The ground may have begun to thaw which means I may have got a little ahead of myself and binge window shopped online this week and these beauties have all been sat in my online shopping basket.
I’m going to get right to the LV elephant in the room and talk about these cleat soled Louis Vuitton ankle boots, they are most definitely a marmite piece and I am firmly in the love camp, with all their nineties vibes.
Talking of nineties vibes, I’m so needing this slogan print denim jacket from River Island – for the past few years I keep saying I’m going to revive the Rosie and denim jacket duo and I think 2017 will finally be the year.
Now I know I am inappropriately premature with this Zara embroidered short summer dress, but who can blame me – I have a feeling come holiday season this will be my go to off duty style summer saviour. Talking of summer, these embroidered floral summer mules are fantastic value from New Look and the block heel makes them wearable, perfect! New Look are also bringing me back to the rainy reality with a stylish thud with their red matte anorak and I have a feeling this will be winging its way to me very soon as it’s ideal for the temperamental school run.
My skin is the worst it’s ever been and is lacking any sort of luminous qualities – say hello to Lancôme’s La Rose à Poudrer, this giant rose highlighter powder is exactly what is needed to breath life into my skin asap.
Last by no means least is this beast of a beauty that is the Gucci Nymphaea Bamboo large two-tone leather tote, there are no words that will do this king of the bags justice, simply put: it’s the bag of 2017.
Happy Wanting!
Universal Orlando Resort: The People Behind The Magic
We all know just how much in love Boo and I are with Universal Orlando Resort, it’s something that Boo talks about every single day; and yes the park and rides are out of this world but what makes Universal a must for everyone is the people… that’s where the magic is.
The amazing and unmistakably American welcome you get when you arrive at the Hard Rock Hotel sets the tone for your stay and these two lovely ladies were cheery every morning for breakfast at The Kitchen before we headed to the parks.
Everyone we came across was friendly and sincere, it’s as if they already knew us – as grumpy Brits that can take a bit of getting used to, but we took to it super quick and found that it rubbed off on us… why shouldn’t you walk round with a super doper grin on your face?
From the lady who made Boo feel comfortable enough to have a photo with Optimus Prime (who can blame her for being a little hesitant – he’s nearly 3m tall!) to this amazing dancer who took time out of the parade to come and say hi to Boo. These are the memories that shine brightest for us.
However there is one special lady that made our trip to Universal Orlando Resort unforgettable; her name is Katrina and she was our guide for two days. Scrap that: guide doesn’t even begin to do her justice, perhaps engineer of dreams. Within moments of meeting, Boo had made her first American best friend; something that her school friends are constantly reminded of “Yes you’re my school best friend but I also have an American best friend and she works on the rollercoasters at Universal Orlando!”
From riding Escape from Gringotts with us to dancing along to the parade, Katrina was with us, she was like the third member of our family – her energy, kindness, enthusiasm (not to mention her AMAZING knowledge of the parks) means she is part of our Universal happiness… thank you Katrina!
We can’t wait to go back one day and hopefully we’ll bump into our American best friend;
the people at Universal Orlando Resort live the magic with you, they’re part of the experience and ultimately the memories you make and take home with you.
La La Land Review: The Day I Fell In Love With Musicals
I was hooked from the moment I saw the trailer, it was intriguing, fun and starred Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, La La Land looked like it had it all; Saturday night saw me head to the cinema and settle down armed with my body weight in popcorn and coke.
The opening musical number is a sign that you’re in for something completely different, and is a bold step as it has the potential to alienate audiences, however it isn’t long until you’re under La La Land’s enchanting spell. The story is one as old as time: struggling actress (Mia) meets a painfully serious Jazz pianist (Sebastian) and they fall in love.
By the second song I was completely entranced, from the swishing of Mia and her room mates skirts to the positively hypnotic Gosling on the piano (and yes in case you were wondering, that is him playing – he learnt for the role!). La La Land didn’t just have my attention for 124 minutes, it had my imagination, my soul, my happiness – it’s a bridge between fantasy and reality and one that is neglected by modern day cinema.
Soundtracks are often a second thought, but with La La Land you can’t ignore it and rightly so – with appearances from John Legend and the surprising delights of Gosling and Stone- no sooner had I got in the car after the cinema and I was downloading the album and I’ve been quietly singling ‘City of Stars’ ever since, in fact I have it on right now as I sit and right this.
La La Land isn’t harping back to a bygone era of musical cinema, it’s in a whole romantic musical world of it’s own… one that many will undoubtably try to emulate but it’s unlikely they will ever come close. For me, my heart feels happier having been to La La Land because that’s what I did, to call it a movie doesn’t do it justice – it’s a glimmer of something… breathtakingly amazing.
Couples Night Out: An Open Letter To My Friends
I’m single, we know it and coupled with motherhood my relationship status doesn’t look set to change anytime soon and I’m comfortable with that but it would appear that perhaps others aren’t.
I really want to get this out now that this post is in now way targeted at one particular set of my friends (I love you all!), see it more as an observation on the whole but it’s something that I can’t pretend I don’t notice or more importantly doesn’t affect me. You know them, couples nights: they normally consist of boozy dinners, a chance to come together, catch up, eat good food and laugh – sounds good – where do I sign up? Although it would seem that as a woman identifying as single, I don’t qualify for this social activity. And if I’m really honest, I can’t work out why.
Do they feel uncomfortable? Does MY presence make them feel uncomfortable? Is the empty chair the painful elephant in the room, is there a fear of the single life being contagious?
Is the lack of invite done out of a misguided desire to protect me from feeling like the odd one out, the only thing I feel left out of is the one too many bottles of red wine you shared over dinner. I remember what couples night out look like and I’m pretty certain that there is no secret language…
Do my friends need a break from my relationship status – is it a burden to know that there is no men/women’s jobs in my house… Yes that mean’s I’m responsible for taking the rubbish out every single week, how ever do I survive!
There’s a pretty high chance that if I’m invited I’ll say no as child free evenings are hard to come by but it would nice not to be written off before the invite; serving only to remind me that being a single mother puts your in a juxtaposition where I’m on the edge looking in and most probably missing out on making memories with my friends.
Am I being unreasonable? Or oversensitive? The truth is, I don’t know – but as my friends you’re probably best placed to tell me…
The Pain (and Motivation) of the First Gym Class of the Year
Last week saw me back at the gym: I am fully aware that I’m a walking cliche – and Tuesday was my first boxercise class at Everyone Active Westcroft for a long time, let me tell you how it went. I had my arse handed to me on a plate. 60 minutes of high intensity all over workout finished me. It took less than one minute of warm up to realise that this was going to be painful; there’s nothing like the unforgiving studio mirrors to make you confront the fact that your comfy black gym tee is in fact too tight. The truth is I’ve put on all the weight I lost last year and after suffering pneumonia in the summer, my fitness levels aren’t something to shout about.
However whilst there was pain and a fair few swear words (I’m lucky that trainer Nick is use to my foul mouthed narration of my dislike for burpees and planks, ha!) there was also oodles of motivation to match the buckets of sweat. It’s no secret that you can’t out train a bad diet which is responsible for 80% of weight loss, but for me it takes the agony of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) to remind me that a mindless mouthful of stollen is not worth another gym class of struggling to keep up. So whilst I’m hobbling round with day 2 soreness from boxing I am firmly booked in for next week’s boxericse class where the journey will continue to make the gym tee baggy again.
P.S. If you’re reading this Nick, I’d be most grateful if I never had to do another burpee or mountain climber… just saying!
Disclosure: I receive complimentary membership of Everyone Active Westcroft.