A weekend away

There really is no greater feeling than that of having days off when you would usually be at work. I love my job. Having worked so many awful jobs in the past and with so many people out of work these days I truly appreciate how lucky I am to be working in the fashion industry, which has always been my dream, but come on, a long weekend is always a welcome break from the daily grind.

Wednesday evening saw The Boy and I hitting the road and heading south to the Davies family home for a few days. My Masters graduation ceremony had finally arrived after eleven months of waiting and this could only mean overindulgence of food and drink at home with my favourite people. The coach arrived into Fareham at about 9 leaving plenty of time for a delicious supper made by Mother Davies and the watching of many old videos of me singing with my band (believe me, not my first choice for the evenings viewing). This blast from the past has led me to realise two things:one, my hair seems to have not grown in about five years and somehow I need to find a way to get it that long again, and two, I really did used to be tiny, like a size 6 or something. When did that happen? I have literally no recollection of this period of time although I was clearly that size for a while (I've always thought I was fat). Still, I'm far happier with my body now than I have been in years (something to do with the love of an amazing man and eating a lot of vegetables) and this meant that Thursday afternoons trip to town ended with numerous purchases to add to my already bulging wardrobe: three printed blouses and some All Saints shoes, thank you Tkmaxx.

Thursdays dinner was a Wetherspoons curry with the parents and six of their friends. Sure some people slate Wetherspoons (and I admit, some can be dodgy as hell, Tooting? No thank you) but can you really go wrong with good, cheap food and drink and nice surroundings? No, you cannot. So with the wine flowing we ended up staying relatively late (which is a worry when you have to pose for a photo that will be on the wall of the family home for the rest of your life the following morning).
Graduation day dawned bright and early as we needed to be in town for 9 so I spent a frantic hour and a half doing my make up, hair and getting dressed (managing to get deodorant all down the side of my dress in the process, obviously). Arrival at uni was no less manic as I rushed to pick up my gown (£10 extra for a Masters gown when essentially all that's different is that the hood is screwed up) along with the hundreds of other fashion graduates, almost all of them inappropriately dressed. What is it with girls and short skirts these days? Sure I appreciate a mini now and then but there’s mini and there’s mini. Choice of skirt length is especially worth considering when you’ll be descending a staircase in front of hundreds of people. You would think anyway.

It was a lovely day catching up with old friends followed by an evening in the pub with the fam (steak and chips for me – see what I mean about the eating out?).

Just the way I'm feeling

Looks I'm loving

Today I’m loving the style of Karolina Oacik(basically I love any outfit she wears). Casual, dressy, it doesn’t matter, this girl knows how to dress. And to top it all off she owns the Next black leather and fur boots that I’ve been stalking on ebay for more than a year now. She also has a great blog, http://www.cajmel.blogspot.com/ sure I don’t know what she’s actually saying because it’s all in Polish, but hey, it looks pretty, and that’s all that matters right?

The weekend dissected

This weekend has been pretty relaxing and drama-free really, just how I like them!

Yesterday mainly consisted of a spot of shop work at Westfield Stratford (don’t you just hate it when you work for a retailer and they think it will be a good idea for the head office staff to work in a store for a day? Here’s a clue: it’s not a good idea). Those of you who have visited Westfield Stratford will know that on Saturdays, particularly when it’s close to Christmas, it goes by it’s other name: hell. After four hours working the shop floor I had big plans to meet The Boy and hit the shops for an afternoon of retail therapy, but sadly this was not to be. Every soul in east London and beyond seemed to have had the same idea and the centre was packed to the rafters, and due to an extremely poor design layout (Westfield take note) shopping in any shape or form, without murdering numerous shoppers and sales assistants, was out of the question. So after a quick trip to Kurt Geiger to pick up my free bracelet (thank you Elle magazine) we hit the road and headed back to Kensington for a relaxing evening in front of the (imaginary) fire.

This morning saw me up bright and early (miracle for a Sunday I know) for a spot of housework. Tidy house, tidy mind and all that. The bedroom seems to have become a dumping ground for any items that don’t really have a home in any of the other rooms, and as the bedroom doubles as my office, this was my main task. Boring I know but needs must. Following a shower and a pop tart The Boy and I headed to Hammersmith to do the shopping that we didn’t get to do yesterday. Hammersmith is not my favourite destination for a Sunday stroll, mainly due to the many colourful characters we always seem to encounter, todays highlight: a big issue seller who first meowed like a cat and then snorted like a pig when we walked past. Ok then. But anyway, it has the shops we needed so off we went, taking in our local cemetery on the way (weird I know but it looks pretty in the autumn).

Shopping was successful, even if The Boy would not let me buy some silver Christmas stocking hangers that I’ve had my eye on in Tkmaxx. It’s OK though, I got him back by buying lots of tree decorations. Our house is going to look like Santa’s grotto I tell you. I also hit up my favourite charity shop and picked up the perfect dress for my graduation ceremony, an amazing little black number from Reiss.

Lunch was a roast, obviously, with a glass of wine and the papers in a local pub. Pretty much the perfect Sunday afternoon, apart from burning my mouth on a roast potato: my greed for food strikes again.

So now for an evening of trashy TV and fashion magazines whilst The Boy is at a comedy gig (I don’t like comedy gigs, they’re just not funny) before an early night ready for work tomorrow. Monday’s are the worst. But still, three day week for me and that can only be a good thing. Who knows I may even open a bottle of wine (only the bottle in the fridge tastes like a mixture of vodka and gin so maybe just a diet coke).

Creative Crush

Lookbook is a constant source of inspiration for me and I love it when people put some effort into their image compositions as well as their outfits.

Being an artist at heart, I am particularly fond of people who use illustrations within their posts. One of my all-time favourites is Kelli Murray Larson, an artist, illustrator and designer from San Diego, California - Kehttp://lookbook.nu/user/142271-Kelli-M/looks – whose quirky sketched interpretations of her daily ensembles never fail to inspire me to pick up my sketchpad.

Find out more about Kelli here, at her fantastic blog http://www.kellimurray.com/bio

A London Life

It's safe to say that London life officially has me hooked. A lot can happen in six months (most importantly, due to not having a television and having to watch TV via the internet, the blog fell by the wayside) and my life has truly changed beyond belief.

So, what’s new? After weeks of hunting on online property websites during my lunch break, The Boy and I tracked down our dream flat in West Kensington, not far from where he lived before. Queens Club Gardens to be exact, our gorgeous one-bed nestled in a pre-war red brick mansion block with private residents garden, is perfect for our first home together. Being a five minute walk from both Barons Court and West Kensington tube makes it great for getting into town quickly but offers the kind of peace and quiet I knew I would crave after the move from the coast.

My passion for fashion hasn’t waned since my move and I now find myself working in the heart of the fashion capital for UK high-end brand Hobbs. My love of the retail industry has seen me with many careers over the years but I’m now working as a Branch Merchandiser and loving every minute (even if sometimes the love is through gritted teeth, office politics and all that).

Some things have remained the same of course, and always will do no matter where I'm living. Things like wanting to hurry home and curl up on the sofa with The Boy and a good book or classic film after a hard day at the office. But with change has come many new found daily enjoyments: the daily walk to work through a peaceful West London cemetery, people watching (cue outfit envy) as I wait for the tube, the free copy of Stylist as I head home on a Tuesday, and as much as I moan about the tourists on Oxford Street as I attempt to make it to the tube station there really is nothing like living and working in the heart of the capital.