Pretty little satchels...

Hello!

So it's start of the week (though it doesn't it feel like it) and a little gift that can through the post over the weekend is what's going to keep me going!

As you may (or may not) know, I have a teeny obsession with satchels, and my latest gift from Oasap has certainly made me very handbag proud!

With a wide variety of beautiful colours I chose a deep green bag with a tan lace around the edges. The bag is not leather, but is made to a high quality which could easily fool the eye. I particularly liked the sewing details around the outside if the bag which add character and make the beg look more rustic. The size of the satchel is perfect for a day out, as you can fit all the necessities in without having to worry about space/bumping into every person you pass/wishing you'd brought your brolly after convincing yourself you wouldn't need it. It's structured frame makes it suitable for work/collage too, and the little pockets on the front make it suitable for storing the 'I'm going to  loose these' items'.

As the first showers of September left me with a cold this weekend - going to a university open day without my coat was not a sensible idea - I'm being a little brave in my outfit choice. I chose a little skater skirt I brought in a river island sale a few years ago, with a new look coral blouse and my shoes which are a new addition to my collection of brogues! As it's London Fashion Week at the moment - though I'm trying to avoid this topic, being gutted I'm not there - I've been getting far too excited about Summer 2014, and forgetting about the long winter I'm sure we've got in store. For that reason, this may be my last 'without tights' post for a while now...so be prepared for woolly tights, thick jumpers and oversized coats!

What I'm Wearing: Bag - OASAP, Top - New Look, Skirt - River Island.

That's all from me, make sure you check out the OASAP winter collection - it looks fab and well I'm a tad obsessed already!

Have a lovely week, wherever you are!

Lots of Love,

A Postcard from Paris...

I'm catching up, with some photos of my one day stop in Paris last week!

If you've ever been able to visit Paris, you'll know it really is a beautiful city. There's just so many places on the 'to see' list, that it's impossible to fit even a fraction of what the city has to offer in one day. With the little time we had,  myself and my family decided to walk what we could, and take in the ambiance along the way... and what we couldn't walk we'd bus, taxi or hit the underground...However, the First rule on a visit to Paris - do not try to walk!

One of my favourite parts of visiting France is seeing historic locations (sad I know) and as France has been a popular topic in my A Levels this year, I spent a lot of the time when we were on the road in France telling my parents (or boring them) with a historic story about nearly every town we passed. As Paris is always the centre of European history, I found it was not only the shops which excited me, but the museum's and history of famous locations themselves!



That's enough of me rambling, here's some photos I thought I'd share..

Equipped for a days tourism, with my converse and rucksack, we took the 42 bus, to Eiffel tower, and I mentally prepared myself for the climb (674 steps to be precise). Although, my parents didn't make it past the first level, the view was worth the effort and luckily my own fear of heights didn't stop me. 

Even though the Eiffel Tower looks like a giant when your standing underneath, there was never a moment where I genuinely felt insecure about climbing it. There was even a cafe on the first floor - though the window seat didn't appeal to me (what with a view of the 190 feet below).

 Next it was a long walk along the river Sane, and on the way we enjoyed watching artists painting, people attaching 'love' locks to bridges and obviously eating yummy ice cream! It was worth the walk, as the bank was filled with cafes and quirky activities like a giant chalk board!

We then stopped for a picnic in one of the many beautiful parks in Paris, which admiring the views of the Art galleries and Palace. We then dashed over to Notre Dame Cathedral - which was HUMONGOUS! If you didn't know I sing in lots of Cathedrals around the UK with my little choir during the summer months so I'm quite used to the style of the buildings, but I was baffled by the scale and beauty of the Notre Dame. After we took the tube for a last minute shop (okay...window shop) down the Champs-Elysées before heading back home on the train! It was quite literally 'Paris in a day', but worth every penny to finally see the beautiful city!

As always, I've got a few TIPS FOR A DAY TRIP IN PARIS (from the blonde, who found out the hard way)...
 
1. Plan ahead - it's a big city, and you need a realistic idea of what you want to see before you step onto the caos' that is the Paris streets!
2. If you want a cheap coffee... your not going to find it anywhere near the Eiffel Tower - Paris isn't cheap so if you can take a flask/picnic, there are lots of lovely places by the river or parks to choose from. Just remember the location before you start ordering your drinks! 
3. Learn your French - In Paris, lots of people speak fluent English, but it goes along way to add a 'merci' here and there!
4. If you go by train - Keep your valuables close by, as the train station is somewhat on the outskirts of town and I had the unfortunate scenario of jitzu combating a few locals with an interest in my rucksack! 
5. Make sure you come back with your own Eiffel Tower figurine - they sell them everywhere, and although they might look slightly tacky on your bedroom shelf, it's a must have!

Just in case you were judging my interesting combination of denim for my outfit choice in Paris, I'll tell you know, it was 6:00 am in the morning when I was pulled from my bed, to catch the train into Paris. Therefore, I dressed in what I thought was sensible for a day on foot in Paris. Oh and the moustache necklace was a little extra touch, just to make me feel a little more french ;)

What I'm Wearing: Dungarees - New Look, Tie-Dye Top - Matalan, Sun Glasses/Belt/Denim Shirt - Primark, Shoes - Bank, Necklace - River Island.

Well that's all from me. For the next month I'll be up and down the country visiting lots of University open days! This time last year I didn't realise how complicated it could all be, but it's all so exciting to be given the chance to go off an study whatever you want (In my case HISTORY, as I've loved the subject since I can remember). However, the long train journeys aren't always fun, especially when your trying to do homework!

Have a lovely week! 

Lots of Love,

Bonjour from France!

If you've been reading my blog in the last week, you'll know I've been soaking up the French sunshine, while my blog was kindly taken over my Olivia and Poppy from DollySnowFlake. I went with my family over to France on the ferry, and spent lots of time touring Northern France - and obviously my first visit to PARIS!!!!! (ahh). I would definitely recommend France for a holiday! Our usual family holiday just consists of a hot country, a pool and not doing very much, but in France there's so much to see and do - it was fab!

I'm also doing an extra post of my visit to Paris - for first timers, as a newbie myself, it was quite a challenge finding your feet in such a beautiful (but vast) city!

One impressive fact from the holiday was myself and my sisters ability to spend a week together without any major cat fights!

During the trip, we visited lots of fishing ports and beaches around the Somme coast of France. Every where we went we were tempted by the yummy ice creams, French baguettes and mussels! Sadly there wasn't the same optimism to try the snails - maybe next time? We also visited the city of Amiens, which is very beautiful and where I realised my love of cake!

 Here's a few tips if your going to France for the first time:
1. Try and learn a few phrases, in some areas, nobody speaks English, and it can be quite a problem when trying to read restaurant menus and ordering food!
2. Take a wardrobe that's suitable for all weather, it's hot in France, but it can rain too!
3. Take a Sat-Nav, you'll need it, the roads are easy to use, but getting lost isn't hard.

4. If your on a budget, take everyday supplies with you, as everything is more expensive in France!

Every night we ventured out to a local village, took a guess at something from their very French menu (I knew no French before hand) and watched the sunset - it was so beautiful! We walked along the promenade and touched on some evening entertainment - though having a very full belly, Zumba on the beach didn't really appeal to me..

For the week, we stayed in a Eco Village called Belle Dune, which was complete with its own water park, gold course and had activities running everyday. The village consists of little colourful houses, which line up around the lake in the centre - it was too cute!

Well now you know where I've been hiding the last week! France is such a beautiful place, and if you wanted to do something a little bit different for your summer holiday I'd definitely recommend it!

Later there will be a post up from my day in Paris, so look out!

Lots of Love,

Guest Post: DollySnowFlake is taking over Blondie's Style Fix...

Hey Grace's viewers!

From reading the title you may be slightly confused of who/what dollysnowflake is. Well firstly let us just say hi, we're dollysnowflake (Olivia and Poppy) and we write our own fashion and beauty blog just like Graces! We are writing a post on Graces blog as she on holiday but wanted her lovely viewers to still have a post to read, so that is where we come in. If you would like to check out our blog click here and to read more about dollysnowflake go on the 'about us' section of our blog.

 So after that slightly rambly start we are going to write about back to school survival kit. I'm sure some of you have just gone back to school or some of you are going back some time soon (boo!) so we thought this would be the perfect post to write for you. For you who don't know what a survival kit is its basically items that you keep in your bag to keep you prepared for all possible situations. So to find out whats in our back to school survival kit stay tuned.

 

1. My first tip for what to put in your survival kit would be a hand sanitiser. You can get these for as cheap as £1 which would be £1 very well spend as hand sanitisers can come in handy a lot at school. Think about how many germs there is on school keyboards, or the banisters on the stairs? Its always good to be the friend who everyone asks to borrow their hand sanitiser!

2. The next thing I would recommend is gum/mints. Some of my favourites would be Polos or Wrigleys which you can get basically anywhere. A lot of teachers won't let you eat/chew in class but it is always good to have in your school bag for in-between classes. You never know when the school cafeteria could be serving garlic bread and you don't want your breath to be smelling horrid. Also I think that gum and mints wake me up on a morning but I don't know about you!?

3.The next essential is a lip balm or some sort of lip product that we keep your lips looking nice and feeling hydrated through out the day. Two of our personal favourite lip products for school are the 'Revlon lip butters' we think these lipsticks are so nice and glossy but have just the right amount of colour for school, although some are a lot more pigmented than the others; Our other favourite lip product for school are the 'Maybelline baby lips' we adore these products as they are better for your lips than any lipstick and make them feel silky smooth too! They come in a range of sheer colours like pink, cherry and peach or you could choose one with no colour at all.

4. The last essential we are going to talk about today is for us the most important, its a snack of some
sort. Having something to eat at school is vital as it's very unhealthy to go 5-6 hours without anything to munch on. So we think having a cereal bar in your packed lunch box is key because they are healthy as well as filling and they will also give you lots of energy ( which everyone needs at school! ) We love nutri-grain bars because they are so tasty and come in a range of different flavors.

So, that was our top 4 things to keep in your survival kit! Here is a list of other things you could keep in your survival kit-

• plasters/bandaids
• bobbles and clips
• face wipes
• spare essential makeup
• spare pen/stationary for if you leave your pencil case at home
• tweezers
• compact mirror
• tissues
• paracetamol (check if your school allows it first though)

So that was our back to school survival kit essentials, we hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to click here to check out more of our posts on dollysnowflake. We'd also like to say thanks to Grace for letting us take over blondiestylefix!

Drop a comment to tell us whats in your survival kit, as we'd love to know!

Lots of love,

Poppy and Olivia x

dollysnowflake.blogspot.com

V Festival 2013 (day 2) - Festival Style...

Hello,

If you saw yesterday's post, you'll know I'm currently catching up on my highlights from last weekends V Festival at Western Park. It was such a fab weekend, so I thought I'd share a few photos of the real festival style - rather than just a glossy magazine of VIP's who are no way getting the true festival experience...

Today's post is day 2 of the V Festival, and the sun was shinning - so there were lots of photo opportunities! I decided to get a bit creative with the Neon UV paint, which got a bit messy (note to self - let the paint dry!) and obviously the festival framed sunnies were out for the occasion...

 

 For day 2, I chose to wear a pink bandeau from Republic (or whatever it's called now) and a white crochet top, which I brought from a little Spanish market while I was on holiday. Seeing as the floral head crowns have been a huge hit at this years festivals, I wore a cream headband from Primark - It was really comfy and helped tame my festival (a.k.a very wild) hair!

I stuck to my cutie wellies from Joules, but opted for a biscuit pair of knee high socks, and my Top Shop hot pants (tee hee) to complete my look! On a personal note, I was glad I took my jacket as it gets colder in the evenings, but once your in the crowds, it's so warm I felt like I was on a tropical Island!

 What I'm Wearing: Bandeau - Republic, Top - Spanish Market, Shorts - Top Shop, Wellies - Joules, Socks - River Island, Sun Glasses/Headband - Primark.

 

Best part of festivals is the way everyone expresses themselves through how they dress - even the wellies you wear show your personality!
For example my lovely friend Lauren, is such a girly girl, and with her Pink Wellies (below) you isn't afraid to show it.
Emily (above, left) dared to go wild with fringed crop top with her animal print rain Mac, and a lovely floral headband - which looked fab!
And Charlotte (above, right) also dared to try double denim: shorts and jacket, which she carried off effortlessly!

 

Jessie J is such an inspiration, she was amazing and really got the crowd going - I wouldn't want to be hated by her though, her new song It's My Party, is fab, but her haters are really getting an earful! Mwhaahha! I'm going to see her in October on her tour, and she'll be fab - as always! 

 So best part of the whole weekend (wait for it)... WAS BEYONCE! After wainting for nearly 8 hours, of standing up and with nothing more than a sausage roll to keep my going, She finally graced the stage! She was amazing, and it's fair to say she's the biggest DIVA ever! She sang some of the favourites: Single Ladies (yes my hand was up), Love on top, and yeah, it was fab! As you can see, we were about 5 rows back, and I'd have never got a place like that If I'd have ordered tickets for her tour, so I was very chuffed with myself!

 So that's all from me, I've got lots of packing to do, as I'm off (again) on a little family break!

Let me know if you've been to any festivals this year, I'd love to hear about them!

Lots of Love,