My dream job is working in a department store - I've applied twice for the John Lewis Graduate Scheme and once for a position at Selfridges as a 'superbrands sa;les consutant' on menswear at the Manchester Exchange Square branch. It seems I don't quite have the experience yet, but I've been pressing on gaining retail management skills at my current job at Majestic Wines so hopefully in the future I'l be in a better position to get to where I want to be. In the meantime I've been escaping to the magical world of the department store through the ITV drama Mr Selfridge. What I love about Selfridges is you can walk around and not even buy anything and you still feel special- honoured really by such a fabulous range of clothing and beauty products..It makes buying an outfit so much easier when you have different brands under one roof. I love how innovative and forward thinking Mr Selfridge is, and how his decisions have significantly impacted our shopping experience today- like putting beauty and perfume products on the ground floor for example.
Theres a promiscuous and charming showgirl called Ellen Love, who is undeniable beautiful and captivating. Her skin is so enviable, with a dewy luminosity, and the up dos are amazing, however I'm particularly jealous of the little beauty spots on her face., I have the odd freckle and a freeky mole on my arm but I want a beauty spot !!
I was walking through Alton on Saturday morning and went on a bit of a charity shop spree. In my hoard was the book that influenced the show (pictured above). The lady at the second hand book shop let me have it for £4.00 which I thought was well worth it.
Hello! I'm actually posting for the first time on the Weebly App. Just a few days a go I upgraded to an Iphone 5, which is great because I can blog on the go :-) Just a few things I'd love for my 24th Birthday. The trench coat is Burberry and costs a bomb so that won't be happening but I'm sure I can find a similar one somewhere. I'd quite happiliy settle for for a Khaki Army style jacket as I've been wanting one for ages! The perfume is super cheap so I'm probably just gonna order this on Amazon to replace the Chanel that I drenched myself in over xmas. The Dr Martens are similar to the classic black patent leather ones which I've had before and loved. Docs are so versitile, comfy and long lasting it would be silly to miss out on these bad boys in the sale (£55) I saw a lot of crushed velvet boots and loafers in the Dr Martens shop in Liverpool a few months back and really liked them, I just hope they are going to be as easy to clean etc. Lastly is a backpack, preferable denim or clear plastic, the one pictured is American Apparel and is super cute in my opinion. I'm fed up of carrying around a crappy Primark over the shoulder jobby and would much prefer something practical for work/general use.
P.S I'm loving the Pic Collage app...how easy and effective!
Actually I kind of wish everyday was like today as I wasn't in work! It was instead spent with my lovely landlady. We got up bright and early (I had my usual wholemeal/wholegrain type of breakfast which is Weetabix or Toast) and I kept her company at some offices she went to clean. We thought it was best to go before more snow came...hopefully it will be all clear by tomorrow as its getting a bit boring now! She works in the gym as well in Winchester so I went a long to do a bit of calorie burning in the afternoon for free! I felt really energised and refreshed afterwards, I need to keep reminding myself of this feeling when I loose motivation..... Afterwards we went to a little cafe near the cathedral where I had some divine tea >>>>>> I love rose water and it tasted exactly like Turkish Delight.
Finally we nipped into Debenhams, where I soon found out that Suzi knew a lady behind the Clarins counter. She seems to know so many people, which is great because I need to start making friends down here. * cue the violins* anyway! Got a sweet bag of freebies including a body lotion and 'early wrinkle correction cream', which seems a bit extreme seen as I'm only 23 but I might as well get a head of the game. I'm going try and use it every morning as instructed and I'l report back if there's any difference!
Chances are you probably are because we're all guilty of being lazy b*!@*rds at some point or other, or in some cases so busy that we've not put enough thought into planning how to action stuff. What I'm referring to is being eco-friendly and doing 'our bit' for the planet. Recyling, reusing, upcycling or however else you want to dress it up, has been drummed into us for that long in so many different forms of marketing we neglect what its all about. And it doesn't help that we're not really told we're doing enough or making a difference. Subsequently we've become lazy and I think its time we started really being proactive on daily basis, if not for the environment but for our own pockets.
If any of you appreciate British designers then Vivienne Westwood's 2013 campaign for a Revolution might influence you, here are the 10 principles:
HOW TO JOIN THE REVOLUTION
1) Money is a means to an end, not an end in itself. 2) Quality v Quantity. 3) Buy less, choose well, make it last (we don't want the "latest thing" just for the sake of it). "I never waste money, I spend it" – Oscar Wilde. Maybe you'll give a donation to an NGO or charity. 4) Prepare and cook your own food. 5) Cut out plastic when possible, for instance making a plastic bottle consumes 50 times the amount of water than it contains. 6) Inform yourselves. 7) NGO's: there are thousands, follow one in particular and give your support. You will learn a lot. 8) Consider the responsibility of not having or having children. 9) Take an active part in the Revolution as it starts to build. 10) Engage in art and culture (get off the consumer treadmill; discriminate, don't suck up).
Points 4, 5 and 10 particularly strike a chord with me, and I'm already actively doing these things anyway. I'm a massive advocate of cooking your own food., which was recently reinforced by living in Barcelona. It was amazing to have access to so many cheap fruit and veg shops, literally on every corner. And they were so helpful, say if you wanted half a watermelon they would chop it and wrap it up for you at no extra cost. I could get a massive bag of different things for 10 euros which would last all week. This convenience, paired with the lack of quality vege meat substitutes meant cooking from fresh every day. :-D awesome! Just planning your meals and cooking from fresh helps when keeping an inventory of what food you have, and this is massively important considering food prices are set to rise by 5% this year. The 'Tonight' programme that aired on the 17th January on ITV revealed that up to half the food we buy is wasted and the average British family throws away upto £680 worth of food every year.
'The fight is no longer between the classes or between rich and poor but between the idiots and the eco conscious' Vivienne Westwood, 2013
Or maybe your a bit of a crafty bugger at heart and what to make some nice useful things for around your home and garden. If so check out 'La Bioguia' on Facebook, for a constant feed of ingenious ideas from around the world.
www.facebook.com/LaBioguia
I think what we can all relate too is wanting to save money, and adopting some of these 'revolutionary changes' will surely push us into the right direction.
I'm pretty pleased about supporting my local charity shop, Age Concern. Its a tiny cave full of gems, and no wonder with the demographic of people in the vicinity. I went in a week ago just after Christmas and the shop was packed full of stuff that people had dropped of. I wish I had a little bit more money asI would have bought more things but hay-ho I got a few bits. Firstly the Pezzetti coffee maker, which I'm yet to use. It cost £4.99 and would usually cost £14.00 brand new. I need to buy some loose coffee and then I can be transported back to the Barcelona days. I'd never really used one before I moved there but I soon came to realise that such item is common place in Spanish kitchens. You really cant beat the smell of fresh coffee in the morning. :o)
The second is the David Attenborough Life on Air book which was £2..99, which I'm finding really interesting as I'm learning about the BBC and the massive cameras they had to use in the 1950's, which needed to be a yard away from you to get a close up shot.
<<<<< An Emitron Camera at Alexandra Place, where the BBC began telecasting in 1936.
Lastly is the Jungle Book mug which was free and is an absolute bonus ball as I loved the film as child. weeeee!
Me and Phill became 'eggulars' of this place simply because it offers good tasty vegetarian food at a decent price. The photo doesn't do it much justice but all the artwork on the wall is original and available to buy. The menu is 100% vegetarian which is a bonus ball for me as I'm usually restricted to 1 or 2 options. The service isn't exactly great (you have to help yourself to cutlery etc and go back with your pudding token) but that kind of adds to its charm.
WARNING! Stay away if you don't like pretentiousarts-y knob heads in important meetings or 'photography' students talking about some great night out they had.
Whos seen Bowies new freeky video for 'Where are we now?'.... First heard the song last week on Radio 2 and I wasn't that struck, its basically a few chords and feels a bit dreary but seeing the lyrics in the video it kind of makes more sense and gets you thinking about life etc. It also reminds me of a Morrissey track...Come Back to Camden. Its so different to some of his upbeat stuff but what do we expect from a 60odd year old man. I do love his older more up-tempo stuff like Lets Dance, mainly because it reminds me of a lame DS game I used to play years ago called Elite Beats Agents.. check it out!! I've already planned to go and see his exhibition at the V&A in March, which will showcase costumes and fashion amongst other things, which I'm pretty excited about! not sure if I'l be preordering his album... maybe Johnny Marrs though :-P