July 8th-18th 2010

As I have been super busy recently this weeks blog is incorporating ten days of wonderment and roadie times. In the last ten days I have travelled over to Barcelona and back and graduated from University, so here are this weeks scores.

Watching??

One hot night in sunny Barcelona we settled down onto the sofa to watch a little movie.It wasn't my choice but we watched the 2006 film 'Little Miss Sunshine'. The film follows a disfunctional family who are falling apart at the seams. It follows a little girl called Olive (played by Abigail Breslin) who has entered herself into a beauty pageant, just at the same time her mother Sheryl (played by Toni Collette)has her suicidal gay brother, Frank (played by Steve Carrell) move into the family home. Olive's father is a failing motivational speaker who doesn't get a crucial book deal and her brother has taken a vow of silence until he gets his dream career of being a RAF pilot, also because he hates the family. It turns out the whole family has to go to the pageant but they hit trouble along the way. Sounds confusing doesn't it? but it is a really funny and heart warming film that filled the void that night.

It receives 7/10 and I would reccomend it but it does need a second look.


Reading?

While in Barcelona I read a very interesting and simple to read book called The Information Officer by Mark Mills. This book follows Max a headstrong army officer stationed on the ravaged island of Malta In the second world war. Who among other things is in charge of the British Army's involvement with the local Maltese people who are reliant on them. Max discovers that some of the local girls who work at the dance bars, are being raped and murdered by a British Army officer. It is up to Max to find out who the murderer is, what he wants and protect the local beauty he loves. This book is well written but at times I felt like I was having a history lesson on the second world war. And although there is a good twist there isn’t enough action in the book to keep me interested in the murders and murderer. And there are some very uncomfortably raunchy scenes which are entirely male focused.

Sadly this book only gets a 5/10

Wearing??.

While on holiday I realised that every single outfit was from Topshop. My favourite thing that I wore was a strapless peach dress which had white embroidery on the bottom. It was incredibly comfortable And pretty! I got lots of compliments for it off my boyfriend and other tourists. The only problem with it was that I couldn’t wear a bra..which was a bit dodgy... but it was ok. I really like this dress and I got it half off in the Topshop sale so I got it for £15.00 so I recommend the sale for some cheap summer holiday bargains. The good thing about this dress was that it was light, comfortable and could be worn over anything, to the beach or to the city.

I give my Topshop dress a 8/10

Listening?

I have been listening to a personal favourite of mine, a real summery album by Paolo Nutini called Sunny Side Up. This is his second album and was released in May 2009, and was a definite and sharp change from his first album. The singles he released from it are ‘Candy’ and ‘A Pencil full of lead’ which divided the critics as some wanted him to have the same mellow light jaz-pop sound he had before, whereas this album is more reggae meets soul. On the first listen I hated it as it was so different, but I really recommend that you give a second, third, fourth etc listen as it gets better and better. My favourite songs are the croony romantic ones which Paolo is brilliant at singing as his lyrics are beautiful.

Paolo Nutinit gets a 9/10 only because he’s gorgeous as well as talented.

Eating??

I was pleasantly surprised in Liverpool John Lennon Airport on the way to Barcelona, there is a Frankie and Benny's restaurant. wWhich was good as it was very early in the morning and the onl thig we fancied was bacon, eggs and mushrooms and strong coffee. Persanlly I am always a Frankie and Benny's fan, I love all the food, but had never had the breakfasts before, but they were lovely and good value. I had the breakfast bagel my only criticism was that it was too big for me that early. Bt the herby potatoes were so delicious I coud have just eaten a plate of them. The staff at the airport restaurant were brilliant too, they were really helpful and cheery for so early in the morning.
Frankie and Benny's breakfast get an 8/10.

Using?

Recently I have been using a JML Ped Egg to get myself some lovely and soft feet for summer. My feet are well know for being ugly, claw like and rock rock hard! I hate them and most of the time I’m in a bit of pain with them. I got myself a new ped egg recently as my old one had gone dull and wasn’t working. This surprised me as I hadn’t ued it for ages, but on buying a new one I’ve seen what I’ve been missing. The razor blades aren’t too sharp and don’t cause any pain or bleeding, they very gently remove hard skin in all places and leave your feet soft and clean. My only criticism is that the egg doesn’t hold all the skin filings which is a bit disgusting at times, but I would recommend this handy little gadget to everyone

Ped Egg gets a 8/10.



Purchasing?

This week I graduate from University and I needed shoes! I really wanted some sensible but pretty shoes that had a heel but not too high a heel that would also match my navy dress I was wearing and the horrible grey and white of my graduation gown. Eventually I found a suitable pair in Office in Manchester. Although some of their high heels area slightly eccentric this pair are white heels with a Mary Jane sort of feel with the little white strap on the front. On wearing them over two days they did hurt my feet as they were quite stiff to walk in and for some reason dyed my feet orange from the lining, I did receive some blisters but thats usual from new shoes, but I did like the shoes very much and will go to Office again.

My Office shoes get a 9/10



Doing?

As you have probably guessed the last few weeks have been very very busy I finished university and then popped off to Barcelona. I love Barcelona, the city is beautiful and full of people. The Sagrada Famillia is my favourite part of Barcelona it was designed by Gaudi who imagined things very differently to other architects, and it really is a beautiful building. It’s not finished yet and has taken them nearly a hundred years to complete. Parc Guell is also a Gaudi masterpiece which I would recommend everyone going to go see, we also went all through the city down to the beautiful marina and went round the old town. It was an action packed holiday! As well as city sight seeing we went to lovely little beach in San Pau which was beautiful and we had delicious paella and the sea and sand was perfect for our aching feet. I love Barcelona and would recommend everyone to go as it is a wonderful city.

10/10 thats all I can say for my holiday in Barcelona

Thanks for reading this weeks instalment, I’m going to try and keep up with my posts each week from now on but I’m hoping for a calmer and more chilled out week next week!


Much love!! XXX

Sunday 27th June

Oh my gosh! I have to apologise at my extremely late blog this week! I don't know what happened I was just so busy leaving university, packing, sobbing and stressing about exam results that my lonely little blog got forgotten. So I will write last weeks and then continue for this week on Sunday!


Watching?
Last week I visited the local cinema complex and enjoyed watching 'Wild Target'! It's a new English film starring Emily Blunt, Rupert Everett, Bill Nighy, and Rupert Grint, directed by Jonathan Lynn and is apparently based on a French film called 'Cible Emouvante'. The story follows a serial con artist called Rose, who is amazingly brilliant, and very stylish and who basically takes whatever she wants and has done for years. Her mistake is to try and sell a fake painting to Rupert Everett's character, Ferguson a well known gangster. Ferguson hires a certain famous and well renowned assassin Victor Maynard, who is incredibly uptight and has a lonely existence. Howver when Maynard tries to kill Rose, he 'feels' something for her and spares her life. Rupert Grint who plays a hopeless teen Tony gets picked up along the way as they escape town and Ferguson's hapless buffoons following them. This film is in the same league as other British gems 'Love Actually' and 'Four Weddings', it's seriously funny, very charming, and extremely entertaining. Really worth a watch.
Wild Target steals a 9/10!

Reading?

Last week I settled under a nice tree in a sunny and beautiful York Museum Gardens and read myself a nice little Grazia magazine. I usually read Reveal or Closer, (as they are cheaper)  but I am so sick of reading boring gossip about plastic celebrities I craved a change. Grazia isn't like the other glossy magazines in that it isn't all about gossip it's about fashion, style and those happy shiny and seriously fashionable celebrities. I paticularly like Lauren Leverne's articles, that week's top ten fashion must haves, some real stories and the style pages. There are also some really beautiful photographs and it really was a nice hour spent in the company of this country's fashion elite.
Grazia receives a stylish 7/10...as it was a good read but some sections could be perceived as slightly poncey, and a lot of the clothing is for the very very rich.

Wearing?
Last week I spritzed myself to high heaven with Eau de Soap and Glory. The website www.soapandglory.com describes this perfume as a floral and oriental fragrance. It has top notes of Citrus, bergamot, mandarin, jasmine, and freesia but underneath has a sensuous musky vanilla and sandalwood fragrance. It is a beautiful perfume is really light and smells absolutely gorgeous, the bottle is very stylish too and has an old perfume bottle feel and is presented in a beautiful little box too. The only downfall for this perfume is that it does fade pretty quickly but is really nice for the day time and makes you feel very special when you use the stylish little bottle.
As it fades pretty quickly my favourite 'luxury bathing' company get a 7/10 for their perfume as it fades so fast but it is lovely while it lasts and smells divine.

Listening?

It's festival season again, and as I am never ever organised enough to buy festival tickets I have really enjoyed listening to the highlights of the festival on BBC3. The Scissor Sisters were amazingly brilliant and had a surprise performance from Kylie Minogue and previewed some of their tracks from their new album, I also enjoyed watching the headline act Muse who were ever so dramatic, Mumford and Sons had an amazing gig too which I wish I had seen in person, Bombay Bicycle Club were also brilliant. listening to all these amazing singers makes me wish I had got myself a little ticket, but as I wasn't there I can't dare insult the festival by grading it. Just wish I had been there!!

Eating?
Last week I partook of some Sunday dinner at the one and only Nandos. As my fella had won a little raffle ticket for a free bottle of wine we decided to use that to our advantage. We had a really smooth Hummus, he had half a chicken, and I had a lovely chicken burger, and then we both had sides of coleslaw and chips. The thing that is brilliant about Nandos is that it is just easy to eat food, that's quick and tasty and you can pick whatever spice you want, (I'm a medium chick myself). As it was a Sunday we had to have dessert and the chocolate cheesecake was so nice my mouth is watering now as we speak!
I love Nandos' no frills, non deep fried chicken and you can't beat it when you're starving and cannot be bothered to cook. a sizzling 8/10!

Using?
I love using Urban Decay Shadow Palettes, the shadows are really smooth, have a beautiful sheen, are really easy to blend and very long lasting and have really cool and interesting names. They are perfect for day and night looks and look really stylish on your dresser. I own two palettes the first is the Deluxe Shadow Box which came with a free Eye Primer Potion which helps the shadows last longer. The shadows in the Deluxe box are; Fishnet (light purple) , Honey (gold), Ransom (dark purple), Graffiti (green), Zero (black), Peace (turquoise), Shag (bronze), Scratch (champagne) , Underground (fawn) and is priced at around £20.00-£25.00 but is so worth it. The second palette I use is the Eyeshadow Ammo Shadow Box, I use this palette more than the other as the colours are slightly less fluorescent and are really shimmery and full of sparkle. The shadows in this box are Smog, Maui Wowie, Mildew, Shattered, Oil Slick, Polyester Bride, Last Call, Grifter, Chopper, Sin. I love this palette so much I've run out of some of the shadow colours already! I really recommend these shadow boxes for presents or just for buying's sake!
Urban Decay gets a shimmeringly perfect 9/10 (but when applying I recommend you blend two or three colours together rather than one straight bright colour unless you want to look a bit like a clown)

Purchasing?
This week I decided to get a lunch from Boots rather than get a packed lunch from home. The range is really good and are really good if you're cutting down on calories for the summer. they have a range called Shapers which do amazing low calorie fizzy drinks like home made lemonade, apple and blackcurrant, strawberry, apple and cherry. They do some really tasty wraps like Hoi Sin Duck, Chicken Caesar and also have some delicious fruit boxes which are really summery. This is a great way to fill up without over indulging, and are at a really cheap price which are perfect for students and working lunches!
Boots receives a 7/10 because I had to queue!

Doing?
On one of my fella's days off we went on a little tourist day trip to Rieveaulx Abbey in the Yorkshire Dales. It was a fifty minute drive through the beautiful Yorkshire Nature Reserve. It cost £4.00 to get in as we were both students, and it was free parking for up to three hours. We had a picnic on the site, and although there wasn't much of an abbey left the ruin was really interesting, and had lots of information about how the monks worked and chilled out, and basically treated others as slaves. The staff were really friendly, and it really was a beautiful day and Yorkshire really has a lot to offer for tourists and bored people alike!
Rieveaulx gets a 9/10 for a really brilliantly, chilled out and history packed day!

Overall it was a lovely and sunny week!
thanks for your time
Much Roadie Love XXX