The little black jacket

A couple of weeks back I was lucky enough to be able to make the most of a rare free Friday when I had nothing pressing to do and take the opportunity to take in a spot of culture at one of my favourite London art venues, the Saatchi Gallery. 

Being a short walk from the flat, the Kings Road is always a fun day out, the people-watching alone can keep me entertained for hours, it's well worth a visit if you're in London.

The reason for my visit was to check out Chanel's The Little Black Jacket Exhibition dedicated to Karl Lagerfeld's latest book. The idea behind the book is to revist the traditional styling of Chanel, with a wide variety of "friends of Chanel" being showcased with their own styled interpretation of the Chanel classic - here are some of my favourite images from the collection.

Sadly the exhibition was only in London for a couple of weeks but to see more of the amazing images you can pick up the book (the perfect Christmas gift for any fashionista) or find out more about the exhibition here.

Children of the revolution

Although it was my first week at my new job, I took Friday off for a prearranged double whammy family gathering in Somerset.

The Wells carnival is a favourite event for The Boy and I (having not missed one in three years) and this year it was time for my parents to finally see what all the fuss was about.

After a jam packed day in London on Thursday (nine store visits and a trip to the DC) we hopped on a coach (the pro list for getting a car is growing longer by the day) and headed for Hampshire for a one night stay in Titchfield with my parents. Goats cheese salad (alas no picture, I was too hungry) and wine awaited us, followed by an inevitable nap on the sofa for me. I love being home, surrounded my my family and our wonderful, clutter filled house.

Friday dawned with an early morning dentist appointment for me before we set off for Shepton Mallet. We took a lunchtime pitstop at Street where I picked up a cheeky Whistles treat and indulged in a Toffee Nut Hot Chocolate (non-coffee drinkers out there, believe me this is amazing) and arrived at The Boy's parents around 4ish. Just in time for cottage pie and a natter before the action began.

The carnival over the past few years has been notorious for bad weather and this year was no different. Thick fog made driving conditions pretty interesting and halfway through the procession the rain began to fall. But nothing could put a dampener on our enthusiasm and we remained steadfast in the market square to watch the floats go by. Some of my personal favourites featured polar bears, a Disney theme, snow machines, "Children of the revolution", a rather creepy Christmas tale, and of course, middle-aged men dressed as women - basically it was right up my street.

You can find out more about the Somerset Carnivals here, or watch my video below for the kind of thing you can expect. It's important to remember that in most parts of the country these husbands/fathers/brothers would spend their evenings sat in front of the TV, not customising what is essentially a tractor and trailer and learning a dance routine. 

One word: Amazing.

It's always darkest before the dawn

As most of you may know, the past week marked a turning point in my life: I started my new job.

I love Hobbs but the past few months have been far from happy ones for me and I had come to the conclusion long ago that maybe it was time for a change. Luckily for me, one of my favourite brands, All Saints, were looking for an Assistant Store Planner and wanted little old me for the role. It's still early days but so far I'm loving it, the people are great and the role has reignited my passion for branch merchandising which Caroline (my old manager, now friend) started all those years ago.

No longer am I working in the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street, instead I'm based in the heart of east London. Which is bound to be good for my bank balance (and my sanity), as no longer will I be tempted by bargain basement stores, or have to battle though the shoppers they attract on my nightly commute. I'm really enjoying exploring the area and spent my day off last Monday taking a look around. Here's what I've found so far.

 Rough Trade - a perfect spot to while away my lunch break.

 Beyond Retro - a vintage mecca for me to explore, the only thing missing was Zsa Zsa and Rebeccs to keep me focussed (and away from the leopard print).

I can already sense that the bagel shops are going to become my weakness - this salt beef, pickle and mustard bad boy will definitely be happening again.

Unexpected graffiti has long been a favourite spot of mine - now there's almost up-to-the-minute artworks being created right on my doorstep.

The advertising for Margiela with H&M was really innovative and once I'd spotted one I couldn't help but find more - I hope to see more exciting retail innovations going on in the area.

We finished the afternoon in The Craft Beer Co (somewhere I know The Boy is anxious to get back to) which I loved as it reminded me of some of the many, many, pubs I've been to with Dad over the years.

What are your highlights and recommendations for East London?

My week in photos 12

The past week has mostly revolved around eating - and the wrong kind of eating at that. The many parties, leaving dos and the wedding that we attended have left my waistline bursting at the seams. Something must be done. Therefore I have decided to embark on what some may call a detox but I prefer to call junk-food-cold-turkey. Christmas is coming and I am certainly on my way to getting fat, so before the season of finger food buffets and tins of chocolates arrives it will be fruit and veg all the way, for a while at least.

Here's what I've been getting up to (and eating) over the past week or so.

 Clockwise from top left: Christmas is coming! Picking up a festive snack at M&S - Delicious wedding cupcakes, to keep us going on the train - Make up for Grandad's birthday - A midweek cookie run to help us through the afternoon - My gorgeous girls, Annie, Bateson and Mary Anne - Picked up a copy of Time Out for Father - Dreaming of some vintage wheels - A blustery Sunday afternoon stroll along the seafront

 Clockwise from top left:The Great-Grandchildren help Grandad with his candles - I know it's blurry but it pretty much sums up the night - A note from the lovely Hannah - An amazing cake for an emotional last day at work - A random Thursday could only end with sequinned gloves and dancing - One last lunch with Clara and Rebecca *sob* - Me and the wonderful Gunilla - Ma and Pa in their finest

Look of the day: black stripe, yellow paint

For my Grandad's ninetieth birthday party at my family home on the south coast last weekend I wore one of my latest purchases, and a favourite one at that. 

I picked up this little acid yellow number on one of my early morning runs to Primarni and when I saw it on the rails I literally could not believe how cute it was! Neither could the girls at work, particularly as it looked so close to a Whistles number some of them have had their eye on. I'm informed that leather trims are still going to be acceptable come Spring so hopefully I'll be able to get more than a few wears out of it in both cooler and warmer weather.

 Dress: Primark

Blazer: H&M

Belt: Primark

Tights: Primark (Super Cosy - literally, life changing)

Boots: New Look

A Brit abroad

One thing I've learned this year is that friendship certainly is a weird and wonderful thing. 

It comes in all shapes and sizes, is often found in the most unexpected places and is sometimes not at all what it seems. Since I've started to take blogging seriously (in the sense that I now make sure I don't go months without posting) I've found that the unexpected surprise of a comment on a blog post is a welcome bonus and they've often led me to other like minded people, or blogging friends as I call them, usually with fascinating blogs to discover. 

One of these people is Mimi Finerty.

All images by Mimi Finerty

Now to tell the truth, Mimi and I went to university together in Southampton a few years back but we never knew each other that well. Sure, we were polite when we bumped into each other and may even have gossiped in a corner on occasion (usually at the expensive of our long suffering Fashion History lecturer) but we didn't have each other numbers and, had it not been for blogging, our friendship might have ended right there and then, as the drudgery of everyday life led our worlds in different directions.

Since we finished university Mimi returned briefly to her family home in London before making the brave step of upping sticks and moving to Cyprus with her long term boyfriend to start a new life in a warmer climate.

All images by Mimi Finerty

Two years have passed and I must say I love reading about how things are going for Mimi, her Boy and their gorgeous four legged friend. 

If anything it makes me a tad jealous. As I write this whilst on the bus, sat in traffic (as usual) in the London drizzle it does make me consider how different things could be on foreign shores. Mimi certainly looks to be having a fantastic time.

All images by Mimi Finerty

I look forward not only to a new blog post from Mimi on her inspirational blog, but even a comment from Mimi on one of my own posts puts a smile on my face. Even my Dad (my blogs number one fan) knows all about Mimi and is always keen to hear how she's getting on, after he spotted her kind words on my blog. "Who's Mimi?" he said, and I went on to explain that she's my part-blogger, part-real-life friend who's on her own adventure the other side of the sea.

Mimi is taking part in the Expats Blog Writing Competition October 2012 - if you fancy supporting Mimi, then check out her entry "Life on a Sunshine Island" here.

Wedding number 5: Sweets for my sweet

On Thursday night The Boy and I escaped the madness of London and headed west to Somerset to go to our final wedding of the year, that of Tony and Nicola, in Clevedon on Friday.

Clockwise from top left: The happy couple - The gorgeous church - There are no words - The newlyweds travel in style

Tony and The Boy have been friends for years and it was really nice that we could both go along and share in their special day.

On Friday morning, as we nipped along the motorway crammed into Michael's sister's car, I was more than a little apprehensive. Dressing for a winter wedding is tricky enough but with storm clouds overhead there was more than a possible chance rain could stop play. Or at least ruin my shoes. Luckily, although it was drizzling when we arrived at the picturesque St Andrews church, by the time the service was over the sun had made an appearance just in time for photos (although it was still freezing). The reception was just down the road at the gorgeous Clevedon Hall, an amazing venue that used to be a school. It really took my breath away and was not at all what I was expecting.

Clockwise from top left: The gorgeous Clevedon Hall - Cheers to the future - The sweetie room - Gemma and Brad

Both Tony and Nicola are teachers and although there were few children in attendance you could really see the couple's sense of fun in the many surprises and treats that greeted guests throughout the day. There was a Sweets room we were encouraged to help ourselves to a cone full of our favourite childhood sweets, a play doh competition for guests to create their own sculpture of the day (mine won most original idea, naturally) and even a quiz to take part in over dinner. Even the wedding favours were bottles of Tony's favourite sauce, Heinz tomato ketchup.

Clockwise from top left: My ensemble of choice for wedding number 5 - The Groom, The Boy and his friends, don't they scrub up well! - Cute wedding favours - The gorgeous cake - Would you like ketchup with that? - The Bride and Groom - Beautiful blooms - The happy couple

The day was truly wonderful and it was nice to get to spend some time getting to know some of the people The Boy holds dear. 

I've only ever met Tony and Nicola a handful of times but in his speech Tony mentioned a story about when he and Nicola were exploring London and helped rescue some baby ducklings from a drain and it was at this point that it became clear that these two really are my kind of people.

 Clockwise from top left: Greek Meze - Priddy lamb and chedder mash - Ketchup on everything, no really - Anyone for cheese? - The play doh competition got very competitive - The first dance - My competition entry - Belgian waffle with ice cream, delicious!

Congratulations Tony and Nicola, wishing you every happiness for your lives together.