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Monthly Archives: January 2017
Healthier Baking Ideas*
Posted in baking, food, inspiration, recipes
What’s New Pussycat?
The sales have been pretty kind to me this year- not only did I score some complete bargains but I also managed to snap up a couple of items I’d had on my wish list full price and resigned myself to not being able to afford.
The cat print dress in this post is one of those finds. First bought to my attention by the wonderful (and ever so stylish) Laura a couple of months ago I knew straight away that I wanted this but at £45.99(ish) it was way out of my price range. After a quick online browse of the Zara sale I was excited to see the dress had gone down to £26.99 but still assumed I wouldn’t get it but left it in the hands of the shopping gods and decided that if the Bristol store had it in stock in my size I would buy it- but because I didn’t technically NEED another dress I wouldn’t order online.
Someone was smiling down on me the day I ventured in to the sales (and the Zara sale is one I tend to avoid because it gets so chaotic and often vicious in store!) as there was one cat printed dress left hanging there all alone. A size up from my usual but I tried it on and decided I didn’t care, I like the sloppy look and so I happily trotted off to pay.
Dress: Zara | Boots: Office (similar)
This is probably one of my current favourite outfits. I’m a massive fan of longer length over-sized dresses at the moment and anything with a cat print on it is always going to be a winner in my eyes. I’ve already worn this dress several times so on a cost-per-wear basis it’s probably in the minus figures by now.
Thank you for all of the well wishes for my occupational health appointment, they were very much appreciated. It didn’t go exactly as I’d hoped- I suppose I thought that if I could get myself mentally a lot better I could somewhat overlook the physical side of things (and my first experience with occupational health seemed to confirm this). Alas this wasn’t the case so now I must face my biggest fear and hurdle in recovery and put on some weight before I can resume the job I love so much. I suppose I’m writing this down so I can’t back away from it. It’s so easy to get swept up in the disordered thinking of “well I already look healthy” but using my blog as a perspective I can see that I’m a way off looking like I did when I was last at a healthy weight (in this post for an example) and I’ve just got to man up and get on with it. I always struggle through the process of weight gain and seeing my body change but I know that when I get there I feel so much happier and more confident in myself- and the rest of my life becomes a lot more fun and fulfilling as a result. That has got to be worth toughing it out for. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I’m at a level where I can return to work, it’s so hard to know that the only thing holding you back from the one thing you really want to be able to do is yourself and yet you’re trapped by an illness that does it’s best to stop you achieving anything resembling a happy and healthy life.
Anyway, enough of that… tell me about your top sales purchases this year- or I suppose end of last year really!
My Top Food & Lifestyle Apps with the Vodafone Smart First 7
I was recently contacted by Vodafone about their super affordable smartphone- the Vodafone Smart First 7 which costs a mere £20 on pay as you go (which costs £15 per month so much cheaper than your standard contract). They offered me the loan of the device as a chance to explore the wide range of food and lifestyle apps available on the Google Play Store. Now I’m usually an out and out Apple girl but I was intrigued by the affordability of this model and also I was curious to see how the two rival app stores could compare.
I’d love to know what your favourite apps are, covering any topics…leave them in the comments below and let me know if you try out any of my suggestions.
What is the greatest album cover ever created?*
One thing that I gained from my relationship before it ended was a new found love and respect for music. I had, up until my early twenties been an avid music listener but for various reasons it fell out of favour with me during some peaks and troughs with my mental health. Thankfully I’m over that now and music is once again a massive part of my life and thanks to spending over three years with a musician I have a new found level of respect for every aspect of the industry.
While the music on an album is of upmost importance the sleeve that holds the record gives the artist a space for artistic expression. This has always been the case- from the first microgroove long-playing phonograph that was released in 1948, through the vinyl era and on to the many CDs that you see in music stores today.
However, which is the greatest album cover that has ever been created? Managed print specialist United Carlton has attempted to find out by drawing up a shortlist of six standout examples.
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(see the cover)
What better way to kick off our list than with the cover of a Grammy-winning album that was created by art champion and director Robert Fraser? The sleeve was a combination of work by designers Jann Haworth and Peter Blake and saw more than 70 artists, writers, thinkers and figures who inspired The Beatles featured. As a subtle nod to the end of the Hard Day’s Night-fueled Beatlemania era, the cover also saw the iconic British band as they were in 1967 standing alongside their younger selves.
(see the cover)
The Beatles are the only band to make our list twice- though it shouldn’t be much of a surprise when you consider that the two album covers featured are those for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road. For the latter the famous foursome chose to part ways with simulations and instead feature themselves walking across a zebra crossing in a typical British street. It is a scene that has been replicated countless times ever since.
(see the cover)
Legendary designers Hipgnosis were the brains behind the cover for Pink Floyd’s album Dark Side Of The Moon with a single beam of light shining through a prism and forming a rainbow on the other side creating a simple yet bold look. This image was used to convey the band’s stage lighting as well as the lyrics from some of the album’s songs. It also speaks volume that despite the sleeve having no words most people instantly knows its name and the band behind it.
(see the cover)
The cover for Nirvana’s album Nevermind was apparently conceptualised after Kurt Cobain watched a programme about water births. After hiring photographer Kirk Weddle to bring the sleeve into reality the result was an innocent baby swimming underwater towards a dollar bill that was hanging from a fishhook. The rest was history.
(see the cover)
The songs featured on Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell were crazy in a good way so it was fitting that the sleeve of the record was just as brilliantly wild. Conceptualised by Jim Steinman but actually created by comic book artist Richard Corben the cover saw a motorcycle powering out of a graveyard while a giant bat loomed menacingly over the tombstones in the background.
(see the cover)
Music fans are likely to recognise the sleeve of Queen’s album Queen II as it also features in the music video for the band’s hit single Bohemian Rhapsody. The cover is a simple one with the four members of Queen standing in a diamond formation upon a black background. Rock, who also with the likes of David Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop has since being quoted as saying: “It made them look like much bigger a deal then they were at the time, but it was a true reflection of their music.
Posted in music
Rose(gold) Tinted
Over the last couple of months three new pairs of ankle boots have somehow made it in to my posession. I say somehow, I do actually know how- of course I do but I am pretending to plead ignorance because I really had no need of even one pair, let alone three!
The rose gold pair in this post were a Christmas present and I just couldn’t resist them when I first saw them in River Island. Much like with my pewter pair I was attracted to how shiny they were. That and being a typical blogger and loving all things rose gold of course! I gave them their first outing paired with a floral dress I picked up in the M&S sale. It was so nice to mainly have money for Christmas and then to be able to indulge in some guilt free sales shopping for once, especially as my income is severely lacking whilst I am still signed off from work.
Dress: Marks and Spencer (similar) | Boots: River Island (available on ASOS)
This is probably the first January in a long time where I haven’t felt resigned to “January blues”. Things might not currently be how I want them- I’m not yet back at work, I’m fighting a huge mental battle with myself each and every day and it’s sometimes overwhelming just how many changes I need to make in my life. But I have hope, for the first time in a long time I have hope that things are going to change for the positive. I have goals and direction, tangible goals at that- not huge big dreams that would be near impossible to achieve.
The first step will be a second occupational health appointment this week after the first one turned out to be well, a disaster for various reasons. I’m hoping this will set the wheels in motion for getting back to work and from that the rest is bound to follow, slowly but surely. I know what I need to do and it’s just a case of working out how best to get it done now.
It’s not all sweetness and light. A year ago today I was in the midst of moving to my flat and starting what I thought would be my new forever and of course that does get me down at times but I’ve found now that I can brush it off, remind myself of the bigger picture and muddle through the days with a smile on my face for the most part.
How are you finding January so far? And on a sartorial note how would you style up the rose gold boots?
Posted in life, life stuff, outfits, shoes, shopping