Tavistock Square

 Until September, I had never set foot in Tavistock Square, but I seem to keep finding myself there. Tucked away behind Tottenham Court Road, and home to one of the best Starbucks' in Central, it's handily located in between Connor's, my Mum's and Daphne's Universitys, so it's the perfect place for lunch break catch ups.

On this occasion Connor and I took our beverages (a Caramel Macchiato for him and a Hot Apple Chai for me) into the square itself, for a few moments peace amongst the craziness of central London. There are a lot of these big squares hidden amongst the streets in Central, but a lot of them are private gardens. Tavistock Square is one of the exceptions, but it's a well kept secret, not like Soho Square which is always teaming with people.

 We wondered amongst the trees and pigeons (oh the romance), and had a small run in with a very brave squirrel, that decided to climb Connors leg in search of food. I love admiring the trees at this time of year, they look so beautiful as they start to turn.

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know I'm pretty obsessed with this scarf right now. It's a chunky mustard knit that's so long it wraps around my neck twice with enough left to dangle. It's so cosy and the perfect antidote to the biting October wind that has appeared over the last few days.

I get a bit plaid-obsessive round this time of year, and I've been looking for new ways to wear it (other than all the scarves and shirts I normally reach for). I found this skirt in Sainsbury's of all places and I love it, I feel like a character from Gossip Girl when I wear it. 

Think this is the last time I'll be heading out without a proper coat for a while, it's so chilly out!

TOP - TOPSHOP // SKIRT - TU AT SAINSBURY'S // SCARF - ZARA // JACKET - NEW LOOK // BAG - PULL & BEAR // BOOTS - PRIMARK

Not A Hat Person

 This hat was purchased on a whim (pushed by Daphne), on a day where I thought I could be like a proper blogger. I would wear a floppy wide brim hat, prance around London eating macarons, and taking perfect Insta-snaps of blooming cherry blossoms. What I failed to realise was that the blooms have long gone, I don't like macarons, and, alas, I don't look good in hats.

I'm not quite sure what it is, but I just don't feel comfortable in hats. I plop anything, a beanie or a sunhat on my head, and instantly become awkward and weird and kind of like Chandler when he's in front of a camera. It's not a good look. 

What this means is that, sadly, I can count the number of times this hat has made it passed the front door of my flat on one hand.

I've not quite grasped dressing for this weird in between season yet. England can't seem to make up it's mind what the weather will be like, so stepping outside means preparing for brisk winds and overcast skies, random patches of blistering sun, and the occasional downpour. I think the key is layers, I had a denim jacket and sunglasses in my bag, and both came in handy throughout the day.

I'm also not so good at dressing for the casual days. I've always been a jeans and a tee sorta gal, but these days I want to feel a little more put together, even if I'm only popping to Starbucks for a Lime Refresha, or out for a picnic lunch with The Boy. This is one of my only go to outfits for such occasions!

TOP - MANGO // SKIRT - PRIMARK // HANDBAG - URBAN OUTFITTERS // BELT - ASOS // SANDALS - PRIMARK // HAT - H&M // BRACELET - TIFFANY & CO

Magic Hour

 I've been kinda silent on this corner of the interweb recently, for which I apologise profusely. With only a few days to go until my final ever deadline, I've really only been leaving my desk for coffee, not a life that makes for interesting reading about.

On Wednesday evening I had ticked off everything on my to do list for the day, and instead of powering on with Thursday's to do list, I decided to grab my camera, and head to the park with my lovely friend & neighbour Aftab. We ended up in the park right around that so called 'magic hour', there was a haze in the air, clear skies and the sun was positively golden. It made for a pretty beautiful view, watching the sun dip behind the tree line on the far side of the park. 

We snapped some photos and aside from the sun definitely highlighting the fact that my roots desperately needed doing, I think the warm glow made them look lovely! 

As you can see, I'm still struggling to dress for this weather. I almost breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when I opened the curtains and saw rain, and was reaching for leggings, boots and a chunky knit before The Boy was even out of bed. I'm going shopping with my mama tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to find some more weather appropriate outfits! I ended up wearing these printed trousers from Zara which I absolutely love, they're the only pair of printed trousers I've found that seem to flatter my body shape. They're really easy to dress up or down, and they're perfect for that warm but not sweltering 20 degree weather we've been having in London. I prefer how they look with heels, but that didn't seem appropriate for a park jaunt! 

TOP - MONKI // TROUSERS - ZARA // DENIM JACKET - ASOS // SHOES - PRIMARK // CLUTCH - FOSSIL // WATCH - SKAGEN // SUNGLASSES - MICHAEL KORS // LEATHER BRACELETS - PANDORA // RING - ACCESSORIZE // HANDBAG - MICHAEL KORS

A Night On The Thames

When the lovely Katy asked me if I wanted to be her date for a Bond night on the river Thames, I'll admit, I was hesitant to accept. Not because I don't like Katy (she's a total babe), or because a night of free drinks and casino fun didn't sound good, but because it involved leaving the house after six pm. Anyone who knows me even a little could tell you that I'm generally not a fan of any plan that means I'm not in bed with my bra and makeup off by 8pm. But, you've gotta step out of your comfort zone every now and then, so I said yes.

Friday night I headed down to Temple dock early to meet Katy, and snap some outfit photos before boarding the floating casino. 

 Since I've explained to you that I'm not exactly the biggest party animal, it should come as no surprise that I had literally nothing to wear. I'm not even kidding, the last time I bought a dress for going out was before my eighteenth birthday...so yeah. Finding an outfit was a struggle.

I had a look on ASOS and a brief look on the high street, but I couldn't find a single dress that I liked that wasn't staggeringly expensive. So I had to improvise.

I pulled out a dress from my wardrobe, this gorgeous floaty number that I've had since I was about sixteen. It's a bit short for me now, and it's VERY booby, so I layered it over a plain black tshirt so I wasn't exposed, and a black body con skirt with a lace trim. The skirt didn't really add any length, but it meant if I bent over or the wind blew my skirt up, I was protected! I actually love how the lace looked peaking out under my skirt!

I added a belt I think I picked up from Primark, but I don't really remember (are you getting the gist of how old this stuff is? I need to go out more...), which I like to think made it a touch more my style, which is definitely black studs than floaty dresses. I chucked on my pleather/cotton jacket which has a cute floaty front, but is also super warm, and my favourite sparkly shoes. These things are what heart eyed emojis were made for, they're beyond gorgeous. They were also VERY dusty, I had to give them a good clean before I went out. 

 I had planned to take a clutch, but at the last minute decided against it so I could take flats and my big camera. I ended up using the bag I bought for Disneyland, it's such a great bag, small and compact, goes with everything, and fits so much in it! A real life Mary Poppins bag.

I think this outfit kinda goes to show you don't need to spend a fortune every time you go out!

DRESS - APRICOT // SKIRT - H&M // BELT - PRIMARK // JACKET - NEW LOOK // SHOES - MISS KG BY KURT GEIGER // BAG - H&M

We boarded the boat and set sail at around 8pm, prosecco in hand! I'd never thought of doing a river cruise before, but the views were fantastic. We saw all the usual suspects from the Houses of Parliament right out to the O2 Arena, in the disappearing daylight, and all lit up at night. I spent a fair amount of time out on deck just admiring the views!

We had drinks and a little flutter on the roulette table, we ate lots of food and chatted about everything from blogging to living arrangements, and ended the night with a little dance sesh. I met some beautiful blogging ladies and just generally had a pretty awesome time! 

Be sure to check out these lovely ladies blogs, and thank you to Ladbrokes for a great night!

Katy, Lucy, Natasha, Milli, Emma, Charlie!

Turning 21

 I was pretty nervous about turning 21, in my head, 21 is a PROPER adult, no getting away with being a teenager anymore. But in actual fact, when it got to the big day, I was less stressed about getting old than I was last year! I was lucky enough to be able to bag the day off on my birthday this year, despite it falling midweek, and the boyfriend managed to steal some time away too. What resulted was a very chilled out day indeed!

I Am Not A Fashion Blogger

 This week I played fashion photographer for my friend Aftab, and his humongous wardrobe, and after three hours of posing and two large coffees, he insisted on snapping a few pictures of me. Now I can take selfies with my friends and snap pictures of my makeup until the cows come home, but try and take pictures of my outfits and I freeze up.

I can't smile, I don't know what to do with my arms, I awkwardly cross my legs over to hide my giant ballet thighs. It's a problem. I'm working on it.

The other thing is I tend to either like my outfit, makeup or hair. Sometimes two but never all three. You can see that here I've put very little effort into my makeup, and I've relied on a braid to save me from my bad hair day. Braids are the best for these kinda days!

I'm trying to introduce a few 'smartish' pieces into my wardrobe at the moment, or at least items of clothing that make me look like I've made an effort when I really haven't. This top was a Primark find, but the quality is actually really nice. I'm pretty sure I've never paid £12 for something from Primark before, but this definitely feels nicer than most of their stuff! I normally shy away from tops with collars like this, being the proud owner of pretty generous basoomas, they aren't always the most flattering, but with the right bra this definitely works. I love that this looks like a shirt and jumper layered, it's kind of taken the effort out of outfits for me! Pair it with some skinny jeans and I'm done! It has this annoying habit of blowing up and making me look with child in the wind, but I can overlook that!

I ended up with these shoes after wearing these shoes out and not being able to stomach it any longer. They were meant to be a cheap stopgap for my bleeding feet, but I actually quite like them, and they're surprisingly comfortable. I'm not normally into loafers but I think the loafer/ballet slipper mix makes them a little more wearable for me!

 WHAT I WORE

TOP - PRIMARK | JEANS - TOPSHOP | SHOES - H&M | HANDBAG - MICHAEL KORS | NECKLACE - H&M | LIPS - NYX BUTTER GLOSS IN PEACH COBBLER

Date Night & Outfit Details!

Three days of posting in a row, I'm on a roll here people! 

Yesterday the boy and I headed out on our first date in months, it's been a really busy time with Uni work, and we wanted to spend some time together before I leave for my little Christmas vacation on Friday.

I am a massive fan of The Hobbit (the book AND the movie) so it seemed appropriate that we go and catch a showing of the third installment, The Battle of Five Armies. We very very rarely go to the cinema when we are in London, with prices sitting around the £12 a ticket mark, it's just too expensive to make a regular habit! One of our local cinemas in Bournemouth does £5 tickets on Tuesday's, with a free upgrade to premier seats, much easier to stomach (and it leaves more money for snacks!).

The movie was amazing, I love The Hobbit movies so much, I could watch them over and over, and I definitely chowed down on my fill of popcorn (sweet of course), and got my drink in the best novelty cups ever. I love the Madagascar movies (I do a great impression of King Julien), so I obviously had to buy the kids popcorn combo that came with this penguin cup! Too cute to pass up.

As always, our plans went a little wonky, and we had to scrap our plans to get dinner out after the movie (I wanted to head to Giraffe, their edamame is the bomb), but the perks of having a boyfriend whose parents own a restaurant means we got to swing by on our way home and pick up food. I had the filet of beef with mash and pancetta, sauteed spinach and mushrooms and it was like heaven. If you're local to the Bournemouth area, I may be biased but I firmly believe that Breeze do the best steak!

I got The Boy to snap a few pictures of my outfit, unfortunately most of them were blurry (amateur photographer problems!), but a few were salvagable. I've been wanting to show you guys this skirt in action for ages, it's such a beaut! It's from Zara, it's a pleather zip-up bodycon skirt with this rose stitching detail. I like it because it adds a little texture to a plain outfit! I paired it with a super soft grey sweater, from Gap of all places, & Primark Super Cosy Tights (these rarely leave my legs this time of year). 

A lot of my accessories are from Primark too, the necklace is a recent find (I wanted something flashy for Christmas), the boots too, they're super comfy! And the bag is also from Primark! I don't normally go for Primark bags, but this was such a bargain, six pounds, it's little but it fits a whole lot in and I love the rose gold hardware. 

The Zebra bracelet is a favourite of mine from the old Anna Della Russo H&M collaboration, it's definitely an acquired taste but I love it, and I always get so many compliments on it! Sometimes it's nice to wear something a little different!

Not the most exciting outfit, but it's simple, comfy and winter appropriate! I didn't even need a coat!

A Day In Brighton

 Tuesday morning the Boy and I woke at an ungodly hour and headed for Victoria, and caught the first train after rush hour to Brighton. Neither of us had been before, so we were excited to have a bit of an explore. We got off the train and headed straight to the beach, both of us grew up near the sea and miss it in London, so we were pumped to be breathing in the fresh sea air again.

Turns out Brighton Beach doesn't have a patch on Bournemouth beach, it's got stones, dirty water and tacky tourist attractions, we were feeling pretty smug with our white sand, clear water and unspoilt cliffside. But it was nice to feel the wind in my hair, and breath in the salty air.

We grabbed a light lunch in Bread and Milk, on recommendation of Tami, a cute little hipster cafe, before hitting the shops. We weren't majorly successful and left without many bags, but it was nice to explore a few different shops. I've heard a lot from bloggers and friends about Brighton, and the shopping in the Laines, but if I'm honest, I didn't think it was anything special, and it was a lot smaller than I expected! Maybe we are spoilt for choice living in London, but there wasn't really anything we couldn't get in London.

Late afternoon we had coffee & a catchup with a very good friend from back home, before grabbing a speedy dinner at Bills. The boy had never been before but he very much enjoyed his chicken and chorizo burger. I went for my long standing favourite, the Chipotle half chicken with sweet potato fries and slaw, deeeeelish. I love the atmosphere in Bills, it's cosy and friendly, and I can't fault the service we had!

I went for comfort over style outfit-wise, my trusty Topshop Leigh jeans that are incredibly soft and comfortable. On top I wore a white Mango shirt that has a silk panel on the front, making it a little fancier than your standard white tee, with a black cardi for extra warmth. I took my new Zara coat for a spin, and my god it's the warmest thing I've ever owned, and so cosy. I had my H&M scarf in my bag and I'm glad cause I definitely needed it! Shoe-wise I opted for my Nike 7.0's which are the most comfortable things I've ever owned. My bag was an Urban Outfitters sale find from a few years back, it's real leather and was £20 down from £110. It holds a ton without being big and bulky.

I don't think that Brighton was for us, the Boy definitely didn't like it, but we had an great day together!

 This photo totally sums up how the boyfriend felt about Brighton!