I wanna listen to the trees, maybe stare up at the clouds. Yes, I want to get lost, let’s get lost

Another month down, we are now in August. June’s photos went up a little late, so this feels like July was even shorter than it was. One more summer month filled with great company and magnificent skies.
I have spent the last couple of days planning and writing the next months blog posts, so don’t worry – it isn’t becoming just my monthly photos. However, I hope you enjoy seeing a small collection of snapshots for July.

July, week one.
I am sure by now that you know I love a good sunset/sky photo. There’s something I have always been drawn to and felt the need to capture in the sky. This one was taken from my boyfriend’s garden, and the light is just spectacular. A fairly self explanatory selfie, always in my favourite necklace from Sugar and Vice. Christopher couldn’t decide what to do one day and as we were driving we came across a place to see Meerkats and a whole host of other cute animals that you could stroke. I wanted to put one of each in my bag to bring home though…

July, week two.
The second week of July brought showerwashywashy time into Dolly’s life. After ten years she finally accepts that this is going to happen from time to time and she goes along with it now, albeit unhappily. The process takes Floss and I to both keep her in the shower (much harder with a wet room), actually wash her and then quickly run after her downstairs to let her in the garden to rub herself on everything. May or June saw us go to the pier and we chose a bubble gun (for the dog) with all of the tickets we had accumulated. I think my sister and Sam enjoyed playing with it far more than Dolly did though. My dad came home with these curiously named burgers one day for dinner, we are still none the wiser as to why they are labelled this way though.

July, week three.
A selfie taken whilst sat under a tree with the dog, trying to keep up both cool whilst we waited for family to return from fruit picking in sweltering heat in the Kent countryside. A beautiful sunshine yellow Sunflower to place next to a photo of my mum. And the most delicious banana, strawberry and cherry sorbet/smoothie hybrid I’ve ever made. A photo of the haul my sister and Sam managed to pick when we went down to Kent, slowly working our way through the punnet of fruits.

July, week four.
It had been a very long time since I had seen the Surrogate Mothers Club, so it was arranged that we meet one evening for drinks and a catch up. There may have been some super sneaky shots consumed whilst waiting for our other drinks to be ready each time too. A really lovely evening sat outside chatting and enjoying a gin or five. The week following that weekend left me feeling really anxious, an underlying feeling of dread kept washing over me and I couldn’t shake it; as much as I felt I was going mad. So I slapped some makeup on (hence the selfie) and took myself off to see Christopher for twentyfour hours. Although I couldn’t fully shake the panic that evening, I was feeling much better on the Sunday. I could breathe a little better and I think it was just what I needed, a change of scene and pace. Another glorious sky photo, it was so blue and perfect just before I had to come home (which wasn’t as straight forward as it should be, two trains and a car ride home, thanks to Southern Rail, the most useless train providers ever).

You’re everything that I hoped for, that’s why I gave you my all

I came to write about something exciting, but first I am going to vent about the crappy day I am currently having (the exciting bit does come, I promise).
Today began with wiggly anxious feet, which is never the way a lady wishes to arise from her slumber. With too much unsolicited adrenaline my extremities tingle and I need to release this, so feet wiggling like I’m in Footloose is my usual go-to. Checking the time on my phone I realise I still have an hour before my alarm insists I get up. So I attempt to go back to sleep but I am met with the anxious thoughts that accompany my eighties dance movie choreography. Great. Then I receive a text from my sister to inform me that Dolly (the dog) has been sick a lot in the garden. Yippee. By this point it’s clear that I am not going back to sleep. I drag myself out of bed, eyes still mostly asleep whilst I get dressed to walk the dog and face the day. As I head downstairs I am met with an odor of vomit and two huge piles of sick. One of them is a revolting tangle of green slimy grass. Oh joy. As I go towards the back of the house to let the dog in to the garden, what do I see? Oh yes, that would be another 3 piles (this time its the raw chicken from last nights dinner), slick and putrid. Excellent. Then there is more in the garden and more in the living room I discover. Poor dog, clearly shes unwell but also, gross. It’s not even half nine in the morning yet. After spending a fair while doing my best Cinderella before she meets the prince impression, I walk the dog; who spends most of her time eating more grass…
My shopping is due to be delivered between ten and twelve today, so I await its arrival and get on with a multitude of boring house chores. However, the shopping still hasn’t arrived half an hour after the time-slot has ended. Weird. After logging into my account it would appear that I didn’t finish the transaction yesterday so our shopping won’t be coming today. And I haven’t even mentioned my strange enchanted hand that keeps going a little numb every now and then. I get to climb into a dark hole and never come out again now, right?!
Okay, I get that worse things happen at sea and certainly worse things have happened in my life, but today’s morning has felt relentlessly bleak. Roll on tomorrow evening and being with the boy I am incredibly fond of in a place that helps me breathe a little easier (when I’m not feeling anxious anyway *monkey covering eyes emoji*).

Now, onto much better news. On Tuesday the seventeenth of May, this blog hit twenty thousand overall views! I am so excited about this. I never thought I would actually keep up blogging, and I certainly never thought many if any people would want to read it. But I did and you did and now I’ve hit a huge milestone for someone who has just written a whole passage about dog vomit.
Thank you to everyone who reads my blog regularly or if you are entirely new and you’re helping me on my way to thirty thousand. I appreciate every view, every comment and every share I receive. You are all lovely people and I am so pleased that anyone would want to read my work.
I thought that I would link you my Facebook page, so should you wish to keep up to date and notified when a new post is published you can do so. Or, if you are a fellow WordPress user, feel free to hit ‘Follow’.
Here are some of my favourite pieces I have published on here, in case you missed them:

• Hold your head high, heavy heart (- Dear teenagers, it gets better or at least different).
• I have the dance moves of a mustache and the singing voice that sounds like a beard on the inside of my cheeks (- for all that love those with a beard and those that have careless whiskers to tame).
• And I am finally seeing that I was the one worth leaving (- Inspired by Frank Turner and moving on from something that never quite fit).
• You hid there last time, you know we’re gonna find you (-My tale of always being the fat girl and how some builders harassed me).
• But I am a ghost, just haunting myself (- An exercise in dissipating writers block, melancholic whimsy at its best).
• I’m ready to hope, swing me out of the low; wide awake in the glow, can’t do it alone (- Sadness and hope combined in melancholia. My canary sings no more).
• And I kissed him back like and arsonist with a pocket full of matches (-romanticised romance).

Once again, thank you.

I’ll dig for water and fashion our very own wishing well

I think by now, if you read my blog on a regular basis, you will know that I like things. I love books, jewellery, music, food and notebooks. This post is a selection of the ten things that I am currently enjoying the most. Just to inject a little lightness back into our lives after last weeks post…I am going to talk about my frivolous spending habit.

Just before Christmas my father decided that we needed a Sonos speaker in our lives, so went out and bought the Play5 the same night. I cannot tell you how good this speaker is as well as receiving a years free subscription to Deezer when you buy any Sonos speaker. We have spent many a night since listening to music until the small hours with no sign of distortion, no matter how loud you play it. If you’re looking for a good quality wireless speaker and you are willing to spend a little more on it, I cant recommend the Sonos Play5 highly enough. (You must listen to Phil Collins – In the air tonight, they were made for each other).

Stampers. I love stationary and I’ve been looking for a decent alphabet stamp set that also comes with an ink pad for ages and then I found one. Tiger was the place that realised my dreams and had this awesome wooden stamp set with a black and red ink pad for a whole foursterlingpounds. Bargain! I love it and I’m finding it hard not to use it to write everything.

This year I have decided to learn more stuff. I like learning and I don’t do enough of it these days. So, why not give French a go. I was fairly good, (and in the top French class at school…although I have no idea how) so I thought I would give it a try once more. Thanks to the app Duolingo, my french has come on leaps and bounds in such a short period of time. With bite size chunks you can get stuck into and stutus bars that slowly go down over time so you have to go back and refresh yourself to keep the bars full. The app gets you to translate English into French and vise versa but it also works with your mobile microphone and gets you to practise speaking your chosen language too. There are so many languages you can choose from to learn from Spanish to Swedish, Ukranian to German. If you have been looking to take up another language, I would highly recommend you do it with Duolingo.

The Body Finder series by Kimberly Derting. This set of books follows Violet Ambrose, who has a rather morbid gift…she can find dead people. When Violet is near a dead person who has been murdered and not yet laid to rest, they give off an echo. This can be in the form of noise, smell or visionary, but once Violet has caught on, she cannot rest until the body has been found and buried. With a serial killer on the loose in the first book the story moves at a fast pace and its easy to get swept up in all the mystery and teenage drama over her best friend Jay. I am just finishing the second book, and whilst not as fast paced as the first book, it is still a good/easy read. I am hoping for a little more action in the third book though.

I have a serious macaroon addiction. Yes, they should be covered in liquid gold for the price they want to charge, but you will understand if you have ever had one of these beautifully coloured, crispy fluffy clouds. Julien Plumart‘s are my absolute favourites with flavours such as rose, red berries and violet and salted caramel to name a few. The perfect decadent treat to transport you to Paris in the nineteentwenties…or maybe that’s just me.

I got a two month free trial of Amazon Prime Instant, which is probably the last thing I needed, given my infatuation with Netflix. However, with Weeds having made the move across to Amazon a while back I never got to finish the saga or fill my Hunter Parish and Guillermo Diaz fix. The most exciting thing about the new year was that it brought the Pretty Little Liars to Netflix. I had to stop watching the girls a few seasons back now, but I was soon buried deep in the mysteries of A. Currently wading my way through House we are now on season six, and I love Hugh Laurie a little more each day. Considering the show works to the same format each episode, it never manages to get boring. A family friend has been telling me I should watch Hostages for ages, so when I saw it pop up on Amazon I took the plunge and I am completely caught up in all the conspiratorial mayhem and intertwining story lines. Go watch them all, now.

I got this Q&A five year journal for Christmas and I love it. The premise is fairly obvious each day of the year has a different question and 5 opportunities to answer the same question on the same day each year for 5 years, whether consecutive or not. I think it may be really interesting when I am nearing my thirtieth birthday to see how much things have or haven’t  changed from now.

Shameless selfie. No, its not my face that is my favourite but my necklace! I have long had a love affair with the very talented duo of Sugar and Vice and their much talent at making beautiful accessories. I am completely in love with this pentagram necklace and I have been living in it since it arrived. Perfect for coven chic and witchy wonderfulness. It is one of those necklaces that I am considering buying a backup of, just incase something terrible happens to it. I would really love a mirrored version of it too.

If you have not listened to the Serial podcast yet, why on earth not?! It will take over your life and soon enough you will be trying to figure out whether Adnan is innocent too or if anyone in this complex story telling the truth?! Told over 12 gripping episodes, we follow the story of Adnan Syed and the murder of his highschool girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999. You will hear police interviews and recent accounts of everyone surrounding the murder that winter. As well as phone conversations from Syed from the prison he was sentenced to fifteen years ago. This is a true story and all the accounts you hear are real too. I cannot tell you how good this is and how I need everyone I know to listen to it so we can discuss it in depth, all of the time! I have even gone as far as to download podcasts of other people discussing it to hear their opinions too.

And lastly, this gem of a song. You know how sometimes you can like an album and then all of a sudden you just become obsessed with one song, well that happened here. The melody and lyrics sung hauntingly by Dallas Green is just perfection. O’sister used to be my favourite until Little Hell usurped it. Have a listen and fall in love with the rawness of Dallas’ voice and beautiful lyrics.

the devil moves and clings to us, and for a moment there is beauty

It’s been a while since we last met and I apologise for that. Life gets busy and I have a lot going on at the moment. However, I have made a long list of all the things I want to write about, so I am planning on wading through that shortly. This post is a slightly belated ‘What I Got For Christmas twentyfourteen’ post. I love watching these on Youtube as it excites the purchasing goblins that live in my brain, making me scour the internet for things I don’t really have any need for; but I have seen it and therefore now I need it. So, I hope this post excites your shopping mad goblins or just satiates the innate nosiness we all have.
*click the photos for much larger images*

This is an overview of most of the things I was lucky enough to receive this year. I am aware that there are a few things missing now that I look around my room: perspex nail varnish tiered stand, Debrett’s guide to etiquette and modern manners, Q&A a day 5 year journal and probably some other stuff.

The ‘beauty section’ I suppose. I have tried to group my presents to make it easier to list. I got: pink hair chalk, Olay moisturiser, Directions Rose Red hair dye (my absolute favourite), the ‘rosy glow’ Korres mini set which includes a facial moisturiser, a repairing sleep mask, shower gel and body lotion, which all smell delicately and perfectly of roses. Soap and Glory the righteous butter, three Ciate nail polishes in Blizzard, Cabaret and It’s Haute in Here, a full sized and mini Body Shop hemp hand cream (the best hand cream you will ever, ever use – ever) and Mango and Satsuma body wash and Satsuma hand sanitiser. Two packets of day of the dead skull nail stickers, a Satsuma lip balm, beauty blender, fake lashes with diamante edges, a heart shaped mirror, Nivea moisturiser and some new eyelash curlers. *and breathe*

The ‘stationary section’ includes multiple notebooks, an anchor annual diary, some writing paper and envelopes, colouring pencils, a stamping alphabet set and a pen with pretty butterflies all over it.

The ‘miscellaneous section’ features a beautiful Ukulele (of which I am trying to teach myself…), a mason jar with lid and straw, a glowstick heart topped wand (obviously), popping candy chocolate orange and some cupcake and flamingo stickers. Pin up sailotr girl tissues that are far too cool to ever use, a multicoloured sparkly zip pouch for such things as makeup, a Jack Whitehall dvd, some spotty dotty paper straws, colouring book, shiney star studded purse and some Snow Angel massage bar from Lush that should have been in the previous section, but I forgot.

One of my favourite presents of all time, these cute and a damn button illustrations of Poirot wearing his grey City Suit and a cream Travel Suit. I cannot wait to get these framed and up on the wall! Just look at his face!!!

And then we come to the more sweets and chocolates than you can shake a stick at and a post Christmas Christmas sales present I bought myself section. I have had my eye on this silver sparkly satchel for a while now but couldn’t quite part with the twenty sterling they wanted for it, so when I saw that it was half price in the Paperchase sale I had to have it.
In conclusion, I received some very lovely things this year and if you want to know more about any of the items just ask. Next up is something rather less superficial, but what would life be without the variety?!

In the corner of your room, you’ve stockpiled millions of my memories

I have started the very long process of sorting out my bedroom this week. I say started because frankly it has been far too hot since Monday to carry on, that with my relentless battle against procrastination (/internet shopping) means I haven’t quite finished yet. But I have organised the majority of my jewellery and main storage in my room, so I thought I would show you how I store most of my jewellery. (Click on the images to make them larger)

Before I took these photos I had a ridiculous amount of adornments, a lot I had forgotten about or they were broken and old. So, I took a bold leap and threw a lot away…it isn’t often that I get these urges to do away with trinkets in my possession (always erring on the side of borderline hoarder), but I was missing a lot of things I do like to wear because wading through it all was such a chore.

These bangles never leave my wrist, I’m not even sure I could get them off even if I wanted to. Unfortunately one of them broke and I haven’t had it fixed yet, but to briefly outline: the bottom 2 I got with the broken one for my twenty-first birthday from my parents. The twisted one was my grandmas, the big plain silver bangle I bought for myself with some birthday money I got this year. My lovely lovely skulls I bought with money my parents gave me for my twenty-third birthday. As I have mentioned before, wearing bangles is a tradition in my family.

In the first small perspex draw are my rings. Mostly I have silver rings with various crystals in them, a Butler and Wilson wing ring, a vintage mirror ring and a sparkly heart that I got one year for Christmas. In the box at the back is the most beautiful transparent pink acrylic unicorn ring from my friend Jasmin as a birthday present last year. The Brighton based company specialise in laser cut jewellery and I want one of everything! I am a complete fiend when it comes to rings, I just cannot stop buying them, I ran out of fingers a long time ago.
The second small draw is filled with various earrings and 3 nautical themed charm bracelets, one from primark, one from Lyme Regis and another as a gift for Christmas – I am  a complete sucker for anything nautical and anchor related (the photos came out really blurry though and then my camera died, so you’ll have to use your imagination I’m afraid).

On to the next two draws. The first one has my Sugar and Vice ‘Dia de los muertos’ and custom made ‘Magnificent’ necklaces. On top of the magnificent box is my silver chain with 3 tiny keys on that I got in the Isle of Wight a couple of years ago. A Lydia name necklace, pentagram pendant that I’ve had since I was 13 and my very favourite, often adored big rose necklace from New Look about 8 years ago.
The bottom draw stores my Primark chunky gold necklace, a leather rose ring, a spinning sparkly anchor from Camden, a little round clay pendant with a black bird with gold flowers on and a sparkly starfish ring. In the box at the back are the most fabulous cross earrings that are glass with a pink A/B finish that were my grandmas, a metal blue humming bird pendant and my beautiful multi crystal winged pendant. A tiny sparkly gold elephant, my adorable Tatty Devine blue anchor necklace from my friend Samantha for a birthday and a huge red heart from primark for a whole pound.

To the right of that is a pink plastic goblet that I got from Tiger and it holds all of the things I like to have out, but don’t wear as often. The felt tattoo style heart brooch was a birthday gift from my Mum’s friend. The tiny tile with a little sail boat on is just darling and a gift from my cousin and the L scrabble tile ring was a gift from my mum. There are also a few random rings and bobby pins scattered in there.

On the left of the perspex storage is the gorgeous Pandora’s box from my parents that I have stored all of the jewellery I can’t quite throw away but don’t really wear inside of. Here you can see a flower ring that when you twist the gem in the middle lights up, a pair of massive hoop earrings, a pink plastic anchor, two faux crystal rings, a large metal rose ring, a skeleton holding a diamond that you wear across 3 fingers and a multicoloured bead bracelet my sister made me.

On top are 2 velvet covered jewellery hands, The black one is holding my giant Butler and Wilson rose, a twenty-first birthday gift from my aunt and uncle. The pink hand is holding many bracelets as well as the four rings that are my go to day-to- day jewellery. At the bottom is a Turquoise with silver leaves ring from the Isle of Wight. On top of that is a Hematite thumb ring that also came from the Isle of Wight and my beloved Bloody Mary Metal stacking rings – the Lonely Bone and a personalised stacker that has ‘Heavy Heart’ stamped across it, taken from the lyrics: “Hold your head high heavy heart, and save your strength for the morning after” of ‘The Phrase That Pays’ by The Academy Is… Go and check out the BMM website though (closed until 25/7), because it is all bewitchingly enchanting and I cannot wait for the new Luna Tribe range to launch (more rings)!

On top of the perspex box is my dazzling Tatty Devine mirrored swallows necklace. Now I have to say I haven’t worn this a whole lot because the edges are super sharp, but now I have had a sort out I’ll remember to file down the edges a little so I can wear it more. It is far too pretty to sit inside a box all the time.

And that’s about it, I do have more in a hanging storage thing but that is mostly hair accessories with a few bracelets thrown in. I have a few more bedroom tour style blogs to come in the future, so I hope you liked this one. If you would like to see my already massive and ever growing hair accessories box just let me know.

The chair where you would swing, a yard so full of leaves. Hum the song that comforts me

Today I needed some cheering up and a little lightness injected into my life…and online shopping usually does just the trick for a while. In that vain this post is going to be a wishlist of all the things that I want to buy (and cannot really afford), that the naughty little spending gremlins keep nudging my hand towards.

I have been coveting these earrings by Sugar and Vice for months now. I saw them in an Instagram post a while back and have wanted them ever since. I have a two necklaces from the same amazing jewellery company – a custom word necklace saying ‘MAGNIFICENT’ and a sugar skull with roses mirrored beauty. All of the handmade jewellery is made super well and are very reasonably priced. One day, they shall be mine!

Oh Charlotte Tilbury, you enchantress you! Every woman wants to look like a silver screen siren and this does magical things to ladies faces. I have only seen this in YouTube videos and in others blog posts, but this beguiling palate of sculpting and highlighting loveliness needs to live with me. Contouring the face can work absolute wonders to ones complexion (and is an everyday staple to the Kardashian clan). Swoon.

This ‘Invasion of the killer curves’ slash neck tshirt is just wonderous. I came across the website that sell them when scrolling through my Instagram feed and seeing the captivating George of  Fuller Figure Fuller Bust, wearing a couple in her photo. They range from small sizes all the way up into the plus sizes and I am absolutely in love with this one.

I cannot explain to you how much I want this book upon my shelf. Gruesome horror for fans of YA novels, the book follows the story of a group of girls performing an exorcism on another girl…although their plan to rid the girl of evil may be more like torture. “By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us?” So as a fan of young adult novels and the occult, I really want to read this. But even more than that, I need to own this book for its bewitching cover.

A fan of Delilah Dust jewellery for a while now, when I spotted this delectable cuff this morning I knew it had to be added to my want list. I have had a thing for druzy quartz since I bought a ring with it in around 9 years ago, it was so glittery it sang to me with its siren song. After that it was fairly hard to get a hold of for a few years, but it seems to be a fairly widely used crystal now when looking for cheaper crystal jewellery. I still love it, and to have this masterpiece upon my wrist would make me extremely happy.

This cute as a button puppy. I have long been vaguely obsessed with sausage dogs and I really need one in my life. Unfortunately my current dog doesn’t like any other dogs (or the post man, people wearing red, most men, hi-vis and potatoes), so I can’t get one. But every time I see one I want to cry with the cuteness overload. Just look at it!!!

A Glow in the dark skeleton purse has me written all over it! My current phone case is black with a glow in the dark skeleton hand on it (an h&m halloween special). I love my phone case and I think it would only be right to also own a matching purse to sit inside of my goth-tastic hand bag covered in spikes and studs. If only I could find this in an actual shop so I could see the dimensions and the layout inside, all the important stuff.

I would really like a years subscription to Oh Comely magazine, it isn’t even expensive at £22 but I just don’t have the spare cash at present. The magazine has features ranging from people, craft and music to art, food and film.The photos and illustrations are stunningly beautiful. Last year they even got their readers to do a box swap with each other. I was entirely jealous when I saw all of the heart felt and charming little things they all received when looking through the Instagram tag.

Gelato Gusto is located on Gardner Street nestled in the Laines of Brighton. Last summer when I was working near by and the days were oh so super hot, it was only right that we went and got some cooling refreshments…often. I have tried the Salted Caramel, Banoffee Pie and Rose with Dark Chocolate gelato – all more than delicious, but the best thing I have ever had (possibly out of all food, ever) is their Rose and Lychee sorbet. It was as if angels had come floating from the sky and the world had got a little brighter and shiner after the first taste. If you live in Brighton, even if you don’t, make sure to go out of your way to try some of the heavenly mouthwatering flavours on offer. You will not be disappointed.

I have a confession. When writing this post and visiting all of the things that I really really want…I may have fallen prey to the 20% off everything summer sale at Crown and Glory. I may have just purchased this darling ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ headband in Bramble. I could not resist any longer after wanting one for years now. Look at how pretty it is though, can you really blame me? And with £4 off of my order it would have been rude not to. (One more justification – ) The colour scheme works all year round with these lovely purples in cadbury, aubergine and lilac too, so its not like I’ll just wear it in the summer. I could have done a whole lot more damage though, as everything is just beautiful. Glittery and girly and some with a gothic twist plus lucky dips worth £50 for only £20?! (another day…). Perfect for this seasons festivals too. I cannot wait for mine to arrive.
This post could be alarmingly long, but instead I have put some of the other things I need in my life into an Amazon Wish List. If you fancy having a peek at some, feel free to head on over. Also, if anyone would like to do a box swap, please let me know in the comments as I absolutely positively would love to do one!

(I do not own these photos).

 

It was like the way you wanted sunshine on Saturdays, or pancakes for breakfast. They just made you feel good

 

My brain is a little all over the place today, so to gather my thoughts I’m going to do a list based blog post for you. If you know me at all you will know that I love writing lists, as I have mentioned before – I am a notebook enthusiast with a compulsion for list making. The act of putting pen to paper and organising things into categories focuses my mind and lets me forget momentarily about all of the other thoughts that are inconsequential to the task at hand. It is also another method of procrastinating, something I am entirely skilled in, as I don’t have to deal with all of the other stuff which is either boring or too important for me to think about right now. I thought I would just name a topic and list 5 things from that category that I like and hopefully if you haven’t heard of them you will find new things to like too.
YouTube
– The RH Experience
– World of the Orange
– Essie Button
– Fun for Louis
– Miss Glamorazzi
Films
– Stuck in Love
– The Kings of Summer
– License to Drive
– Funny Face
– Moonrise Kingdom
Songs
– The Offspring – Denial Revisited
– Paolo Nutini – Iron Sky
– Pokey LaFarge – Daffodil Blues
– Jose Feliciano – Lonely Teardrops
– You Me At Six – The Rumour
Instagram
– Grgctts
– Alielayus
– Lamiakaric
– Lsbeth
– Melancholyellie
Food
– Sushi
– Burgers
– Blue cheese
– Crisps
– Anchovy stuffed olives
Books
– Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
– Guitar Girl by Sarra Manning
– You’ve Been Warned by James Patterson
– The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean
– The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
Drinks
– Tequila Sunrise
– Rose Lemonade
– Mango Cooler
– Honey and lemon
– Gin and tonic
Photographers
– Guy Bourdin
– Camilla Akrans
– Annie Leibovitz
– Joshua Hoffine
– Tim Walker
Detectives
– Adrian Monk
– Miss Marple
– Johnathan Creek
– Precious Ramotswe
– Hercule Poirot
The perfect place to conclude my list making…now to take the dog out in the pouring rain. Boo. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my lists and maybe found something new to watch, listen to or read.

(I do not own these images).

Rain drops on roses

As it is coming up for that time of year, I thought I would share with you some of the things I would like to find inside my stocking (if money were no object). I always find it really hard to come up with anything I want for Christmas, even making this wishlist of 12 things was hard. I think that there are so many things I would love to own that it becomes hard to think of just one.
Anyway, let’s begin.
Babyliss Pro Perfect Curl. My aunt bought this and let me and my sister borrow it (for probably long than she intended) and we LOVED it. I have a lot of wavy/curly hair but sometimes I like it to be more uniform in its messiness and curlers in the past have let me down time and time again. I would curl it and within an hour they would have all fallen out. However the Babyliss Pro was an absolute dream! My hair would still be curly even after sleeping on it. I am slowly saving up to purchase this for myself because giving it back has left a massive hole in my life.

A beautiful red velvet hooded cape. No, not like super man, more like a sorcerers cape. So I can hang around in the woods looking menacing and tell small children I will turn them into frogs if they don’t behave. Because who wouldn’t want to do such things?! It may be a little extravagant, but I saw Morgana from Merlin wearing one and I have longed for one to be mine ever since. This one is from Etsy by http://www.etsy.com/shop/CostureroReal.

I have never really been one for using makeup brushes but since watching countless makeup gurus on Youtube it has become apparent that the Real Techniques brushes are miraculous. Everyone raves about how good they are, especially the face brush. Everyone looks so flawless! So I would like to give it a go. If you want to watch the ladies who invented such brushes do some flawless makeup tutorials, click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/pixiwoo. 

The Gilmore Girls have long been a favourite of mine. Its cute, funny and personally I think it is really well written. I think I have seen all of the episodes at least 6 times. I love it, i cant help it. Especially the Jess and Logan years because Dean sucks. So, the box set would be amazing!

Macarons. Especially Ladurée macarons. Specifically Rose flavoured ones. I don’t know why I love them quite as much as I do…maybe its because they are too expensive for me to buy lots of and often…Either way rose is one of my favourite flavours and in a macaron its even better.

Bloody Mary Metal make beautiful jewellery and I have long been obsessed with this Lonely Bone ring. It is just a little out of my everyday price range, so I am slowly saving up for it. I have a silver skull bracelet that I got for my birthday this year and I love it, so I think this ring would go perfectly and I must have it. Once I own this, I shall start saving for some stackers to go with it. The stuff is amazing and you should check it out: http://www.bloodymarymetal.com/

Jack Farthing. I first saw this brilliantly dandy man on tv programme ‘Blandings’ and instantly fell in love with him. When the series finished I was most disappointed that he would not be on my screen anymore, until the other day when he had a very small part in Poirot. We all know how much I love the little Belgian detective and this was a most lovely surprise! I don’t know if the posh voice he uses in these programmes is his own but I really hope it is. Either way, I would really like Jack Farthing for Christmas please.

Now, as I have just mentioned my favourite detective of all time, Mr. Hercule Poirot it would be silly to miss this off of my wishlist: the entire and complete collection of Agatha Christie’s Poirot on dvd. David Suchet will forever be my Poirot and I am so sad that the whole collection has been completed. No more Christmas Poirots.

My favourite perfume ever was the Stella McCartney Peony in two. It was the most beautiful scent “one side of the flagon holds a sultry and sensual scent based on amber; the other side holds a fresh peony and rose blend which is romantic and feminine”. It was perfect and they discontinued it! Now you can only ever find it on Ebay for extortionate amounts of money. Please Stella, P L E A S E start making this again!

Sarah Addison Allen is one of my all time favourite authors and she has only written 4 perfect books. They really are some of my favourite stories, all of them with the tiniest hint of magic. Beautifully written and imagined. Her new book which I have been waiting for forever is now due out in January, but If she could bring it out a little earlier that would be perfect. If you haven’t read any of her books you really must, at once. Garden Spells, The Sugar Queen, The Girl Who Chased The Moon and The Peach Keeper, all fantastic reads. http://www.sarahaddisonallen.com/

This is a very new addition that I would like because I only saw it on Friday when watching a beauty lady called Dulce Candy on Youtube talk about a makeup haul she had purchased recently. It is the Urban Decay Naked Illuminated Shimmering Powder. Now, I have plenty of shimmery powders and I don’t really need this but it just looked so sparkly and pretty and I really am a Magpie. It is just something I would buy, if I had the money and I just could. Along with the rest of Urban Decay make up.

Last on my list is a little more expensive than the rest but I have been after a Morris Minor car for years now. I cant drive and apparently they aren’t the safest car anyway, but I personally think they are just gorgeous! They don’t make cars this pretty anymore. I first saw one when I was in the New Forrest about 2006 and have been lusting after one ever since. There is a man in my road who collects them and sometimes he has one parked outside of his house and it is so pretty and shiny and vintage I have to stop myself from touching it.

So those are 12 things that I would like to find in my stocking and under the tree this Christmas. Some a little more realistic than others yes, but a girl can dream.
If money didn’t matter, what 3 things would you really like this Christmas?

(I do not own these images).

 

Love’s not the point. We just do what we always do, and we get by

I was going to waffle on about men with beards again because it appears that that is the most popular thing I have written about so far. But its late and right at this moment I don’t have much to say on the matter that I haven’t already said. So, another time on that topic.
Right now I am going to share with you some more lists of mine. As you may have gathered, I am a notebook enthusiast with a compulsion for list making. To do lists and to pack lists, Pro lists and con lists, shopping lists and budget lists. I like to arrange my life into lists.
One day, book shopping in charity shops I came across a book called The Goddess Guide by Gisèle Scanlon . It had the prettiest cover (under the silly paper dust cover things that I hate!) and it was about shopping and fashion and Paris and I had to have it! Handing over my £2, it was all mine! Now, they always tell you not to judge a book by its cover…but I believe that is nonsense. What I am trying to say is that I mainly bought this book because of the cover. Little did I know that this witty and creative author would have me writing lists for all sorts in my moleskin.
And so, I bring you to the first: My Happy List. This list is only for the little things that make you happy.

• Blossom trees
• Stacks of books
• Ribbon
• Flamingos
• Glow sticks (I am wearing some right now and I confirm that they still make me happy!)
• Dream catchers
• Bow ties
• Beautiful tea cups
• Neat handwriting
• Cocktail Umbrellas
• Macarons
• The taste of rose

I could go on, but I have written 4 pages so far and I don’t want to bore you to death. It is a process that you can keep adding to though and when you need a little lift in spirits all you need to do it read a couple. Writing that list made me think about all of the other things that I would like to achieve or just other favourites. Which has lead to me having a notebook full of lists and letters I would like to send to certain people and quotes.
The next lists are some favourites.
Favourite films:

• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Waiting For Forever
• The Breakfast Club
• Say Anything
• Funny Face
• The Great Gatsby

Favourite books:

• Snuggle Piggy and the Magic Blanket by Michele Steptoe
• A Million Little Pieces/My Friend Leonard by James Frey
• I Am Not A Serial Killer/Mr Monster/I Don’t Want To Kill You by Dan Wells
• Looking For Alaska by John Green
• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
• Bookends by Jane Green
• The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
• Maximum Ride series by James Patterson

With books I could carry on forever and ever. If anyone wants some book recommendations let me know in the comments.
The last list that I am going to share with you are quotes/lyrics.

• Goodbye Daffodil, you have gone away from me. And you just very well may be gone forever but i’ll always cherish your memory.
• If I remember, you exist.
• If people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.
• I love her and that’s the beginning and end of everything.
• What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.
• Girls like us, when we love, it takes everything we have.
• She was so Southern that she cried tears that came straight from the Mississippi.
• Save your heart for someone who leaves you breathless.
• I don’t want to run, just overwhelm me.
• Make us feel young and tragic.

So there are some snippets of the stuff I like to keep in my little book of lists. And to make up for the lack of bearded men in this post, here – have some photos of Chris John Millington (’cause he’s Scottish and my favourite).

Instagram: chrisjohnmillington
Twitter: @chrisjohnmilly
If you have either – go and follow him.

(I do not own these photos)