Catching up with the blonde: Festival Stripes...

Hello! 

I can't believe it's already September and my crazy cram. everything. in. summer, has finally come to an end! It's been amazing, but I now find that I'm far from ready to continue my journey at university, when I head off at the end of this month.

Today's post is one of my many "oops, I meant to post that, but didn't" sort of posts. During August, I GOT MY UNIVERSITY PLACE AT BRISTOL, I went on a family holiday, volunteered at a local holiday club (involving lots of cream pies in my face), enjoying a few fab day trips, and an epic weekend at Western Park's Vfestival... so not a lot really.

 I thought I'd start off by sharing a few memories from the festival, and show you how I kept the festival look realistic - because believe me, the VIP experience is another league for the true festival experience!

Throughout the weekend, I relied on my trusty Topshop shorts and crop top combinations, to create a relaxed and effortless style. This year I also opted for a handy bum bag, rather than a rucksack, so I had more space to go crazy with my (commonly debatable) awesome dance moves. My Joules wellies made an appearance throughout the weekend, as the most comfortable dance shoes possible. I'd definitely recommend them, if your looking for a cheap option to Hunters!

On day one of the weekend, we treated ourselves with a yummy BBQ and enjoyed the grassy surrounding, that would soon become a wasteland of beer cans! Thanks to our local butcher, we had the great taste of a decent hot dog, before we fed ourselves silly on the nearby fish and chip stands! 

 

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend celebrating university places, exam results, and friendship, with some great people!

I'm hoping to do a few University preparation posts - we only get to be a fresher once, so I'm hoping to at least get myself organised for the first few weeks of term (here's to attempting the impossible).

Speak soon,

Grace x

A Summer Breeze...

Hello!

Today I've been sunning it up (or turning myself into a tomatoe) in my back garden. Like everyone else in the UK, I've been taking advantage of the lovely sun that's made an appearence during the last few weeks. As the weather was cooler today, I chose an easy summer combination to wear. 

Despite the recent heat, my Topshop summer jeans have been used no end, over the last month. My Jamie jeans fall to just above the ankle, which is great during summer, as they can be rolled up futher to create a 'I'm ready to run in the sea' look. My favourite item this summer, has to be my River Island shirt, with a beautiful butterfly pattern on it. It's one of those items you can literally wear with anything to add a splash of pattern. I wore the shirt over my New Look pink crop top. Since purchasing a few weeks ago, I can't belive how much use it's had. It's simple colour and floral patter makes a great combination with jeans or patterned skirts.

My sandals have also been a god send this year. Clarks are always on hand to provide style and comfort for every season, so my sandals have not let me down so far (and they've literally been everywhere with me)! I always think it's worth having leather shoes in warm summer weather, as they continue to keep your feet feeling fresh...that and the fact that after 4 hours of walking along the sea fron (usually too and from the ice cream parlour), i'm still blister free! But that's enough of my ramble... though if Clarks every need an official representative, you know where I am!

What I'm Wearing: Jeans - Top Shop, Clutch & Shirt - River Island, Crop Top - New Look, Glasses - Jack Wills, Shoes & Necklace - Primark.

Have a lovely week, whatever your plans.

Love
Grace x

WHAT I WORE 2013...

 

Hello, I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas holiday!
As new year approaches, I've put together a little 'what I wore' 2013, featuring some of my favourite outfits from this year. At the start of this year, my blog was solely personal style, but as I look back I'm so happy with the way it's developed over the last year and I hope you've been able to see a bit of the real me. As ever I've loved writing my blog this year, and have literally shared my experiences wherever I went - including my visits to Paris, and London.

In January, I brought this lovely paisley dress with my birthday money, from River Island. I've worn it all year, as its so easy to wear for all occasions. Here, I wore the dress for a new year's celebration, with my Clark's heels - those kept me dancing all evening! In February, I received a lovely necklace from Little Birdie jewellery emporium. I wore it in an outfit post with my vibrant coloured flamingo jumper. I loved this outfit as it was super comfy, as I love to find an excuse to wear my Top Shop jeans. In March, I put together a little 'smart' outfit, that I liked wearing to sixth form. The blazer was an old H&M favourite that I've had in my wardrobe for years, and I brought the pencil skirt was from Dorothy Perkins. 

 April brought the first glimpse of spring, and with it my lovely floral Kath Kidston style tea dress. I loved this outfit as it's a lovely denim colour, and was easy to dress down for a day out with friends. I wore it with a cardigan from Next, which is also another wardrobe favourite of mine! In May, the sun was shinning so I wore a festival inspired outfit. I loved the Matalan shorts and wore them with a crop top from New Look and Primark jacket. For June, (which I missed a month due to exams) I've selected a photo from my visit to Paris in the Summer - I loved my double denim combination!

July was a crazy month, but I've chosen my little dress I wore on holiday as one of my favourite outfit posts! The dress was from Primark, and was definitely one of my summer essentials. In August, I attended V Festival for the first time, and with that my complete festival outfit. My New Look top complimented my vibrant orange River Island shorts. I also loved my Joules wellies, which had details of cute doggies on! As I started a new school year, I went for a cheeky day trip to London. I wore an cobalt blue skirt with OASAP denim jacket and Clark's boots. 

 From October, the sun disappeared, but I was still holding on to the summer floral in another 'smart' work wear post. I wore a Dorothy Perkins dress with a H&M green blazer. In November, I attended the Clothes Show Live, with press pass in hand and my lovely friend Emma-lee to keep me company. I wore a tartan dress from New Look, with a satchel from OASAP and my super comfy Clark's boots. Finally December saw my festive Rudolph jumper, which I wore for the majority of the month (whoops) - though can you blame me?

So there's my favourites of 2013, my favourite was probably November, because I loved wearing the felt hat. Keep your eyes peeled for a few posts later this 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,

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,