd booked, it was the place I'd thought about the least. So, my verdict? It blew my mind.

WHERE TO STAY
We stayed in Noe Valley which is a really quaint and safe area. It's also close to the Mission.

WEATHER
Everyone had warned us about the unpredictable weather and how it could be sunny one side of the city, and then cloudy and cold the other side so we had made sure to pack some hoodies and long sleeve tops. We didn't bloody need them, did we! We were so lucky with the weather; hot and sunny every single day that we were there.

PLACES TO VISIT
So it's super hard going to a new city and trying to figure out where to go. We wanted to do some touristy stuff, but also wanted to do 'as the locals do'. We were lucky enough to have a friend that had moved to San Fran who recommended us some places. Here's where I'd recommend...*
HAIGHT STREET
Definitely make your way to Haight Street if you like vintage shopping! There are plenty of cool thrift stores and if you walk to the end of the street you come across Amoeba Records where, if like me you are an Empire Records fan, you can live out all of your Sugar High dreams.
GOLDEN GATE PARK
If you carry on walking to the end of Haight St, you get to the entrance of the Golden Gate Park. Do not be fooled; this park is huge! We spent about two hours walking through and only covered about half of it. But, it's insanely beautiful. We came across the Japanese Tea Gardens (which you have to pay to get in which we didn't do, cause you know... we're tight), baseball fields, bowling greens and, my personal favourite, the lake. We rented a rowing boat for an hour for about $20! Definitely do this; it was one of my highlights. Nb. Don't try and row the boat simultaneously with a friend; it doesn't work and you will row yourself in to a hedge full of turtles.
PORK STORE CAFE
If you're looking for a good, old fashioned American breakfast then Pork Store is for you. There are plenty of options for meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans. I had the veggie huevos rancheros and Steph ate the eggs Benedict and we were both very happy customers. Really cool, quirky place. Go.
ALCATRAZ ISLAND
Book tickets in advance if you want to go to Alcatraz! I'm so, so glad we did! I'd heard mixed reviews about Alcatraz but I found it incredibly interesting. We were lucky and went when there was an Ai WeiWei exhibition on. They'd opened the hospital wing for this, which I think was the best part. Plus you get to go over on a boat and see the city from a distance!
PIER 39
There are sea lions! What more reason to go? After we saw them, we took the cable car down to Union Square. We queued for about an hour, but we met a really cool woman from Texas who told us never to marry a cowboy and how to make the best BBQ sauce. And the ride was cool too. Stand on the outside.
CHINA TOWN
This was pretty much heaven for me as I have an obsession with Chinese stores. I bought some cool chopsticks, which made it worth it.
LOMBARD STREET
We had the coolest Uber driver who took us on a mini tour of some cool San Fran spots, and along the way we stopped at Lombard Street which has 8 hairpin turns because otherwise it would have been too steep to go down! It was, you know, cool and stuff. We had a photo.
MUIR BEACH AND MUIR WOODS
Oh. My. Freakin'. God. This was one of my favourite parts of the trip. We drove out of the city for the day to Muir Woods, which we heard had beautiful redwood trees. Along the way, we stopped roadside and took in the views from the top of the mountains. We also accidentally found Muir Beach which was just dreamy. It's a pretty small and quiet sand beach. After fighting some people for a car space, we then hiked around the woods for about two hours and it's really breathtaking and we spotted a deer!
SAUSALITO
On the way back from Muir Woods, we took a detour in to the little marina town of Sausalito and had pizza and took a walk. Highly recommend!
ST. FRANCIS FOUNTAIN
We found this little gem of a cafe on one of our last days and I loved it. Take note, you have to write your name down on the sign outside in order to get a table which we only realised ten minutes in to being ignored as we stood outside wondering why we were invisible. The guys who worked there were so, so friendly and topped up my coffee so many times I wanted to marry them all. I highly recommend the vegan blueberry pancakes! One of the guys also recommended a cool comic book store to us in the Mission which we headed to after brunch.
DOLORES PARK
This is a really cool park where everyone hangs out in the Mission. That's all there is to say really.
TWIN PEAKS
Visit Twin Peaks in the night and in the day. I had two totally different experiences from doing so. When we went at night, we could clearly see a cloud of fog lingering above one area of the city, while the rest of the landscape remained clear. When we went in the daytime, it was our last San Francisco activity we did before we left and it was breathtaking. It has nothing to do with Twin Peaks the TV show, by the way. Sorry.

And there we have it! Part 1 of our California adventure! Go to San Fran, be prepared to walk up hills from your nightmares, get confused over whether the guy over there is a babe or a homeless person and use Uber Pool lots!

*All of the places listed are in photos above!

CHLOE RULES EVERYTHING AROUND ME

♫ Currently listening to : Pixies - Surfer Rosa & Come On Pilgrim

Whenever I wear this top from Fucking Awesome, I prepare myself for odd stares towards my breast region (or where they should be, at least). 

I've had a fascination with Chloe Sevigny ever since I first watched Larry Clark's 'Kids'. Not only is she a total babe, but she's appeared in some of my favourite films and has an unquestionable fashion sense. Having read a number of interviews with her, I love what she's about.

Since purchase, the number of people that have asked me why I'm wearing a top "with a photo of a lesbian on it" has been truly eye opening. News flash; just because a girl has short hair, doesn't make her a lesbian. 

And even if she was a lesbian; so fucking what? I'd still be wearing the tshirt. 

Nb. I need to buy an iron.

BACON IS GOOD FOR ME : Happy Vegetarian Birthday To Me!

♫ Currently listening to : Descendents - Everything Sucks

I’m coming up to my one year vegetarian birthday. 

I was a vegetarian when I was sixteen for two years and again when I was twenty for another two years. Each time I lapsed, and looking back I guess it’s because I didn’t really know my reasons for abstaining from meat. All I knew was that it didn’t feel quite right.

Last year, I went to America a meat eater and returned once again with my Vegetarian badge. It just didn’t feel right for me to be eating animals and something clicked in to place when I was away. I was travelling alone so I think I had more time to think (which a lot of the time is one of my vices).

With two veggie fails under my belt, I resolved that if I was going to do it again then I’d do it properly. I decided to research further in to it and decide how I really felt about meat consumption. I watched a number of documentaries, including Vegucated, which follows a group of meat eaters as they switch to a vegan diet for six weeks and learn how meat and dairy is farmed, which was eye opening to say the least; don’t get me started on ‘Free Range’ . 

I also listened to a debate between an independent meat and dairy farmer and a vegan activist about whether you should eat animal products. I can’t remember the exact debate I listened to but there are similar talks you can listen to online. Both parties made valid points, but upon conclusion I decided to choose the way of the latter. 

The last year has been fairly easy to be honest. I was never a big meat eater, so cutting it out completely came quite naturally. There have been a few instances where I’ve felt like eating meat, but I’ve dealt with it by saying to myself “Ok, if you want to eat it; then eat it.”

But, having educated myself on the production of meat and the treatment of animals, it’s one hundred percent not something that I agree with, and no meal is worth that; no matter how good it may taste!

Being a vegetarian has given me a bit more direction in terms of what I believe and, in turn, makes me like myself more. 

So, on a different note, but one that sparked off this post, I stitched a new design “Bacon Is Good For Me”* inspired by King Curtis. Cross stitching makes me happy!

*I do not condone eating Babe ;)

SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP

Here's one I made earlier! Because I like cross stitching and I like being witty. This design is from Subversive Cross Stitch.

SUNDAY STRIPES

♫ Currently listening to : Kate Bush - The Kick Inside

Sunday is usually my favourite day of the week. Not so much this week, however, because I'm on the brink of tonsillitis.

I spent the day at Paintworks, Bristol for the Chosen Wedding Fair with my sister, Helly, and her fiancé Sam, who have a wedding stationary business. It was such a nice day; working in the wedding industry seems like it'd be so much fun! I even got to try on a wedding dress, much to the amusement of Sam as I always swear that I will never get married. The dress was amazing so I'll be sure to do a post on it soon.

Today I wore tapered dungarees from This Is Welcome, shoes from Office and a vintage striped top.

Bye!

BIG HAIR, DON'T CARE : Big from Lush Cosmetics Review

My hair is insanely straight. Believe me; I’ve dedicated a lot of time in the past to trying to make it anything other than poker straight. Three hours, a can of hairspray and a good dose of heat damage later and it would look slightly like I’ve fallen in to a bush; but no curls.

Nowadays, I’ve taken to embracing my straight hair. But, if you offer me something that’s going to give it a bit of volume, then I’m going to take it. And that’s what Lush have done in the form of ‘Big’.

Big is a shampoo that’s kind of like a scrub, made of sea salt, seaweed infusion, coconut oil, lime and lemon juice. It’s about £12 for a 330g pot but you really don’t need to use much. My hair is almost waist length and a small scoop is enough for me. It lathers up really quickly and rinses out easily. No repeat wash is necessary.

I finished the wash process off by using some of the Big solid conditioner that I was given as a sample. (This is another thing I love about Lush; they generously give you samples of products they think you might like!)

 If your hair tends to be quite oily like mine, then I can’t recommend this shampoo enough! The coconut oil also acts as a natural heat protection so I was able to blow dry my hair without the use of my usual heat protection spray.

 My hair feels thicker, softer and smells dreamy. I normally have to wash my hair every two days but Big keeps it cleaner for longer.

You can buy Big online, but I highly recommend visiting your nearest Lush store as their staff are so helpful and friendly.

BLACK ON BLACK ON BLACK

♫ Currently listening to : Defeater - Empty Days & Sleepless Nights

So if it wasn't so freakin' cold outside, this is what I'd be wearing. But for now, I'll add some tights. My Duster is from Topshop and is currently my favourite item of clothing. I can wear it day or night; it just makes every outfit look better.

I'm a sucker for a chunky shoe and these Chelsea Boots from ASOS are the best. The flatform means that they're super comfortable but add some height.