Hampton Court

The weather on Sunday was lovely, 26 degrees! Me and Neil did not really have anything planned to enjoy the sunshine, so as a last minute decision we went to Hampton Court for a little stroll around the gardens. I can not remember the last time I went to Hampton Court but I know it was before my teenage years. There was plenty of people around enjoying picnics out in the summer sunshine; I wish we thought of that. We took a stroll through what is called the Kitchen Gardens, the flowers was just stunning and very brightly coloured.

We came across a little archway of yellow flowers. I fell in love and was almost a nice little escape from the outside.

We plan to go again but next time, if I am up for it, we will take the bikes and cycle from Richmond Park. Did I say I have taken up cycling? I blame Neil for that has he loves his bikes and enjoys a cycle ride.

Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an icon

I have been meaning to blog about this exhibition but I have been a little busy and ill recently.
As many people know Audrey Hepburn is an icon through films and her acting skills. Her most famous being in 'Breakfast at Tiffanys'

I did not know much about this famous icon but I learnt a lot from this exhibition. For example I didn't realise she was a ballet dancer to begin with. The exhibition went from her childhood all the way through to when she died not to long ago. Even from a very young age she was beautiful.

Through the exhibition there was a variety of photographs that stood out to me one of them being a image featured in LIFE magazine.

Philippe Halsman- Taken for LIFE Magazine 1955

There is a series of photos linked with this one, all taken in the Italian Countryside. Her cropped hairstyle and very chic yet informal clothing shows her energy yet elegance from her ballet days. Her stare straight into the camera is very enticing again showing beauty with very little makeup. 

Norman Parkinson: 1955

Another image I fell in love with at the exhibition not just by the stunning tones of pinks but the beauty of the image along with Audreys' iconic stare, again enticing and beautiful. In this photo she wears a Givency dress, her glance responding to modes of femininity during the 50s. Plus I am a 50s girl at heart and this dress is stunning! 

Howell Conant- Breakfast at Tiffany's

A very iconic image of Audrey Hepburn in one of her most noticed roles on the big screen. Seeing the original photo was stunning created with a dream-esque yet sophisticated style of the photo draws you in to Audreys' natural beauty straight in the centre. The rose to the left of her again symbolizing not only romance and love but again beauty.  

If you get a chance go see this exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery, there is a few photos that know one has ever seen even a pair of her ballet slippers she once owned before doing films. It is on until the 18th October. 

Teds Round London 2015

As everyone knows I love the Vintage scene and rock n roll and this event as always is always a fun to go to. Organised by Uncle and his friends this event has been going on for 5 years. This event was no exception great atmosphere and lovely people to be with.

For the event I wore my new Collectif dress I brought when it was 50% of everything! Come on I can ot resist a bargin! But I will try and photograph myself in this dress has I have loved this print for a long time. I also wore my new necklace on the day as well from Punky Pins for everyone that did not know my secret. I got quite a lot of comments on both the necklace and the dress.

As always I had my camera at the ready to capture moments through out the day.

To find more of the photos plus ones from previous years just check out my website 

Life Captured Moments

Going Down the Rabbit Hole

Wednesday I was treated to a special gift from my parents for my birthday. I trip to wonderland to visit the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit. This was a very different performance set in the vaults under Waterloo station, an immersive theatre production. Before the performance begins it is recommended that you buy a 'cork' for the The Mad Hatters tea party. The beginning of the performance you are lead in to what seems a library and a photography dark room combined in which you see a mysterious girl, Alice, trapped in the mirror trying to talk and all of sudden you fall down the rabbit hole until you meet the White Rabbit and you can decide between either 'drink me' or 'eat me' Me and my mother decided drink me in which we drank a delicious drink from a bottle. I don't want to spoil the performance for anyone but what I will say once you have decided which choice to make you get given a SUIT in which you split up again. Me and my mother was split up but both experience something different within the different rooms so it was nice to talk about it all afterwards. But we did see each other again in the mad hatters tea party.

What I will say the trip to the Caterpillar was lovely, going through the mushroom field up the stairs into a little Moroccan style tent were the caterpillar was obviously smoking shisha. Going into the Mad Hatters tea party, was fun and interesting particular drinking an alcoholic drink out of a tea cup; this is what the cork is needed for. The  all of sudden we are shouted to court in which the mad hatter grabbed my hand and we ran! Ran as quickly as we could to the courtroom to see the Queen. Once in we had to find out who ate the tarts. In which the White Rabbit gave me the evidence given to him by the Diamonds. Hooray for Fraptious Day! We went to go celebrate in the bar, with some drinks and flamingo croquet.

The performance was brilliant and you get involved in the performance in little ways along with taking some souvenirs home as well. I would recommend to anyone and it is on until the end of August.

Roller Skates

Recently I have made some new friends the last couple of weeks, and meeting them has set off my creativity again.Along with a few other new hobbies and interests like rolling skating! One of my friends has just taken up rollerblading and it looked so much I thought it would be a good idea to get a set of skates myself so we can go around Hyde Park enjoying the summer sunshine and the park. I wasn't brave enough for blades so skates was a good option to choose. 

These ones are so comfortable and a pretty good price as well, particularly because I can fit into childrens shoes still. They only cost me £35 so not too bad. They did have some more slightly girly ones but I'm not really one for pink. The t-shirt I have on in the picture is actually from the mens section at Uniqlo and just could not resist especially at only £4.90! I picked up a couple of other Disney themed tshirts as well so I might do a mini blog and my new Disney tops. Anyways who can resist the toy story aliens. 

London Coffee Festival 2015

Thursday I was working at the London Coffee Festival for Starbucks. And all I can say is wow! It was such an amazing day and it was great to be apart of it. I worked on the Thursday during the trade event, in which I arrived early to view the rest of the show and get a few freebie samples. 

Even though I saw plans for the Starbucks stand I never expected it to be how it turned out. It was brilliant and really stood out from a lot of the other stands in the show. The stand was inspired by the new Starbucks Roastery that just opened in Seattle last year. 

There was different 'stations' on the Starbucks stand were guests could try samples of new Starbucks coffee innervation, having a chance at creating latte art and even getting a free 50g bag of our specialty reserve coffee particularly the No 11 reserve blend that can only be brought in the states. I will try and do a blog post on this blend soon. But I wish I could buy a bag myself as it was lovely and very sweet. 

I began working on the Cold Brew station, which is a simple iced cold coffee but brewed in a different way. We used the Colombia Montebonito which is a medium roast coffee from Latin America. Grown on the steep mountainsides of the Andean mountain this particular coffee has a unique complexity, floral undertones and a distinctive character. The brewing of this coffee via Cold Brew method brings out the distinctive flavours of the bittersweet chocolate with the herbal undertones of the coffee bean.You can compliment the cold brew with milk or a demura sugar syrup but I think it was perfect on its own. 

I was mostly on the cold brew station but I got a chance to try everything including the new coffee machine we brought in for the event. I had so much fun at this event and met a lot of new people, I would definitely consider doing it again next year. 

Pom Pom Rug Making

Since moving to London, I have yet had a chance to go out and socialise with others outside of work. When my mum visited over the Easter period she took me to a little store near kings cross station called Drink, Shop, Do. It has a quirky little shop with a vintagesque tea room up the stairs. A perfect little place to meet new people.

They also do crafty sessions, poetry, Lego robot making and lots of other little things. I decided to book myself in for the pom pom rug making! We got to choose 4 colours along with the size of pom pom we was looking to make. I decided on the small size because I could use it for wrapping gifts and many other things (we got to keep the maker). I decided on the theme of blue as that is the main feature colours of my room.

After the first one I made they was so quick and easy after that. They was easy to attach as well. I didn't managed to attach all the POM's or even make enough to fill a rug!

Since leaving the class I have attached and made a few more. I decided to add another colour though just to break up all the blues and make it pop a little

Before forget this beer is amazing. So sweet of honey with the slight taste of obviously alcohol!

Next class I have decided to sign up for is Linocutting tomorrow. Let's see how that works out.

Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me! Today I have officially turned 24 and I'm happy with this age already. I had a lovely birthday breakfast at Fortnum and  Masons. Which consisted of crepes and berries followed by a round of toast served in a lovely little hamper.

After breakfast me and my nan visited The Pottery Cafe on Fulham Rd. I decided to paint a mug and my nan one of the jugs.

I was not really sure what to paint but I hope it comes out lovely. The quote says 'stars cannot shine without darkness.'

We then finished of at a little cafe called labis which I had a stuffed tomato with rosemary potatoes again very yummy! After dinner I was surprised with a little cupcake by the manager.

I have had a few lovely gifts from my family particularly a really amazing gift from my parents to a theatre experience in august; Alice Underground. Were you can take tea with the mad hatter, paint the roses red and see the Queen of Hearts. This I am looking forward to a lot!

Okay so I did already have one birthday cake today but before I received it I brought myself a chocolate and champage cake from Fortnums which I am going to be digging into now!

Easter Sunday with Mother

I planned to post this a while ago but did not get round to it. Every Easter my mum comes up for the weekend and Easter Sunday we have a slightly unusual tradition; Camden Town. Every year since I was around 14-15 we have been going to Camden at this time of the year (as well as summer). As usual the sunshine was out it was nice and warm with a slight chill in the air but I was easily able to not to wear a coat/jacket. It was unusually busy for this year but nothing me and my mother could not handle!

Before we even got to our usual places in Camden we came across the Mad Hatter along our travels!

He was very fun and something a little different and unusual to find in Camden. We continued the journey along to the food area to plan our meal for lunch time and along the way decided to have a fruit skewer covered in chocolate! Well more like I decided!

We stopped in my usual favorite shop Collectif in which I purchased 4 items all pre-birthday money spending so fingers crossed I get enough next week. I will have to take a picture of my amazing outfit on my birthday as I will have to wait till then for them. We both decided for our lunch to share an Indian wrap which I do not have a picture of but it was very yummy! Before I forget here is some latte art I did for some customers at work over the Easter period.

Because I don't really do Easter HAPPY SPRING TIME!  

Harvey Nics windows

On my way to work in knights bridge this morning again I noticed the windows of shops. Not for Harrods this time but for Harvey Nicoles. The theme is just stunning being a circus and acrobatics all within 'the big top', their windows. 

They are still planning some of them so they are yet to all be completed. But they are still stunning!

My favorite has to be the water tank with all the bubbles representing the model being submersed in water. I will try and get some more photos when they are all completed. 

Massage and Mocktails

As the title suggests today I had a nice little massage with a mocktail at Wholefoods store in High Street Kensington and also took my nan along. Now I know sounds like a random location to have a massage but this was for the launch of a brand called Cowshed. 

Cowshed has been around since 1998, and was first started in you've guessed it a Cow Shed in Somerset. They are a British brand company which is good news as it is always good to support British products. Even though the names of their products are playful, they do have serious formulations behind them. There to help enhance your mood. All their products are honest and natural made from organic, wildcrafted and fairly-traded plant extracts and essential oils and most importantly all is British! (Oh and Vegetarian Friendly)

Out of the three products we had to choose from I went for Grump Cow. Fitting name right? This is an uplifting smell of essential oils of red mandarin, bitter orange and grapefruit. Firstly she put some essential oil of grumpy cow onto my nails followed by the body lotion on my forearm and hand cream on obviously the hands. I have never actually had a massage before and even though this was just on my arms and hands I found it so relaxing and therapeutic. I might have to start having a massage more often! 

Along with the massage I had a mocktail to compliment the Grumpy Cow series. It was a bitter orange with a hint of grapefruit juice followed by a little punch of ginger and other ingredients I can not actually remember. But it complimented my massage really well and all I could smell was the orange and grapefruit. 

After this little half and hour massage I might actually consider visiting one of their spas in London. I did end up picking myself up a little something well two things actually. I picked up the body lotion for myself and the candle which has been put away by my nan for my birthday, but I can not wait to burn it and make my room smell orangy! Another thing I would like to put is the packaging is lovely and simple and i feel it represents the British countryside even if it is simple silhouettes. 

If you would like to learn more about Cowshed and see the spas 

just follow the link:-  Cowshed

Southbank Vintage Car Show

Over the weekend there happened to be a vintage Car Show event hosted on Southbank, London. This was something similar I went to a good couple of years back which you can check out: Vintage at Southbank 2011. Anyway, back to this little vintage event. The weather was not brilliant but the atmosphere was lovely! Everyone smiling having a good time looking at all the vintage style cars along with doing a little bit of shopping.

I must say I think I have found my dream car! It was a gorgeous colour

Photo courtesy of my Nan

My Nan actually took this photo for me for this blog as I always seem to have to do selfies and I never feel or look brilliant in them plus the car need pride and place. There was some fun entertainment by two young guys around by the food area, in which we had cheese and marmite crumpets which were amazing. The little group caused quite a stir from the crowd who began joining in with their musical lyrics from the 40s and early 50s. I bet they have some youtube videos so go check them out.

The Carradine's Cockney Sing a long

I did not buy much for myself really apart from yet another headscarf! I know how many more do I need! But I just love the versatility of them and the patterns. Here is just a couple more photos from the event.

Two of my favorite shots from the event plus the gorgeous colour of my dream car unedited

Engine photograph for the men out there

And last but not least I just have to put up this photograph of my nan. It is a lovely picture of her with the London eye in the background. She will probably kill me though for putting it up.