HAPPY HALLOWEEN

All photos taken with Instagram 

NEW T SHIRT

I got home the other day to a lovely surprise. Why? Because the thrill of a fabulously wrapped package on the doormat really is hard to beat. My friend had sent me one her creations - an illustration screen printed onto a t shirt which I promptly wore to work the next day. I love it so much and the man is suitably creepy for my tastes. 

Check out Eliza's blog if you want to become really jealous of all the amazing charity shop oddities she finds (as well as see her screen prints and random inspirations). You won't regret it, unless of course you passed up the opportunity to buy some of the items in question, in which case, EPIC FAIL. 

I 

T shirt - Eliza Fricker 

Jeans - Topshop 

Boots - Russell & Bromley 

Jacket - Zara

WEDDING DRESSING

I went to a friend's wedding yesterday and left dressing until about 15 minutes before leaving the house. It was a case of finding a roomy enough dress to allow for comfortable eating (a good thing too, the food was a hog roast and tons of cheese from Neal's Yard Dairy, hmmm) with shoes I could still catch the bus in. Then it was just take air dried hair down, juj it up a bit, a slick of Nars lip crayon and I was out the door.  

Dress - 3.1 Phillip Lim 

Shoes - Chloe 

A RIGHT ROYAL SPREAD

I celebrated the Royal Wedding with friends yesterday. We all sat around the TV, deconstructing everything for hours - guests, hair, makeup, THE DRESS, Pippa's cleavage, and so on. I would hardly say my friends are Royalists (in fact probably more Republican in leaning), but it was a great day to just sit around, get pleasantly sozzled and find ourselves strangely caught up in something that was just plain fun. It was also a chance for me to cook. I love baking, and parties always give me an excuse to make the things there is no point in making if there's just one of you, including my Kate *hearts* Will pork pie.  

Friday Happy Shoes

It's a Friday, which should be a cause of celebration. Instead, on this Friday my country is facing a hung parliament with a Conservative government, so I'm a bit bummed (although not surprised). 


I'm trying to cheer myself up by looking at old photos, and I came across this picture of my friend S's wonderful, wonderful Church's gold and silver brogues that I've mentioned before. Are they not bone tinglingly beautiful? Sadly I didn't get to see her last night at my mini election party / glum-in, because Milan has stolen her. 


So "Hi S", and thanks for cheering up via the medium of shoe xxx

Quick American Teen Drama Rant - 90210, Gossip Girl, Glee & Vampire Diaries

Can I just get something off my chest please?

I am getting really upset with how certain teen US dramas are creating an incredibly bad stereotype of what female friendship is. That women are ‘frenemies’ with one another who will turn on each other in order to achieve their own aims at the drop of a hat. Yes, GOSSIP GIRL & 90210 I am talking to you. But also GLEE, VAMPIRE DIARIES and other trashy things that I don’t even bother to series record.

Who decided that this is how young women should act? And what message are we sending to teenage girls when Blair and Serena make up and break up every week, humiliating one another in public, dobbing one another in and routinely scuppering each other’s love lives? Plotting one another’s downfall is a seemingly acceptable part of female friendship and support is something that is only done if it also aligns with your own plans – even when it’s your own sister (Jen & Naomi on 90210). Surely this is not the only way that storywriters can inject dramatic tension, by making all women uber bitches and / or crazy deliusional liars (see also Jen on 90210, Lily VdW on Gossip Girl, Terri on Glee)?

I went to a girls school, and I know that a whole bunch of teenage girls are no picnic, but the backstabbing and unpleasantness is simply not my experience, especially at the age of 16 / 17 / 18, which happens to be the age of most of the characters in these dramas.

Of course people may dislike one another, but rarely did anyone go out of their way to be deliberately mean. And what typifies many of these acts of meanness on TV is that they are often perpetrated by ‘besties’. The friends I made and the friendships I solidified at in my late teens were among the most important of my life. We learnt who we were with each other, as we made decisions that would define the next decade of our lives and supported one another, regardless of how different they may have been from us.

I really hope that girls today do not think that the way that Annie, Silver, Naomi, Blair, Serena, Georgina et al carry out their friendships, full of lies and deceit, is the way to get ahead. It would be a great shame, as now in my 30’s, the friendships I have with the many amazing women I know – from school, college and work are the key to my sanity and happiness. If we teach the younger generation to distrust those who should be support whatever will happpen?

And breathe. And waves hello to mates.

Off to Tokyo

Well, I am off to Japan very soon.

Have spent the last two days very unwell and immobile due to back problems. It is yet to be seen how I cope on the plane, but I have medication to sink a ship, so cross fingers. Will try and post from Tokyo, but might not be able to transfer pics.

P.s. - *hi everyone* if you want a postcard I've lost my address book so just email my hotmail and you'll get one.

Bocca Di Lupo

Whenever I've tried to eat at Bocca Di Lupo in the past I've phoned up and been offered a table at 11.00pm on a school night.

This is clearly not on, but, having eaten there finally this Saturday, it's something that I may well consider in future.

Because quite simply Bocca Di Lupo is the best place I've eaten at this year in London. To start with the company was good (hi ya S & B) and the night was one full of promise, so that's always a sign of good times. But it was more too. The dining room is well designed, buzzy without being loud or overbearing and the service was friendly and informative.

We were directed to a great red wine, the Ulysse Etna, the kind of wine that makes you realise the shit you put up with in crap pubs (or even nice pubs) and supermarket deals. I just had a peek at the wine list online to write this and noticed the cocktails, and already I'm planning on consuming a Cherry Pop and Gin Lemon on my next visit.

The menu itself was broad and inventive. You can order large or small dishes, mixing and matching to create the perfect meal. It's recommended you order 2 or 3 dishes each, but there are mains choices for those like all their dinner to come on one plate. We had the tortiglioni, one with with percorino, and one with pecorino and guanciale. Both were incredibly generous portions for £5 - £6 and just delicious. We decided as a group that the meat products of the humble pig are the best - like butter and salt there is not much that a liberal helping of smoked bacon / pork belly can't improve upon.

We also tried the fried mozzarella balls, the cuttlefish ink risotto, a white polenta and seafood dish and radicchio. The three of us ate very well and even struggled to finished the last morsels. As far as my rapidly expanding tummy was aware there were no bum notes in these dishes.

With a bill of £77 including service I personally thought the place was a bargain. The food was genuinely top notch, so £25 a head for me is a steal.

I will return, even it is past the witching hour...

The 4 F's

Saturday was a great day - friends, fireworks, food and foxtrots!

First off - discovered the magnificence that is food at Bocca di Lupo in Soho http://www.boccadilupo.com/ - will write a full review later.

Then - fireworks on Blackheath. Still the best in London. FACT.

And to round it all off - the Rivoli Ballroom in Crofton Park, Lewisham. It is amazing. A proper old fashioned 1950's ballroom, even the toilets are really 'powder rooms'. It was so beautiful in a garish, wonderful way. And it was nice to do something at night that wasn't so segregated by age - people were 70 years old doing the tango, or in their twenties hitting the sprung ballroom with a samba. It was great! The only embarrassment is that, despite growing up in Lewisham and living there until I was 22 I have never been. But I will be going again, but this time all dressed up and with some basic dance skills.

Bonfire Night Fireworks - What to wear?

Thursday was Bonfire night here in the UK, which for me can only mean one thing - fireworks on Blackheath! I can't remember the first time I went to see them there, it must have been when I was about 5 or 6, but I fell in love with them and for me they are the ultimate fireworks display. Ever. No other fireworks come close. 4th of July? The Beijing Olympics? NYE? Please...

The best thing about fireworks on Blackheath is they are reassuringly similar, with code of practice to follow for all time. You must eat warming foot before departure to the heath. You must wear a woolly had and gloves. Your Mum (and then later yourself, acting on behalf of you Mum) will put you in your warmest coat, sensible boots with two pairs of socks or maybe wellies if it's raining. And then walk to the heath with quite literally tens of thousands of other people and oooh and aahhh in unison.

Already I am thinking about what I will pull on to remain warm and snugly when I go to watch the fireworks with my friends on a cold November night. I will 100% be wearing Australian tube socks, my camo coat and probably Uggs (they are warm, people), but then I think I want this hat from Topshop for a tenner. Click on the title at the top to buy it...

Fun Times

I was trying to sort through my photos tonight and I came across these. One of my dear friend Maggie and I on a night out. We had glitter eye make up put on by a make up artist. I wish this happened everyday, it would be so much fun.

The other picture made me laugh so much. It was from my drunken 31st and neatly demonstrates what happens when my friends, alcohol and Laduree macaroons mix - in that they don't.