A few weeks ago I went to Edinburgh Zoo for the first time. I'm not usually a huge fan of zoos, but this one really is lovely. The newly redone penguin area is brilliant, and we were lucky enough to see some of the brand new tiny baby penguins too. We were also very excited to see the pandas. As you can see from my photos, the male, Yang Guang, was asleep (typical!) but the female, Tian Tian, was roaming about the enclosure, kindly entertaining us by taking a dip in the pool right next to the viewing area. Of course there are lots of other animals at the zoo too: I was just most enchanted by the penguins and the pandas!
Edinburgh Zoo is definitely worth a visit, and hopefully pretty soon there will be a baby panda to visit too: what could be more adorable?
I can't believe how long it's been since I posted here. Life has been very hectic, but I have missed this little space of mine. Here's some recent photos taken with the beautiful Arthur's Seat as a backdrop, and I promise there will be more posts to come very soon. In these photos I'm wearing two presents from my sister: this gorgeous jumper and my adorable fox necklace from Tatty Devine which I absolutely adore and wear constantly. It gets me so many compliments! I hope all of you are well and have had a wonderful summer. I've missed you all!
What I'm wearing: jumper from White Stuff, jeans from Topshops, shoes from Office, necklace from Tatty Devine
Delicate, lacy cow parsley looks so beautiful in the sun. I've been trying to make the most of the sunny weather we've been having by taking plenty of trips to the park. One of the benefits of working at night is that you can take advantage of the weather! When I'm not working I'm trying to find us somewhere new to live. We're not having much luck so far: I can only hope that it is because the perfect place for us remains to be found! Really though, we just need somewhere affordable. Hopefully in the next few weeks we will find somewhere. Knowing we need to move is a nagging worry at the back of my mind, a constant low level of stress, and I feel unsettled at home somehow. Why bother doing things around the flat when we will just have to pack it all up in a few weeks? I'll be so happy when everything is settled. Maybe then I can stop neglecting my blog so badly. I miss it so.
Hope you are all having a lovely June so far. I'll be back soon, properly, I promise!
I've been neglecting my blog again. I'm sorry. There have been some changes around here. The bar where my boyfriend had just started work suddenly closed for renovations for the next ten weeks or so (he found out on the Saturday and it closed the following Monday. Pretty sudden!). We can't survive on just one income so things have been a little stressful, and I've been working more, trying to pick up some of the slack. Anyway, he's found a new job so hopefully things will return to normal soon.
We did, however, manage to take these few snaps of my new zebra print top from my sister the other day.
In the meantime, I've been trying not to worry too much and instead focussing on looking forward to my mum and two of my sisters visiting next week, listening to this and watching copious amounts of Gilmore Girls reruns.
What I'm wearing: jacket from Diesel, tops from Topshop, skirt from Vero Moda, shoes from Vans
Welcome to the second part of my A to Z series: the letter'B'!Featuring a favourite song, a favourite TV show or movie, a favourite book, something random that I love and something about me. See the Introduction here and letter 'A' covered here.
Buy The Stars - Marina and The Diamonds
I love Marina's voice, and it is especially stunning in this song.
The Beginner's Goodbye - Anne Tyler
Me and my mum both love Anne Tyler's novels. I think between us we've read all of them! This is her most recent novel and it does not disappoint. My mum very kindly lent it to me after she'd read it: this is how I have been introduced to many of the books that I read over the years! The Beginner's Goodbye is at heart about the main character, Aaron Woolcott, recovering from the death of his partner, Dorothy Rosales, who returns from the dead to have conversations with him. At first he thinks that she really is there, but gradually realises that he is conjuring her up himself. Eventually he becomes ready to say goodbye. It is a beautifully written novel with a happy ending that is definitely worth a read, as are all of Tyler's novels.
Bunheads
As much as I love Breaking Bad, I have to go with Bunheads. I love this show, and I'm currently hoping against hope that it will be renewed for a second season. Regardless it is well worth watching: with an incredible cast, a beautiful set and great storylines, I really can't fault it, not to mention the dancing. It's about a woman who ends up in a small town teaching at a dance studio run by her mother in law, and centres around four of the ballet dancers also. Check out these videos to get a taster:
Bread And Butter Pudding
One of my favourite puddings. Here's the recipe from my Auntie Enid:
2 - 3 slices of thin bread and butter
2 - 3 oz sultanas
1/2 oz sugar
1/2 pint milk
1 egg
Nutmeg
Cut the bread and butter into neat strips and lay in a buttered pie dish, buttered side up, sprinkling each layer with fruit and sugar (but omitting fruit in the top layer). Heat the milk and pour onto the beaten egg. Strain into the pie dish, grate nutmeg on top and let stand for half an hour to let the bread swell. Bake on the middle shelf of a moderate oven (375F or Mark 4) for about half an hour until set and lightly browned. To make it extra special add a measure (or two!) of Cointreau to bread before adding the milk.
(Excess) Baggage
I have always have a enormous amount of random stuff. When I say stuff, I mean the astonishing array of clothes, make-up, books, toys, shoes, hair ties, shells, earrings (many of which are missing their partners), pieces of paper, notebooks and keepsakes that I carry with me from place to place. All of the random debris that one picks up during one's life. Of course, unlike me, most people probably don't form emotional attachments to every little thing that they come into contact with. Very few of my possessions have any monetary value. The reason I have so much stuff is not because I have (now or in the past) had a great deal of money to spend. It is mainly because I have rarely thrown anything away.
It started when I was young. My parents never made me throw anything away, and I accumulated a bewildering array of miscellaneous items. For instance, I built up an impressive collection of rocks and shells (so much so that a whole area of our garden was dedicated to my ‘beach’). Let me put it this way: I am now in my twenties, and sitting under my bed in my parent’s home are six big boxes full of random bits from my childhood. And I really do mean random bits. Toys and books are stored away neatly. No, what is under the bed is six whole boxes full of doll heads, bits of paper, beads, scraps of material, sweet wrappers: in other words, these boxes really need to be thrown out. The fact that I have not spent more than a couple of nights in that bedroom in the past four years, and only the summers for four years before that makes the situation even more incomprehensible.
That bedroom is also full to the brim with a multitude of other stuff. However, I no longer even live in the same country as that bedroom. In the last six months I have lived in three different places, and have finally settled in the third. And already, even though most of my stuff should logically not have followed me, my (for the first time shared) bedroom is already getting crowded. The realisation hit me when I collected another suitcase full of my old clothes and shoes and tried to put them away in the cupboard. They. Would. Not. Fit. It’s not because I buy very many clothes. A lot of them are hand me down’s from my sister. I just like to keep everything I have, ‘just in case’. Out of the clothes I own, only any a handful are actually in my usual rotation.
Now, in a different country to the one in which I grew up, I still have rather a lot of stuff, and with the prospect of moving in the next few months it is rather worrying! Sometimes I think about it all. About all the books I own, most of which are not in my current location which really pains me because I have a strong attachment to each of them. Books like Girl by Blake Nelson, which inspired much of my fashion in my teenage years; my guidebooks to New York, which carry so many good memories for me; or the Velveteen Rabbit, which I finally managed to purchase after many years of searching for it in second hand bookshops. It is not enough for me to know that these books exist. It is as if I must have copies of them to hand at all times. Then I started to think about all of the mementos that I carry around, from the tiny Venetian glass animals which I carefully transport from place to place, and the mini VW campervan toy which came from my grandparents’ house, to the packet of flower tea balls which I have never opened and the Mr Men pill box and the two dirty plastic Care Bear figurines. And I started to think about all of the notebooks and loose sheets of paper which I have filled up and cannot bring myself to throw away, and all of the newspaper cuttings and magazines and song lyrics and cards and love letters and beermats.
Much as I love all of my random stuff and all of the memories that it contains, I do wonder why I am so reliant on it. I have always been terrified of losing my possessions: when I was young, I would lie awake on stormy nights and worry that the trees on the other side of the road from my house would fall over. I wasn’t worried that I would get hurt, oh no. I was worried that all the things in my room would blow away and be lost forever. The crux of the matter is, there are memories attached to most of the things that I own that I am afraid might be forgotten if I lost that item or threw it away, but that seems silly. Surely if the memory is an important one, I won’t need a prop to help me remember it. And while I am certain that many other people are similarly attached to their things, I’m just not sure how many people carry old beer mats around from one country to another, regardless of the reason!
A pretty black and white flower print is perfect for these changeable spring days full of sunshine and heavy April showers. Our first attempt to go to the park was halted by a sudden burst of rain, but the sun came out in time for us to take these photos. The park is beautiful at the moment, full of flowers just starting to bloom and so much wildlife, but most of the trees are still bare.
What I'm wearing: dress from Oasis, boots from Schuh, blazer from Topshop, headband from Accessorize
Who can resist the charms of socks with sheep on them? Not me, that's for sure. It's been a long time since I had any new, fun socks. In fact, I didn't used to wear socks very often, but now with the weather so changeable I tend to choose rain-proof shoes over ballet flats which necessitates the wearing of socks. Am I growing up and becoming more sensible? Perhaps. But these cute socks certainly don't reflect that! Sheep and giraffes to wear with my work uniform of jeans and black Vans, and a sweet, frilly coral ankle pair to wear with a skirt and heels when the weather gets a little warmer. They were all a sweet treat from my boyfriend, and I'm very happy with them! He knows me well.
Fun fact: I wore the giraffe socks for the first time last night. Well, it was raining, and it takes me half an hour to walk to work. While the rain looked inconsequential from inside, it turns out it really wasn't. It turned torrential and I got absolutely soaked, including my shoes and socks, so I spent my first ten minutes at work blow drying my new socks!
I found this shirt while I was in Ireland: I used to wear it a lot a few years ago. It's so comfy and cute too, perfect for semi chilly spring days. I bought it when I worked in the men's section of Debenhams. Sometimes the men's section has things which are perfect for us ladies! As you can see from the photos, me and Colm decided to take these in the wooded area in my parent's field and I messed around, clambering up tree branches like I used to when I was young. And the bath I'm sitting on? Currently full of forget-me-nots, it's where lettuces are sometimes grown too. Who knew an old bath could be such a pretty addition to a garden?
What I'm wearing: shirt from Ben Sherman, top and shoes from Topshop
Here is my new favourite item of clothing: my Wildfox track suit jacket. I just love it. It was perfect for my trip to Ireland, just right for travelling and with a nice big hood for rainy days. Colm took these photos in the garden and field at my parent's house where I grew up. Rusty car aside (my dad used it for parts for another car), it's a magical place, and spending a week there was wonderfully relaxing. There's nothing like going home.
What I'm wearing: jacket from Wildfox, top from Topshop, jeans from Gap, shoes from Vans, scarf is thrifted
So I've been on a bit of a break from tweeting, instagramming, and blogging recently. Life got a bit overwhelming as I tried to take on more than I could at once, and I decided to take a step back from everything. I gave myself a few weeks of space, and I decided that when I got back from my trip home to Ireland with my boyfriend, I would start afresh, hoping that the break gave my mind enough time to freshen up; a spring clean of the mind, if you will. So here I am, back with lots of good resolutions which I will try hard to keep up. Here's to a fresh start! I hope you enjoy these photos, taken last week in my parent's beautiful garden in Ireland.
This past week I haven't been doing a whole lot apart from working. Adjusting to a new routine, with Colm working different hours, has taken some getting used to as it means less time together as well as trying to make the most of the time we do have.
Some things I've been enjoying this week:
The flowers that Colm surprised me with on Tuesday when I had to work and he didn't. I woke up to the flowers and a wonderful breakfast of waffles, strawberries and cream.
My new Wildfox hoodie which my sister treated me to as an Easter present. I've wanted it for so long; ever since I saw it featured on this post on A Beautiful Mess in June last year. I can't wait to wear it for the first time!
Some new reading material: US Marie Claire, my favourite, also from my sister, and Wild by Cheryl Strayed, which I've wanted to read for absolutely ages.
