tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6183582532378394932024-03-16T15:20:23.490+00:00RoseRosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.comBlogger466125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-74431380067443252022016-03-30T23:50:00.001+01:002016-03-30T23:50:55.584+01:00Your face lights up<table style="border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 234px;"><tbody><tr><td width="99%" style="vertical-align: top;"><h1 style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px;"><br></h1></td><td width="1%"></td></tr></tbody></table><table id="itemcontentlist"><tbody><tr xmlns=""><td style="margin-bottom: 0px;"><p style="margin: 1em 0px 3px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I am a very sociable person who is fascinated by people- but who loves silence and time alone. I am aware that this may sound contradictory. </span></p><div style="margin: 0px;"><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I like the idea of mute salons, where you can go for haircuts, nail appointments and the like and they promise not to engage you in conversation if you make an appropriate signal. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My dream salon seems to be very far from becoming a reality... So if I'm feeling quiet I take a book. I found myself in the local place early on a Sunday morning, last year in fact- and the genuinely lovely lady I was seeing asked me the stock 'what did you do this week' question?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Inside I sighed a little but she really was engaging- so I put down my thriller and started telling her in detail about who I had seen, where I had been, what I'd been doing. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I chatted away and after a while my new friend stopped working, looked at me and smiled. I looked back, wondering why this interlude. She said 'you light up when you talk about this man, it is lovely to see'.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I tried to shrug it off as my general enthusiasm about the event we'd been to, but I think she saw through me. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She is right of course, in that way strangers can be. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/CxmGK/~4/ReWewF2pMMY?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email" height="1" width="1" alt="" style="border: none;"></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table id="footer" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); padding-top: 4px; margin-top: 1.5em; width: 234px;"><tbody><tr><td style="margin: 0px 6px 1.2em 0px;"><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You are subscribed to email updates from<a href="http://arosebeyondthethames.blogspot.com/">Rose</a>.<br>To stop receiving these emails, you may<a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=ZW69VHpyBqEOiTzi2VbJKpOZIsA">unsubscribe now</a>.</span></font></td><td style="margin: 0px 6px 1.2em 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;"><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Email delivery powered by Google</span></font></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="margin: 0px 6px 1.2em 0px;"><font face="Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Google Inc., <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://2" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="address" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2">1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States</a></span></font></td></tr></tbody></table>Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-75290585238062810382016-01-11T00:08:00.001+00:002016-01-27T22:28:01.451+00:00I wanna hold your handThe westbound Piccadily line is not usually the epicentre of romance in London. There is much that is daydream inducing about trains- sleepers to say Cornwall or Scotland- and the tube has moments and stolen glances certainly, but post Christmas sale shoppers and tourists do not make my heart swell in general and on the Piccadilly line in particular (though they do sometimes make my blood pressure rise).<div><br></div><div>In the week after Christmas I ran onto an underground train bound for Heathrow, and saw an older couple sitting down. I didn't think a huge amount about them except that they were both very well turned out (well dressed older people make me feel enormously happy, I have no idea why). I was engaged in the slightly tricky task of not breaking a large glass star Christmas ornament I had bought in Whole Foods by accident whilst I was waiting in the (long) queue. It was New Year's Eve so I also had emergency forgotten dinner party food items and I was feeling a bit stressed about getting home quickly. </div><div><br></div><div>When I reach Hammersmith I have to change onto the District line- and as I changed over so did the couple. It was only then I noticed they'd obviously been shopping. As you'd expect the gentleman was carrying the bags, except for one which his wife was holding tightly; it was tucked inside her coat to protect it from the (seemingly constant) rain.</div><div><br></div><div>When we reached Turnham Green the couple got up and her bag became visible, it was from Rigby and Peller- bra makers to the Queen no less. So Mr and Mrs Piccadily line had been lingerie shopping on New Year's Eve- a younger man and I exchanged knowing smiles. </div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I hope when I'm in my seventies my husband takes me lingerie shopping and holds my hand as we walk home. </span></div><div><br><div><br></div><div><br></div></div>Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-39186456127041676912014-11-26T23:15:00.001+00:002014-11-26T23:15:28.724+00:00Love and the kind of woman I don't want to beI took a train north this week and was sat with an older couple (I much prefer to sit alone of course and work/ feed the social media habit I heard myself denying recently, madly as I do clearly love social media- well mostly, except all the endless cats and Kardashians). <div><br></div><div>Older couples in love are one of my absolute favourite things, but older couples like this one are not. I'm afraid there is a certain kind of woman that reminds me of everything I don't want to be in a relationship- in fact this type of lady makes me really quite troubled. </div><div><br></div><div>As I said the couple in question were at least 70 but I have witnessed this strange behaviour in women my own age in relationships where they feel they I think can get away with it- or worse where they think they're both happy. </div><div><br></div><div>In this case of the 11.20 from Euston the husband had to endure being asked if he needed the toilet and told it was his snack time (he appeared to be completely sharp and read the Guardian from cover to cover so I don't think we can say this was for medical reasons). Some women just start talking to men in a really bossy, motherly over bearing way that I literally fear. I fear it because surely once toilet checks and snack time are in sex and romance must be out, but also to be less flippant how can you speak that way to someone who is the piece of Lego that fits with your piece? how do you spend so long looking and then end up making these conversations the way you spend your life with your spouse. </div><div><br></div><div>I have also sat in Byron (other burger restaurants are available) quite recently and heard a 30 ish year old chap be told what he should eat. Really. He was told he should have a burger with salad not bun and that he'd like to share chips (clearly the courgette fries are the thing to have there but anyway). To be honest he looked like he could eat a bun and still fit in his jeans but the point isn't about waistline, it's about dignity. </div><div><br></div><div>You could argue that the men in these scenarios could just leave or tell these women where to go with snack time or bunless burgers but they obviously don't. Why? </div><div><br></div><div>I just wonder where these relationships go wrong and it makes me as sad as the 80 year olds holding hands on benches make me feel happy- which is to say very. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-67769197260393611412014-11-16T21:00:00.001+00:002014-11-16T21:00:43.377+00:00Herringbone<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRW52pVnuSkxr7r9WHIuPlw6yPTpYpTFSTTTBCJ8-hjgiwFIS3nKWfJ89NQkjxVwK90C_LKfPQV1tmn6lK6YL_V8uq_NPoVxcAguKXY3HLWk9QC94hxU38vmFa7AsfBkq600t_mbSD46w/s640/blogger-image--802238418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRW52pVnuSkxr7r9WHIuPlw6yPTpYpTFSTTTBCJ8-hjgiwFIS3nKWfJ89NQkjxVwK90C_LKfPQV1tmn6lK6YL_V8uq_NPoVxcAguKXY3HLWk9QC94hxU38vmFa7AsfBkq600t_mbSD46w/s640/blogger-image--802238418.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This is a picture of my utterly faithful herringbone coat. It is hanging behind my bedroom door but when I finish writing this piece it will be going into a bag of garments for the clothes bank- and I feel a sense of betrayal to it, though I know it's just a coat. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I've enjoyed wearing most of the clothes in the bag (of course we all make the odd strange purchase, like the floral t shirt I could never quite bring myself to wear that I hope will have a better life with a new owner). But for the most part I think when you put a dress that's seen some good times out dancing or a skirt you wore to work a few too many times out to pasture you feel a touch wistful but you know it's time to say goodbye (do men get this too? Do you think about the t shirt you wore when you kissed a beautiful girl before you put it aside?). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The herringbone's time in truth came at least a year ago but it's ridiculously warm and so I found myself reaching for it in the depths of January, though I knew it was time for something new.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Poor herringbone has never really been beloved of my west London (in this case I mean west of about the Bethnal Green Road) friends and colleagues. Out East it's cool, tweed and pattern is favored and herringbone is I'm afraid so old and has seen so many gig floors, rubbed against so many tube doors and held so many newspapers under its arm that it looks vintage- not refurbed vintage, like I borrowed it from a great Aunt vintage. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Since I've moved west herringbone has had a cooler reception shall we say, and even in soho where anything goes my boss did remark that my coat was very long serving! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">People used to save up for clothes and cherish them, lovingly polish shoes or admire a dress for weeks before saving enough to buy it. We don't have that relationship with what we wear anymore I don't think, as women- I think men do more actually and I'm not sure why but I like it, I don't care if I've seen a man in a shirt before if he looks good in it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">So it's time to say goodbye. Goodbye to the perfect sized pockets that hold an i phone and an Oyster card, goodbye warm tweed, goodbye lapels that held a poppy pin without the constant stabbing into my flesh that happens with my Mac, goodbye being able to just throw your coat under a bench at a bar or concert or frankly anywhere and knowing that it'd be there later, patiently waiting- not dirty because it showed no marks and always warm and cosy and comforting, even when the night wasn't. </span></div>Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-82557960943059416062014-07-10T11:44:00.001+01:002014-07-10T11:44:50.159+01:00Calvary<br />
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There’s a second before a stranger speaks to you when you
know what's going to happen. </span>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I saw her from a distance, it was a Saturday evening- it was
dusk, the air was close and it was about to rain. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I was walking from the bus stop, the end of the route, to my
house. I was content and apparently to the observer lost in my thoughts and the
(loud) music in my headphones.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I'm rarely completely unaware of my
surroundings and so it was that I may have looked in a daydream but I knew
there was a man just behind me with a muzzled dog, a lady letting herself into
the block of flats on the left and another lady walking quickly towards me,
around 50 metres away to the right.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She was clearly a little agitated,
lots of long what looked like wet blond hair was flapping against her white t-shirt and her stick thin
legs were moving at a pace I could tell was just overstretching them. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As she came closer she moved her
body towards me, without yet crossing the road. I knew then she was going to
pick me to speak to, but I still didn't know why. I was a young girl on my own
perhaps? People say I look friendly, maybe that could be why or possibly I had something
on my face?! All of these were options. I didn't feel threatened or concerned
really, but I wasn't entirely happy about the situation either- perhaps
instinctively because I'm usually quite prepared, even pleased, to speak to a
passer by.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I tried to walk on but I had to concede
and take my headphones out. The lady was older than me but dressed as my age.
She clearly did have wet hair and it still hadn't rained. Odd I thought to
myself. I also noticed she didn't have a bag, extra odd for a woman. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She said she needed to get a bus
(remember the bus stop is just behind me so okay). She needed the fare (I
think everyone anywhere near London in recent weeks has been made more than aware by TFL that they don't accept cash
on buses now... So not sure here). Initially it was £2 then it became needing to get a
bus and then a train to Aylesbury (lots of detail) and £15 she was looking for. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am tough minded but kind hearted,
I listened on, she was clearly upset which is never pleasant, whatever the reason. She said her
boyfriend had just thrown her out, she'd been in the shower (if all of this was
a tale, the wet hair is still the curious part). She was trying to get to her
Mother's.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Earlier that day I had been to see a
film called Calvary- in central London- and I was now back out in Calvary of a
kind, certainly beyond the city walls (zone 3 in
tfl terms)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span class="st"></span>. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The film is about a good man who is
a Priest. It very much provoked ideas In me about people who have a vocation to
help others- and people who don't- and the price people sometimes pay for being good- and the choices they make, knowingly. I don't have the goodness of some but I gave
the lady £15. I looked at her arms, there were no visible signs of drug use, I
looked at her face and eyes, I don't think she was high, she looked affluent
enough to not need to make up stories to get £15 but I was aware it probably
was a story. On that day though I thought about it and I thought if I had cause
to need £15 and no one would help me, what would I do, yes she could have gone
to the police and no you shouldn't give strangers money but she seemed in genuine need and distress. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The lady kissed me and offered me
her number but ultimately didn't give it to me, I didn't push the point and
neither did she. I hope she wasn't going to buy drugs, given where I was and
the designer type clothes she had on I don't think it was that. I'm still not
really sure what it was she was doing or quite why I gave her the money- it
wasn't an impulsive decision, I had time to think it through and I made that choice to sacrifice the £15- under the influence of film I think. Yes I was partly
looking after myself, by then only she and I were on the street and she was
worked up, but that wasn't the reason. I think I felt something was very wrong
for her and she couldn't really say what. I hope I didn't allow her to do
herself any harm. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My walk home after that episode was
different, I was silent and quiet outside and inside. In life- and in London particularly-
you sit, stand and walk so close to complete strangers all the time and you
have no idea what is happening in their lives. They could desperately need help but who would know, they could be villians and how would you tell. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The photo is of Sligo, from their tourism website. Sligo features in the film Calvary- and looks very beautiful. </span></div>
Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-30083244000194075982014-04-09T16:15:00.004+01:002014-04-09T16:15:34.602+01:00BloggingWhere have I been? The thing about blogging is if you don't do it regularly you start to forget how, or why you do it and what you wanted to say in a post- or overall- seems to slip away more easily. You lose the habit, the routine, perhaps the desire.<br />
<br />
Blogging has changed since I started.; far more of the online world (like the world entire) is about images.Far more blogs are also professional, which is great! Some of the blogs I first loved have become full time jobs for their writers and I'm thrilled for them.<br />
<br />
With a professional blog though usually* comes some* compromise (*this isn't universally true, it's probably more true of people who need to work rather than people who don't- and there are a lot of people out there who blog as a 'career' but don't actually need a career). The blogging world used to be so friendly and it still is, but it's more professionally friendly now and that is also not quite the same thing- you wouldn't get drunk with your boss the way you'd get drunk with your best friend. Well you probably wouldn't (I have been really drunk with my boss).<br />
<br />
I think blogs are generally at their best when they have a clearly defined topic or when the writer is really quite talented. Topics are simple, if you really like red pigs and someone writes a red pig blog when you find it you'll probably love it and maybe even make friends with other red pig enthusiasts. Lots of blogs have shown the world that there is a world of enthusiasts and connected them. For me the world of loving scent has been made so, so much richer from the blogging world. <br />
<br />
So I think topic blogs are in some ways easy. Find a topic you know about or love and write about it, regularly.<br />
<br />
Very good writing is harder to find and harder to pull off.<br />
<br />
Wonderful prose can be about brillo pads or topping up your Oyster card and be moreish and enjoyable. The first blog I ever loved was a real blog which to me means a quite personal diary. The blog no longer exists but the author has now written several highly regarded books having been a non professional previously- you could tell that would happen because you wanted to read about what she had on her toast, she is a great writer. I wish I could find another blog like the one she wrote, I wish she'd still write it but I understand why she doesn't. <br />
<br />
As there has been more noise I've actually gone back to magazines and books more- and my own thoughts and my headphones too (for music and for audiobooks).<br />
<br />
I would dearly love to find a couple more really authentic blogs to visit every day or very regularly but I'm not sure if there will ever be the same phenomenon of people just writing for thirty minutes or so a day without a really end game, without it being a career, without knowing their ad prices and without worrying about the audience- that's the world, that's the Internet. I still love my blog, but I don't feel the same about being a blogger anymore. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-25281061735411761912014-01-27T14:40:00.000+00:002014-01-27T14:41:39.588+00:00Running away to Rye<br />
For a recent birthday I chose to run away from London to Sussex to relax, drink wine (and local cider), read books, listen to Louis, Ella and Nina, to not check my phone every 2 minutes and to not have to arrange a party- I can't recommend it enough (though I do always love a party, don't misunderstand me, just not people moaning that they don't have money in January, aren't drinking or 'funning' and so on, I know it's a tricky time but I can't help when I was born). <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWoc18dErZd9Q3rS2rZXPBF3JvQUbI3mgVQPEXAN847smjVo2brBIbHwjPrPqP3nBOwuGjPFgYWbhpxUyRosoy5p4mrI9jAtH-FNTSsCbFaVqaw8zALWoQCzjlq2r1-vThfZIKE5OWZhk/s1600/kimpics+1033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWoc18dErZd9Q3rS2rZXPBF3JvQUbI3mgVQPEXAN847smjVo2brBIbHwjPrPqP3nBOwuGjPFgYWbhpxUyRosoy5p4mrI9jAtH-FNTSsCbFaVqaw8zALWoQCzjlq2r1-vThfZIKE5OWZhk/s1600/kimpics+1033.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Anyway this is beautiful Winchelsea beach and you can see more of the escape on <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/arosebtt/sussex/">Sussex Pinterest board. </a><br />
<br />
PS. If you ever go to Rye please visit @LionStreetStore, it's beautiful curated and full (but not too full) of the kind of cool things that some people would say you can only find in London postcodes, East London postcodes specifically- well it's not true.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtj0RB7L0ISRHW1IqqoxqCWpscYvGGOWYTJeD1f2Rv84IgNxDiHzMSos8QVXyqiZ_iy9t0HbbNcfaQsIioptF4m1CzQL2m3OJta-WOtnUi0H2w_oFksLlDalapP4PRVPPBJi_yf11QWtI/s1600/Tom_Frost.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtj0RB7L0ISRHW1IqqoxqCWpscYvGGOWYTJeD1f2Rv84IgNxDiHzMSos8QVXyqiZ_iy9t0HbbNcfaQsIioptF4m1CzQL2m3OJta-WOtnUi0H2w_oFksLlDalapP4PRVPPBJi_yf11QWtI/s1600/Tom_Frost.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Also visit <a href="http://www.theshipinnrye.co.uk/">The Ship Inn </a>for food, drink and (strong) local cider (though in bottles) and a truly great fish pie (with buttered kale, oh yes).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-_JJZ8vmds-Wh2hhJgd23ptxapvDNMzzOWkrpwiu6G0lITbfOGTegL9LaiMateLeR_bFFLAVRXVdFjsuqs48RJNklG7gz_JZoM8krgoiQemrVVnjU6PasEoXfeTyGPi2ET_YhpLzT-k/s1600/shipinnsign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-_JJZ8vmds-Wh2hhJgd23ptxapvDNMzzOWkrpwiu6G0lITbfOGTegL9LaiMateLeR_bFFLAVRXVdFjsuqs48RJNklG7gz_JZoM8krgoiQemrVVnjU6PasEoXfeTyGPi2ET_YhpLzT-k/s1600/shipinnsign.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
For coffee AND shopping in one place I really liked the <a href="http://www.ryesussex.co.uk/directory/966/old-grain-store/">Old Grain Store</a> in Rye harbour, lovely people with a great assortment of gifts, home ware, candles (and some gorgeous Christmas cushions I nabbed in the sale).<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2 class="username">
<a class="pretty-link js-nav" data-send-impression-cookie="true" href="https://twitter.com/LionStreetStore"><span class="screen-name"><s></s><br /></span></a></h2>
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<br />Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-89117018669723697632014-01-23T12:13:00.002+00:002014-01-23T12:15:13.501+00:00Frozen eggs, with a side order of anxiety (or Laura Linney had a baby aged 49)<br />
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Laura Linney and her husband have just welcomed their first child to the world- congratulations!<br />
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That first sentence omitted what every headline I have read said- that Laura Linney is 49. Most headlines were a lot more along the lines of 49 YEAR OLD WOMAN HAS BABY, IT'S LAURA LINNEY. WOAH. SHE'S 49, DID WE MENTION SHE'S 49? (I'm not even going to mention the men who have children in their 60s, even 70s, who get barely a mention).<br />
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I am trying to stay well clear of the sidebar of shame but this story- and other pregnancies of high profile woman (French politician <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1107705/Just-days-giving-birth-French-justice-minister-work--glamorous-ever.html">Rachida Dati</a>, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2449185/Halle-Berry-husband-Olivier-Martinezs-baby-revealed.html">Halle Berry</a>, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2317972/Carla-Bruni-pregnancy-43-baby-weight-look-ugly.html">Carla Bruni</a>)- do always receive lots of attention.<br />
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I thought this piece in the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/mia-freedman/laura-linney-baby_b_4635390.html">Huffington Post</a> was well written and raised some good points. Namely that just because a very few women with enormous ammounts of money manage to have children in their mid to late forties it doesn't mean it's going to become normal or that you should think it's going to be an option for you. The article basically says what the media is all too keen to tell women every time they can, in the words of Helen Fielding, tick tock tick tock- don't wait too late to have a baby- but I think in a less hysterical way than is usual. <br />
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I think the article does raise the 'taboo' of possibly some of these pregnancies being achieved via donor eggs and obviously some high profile women have used surrogates. However it appears Cherie Blair fell pregnant at the age of 45 without any trying at all. My Mother has always said to me, and I think she may be right, that although it's not very scientific it does seem to be easier for women who have had a child at what is deemed a good age to have a child later- like Mrs Blair. Historically of course in an age before birth control women who survived child birth had many children and often into their forties- this is of course not mentioned by the mainstream press- nor does it seem to be an area of research in the medical community. How did women who were probably less well nourished, who had a lower life expectancy and lived in much poorer living conditions go on having children naturally well into their forties when many women struggle now? I am sure there are answers to do with chemicals in food, stress and modern medicine- and of course there were far more women who couldn't have children and who had no hope of having children at any age in those days.<br />
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I am from the generation when it really wasn't even normal for an
educated girl, particularly a University educated girl- or to be fair
boy- to have a child before 30. Honestly a very few people maybe went
for it at about 28 but they were quite often religious and they were far from the norm! I think things have
changed a little on this score in the UK. Basically though I felt like I
was bombarded with information about not getting pregnant from the age
of about ten to the age of about thirty and then suddenly I was told ooh
well if you want a big family you may have left it too late (I don't
want a big family personally but other people over the age of thirty
might do).<br />
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This swell of stories and a recent birthday have made me think more on this question. If I had a child or children I would want to do the best for them and of course be as medically well as a I could. I suppose in the back of my mind stories like Laura Linney's do calm that anxiety I sometimes have about what if it doesn't happen in the next year or two.<br />
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I am not even certain about children- I currently would like to try I think if I meet the right person but am not at the stage of thinking about going it alone or settling with a partner for something other than love, or the one night stand route (all of these I have heard discussed and even taken up by educated, grown up women who felt they always wanted to have children, worked hard in their twenties and then realised in their early thirties that things had changed and women in their twenties were concentrating on marriage and babies over careers or as careers in a way that just wasn't discussed by our generation). <br />
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Yesterday I found myself googling freezing eggs- surely my subconscious is trying to tell me I know things are getting a little later and I'm trying to make an insurance plan. Planning from someone who doesn't really like to plan their Saturday nights too far in advance. It was probably a moment of madness.<br />
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It's a tricky old world for us girls- I'm pretty sure I don't know any 32 year old men worrying about this issue... (though actually in my experience it is often actually the men who do have the issue in the end, but the media don't write stories saying: men! check you can reproduce before it's too late! tick tock).<br />
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<br />Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-76452688332378640892014-01-06T10:34:00.004+00:002014-01-06T10:34:58.315+00:00Chic skiing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm off skiing shortly.<br />
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The funny thing about this is that I've never been skiing before- and I feel like skiing is a bit like swimming and really unless you learn when you're quite young it's a bit strange to suddenly start. When I was little my parents who had been skiing every year decided to take a break- and then by school age I felt as I didn't ski and others at school did I wouldn't go on the trip. So here I am, first time skier in my early thirties.<br />
<br />To be honest I'm mainly looking forward to the apres ski, wandering around the villages and getting my chic wardrobe together.<br />
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I am modelling myself on a Bond girl- more specifically Sophie Marceau in The World is Not Enough. Now I very unfortunately do not look like Sophie Marceau. However we can all try and I like the plainer, classic look as opposed to the surf wear on the snow look.<br />
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I have a great Sophie/ Dr Zhivago style hat and I've ordered warm, quite plain North Face ski wear- but I still need a fur type colour ideally and some chic gloves (they all make your hands look like monkey hands).<br />
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I also really need some good boots for walking round when I'm not on skis (let's be honest I'm mostly going to be on the ground looking up at my skis but anyway- as long as I don't end up like Bridget Jones, I'll be happy).<br />
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Everything I can find either looks like it's for wearing to the stables and mucking out or is a biker boot but with a very heavy tread. Is there anything chic out there which will also stop be from looking like I'm skating around the French mountain towns? Preferably with the very soft fur linings of the above mentioned scary but practical boots. <br />
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I'm also confused about evening wear. It looks like everyone just wears casual stuff but is that wrong and will I be the only one in the club in jeans, a top and (hopefully non ugly) practical boots? <br />
<br />Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-72411944142801871452014-01-02T13:28:00.006+00:002014-01-02T13:28:54.674+00:00The 2nd of January is the first day of the rest of your life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I don't think the internet needs another New Year's resolutions post, but bear with me! <br />
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Let's be honest, New Year's Day is a day of contemplation- mostly contemplating your hangover. I had grand plans to blow the cobwebs away in Richmond Park but as it was driving rain, again, I nested indoors and lived like it was 2013 for one more day. The 2nd of January is where the year really starts. <br />
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I am not a huge fan of New Year's Eve, I feel like it's the slightly irritating loud friend of Christmas- who shows up a bit before they were asked and thinks they know best. That didn't stop me having fun of course and I've had loads of good New Years but I think you're either a New Year person or a Christmas person- and I declare myself to be 100% 25th of December.<br />
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I also don't hold particularly with New Year's resolutions, you are setting yourself up to fail. I do believe in re- setting a little though, throughout the year- and I also think post December you want to do slightly different things- just naturally.<br />
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This year is meant to be all about writing, dating and being me. I'll do my best, wish me luck!<br />
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<br />Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-57902861802221239842013-12-03T10:21:00.002+00:002013-12-03T10:21:24.298+00:00A Vintage Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If November is all about the Christmas magazines then December is all about Christmas books.<br />
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For the last two years I've listened to the audio book of <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miracle-Regent-Street-Ali-Harris/dp/0857202901">Miracle Regent Street</a> by <a href="http://aliharriswriter.tumblr.com/">Ali Harris</a> around this time of year to get me in the mood for all things that are festive and London.<br />
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I find an audio book can be easier when you're on the move provided you have good headphones that block some noise- if you're changing trains a lot or the tube is very crowded it can be hard to read. If you're tired sometimes it's nicer to be read to as well. Plus your hands might be busy holding shopping bags at this time of year; or if it's very cold you don't want your hands out of their gloves, exposed to the elements turning pages and getting cold.<br />
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Miracle on Regent Street is a great book though and I did read it as a book first- in the comfort of my bed (and bath!) and it a great re- read. Still though sometimes you want something more- and something new. So I was delighted to see Ali Harris has written a novella follow up to Miracle on Regent Street called A Vintage Christmas. It's about the same characters but set a year (or two?) on. I just started reading yesterday evening and I'm already feeling more festive and longing to visit Liberty and Fortnum's, to get my white Winter coat out and do some London Winter activities.<br />
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I am only half way through but so far, so good. There are vintage shoes, there is a big London department store (my very favourite kind of shop), there is decorating and there are breaks to the Cotswolds.<br />
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The novella is only 99p from the usual online outlets and has been a lovely and inexpensive early present to myself. <br />
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Ali Harris also has a lovely vintage Christmas pinterest board <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/aliharriswriter/a-vintage-christmas/">here</a> too, if you're feeling pinny. <br />
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(Also dear TV companies, this would make a lovely film or mini series for Yuletide viewing- just saying). <br />
Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-19768107530352903922013-11-18T10:08:00.002+00:002013-11-18T10:09:10.879+00:00Magazine addiction, the Christmas editionSo it has begun... Christmas for me starts at a different time each year and yesterday was the first day I think. There have been whispers... the first looks at decorations, the re watching of the early Harry Potter films (because they are a great transition between Halloween and Christmas- and because I love them, I know I'm in my thirties but well...).<br />
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Yesterday though was real. It all started with Home Alone and then followed googling for Nutcracker tickets and wreath making. As the day progressed the annual 'present ideas' list was begun and National Lampoon's Christmas was watched- and today I had my first listen to my going to work Christmas play list.<br />
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I am aware it's November and I don't like to dilute the joy of Christmas but there are some things that you need to start early- like making Christmas cakes, chutneys or sauces (this year I'm going to make my first Cranberry sauce... once I've finished unpacking boxes from moving house... again).<br />
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Magazines though. I love magazines and Christmas magazines have become a 'thing' most of them are out now and you really want to be reading them from now on because frankly by just before Christmas it's too late for food, decoration and present ideas.<br />
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So I've decided you can start reading Christmas magazines now.. frankly with this many to read (see below) I'd get cracking.<br />
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Christmas books too are great for getting you in the mood- I like to start light and work up to the joy of a Christmas Carol- but everyone has their favourites (I also love <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miracle-Regent-Street-Ali-Harris-ebook/dp/B005NAPZR0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384768962&sr=8-1&keywords=miracle+on+regent+street">Miracle on Regent Street</a>), a more recent but much loved discovery.<br />
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If you are so inclined you can personalise this <a href="http://www.yourchristmascountdown.com/">Christmas countdown</a> so you don't miss anything.<br />
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Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-74419992163576233262013-10-08T10:25:00.002+01:002013-10-08T10:27:39.665+01:00Coffee- to drink in, to breathe in<br />
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Coffee! On Monday mornings a total essential, on Tuesday mornings a life giving force... let's be honest on most mornings the reason for getting up and out! <br />
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Coffee has for years been encroaching on the patch of tea in the place of the British work force. For me tea will always be my all round, whatever the time of year, whatever the occasion hot drink but first thing in the morning it now has to be coffee. I go through phases where it's decaf coffee but it never seems to last!<br />
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The British love their coffee then- but we don't seem to use coffee in cooking as much as other countries (we like a coffee and walnut cake but aside from that, there's not much from the Brit recipe pile that is coffee based).<br />
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Likewise I've always found the lack of coffee perfumes a bit strange- though there are more of them out there than there used to be.<br />
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I wrote about my love for <a href="http://arosebeyondthethames.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/wake-up-and-smell-coffee.html">Noa by Cacharel</a> back in 2008 (hello I've had a blog for 5 years!). I still like and wear it- though less often now I must say- re reading this post has made me wish I'd grabbed it this morning- it's perfect for days when you want to feel hugged by your perfume.<br />
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Other coffee smells I like include Comme des Garcons Wood Coffee - though it's no longer available in shops you can get it on the good old internets- it's really quite gourmand and certainly wouldn't be for all- but if you're trying to go decaf, or you just really really love coffee then look this up. <br />
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Jo Malone Black Vetyver Cafe is probably the most obviously coffee scent out there- it sounds like it should be perfect for men- which of course makes me think women should try it! (did anyone read the Sunday Times article in the Style magazine about women wearing men's scent- thought it was very good, though the scent recommendations could have been more adventurous).<br />
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In other coffee thoughts... <br />
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<a href="http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/brewed-boy-london">Brewed boy</a> does the best coffee in Soho... fact. I was THRILLED to see the Brewed Boy stand at EOTR this year, it was a massive hit and they ran out of coffee by Sunday afternoon! <br />
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<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2421069/Macmillan-Cancer-Support-create-perfumes-smell-like-coffee-Worlds-Biggest-Coffee-Morning-event.html">Macmillan Cancer Support created coffee inspired perfumes for their recent fund raising coffee mornings.</a><br />
I wish I could have tried them!<br />
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Picture of my flat white from <a href="http://www.lantanacafe.co.uk/">Lantanacafe</a> on Saturday afternoon- a blissful spot for a coffee and catch up on the Saturday papers if you're in the Tottenham Court Road/ Goodge Street area- though watch out for the queues for brunch!<br />
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Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-70723501880452240432013-09-09T15:48:00.001+01:002013-09-09T21:15:52.550+01:00The first day of Autumn: Back to school?I woke up at 5.30am this morning, I could hear rain hitting the windows and it was the light from street lamps, not the first morning sun, that was breaking through the shutters. As I crept along the floorboards, my arms around me for warmth, I realised I had woken up in Autumn.<br>
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I love Summer, particularly English Summer- fleeting and magical it can be- last weekend I danced in the woods of an ancient forest until 6am- my skin pinked by the sun's full golden roar during the day was soothed by the night air. High Summer in London though can also be a kind of madness, life seems to stop while everyone concentrates on the sun actually shining, Soho even drunker than usual on drink, and humidity and wearing sandals for 2 whole months.<br>
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Autumn feels like a new start to me- much more than the real new year it's the time of year when a new school years starts and for me- though my studying days are long gone- that will always mean looking at what I've been in the last 'school' year and what I'm going to do in the next one.<br>
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I've been told by lots of grown ups... (which I now define as people who are old than me but I used to define as people quite a lot younger than me too...) that your thirties are your best decade- because you know who you are. Well so far that is true of my thirties, I am in many ways more comfortable in my own skin and know what makes me happy far more than I used to. However I don't feel I've really achieved very much this school year- and the blog has certainly suffered. So it's back to school for me and back to school for my blog.<br>
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<br>Goodbye Summer and hello Autumn. With a spritz of scent and a gloss of the lips, here I go.<br>
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Picture taken at End of the Road Festival in Dorset.<br>
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<br>Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-78250435464058207232013-07-01T11:55:00.003+01:002013-07-01T11:56:54.921+01:00Hotdogs!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hotdogs are a thing aren't they? Suddenly popping up (ha ha) everywhere- from the obvious places like independent cinemas (why haven't they always served hotdogs? they are traditional, far less noisy or stinky than most cinema snacks and easy to eat in the dark) to the not so expected- the much lauded Hawksmoor for example.<br />
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I have always been a hotdog fan. Perhaps it's having a Mother who spent her formative times nearer to New York than London but they were a treat weekend lunch meal (though we never had onions and I still prefer not to have them personally).<br />
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I'm also a big fan of the German style wurst and sauerkraut, in or out of a bun- German food isn't very fashionable, though I'm sure the day will come, but I really like it (though they do need to raise their game vegetables wise- cabbage is not an entire food group). <br />
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I've tried to go to <a href="http://www.bubbledogs.co.uk/">bubbledogs</a> on about 3 occasions but the wait, in the queue outside, is always at least an hour. Hotdogs really must be a thing if Londoners, not so used to a queue culture as New Yorkers, are prepared to wait outside- in London weather- for London's finest sausages in buns (or baps for the Welsh).<br />
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<a href="http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/londons-best-hot-dogs">Timeout's thought on london's best hot dogs</a><br />
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For German style wurst I recommend Fulham's <a href="http://www.octoberfestpub.com/#">Octoberfest</a>. Or you can go the <a href="https://www.germandeli.co.uk/shop/page/1?sessid=v3rUT3Loq7npPfM0oDKG4T0MmmGtXIL9Y10rHS9fMGypPXVBiAwb1KkG8DPhN91Q">German deli</a> at Borough market, buy your own and get going, very quick and yummy! <br />
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<a href="http://pinterest.com/arosebtt/products-i-love/">Picture from my products I love</a> Pinterest board- though I do not know where it was first pinned from. Pretty cool though!<br />
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<br />Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-45131172961530934692013-06-04T15:10:00.003+01:002013-06-04T16:35:39.565+01:00Irish Moss scented candle from Bog Standard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8T6CjcKJKLx__6E7P-YH-mokBW0lTMZHQaR2eDTmvWESWvgbLc84xhL3vNMrF6Gxzqu6UcT8pLE_gPPLDhc2JkroVl6hhyOD-YAumGyE-6bJgrADZ2FL4BnuDxW3AQjLvcaWZvxDQag/s1600/moss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8T6CjcKJKLx__6E7P-YH-mokBW0lTMZHQaR2eDTmvWESWvgbLc84xhL3vNMrF6Gxzqu6UcT8pLE_gPPLDhc2JkroVl6hhyOD-YAumGyE-6bJgrADZ2FL4BnuDxW3AQjLvcaWZvxDQag/s320/moss.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I have been burning this <a href="http://www.bogstandard.ie/products/Fragranced-Candles/irish-moss-large-candle/428695/">Irish Moss candle</a> from bog standard in our flat since early January, when the nights were dark and there was snow on the ground.<br />
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Now that Summer is looking like it might be here and the candle is just about finishing I wanted to write about the scent while it was still strong in my mind. <br />
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I sat in the living room last night, with the French doors open and the cool air lapping in- I preferred to put on a sweater and light the candle than close the doors on the Summer ish air. <br />
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I don't know what real moss, Irish or otherwise, smells of really- slightly earthy, wet and musty I suppose. The candle doesn't smell like that- it smells green and fresh but slightly musky, in a good way- it's sophisticated and makes the flat smell cosy on cold nights and slightly heady on warm ones. Above all it's comforting, which I think is the most important thing for a home scent. <br />
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If I could wear a scent of this I would- and I'd keep smelling my arm constantly. <br />
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<br />Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-76869344859338058472013-05-24T10:44:00.001+01:002013-05-24T10:44:23.690+01:00Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVShivXDYasklX-tZmzeUsmF5gQ6UyJ05XbkFjW5hoArxHMhCiTHA7TRrQdSuC38trdIcnZ6dQ8tfZ-E66N1KSPNP3lorhHKhv-cJbqLzfInWITOYjq4SP9mUSgPSWHhr6qQ55bEV3pMU/s1600/large-grater-tour-eiffel-grande.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVShivXDYasklX-tZmzeUsmF5gQ6UyJ05XbkFjW5hoArxHMhCiTHA7TRrQdSuC38trdIcnZ6dQ8tfZ-E66N1KSPNP3lorhHKhv-cJbqLzfInWITOYjq4SP9mUSgPSWHhr6qQ55bEV3pMU/s320/large-grater-tour-eiffel-grande.jpg" width="291" /></a></div>
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Eifel tower cheese grater, because it's Friday and it made me smile a huge smile when I walked past Octoupus on Carnaby Street this morning.<br />
<br />There is also a tiny version, for camping maybe? or very chic picnics?<br />
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Available from Octopus on Carnaby Street or online from <a href="http://www.pylones.com/en/tableware/112-gift-design-large-grater-tour-eiffel-grande.html">Pylones</a>.Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-80854950204081711722013-05-08T10:44:00.002+01:002013-05-08T10:44:29.600+01:00Away<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been thinking about holidays... I have been thinking about holidays a lot.<br />
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For some reason what really ignited my interest in away was these <a href="http://www.kakslauttanen.fi/en/">Glass igloos</a> in Finland. You can lay in bed looking up at the Northern Lights- coolest thing ever?<br />
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I'm normally far more of a hot weather holiday person- part of me really doesn't see the point in going somewhere colder than the UK- and certainly there is no point in going somewhere wetter- though it would perhaps be hard to find such a place.<br />
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I think this year I need to not travel too far, partly for personal reasons and partly long haul travel isn't really worth it for less than two weeks in my mind.<br />
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So I am thinking lots of mini breaks and for some reason I have also been thinking of a tree house! <a href="http://www.canopyandstars.co.uk/britain/england/bristol/harptree-court/the-treehouse-at-harptree-court">this one</a> near Glastonbury looks like heaven.<br />
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Admittedly it's not cheap, but then how cheap could you expect it to be, it's a deluxe tree house! <br />
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<a href="http://www.canopyandstars.co.uk/">Canopy and Stars</a> has lots of unusual properties, some more tree houses and some unusual yurts and caravans and things for the more adventurous sanitation wise (I'm not very adventurous and will only tolerate outside toilets for festivals- and even then I'd really rather not).<br />
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Then for us single types an activity holiday is perhaps better than something solitary (I tend to quite enjoy solitary but that is perhaps why I'm single!!). <a href="http://www.time-for-yoga.co.uk/awpcp/show-ad/27/eco-yoga-retreats-west-coast-of-scotland/scotland/yoga-retreats-holidays-scotland/">This</a> yoga holiday on the West Coast of Scotland sounds pretty awesome, ecologically sound but with 'magical hidden hot tubs'. <br />
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Or if you want guaranteed heat then, at the other end of the spectrum cost wise perhaps, is a <a href="http://luxyoga.com/LuxYoga_white/Welcome.html">LUX</a> yoga holiday on the Côte D’Azur.<br />
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Yes please.<br />
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Other ideas: <br />
<a href="http://www.holidayonthemenu.com/Italy+Tartufo+Main.html">cookery at an Italian villa</a><br />
<a href="http://www.equestrian-escapes.com/">horse riding</a> (always wear a hat!)<br />
or a <a href="http://readingweekend.co.uk/">reading weekend</a> I, of course, found a <a href="http://arosebeyondthethames.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/arran-aromatics-after-rain.html">scent I loved on my reading weekend in Scotland a few years ago.</a><br />
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I'd also love to go on a perfume holiday but I struggle to find one! Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-2337278893613517122013-04-29T15:15:00.000+01:002013-04-29T15:15:30.031+01:00Everywhere else<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/apr/28/laura-marling-interview-once-eagle">This Laura Marling interview</a> blew my mind a bit, well that's strong, I was surprised certainly. It made me think about places we live, again.<br />
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That a person like Laura Marling could love LA in the way she clearly does was the shock to me- because aside from the hotel I stayed in- which I must say was lovely- I really didn't like LA (beyond thinking the shopping was quite fun and pretending to be in Pretty Woman for the afternoon on Rodeo Drive). You have to get in a taxi to go everywhere, or wait for a bus for a really long time; there are miles and miles of boring roads with traffic jams, life is just films and shops- but not good films, big blockbuster films that they clearly take very seriously. I'm sure my experience shows the difference between being a tourist somewhere and living there, I hear there are great gigs and bars but I didn't find them. I can see the weather would lift the mood- but I even found that a bit relentlessly pleasant. <br />
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I have often suspected that what Marling has clearly found to be true though- that we might find a happier or easier version of ourselves somewhere else. Or perhaps more accurately we would be a different person somewhere else. Is it losing the burden of people knowing things about you that makes that so? When you move to University it's a chance to reinvent the you from school, even if you liked that you, it's a chance for change- any kind of move is like that I suppose- be it from East London to West London or London to California.<br />
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I occasionally think about moving, I love London and I always knew I wanted to move here as a little girl. For the most part I absolutely love my life here and it would break my heart to have to leave- but I do find more and more when I leave London to go elsewhere in the UK it feels like I'm visiting a different country, I love both countries, or all of them if I'm visiting Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland- but there is an increasing gap. I think finding love anywhere but London is easier, I think you will work less anywhere else. People are very demanding in London in some ways, not considering you to be interesting if you don't have a certain handbag or live in a certain post code on the one hand- then on the other it's perhaps the most tolerant part of the UK and embraces all manner of glorious eccentricities. London is hard but I wouldn't be without it. Sometimes though, I just wonder, what would my life be like somewhere else? What if when I graduated I'd headed off to Brighton, or Scotland- or another country completely. <br />
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<br />Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-4905317985529811112013-04-18T12:19:00.002+01:002013-04-18T12:19:37.206+01:00The Diary of a nose by Jean-Claude Ellena<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Diary-Nose-Year-Parfumeur/dp/1846145597/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366281198&sr=8-1&keywords=jean-claude+ellena">The Diary of a Nose: A Year in the Life of a Parfumeur</a> is a delightful publishing anomaly. This gem of a book was penned by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Ellena">Jean-Claude Ellena</a>, a real artist in the world of perfume- in my opinion- and of course the Hermes in house perfumeur/ superstar.<br />
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This book isn't new but, as mentioned below, last year was something of a blur. Reading wasn't something I didn't do but I seemed to gravitate towards books I had read before and strangely perhaps to heavier books in terms of tone and content. I have read that the reason that the crime genre is so eternally popular isn't that we all like mystery but that we like the distraction from our own lives- well I certainly read a lot of Agatha Christie.<br />
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This book is a different and less intense kind of distraction- an utter delight for a perfume geek certainly- but probably also for anyone who appreciates reading the diary of someone who truly loves and is good at their work.<br />
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Ellena shares all kinds of anecdotes, from his early career to what he ate that day. For me it's like visiting a life I'd love to have, if I was a) any good at Chemistry and b) French- it's a pleasure to read.<br />
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The English edition comes in a small hardback book with a lovely dusk pink dust jacket that is about as pretty as a book can be- without being too feminine I hasten to add. I read this in virtually one go but I felt so happy and sophisticated having it in my hands on the bus, at the table in the cafe and lastly tucked up in bed.<br />
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My favourite Ellena perfume is Eau <span class="st">des Merveilles- and this book is a wonder, to me. </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781846145599,00.html">Published by Penguin in the UK and available from Anthropology on Regent Street in London- and I'm sure other lovely book shops</a>Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-36605481234291269392013-04-18T10:44:00.000+01:002013-04-18T10:44:44.135+01:00Poor neglected blogDespite the odd appearance to write about the odd dress or frivolity or for the occasional tweet I have been very absent online for quite a long time. <br />
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People are so lovely and kind online but I think to just announce something bad happened would also be rather strange- and of course it's not just your life you'd be writing about. <br />
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Still I have missed being online a lot- and now I hope things have settled enough to be back! I have been fine, continuing to do fun stuff yes but there was also a very difficult time where I worked 12 hours a day and then dashed to hospital every night. Suffice to say I've revised my thoughts on <a href="http://arosebeyondthethames.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/only.html">being an only child</a><br />
and while I still think being an only is wonderful in many ways it is also a responsibility. It can also leave you feeling isolated<br />
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So anyway,back to the perfume- and the happy! <br />
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<br />Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-78624510244684549222013-02-28T10:46:00.004+00:002013-02-28T10:46:36.117+00:00the doing wish list I have a friend who is going to become an expat in March- leaving us in London behind for a sunnier climate and hopefully a sunshine filled work and private life.<br />
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She recently posted on the social network that I wish I wasn't on but still am (!) about what would everyone do if they only had one month left in London. That really got me thinking- leaving London wouldn't be for me anyway- but if I was for whatever reason what would my goodbye things be- and what are the things I've always meant to be but still not managed to in ten years of calling London home.<br />
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Well the things I said were a must if you were leaving, however many times you've done them, were Borough Market, Columbia Road market, walking the Southbank from Wesminster to Shad Thames (and stopping all the way for South bank food, for the Globe, Tate Modern, St Paul's, Borough again of course and up into the city past the Tower, Tower Bridge and beyond. I also thought at least one more theatre visit would have to be made and at least one more long park walk followed by a roast if it was Winter or at least one more picnic in the Summer- Kensington Gardens or London Fields are my favourites for different reasons.<br />
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The things I haven't yet done, well that's more interesting-I've never been inside the Houses of Parliament, nor have I climbed the Monument, I still haven't had tea or anything else at the Ritz (though frankly I've had pretty much every other tea in London and suspect that I have not missed a huge amount), I haven't ridden in Hyde Park, I haven't used a Boris bike (yes I know). There is an endless list of haven't, which is part of the reason London is never boring- but this year I intend to get on top of the things I haven't done and stop doing the same things, much as I love them ;-)<br />
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(As an aside don't get me started on the non London things I haven't done! Cheltenham festival, Goodwood (horses and cars versions), Hay on Wye, all of the Highlands (and islands)... so much to do... I might just have a little rest first. Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-57958894282840623502013-02-12T09:30:00.002+00:002013-02-12T09:30:38.696+00:00Nigella's amazing dressNigella Lawson is one of my icons. She has made a great career, doing what she is good at and what she loves, do I both admire and rather envy her, in the best possible way. <br />
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Nigella is no fairweather or tv only cook, she's extremely knowledgeable, her recipes are easy to follow and work. I enjoy her writing style and what's more I enjoy her outlook on life- she doesn't take things too seriously, she appears to be a great Mother and handled public grief with enormous grace, not that her personal life is any of our business. Yes she probably had a good start in life in many ways, but so did lots of people who don't do anything meaningful with that start. <br />
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In my eyes she is going through a particularly fabulous phase- <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0701187336">Nigellissima</a> is a great book for cooking, which might sound silly but lots of cook books are more lifestyle and less cooking. That's not to say I wouldn't enjoy curling up and reading this, I have done so and thoroughly enjoyed it.<br />
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She also has some kind of new show in America, which we don't get, though maybe we will?<br />
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Anyway the whole point of this post is the <a href="http://www.deadlyisthefemale.com/clothing/dresses/billion-dollar-baby-dress">billion dollar baby dress.</a><br />
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This seems to be the world's most flattering dress and to be not too cripplingly expensive, compared to say a Roland Mouret number (not that those aren't worth every penny I'm sure). Unfortunately the rest of the UK and north America seems to have noticed how flattering it is, but I still think I will get one and hope that it brings me some of Nigella's publishing success- and perhaps some man success also.<br />
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PS. I read the Nigella wears Coco Chanel perfume but I can't remember where I read that, so it's not exactly solid information!<br />
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<br />Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-46754797669172958612013-01-30T10:09:00.002+00:002013-01-30T10:09:45.798+00:00What I'm really thinkingI came across the Guardian's <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/series/what-im-really-thinking">What I'm Really Thinking</a> thread for the first time yesterday- and I can't recommend it enough. <br />
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These articles are acute little gems of writing, sharp but succint and very very honest.<br />
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The first article I read was <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/jan/26/what-really-thinking-single-friend">the single friend</a> and my what an argument that piece is for people writing anonymously. I'm personally not on the same page about never having wanted to meet a Prince but we all know people who have settled and the accuracy, the pain and distain in the author's voice- umcomfortable and compelling writing.<br />
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They're not all so on the edge of your seat awkward, there is the quiet sadness of the short man, the interesting take on being a lesbian friend of a straight girl, the to me on the nose description of being a Londoner who sometimes looks down on Provincials. <br />
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These articles are exactly the kind of writing that make you cherish newspapers (online or print)- a little oasis of good writing on a lunch break, a sane word on the tube home- writing to make you feel that there is honesty in a world of pretending.<br />
<br />Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-618358253237839493.post-85349903071545177582013-01-28T10:50:00.002+00:002013-01-28T10:50:10.380+00:00Things to make you cheerful<a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/633387419751040/">Pinata Cookies</a><br />
want to cook these right away!!<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Woman-who-Went-Year/dp/0141399643">The Woman who Went to bed for a Year</a><br />
a wonderful book for getting into a warm, cosy bed with. Not all light but all so spot on about things I do know about- like wanting to spend time in bed and first days at University- and things I don't, like when your children go to University.<br />
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Weekend trips down to <a href="http://www.visitbrighton.com/">Brighton</a> (this time I'm recommending walking from Hove to Brighton and looking at beach huts, the amazing <a href="http://www.steamer.co.uk/locations/brighton">steamer</a> cook ware shop and staying in with friends in their cosy flats). My all time recommendations involve the Pavillion and Parma Violet ice cream eating in the north Laines, but it was too cold for ice cream this time.<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_water_bottle">Hot water bottles</a> I actually don't know what I'd have done without mine (which looks like a Russian doll) this Winter. It's been so very cold and there's something very cheering knowing you're going to get into a warm bed. I also feel like I'm in a period drama, which can only be a good thing.<br />
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<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/jan/07/is-mr-selfridge-new-downton-abbey">Mr Selfridge</a><br />
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Sunday night TV heaven. Sharper than the delightful but dotty Downton Abbey and with added vintage perfume counters. <br />
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<br />Rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08459305021803770946noreply@blogger.com1