Lifestyle | Adventure Across Town

Today was very grey and dull outside but I didn't want to give in to the British weather so I wrapped up in a cozy jumper, my big parka jacket I got in Berlin and a blanket scarf like a lost eskimo. There is a retail park on the outskirts of Norwich called Longwater which has The Range, Next (with Costa), Staples, Argos and lots of other shops to amble around in but I particularly wanted to go to The Range. I'm not sure if they're everywhere but they are similar to B&M and Home Bargains I think. Really I was going to look at the stationery as I needed a cutting board and a case for my Kindle but I came away with neither.

One of the best benefits of retail parks is they often have coffee shops with great seating to watch the world go by. Although my seat overlooked the car park (I grabbed these seats after they cleared the table) the view past was of fields and trees, very relaxing. The Next there is massive and houses a home section and a clothes department with a great Petite selection too, great for shorties like me. I bought a set of rose gold rings which I'm apprehensive about using until I've coated the inside but they are so shiny! 

Apologies for the poor lighting here, taken in the evening and I haven't arranged a light box just yet.

I popped into town after the retail park since I had a voucher for the Intu Chapelfield mall and wanted to get The Martian, alas it isn't out until tomorrow but I did get Jurassic World and Mad Max Fury Road instead. Whilst in town I went into the House Of Fraser Paperchase (Geez Claire have some self control) and they had stickers for 25p! I clearly didn't resist, below is the result of this.

.DECOR. New Home

I've been super busy with moving house and setting up for final hand-in of my final year at University so blogging has been a little bit of a low priority recently. Despite this, I have managed to make myself a little cozy space in my room to relax and also to study. As you can see above, I have my desk with the duck egg lamp still but with the new addition of a cream leather office recliner chair (£70 Groupon deal, also available at Amazon). It looks fabulous with my faux fur throw.

I've jazzed up my desk area with a few framed letters which now live on the shelf next to the desk as I wanted more room. I have chosen a gold/copper palette as it goes with the orange accents I already have (including some gorgeous cushions I'll post about later). My new bed is the day bed I spoke of in a previous post, it is actually far nicer than the double bed as the back frame is ideal for propping cushions on to make a relaxing seating space.

Last but not least my clock, duck egg to match my lamp and gorgeous bold numbers to contrast.

With all the buzzing about getting ready to move I've been keeping an eye out for some decor inspiration. I'm graduating this Summer and hope I'll be moving out of this new home and into one with my boyfriend. Something I love personally is to see others ideas for a beautiful house so here is my little two cents of a beautiful place. I definitely want something neutral and serene with a sharp injection of colour.

Source

Scandinavian design is so homely but sophisticated too. Personally I like a mixture of classic faux fur and warm browns or greys alongside mid-twentieth century furniture. Natural wood in abstract simplistic shapes, much like the chair these throws are laid on.

The 1950's in English interiors are another delight well worth delving into, with duck egg and other beautiful warm pastel shades to add femininity and a place of complete relaxation. To add a modern feel you can't go wrong with copper accents, a massive trend right now.

Source a. - Source b. - Source c.

The best part of these simple palettes is the variety of accessories that will fit into them, mixing geometric patterns with classic illustrations in ornate frames or some bold typographical motivation posters. My design heart is a-flutter (if that is a thing?).

{LIFESTYLE} Walker

This Bank holiday Monday I decided it was too beautiful of a day to sit inside. Rather than head to town where it would be full of shoppers I walked to the station and caught a train to Berney Arms, a rural stop in Norfolk so I could walk to Great Yarmouth from there. I'd never done this walk before, but it seemed an easy one to do solo and a chance for delightful fresh air and great views. It is surprising how soothing it is just to be outside in the sun surrounded by wildlife and the stretches of countryside.

At times it was a bit breezy as you can probably tell from the photo of me here, alas that is the coast for you! If you need something free and therapeutic to do alone or with loved ones, walking is an ideal solution. I'm fortunate I live in Norfolk, quite a rural area with plenty of trails to follow but it is easy to check them out routes near you online, many train stations have maps too. I walked about 10 miles yesterday and feel I got a great work out from this mentally and physically, I got to see lots of cute dogs and birds too.

I'd recommend investing in comfortable shoes, sun cream and wearing some leg covering like jeans or leggings to protect from long grass. It is also a good idea to take some snacks and a good size bottle of water.

LIFESTYLE// WAGAMAMA'S & SUCH

Had a bit of a lovely day. Spent yesterday evening and today with my boyfriend, with our usual weekend jaunts. I work Sundays and he works evenings which means we tend to only have one night a week with each other. Today he treated me to a meal at Wagamama's in Norwich. It was so delicious, though I am eating super healthy at the moment so this was a little off plan but I always forget just how tasty their food is. I highly recommend the Teriyaki Chicken Donburi which has shredded chicken, carrots, onions, greens, rice and teriyaki sauce on a bed of sticky rice. It comes with Kimchi but I'm not a fan of the saltiness of it so that was left aside ;).

We bumbled around and I saw so many awesome bargains, especially in perfume stores and House of Fraser's clothing section. I dunno if it is because it is nearly Summer and every one is wanting to smell nice heh but it is definitely worth checking out the sales on the perfume counters.

It is a delight to see so many pretty pastel bags around this season, plenty of cute new styles too! I am steering clear of spending on bags unless it is a backpack for Uni after my splurge on the Fossil one. I did however grab a copy of the first two Poldark books from WHSmiths for buy one get one half price, great way to get started on reading them as I love the TV series and I'm so picky when it comes to choosing what I read.

Do you have any books to recommend that you've read recently? Would love some ideas in the comments!

LIFESTYLE// WHAT TO BUY | AMAZON

For Christmas my Aunt was very generous and gave me a £25 Amazon gift voucher. I had so many things in mind to buy, most of my gifts this year after all came from my Amazon Gift Wishlist but I left it a week so I could mull it over instead of the usual impulse buying on Christmas day (might be just me that does that heh). I know many folks will be starting up that yearly favourite of getting active at the start of January but I already have quite a few of my fitness outfits and the like from doing it regularly so here is what I got to supplement them.

These seem to be everywhere at the moment but I love the idea of making a real quick smoothie for on the go, great for breakfast time especially when I'm in a rush to go to University. The Blend Active for those that don't know is a blender where you place the cup on top, it blends and you take the cup with you instead of messy pouring and lots of washing up. This model was £20 on offer from Amazon.

My other buy was these snazzy Panasonic sports earphones. I hate running with normal earphones or headphones as big ones get sweaty and little ones fall out all the time which really puts me off. These were a bargain for only £5, I believe they are going for about £7.99 in HMV if you prefer to buy from the high street. Hoping that these will last as my previous pair (not same brand) had one earphone not working which honestly isn't great when you're missing half of Bohemian Rhapsody because one side is silent.

Why not comment with your favourite Amazon purchase recently?

LIFESTYLE// WAY TO GO 2015

2015 is starting on a good note. I've spent the day trekking in to town to see my boyfriend, taking a little walk along the riverside and starting up my workout schedule for this month. I'm hoping I'll have time to blog more this year as it is a lovely wee side project to be creative but mostly right now I need to crack on with my dissertation (as you can see above).

I hope you all have a brilliant year, let's make it a great one.

Scarf ASOS | Jacket MANGO | Leggings TU

LIFESTYLE// LOOKING FORWARD

Being that it is the final hours of 2014 here in England it seems right to dedicate this post to some iconic ladies that I hope will influence me in 2015.

Audrey Hepburn has always been a style icon but recently more so after watching a documentary about her life. She was strong and vibrant, most of all she was a kind and gentle lady. I aspire to such wonderful attributes and hope 2015 will let me embrace these aspirations. So from Audrey I hope to take style and ladylike tendencies.

Angelina Jolie is an incredible woman. Known very much for her acting and a slightly over published marriage there is so much more to her. She is an ambassador for brilliant charities and speaks loudly for those that can't have a voice in the international aid meets. Once again she has grown to be a very elegant and intelligent person that I can only hope to become. Obviously I cannot become part of a UN effort to change the world but I definitely want to do more for charities I believe in and that is what I hope to take from Angelina in 2015.

Jennifer Lawrence is a beautiful woman that speaks her mind. She embraces who she is and isn't afraid to let people know that she doesn't conform if it makes her unhappy. In 2015 I want to be more open about what I want, I spend a lot of time trying to make every one feel comfortable, disregarding my own needs quite frequently. From Jennifer I want to take her strength of character, ability to speak her mind and determination to fulfil projects (her movie roles) as affectively as possible.

LIFESTYLE// 101 in 1001 GALLERY MOCKINGJAY

This post is a little late but I've been so distracted recently. Me and my sister went a few weeks back to see The Hunger Games Mockingjay part 1. As part of my 101 in 1001 I was eager to try out Gallery seating that ODEON offer. The price of the ticket was £20 each but it included unlimited nachos, popcorn and drink which to be fair evens out the price completely considering a standard ticket was £12 (price due to it being week of release).

The seating was amazing, the seats were comfortable and spacious with a small table space beside it allowing plenty of room for all the snacks. The view from the seating is always best as it is towards the back of the cinema, meaning no neck ache. On arrival at the Gallery lounge there is seating with magazines to read, a bar for drinks of all kinds and you can dispense fizzy drinks for yourself with unlimited top ups. The only downside to our visit was the popcorn was kept in a cabinet so wasn't as fresh and warm as usual but still tasty.

I won't talk about the movie much as I'm sure there are still folk that have yet to see it but I would recommend it if you enjoyed the previous movies.

FASHION&LIFESTYLE// KNIT FOR WINTER

So this may seem an unlikely post for your modern fashion blogger, however I think the past decade has seen such a rise in thrifty living with programmes similar to Kirstie's Fill Your House For Free being quite the sensation. Knitting is a very therapeutic past time and though it is associated with elderly ladies it is quite accessible as any one can do it with some practice. Winter is on its way and so I've been re-learning how to knit, though I've never been amazing at it I feel my current attempt is going so well.

One of my 101 in 1001 challenges is to knit a scarf so I've been working on this one, guided by a magazine I bought a while ago, only £2.99 and it came with wool, needles and guides on how to knit. The magazine is called Knit & Stitch in association with Bergere de France. I'm so excited to try and create cardigans or sweaters ready for Winter, hopefully saving myself some cash. I know there are plenty of patterns online to try and tutorials on Youtube. I'd highly recommend you check them out if you find yourself bored in the evenings.

LIFESTYLE// DESK SPACE

So my desk looks a little cluttered right now but it can't be helped when I have my gaming PC at the side. I'm working on making a corner screen/board to hide the unsightly monitor and speakers but for now it has some cute Paperchase paper covering the monitor. As you can see I have my Fox & Star weekly planner in pride of place and my Mac Book Pro which I use mainly for my Graphic Design degree but on occasion blogging too. My intention is to cut down on clutter (though the coffee cup is necessary for concentration of course) and to create a more dynamic pin board for ideas etc.

I recently got this gorgeous duck egg blue lamp too, ideally I wanted a floor standing lamp as I find they take up a fair bit of room but this one is great as it has a pose able stem and a tilting top for optimum lighting. I found it quite funny that it ties in with the Paperchase paper I used on my monitor.

LIFESTYLE// DESIGN MATTERS AT JOHN LEWIS

John Lewis is a store familiar to most folk, a shop perhaps considered relevant to the 30+ market, but with their celebration collection (celebrating 150 years of JL) they've really shown how on trend they are even to the younger home makers. With the blogging era in full swing it has become even more important to have a beautiful home as so many people all over the world may be looking at it. Obviously it is most important to make a home out of your house, John Lewis' products really excel at this with their luxury quality and exquisite design. Right now their window displays are perfect to me, they touch on the stylish 50's and 60's attempts at futurism and also embrace nature with woodland pattern and textures.

The design team clearly have an in-depth understanding of colour trends, mixing warm neutrals with touches of warm yellows and hints of red. Many stores also over look the importance of texture and in each window you see a combination of at least three. I would love to have my own place and some disposable income to invest in their fabulous range of products, alas it shall have to wait.

LIFESTYLE// GAME ON

Part of my 101 in 1001 is to finish a certain amount of my video games. Now I know these aren't a necessity in life and are often a distraction from work etc. but they really relax me and give me a clear head ready to be creative.

Here's my list of to-do, some of which are completed but not 100% of collectibles have been picked up:

BEAUTY&LIFESTYLE// LOOK DAY

Today's make up, sorry it isn't very clear took the photo with my Macbook. It was inspired by Laura Shynn's Fall Copper 2014 look. I met up with my friend of many years today, Katie, to give her some books I was clearing out and to catch up over coffee.

I found some adorable cards in an independent store on Upper Goat Lane. I'm smitten with cute cat characters and woodland creature decorative art so I bought these lovely cards which I might keep in some clip frames for now. You can find these on sale at Ella Goodwin's site. We did plenty of window shopping including looking at so many nice pairs of shoes, the brown boots below are from FLY, a gorgeous footwear range that are made from leather and at a high standard of tailoring. The cat pair are by irregular choice, I love their eclectic decor in the store too with a giant tiger head display and loads of faux flower arrangements.

Norwich has some amazing stores, with unique and quite eccentric interiors. I adore The Book Hive, a brilliant treasure hidden not so subtly on London Street. Their window display seems to change on a weekly basis and is full of strange paraphernalia, beautiful books and sometimes elaborate illustrations, like a gallery in its own right. The hanging sculpture below is from the top floor of their store, I recommend highly you visiting them if you are ever in Norwich. Finally the bottom photo is from White Stuff's window, I love their current experimentation of type used in their displays. The type is created in collaboration with Olivia Whitworth.

LIFESTYLE// PLANNING W/FOX&STAR

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." - Benjamin Franklin

This time of year there is a flourish of fresh faced students with bags packed with shiny new supplies ready to take on another year of preparing for their futures. For me this will be my final year at my University and that in itself is scary. Fear is mostly that of the unknown, going towards uncertainty. To tackle this I am armed with some shockingly stunning new planners, ones that make my inner creative beam with delight. I recently stumbled upon a store I'd never seen before, Fox & Star, which sells an array of beautiful stationery. They know the current trends for sure with designs from the absolute minimal (think IKEA minimal) to fun handwritten and illustrated cheerful ones.

Little note inside the 2014 Minimal Planner

As you can see from my photographs I opted for the 2014 Minimal Planner S in a pastel pink, which has 12 months of weekly pages and 31 weeks of monthly pages all blank, allowing you to write in your own dates so there is no wastage when purchasing mid-way through the year. I also bought their The Weekly Times desk planner as it will help me make notes whilst I work at home and give me no excuse for forgetting to do work I need to do.

My experience shopping with Fox & Star was amazing. I bought something one afternoon and it was with me the next morning, packaged in a sturdy card parcel. The notebook had a little personalised tag attached to string wrapped around the notebook, it felt like a gift from a friend more than a purchase. I would recommend them to all lovers of note making, list making, washi tape and planning.

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