Friday 30 August 2013

Things to do this weekend: 30th August


It's almost the weekend (woooooo! I appreciate this so much more now that I have a job), and so here is a pick of things to do on these sacred 2 and a bit days:

Future Cinema presents Dirty Dancing - Future Cinema's Dirty Dancing inspired event, is the ultimate night out for any wannabe 'Baby'. Starting with the screening of the classic movie, complete with bars, activities and my fave B.O.B's lobster, you are transported to everyone's favourite holiday destination, Kellerman's, without ever having to leave Hackney Downs. If you didn't get tickets for this, you can always watch the movie at home, preferably with the drinking game, then grab your watermelon and head on over to Kellerman's staff quarters (aka, Oval Space in Bethnal Green) for the ultimate after party! 

Monikers - such a kitsch 'back to school' theme which even boasts an indoor school bus with plenty of walls that you are welcome to graffiti on - what's not to love? The place is more than just good theming though; what really wowed my friends over at gradfoodies, however, was the incredible food. I'm really excited to try it. Mainly because my favourite meals are those made up of small, shareable dishes, and this place specialises in just that. 

Do all your Christmas shopping - to anyone who knows me, it is no secret that I am OBSESSED with Christmas. Seriously, expect to see a LOT of it here in the next few months. And ok, maybe it's a bit too much to ask to complete all of your shopping by the end of August, but with the summer sales in full swing (feelunique have a particularly good one), now is the perfect time to pick up a lot of bits. Also, with Harrods and Selfridges already opening their Christmas shops, you really have no excuse not to be prepared...


Harrods: Christmas in July

Wednesday 28 August 2013

Housewarming gift guide


I have been completely rubbish at writing on here for the past few weeks, but I do have some pretty good excuses. Firstly, and (arguably) most importantly, I finally got a job! I'm talking real life, in the office for 9am, creating reports and spreadsheets. Every. Day. Weeeeeird.

Other news is that literally every member of my family has moved house in the past month to one place or another. Therefore, I've been travelling up and down the country a lot to visit the new abodes, help (ish) people move, celebrate birthdays (including my own, ugh) and play with these amazing beings:


So yeh, very little blogging... But, I am going to ease myself back into this with one of my favourite things to do: a gift guide! And, seeing as how I've had to buy a fair few of these this month, I'm going to make one for housewarming gifts.


Housewarming gifts




Having quite recently moved into my own place, I think the best advice for housewarming gift-giving is to stick to useful things and no decorative items (that need to match a theme/take up a lot of space) unless you know the person REALLY well, and know exactly what they would like to display in there house. With that in mind, I have kept this list to either useful/overlooked items and inoffensive, universally popular house gifts:

Salt and pepper: Kitchen essentials like this (and things like olive oil/balsamic vinegar), are often forgotten items, and this is a really nice alternative to the standard grinders. I think this is also easier to use in cooking so you can just add a 'pinch' at a time.

Fragrance diffuser: Safer than a candle and a longer-lasting smell. Win-win.

Keyring: I've talked about this before, but a special keyring is a great gift to give to make the whole moving-in process a little more special. Even better if you can attach it to the keys beforehand...

Herb 'allotment': The only attempt I have ever made to grow my own herbs was when I bought a mint plant one time I tried to make mojitos. Not only did the drinks not turn out well, but the plant also died almost as soon as it crossed the threshold into my flat. However, if you're buying for anybody that is just a teeny bit more green-fingered, then this is a cute (and in no way unnecessary) gift.

Vase: When I first moved in, my friends very kindly brought flowers round. However, I did not have a vase in which to display them. Granted, I was pretty crafty and cut a large Evian bottle in half, but there's shabby chic and then there's just grim.

Champagne: Obviously, it does NOT have to be Cristal, which is ludicrously expensive. However, anybody who has ever watched MTV Cribs knows that it is completely essential to keep at least one bottle of this in your fridge at all times if you stand any chance of being taken seriously in your rap career...

Finally, as I have said, there are a lot of everyday things you forget about when moving; cleaning products, biscuits, condiments... Therefore, I think a very nice and thoughtful gift is to put a hamper together of such essential items, which may not be too glamorous, but greatly appreciated and can be spruced up with some fancy wrapping. Come on, who doesn't want a box of rubber gloves and Cillit Bang wrapped up in cellophane when they move into a new house?!


Thursday 15 August 2013

Tartan yourself up


I have a slight aversion to tartan. It may have something to do with the fact that my school uniform contained this:

(image from eBay)

But anyway, it has been on the cover of Vogue and it was the focus of Chanel's A/W13 highland collection, so I guess I have to accept that it's a THING again. So, here are a few ways that I think that I can embrace the trend without feeling like an overgrown schoolgirl...

Everyday tartan


Wednesday 7 August 2013

Save the Dates


This may seem like a slightly odd post, seeing as how I'm not in any way close to getting married/don't have any events on the horizon, but hey, what is life without whimsy; I blame my newly rekindled Pinterest addiction... But anyway, for no apparent reason, I thought I'd compile a list of 'Save the Date' alternatives from the boring old flyers through the post. Some of these do come in on the pricier side, so wouldn't be suitable for an event with thousands of guests/a tight budget, but most could also work as an actual invitation or even as favours/gifts during an event.

Everyday items:

One great way to send your 'Save The Date' (I've seen this shortened to STDs around the Internet - if ever there was something that should not be made into an acronym that would be it) is to print it onto an everyday item that people are going to see/use all the time so that they are constantly reminded of the most important day of your life. There are plenty of options for this:



Consumable:

The complete other end of the spectrum is to put the date on something consumable as almost everybody enjoys sweets and alcohol. The risk here is that, as these things are meant to be eaten/drunk, the date will not be 'saved' at all, so it is advisable to send a card along with these, or at least a caveat that the recipient should make a note of the date, rather than it being forgotten almost instantaneously.



Interactive:

These are great as they require the recipient to really study your 'Save The Date' and are all pretty fun too. All of these need the 'user' to stare at them for prolonged amounts of time, so hopefully the date should sink in pretty quickly, but you may want to send along a card with all the information too, in case these prove a little too challenging...





Cheap and Cheerful:

These are great alternatives to a simple flyer for anyone on a budget. If you're going for a theme, then this could be the time to get creative and give people a bit of a heads up... The keyring here is a bit pricy, but you could just bulk buy plastic keyrings and use your own design. Or you could take your own creative, in no way cringe-worthy, Pinterest-inspired photo and send that out to your guests.