Dream home

One of my favourite things to do on my lunch break (aside from gossiping in the kitchen with the Merchandising girls) is property hunt on the internet. The Boy and I have a nice little nest egg coming along and I hope within the next two years we’ll be able to buy a place of our own, somewhere homely and with a cottage-feel if I get my way, somewhere that we can really make our own. Sure the search will often begin with me and Kirsty looking at dream houses, way out of our price range, for that “If I won the lottery scenario” but this has helped us narrow down our likes and dislikes.

Me: I like anywhere small and cute, with period features, in the countryside or by the sea. An old property that needs work, or one that has retained its original charm. Generally, I don’t like new builds.

Kirsty: Pretty much any property will do as long as it’s in the country (and has a kitchen island).

When The Boy and I were looking for our current flat I kept seeing cute little one-bed cottages up for rent in West London that tugged at my heart strings but as The Boy rightly pointed out if we are going to go down this route I need to make some decisions. I’m going to have to either make some major cut-backs in the wardrobe department, or, the option I prefer, wait until we can afford somewhere a bit bigger, with enough space to accommodate all my paraphernalia. For now we’re happy where we are, in our gorgeous one-bed in a pretty red brick mansion, with a private gated garden and tennis courts in Fulham (lets face it, we’re hardly slumming it). When the time does come to move I’m unsure where out hearts will carry us. As much as I love London there are days when I long for the seaside and family, and I know The Boy feels the same, so maybe we’ll end up moving away, who knows, only time will tell. I can only imagine how we will decorate and add our own personal touches (lots of updated second-hand pieces and homemade details for sure). For now, I am living vicariously through Sandra Foster who has not only got a great sense of interior style but has the ability to think outside the box for what can actually be achieved by one person alone.


Sandra splits her time between a Catskills hunting cabin and a Winnebago, which she lives in with her husband Todd. Sandra has painstakingly turned the cabin from a relatively simple wooden hut into the romantic Victorian cottage she had always wanted, using vintage inspiration and thrift store finds, and doing all the carpentry herself. I cannot tell you how beautiful and amazing I find this place, simply that I find it, and Sandra, inspiring. Sure it’s small, but that’s the beauty of it, and Sandra’s style is 100% to my taste. Not sure how The Boy will feel about this much white paint but he knows my style, and is already comfortable living somewhere that looks like Granny’s house (and with a girl that likes to knit, sew and cook and shops mostly at carboot sales)-what’s not to love?

All images of Sandra's cabin courtesy of the New York Times - find more information on Sandra’s cabin at NYTimes.com

Looks I'm loving

It’s half-way through the one week challenge (expect more info in a post next week) and not only am I putting more thought into my everyday ensembles but I’m really enjoying coming up with new ideas for what to wear, rather than simply wearing the same old stuff. Plus, some of the lovely clothes that have been languishing in the back of my wardrobe or in boxes since the move can finally see the light of day. Inspiration is coming from my style scrapbooks and lookbook, both constant sources of ideas for how I want to look or aspire to dress, with this weeks style crush being Alexandra Per, a 23-year-old blogger. She rocks many a look, whether it’s summer or winter but the key to her outfits always seems to be layering, something which I have begun to embrace. My main downfall is how hot I seem to get on the journey to work. Not only is the London tube ridiculously warm all year round but as I walk 20 minutes from the tube to work I can sometimes get to work feeling like I need to stand under the air conditioner. This is where layering is key for me. Alexandra’s style is chic and cool, classic and edgy, so many contradictions (that’s why I love it).

Find Alexandra at fashionsalade.com

What makes love true?

I am a hopeless romantic and like to live my life as if I’m in a love story. Luckily, my amazing Boy knows this and is often surprising me with romantic things, like filling the flat with balloons and flowers for my birthday. This could be one of the reasons why I love the new Tiffany & Co website so much or it could simply be the fact that it’s beautiful, either way it’s definitely worth a visit. Devoted to all things romantical and set up as the go-to resource for all things love, the website is the destination for photographic and lyrical inspiration. With images by stylish real-life loved up couple Scott Schuman, aka The Sartorialist, and Garance Doré, see below, the website is a winner for me on so many levels. But perhaps the most brilliant thing of all, the site is also something of a travel guide to the ultimate city for falling in love, and my favourite holiday destination: New York. What’s not to love?

Visit whatmakeslovetrue.com

The No Shopping Pledge: week one

Week one of the No Shopping Pledge has gone by pretty much without a hitch, sure there’s been days when I’ve wanted to hit the high street for a spot of retail therapy but so far I’ve managed to keep myself in check. The release of the new-look Company magazine on Thursday (kindly bought for me by Zsa Zsa of The Life Wardrobe, no breaking the pledge for me) didn’t help matters though, as I now feel that I NEED a denim shirt in my life. I think in essence this could be part of the problem. I have a wardrobe full of perfectly nice (in fact more than nice, I would even go so far as to say lush – that’s right I’m part Welsh) clothes yet if I see something in a magazine/shop/window/walking past me on the back of some far more fashionable girl, I get this feeling that if I had the said item, my wardrobe would be complete and I would suddenly have so many more outfit choices. In fact I often find it’s the opposite that’s true; the fewer options I have the greater chance of me coming up with an ensemble that I’m happy with. Luckily the stores I pass on my way to work are still promoting sale, and as much as I love a bargain a massive sale banner is far less likely to entice me to spend when compared to a well thought out new season window display. Staying in the office on my lunch hour also seems to be working, a bit of banter with the girls over food in the kitchen at least gives me a screen break and there’s far less likelihood of me spending (although I do pass the tuck box on the way back to my desk and always get food envy of my friends lunches, making me wish I still got 20% discount at M&S). Not having the option of making a purchase makes you think more about the clothes you do have and how you can best use them to create an on trend look without heading to the shops. Currently I’m thinking about wearing some of the amazing sale purchases I bought just after Christmas (the whole reason I’m so poor in the first place) but haven’t really had the right occasion to wear. This is another of my problems: buying clothes for a life I simply don’t lead, and buying clothes and saving them for “something special”. I need to start thinking that every day is special and saving things for “best” will simply mean they don’t get worn and remain languishing in the wardrobe or shoved in a box under the bed for all eternity. When I was three stone heavier I went through a phase of always wearing the same black jumper (which Jade and Amy, the girls from Cellardoor magazine LOVED to pick me up on). I’d vary the scarf or jacket but essentially the ensemble would always be the same: black jumper and jeans or black jumper and denim skirt. Hmmmmm, inspiring, not. I’m a lot better these days but I do always tend to lean towards comfort and familiarity when picking out something to wear. With this in mind, next week I shall endeavor to wear something new every day, picked from the clothes I already own: I have far too many nice things to always wear the same.

Packed lunches of the future

I’m a packed lunch devotee, not only because it saves me hundreds of pounds a year but also because making my lunch myself means I know exactly what I’m eating, no hidden surprises. That being said, making your lunch every day can get a little tedious and it’s easy to always go for the same thing (usually a salad wrap, packet of snack-a-jacks and a piece of fruit for me). Japanese mothers have come up with a creative and competitive way to get their children to eat their lunches, by making the food look like cartoon characters, with amazing results. I’m always on the look out for unusual options for my lunch, generally ones that will increase my fruit and veg intake, but I’m not really sure I have time to be this creative in the mornings, think I’ll just stick to the salad wraps for now.

Looks I'm loving

The look I’m loving this week belongs to 24 year old Flavia D from Brazil. Her mix of prints and textures and use of accessories all get a big thumbs up from me, especially her use of hats to complete her look. Inspired by Flavia, I’m currently considering completing a one week challenge featuring hats, as I have so many and pretty much never wear one. In the summer, sure I love to wear a straw hat and in the winter I often wear an oversized knitted one but often my fedora and more structured hats get overlooked and remain at the back of the wardrobe. Maybe because I feel too smart wearing them? Who knows, but the one week challenge should help me break this cycle and be a bit more adventurous. Work colleagues and people of London you have been warned, if you see a somewhat fashionable girl wearing a ridiculous hat careering down Oxford Street, it’s likely to be me on my lunch break (on my way to check out more highly inappropriate headwear no doubt).

Find Flavia on Lookbook and on her blog fashioncoolture

The neverending bad hair day

Those of you who know me will be familiar with what seems to be my never-ending quest to grow my hair long and the many lengths I am willing to go to to try and achieve this. After a particularly horrendous trip to a new hairdressers in 2010 to have my hair coloured, I was beginning to look more Worzel Gummidge than Alexa Chung and I’ve been struggling to get my hair into an acceptable condition ever since. The trouble began when I went for a full head of highlights at a salon that admittedly I’d never been to before but had been recommended to me by a friend. I don’t know about you but I feel worse about a trip to the hairdressers than about a dentist appointment, particularly when it’s with someone new, my hair is my crowning glory, it needs to be treated with care. To cut a long story short the somewhat inexperienced (or so it seemed) stylist left the foils in for far too long resulting in my hair becoming a fried straw-like mess for many months afterwards, messing with my confidence and meaning that regardless of my fruitless growing attempts, large chunky layers had to be cut in to combat the frizz. To put it bluntly, I was devastated. I feel like such a girl admitting this but having a bad hair day has a drastic impact on whether or not my day is good or bad, and following the hair colour from hell I was left with a bad hair day, every day of my life. 2011 saw me try many tactics to coax my hair to grow past the dreaded shoulder length stage, with little success. Ironically it’s now probably the healthiest it’s been in a long time but still, no growth, or not much anyway (bear with me, I’m being dramatic). Therefore I’ve decided that 2012 WILL be the year that my hair finally grows: I will have long flowing locks like the likes of Delightfully Tacky by the end of the year, I am certain.

*Delightfully Tacky, aka the hair of my dreams

Two weeks in and change is already afoot. After a documented trip to Boots where I spent far too much on haircare products, the barnet is already in much better condition, volumised and somehow looking longer after only a few days (miracles do happen). Having really thick hair that seems to cling onto even a hint of product or residue, it’s taken me a while to find what I consider to be the holy grail of hair growth/strengthening/conditioning-without-weighing-down products that are going to enable me to finally get my hair to grow. Here are my pick of the bunch:

*Alpecin, that's right, we've reached desperate times

Herbal Essence Clarifying shampoo and conditioner: I need to use a clarifying shampoo to stop my hair feeling weighed down but at least with Herbal Essence I get a great smelling product too. Using most other shampoos lead to me having to wash it pretty much every day which, due to the heated appliances needed to give my hair some sort of style, defeats the object of trying to improve the condition and get it to grow. I hate you bitches who can just wash and go.

TOP TIP: If you find your hair clings on to conditioner residue, weighing it down and making it seem greasy no matter how long you rinse for, try conditioning first, THEN washing. Seriously, changed my life.

VO5 Plump it up, amplifying blow dry lotion: This product is a miracle worker. It protects my hair from heat, gives it volume, banishes frizz and doesn’t weigh it down. Exactly what I’m looking for.

Boots own brand serum: Cheap and cheerful, does what it says on the tin and you only need to use a tiny amount to smooth split and dry ends. There are so many serums on the market but I always find myself coming back to this, it works just as well as the big brand products and won’t break the bank, great for a girl on a budget.

(And finally…….if you’re looking to achieve volume (like me) I cannot sing the praises of a barrel brush enough. Pay attention at the hairdressers and try and blow-dry your hair in a similar way, massive hair in no time. Can’t manage that? Spray dry shampoo on the roots and rough up, added volume in no time.)