Blondie

If posed with the question, what song reminds you of your childhood, then for me its a simple answer. There is one song that I can never get bored of, and will happily play it over and over again, mainly because it is, such a tune, but it just puts me right back to the place where I heard it.

Every Summer when I was younger, we used to travel down to Dorset to visit my Nanny & Grandad and spend everyday playing on the beach, or walking to the shops to buy more buckets and spades. It felt like the longest length of time travelling down there, as two hours when your six feels like an eternity.

But on the road trip itself, my Dad would not fail in putting on a Blondie album, every single year. One that really stuck with me was their 1979 release 'Eat to the Beat', which includes my all time favourite, 'Atomic'.

For any child, the summer holidays can conjour up the best emotions and this is certainly the case with me. Now that I'm older, and this regular trip to see the grandparents has long ended, the songs from Blondie give me great comfort, and just listening to their songs puts me right back there.

I'm constantly on the lookout for a t-shirt with the image of Debbie Harry on the front, to have as a keepsake. In my mind I want it to be a black tee, with a contrast image of Harry across the front, with a little Blondie emblem. (If you find something like it, do shout!)

I know its a bizarre choice of song, firstly because it was released way before I was born, and also the punk/disco blend of the song doesn't even match up to the song releases of the 90s of my childhood, but as cliche as a Spice Girls track should be for a young girl, it just cannot compete with the feeling Blondie songs give me.

So go on, listen to the song and enjoy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E1-VOMxS6w

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Puddles, Spinning & Food Envy

This week I find myself in a constant turmoil of whether to dress for the sun, the cold, the rain or the humidity. Much like the rest of London as we scramble to the tubes, all I notice either a complete faux pas of their outfits, or wardrobe envy as their outfit is definitely one suited for our ‘British Summer’.

I find the best way to get around this predicament is to combine summery layers with maxi dresses, skirts, or jeans, therefore they can all keep me either warm or sheltered from the weather. As with footwear, I’m still trying to find the right balance, but for now, sandals seem the best option, either cool for the humidity, or allows quicker drying if I step in a puddle!

It’s so hard resisting all the shops and outlets where I am based – Oxford Street – as you may be fully aware, is drowning in the beautiful garments that I cannot afford, especially on my intern wage. But I can’t complain, I mean, looking at clothes is exactly the same right?

I’m also looking forward to getting Zumba-Wii delivered this week, so I can try my hand at dancing like an idiot in my own house. I’m hoping those washboards stomachs come as standard with this game – although I’m probably going to have to up my exercise regime - which is pretty pathetic if I’m honest. I tried my hand at Spinning this week, and came to the conclusion that I am too much of a wimp to let my posterior become as bruised as it was again! I swear they make those seats out of pure hard metal, and I cannot afford a fancy pair of padded pants, that still make me smile of the thought of accidently getting them mixed up with a normal pair.

Also come to the conclusion that this WeightWatchers malarkey is only going to work during the week, come the weekends there is too many treats, meals out and birthdays that saying know to the food is blasphemy. Lets hope it still works!

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Busy Intern Life

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks, that I have completely taken advantage over the freedom to update my blog as freely as I wish! So I’m taking time out of my lunchbreak to update you all on what has been going on!

Firstly, I have been working with the ladies at best magazine, helping mostly the fashion, beauty and lifestyle areas of the editorial, attending press events, transcripting, organising press samples and the fashion cupboard and ordering in products for testing! It’s been a fabulous week, especially as everyone is so friendly.

Some other exciting news is that I have secured a placement for three months with allaboutyou.com which is an older lady version of hangbag.com that would be familiar with. It is kept in the family as best, with all at The National Magazine Company, or more known as natmags. This means as of next week I will be in the other office just down the road, so I’m hoping to make an appearance to keep in touch with the girls.

The contrast of working in ladsmags to ladymags has been different, as I have enjoyed both places but feel my knowledge and opinions count more here at best, as we all have the same interests! As much as I loved discussing glamour models, beer and sport with the ladmags!

I will be sure to update my progress over the next few months, it will involve mainly updating the site with features derived from House Beautful, Country Living, Prima, Coast, Good Housekeeping and SHE. (Big titles I know!) Its great to be trusted with the responsibility to bring some freshness to the site, and input as much as I can. I am also very lucky that it will be a paid placement, so I can go somewhere to earning a bit over summer, as well as covering the train prices.

Third exciting post is a congratulations to my friend Alice Pepe who has successfully created her University project, Verve Magazine. It involves a feature and a few model shots of me that I hope have helped make it what she wanted to deliver. Do take a look if you are interested at… http://vervemagazine.yolasite.com/

But for now, it’s back to the busy world of Natmags, with Ascot and Henley to look forward to! Oh and look out for my name printed in this weeks and next weeks issue of best!

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Pret a Portea at the Berkeley Hotel

I had the best afternoon yesterday with my friend Kate. It was a belated birthday present from her, as she got us an afternoon tea at a very posh Hotel in London, and the cakes and tea were specifically made for the fashion followers and the designer loving.

Yesterday was surprisingly hot, but I managed to find an outfit worthy enough for the posh do, which consisted of a black maxi dress, a cream cape top, my cream and black cardigan, gold sandals and took my Chanel out for it's third outing..

The menu of the afternoon tea was so cute, as all the cakes were labelled adjectively of food, but with the nouns of fashion. I couldn't wait to try all the bright colours and fruity/chocolately flavours they had to offer.

I opted for a vanilla tea to begin with, whilst Kate chose a pear variety which was sweet but very refreshing, and exactly what you need to wash down all the little cakes.

The flavours were delicious, as they combined mint, peach, chocolates, vanilla, melon, strawberry and marzipan, whilst offering a selection of savoury with artichoke, fish, beef and filled sandwiches.

There were 9 designer cakes to choose from, each one representing a designer and a famous attributing attire of their collection. So you could bite into Victoria Beckhams Leather tote bag, taste Marc Jacobs pink and brown bow dress or savour Miu Miu's bikini.

After our very filling but tasty tea we decided have a look around the local stores, which meant we went into Harrods for a good look round and giggle at all the cute things they sell. We went straight up to the pet area, bypassing the expensive baby clothes to look at all things unecessary, but certainly for a pampered pooch. I couldn't resist taking a sneaky picture of this 'Chewnal' bag for dogs though, I have to have this when I get my pooch one day! Hilarious.

But, I really recommend the afternoon tea at the Berkeley, it was a fantastic idea and I really enjoyed it, especially as we could take a few cakes home in a sweet little box!

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The Snug

It's about time I shared some images with you of my holiday I just recently went to with the boyfriend. We chose a small cosy cottage that has been beautifully decorated, so it may stem some ideas for your home decorating!

It was of course, decorating in the manner of Shabby Chic, a style that I really cannot get enough of at the moment! Now, the cottage was quite small, but it just seemed perfect at the time, just enough space to move around and roll into the kitchen to grab some more food! It was only on the last day when we were chatting to the owner who lives in a great farmhouse next door that she enlightened us on the property, she explained that it used to be a pig shed, and that it has only been fully up and running for a year.

But it was definitely popular, as we looked through the guest book, and realised everyone really enjoyed their time spent here. Over the course of the week we spent our time on walks, shopping, searching through towns, grabbing some fish & chips from Rick Stein's chipshop, laying on the beach, going to the Eden project and horseriding.

An especially fun afternoon was looking around Lanhydrock House & Gardens, set in 450 acres with 53 rooms to discover and walk through inside, that has been lovingly cared for and looked after for hundreds of years. Only has the past 70 years has the house been under possession of the heritage trust and has been preserved of its Victorian Interior and 18th Century attributes ever since.

But once inside, you really understand that this is a family home, a wealthy home nonetheless, and you discover the children that lived here and piece together their jobs, how long they lived for, their hobbies, their clothes, finding their bedrooms and overall imagining what this house would of been like back then.

If you want to find out more about the house, the great fire, the families and secrets, take a look at this link! http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/heritage-trail/heritage-national-trust/lanhydrock/Welcome.asp

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