Brighton Buys.

I just can't help it that most of my favourite shops happen to be in Brighton. So I might have picked up a few things when Moon and I were down there for his birthday yesterday. Saying that, I still have major sights set on my new fave, Porta and, I'll know I've made it once I can pick up a dress from Get Cutie and not give a damn, they're so beautiful.

I may not have splashed out in the shops mentioned above, but I'm pretty pleased with yesterday's gifts to myself, I mean I'd already bought Moon presents, so...


Cat-print canvas bag, £9.99, AHA Brighton
The shop I bought this from was great, I'd love to go back and buy so much more. It was mainly a Japanese gift shop, so I expected it to be really overpriced but it was actually really reasonable, I was pleasantly surprised. I'm so happy with this bag, I mean for obvious reasons but also because it's a great size. It seems really sturdy so far, so it will be good as either an everyday bag or for overnight.




The Art of My Neighbour Totoro, £20, Dave's Comics
Although this was pretty expensive, I feel no remorse as it's totally worth it, books are nearly always worth it. We turned the corner at the end of Dave's Comics in Sydney Street and were greeted by a whole series of similar Studio Ghibli books. I'm already hoping to grab the others and will be keeping a beady eye on Amazon in order to complete the collection. They might be a bit cheaper on Amazon but I do feel like I've done my bit to help out an independent Brighton retailer so it's not that big a deal.



So this last buy is a bit of a weird one, having semi-fallen for a bluebird print cushion in Get Cutie, I thought I may be able to pick up some cute fabric from one of the many fabric shops in Brighton and make my own animal themed cushion, and fell for this one instantly. I do in fact know how to make a cushion as it was one of the first things I ever learnt how to sew, much to Moon and his brother's surprise! I have a tendency to dip in and out of craft but I can do it. Besides, being the nerd I am, I've been tuning in regularly to Superscrimpers on Channel 4 and I'm feeling inspired. I'm not sure if I'll go for a cushion insert or wadding, but there's no doubt about it that this cushion's getting made. I'm feeling zero shame over the fact that two out of three things I bought today were cat-themed, in fact there's a cat in MY Neighbour Totoro too... haters gonna hate.

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Watch this space, it's a two-blog kind of day. I've got some photos that are actually from Brighton to show you. ♥

Pinch.

Hello, March! What a kicking way to start a new month.
Here's my nails, but sadly they've chipped and don't look like this anymore.

This part might be a bit dull, but I began the day baking a cake for Moon's birthday, although it was actually terrible, I don't know why but the finished product didn't live up to any kind of standard - think, slightly thick, sweet pizza, vom.

This is how I wrapped Moon's birthday presents, a bit simple but I quite like it, and there's no decent wrapping paper about at the moment, plus I ended up not having the time.



I had a helper though and as a reward she was allowed to hunt invisible things in the garden for a little while.


Moon arrived late in the afternoon and brought over some really pretty flowers, I hope that Dolly doesn't eat them.


After catching up with this week's American TV shows, we headed off to the first part of Dry the River day, a really beautiful, intimate in-store acoustic set at Banquet Records.
Here's what I wore, I only took one photo while we were at Banquet as you could hear a pin drop and I didn't want to be 'one of those people'.

Blazer: Primark
Dress: Yumi
Necklaces: Primark, H&M
Belt: Primark
Tights: Primark
Shoes: Primark





They had copies of 'Shallow Bed', Dry the River's debut album all laid out, letting everyone know that we wouldn't be able to get them until Monday. Apart from that wasn't true, guess who's got a signed copy and has already given it three full listens? It's so good! I did think it was a bit weird to have an album launch party before the album was even released.




This is Moon with my copy, but we got one each, because we're losers...
After having dinner at Mum's restaurant, we went back into Kingston for New Slang. I think it was actually my first 'clubbing' night out since finishing University, which is weird. We were primarily there to catch Dry the River again, but we stayed and had a little dance and actually had a smashing-great time.












How great is this girl's t-shirt? I may have cornered her like a creep, it's from Drop Dead, super cute. ♥


Got a cheeky snap with Scott from Dry the River, he's nice, and tall. He tried to make me feel less small by hunching, but I told him I was fine.



It was a pretty great night out, to celebrate Moon's actual birthday, which is today, we went down to Brighton, it was a pity that the weather wasn't as nice as it could have been but we had another nice day, photos to follow soon. I'm pretty pleased with how some of the gig photos came out, given that I was contending with being in the second row, everything about yesterday was a great excuse to change the scenery and get snapping.

Move to the Beat of London 2012.

I'm a little indifferent to London 2012. I hope it will do good things to London but there's a lot of pessimism both inside me and around me that says otherwise. London can barely handle two rush hours a day, yet there's an expectation that the transport system has the capacity to handle an extra three million journeys a day, just by making everyday commuters 'take a holiday', avoid London altogether or walk, not really good enough, especially when the trains aren't even nice.

Where I am concerned, transport is the tiniest issue as I hope to be based elsewhere, although never say never. Anyway although 'everything Olympics' is bound to be in our faces even once those two weeks are over, I thought I'd share Mark Ronson's neat, Olympic-inspired track (no pun intended) with you. Despite having been undoubtedly sounded pretty samey for the last four or five years, I think Ronson's really done something great with this one. I'm a big fan of things like 'STOMP' and the use of everyday items as instruments, so this was bound to please me. You may have spotted the Coca-Cola advert on television recently and obviously something as simple as this couldn't be related to the Olympics without being a bit commercial, but it's still clever and a definite must-watch.

Full-length 'Move to the Beat of London' Coca-Cola advert
Ronson has spent months working with athletes collecting sounds from their field and put it all to a beat to make something pretty catchy. Everything comes together as the Coca-Cola advertisement above, but has also be documented by director Kim Gehrig to show the journey from initial idea to finished product, and that's what looks like the really interesting part.

Even if the Olympics does end up making London look stupid, Mark Ronson, with his weird English-American'ness', will have gained a legacy, or at least acknowledgement that he isn't just all about trumpets. I might have left Katy B out of it though.

(via It's Nice That)

Beat 2012 Documentary Trailer by Kim Gehrig of Some Such & Co.

Tuesday Tabs #7

Lucky number seven! Blogging from a different place today and without my laptop, but I've tried my best to remember everything. Mainly so once I get home I can tidy up my computer, but also because I enjoy making this visual scrapbooks, even if I'm the only person watching.

I'm currently down in Dorking staying with my Gran as the journey from here is much quicker to Didcot and cheaper, than from New Malden. It's only until tomorrow morning but quite nice because I get tea cooked for me :)

I've not spent that much time at the computer recently, apart from to upload my own images. I don't want to be tempted by too many things online that I can't afford. I've also tried to steer clear for the last few days due to Oscars spoilers, call me a geek if you will, but I kind of love the whole ceremony - the news already informed me about The Artist winning best film and Christopher Plummer winning for best supporting actor, which I'm so happy about as 'Beginners' is probably my favourite film I've seen this year.

Today was the big Alamy interview, and I think it went well. It was super easy to get to, which considering I had to rely on public transport, was a mega plus - not that I plan to commute from New Malden/Dorking for long. The job sounds smashing-great and I'd just really love to be given a break soon. Things do kind of feel like they'll be on the up soon though.

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Let The Be Flight Hanging Lamp, $97.99, Modcloth
How amazing is his lampshade? I think it would work best on a standing lamp rather than on the ceiling, so you could enjoy the detail. It's so overly whimsical, I love it.


Bear Bottle Opener, $13.99, Modcloth
I'm so into this bear bottle opener, so here's hoping that it will be back in stock soon. Since seeing the Funkytime Ikea Kitchen Cart Makeover, I'm totally inspired to make my own version once I'm moved out. I'm actually not into the cart as such but this would look good anywhere, at the side of a kitchen counter, on a table, watch this space.


No idea how this escaped me previously, I've loved New Girl from the beginning. This is Zooey Deschanel's version of the interactive video on the official New Girl website, but you can make you own here.


Burger & Chips Salt and Pepper Shaker Set, £9, Urban Outfitters


Persian Cat Salt and Pepper Shakers, £9, Urban Outfitters


Tee-shirt Frames, £20, Urban Outfitters
For someone who says they don't really like Urban Outfitters I do seem to be spending an awful lot of time browsing there. I'm totally promising myself that it's just for inspiration rather than intent. I did think that these were a nifty idea anyway. Frames for t-shirts would be great for someone like Moon, who has so many t-shirts with pretty designs that he's either worn out or doesn't get around to wearing. With shops like Boy Parker and sites like Threadless as well as many independent illustrators going for more design-orientated t-shirts, I can totally buy framing a t-shirt as a piece of artwork, but that might be just because I really love frames and framing things...

(via Some Notes on Napkins)

I watched this the other day and I firmly related to it, perhaps wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's feeling super down about finishing Uni but it was pretty funny and had that pretty, hazy indie film feel about it. I already had it to watch but my current read, 'Geek Girls Unite' bumped it to the top of my 'must-watch' list and I'm glad that it didn't disappoint.


Generally I hate this meme, but overall it's kind of true... sadface.

(via HelloYou Creatives)

Link love: ♥

DIY Shadowbox with Modcloth - I must start checking out the Modcloth blog more regularly as on a quick browse, it features so many things that I'm interested in and like to look at.

9-Eyes - I came across this a while ago, but it's such a unique take on Photography's function in the digital age. It showcases the weird and wonderful of Google Street View, some of the images are stunning, others are odd, but it's definitely worth a look.

Ryan Gosling Pancake - So, it was Shrove Tuesday last week, and I thought this was a particularly good pancake, bringing together my love of two particularly attractive things, may give this a go next year.

We All Scream Shaker Set - Too many nice salt and pepper shakers around at the moment, may have to resort to having several sets.

5 Overlooked Muppets - Can't believe it's taken so long for me to find Boyparker's new and improved blog, but it's amazing. This is my favourite so far, in case your Muppets trivia wasn't up to scratch.

Attempted Illustration - The Royal Tenebaums - Take a look at my friend Izzy's Royal Tenenbaum series, it's very good.

Drive Neon Sign

Casey Weldon - A great artist for lovers of pop culture, I particularly enjoy this scary Steve Zissou print.

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I hope that your week is going well so far, would love hear what you think about these posts. Personally, I know I've said this before but I'm kind of using it as a scrap book, so I can keep track of things rather than clog everthing up. I can tend to change my mind quite quickly so I feel like it's also a good way to help me make choices, I think these kinds of posts are especially going to come in useful as visual reference points when I move out, a likely win for structured fun.