Dreaming of a space to count sheep...

The time to move out of my Gran's (actually really lovely) house & into a flat of my own, with my BFF Sj is drawing ever nearer - & I couldn't be more excited!


The contract on her current flat (in Southampton) is up at the end of June, so we've got May & June to flat hunt! Which is going to hopefully be super fun! :) 

In the mean time, it means I can have bit of a think about how I'm going to decorate my room. This is really rather exciting because it means buying new bed linin, throwing away a whole bunch of rubbish & having a lovely new sanctuary - which I guess is pretty standard with a new house! 


The bedding-thing especially excites me because I've been putting off buying anything that could be classed as 'decoration' or 'furnishings' since I've been in London as I was staying with my Gran, & really didn't want to make it feel permanent. But now...! 


This all leads to looking at dreamy pictures of bedrooms, and other people's houses in general, mostly on Elledecor.com, Sweethomestyle.tumblr.com & the 'interiors' sets on Polyvore.com; 

Quite liking the general simplicity of this picture...I guess as more of a 'mood board' than anything else, but it's cute.

 (http://imgspark.com/image/view/all/1615306/)

Love the fuzzy chair! Is it just a rug that's been put on a regular chair? If so, I know what I'm going to be getting at Ikea!

(Both above, from ElleDecor)

I selected 'bedroom' & 'beach' & these were just a couple of what they came up with! Uhmazing. 

The idea of having a balcony coming off the bedroom is just dreamy <3 

Soft white bedding will always look irresistible! Plus, I think I just really quite like this picture - it reminds me a lot of a picture my friend Oli took (he did photog at Uni & it was part of a project) of my bed when we lived in the same house a couple of years ago. I swear his pictures just make everyday objects look like something amazing. Super talented person, really. 

I think I really just want somewhere I can paint white, have super soft bedding with just the right amount of far too many pillows, minimal clutter and the biggest bed the space can take :) 

All of the above, in London, on a budget...easy, right? 

xo

Job Hunting...

So, it's been a week since I started looking/applying for 'real person' jobs in London, but I've gotta say - I'm feeling pretty impatient!
I keep seeing all these lovely sounding jobs, that I know I could do...but as it's only been a week I haven't heard back from anyone! Ho hum, will just have to be a little more patient I suppose.

(http://taylorhicksgirlfriend.files.wordpress.com)

I have seen a couple of really perfect jobs, so fingers crossed for one of them!

I'd like to post links to the ones I've applied to that I'm really interested in, but I don't want to do that just in case it's not technically allowed or something. 

But the two websites I've found most useful for the type of jobs I'm looking for in London have been:

www.gumtree.com  & www.secsinthecity.co.uk.

They're both really easy to use, with good & clear search options, as well as results!

Will keep y'all up dated on the job hunt as soon as it gets interesting! Wish me luck!

xo

What a week!

Apologies for the lack of posts recently, but it's all been a little hectic recently! But I will start from the beginning anyhow;

Since I last posted, I have moved to London (finally)! Which is pretty exciting. I'm currently living with my Gran, in the lovely area of Southfields (where the highly artistic arrows are pointing);

It's a really nice place to live, because it only takes me about 20 minutes into central, but isn't too noisy, busy, or 'stabby'. & as for living with the Gran - it's lush! Getting used to having dinner cooked for me again is ace! Although I can just see myself adopting her phrases such as "woppit" (a term of endearment), "the hairy clappers" (a speed...as in, "it goes like the hairy clappers!"), & "widder, widder, widder"(when paraphrasing someone else)...


In the days leading up to moving day I didn't really do much, except pack! Which I have now decided I hate, partly because it makes me feel as though I have far too much stuff! Which is clearly not true...probably.
But for my last night (after some frantic last-minute packing), my beautiful friends came out for what turned out to be the best night out I've had in ages!
We managed to take 141 pictures. Shocking! To be fair though, most of them were of the boys, who got on like a house on fire;

(Dan, Jd & Adam)

& there were a couple of nice group-shots too;

(Me, Dan, Jd, Sj, Adam & Helen)

After that, the night got a little messy & we all seemed to be slightly worse for wear!

(Joe, Simon, Adam & Helen)

I think the only down point of the night was that in the morning, I woke up (at 8 o'clock) to find I'd left the electric blanket on all night & was cooking slowly...not fun! But all in all, it was lovely <3

The following day consisted of shopping with The Mother for "work appropriate" clothes, due to the fact that everything else I owned was apparently "scruffy". I prefer the term "casual", thanks! 

Then it was more packing, & driving to London (for her, not me). When in London we just had time to swiftly dump everything in my new room - pictures to follow - before heading out for an Indian with my Gran!

The Indian was really good! It's a local place in Southfields, but I can't remember what it was called! Next time I go past, I'll have a look & try to update this with a website or something. The food was delicious though! I'd definitely recommend it if you're in the area. 

 Anyway, after the meal The Mother (very kindly) drove us back to Eastbourne (where the family live), because it was Bracey's birthday! 

Technically it was her (22nd) birthday on the Saturday, which I had to miss due to moving. Boo! But it sounds like she had an amazing time with a kid's themed party! They played pass-the-parcel, had a treasure hunt, did face painting, dressed up & load more stuff! 

However I didn't miss out on all the fun - on the Sunday we went down to the seafront for a walk along the prom & fish & chips on the beach. Bracey was even wearing a swimming costume underneath her clothes! Madness. However after dipping her feet in the sea, she agreed with us all that it was far too cold to swim in April...

 (Click to enlarge - this was the weather on the day...not exactly warm!)

(From www.timeanddate.com)

We then watched Julie & Julia - which although was a nice story, heart-warming, etc. It did seem to drag a little. Could have done with sharper editing, maybe? I think the funniest part had to be Meryl Streep playing Julia Child - I can't really explain the eccentricity of the part, but I did enjoy it.

 

An 'official' review from IMDB:

"Julia Child and Julie Powell - both of whom wrote memoirs - find their lives intertwined. Though separated by time and space, both women are at loose ends... until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible. Written by Columbia Pictures

 

In 1949, Julia Child is in Paris, the wife of a diplomat, wondering how to spend her days. She tries hat making, bridge, and then cooking lessons at Cordon Bleu. There she discovers her passion. In 2002, Julie Powell, about to turn 30 and underemployed with an unpublished novel, decides to cook her way through "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in a year and to blog about it. We go back and forth between these stories of two women learning to cook and finding success. Sympathetic, loving husbands support them both, and friendships, too, add zest."

We also watched Orphan. It's a horror/thriller, about a nice couple who have two children & after a still-birth, decide to adopt another older child...cue the adopted child being a bit sinister, a lot of 'accidents' happening & eventually the whole family is in danger...dum dum dum! 

Overall, I did like the film - it was an interesting concept, with a beautiful look about the whole film - not once did you see a really bright colour, & it was snowing the whole time...really visually appealing. 

The following day I returned to London, to settle in/unpack & so on. However after two days of job-hunting, I thought I might go stir-crazy in the house! So I went for a jaunt in central. I visited Topshop, where the changing room doors are made for giants!!

(bearing in mind I'm 5"8)

I also saw a fun display in H&M;

Made me feel all spring-y! & for now I'm really quite enjoying living with my Gran, partly because this is what happens at "tea time"!

Lovely ♥

xo

London Baby!

Recently The Boy & I went to London, (13 days 'till I move there!) & it was awesome!

I made a delightful route-plan, 'cause we wanted to do quite a lot in the time we had;

On our itinerary was a trip to the Tate Modern, Oxford Street, a road called Denmark street, where Dan wanted to go (I'd never heard of it before, so looked it up on Wikipedia - more on that later). We then planned to go to Harrods as Dan had never been, & I really wanted to see the puppies on the fourth floor! After that, we planned to end the day with a trip to Southfields to have dinner with my Gran.

The plan worked out pretty well over all! We started by getting a Megatrain to Waterloo. If you've not gotten a mega bus/train, I would strongly recommend it - it cost the two of us £10 for a day return from Southampton to Waterloo! & you can sometimes get even cheaper fares if you book further in advance. Bargain-tastic!






Loving life on the train.

An elephant at Waterloo!

Dan ran away while I was taking a picture of the elephant.

 

 

After navigating the tube, we went to the Tate. I was a little surprised to find that some of the floors/exhibitions were closed due to lack of staff - I think they were striking, but I'm not sure. There were a few signs at the entrances to some of the rooms saying that the staff had issues with the company that employed them, as opposed to the Tate itself...which was pretty strange. & when I mentioned it to my Gran later that day she pointed out that it was interesting how there hadn't been anything in the press about it, & you wouldn't know if you hadn't been to the Tate & seen the signs...Does this mean the Tate are being sneaky & covering it up so as not to seem bad? I wonder.
 But regardless of that, we still managed to find a lot of fun things to see & do whilst there!

There was a huuuge metal box in the entrance hall;

    Dan said it was the biggest thing he'd ever seen. It was pretty impressive! & we then discovered you could go inside...

It was horribly dark. You literally couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Which made walking around in there pretty weird because you couldn't see where you were going, which kinda made it feel like you were about to fall off the edge of something!

"Miroslaw Balka’s box of darkness is disturbing in its historical echoes but beautiful as well." The Times
"Miroslaw Balka's black hole at Tate Modern is terrifying, awe-inspiring and throught-provoking. It embraces you with a velvet chill." The Guardian

This is what the Tate Modern website had to say about the 'piece';

"The latest commission in The Unilever Series How It Is by Polish artist Miroslaw Balka is a giant grey steel structure with a vast dark chamber, which in construction reflects the surrounding architecture - almost as if the interior space of the Turbine Hall has been turned inside out...It stands 13 metres high and 30 metres long. Visitors can walk underneath it, listening to the echoing sound of footsteps on steel, or enter via a ramp into a pitch black interior, creating a sense of unease.
Underlying this chamber is a number of allusions to recent Polish history – the ramp at the entrance to the Ghetto in Warsaw, or the trucks which took Jews away to the camps of Treblinka or Auschwitz, for example.
  By entering the dark space, visitors place considerable trust in the organisation, something that could also be seen in relation to the recent risks often taken by immigrants travelling. Balka intends to provide an experience for visitors which is both personal and collective, creating a range of sensory and emotional experiences through sound, contrasting light and shade, individual experience and awareness of others, perhaps provoking feelings of apprehension, excitement or intrigue."

We also saw the biggest furniture I've ever seen;

Outside the Tate along the Southbank, we saw a 'beach'!

(Dan's fancy phone picture)

(& mine, with people in suits on the beach! A strange (but nice) sight)

We then got the tube along to Oxford street & saw a delightful busker;

& found Denmark Street!

"Denmark Street is a short narrow road in central London, notable for its connections with British popular music, and is known as the British Tin Pan Alley.
 Venues on Denmark Street have strong connections with the histories of British jazz, rhythm and blues and punk music. The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix recorded in basements in the street. Elton John wrote his classic early song Your Song here. Later, the Sex Pistols lived above number 6, and recorded their first demos there. The street contains London's largest cluster of music shops. It was also the original home of London's biggest science fiction and comic store, Forbidden Planet." (Wikipedia)

Dan had great fun taking pictures of amps, guitars, talking to the music people...I nodded along & pretended to know what they were talking about.

From there, it was off to Harrods!

We saw lots of things that everyone needs...

We then went on to see my Gran, eat too much dinner & try not to fall asleep on the train!

Tomorrow, I'll do a post about my couple of days in Devon, with the lovely Lyzz -

(a picture from Amsterdam last year - a little random, but I do love the pic!)

xo

Elle

So, got my new issue of Elle through the post yesterday (subscription = best ongoing present ever), & I'm so excited to read it!

 I really love the days when it comes in the post; partly because it's always nice to have something other than bills come for you! & also because I usually set aside time to read it - generally cover-to-cover, with a cup o' tea...maybe a sneaky biscuit. I guess it's just one of those rituals that everyone should have when they put aside time for themselves.

  Speaking of other people, it's the mother's birthday on Friday, & I have no idea what to get her! I'm a little low on funds at the moment, so I'm thinking something small...but what??
  Hoping a bit of a browse of the TimeOut website might give me ideas - shows/exhibitions, etc...she does like those kind of things. & I love giving gifts that are activities!
  For example, about this time last year Sammie-Jo & I took Helen to London Zoo for the day:

Helen at the train station before we told her where we were going...

 

Nearly at the Zoo!

 

Helen & SJ being 'great apes'!

 Helen & a Gorilla...

 

We then returned home for dinner & Boggle(!)

But failing to find something similar, hopefully a wander around John Lewis might do the trick!

xo

Oh, hi!

So, I guess the "about me" pretty much says the basics, so maybe a few details? 
  I'm planning to move to London (south west) on March 31st - fingers crossed everything goes to plan! All I have to do is; 

• find someone to live in my room in Southampton (hopefully not a crazy). 
• Resign from my current job - I'm a barmaid at one of the local student pubs & love it - for the most part.
• Find a new job!

  Although this is the exiting part, as I'm going to be looking /applying for a "real" job! This basically means not working in a shop/bar/etc, for minimum wage, but hopefully for something in the advertising/PR world! 
  I actually can't wait. Eeeep!


The other thing I'm going to post about right now (partly to get to grips with this whole blogging-thing, so I'll keep it short), is a recent trip Dan & I took to Ikea - probably more fun than it sounds... 


  So we set off for Ikea, which is over the other side of town, & Dan decided it would be funny to run away like a child...

We then took a slight detour to the Guildhall, where they have a fairly large model of the whole of Southampton which was pretty amazing! Of course, we had to find our house. Which, with the aid of Google Maps (only) took about 15 minutes...it was a big model! 

  We then got back on track & headed to Ikea, where the best thing to do is to play house! I'm fairly sure everyone wants to when they go to somewhere like Ikea, secretly.

  After some house-play fun, we went for the 49p (I think. I know they were dirt cheap) hotdogs, which were yummy!

  Dan was a slight retard & got messy...

  After all the Ikea fun we went home, where Dan proceeded to find a stash of party poppers & came up with the genius idea of filling them with mayonnaise! Taking the string-y stuff out first, obviously;

I don't seem to have a picture of the end result, but it was pretty fun!


  So that's pretty much it for now, but I seem to be constantly thinking of/seeing things that I reckon would make for interesting blogging, so, as they say - watch this space!

xo