Cupcakes for Breakfast!

Last night I went for drinks with a very nice chap. Who brought me... cupcakes. Not just any cupcakes, Candycake cupcakes. Which gave him at least another 150 brownie points on top of the million and forty seven I've already given him. Lol.

So this morning, I had cupcakes for breakfast!

I don't think it shows... but there were sparkles!

I bought this dress in Manchester when I accidentally ended up there the other week. It's perfect for picnics but sadly I have to go to work!

Hope everyone is having a lovely week

Jen xxxx

When I Get Sad, I Stop Being Sad and Be a Sailor Instead

Okay. I'm not actually particularly sad, but I liked the way it sounded...

I'm going out in a bit to eat lots of yummy Indian food with some people from work.  I tried on many many outfits then thought, 'sod it. I want to be a sailor.' So here it is :)

This is one of the dresses I picked up in Cambridge last month, it's so pretty!

Check also the necklace.  I saw it in topshop and absolutely HAD to buy it.  Sewing machine cuteness!

Hope everyone else is having a lovely start to the week.

Jen xxxx

Peachy Keen

There's no reason for this picture, other than I like it...

(image from here)

The world on the internet is vast and exciting.  Sadly, most of my internet use has been searching for articles to spice up my history of youth work essay... and facebook for general procrastination.  However, along the way I've found some gems as well.  Check it.

Culture. Etiquette. Style. With a tagline like that, how can you resist MIEN magazine?

When I get sad, I like to look at otters.  Otters are amazing!  The Daily Otter does exactly what it says on the tin... a new picture of an otter everyday.  (If otters aren't your thing, they have The Daily Bunny too!)

Vintage Movie Magazines is well worth a visit if you just like looking at pretty things.  My favourite cover? James Dean and Natalie Wood, no contest.

There are many reasons why you should read The Grumpy Owl.  It features robots and owls on a regular basis; Ryan (the grumpy owl) writes in a way whereby even things that don't interest you in the slightest (baseball?) seem worthy topics; there is pink suit appreciation; the use of the word flaneur; it's nice to read something that offers a little intellectual stimulation while still being utterly dapper and slightly frivolous. Yeah. Just go read.

Megan shows us exactly how to throw a clothes swapping party.  I've always wondered how you make this more than a couple of girlfriends turning up with carrier bags.  Let the planning commence!

Hope you're all having a lovely Tuesday
Jen xxxx

Summing up, and some nice things too...

Well. The past few weeks have been entirely eventful. Bag stolen. Mild nervous breakdowns thanks to the huuuuge amount of work I've been doing/avoiding. Cameron becoming prime minister. All just thoroughly too depressing.

Then! I found some beautiful dresses, started reading some lovely books and listened to Mahler's 5th Symphony on repeat. And I gave up smoking. Everything is okay again. Maybe. If I can just get some uni work done...  So let me forget about those 4,000 words that are due in next Friday and think about something else instead.

I picked up an awesome book in a charity shop in Cambridge - '1939: The Last Season' by Anne de Courcy.  It mixes stories of the final party season of the thirties with the political issues as we headed right into the middle of World War 2 (parties and politics are two of my favouritest things).  I'm not even halfway through it yet, but it's got some fantastic quotes (matched up here with some pictures, just because, well, I like pictures!)

"...for a young woman of the upper classes, adult life began with a curtsey."

(image from here)

"Two good subjects if you are stuck for conversation are ghosts and the royal family."

(image from here)

Apparently, the advertising for a car called the Lancaster really was 'At 50 m.p.h. you can knit comfortably'.  That is so my type of car! (I gave up trying to find a picture of the actual car - my car distinction extends to "it's red"...)

(image from here)

Finally, apparently my sister not only has been reading this blog but also enjoying it (thanks panda!).  So for her, here's some outfit pictures from when I felt particularly lovely over the last few weeks.

Me feeling a little Miss Marple-y. Actually, this happens quite a lot.

My hair makes me happy here :)

Yep, I liked this outfit a lot...

No outfit in this picture. Actually, no clothes except a towel. But Lilycat's just about the cutest thing ever.

Other exciting things have included some amazing acquisitions from various shopping trips to Cambridge, which will hopefully be posted as soon as I can access some passable photographic equipment, and some true visual treats.  But that's another story for another day!

Jen xxxx

Miss Marple: Style Inspiration!

Until a few weeks ago, I'd never watched or indeed read a single Agatha Christie novel.  Then, thanks to a combination of circumstances (The Moving Finger being first read in the Vintage Book Club, and discovering that Richard Armitage was in one of the adaptation...) I decided to finally sit down and watch this knitting super-detective!

And oh my. What style inspiration! Beautiful dresses, immaculate make-up and some seriously swoon-worthy chaps. Don't take my word for it, have a peek :)

Photos from the PBS website

See what I mean? I've almost worked my way through every episode, and have no idea what I'll do when they're done! Someone's recommended I try Foyle's War for some 1940s drama... any thoughts?

One final Miss Marple thought: Megan Hunter... the unlikely, scruffy, clumsy heroine of The Moving Finger.  She falls off her bike, can't darn her stockings and is generally a little bit quirky.  Love. Her.

(I can't remember where these photos are from, they were just hanging out on my laptop... if you know, pass that info to me and I'll credit them!)

And now... I have a big cup of Earl Grey, some champagne truffles and absolutely must get on with my uni work!

Jen xxxx

Jeans!

I don't much like wearing jeans.  Skinny ones are too 'scenester' for my taste, and baggy ones just too casual.  They're good for slopping round the house in, and pretty much the only time I wear them in public is when I'm working at the young people's bike project (grease on my favourite skirts? no thanks!).  Then finally, I found not one but TWO pairs of high waisted lovelies in town and my heart skipped a beat.  My wonderful mama bear treated me to them and now here they are in all their beautiful glory :)

I'm still not so good at this posing lark, and self-consciousness means they all got taken during my morning cigarette as there were guaranteed no housemates interrupting - smoking is bad kids, don't do it!

Anyway, I'm off to work (on a Saturday, this is a human rights issue I feel) and then tonight I'm going to see Lou Reed! Man, I'm so excited.  Most likely I'll spend all day planning my outfit... I think the awesome new hat has to come into it somewhere :) Hope everyone has a lovely Saturday!

Jen xxx

Peachy Keen 06.04.10

It finally feels like spring is here!

[image from here]

Did everyone have a lovely Easter? Mine started off a bit manic; the first 36 hours were spent hanging out with friends, dancing and maybe a couple too many ciders, oops.  But the last couple of days have been lovely!  I spent Sunday at Sacrewell Farm with my friend Jade, we had cream teas and bottle fed baby lambs - they were soooo cute.  Yesterday I went to visit my mama bear; we went to a big bank holiday market and charity shopping.  I managed to come back with four(!) Mrs Beeton cookbooks and the most amazing hat ever, which will probably feature soon (my hair is soooo not photographable today).  Today I've spent a few hours planting out potatoes and onions in the garden, and got very excited that my cauliflowers and chili peppers have sprouted.

Plea for help actually: does anyone know if it's okay to grow cauliflowers in containers or grow bags? My house is rented and I'm not sure how much of the garden I can dig up...

Anyway! What's been gracing the macbook screen this week?

It's a bit old, but Solanah's tutorial on doing rag curls makes it look super simple.  I'm starting to not be able to sleep with bendy rollers in my hair, so will be trying this out soon.

This has been popping up everywhere, so apologies if you've seen it before, but these bloomers are the most squeeably cute thing I've seen in a while.  Must make me a pair!

The Collette Patterns blog is a total visual treat and full of inspiration.  I've been spending far too much time reading through it the last couple of days.  Uni work? What uni work? Lol.  Check out the patterns too if you're into sewing, there's some gorgeous things.

I love this poem by Charles Bukowski... although I'm the furthest thing from a tortured artist it still greatly entertains me!  I love the bit about not forgetting your Brahms, or Bach, or beer.  (If you're not a fan of cuss words or the Bukowski-style vulgarity then don't click (: )

What inspiration have you found this week?

Jen xxxx