I need to end my love affair with Floral

It's moving into summertime and as I come out of my revision stupor, it's time to stop wearing trackies and leggings and start getting into pretty summer things. 

Traditionally for me, this would mean floral tops, dresses, heck even trousers (not all worn together, don't worry). 

As the weather heats up (marginally, this is still England after all) my flatmates have started to notice how heavily Cath Kidson-esque prints feature in my life. They've expressed concern that I'm in a bit of a spring style rut. 

Determined to prove them wrong and to help out anyone else with a similar addiction- here are some great summer prints that save you from descending into the black hole of flower power. 

1. Breton Stripes: Hardly a revolutionary concept, but I love a breton stripe piece for spring/summer. Throw them on and they always look chic. These two long sleeved beauties from Zara and Camieau (I went over the boarder to Annecy to get this one) are great pieces. Especially if, like me, you're paler than pale, one of the these t-shirts are great to throw in a beach bag and stop burnt shoulders. Alternatively for an evening, this H&M dress is super flattering despite its fitted style. 

2. Polka Dots: They've featured quite heavily in the spring/summer trend reports in magazines and can be worn all year round, but my polka dot pieces are mainly summer clothes. You can have just a hint of them with these converse, or as an alternative to blue jeans with these Monsoon cropped ones. 

3. Aztec/Tribal Prints: I don't really own much of this style, I think it typically comes in colours that suits darker completions. However, if you're a budding festival lover, you'll know this is the style for you! Look at Cochella for inspiration. 

Of course, my floral stuff will be making an appearance this summer without fail, but hope this helps give you some inspiration for holiday outfits this summer. 


P.S. I am in no way shape or form an authority on fashion and style, just trying something new on the blog! 

'Eleanor and Park' by Rainbow Rowell- Review

Now you know I have a deep love for Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and I knew that Eleanor and Park also existed. I was kind of afraid that it would be the 'bad second album' syndrome (despite being the first book she wrote). However, once more I was completely obsessed and this book stopped me from going insane during exam season. 

Basic plot: Eleanor is a teenage girl, the eldest child and lives with her mum and stepdad. She's just returned after moving out because of problems with one of the most evil characters ever- the stepdad, Richie. Park is a half- American half-Korean boy who keeps to himself and has a fully functioning family- except relations with his Dad are strained. These two find each other and form an unlikely bond. It basically follows their lives.  

It sounds like there isn't much that goes on in this book, but I just don't want to spoil it for you. Inside each chapter you see both Eleanor and Park's perspectives as the events play out, meaning that their plot lines run parallel to each other. I guess I have a thing for novels written in the first person; I either love them or hate them. Fortunately in this case, I really cared about both Park and Eleanor. I have found with other books written in the same style (sadly, I thinking of The Song of Ice and Fire series here) where I'm reading as fast as possible through one section just to get back to characters I actually like. 

I think it's the combination of characters that makes this book, highlighting a really important concept; what people find hard to deal with isn't comparable or relative, but difficult in itself. Park and Eleanor's families are their biggest challenges, but on different scales and in different ways and you sympathise with both of them. It's not really a light and fluffy read, but don't be scared off by it- Rowell manages to take you through the tough parts with the sweetness of Eleanor and Park's relationship. 

A great read and it's made me a certified Rowell fan- here's hoping there's more to come! 

Getting Lost: Le Marche, Italy

My Mum was driving, which should put the fear of God in most people, but this time it was doubled by the fact that she was trying to avoid a coach load of tourists on the autostrada- this was then followed by perilous country lanes up to the hills of Le Marche. 

The region includes the Sibillini National Park and towns like Sanarno in the winter are actually ski resorts, though with a very short seasons in comparison to Alpine Skiing. It's a further 1 1/2 from Ancona and involves the worlds windiest roads (in my opinion). 

We stayed in the Hamlet of San Vernanzo and the house we were in boasted beautiful views of the nearby Monte San Martino and Panne. It looked like it was something out of the shire and really was an incredible landscape. 

Casa Ginestra

Sadly, the weather wasn't really on our side for the week, but like classic English tourists, we persevered and had packed our wellies just in case. 

As my sister aptly said: 'there's one thing you can still do in bad weather...eat.'

So here are two highlights from the trip:

Monte San Martino: This was the only sunny day we had in Le Marche (most photographs are from this day) and we decided to wander around Monte San Martino- the streets themselves beat any museum, because the buildings have been so well preserved and cared for that it's beautiful. An added bonus was the village being on a hilltop resulted in beautiful views of Le Marche. 

While the village was stunning, our lunch was the highlight of the day. In the village square is a very average looking restaurant that is best to go to on a Sunday (apparently, it was the only day we went). The interior is pretty unexciting, but the food...well it was eaten far too quickly to even get a photo of it! 

Our italian is non-existent, therefore we never really understood what we were ordering- the main advantage of this was that the waiters would simply give us a selection of the food- but in Monte San Martino we didn't understand the system. Used to ordering a dish thinking it was for one person, we made the fatal mistake of ordering three pasta dishes thinking that shared between the four of us, it would make a nice light starter. We then proceeded to order four meat dishes and vegetables to share, thinking that would be enough. We really should have registered the surprise on the waiter's face. 

As you may have guessed, we really over ordered- the first pasta dish, dyed green with nettles, was a huge serving plate worth of pasta- about 6 portions worth! It was followed by a similar plate of Strawberry risotto (interesting, but not my favourite) and then the house special, Angelica's pasta. This stuff looked like mini cinnabons; swirled pasta stuffed with (i think) pork and covered in a creamy sauce. The pasta itself was the winning ingredient- super light it was so easy to eat- we all finished the entire huge platter! After those three dishes we were pretty full, but then the mains followed! 

The mains were also delicious- get what is described as a sirloin steak in the english translation (what is actually means is half a cow)- they cook it until rare and then serve it up on a sizzling plate where it finishes cooking- amazing stuff. Also the potatoes were seasoned so that they were totally more-ish. I was in serious pain from my jeans waistband after this! 

Then they dished up the yummiest tiramisu- honestly I didn't think I could eat it but my god it was so delicious. I'm not a fan of coffee in puddings, but it really was fabulous. 

The view of Monte San Martino from the house

La Querche: This is actually just outside of Monte San Martino, and we visited there twice- the first time on our first evening in San Vernanzo, where the pizza and antipasti were amazing, but the second visit made this my firm favourite, just because of the whole experience. 

It was cloudy and drizzling slightly, but with such amazing countryside around we all agree to just deal with it and go for a walk. Dad had seen in the house book (a little guide the owner's had written) that there was a walk from the house to the 'nearby' village of Penna san Giovani. While the walk was described as 'not for the feint-hearted' we thought we'd be safe. We walked down into the valley and up again, only to find ourselves nowhere near Penna, but right outside the turning to the Agriturismo 'Le Querche'. Clearly we'd made a wrong turn- one that we later realised was rather lucky. 

The silver lining to the trekking going awry was this Agriturismo- a farm that has its own shop and restaurant. We walked in only to see the sign saying the restaurant was closed- however we went in to try and buy some bread and cold meats as a impromptu picnic. The failure of our Italian and the generosity of the owner meant that he simply looked confused gestured for us to sit down and laid the table for lunch. 

There is no way in hell that any swiss restaurant would open for 4 people to have lunch, but tired and wet I practically declared my love for this man and promising to feed us. He served up the simplest and delightful dishes. First, a huge platter of ravioli stuffed with ricotta and covered in a sweet tomato sauce. We polished the whole thing off in minutes. It was then followed by pork ribs cooked on an open fire and a selection of grilled vegetables. Hungry from walking and perfectly cooked we devoured everything. As if I couldn't love this place any more, we were each served panna cotta in a berry coulis. Amazing. 

The style of Le Querche grabbed me. It's not fancy at all, with the TV playing loudly in the background and harsh lighting. But the owner is so friendly, the food is simple, honest and tasty. I like a place where you can get rib sauce all over yourself and feel pretty comfortable. Who needs snooty fine dining when you can go here? 

Emma and I showing the latest in trekking Chic

And just for fun, here's a couple more photos from the trip: 

The Square in Ascoli Piceno 

Monte San Martino at Night

One family, one car and a lot of winding roads: Le Marche, Italy

As I'm deep in exam season, I'm already fantasising about summer holidays, so thought it was time to share my Easter road trip with you! After Merryn headed home, I only had a day to help get the house ready before our family friends stopped in. They were our heroes, coming to house and dog-sit while we headed off to Le Marche region in Italy. 

The great thing about Geneva is how easy it is to get out of Geneva- it takes 3 hours on the train to Paris (well worth it, simply for the double-decker train) and on a good run, Milan is 3 hours from the Mont Blanc tunnel. Despite these amazing places being a decent drive away, we decided to head off on a 9 hour slog to our first location, San Marino. The Book Thief audiobook was the only thing that kept us sane. 

It was our first experience of real italian food for a long time, but paled in comparison to what we were going to eat further along the holiday. The Hotel Ceasare was nice, but pretty average- my room was tiny, but the beds were comfy and the breakfast was good. 

We only had the following morning in San Marino, so we went for a quick explore around the hilltop old town. 

San Marino isn't actually part of Italy- like the Vatican, it's an independent country/state- it has it's own government and some amazing architecture. We only looked at two of the most imposing buildings- the first and second tower of the fortified walls. These imposing buildings had sheer drops on either side of them- making dramatic scenery and giving me jelly legs. 

The First Tower

Mum and I after the terrifying trapdoor

The First tower resulted in me having a bit of a wobbly, simply because what I thought was simply a steep staircase was a short ladder through a trapdoor to get to the top. I have a real thing about ladders and heights and since travelling with my parents acted like such a wimp climbing back down again. The jelly legs were there to stay. How embarrassing. 

Still stir crazy from the Car journey

Anyway, my dad and I continued to the second tower and he managed to take some pretty dramatic pictures of the first- the main advantage, because both towers were pretty similar-though it did have a weapons museum inside, which Dad enjoyed. 

The Second Tower

Anyway, it was on to Ancona to pick up my sister from the airport- she managed to get a RyanAir flight from Stanstead out to Ancona for less than £1oo! I think it was around the £30 mark for one way (£50 with check in baggage). 

Ancona was the planned lunch stop, which caused some concern because when we drove in it looked like a very industrial ferry port and nothing more. However, my sister approached a couple once we had parked and asked them where was good for lunch- resulting in a hilarious conversation that highlighted how we knew no Italian, and they spoke no English. We finally got a vague sense of where to go and stopped for some amazing pasta- a solid feature of this holiday and I forgot to take a picture of any of it! Stupid me. Anyway, unless you have to stop there, I wouldn't go to Ancona- asides from the impressive Cathedral that they have there, it didn't really enchant me- that being said, if you follow the staircase down from the Cathedral into a small square there's a little wine bar that does the most delicious stuffed pasta. Tortelli, I think it's called (the pasta, not the bar). 

From there, it was on to our final stop- Casa Ginestra in San Vernanzo... 

Why you should watch 'The Autobiography of Jane Eyre'

http://eyrequotes.tumblr.com

I am a lover of period drama. It's a fact. 

A fail-safe gift for me is any of the Austen BBC adaptations- once my flatmate and I spent an entire day watching Austen because we had nothing better to do (total lie. I had loads of work). 

YouTube captured that love in the form of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and I was hooked- they managed to put an amazing storyline in the context of a video blogger- it was so good it won an Emmy. YouTube having an Emmy winning show! 

I have never really enjoyed the Jane Eyre storyline, but Lizzie Bennet's little sister is on the internet at the moment in the form of The Autobiography of Jane Eyre- it's been around for a while now, but it's still going and I am in love with it! 

It follows the same story as the original Bronte, but is set in contemporary Canada. It's far less glossy than the Pemberly Digital productions (the creators of Lizzie Bennet, Welcome to Sanditon and Emma Approved) and it's kind of why I love it so much. It's obviously on a tight budget, but I enjoy it more than Emma Approved because it actually looks like someone's video blogs- at the beginning, they even have Jane with a crappy camera to highlight how limited her funds are. 

Anyway, during revision season, if you're looking for a bit of procrastination that won't cost you an hour's worth of work time (unless you play catch up on the whole series in one go) check it out. I think it should have a bigger audience then it does- it's even converted me to enjoying the original storyline of Jane Eyre. 

'Half Bad' by Sally Green- Review

Sorry I've been a non-blogger recently, but while I take time to revise (there will be updates from my Easter soon I promise!) here's another book review to delight you with. 

This was another 2-day speedy read. It's really easy to just fall back into this story and the language isn't challenging at all. Authors who try to be fancy with their writing style really irritate me. I'm there for the story, so tell it to me. 

That being said, this is written in first person so I was a little lost for the first few chapters, but the story does clear itself up pretty quickly. 

It's set in contemporary Britain (to start with), but in this version witches exist- White and Black witches to be specific. Instead of muggles we have fains (non-magic folk) who feature very rarely. White witches use their magic for good and black witches use their magic for evil- but this is one of the ideas that comes under questioning within the book. It's based around a boy called Nathan, who is described as a 'half code'; his father is a black witch, the worst of them all called Marcus and his mother was a white witch. As a result the council of White Witches keep him under close observation. 

When every witch turns 17 they are given three gifts and drink the blood of their ancestors, as a kind of initiation ritual into adulthood. Nathan realises he will be denied this right due to his parentage and believes that he will die as a result. Therefore he goes on the run from the council in search of someone who can perform the ceremony: his father. 

The book seems to be based on the quote from Hamlet by Shakespeare: 'for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so'. An interesting idea that has definitely been explored in other novels, but never quite so literally as in Half Bad. The discussion over whether Nathan is intrinsically evil and whether the actions of the council being for the protection of white witches really is good occurs early on and openly within the book. I found that engaging, but at the same time wished it could have been more subtle. 

This book is perfect for all lovers of Divergent in particular, simply because Nathan is a slightly more violent version of Tris. 

However, I loved Divergent and I can't really say that I loved this- it's a great read, certainly, but not something I would jump to read again. There was a lot of scenes where Nathan is alone with his thoughts and after a while the lack of other characters to engage with meant that he was going around in circles. 

It really picked up when he was on the move again, largely because it involved him travelling to Geneva! (That is the only real spoiler you get). It's not described in any great detail, which is a shame, because it would have been great to have that The Fault in Our Stars moment that Dutch people had when reading about Amsterdam. However, Green (Sally, not John) does mention travelling to Switzerland for another setting that features in the book, which is always comforting to know that it's not just from a copy of Lonely Planet that inspired her. 

All in all, I think it's worth a read to make your own mind up, certainly a great YA novel, but I would recommend my other reads from the holidays beforehand. 


On a quick side note- how cool is it that Penguin do YouTube Trailers for their books! Here's the one for Half Bad: 

The Liebster Award

I've taken some time from horrific revision to tell you some exciting news! I've been nominated for the Liebster Award. First things first, thank you to Antonia of Style on Style for the nomination- I have serious wardrobe envy from all your posts. Go take a look for yourselves! 

The Liebster Award is for new little blogs like mine that have less than 200 followers. It's run by the blogging community in the sense that it's us nominating each other and sharing blogs that we just love and think you will too. When you receive the award, you must answer 11 questions asked by your nominee. Then, you nominate your own choice of blogs and ask them a further 11 questions as well as letting them know you're nominated. 

Here we go! 

1. Why did you start your blog?

I entered the blogging world as most do, as a reader- my sister introduced me to TheLondoner, and from then on I've been hooked! I then started watching video blogs on YouTube and was desperate to become a part of this community, so a couple of months ago I just started writing. I love sharing my experiences of travelling and living abroad and I'm so pleased I made myself go for it. 

2. What is your all time favourite song?

So hard to choose! I can only narrow it down to two choices, each one cheesier than the other- firstly 'Zero to Hero' from the Disney film Hercules and 'Man I feel Like a Woman' by Shania Twain. I clearly need to get out more, but they're such great feel-good songs. 

3. What has been your most expensive purchase?

I love me a bargain, but it would have to be my Liberty Print Barbour- from the outlet store in Newcastle, but it still set me back £100. 

4. Did you make any new years resolutions this year, and if you did, what were they?

To be healthier- I went to the gym today, so I guess it's a step in the right direction! 

5. What has been your favourite post so far? 

Of my own? Either of the Sunday Funday Posts- that Brunch in Exeter just brightened my flat from our coursework blues, and the weekend skiing with Merryn was great fun, plus I'm really pleased with the photos. 

6. What was the last film you saw and what did you think of it?

We watched at least six DVDs when I was on holiday in Italy, but the last one was Saving Mr Banks- it was amazing! Based around the creation of Mary Poppins it follows Walt Disney and P.L. Travers and all their arguments etc. I love Emma Thompson and Mary Poppins has some great music. 

7. Describe your perfect weekend

It's pretty simple: staying at home with my dogs, going for a long walk followed by a pretty huge lunch and then reading a book or watching a film. I'm a bit of a granny at heart. Possibly add friends into the mix for lunch and it's pretty perfect. 

8. What is your favourite brand or high street shop?

I have recently fallen in love with Gap, simply because of their jeans- perfect length for 5'11 me. 

9. What blogs do you follow and why? 

Too many to keep track! I follow back people who follow me, because I think it's right that bloggers support each other- plus I've found some great blogs along the way! For any beauty related things, I look to EssieButton or FleurDeForce- their YouTube channels are great fun. Also, although it's now an online magazine, it started life as a blog, so I'd say that Rookie Magazine counts as well- finally a Young Adult magazine that engages with its readers and realises they have brains! 

10. Where is your favourite city? 

This is an impossible question! I would have to say Dubai, simply because it's the last place that I have considered my home. It's such a crazy place and the people I befriended there were just bonkers, but brilliant at the same time. 

11. Where do you see your blog taking you in the next year? 

Who really knows? It's possibly the best hobby I've tried thus far, and I don't really want to think of it as a vehicle for anything either than documenting stories from my life. In practical terms, I want to improve the aesthetic of the blog, develop my writing style and improve my photography skills, starting with investing in a decent camera. I just want to keep developing it into something that  I'm proud to have my name attached to- maybe it will lead me to a new city to live in? 

Ok, enough about me, time to pass on the nominations- thanks once more to Style on Style for the nomination! 

My Nominations: 

That Adventurer 
DrugstoreTalks
What She Wears
Choco Chip Chic
Bee Cherie

My Questions: 

1. What advice can you give new bloggers? 

2. What do you like most about your blog? 

3. What are your travel essentials? 

4. Where would your dream holiday be? 

5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go? 

6. Name one person that inspires/influences you. 

7. What was the last book you read? 

8. Describe your blog in 3 words. 

9. What is the most played song on your iTunes/Spotify etc.? 

10. What are the future plans for your blog? 

11. If you could be a character in any story, who would you be?