Simplicity...

1. I'm loving getting back into reading and writing again. It's coming along slowly slowly. I'm going to make it a mid term goal of mine to try and join a cool new book club.

2. Simple pictures attached to quirky taglines that make it SO much more.

3. I'm loving Gabi's bikini style on her trip to Vegas Baby!

4. Cool rings worn like this, recently seen styled on Ashley.

5. A selection of previous magazines I've bought and collected. TRYING to keep them in PRISTINE condition, but my continuous reading and flicking of pages is making this hard.

5. My Life!!

6. Every day before I go to work, I get up a whole hour and 15 mins earlier to make lunch for the day ahead, with a strong coffee before sitting down to relax with my daily episode of One Tree Hill... I had the finale on this morning, so here's hoping the next season starts tomorrow, otherwise I'll be at a loss over what to do! Sleep, maybe??!

7. Mary-Kate and Ashley: Two modern style icons of my generation. The fact they're identical twins just makes them even cooler. It's in my long term plan to one day own something from their slightly less expensive line, Elizabeth & James, but who knows, I could end up shopping for a suit in The Row one day instead of Primark!

8. The £175 'Shola Bandage' REISS dress that Kate Middleton wore to meet Barack and Michelle Obama at Buckingham Palace alongside Prince William. This gorgeous woman does NO wrong. The Reiss website actually crashed due to high demand of the dress, and just like her electric blue 'Issa' engagement dress, I have a feeling this one will be sold out for WEEKS at a time.

9. Looking around for ideas and inspiration to restock my 'medicinal cabinet.' [NOT LITERALLY] My medicine cabinet is what I refer to when I talk about beauty products. Yes, I have a usual routine and products that I like to use, usually working on/off so at the moment they seem to be a little tempramental so now more than ever, I'm more than tempted to try something new but am understanding that for quality and long lasting, professional wear, you have to pay the price. I've also been reading up on skincare tips and more and more am inclined to believe in the sheer importance of starting beauty from WITHIN.

10. A healthy fridge is a happy fridge :-) - Its National Vegetarian Week this week, so I'm keeping up my vegetarian/vegan kick. Veganism is quite hard, so at the moment I'm finding a cross between the two is pretty good for me. My diet now includes cheese and milk, but I try and keep cheese and yoghurt, and CARBS!! to a minimum if I can. I believe treats and snacks are also important, recently I've been snacking on these a bit too much, nuts especially, but I had a wheat free, gluten free and dairy free chocolate brownie two days ago and it was surprisingly good!! When I go out for coffee I usually switch to soy milk as its been proven that cow's milk can stimulate acne on the skin, as well as eating soy cheese or extra light cream or cottage cheese as opposed to the hard yellow stuff. My weakness is cheese twists - I'm a savoury gal!!

11. I can't get over how much I love this ENTIRE look on Ashley Tisdale. If it was hot enough, I would happily live in this outfit each and every day!!

I forgot to remember to forget...

I REALLY like Amelia Pontes blog. Its cool because the nice thing about blogging and social networking is that you read blogs, maybe exchange a few tweets with a random person, and all of a sudden, you can imagine that if you ever met them, they'd be so cool that you would end up being best friends immediately - but this is certainly the deal here - I like Amelia's straight talking. She posted about this really cool screen capture from author and novelist Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road' [which is also being made into a film with Kristen Stewart] So, I especially like this little quote here which sums things up nicely;
"This isn't a real picture, but a screen grab from book, The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. It's the story of a man and son traveling down the disaster stricken roads looking for food and hoping for survival. Early in the book I came upon the words above and they struck my gut with truth. Memory is taught to us as being this thing that just happens outside of our control, but the older I get I see how we control what we remember. We hold onto the hurtful past to soothe our fears and insecurities in the present."

- Amelia Pontes

Just thought I would give you a little bit of an insight into what I'm loving book-wise this year so far.



1. Currently on my table is....

The Beauty Myth - [Naomi Wolf] - An insight into why the beauty industry today seems so fucked up when representing what is and what isn't beautiful - the problem is that images of perfection have slowly been whittled down to strict and uniformed images of unrealistic proportions that, at one point or another, has managed to leave all of us wondering 'WTF!' and eating a gallon of Ben and Jerry's ice cream in the wake of discovering we'll never aspire to looking like a supermodel. What is hard to realize, however, or at least for me, that upon seeing pages upon pages of these images EVERYWHERE through the mediums of the mass media, especially magazines and billboards, is that these images are manipulated 95% and do not represent what that person actually looks like. This book helps you to change your perspective on how you think about the beauty industry, and more importantly, will help you rediscover how you feel about yourself.

2. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro - I'm re-reading this book just because of the beauty of it and the way the story is strung together. What strikes me most is just how deep Ishiguro delves into each individual character, making sure their voice is heard, developed and evolved at the end of the book whilst making for a truly engaging and heartfelt read.

3. Eating Animals - Jonathan Safran Foer - Actresses and Vegans Natalie Portman, Olivia Wilde and Alicia Silverstone have all sworn by reading this book and what this book represents. It's not a book that advocates vegetarianism or veganism - it doesn't at all, but what it manages to do is to present strong, factual evidence and up to date news about the meat industry, what this means, and then weighing this up against a vegetarian lifestyle. What attracted me to the book even more was how candid Foer is when talking - he doesn't start the book as part of a diet fad, but on hearing his wife was pregnant, he wanted to see if there was a better way he could re-educate himself and educate his son about the ways of eating and what it means to eat meat in today's society.

4. Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen - For some, it may feel like I re-read the same books when looking back at this blog. If you think so, you're right. I do - I have this childish habit of re-reading a particular book, especially when it's been made into a film and is coming out soon. This is one such case. The film features Oscar winners Christoph Waltz and Reese Witherspoon as August and Marlena, the successful ringmaster and his star attraction of a wife, the difficult relationship they have, and a suddenly orphaned veterinarian named Jacob Jankowski, played by Robert Pattinson. The trailer looks amazing.




Here's a few things I'm Loving.....

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women--mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends--view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.

Nancy Mitford - The Pursuit of Love

I bought this book in Waterstones a few months back, and regrettably it's still on my bookshelf, waiting patiently to be read.... but never fear, I will get to it eventually. I first came across this book in ELLE Magazine [Yes, they have one page dedicated to a 'culture' section] when Sophie Dahl recommended it as one of her favourite books, and it encapsulates the same mindset I hope to have when reading it...

"The book is so romantic and frivolous; I don't know a young woman who has read this without imagining being Linda, sitting weeping on her suitcase, or being rescued by a Frenchman. Reading her books is like drinking hot chocolate."

- Sophie Dahl

Love In The Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

There have been many love stories by many great authors. Shakespeare with Romeo & Juliet, Sparks with Noah and Allie, etc. But sometimes there are just certain lines that bind you to a certain book, willing you to read it just for that one line, no matter what the summary, no matter what the plot, no matter how long the book is in quantity or what it may lack in quality. Love In The Time of Cholera is known by many to be a book that has captured many hearts so I'm looking forward to reading it.

Other books I'm eager to read are the following:

1. Bodies - Susie Orbach
2. The End of the Affair - Graham Greene
3. The Corrections - Jonathan Frantzen
4. Birds of America - Lorrie Moore
5. Both Ways is the only way I want it - Maile Meloy
6. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
7. The Razor's Edge - W Somerset Maugham
8. Beware of Pity - Stefan Zweig
9. The Spy who came in from the Cold - John Le Carre
10. Tender is the Night - F Scott Fitzgerald
11. Blow by Blow - the story of Isabella Blow - Detmar Blow & Tom Sykes

Things making me smile... [Book inspiration - Topic: Different ways to explore L.O.V.E.?


1. Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, and Steve Carell in Crazy Stupid Love

Emma Stone is my [current] girl crush. Ryan Gosling has always been one of my [many] man crushes for being one of those rare actors that I literally feel like he can play each and every role he's been given perfectly, and so far in his career, he's never misjudged any of his choices so far. This time around, he's taking a break from the slightly intense [Blue Valentine], the slightly weird but moving [Lars and the Real Girl] and the incredibly loving [The Notebook] to play a good looking player helping a friend out with marriage trouble before falling in love with the one girl he can't get. What do you think?

2. Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes, and Guillaume Canet in Last Night

Last Night is a film that explores what love and fidelity really means. Keira Knightley and Sam Worthington play a young married couple who are both faced with the prospect of being tempted by a sudden chance meeting with an ex-boyfriend and trying to resist the temptations of a fellow co-worker and the tangled webs they weave in trying to figure it out.

Remember Me??

Yes, I'm back!! I apologise for my lack of blogging..... there really is no excuse..... but anyway, the important thing is I'm back! I've basically been working a lot and haven't had time to commit to my blog the way that I really would have liked.
So, anyway, here are a few things that have made me smile that I thought I would share with you since I've been gone...

1. Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival


I love twitter because so many people interact with each other, especially about Coachella. 'The Hills' and 'The Lo Down' author Lo Bosworth quoted it as 'the best weekend ever' and HOUSE Actress Olivia Wilde was obviously jealous she couldn't attend, as was I. But not just jealous - INSANELY jealous, and to make matters worse, Lauryn Hill played a set. LIVE. I guarantee one of these days I will get out to Los Angeles and dance around just as enthusiastically as Vanessa Hudgens did.

2. Coveting Chanel


Anytime I see a Chanel bag, something inside makes me melt. Its one of those things that once you get, you know you'll keep it forever. I'm happy to wait around for it, but I know when I get it, I'll hold onto it and treasure it forever.

3. Broken Bells - The High Road
I love this song - it's completely mellow and perfect to listen to whilst doing your day to day at the weekends. This is my first broken bells song that I've actually listened to and can't wait to hear the rest of the album. Listen!!


4. Abercrombie and Fitch Store, Burlington Gardens, London
This place is the best place in London for single ladies to go to for the best part of an hour, and the worst place for people in relationships, as the first thing you think of, going on simple physical aspects only, is surely there's no way my 'normal' boyfriend will ever measure up, and for about ten seconds you'd be right. All the guys who work at this store are blessed in the looks department, so much so, you feel like tracking down their parents and shaking them by the hand, and not only that, since all the REALLY good looking men just stand, smile and dance at you whilst smelling of the signature A&F cologne which takes things to another level, somehow I felt completely nonchalant of the fact that I was spending £54 on denim shorts.

5. Pictures that make me smile
Sometimes all you need is to take 5 minutes out of your day to look at a series of pictures to make your day immediately feel OK again. Pictures do this for me. So here is a small set I'm loving...



5. New Cookbooks inspiring me from season to season -



I love Sophie Dahl as a cook, and as a model - but always love trying out her recipes. Her previous effort, 'Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights' and her TV show, was always a guilty pleasure for me, along with a glass of white wine and some almond Green and Black's Chocolate. Even though I have recently changed my diet quite drastically and become a vegan, I'm sure I am still going to find beautiful and easy to follow recipes that I can cook and eat with voracious pleasure from season to season, as this book will of course, aim to point out. Even though I am a vegan, I am partial to a tiny bit of meat and I have been eating the odd meat dish, as I don't see my vegan choices as a diet, but as a long-lasting lifestyle choice, or for as long as possible so I reckon its OK for me to embrace my carnivore animalistic side from time to time and indulge in a burger or some good old fashioned fried chicken.... but in the meantime, when I'm a vegan, I feel like I'm eating as healthily as I can, so I'll be taking my recipes from here as often as possible!
This description of the book from publishers Harper Collins is my favourite...

A beautiful seasonal almanac of inspired recipes from model turned writer and cook Sophie Dahl. Speckled with musings, anecdotes and intimate memories, Sophie’s latest cookbook offers budding gastronomes scrumptious recipes and tantalising glimpses into her glorious past, filled with polo-necked exes and Indian ramblings, and covetable present.

Having honed her natural instinct for combining the best that every season has to offer, From Season to Season is Sophie at her passionate best. Sophie captures the comforting abundance of Autumn with her Squash and Parmesan soup, the redolent warmth of a summer garden in full bloom with Grilled Peaches with Pistachios and Ricotta, and the burgeoning crispness of Spring with Butter Lettuce Lobster and Pea Salad. Sophie’s guileless charm with just a hint of a glamorous older sister’s worldly wisdom has seen her move gracefully from one career triumph to the next, winning her countless fans with her first cookbook, Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights, published alongside her successful first BBC cookery series, The Delicious Miss Dahl. Stunning photography and Sophie’s delightfully quirky illustrations make this lovingly crafted hardback the ideal gift for anyone who relishes good food and a bit of indulgence.
2. Plenty - Yotam Ottolenghi

Yotam Ottolenghi is a world renowned chef and although not associated with vegetarianism, this book brings together a collection of his best vegetarian recipes.

With his fabulous restaurants and bestselling Ottolenghi Cookbook, Yotam Ottolenghi has established himself as one of the most exciting new talents in the world of cookery and food writing. This exclusive collection of vegetarian recipes is drawn from his column 'The New Vegetarian' for the Guardian's Weekend magazine, and features both brand-new recipes and dishes first devised for that column.

Yotam's food inspiration comes from his strong Mediterranean background and his unapologetic love of ingredients. Not a vegetarian himself, his approach to vegetable dishes is wholly original and innovative, based on strong flavours and stunning, fresh combinations. With sections devoted to cooking greens, aubergines, brassicas, rice and cereals, pasta and couscous, pulses, roots, squashes, onions, fruit, mushrooms and tomatoes, the breadth of colours, tastes and textures is extraordinary.

Featuring vibrant, evocative food photography from acclaimed photographer Jonathan Lovekin, and with Yotam's voice and personality shining through, Plenty is a must-have for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike.

3. The Kind Diet - Alicia Silverstone

Words can't explain how awesome I think this book is!! I've loved Alicia ever since I saw her in Clueless, and even though she hasn't really managed to make her mark quite as strongly or resonantly since, she's still a comedic actress who deserves to be acknowledged for this fantastic cookbook. Alicia has been a vegan for a long time, and splits the book into several different themes, all in a very in depth but laid back way which doesn't pressure the reader into believing that in order to embrace veganism, you have to live on a boring diet of beans and soy curd. That is simply not the case. I can't wait to read!

A Few Things...

I haven't blogged in a while.... I won't bore you with reasons why not.... but in the meantime, I thought I'd give you a little insight into what's making me happ[ier] these days...

A lot of small things in life make me a bit happier. This often revolves around whatever season it is.... in the spring, I enjoy buying fresh flowers on the weekend, the latest in fashion magazines, enjoying a long brisk walk around London or Borough Market if I fancy a free lunch :-) before coming home and trying to fill up my room with some kind of small, subtle fragrance, usually coming from an incense burner, my scented candles, or the smell of baking.... [well, sort of...If I could bake, I'm sure my house would be filled with the smells of apple crumbles or cherry and plum crumble.
In Autumn, for me, it's all about layering. I love falling in love with fall. For me, on the weekends, especially if it's a rainy or dreary day, my favourite thing to do is to curl up with some hot chocolate and people watch at all the people getting horribly caught out in the rain. Then after about five minutes of sheer entertainment, I cuddle up with a teddy, the smells of essential oils, cashmere throws, and a good fantasy film of some sort. This is where Harry Potter comes into play.
If it's winter, then it's all about Christmas. I'm not huge on Christmas, I'm not even big on it. I can take it or leave it if I'm honest, but once it gets past a certain point, everybody becomes so infectiously festive that you can't help but join in. So when it gets to that point, I leave my inner semi grinch behind me and start to get in the spirit of things. For me this means glittery baubles for the Christmas Tree, or Christmas Twigs as our household likes to have..... but most importantly Starbucks Red Cups. There's no greater satisfaction than returning home [relatively early] in the evening from a busy day at Oxford Street and stopping in for a Starbucks on the way home whilst regaling your bestie with the funniest tale of the day. And, who can resist an egg nog or gingerbread toffee latte? Not many people, that's who.
Anyway, moving along... here are some things in general that are managing to make me smile.... or whatever.

1. Diptyque Candles

Diptyque candles are one of my favourite type of candle. Those or Jo Malone. I still can't pick between the two. I only use these for special occasions, and generally, vanilla scented candles are my favourite. I'm a huge fan of really thick candles that you can just leave on a kitchen worktop, on a coffee table, or in your bedroom where they can just burn for hours, leaving a rustic, waxy, haunting effect afterwards.
Usually best for chilling or an after party mood with something soothing like Mandy Moore's 'Gardenia' or the sounds of Goldfrapp's 'Seventh Tree' album. 2. Cashmere Throws

Cashmere is, I think, one of the epitomes of luxury. It's just one of those soft, comforting pieces of material that is as nostalgic as the way your mum smells or Johnson's Baby Lotion.... it's a smell or a sense of touch that you always remember, and Cashmere is something you can wrap around you and forget about the world in, and be perfectly justified in doing so.
3. Harry Potter....

Harry Potter. Sometimes nothing else will do. Now truth be told, I haven't really kept up with the movies and probably skipped out on seeing the last two, as I think the Twilight bug might have caught me, and I'm still in no mood to give up the ghost as it were.
But, that said, I did really enjoy ALL of the books, especially the last one, although I think JK Rowling could have ended the last one with a bit of a bloody better phrase than 'All was Well.' Oh what, you mean you can finally say that now that Voldemort's dunzo? All those battles, Fred and George [the two best ginger twins ever!] dead, and all we get at the end is 'All was Well.' Now I've been hearing rave reviews about the last of the Harry Potter saga, not least because the last book, like Breaking Dawn will be, is going to be split into two, so we get to see all the little bits in the book being played out on screen.... as it damn well should be. Now I can get off my soap box, and say that I am really looking forward to the film. And Yes, the only time I brought a Harry Potter film which was Year Four [Goblet of Fire] was because I remembered Rob Pattinson was in it as Cedric Diggory. Well of course he was. And then brutally murdered. Idiots. At least he can't die in The Twilight Saga. Phew!!!!!!!



4. Girl Crush!
One of my favourite things to do, I guess you could call it a guilty pleasure :-) is to watch videos from NYLON TV. NYLON TV is of course, related to the American magazine 'Nylon' which features little TV spots and tidbits of their cover stars each month which takes you behind the scenes. As you'd imagine, they've covered and shot everyone possible, naturally, but my favourites include Kristen Stewart, Mary Kate Olsen, Blake Lively, and more recently, Evan Rachel Wood. I've been a HUGE fan of Evan's ever since she and one of my other absolute favourite and also devastatingly beautiful actresses, Nikki Reed, appeared in Thirteen together and haven't looked back since in terms of their acting careers skyrocketing. Evan's acted alongside Edward Norton, Holly Hunter, Mickey Rourke, Woody Allen, Robert Redford and Sandra Bullock, not to mention dating the likes of Jamie Bell and Marilyn Manson. Opposite ends of the scale, surely? Yes, but that's one of the things I love about Evan - she changes and grows through every single role she takes on board. I love the fact people give her enough of a chance to let her do the gritty, real, acting instead of the cliche, commercial stuff.








5. Quintessentially British There's a lot of things I love about being British. I love the accent, I love the fact that you can get staples here such as fish and chips, cheese and pickle sandwiches, and especially the fact that EVERY Londoner knows the true value of finding a good cafe that serves an excellent hangover fried, greasy breakfast on a sunday morning, with all the extras and the trimmings thrown in, such as Bloody Marys, Sunday Papers, easy music and Scrabble. The last time I brought something at Comme Des Garcons was from their last collection from their high street collaboration with H&M. But I saw a Tartan purse and thought it was oh so incredibly cute. Now even though Tartan has its roots in Scotland, and isn't exactly British, it's close enough, and since I'm a quarter Scottish myself [not that you can bloody see it AT ALL!] why not bend the rules? Secondly, the latest issue of VOGUE features the lovely Emma Watson. Now when she first cut her hair off, I was a bit on the fence and thought she may have a Sienna-esque situation on her hands, which means, just because you're gorgeous and make the rest of us nomads look like we've been beaten with ugly sticks, it doesn't mean if you cut all your hair off in some crazy style, you're still going to look awesome. When Sienna cut all her hair off for Factory Girl in 2006, I wasn't convinced, but unlike Sienna, Emma manages to pull off her even shorter hairstyle and make it look damn good. Either that, or it's the classic SATC line from the film in which Carrie's Vogue Editor says: 'Vogue Couture. Vogue Photographers. Vogue Airbrushing. Nod your head. Yes." We'll never know.

6. INKED!

I've been thinking about getting a tattoo for a long, long, long, loooooooooooooooooooong time. But everytime I do, I'm never quite sure about what kind of design I want, or what kind of picture, and when I get one in my head, I always then deliberate if I want this on my skin for the rest of my life... even when I'm old and wrinkly and an old Grandma. And if this wasn't bad enough, when I've decided I'm going to do it regardless, I always see some punk rocker come along or walk right past me with piercings galore and tattoos absolutely everywhere, with no skin spared, and thus, this immediately puts me off. And so we begin the circle all over again, my friends. What's a girl to do? Well, until I decide to do better, Chanel may have the answer I've been waiting for. Yes, you heard that right, incredibly classy and ooh la la french label Chanel, and the word Tattoo. In the same sentence. It's almost taboo. Thank goodness they're temporary. Anyway, they look pretty damn awesome, and since lots of models rocked them on the catwalk, celebrities such as Leighton Meester, Emma Roberts and Rachel Bilson have been rushing to get their hands on some... fast. Well, hello, this is Chanel after all. If they were selling bin liners as tops, there would probably be a queue that would circle around the corner and back.
Anyhoo, I'm looking into it in case I chicken out and don't do the actual real thing... eeeeeek! Golly Goops!


And now for the Real Inspirations...


7. Blake Lively's Maltipoo Penny.
Blake Lively makes me smile. Although it's more in a twisted kind of I-hate the fact that you're stunning and have incredible fashion style and get to work on gossip girl yet still be so charming and endearing in real life with your hot boyfriend and his ever so cool name. But Blake and her maltipoo, Penny, together, are just TOO CUTE for words. A maltipoo is a maltese poodle and quite frankly, in my eyes, is a cross between a small dog and a teddy bear. I'm sorry, but you simply couldn't ask for a better combination for a dog. Plus your dog could fit in your handbag if you wanted it to. And you would look even cuter if you had one. So a maltipoo is BIG on my wishlist....





8. Mulled Wine, Pre-Christmas Food, Whittard Cinnamon Hot Chocolate and Christmas Movies like Miracle on 34th Street...
Whatever happened to Mara Wilson? You know, the cute little girl that was Matilda in ummm, well, Matilda, and the cute little girl [yet again] in Miracle on 34th Street with the legend that is Richard Attenborough. I was shocked to discover one day that she's actually the same age as me, but as it seems as if she's dropped off the face of the earth, it's hard to tell what she looks like as an adult. But oh well. Miracle on 34th Street is one of my fave Christmas movies after Home Alone. Always a classic. Actually, watching pretty much any soppy romantic christmassy children's movie on Christmas Day once you're settled on the sofa and can hardly move from too much stuffing is fine with me. And even if it's not, usually I can't be bothered to reach for the remote anyway.

9. Issa London
Issa London is a fashion label that has always floated just underneath the radar. Just underneath the radar until a couple of days ago, when Queen to be Kate Middleton decided to announce her engagement to William wearing a blue wrap Issa London dress. Sales of the dress itself sold out within hours, and as always, copies and duplicates were made and sold on the high street within 48 hours of the breaking news. Issa London has always managed to create incredibly elegant, a line dresses which flatter in all the right places, which is part of what makes the label such a hit. I have high hopes for this upcoming English label, and with Issa at the front of the line to possibly even design Kate's wedding dress, who knows what the future will hold?
You can buy Issa from Issa London at Selfridges, Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Browns, and Matches.

Other stuff I'm doing this month...

Reading... Conversations With God, Anna Karenina, The Lorax

Favourite Quote [which I may get tattooed:] "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing will get better. It's not. It's a faraway place, a faraway thought, a thought about something that somebody ought."

Autumn and Egyptian Queens...

I've always found the Autumn season to be incredibly comforting, despite it being the end of the year, and the period just before the madness of the Christmas season kicks off.
Its the time of year you can wear huge oversized knits and curl up on the sofa with a book and watch the world go by, and it's perfectly justifiable because it's just that time of year. I also love what autumn brings with it... the promise of going back to childhood memories and deciding to walk through a mountain of leaves on pavements... just to hear the satisfying sound beneath your feet, balmy evenings, catherine wheels, conkers, the colours of bronze, red, and gold suddenly being everywhere! As well as this, suddenly your house seems to be filled with lovely smells of lovely comfort food such as warm apple pie, cherry and plum crumble, roast dinners, and the promise of red wine! I remember writing a poem called 'Autumn Leaves' as a child and the poem recieving the Headmistresses' Award, not to mention reading it aloud in front of the entire assembly class! I really wish I could remember how it went, but I can't. It was something like 'Autumn leaves are falling...' but anyway, I remember how much I enjoyed writing all about it.
I want to draw your attention to a very special book by the awesome author that is Margaret George. Like Phillippa Gregory, her speciality is Historical Fiction, and this particular book of hers is so amazing that I can't work out if it's better than books such as 'The Other Boleyn Girl' or 'The Boleyn Inheritance' but actually, I think it is.
The book is written in the first person, but what makes the book truly magical is the extent of it's truly fascinating and seemingly accurate content. Unlike Anne Boleyn, the Boleyn family and The Tudors, we don't know that much about Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, apart from her very impressive sex life which almost tore apart a dynasty. Anyway, I can't stress enough how much I loved this book, so even if you don't like historical fiction, this is a FANTASTIC read regardless.

[Other things I'm loving this Autumn are...]

1. The promise of Halloween and Guy Faulkes / Bonfire Nights..

I love Halloween and Bonfire Nights. I know in LA, everyone goes all out and they even have a special pumpkin patch ground that's full of perfect pumpkins, whilst everyone in the UK has to settle for their local supermarkets... but no matter! Halloween is still LOADS of fun, with everything from trick or treating, eating lots of candy until your stomach explodes, or the sheer brilliance of dressing up and taking the craziest pictures imaginable. I'm not doing anything special for Halloween this year, but hopefully I'll make up for that next year, but if anyone is doing something cool, let me know and send me in your photos!

Bonfire Night is the same. I think I may be a bit of a pyromaniac, as I love lighting matches, the smell of fire burning, watching fire, and the smell of petrol. Not the best combination in the entire world, but I'm proud to fly my freak flag high!!! Bonfire night is awesome if you get good company, some kind of bonfire going, and the promise of roasting marshmallows as well as unlimited mugs of hot chocolate. Also, I think it's great everyone comes together to celebrate Guy Faulkes, who decided one day, to just blow up the houses of Parliament. Unfortunately, this didn't quite work out the way he had planned, but you gotta admire the guy's gusto.

2. [Alexander Wang Siamese Clutch]

Autumn trends are well and truly in, and leopard print is one of the biggest ones for A/W. So since seeing this Alex Wang Siamese clutch, I'm in leopard heaven. Now, who wants to buy this for me? Hands up! Anyone? I will promise to love you forever.

3. [Wedding Daze]

Just how cute is this gorgeous photoshoot??
It would be amazing to have a wedding like this - no crowds, no pressure, no family drama, just close intimacy with the one you love.

4. [Other things I'll be grateful for this Autumn...]

1. 'Firework' by Katy Perry & 'Lover you should have come over' by Jeff Buckley/Jamie Cullum

2. Wonderland by Tinie Tempah and Ellie Goulding

3. The return of red cups to Starbucks and the promise of Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Gingerbread Lattes, Toffee Nut Lattes, and Egg Nog Lattes.

4. Autumn Reeser - I love this actress, not just because her name's Autumn, but she made The OC series 3 watchable and extremely funny in the midst of all the Mischa/Marissa drama.
I miss Taylor Townsend for lines such as: 'Anything else you'd be facing a long night, including candle wax, tube socks and the new fiona apple CD.'

The Story Of Us...

Intimacy - Commitment - Love.

You - Me - Us.

My heart leaps as I look at you, I smile as you lay in my arms on the sofa, and I trace your face with my fingers, our lips coming together slowly, two strangers, one blushing prayer, as we kiss, we meet, we move, and believe...
Your eyelids start to move, and our moment appears... yes, yes, I can see it now. You open your eyes and look at me, your soft brown eyes unable to move from my face.

I remember when we were young. I was afraid of falling in love - afraid to let go, until I found you. The best thing about you is that you're mine... you belong with me, to me, and was made for me...
we sit opposite each other on the water, in a boat. Everything is quiet, still. It's like an enchanted calm, just waiting for us to take hold of our moments, of our life together. You look at me and smile, and my whole world stops, just for a second. My heart races, I forget to breathe.
We sit, laughing and joking, blissfully unaware that minutes can turn into hours all too quickly. I turn away from him to see an army of birds rise up into the air, my thoughts distracted. My mind stays with them for as long as possible until I can no longer see them soaring above the clouds. I turn my head back towards you, and I smile, happy to see your face again. There it is, I see it. I nod my head, burst into tears and can't kiss or hug you enough to show you how much you mean to me. Suddenly, we're engaged.

I remember our fight - the one where I slammed the door, cried, ran outside, hit you... I shiver and shout as I brace myself for goodbye.
something cracked inside me on that wednesday afternoon, we'd been numb as silent snow.
You moved out, we'd been apart for way too long now, trying to live with the notion that we'd be worlds apart.
I sit out on the back porch every evening, and think of you. Where you are, what you're doing... and I wonder if you ever think of me. When I look out, I see nothing but the moon, nothing to remind me of you.
My diary is empty, marking all the idle writing i'd been forcing on the page, and all of a sudden I'm guarded. I need help - someone who can be sent to rescue me from this rage. You've made me weak when I should be strong. I've been dormant for too long now like I'd been in hibernation. I don't know if I can wake up and start to live my life once again, without you, and I can feel the end is closer now... it's coming... coming...
But I love you, then you take me by surprise, and out of the corner of my eye, I see you. You come closer towards me, and take me by the hand, and whisper in my ear, that you didn't understand.... that despite the pain, despite the suffering, you love me too much to let go, 'I'll never leave you alone...I can't live without you.'

You're the best thing - all mine.
She's the best thing - all mine.

[Finis] ***

***Please enjoy this extract responsibly. And by responsibly, I mean that this is best enjoyed wrapped up in your favourite oversized, chunky knit [scarf, jumper, dress] with a warm fire and a large cup of hot chocolate with lashings and lashings of warm, tasty cinnamon. If you have one to hand, throw in a boyfriend too.

Here's Looking at You!

I've decided to offer all my readers and everyone else who kindly drops by my blog the chance to do a guest blog for me! It can be about books, fashion, food, or lifestyle.... obviously it's a book-related blog so anything about books would be great!!! If you have any ideas or want to contribute, don't hesitate to get in touch with me and we'll talk!
If you're stuck on things to maybe guest blog about, you could always talk about favourite authors, favourite books, inspirational books, or what books you would bring with you if you were stranded on a desert island??

If you do books in the style of Carrie Bradshaw, where your favourite 'books' are your monthly subscription to Vogue, or your coffee table has the new Kate Moss Portraits book by Mario Testino rather than anything by Bill Bryson, don't worry, that's OK too!

I have some incredibly exciting and talented people confirmed already, but I want more!
If you don't really have anything to say regarding books, but want to write 500 words or so explaining just how awesome I am, then don't worry, that's quite alright with me too!
Hope to hear from everyone soon!!

Lots of Love,

C xoxo