coffee, Coppola, cake and artist's journals

Bonsoir! I went into Newcastle with a couple of the girls for lunch and to try and make the most of my day off. While walking down Grey Street I noticed a new bakery has opened, Ma Provence. Unfortunately we had already stopped for lunch so I did not get to sample anything. I have to say that their gaufre chocolat looked (and smelled) AMAZING!! I did manage to grab a coffee to go, and I'll definitely be stopping by next time I get a chance! The French theme reminded me of a gorgeous book I found in a charity shop for £1 a little while ago.



It's a biography of Marie Antoinette and I love the patterned cover. It reminded me of a collaboration by various artists which was released to coincide with the release of Sofia Coppola's film. I stumbled across the project online while researching journal artists during my final year of A-Level. The result was an amazing journal filled with gorgeous pages of Marie Antoinette inspired pieces.

Some of my favourite pages where these below by Anahata Katkin





Looking through the images made me want to return to Sofia Coppola's gorgeous cinematography. Whether or not you enjoyed the movie itself, you can't deny that aesthetically it is beautiful.

chic and grown up

This week was the lovely J's birthday. On a similar note to lady-like dressing, she demonstrated that manners cost nothing by sending everyone who wished her happy birthday a thank you card or messages of thanks. It's nice to be nice.


As I've already mentioned, I've been attracted more and more to work wear. I feel as if I'm moving towards a more grown up and chic style. These babies are my latest purchase and I'm already in love. At 4 inches the heel is a perfect height for day time or evening wear. I also picked up a great grey wool skirt from H&M which i think is going to be a great, and a cute basic black dress. There's something very elegant about dressing smartly for work, and I think it affects your attitude towards work. I am a firm believer that you are more focussed and work harder when you're properly attired.

Jack Kerouac's On the Road

"the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn"






On a similar theme to yesterday's bookish post, two of my favourite books: Jack Kerouac's On the Road, and F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, are about to be adapted into film. (I'll probably post more on The Great Gatsby soon as it deserves more that just a passing mention being one of my favourite novels!) Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy films but it is sometimes a little bit heartbreaking to see one of your favourite reads recreated as a less than adequate film. I have my fingers crossed and I'm hoping these two will not disappoint! I think the casting for both sounds amazing for both, and was pleasantly surprised by how much I agree with the choices of actors! I can't wait to see the trailers. What are your thoughts on film adaptations of book? Any favourites?

October issues

Being a regular reader of Vogue and Elle, there are not many other magazines which I buy. This month though I couldn't resist getting my hands on Harper's Bazaar after seeing photos of the Alexa Chung shoot. My favourite has got to be the blue Burberry dress. Love.







Ordinarily I would always say the September issues are my favourite, but this year I think I'm actually preferring the October issues. I particularly liked the feature on the English Woman in Vogue. One of the featured actresses, Felicity Jones had a particularly inspiring article. When referring to her bookish habits she remarked 'I stopped looking at the free papers because I realised I might die without having read War and Peace'. It suddenly made me realise that since I've graduated I'm not reading enough (obviously not including the books I've had to read over the past couple of weeks for reviews for The Crack Magazine and North East Lifestyle). So I've come to a decision to try and read for at least an hour a day in the hope that the pile of books I want to read will start to get a little smaller...

Natalia Vodianova's White Fairy Tale Love Ball

This is the first dress was that Valentino Garavani has made since his retirement in 2008, without a doubt it was worth the wait. I love the colour and I think she looks every bit the Russian princess. Note the tiara on her head with snowflake shaped diamonds. One word: amazing.



The fairy tale theme was a great idea for the Love Ball and I think it worked really well with the approach of the AW 11 collections. Russian ballerina/princess is definitely going to be the look I aspire to when the weather gets cold...


Oscar de la Renta

Yves Saint Laurent and Ulyana Sergeenko



images from Vogue.com

Friends With Benefits

One of my friends is training for the Great North Run on Sunday so we haven't had a lot of opportunities to catch up. A couple of nights ago we did all manage to get together for a trip to the cinema to see Friends With Benefits. Completely cheesy but totally satisfying, it was just what we all needed!

How gorgeous is Mila Kunis??
I loved these two outfits, especially the James Perse wrap skirt.

So much to do today that i'm actually working my way down a list. Plus i start one of my new courses tonight. busy busy

pretty places

It wasn't what I was looking for but it was something that caught my eye.



This picture by Jill Preston and just appeared on my google results when I was busy looking for something else.
It reminded me of Staithes, a place I haven't been to in a long time, and also of Burano, a place I want to visit.

birthday bashes and bargains

Just a quick outfit post.. One of my best friends has got her birthday next week so i've been at a tea party at her mam's house.
The skirt is a new purchase, inspired by the lovely Yaz. It's from asos and I spotted her wearing it in one of her blog posts a few weeks back (she has it in white). When i had a look on the website it was reduced and I loved the shape of it so thought why the hell not treat myself. (because I am meant to be going on holiday in december and should be saving money...that's why not. Anyway that's another story....). It only came the other day and I'm a massive stickler for material and cuts of fabric but I love it! It's nice and heavy with plenty of material so it hangs really well.

Isn't it funny when the one time you're trying to save money you find a load of things you need/want to buy?? Well I'm having one of those phases right now!! I need to be saving money for a trip in December (more about that when I'm more organised!) but right now all I seem to be doing is finding things I need. one of the funny things I've noticed since I finished uni is that I need lots more 'grown up' clothes. I've always been into classic shapes but I think as I've got older I'm becoming more conscious of looking professional. plus I managed to scored an interview for an internship at a PR company in newcastle so i need to make sure I have plenty of smart outfits! fingers crossed!!






top: Topshop, skirt: ASOS, bag: Zara

oatmeal cookies

So when I was flicking through blogs the other day, I noticed that the lovely November Grey has recipes posted! Since I'm on a health kick (yes still), I decided to try out her recipe for oatmeal cookies...





The recipe was really easy to follow and the cookies came out great!! I was so surprised about the banana in them!

If you want to give them a try you can find November Grey's recipe here

CHANEL

One of the first female entrepreneurs, Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel's company continues to demonstrate the power of the brand. You only need to glance at the double C logo and it is instantly recognisable as a symbol for timelessly chic, classically shaped and exquisitely made clothing, accessories, jewellery, makeup and more... One of the things I love about Chanel is that the pieces are all very classic shapes which are timeless rather than trend-driven (which I'm realising more and more is the kind of shape I go for). It's not just the brand that I love though, I am fascinated by the woman behind it. I recently bought Justine Picardie's book on Chanel and I can't wait to start reading it, (unfortunately I have a stack of reading at the moment already...including a couple of books that I need finish and review for The Crack...) I think Gabrielle Chanel was an amazingly inspiring woman who demonstrated that hard work and impeccable craftsmanship can create a global enterprise. What is important about Chanel though is that the legacy has lived on and Lagerfield continues to create beautiful timeless pieces.


Laura Bailey, Poppy Delevigne & Alexa Chung


On a slightly different note, I am utterly convinced that those tweed hotpants are clearly a staple (and essential) garment....now I just need to convince someone to buy me a pair. Although that being said I could definitely settle for a 2.55 instead of the hotpants...

(photo from Laura Bailey's blog on Vogue UK)

P.s. Thank you to all the readers who messaged me about my spanish lessons, I can't wait to start learning now!!