Beauty in Bloom

I treated myself to a pretty book the other day called 'Beauty in Bloom- A Collection of Beautiful Inspirations' by Natalie Bloom and it was such a cute and gorgeously illustrated book I though I had to share it with the cyber world. It's a short book, I read the whole thing in just over an hour and is filled with little tips, quotes and doodles to inspire a beautiful life (aww).

The first chapter focus' on physical beauty (Natalie Bloom is the founder of the make-up brand 'Bloom Cosmetics') which gives any make-up junkie a good fix of information and even a Chinese proverb I've fallen in love with:

'When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.'

The second chapter in all about 'Indefinable Beauty' and looks at all the little things in life there to make us feel fantastic- for example:

'Beautiful stationary is so important. Forget longwinded, impersonal emails and relish in the charm of writing a sweet note on elegant stationary.

Good-quality, gorgeous hosiery is a symbol of style and elegance....'

This chapter even has an A-Z of positive attitude, including:

'D: Dream big.....E: Ecletic, mix and match to suit your mood; don't follow one system of style.....J: Joie de vivre! The joy of life transcends any language.....S: Spirit: Your spirit is the engine room of your life. Keep it stoked and enthusiastic...'

Stoked? What a great word- Might have to adopt that one from the Aussies. The book carries on with various quotes from the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Karl Largerfield and Vincent Van Gogh as well as personal things that make Natalie's world beautiful (Ribbons, Doilies, Buttons, Pinboards, Perfume, Notebooks, Books, Magazines, DIY, Origami, Colour, Gardens and Flowers).

It may seem a bit fruity and lame to some, but I think every girl needs a book like this to dip into when she's feeling a bit low and wants to appreciate the little things in life. This has become my mantra over the last couple of years, focus on the now and appreciate all the little things in life that make you smile. Natalie even mentions one of my favourite films in the book- Amelie. Something else guaranteed to make you smile- if you've never seen it I demand you go buy it!

A pretty book with pretty illustrations about having a pretty life. I'm feeling prettier already :D

Another Batch of London Photographic Madness

Had a great day today in London with my good friends Paul, Zoe and Rochelle. The trip was in celebration of Paul's birthday, and luckily this man has a great taste for day trips. We started off at 'Diner' in Oxford Circus for pancakes and eggs benedict, then headed to Somerset House for the 'Show studio fashion revolution' exhibit. This was amazing, firstly because Somerset House is home to fashion week this week, so fashionable people being photographed and interviewed were everywhere and we even saw a backstage area- very tempted to sneak in, but my lack of black attire would have made me stick out like a fashion-less sore thumb. The exhibit itself was the best fashion exhibit I've been to, really interactive with so many different instillation's- have a peek here: http://www.showstudio.com/project/fashionrevolution

After this we needed to hit the shops! Found myself a cute necklace with a compass pendant (always good for someone like me with no sense of direction!) and a ditsy floral printed belt. Pretty accessories for a pretty day. In covent garden we stumbled across the fashion fete with cupcakes and dog shows aplenty. Overall a fashion filled fun day which reminded me once again why I love London- there is always something going on :) Here are some pics....

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A Quickie.....

Just going to type up a quickie as it's late and my peepers are sore from being open too long. Just found a little treasure chest of Internet wonders:

http://www.antlermag.com/blog/

http://www.folkandfable.com/
　
http://angelasimione.blogspot.com/
　
http://sleepingundermybed.blogspot.com/
　
http://www.frankie.com.au/

Haven't even explored them all fully yet, but I can see where my days off next week will be spent. Can't be bothered to explain what they all are, trust me they're all gems and have given my creative juices some serious fizz.

Alas, my bed is calling. Good Night xx

Work update, Brighton pics and new favourite blogs...

First off I just want to say- Yay there is life out there!!! I have one follower following my blog and some nice person on twitter posted a link to here for my pictures. I know that's not much in the grand scheme of things, but to me this is very exciting stuff! God bless the tinternet.

Anyway, moving on, thought I would give a quick update on my writing work....

• Still writing music reviews for 'For Folks Sake' website (http://www.forfolkssake.com/) and will hopefully be writing some blog material for them as well, so watch this space...

• Have been welcomed to the team of the Noize Makes Enemies website, (http://www.noizemakesenemies.co.uk/) where so far I've done a couple of interviews. Am hopefully going to start up a fashion column on the site so I can integrate my two loves- music and fashion and keep adding to that portfolio.

• Am booking my travelling fun next week :) For those of you that haven't read this from the beginning, the reason I'm "In limbo" right now is because I'm somewhere between uni and career. Basically I have finished uni but haven't started my dream career yet. The end of this limbo is supposed to come to light in the form of travelling, after this I will concentrate fully on getting into the career I want and grown up life (woop!). So living at home with my parents and working in retail is kind of my Limbo.... the plan is to head to Thailand for two months and I cannot friggin wait!

• Am going to talk to my area manager when I next see her so I can discuss my future in River Island. I love fashion and River Island is a big name, so it makes sense to make contacts here. I'm thinking about trying to get myself an internship with the buying sector to see how I like that. At the end of the day, writing is bloody hard to get into, so I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket as it where....

So these are the main bullet points making holes in my life right now! In other news, have had a lovely week off with Antony, went to Thorpe Park and Brighton, both thrilling in different ways! Anyway I took some pics of Brighton as it were so picturesque like.....


I like Brighton- pretty place full of pretty things- exactly what my camera likes to see!

Right now onto my final segment of this installment...some new favourite blogs to add to the giant list:

http://www.reflectionofalice.com/ Lovely lil Fashion blog, I like her taste

http://kila-kitu.blogspot.com/ Another illustrator I would like to be. Please.

http://rubbishmag.blogspot.com/ Blog full of fashionable and wonderfully weird thingy-ma-jigs

http://saveourshoes.blogspot.com/ Full of fashion marvels

So there ya have it, bit of this bit of that- hope you liked :)

Embankment

As promised- here are more pics from bank holiday Monday, after the carnival we went home via a stroll down embankment and had some very generous ice creams- perfection! Anyway here are a select few piccys....

I love London- I want to photograph everyone and everything in it! Next challenge me-thinks....