Tag: inspiration

November Favourites

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November has seen the sky filled with fireworks, the return of the red cups and the first snow flurry (!!!). I have stirred the Christmas pudding and made a wish, chosen my advent calendar (Thornton’s, this year) and I’m soo ready for December and all things festive!

A switch seems to have flicked this month and the temperatures have seriously dropped. I’ve found myself pulling out all of my favourite winter warmers and I’m thoroughly enjoying getting to use them again. I’m also crazily planning Christmas presents, festive activities (ice-skating, come at me) and getting ready for my lovely boyfriend’s birthday next week – watch this space, plenty of exciting things to come!

Anyway, here are the things that I’ve been loving this month…

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*Bonfire Night: As I’ve mentioned here before, I love Bonfire Night and experiencing it in London for the first time was quite something. On the 5th November I found myself curled up on my boyfriend’s window sill, at 12 floors high it was incredible to watch fireworks going off all across London. We also went to the Victoria Park firework display which was the biggest and best I’ve ever seen. The display was in time to music and it was like watching lights dance across the sky. I highly recommend it if you’re in London this time next year!

*Rude Health 5 Grain 5 Seed Porridge: There’s nothing quite like a big bowl of porridge on a cold morning is there? As a student I was always a Quakers Oats kinda gal (one sachet, bit of milk – Bob’s your uncle) but I’ve branched out this year. This Rude Health porridge is beyond delicious, really nutty and filling. As you’d expect with Rude Health, it has great ingredients with no nasty chemicals and the packet lasts forever. If this doesn’t seem your thing, they have an enormous range so there is something for everyone. With this one I highly recommend adding a drizzle of honey and sprinkling of blueberries!

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*Candles: Two new candles came my way this month and I adore them both. The first is the Anthropologie Volcano candle, which is in a beautiful, iridescent jar and comes with a copper lid. The candle itself is very fruity, so it is perfect for all year round. It comes in a variety of sizes and jar colours, this is the smallest size but bigger versions are on my Christmas wish list! The second is the Yankee Candle Christmas Memories, which was brought to my sick bed as a ‘cheer up, it’s nearly Christmas!’ present. For the past few years, the Yankee Christmas Eve candle has been my favourite from the range, but this may have just replaced it. It’s a sweet blend of gingerbread and cinnamon, to remind you of Christmases from your childhood (cute!).

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*Wanderlust: This month, Tiarnan and I booked a Christmassy weekend away in Paris, which is so exciting. And, after the horrible attacks in Paris this month, it seems all the more important to go and show the city of love some … well, love. I’ve been cruising the internet and guide books for city break inspiration, and it’s looking to be a weekend filled with decadent chocolat chauds, ice skating and perusing the Christmas markets. If you have any suggestions then I would love to hear them!

I hope you all had a great month, bring on December (… and Christmas!!)

Country Living Christmas Fair

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Back in September (when I was still lost and unemployed) I did a placement with Country Living magazine. It was one of the best placements I have ever done. The people were beyond lovely, the magazine is beautiful, the work was interesting and the tea rounds were frequent – what more could you ask for?!

I love my new job, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t missing the Country Living world (just a little bit…!) So, to get my slice of all things British, rural and homegrown I went along to their Christmas Fair this weekend.

Covering the length of the country with fairs in London, Harrogate and Glasgow, the Country Living Christmas Fair brings to life everything the magazine stands for. Arts and crafts, homegrown businesses and delicious food all come together to kick start the festive season. You do need to get your elbows out a bit, but it’s such a fun day full of inspiration for stocking fillers, how you’re going to present the Christmas table and more than enough tree decorations.

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Christmas is hard to ignore in London at the moment, and while it’s still a little early, now is definitely the time to start thinking about presents and festive plans! If you missed the Christmas Fairs this year, Country Living also do Spring Fairs around Easter time. If you’re organised enough to begin considering all things bunnies and chocolate, pencil it in.

Merry Christmas!

The Camel Coat

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Every autumn I fall in love with this coat, and every winter I forget about it. It’s not made of strong enough stuff to take me through winter as the cold draws in, but for now it’s perfect. As we cling on to the remnants of autumn, I thought it deserved a special mention.

I found this coat four years ago in Australia, at the market in Melbourne. I had completely failed to pack a coat for the Melbourne winter and while it has nothing on what we suffer here in London, it was still a bit chilly. This coat found me just when I needed it! I wore it everyday for the rest of that holiday, and then I brought it home and have worn it every autumn since.

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This coat was a bit of a bargain. If I remember correctly, it was around the £15 mark… Because of this, the quality isn’t the best it could be. The buttons are a bit wonky, there are some loose threads, the stitching meanders around and it isn’t lined – but I think that just adds to its charm!

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Quite unusually for me, this coat is double breasted. Normally I run a mile from double breasted coats – I just think they look so strange on me when they aren’t buttoned up, they look too big and flap around awkwardly, and buttoned up they just seem a bit fussy. For some reason though, for this coat it works. There’s not too much excess material and it fits nicely done up. One of the things I really love about it is it easily smartens up an outfit, but it can still be worn casually. Win win!

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The main attraction that I wanted to chat about was the colour. While not completely crazy, the colour is a fairly unique brown camel, and it tends to make my outfit’s statement whenever I wear it. Even owning this one, I am definitely guilty of looking at other similar coats and just thinking ‘that would never go with anything!’ That couldn’t be further from the truth with this coat.

Believe it or not, I find that I can chuck it over anything! It’s easy to pair with dark colours (like I’ve done here) though I tend to stick to blacks and navys.One of things that really helps with this is the buttons. Because the buttons are black, they instantly tie in the other dark elements to any outfit. I think that this is a great thing to consider when buying a coat that’s a slightly bolder colour. Think about the hardware, the buttons and any other accents rather than obsessing on the bolder-than-usual colour. Generally, the plainer the coat the better as you want the colour to be the statement, but keep an eye out for those details!

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What’s your favourite coat for autumn? Do you like to play with colour in your outerwear, or have you always stuck to black?!