A Little Bit of Love.

Just over a week until Valentine's Day! I actually really like it, I agree with those that say it's commercial but I still think it's fun and I kind of enjoy going out and people watching all the couples who genuinely are out for the sake of it rather than because they actually like each other.

Moon and I don't really do much for Valentine's Day other than get each other cards and pop out for a nice meal so I find it a little odd that there are so many Valentine's-themed gifts floating around at the moment. That being said, I'm a sucker for love hearts, commercialised love day or not. So here are my favourite picks of Val Day treats from Etsy, it's been a while since I've done one of these really but what better excuse than when I can make it adhere to a theme?

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[Whipped Bakeshop]
How cute is this anatomically correct heart sugar cookie?
Decorative icing is something I wish I was good at, I'm also a huge fan of their pug Valentine's cookies.


[Ladybird Likes]
I've had my eye on a set of Ladybird Likes collar clips for a little while and these heart ones are too cute.
I also love their moon ones but they're not quite lovey dovey enough.


[Shop Miss Ella]
I love big statement acrylic necklaces but have been too covered up in scarves and coats to show any of my collection off.
I love this Peter Pan collar necklace, the stitching detail kills me!


[Back Bay Pottery]
Such adorable little bowls, I could definitely find room in my little flat for these and I love that they're not too obvious too!


[Doux Craft]
I'm hoping that my nails will be long enough by next week to do some cute nail art as it's been quite a while since I last painted my nails. I'm not very trusting of nail stickers, mainly because my nails are kind of small, but these was are almost irresistible I love the colour combination.


[Twin Crafts Knit]
I'm a sucker for silly plushes and this kitty would make a great addition to my slightly embarrassingly large collection.


[MF Jewels]
I've seen a few versions of similar sweaters on the high street and I don't think this something I would actually pick to wear on a Valentine's date, but I do think the heart patch details are cute and easy to get away with every day.


I do love a good pun and I'm finding all these love-based puns a bit much.
[My Zoetrope]
I'm actually secretly a little more excited for Pancake Day, but Valentine's Day is one of my favourites too, even if it's not a holiday at all and my Valentine isn't so secret - speaking of which, I've still not managed to pick up my card for him, oops!

VAL DAY.

After taking a gander at Lazy Oaf's S/S 12 Lookbook (at least one great cat-related item to stick on my list), I had a browse on the rest of their website, and stumbled across a pure goldmine of perfect Valentines cards. If only I wasn't so organised and hadn't picked up my card for my special someone over two weeks ago...

Guess which one I think would be the most apt... ♥

Intimate card, £2.75, Lazy Oaf


You're my Favourite, £2.75, Lazy Oaf


Your face is nice, £2.75, Lazy Oaf


You have nice hair, £2.75, Lazy Oaf
There are loads of other Love Day-related items currently at the Lazy Oaf store but you should check out everything because it's all nice. It would be great if they had another pop-up store soon, I broke my french fries tote at the weekend. :(

Pelican.

One of the best things about either being a student/unemployed and correct me if I'm wrong (but I'm not), is the fact that when you're favourite band or company do something, you're right there, able to comment on it, interact and maybe even win something. It's how I've won tickets to see both Biffy Clyro and Jamie T as well as tickets to a screening of Jurassic Park and a limited edition print (more on that when I have time).


Now that I'm working, and will be for the next two weeks (yay!), I kind of feel a bit out of the loop. I'm trying to make sure that I don't ruin too much of The Maccabees new album because like a true fangirl, I've been waiting far too long.

However, I couldn't ignore the excessive amount of temptation from various platforms and had a listen to their upcoming single, 'Pelican'.

I love it, I love them, I love hearing a new song by them, I love hearing Orlando's voice singing a song that I haven't heard before, it's beaut. I'm so psyched for January, when I'll get to see them again in a venue I've never been to before. It's going to be amazing.

Without trying to seem like I'm wishing the year away, I genuinely can't wait. I'm so pleased that there's a promise of the mixture of light and dark that The Maccabees do so well, not to mention classic Maccabees imagery. Welcome back boys! ♥

The Maccabees Official Website
Follow The Maccabees on Tumblr
Follow The Maccabees on Twitter

The Maccabees on the road, © Tom Martin, 2011. (via The Maccabees on Tumblr)

BEST THING EVER!

AHHHHH! I'm literally swooning, go Mumf & Orlando, they've just made this teeny tiny song ten times better than it was. OMG, I should have been paying more attention ♥.
I think my dissertation will go a lot more smoothly when I have this on my iTunes and therefore in my life. It's been pretty much a big fail so far today.

272.

Check out this sweet panoramic of my room.

I finally have my programme working again, it was a bit shakey with CS5 and a grew impatient. Really, it was only shakey because I was doing about a million things at once whilst trying to do that, but I made it using my other programme instead.
I can't wait to be done with my University work so I can finally play around with CS5, it seems a bit more stable than CS4 so far, but I've still got the two of them.

Moon and I went to Brighton yesterday for a walk round and a bit of relaxation time before he dives into the exam period, I'm so glad we did this. Feels like the first bit of actual 'couple time' that we've had in a while, everything was getting a bit stressful, I feel much better now.
The seagulls in Brighton are nuclear.

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

I'm off to print out my final spread in a bit, I feel so anxious that it's not really what the course wants, I mean it's about body-image, but it didn't need to be, and even though it's the first time I've used the studio properly on my own, it's not particularly adventurous. I have a tutorial tomorrow, and that makes me very sad, it's less than a week until the deadline and if they don't like it and even if I only get 40%, I still have to put it in the exhibition, like a twat.

Purikura.

It's not worth the money but it is so much fun to do.
I got these done in Chinatown, in that huge shop that sells basically everything, 'oriental & cute'. I remember doing the stickers, but they don't do those anymore, and it's such a shame that these are even more expensive. We tried to pick the ones that made the least sense.
The individual photos can be found in this Facebook album, at the end.
I like this one best, but I love all of them.

WW.

Abbreviations are almost entirely pointless when it comes to actual blogging. Hardly anyone will ever know what you're talking about.
These are the a few of the photographs I took on mine and Moon's trip to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park on New Year's Day. The rest of the images - from New Year's Eve as well - are up on Facebook. I mainly took these for personal enjoyment rather than to obtain any artistic merit. As I previously mentioned I was feeling pretty loved up, so it was just nice to document a lovely day. 2010 is definitely going to be a great year, right now, I'm making sure of it.








This is a hidden gem, I only discovered it once I uploaded everything onto my computer, it put a smile on my face. It also looks like Moon has massive hands.
These are from the circus, I didn't take too many because I was behind a pole. The hula hoop act wasn't the best, it's meant to be Santa's daughter. The 'pirates' were great, even if it was one of the most stereotypical things I've ever seen - I was so mystified I didn't get any photos of them. The clowns were just bizarre, but at least they weren't wearing masks. I don't think I fancy going to a circus again, plus even for a freezing cold day, it was way too hot in the big top.