RED OR DEAD EVENT | #RODKEEPCOOL

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive an invite to the Red or Dead headquarters for a fabulous evening of food, fashion and fun! Driven there in a vintage London bus, (talk about traveling in style), we arrived at their stunning North London offices to find a tasty selection canapés and slush puppies waiting for us, with cupcakes for desert, yum!

Following our foodie treats Creative Director of the brand, Katie Greenyer, talked us through their history with an insightful presentation, which taught me a lot about Red or Dead and actually made me love them even more! I used to have a pair of Red or Dead specs, they do loads of fun frames that are worth checking out if you're a glasses wearer, and I also own a pair of their silver brogues. They have such a cool and quirky attitude, with clothing and accessories to match, and I love the punk twist that they give to modern-day trends!





Images taken from the Red or Dead blog

Must Have Maine Tourmaline

Maine tourmaline is unlike any other tourmaline found in the rest of the world......


Maine tourmaline comes in beautiful shades of green and pink.
We call it watermelon.
Makes perfect sense.

SHOP Maine Tourmaline!




This is how I wore my Maine tourmaline earrings, necklace and bracelet that I received as a gift for my birthday.

My whole outfit is from TALBOTS.

{My vintage sterling silver green glass ring is from my online vintage boutique,  The Canny Canary}







SATURDAY

On Saturday Matt and I popped over to Hackney. I had some samples to return anyway so whist in the area we went to The Hackney Museum to see the current exhibition, 'London Life - Photographs by Colin O'Brien'. It was really inspiring! I love documentary style street photography, especially from past eras, I highly recommend sticking your head in for a peek if ever you're passing! I fell in love with this charming shot below, which is titled 'Cowboy and Girlfriend', and was taken in 1960.


Rather than heading home straight away we went to Clissold Park to meet some friends. We listened to music, drank wine, nibbled on crisps and soaked in the sun before deciding to head home for a BBQ. There was then more music, more sun, more nibbling and much more drinking before the night ended with Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow. I had such a fabulous day and am really looking forward to next weekend so I can have another relaxing Saturday afternoon! On the Sunday Matt and I shot a new editorial with a real Sixties vibe, I can't wait to show you!








I also want to tell you about a workshop that I recently went to, which was hosted by Vonage. The main topic of discussion was freelancing as a blogger and how turn your blog into a business. As I'm planning to go freelance in the next few weeks this was of course completely relevant to my current situation and I left feeling very inspired, filled with new information!

The workshop, which was titled 'Blog to Business' was led by two fabulous bloggers called Emma, who runs a very insightful blog called 'The Freelance Lifestyle', and Elizabeth who has a great lifestyle blog called 'Rosalilium' that covers everything from crafts to cooking! The section of the workshop that I found most interesting was about treating your blog as a brand, and how to achieve that strong aesthetic. I sometimes feel as though this blog is a little confused, perhaps because I've been a little confused over the past year, so a strong brand and overall signature style is something that I'd really like to work on for you guys! I also learnt lots about the "less interesting" parts too of course - some of which hadn't even crossed my mind as a blogger!




How To Keep Your Whites White


  • ALWAYS wash whites separately. You might think it couldn't do any harm to wash a pastel color garment with your white garments, but it does. That is how whites begin to look dingy. And just say you have a white tee shirt with a picture or lettering on it. Put that in with your light colors, not your whites.
  • Wash your all natural fibers that are white in cold water to avoid shrinkage such as 100% cottons, linens and wools. A shirt or blouse in a natural fiber blended with polyester or other synthetic fibers, will be fine to wash in warm water which takes stains out better. Those fabrics won't tend to shrink as much because they are more tightly woven.
  • Add bleach to your white wash to get rid of yellowing under the armpits due to antiperspirant. I recently have begun wearing Tom's of Maine natural deodorant (not an antiperspirant). It is better for you because it lets you perspire a bit and doesn't clog up your pores with aluminum like antiperspirants do, PLUS it doesn't make a yellow stain under the armpits of my clothing which is a huge plus. It was a little difficult to get used to at first, but once you try Tom's of Maine all natural deodorant for about a week, you won't want to go back to your old stuff! And contrary to popular belief, bleach does not wear down your clothes if you don't apply it directly to the fabric. I've been using a little bleach in my white washes for years now, and no holes yet! However, bleach may actually turn your synthetic white fibers a little yellowish, so watch your fabric content.
  • If you don't use bleach because you don't like chemicals, you can make your own eco friendly Oxi-clean recipe for taking stains out of whites using 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide, 1/2 cup baking soda, and 1 cup water and mixing all four ingredients in a bowl. Pour this mixture on the stained areas of your white garment and let sit in a sink over night. Wash them the next day and the stains should be lighter or completely gone! Even though this method is all natural, you should still test a small spot on your clothes to avoid any accidents.
  • Another more natural approach to keeping your clothes white, is to add 1 cup white vinegar to 2 1/2 pints of tap water in a large pot. Bring the solution to a boil, then pour it into a bucket and drop in your dingy socks, [uniforms, etc.]. Let them soak overnight, then the next day wash them as you normally would.
  • If you have a clothes line, hang your white clothing out to dry in the nice bright sunlight. The sun will help fade any stains.
  • Wash your whites right after you wear them. The longer the stain gets to set in the fabric, the tougher it is to get out.
  • Avoid dry cleaning your clothes whenever possible, however if the label says dry clean only, pay attention to it and make sure you dry clean it. I struggle with this myself. I have taken white linen to the dry cleaners before because the label told me to and they turned it a pale shade of yellow due to the fact that they were using an old and dirty dry cleaning solution. So now, if I am buying white linen, I make sure that the label says that I can wash it, otherwise I don't buy it. On another note, if a garment just says dry clean on it, take it as a suggestion, but I have been known to take a chance and actually wash those items. They came out fine. But if you decide to wash something that says dry clean on it, make sure you realize that you are taking a risk and whatever happens is your fault.

Turkey OOTD 3: Co Ordinates




Top - £13 Go Jane
Shorts -  £20 Go Jane
Sandals - £12 Primark

Ok it looks like I'm a little obsessed with Go Jane... Maybe a little lol .  I did do some of my holiday shopping there, as it's not based in the UK and it never makes sense to buy one item only to pay crazy high international shipping cost, its always worth while to buy a few items, hey I don't mind anyway hahaha

African/Tribal prints are favorite (I'm glad the fashion industry is finally playing catch up!), add that to this super cute matching top and shorts, its a match made in heaven for me!

I'm so missing the wonderful views and weather in Turkey sigh...

Happy Weekend everyone, I'm off to a boat BBQ party on the River Thames, fingers crossed the sun makes an appearance soon!

RAINBOW FANTASY

Don't you just love putting on clothing that makes you feel four-years-old again!? I was recently sent this t-shirt by TruffleShuffle, a super cool online store that stock an amazing selection of retro, Eighties goodies! If you follow me on instagram then you'll already know that I've practically lived in this tee for the last week, (ew, you know what I mean), not only does it have some of my favourite childhood friends smiling all over the front of it, but it's also super soft and a really nice, flattering fit.

I used to LOVE the Care Bears, I remember watching the films over and over… I had a jigsaw puzzle too! What were your favourite childhood tv shows? Some of mine were the Care Bears, Pingu, Tales of the Riverbank and Button Moon, to name a few.



SHORTS H&M
DR MARTENS SHOES

The Secret To Wearing Complimentary Colors

I am asked this question all the time. Ladies, holding things up to the natural light and practically looking under a microscope to make sure something matches exactly is not necessary. While I do realize that some of us truly are color blind and need help with finding things that color coordinate, most of us tend to fret over the minor details of exactly matching waaaaaaay too much. There is no need to get a headache over finding the perfect match. 

For instance, if you are looking for a top to match a certain shade in a colorful floral skirt, don't fret over finding the exact shade. Chances are the skirt has so many colors in it that if you are a hint off, no one will even notice. Actually, being a hint off can be even more interesting than matching exactly.

In fact, I suggest wearing colors together that are opposite on the color wheel. It makes for a more interesting overall look! Keep reading to see some examples....

{color wheel courtesy of Cosmopolitan}


Below you will find some lovely looks that combine colors that are opposite on the color wheel


weekend getaway
Red and blue are opposite on the color wheel!
SHOP this look!





lunch date
Yellow and purple are opposite on the color wheel!
SHOP this look!




evening out
Orange and violet are opposite on the color wheel!
SHOP this look!




So as you can see. Although, there is nothing wrong with wearing tonal colors, thinking outside of the box when it comes to color can be way more interesting and exciting. If you struggle with this, simply print out a color wheel and take it with you when you go shopping.
Click HERE to print out one of the many color wheels that you will find on Pinterest.

Turkey OOTD 2: Go Jane




Dress - £27 Go Jane
Sandals - £12 Primark
Earrings - Old

I'm totally in love with Go Jane, I can find so many unique things from there that I haven't seen on any other online store or blogger.  I'm a sucker for patterns, especially tribal ones, so of course I feel in love with the dress straightaway.  Also the awesome detailing at the front is very different.  This is the perfect summer dress.





Contrast Floral Top





Skirt - Missuided
Top - Zara
Heels - Matalan
Ankle Bracelets - Ebay
Clutch - Gift

I'ts always the case that before a holiday work is always manic, I guess when your trying to wind down on the work you have you realise just how much work you have! Then your colleagues magically have 100 questions to ask you before you leave!  Its only Wednesday but I feel like I have worked a whole week.  Good news is I'm off to Miami tomorrow whoo hooo!!!

These pictures were taken on Monday after a late night at work, the sun was just going down so the quality is not the best.    I love this contrast floral top I recently bought from Zara for only £10.  I found these ankle bracelets that I bought last year while packing but have never worn them, they were still in the packaging, shame on me.  I like the way they jazzed up this outfit.

I doubt I will blog in Miami, but I will be updating my Instagram.  Thanks for stopping by and see you in August :-)

What To Wear On A Summer Evening Out In Maine?

Sometimes, it can be challenging to look nice, be modern and stylish, yet subtle, on a summer evening out with the girls in Maine. But, I think I figured it out.....


It was a warm and humid day, but I could tell that it was going to be a bit cool on this evening out with two of my favorite girlfriends. We were headed down to McLaughlin's At The Marina and I thought there might be some great conversation and a fire pit involved. Guess what? I was right. If you have not been down to McLaughlin's At The Marina yet, I suggest you take some time to do so this summer. The food is fabulous and the music is great. Located in Hampden, it doesn't seem that far away for those who live in the Bangor area, yet you feel like you went on a mini vaca just for a few hours.

 While eating lunch there one afternoon with my sister, I recognized that there was a fire pit outside and chairs gathered around. I asked Kim, the owner, "What goes on out there?" She replied to me, "Magic." 
And she is right.
That is just what happened between me and my girlfriends there that night.


I decided that a black tank top from Talbots covered with this little shawl from Mexicali Blues would do the trick. It would look modern and chic, yet keep me warm enough on this semi cool Maine summer night.


And of course I chose to wear vintage jewelry from The Canny Canary.

Talk about magic!

Vintage cocktail ring, vintage butterfly necklace, vintage Monet bracelet and vintage Etienne Aigner leather cross body bag can all be found at
The Canny Canary Online Vintage Jewelry Boutique by clicking right HERE








SHOP my similar look!





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