Wednesday 30 May 2012

From every corner to every block.


One of my 30 Before 30 was to go abroad for a long weekend - shockingly, something I've never done! A couple of months after putting that together was NYE, where my friends and I formulated plans for a minibreak and Lo! Lisbon in May became a thing.

I'd never been to Portugal before and didn't know much about Lisbon at all, but I really liked it. It's got some beautiful architecture (even the battered old buildings are stunning - but there's some amazing modern stuff too, including awesome street art - graffiti doesn't seem like the right word) and the locals are incredibly friendly (and hell, I'm just going to say it: SO many attractive men. Seriously.) and it's really easy to get around. The first day we were incredibly disorientated - it's all little narrow streets - but after a day or so we got to grips with it. That said, if someone had abandoned me on the way home from dinner on the last night, I would have got totally lost, because I have no sense of direction. And had also drunk a lot of wine.

We stayed in a gorgeous apartment next to the cathedral, but definitely weren't there long enough - I'd love to go back. One of my favourite parts were their famous custard tarts - OH MY GOD THEY'RE AWESOME - but even more than that was the chance to catch up with my girls and have some quality time. Lisbon was lovely, but if we'd all holed up in my parents' house for the weekend, I know we'd have had just as much fun.

The only thing with Lisbon was the restaurants - you have to really look for a good one, and if you haven't done research before your trip (as we didn't), you might be disappointed (as we were). But we sought out somewhere awesome for our last night, so if you go, make sure you pay a visit to Santo Antonio De Alfama - SO good. The outside-only Pateo 13 was also really lovely. Although, Lisbon is very fish and red meat focused, and I don't eat seafood, so I ate steak every day. If you're a vegetarian, stick to the pastries (and make sure you stop by Pastéis de Belém. Tell them I sent you. They don't know who I am, but maybe it'll be a conversation starter or something.)

Here are a million photos!


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Friday 25 May 2012

Lose myself staring into my coffee cup.

OH MY GOD IT’S SUNNY!!! For someone whose natural skintone is blue and who can’t sit in the sun for more than four minutes without bursting into flames, I am a major sun-lover. It’s just so HOT! It’s not RAINING! My hair ISN’T FRIZZY! SUN SUN SUN SUN.

YAY.

Also! Now it is hot I can take outfit photos after work again! So I ran outside the other night to show off this dress, which, to be fair, I didn’t wear to work like this. It’s pretty short and definitely requires leggings or tights. But it’s cute, right? I know it’s a total rip-off of that Rihanna dress from a while back, but I kind of loved that dress. It reminded me of this tartan skirt that my mum made me when I was 13, and it was SHORT. I wore it with a red t-shirt and a LOT of makeup to the Galleria cinema in Hatfield with my friend Lisa to go and see the Craft. WHICH WAS A 15. AND WE GOT IN.

Dress - New Look
Wedges - Primark
Hat - eBay
Belt - H&M
Necklace - Topshop

Now, I’m pretty sure I don’t look 15 in this dress, despite the pigtails. I mean, that was nearly half my life ago now (OH MY LORD). But I do feel kind of 90s and awesome! And that’s a good thing. But, okay – really, this is a winter dress. It’s a dress for opaque black tights and a neat little black cardi and chunky boots. But it is SUMMER, and I do not care for your rules, DRESS. Even though you are made of quite thick material and I was fricking boiling.

It has been very busy and mad in my life lately, but it has also been quite nice. Last week has seen me visit Portugal AND Coventry. My life, it is one of excitement.

This weekend I am going to a baby shower and then of course it is EUROVISION!! The best night of the year! I am going to get very drunk and live-tweet it and probably lose billions of Twitter followers in the process. My friends are drawing up our special Eurovision scorecard now. It is very involved, with a Hotness column (normally a reason to give extra points), a Game Changer bonus points column (normally given at the ‘OOOH FIRE!!’ moments) and a Creepy column (minus points!). I AM EXCITED.
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Tuesday 22 May 2012

Just drive on and don't ever stop.


I love some of the random things that get sent my way, but the best one recently was a heads up about a competition that London Living were running to win a free London cab for a day. I entered and somehow won! I felt a little guilty because I have a car and can ferry myself around whenever I want, but it turns out that it's pretty amazing having a day in London and a car waiting for you. I kind of felt like a celebrity.

So, with my friend Anne in tow, we planned an amazing day. And then it poured with rain literally nonstop so we scrapped those plans and did other stuff. Here is what!

We started at Spitalfields Market for a wander, and most importantly, the best fricking breakfast that I have ever eaten at The Luxe. That is, indeed, a waffle, french toast, a pancake and bacon. DAAAAAMMMMMNNNN.





Here is an artful picture of my strawberry nails wrapped around my hot chocolate!



Then we headed to Fiona's house for her Bedroom Jumble. Fiona is the best person in the world and has gone to give Copenhagen a tste of her amazingness. London just couldn't handle her.


We also stopped and took some pictures in the cab. London Living sent me a hat, which, let's face it, looks way better on Anne than on me. Stupid giant head.


THEN! Battersea car boo - oh, right. Rain. FOILED. Instead! westfield! I've never been to Westfield - either Westfield - so it seemed like a good time to go.

Pinkberry!


Cinema!

Wahaca!

Aaaaand... somehow it is now 9pm and a Sunday and YAWN. Bring my car around, would you, Jeeves?

Best. Day. Ever. Thanks, London Living! And a special thank you to David the cabbie (who also has a blog!).

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Friday 18 May 2012

I'm wrecking this evening already and loving every minute of it.

Guys, it's okay. I know what you think of me. You think I'm this intimidating, classy girl who wears pretty dresses and never has a hair out of place, who never gets too drunk or falls over or looks like a scruffbag 85% of the time. I KNOW, okay. But I'm here to tell you that it's all LIES! I'm... not entirely perfect. Sorry to shatter your illusions.

So, while I'm shattering illusions, I figured I would share a totally shambolic Friday Frock. I really, really love this leopard print dress, but it's a dress for going out and drinking sambuca in, not for looking wistful in the garden. SO THAT IS WHAT I DID.

My job is demanding and sometimes stressful, and working 10 or 11 hour days isn't unusual, but what makes it ALWAYS worth it is the great team of ladies I share my pod with. We work hard, but then when we all get together out of work... well. A combination of birthdays and shots and dancing and whatnot equals fun and some very un-blogger photos. HURRAH.

Dress - New Look (concession)
Necklace - Benita Blue
Drunken Eyes - Blogger's Own

It's kind of fitting that I am posting a work-related outfit post today because I GOT PROMOTED!!! I am now a Brand Manager, whoop whoop. It turns out it's really not easy to look humble when people say 'well deserved' at you. *looks humble* See, I suck.

PS - You guys get that I'm kidding with all the classy stuff and I know I'm a totally ridiculous human being, right? Good.


PPS - I'm in Portugal!
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