Party Like Jay Gatsby

or

"an exploration of Bourton-on-the-Water"

It's a weird old thing, being from the Midlands. Especially when you go to university and the North vs South wars start, and everyone tells you "the Midlands doesn't exist!" "Pick a side!" "Do you have curry sauce on your chips or gravy?!" etc ...to the Northerners you are Southern and vice versa.

Yet that fierce loyalty to your home town / city / region so prevalent in the extremes of North and South doesn't seem to exist, really, in the middle bits. Cos we're kind of equidistant to everywhere. Wales? Two hours ish. North? Two hours ish. South? Two...you get me. Anyway, I am a homebody, always have been. I might not be chanting "Worcester 'Til I Die", but I do feel privileged and (whisper it) a little proud to be from a county which is so full of countryside and natural beauty, and in such close proximity to other pretty places. One of the most beautiful, and one of my personal favourites, the Cotswolds. 

The Cotswold Hills are in Southwestern and Central Western England, the district being in Gloucestershire (don't worry I'm not going to try claiming that's in the midlands!) but beautiful towns made of Cotswold stone stretch right into surrounding counties. Basically, it's very charming.

As part of an attempt to explore the places closer to home this summer, on a warm day this July my famalam and I hopped over to Bourton-on-the-Water. I have been to a few Cotswold towns, and this was by far the most tourist-orientated I've seen. But its sometimes fun to be a total tourist so close to home!

It has a model village. This, apparently, is famous. I googled it and found that an Oasis video was shot there. I don't think this is why it's famous, but it was an interesting fact to me! It's in the back of an old pub, and to be fair was an amusing 45 minute excursion - maybe that is because I was with my ridiculous family and the larking about possibilities in a model village are almost infinite. "You wanna be a big cop in a small town?" etc...

There are other tourist attractions there, but we plumped for here (this is what happens when boys are in charge) - the Motor Museum. Which actually turned out to be, if nothing else, a pretty nifty photo op for a fan of vintage everything.

 I was as besotted with the floor-to-cieling (literally) old tin advertisements as I was with the cars! (Although the cars were pretty stunning. I wanted to do a Daisy Buchanan and speed off in one wearing something beautiful and beaded. The whole museum was obviously very well cared for.)

It is also the home of Brum! Actual Brum! Nineties kids will be with me on this.

There were also some pretty nifty props hanging around the place...

 We made the most of the endless selection of teashops and bakeries, before heading home. It's a very pretty place even if a little tourist-trap-y... the river runs right through the village centre so you have to walk over lots of footbridges to get to the shops on either side! I'll be making the effort to go discover more gems like this (although admittedly this may not be so much fun in the depths of winter!)

Have you discovered any close-to-home treasures recently? 

xoxo

ps. found this, nearly died of laughter and cuteness 

Autumn

or

"seasonal excuses for self-indulgence"

I've been wondering if we have skipped Autumn all together and are headed full-pelt for Winter this year? It is, in fact, September - the leaves are falling, the jackets are appearing, and we are once again allowed to wrap up in cosy knitwear and be a little more relaxed with our leg-shaving duties (awh, come on, don't lie to me ladies). Putting clothing reasons aside (although that is particularly difficult for me to do, since plaid shirts and rich red lipsticks are practically my raison d'etre), here are some of the best things about this time of year.

Autumn is fire-smoke in the air and sticky-smokey food, maple syrup, train trips through golden countryside, chilli flakes, and fluffy socks. Autumn is chai lattes, sweet and spicy and filling your nose with that cinnamon scent, and the bubbling joy caused by Starbucks releasing their red cups. All the good TV series return, the heavy stuff, the ones you can get lost in (I'm lookin' at'chu Homeland), the period dramas. But also it suddenly feels acceptable, nay, obligatory, to rewatch old favourites; Gossip Girl (even though you know what happens) and of course My So Called Life (Angela Chase & Jordan Catalano before they were Carrie Matheson and rock god Jared Leto, and school corridors, and all that FLANNEL. I mean, it literally is autumn in a show). It feels acceptable to cook casserole and stew with herby dumplings and bake crusty bread (not that summer holds me back on the baked goods front, but its definately ok now). I want to stomp around in lace up boots and dare the drizzle to do its best. I want to listen to Tom Odell. It's the time of year dedicated to new starts - if, like me, you've moved away to study (again) this seems sharper than ever before. But think of the fresh, lined notebooks you loved at school, as yet undented by biro, and watch the nights fade in, as summer fades away. 

 My make-at-home chai latte of choice, for when the pennies won't stretch to a fancy takeout. Somehow tastes even better in my own mug (adorable Emma Bridgewater beagle mug kindly supplied by Alice). Bobbing in the background, I've already brought autumn to my flat with some dark Blackcurrant jam, and a Next Home reed diffuser in 'New York', a housewarming present from my mama. It smells divine.

xoxo

Trashy Can Be More Fun Than Classy

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"She Just Bein' Miley"

I know she's everything we hate about hyper sexualisation of women and controlled media image, and I know we all feel the same way about her tongue (girl, put it away), but then every so often she wears something amazing like this ugly yet brilliant bejewelled 'Beverly Hills' acid wash Tony Alamo denim, and I can't help feeling she's been pulling some self-referential, heavily ironic, society commentary stunt all along.

Or, like, maybe I just really like Miley's jacket.

xoxo

Sing the old Alma Mater, & think of how things used to be

or

'notes on headscarf appreciation.'

 I love headscarves. Since I discovered vintage shops at about 16 years old, I was always drawn to the scarves. Beautiful printed squares of silky fabric, ready to granny-up any outfit you please.  I used to throw them round my neck whilst wearing plain little dresses, but I always admired girls who neatly tied them around their heads, in rockabilly fashion. Recently, it's been my go-to style (not to mention a staple at festivals, it covers up a multitude of bad hair day sins). Not too 'out there', subtle enough to wear with your skinnies. Rifling through big baskets of scarfs at vintage shops to hunt out the prettiest one is still a pleasure, but I'm not averse to a high street scarf for an on trend print too.

Left to Right: lipstick print scarf - H&M, black/brown/hot pink border scarf - Christmas Vintage Fair in Worcester some years back, black & white bandana - Amazon here, brown paisley scarf - Primark, cream/pastel pink/pastel blue paisley scarf - Cow Vintage Sheffield, navy blue/ditsy floral scarf - Cow Vintage Sheffield.

The next question is how to fold and tie it? I struggled with a few messy guesstimates myself before I discovered this tutorial by the original youtube beauty guru Kandee Johnson (probably the first blogger I ever discovered!). 

 Below are some of my favourite scarf-tying laydeez, including the inspirational Paloma Faith, Audrey Hepburn, Rosie Riveter and Her Maj.

xoxo

Review: AM

or

'Arctic Monkeys know how to keep their fans waiting but I just can't be angry at them'

 I've had this baby on pre-order since I can't remember when. Having already played us "Do I Wanna Know" and "R U Mine?" we had a taster of what to expect from the Monkey's fifth record; a more mature, echoey, soulful sound…but with the same razor lyrics delivered in a Sheffield accent as they've had since album #1. Personally I love the new sound - a bit nineties, a bit sixties, well to my ears anyway.

 They might have once innocently proclaimed "don't believe the hype!" but nowadays hype is what this band exist on…they know how to whip their waiting crowd into a frenzy, and then, thankfully, you can count on them to deliver. 

 I want to swoop around my house in lipstick and something fringy to "No1 Party Anthem" sipping a JD. I can already tell I'll be lifting my spirits when I'm feeling low by blasting "Snap Out Of It" (also a personal mantra fyi), and it will take embarrassingly little time before I'm word perfect at "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?" (I've loved their previous work but it's not even like I'm a super fan or anything, so lord knows how they're feeling this morning!)

 But it's "I Wanna Be Yours" that is the ultimate little gem with the John Cooper Clarke lyrics (feeling a bit like a northern working mens club, but exclusively for poets and lyricists - it's ok though, youre definitely allowed to bob into for some rum and a dance and maybe Alex Turner will take you home) which fills my heart with arty crafty self referential happiness.

 I'll even forgive that dodgy trans-Atlantic drawl that Mr Turner showcased at Glasto this year. Welcome home, lads.

xoxo

It's September 2013 and I have to be an adult about this

or

'AAAAARGH.'

 Ahem. Yes, so, you know how one minute it's July and you're all eating Cornettos and sitting in beer gardens and messing about with friends and sleeping til whenever the hell you like, and then suddenly BAM the sun has gone behind a big old cloud and the British drizzle is back and it's September again. That just happened.

 I don't usually mind this transition at all - I prefer knitwear to shorts anyway to be honest, and we all know the power of a pumpkin spice latte. For the past couple I've actively enjoyed it, because it's meant popping back 3 hours south down to Portsmouth to a rickety (yet charming in that student way) house filled with four of my most hilarious and lovely friends. I also liked my degree, that I could spend hours reading books as research and that all my work could be written from under a duvet.

 This is different, though. I am not quite going out into the big wide world just yet, but I'm actually embarking on an MA course. It's not in my home town of Worcester, and neither is it at my adopted University of Portsmouth. I'm doing it to myself yet again and moving to Sheffield Hallam. This time there is no house full of crazy bitches to keep me company, it's just me in a cutie patootie lil flat. I know in the long run I won't regret it - being adventurous enough to (and lucky enough to be able to) move to another city - but it doesn't stop it being bloody terrifying.

 Keep yer fingers crossed for me that I don't balls this one up?

Cheers! xxx

It's alright, Andy! It's just Bolognese!

or

'you have literally no idea how hard it was to pick just one quote'

 Every family, I'm sure, has a film or TV series that sums you all up. You all find it hilarious no matter how many times you watch it. It is a family tradition to watch it over and over until you can all quote it by heart. If it's mentioned in other pop culture you all get really over excited. One member of the family might not like it as much as the others, but they put up with it because it's at obsession level now and to voice their unenthusiasm any further than an exasperated sigh "again?" might be detrimental to their health.

 In my family, that would be The Cornetto Trilogy - or, to the uninitiated, Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg's 3 film series - Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and the newly released The World's End (2013).

 My immediate family generally communicate with each other entirely in quotes from these films wherever possible (and trust me, thats a lot more often than you'd think). Hot Fuzz will forever be my personal favorite, but I'll let you know that I went so far as to go to the midnight screening at my local cinema on the night that the third film came out. 

 There's something super special about watching a film with a dedicated following in a room full of those people, who find it as hilarious as you do, who have noticed all the little jokes as you have, and who care about it. I've never been to a Rocky Horror screening, for example, but I imagine its a similar thing. Everyone's seen them before, and everyone loves them to death. So that was amazing. 

We then watched the new one with baited breath - and, sigh of relief, it was fantastic. Same Wright/Pegg tone as the others, but different enough to, yet again be a standalone movie. Highly recommended, I was one very happy fan. I have seen it again since, and it only gets funnier.

PS. It helped that during the course of the night, this happened. 

RETWEETED BY THE MAN HIMSELF. 

PPS the snazzy art at the top is from here.

xoxo