lipstick and balloons

2012-02-25T17:50:00.001Z

THINGS FROM FLORIDA

2011-09-25T17:15:00.003+01:00

So it's been approximately two months since my last post. I am still here, I have just been on hiatus. On Wednesday just past I got home from Florida, where I was staying for the previous two weeks with my parents, Mat and our good friend James. We had the best time!I always bring plenty of things back to the UK when we leave Florida, so that it almost seems like I'm still there a bit. We're talking from special kinds of Oreos to carrier bags here, which probably makes me sound a little bit like a hoarder, but there we go!Here are just a few of the food things that I brought home this time. Plenty more photos where these came from very soon.

'Altoids Smalls' Mints

Double 'Stuff' Oreos

Hershey's 'Cookies & Cream' Kisses

...and one more Corn Muffin from Publix.

TRIP TO SCOTLAND PART THREE - EDINBURGH

2011-07-10T19:22:00.005+01:00

Last but most certainly not least in my "Trip To Scotland" posts are my photos from Edinburgh. If you have never been to Edinburgh and get the opportunity to, you really must take it. It's a wonderful city with so many magical looking old buildings and a total buzz about it.

I would have loved to have spent a bit more time there, as we really didn't get to do it justice during our whirlwind of a day there but we had such a great time exploring all the little back streets behind Princes Street and Edinburgh Castle too!

Look at all the chimneys!

You can't really beat that view at the end of a street can you?

I seem to have got Mat hooked on iced coffees now, mmm!

Edinburgh Castle

Heading up to the castle, it was a very warm day, we were boiling by the time we got up there!

View from the top.

Ready, aim, fire!

Chapel within the Castle grounds.

This made me really sad, it was a cemetery for Soldiers' dogs.

Mat Buckets at Edinburgh Castle.

That's all from my photos of our recent trip to Scotland now.

Next week I'll be down in London with my mum for a few days for my birthday. We're going to see Rufus Wainwright at the Royal Opera House, performing "Rufus Does Judy". For those who aren't fans this is basically Rufus Wainwright performing the Judy Garland 1961 comeback show in its entirety... I literally can not wait to see this.

We're also seeing Les Misérables for the second time with Alfie Boe and Matt Lucas in the cast!

I can't hardly handle all this excitement!

TRIP TO SCOTLAND PART TWO - GLASGOW

2011-07-09T19:52:00.006+01:00

As most of you might have gathered (from my last post) I took a trip to Scotland with Mat last week! We had a fab time in Glasgow and also Edinburgh whilst we were up there.

Here's a bunch more photos from the time we spent in Glasgow!

Buckets.

A lovely little old hospital building.

Old 'Savings Bank' etched glass window.

Lots of re-development going in Glasgow at the moment. I thought that scaffolding was quite peculiar looking though...

Everywhere that was being ripped apart was such a mixture of buildings from the past all jumbled together.

I might not be doing Glasgow much justice here with these photos, Glasgow actually has a lot of absolutely beautiful buildings as well, so please don't be put off!

What can I say, I love Loudon!

Gentleman's Club by Adrian Wiszniewski at the GoMA. We visited the GoMA to see the touring British Art Show which unfortunately we couldn't take any photos of.

Stained glass window in the GoMA.

Enjoying the good books in the hotel lounge.

Weary but happy!

Mat whizzing around the Kelvingrove. This was one of my favourite parts of the trip, I loved every bit of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, it was truly a mad mixture of historical artefacts, fossils and dinosaur skeletons, art, design and most controversially perhaps, a Dali painting.

This was one of my favourite things in the gallery, the Hanging Head display, if anyone knows who this is by I would love to find out!

Next up : Edinburgh!

TRIP TO SCOTLAND PART ONE - CITIZENM HOTEL

2011-06-30T15:00:00.006+01:00

On Monday my boyfriend Mat and I headed off on our last minute trip to Scotland. We stayed in Glasgow but traveled through to Edinburgh for a day whilst we were there. We had such a fantastic (but thoroughly exhausting) time and stayed at the most wonderful hotel, CitizenM, which I would thoroughly recommend to anyone who was planning a trip to Glasgow!

I really went to town with the photographs, so here is the first batch of the hotel!

Arrving at CitizenM! Looking good so far.

One of the many fabulously quirky little details throughout the hotel. This was the welcome mat inside the entrance.

Half way up the spiral staircase... Clearly this guy had a few too many!

The spiral staircase leads up to the modern lobby area where you can check in, grab a bite to eat or drink, catch up on your e-mails or just sit and read a good book, of which a huge variety is available!

Quirky chair central! We never did get the opportunity to get a go on that crazy one in the corner though.

Further down the lobby there was a room full of iMacs for people to catch up on their business and have a browse online.

A close up of the interesting metal window decoration in the lobby.

Just one of the many floor to ceiling bookshelves throughout the lobby area.

Definitely one of our favourite spots, we spent plenty of time relaxing on the Eames Lounge chairs.

Yet another interesting chair!

Definitely the most relaxed, homey hotel I've stayed in, from the bubbly staff to the ever welcoming signs it would be hard not to feel at home here.

The rooms were probably the most exciting part of the hotel. Almost everything is controlled by remote, including the blinds, tv, alarm clock and the lighting which you can fully customise the colour of to suit your mood.

The bathroom was a frosted glass pod set in the corner of the room with the shower wet room and toilet inside. The bed was exceptionally comfortable and gigantic too, safe to say that my single bed is feeling pretty small now that I'm back home!

STRAY CAT STRUT

2011-06-22T21:55:00.002+01:00

Image sourced from Chartstats.com

Next month I am going to see Brian Setzer's Rockabilly Riot with my good friend James who ended up with a spare ticket.

The way it usually goes is, James asks if I want to go to something, I say "nah". James asks about a month later, I say "nah, really". Then eventually he just buys the tickets and we end up going anyway and the general outcome is that I become completely obsessed with whatever or whoever it was we went to see!

Well this time it's Brian Setzer of the Stray Cats. I'm actually really looking forward to it now and I'm very much looking forward to what everyone might be wearing in the audience. My bet is that there will be some pretty cool folks in attendance.

I definitely need to decide on some creepers and get finally them ordered!

Image sourced from Stray Cat Collectors Blog

Image sourced from Chartstats.com

CAKE & COCKTAILS

2011-06-06T21:49:00.005+01:00

These past couple of weeks I have been splurging on lovely food and trying out some new recipes and cocktails. I'm totally not ashamed to say it, I think that eating good food is probably one of my very favourite things!

Here's a couple of things that I tried out last week.

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

Both the Spiced Applesauce Cake and the Vermontucky Lemonade were recipes from the truly wonderful Smitten Kitchen, if you haven't had the pleasure of reading this blog yet, then you have to make it a top priority as soon as you possibly can!

As a treat for my lovely Mat who finished up his degree literally last week, I decided to also have a go at Julia Child's recipe for French Onion Soup, as I'd recently discovered that he had never tried it yet. Let's just say that there was a LOT of constant onion stirring...around 1 hour in total, but the soup was so incredibly delicious and of course we had it with plenty of bread and melted cheese on top too! Gutted that I didn't get any photos of the soup all plated up in the end, I will have to make another pot soon.

CREEPERS ON THE MIND

2011-05-22T15:07:00.004+01:00

Images sourced from : Fresh Fish (which I highly recommend you check out, by the way)

This comes as no shock to those who know me well, but I have been umming and ahhing over creepers for about a month now. Don't get me wrong, I am completely sold, 110% on the style, in fact I love them maybe just a bit too much. My only cause for deliberation is "which colour?", and since they come in basically any colour one could dream of I have been rendered completely unable to make a decision.

I came across these beauties by Sonia Rykiel from 2009, on the Fresh Fish blog a couple of days ago, aren't they just perfect?

I'm definitely buying them from Underground Shoes, as I like their styles the most, but here are the colours and styles I have narrowed it down to. What do you think?

Images sourced from : Underground Shoes

1. Barfly - Tie Red Suede Shoe - £73
2. Wulfrun - Green Suede / Leopard Print Apron Roundtoe Interlace D-Ring Lace-up - £77
3. Barfly - Black & White - Pointed Toe Shoe Lace-up - £73
4. Cavern - Monk Black Suede/Grey Suede Apron Side Buckle - £75
5. Barfly - Tie Purple Suede Shoe - £73
6. Eagle - Red Suede - Roundtoe Interlace Creeper - £86

BUSY TIMES

2011-05-20T21:12:00.004+01:00

I've been pretty busy over the past two weeks helping Mat of Buckets & Spades with his final campaign exhibition for Uni. It's been a pretty intense time but his exhibit looks amazing, I'm so proud of him.

It won't be long until it's my turn to be graduating, I'm pretty excited about that even though it's a year away.

Here's a couple of shots that Mat took a couple of weeks back of my new platinum blonde hair! I am very much enjoying being blonde.

Images © Matthew Pike, 2011

ROYAL WEDDING!

2011-04-30T18:37:00.000+01:00

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

Well I am happy to admit that I enjoyed the Royal Wedding so much more than I actually anticipated! Not to say that I wasn't looking forward to it beforehand, I most certainly was, but I ended up literally glued to the TV for most of the day.

We threw a little party with some of the neighbours, some friends and some family and I did a spot of baking for a change... (hopefully you get the sarcasm there!)

Lots of balloons were blown up, pork pies eaten, champagne drank and cakes devoured. All in all it was a pretty good time! I hope that everyone who was interested in the Royal Wedding ended up having a good day and had the chance to enjoy it.

I WANT CANDY!

2011-04-24T20:28:00.004+01:00

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

Well, I've gone and caved in after seeing the Furla Candybag on holiday last month and I bought one a couple of weeks back. It's safe to say that I do not need a single handbag now for many moons.

It's been an extremely sunny here in the UK and fortunately this good weather has carried on into the Easter weekend. I went for lunch with Buckets and our good friend James on Friday and the Candybag made it's debut.

I got my hair all trimmed up nice and short again this week too. Next week I'm dramatically changing the colour, which I don't ordinarily do, so fingers crossed all goes well!

The dress is from one of my favourite shops COS. I have one in the same style but with long sleeves in two different shades of blue from their last A/W collection and when I saw this cream and black one I did a little dance of joy.

ZARA LOOKBOOK

2011-04-11T21:57:00.005+01:00

Images sourced from Zara's April 2011 Lookbook

It seems that green is colour of the month, not only for Kate Spade but also for Zara. When their new lookbook popped up in my inbox I couldn't help but ooh and ahh over the beautiful colours and the even more beautifully shot images. If anyone knows of the photographer who belongs to these, please let me know so that I can give full credit where credit is due. In the meantime, if you love these even half as much as I do, then I suggest you check out the full lookbook on the Zara website.

PIZZA EXPRESS FOR LUNCH

2011-04-05T22:51:00.005+01:00

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

Last week after the photoshoot that I was helping Mat of Buckets & Spades with, we nipped for a spot of lunch at Pizza Express. I can't really fault them for good pizza, I've never had a bad one from them. After our pizzas I also indulged in a little bowl of gelato and a big coffee, which was just delicious. (If you like coffee flavoured things as I do, then you should try their coffee gelato, it's absolutely delicious! Sadly they were out of it the other day so I opted for chocolate.) Best of all though, it cost me less than £10 for my pizza, coffee and gelato!

Backpack by Penfield from ASOS.

Shoes by Sperry from Nordstrom.

LET THEM EAT CAKE!

2011-04-05T16:02:00.004+01:00

So this weekend just passed I baked a big chocolate cake for my mum and gran to celebrate Mother's Day. I used a mixture of two recipes, the sponge part of the cake was a Nigella recipe from her wonderful book "Feast" and the dark chocolate ganache was a delicious but simple recipe by Martha Stewart.

I'm no experienced baker what-so-ever and I claim to be nothing but a novice in this area, but this was one seriously delicious cake and what started off as one quite large layered cake has all but vanished, with only a few pieces left! I think that it has actually improved in taste after sitting overnight, it seems inexplicably more moist, so if you were planning to try Nigella's Devil Food Cake Recipe, I would probably suggest to allow time to leave it to sit for a while.

I opted not to make the frosting that Nigella made purely because I was quite keen to try the other recipe, but I am sure that it would turn out beautifully too. It looks as though it would be lusciously sticky and rich, where as the ganache I chose from Martha Stewart's website sets a little firmer, it cuts like butter basically and melts in the mouth!

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

COLOUR OF THE MONTH : YELLOW

2011-03-31T21:47:00.004+01:00

No.1 : Topshop Juniper Suede Block Heel Court Shoes - £46
No.2 : Crate&Barrel Dip Maize Mug - £4.57
No.3 : What Me Worry by Andrew Kuo - £29.75
No.4 : KitchenAid Artisan Mixer
No.5 : Crate&Barrel Mustard Squeeze Bottle - £1.29
No.6 : West Elm Single Socket Pendant - $29
No.7 : Kate Spade Lemon Drop Small Framed Lella - $225

As part of the Kate Spade - Living Colourfully resolution that I have been trying to embrace as much as possible, here are some of my favourite yellow items that I have come across over the past few weeks. I can wholeheartedly recommend the book, it's absolutely delightful! If the look of the cover does it for you, then you really should check it out, it gets better and better by the page!

TAMPA AND ST PETERSBURG - PART TWO

2011-03-31T18:02:00.000+01:00

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

After our trip to The Dali we drove around looking for somewhere to eat and we ended up in Tierra Verde, just near St Petersburg at Billy's Stone Crab seafood restaurant where we feasted on delicious seared tuna with wasabi and fresh ginger, margarita cocktails and shrimp linguine! It was probably the best seafood I have ever tried. Dee-lish!

The restaurant was a proper American beach restaurant, complete with a barefooted man in the bar playing his guitar, filled mostly with people in shorts as well as plenty of hawaiian shirts floating about. Definitely hope to go back there one day.

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

TAMPA AND ST PETERSBURG - PART ONE

2011-03-30T19:44:00.002+01:00

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

Headed out to Tampa on the last week of my holiday to visit a couple of places and then drove over to St Petersburg to the new Salvador Dali Museum. It was probably the best possible weather and I kind of wish we'd just headed to the beach for a lazy day, but we all had a great time despite all the rushing about. There's something completely wonderful about driving towards the ocean on a sunny day, the way that it bounces the light all over the place makes everything sparkle.

If you are ever in the vicinity and get the opportunity to visit St Petersburg, please don't let yourself miss out on The Dali museum, it's possibly one of the most fantastic looking buildings I have ever seen and their collection is magnificent. Even if you don't like Salvador Dali's work, you have to admit the building is indeed something special. It was designed by the renowned architectural firm HOK at their Tampa based location.

The museum holds the largest private collection of Dali's work outside of Spain and fortunately for visitors, in this much larger building they can display far more than they have ever been able to. I was most amused by the bulky security guard who told me to keep my handbag in front of me "so as not to knock the paintings off the walls". Thanks for the tip! I am aware how museums work and that swinging my handbag around would be deemed inappropriate.

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

BACK TO BLACKPOOL

2011-03-29T22:17:00.003+01:00

Image © Hollie Reid, 2011

I am officially back home from Florida now. I am quite exhausted and still a bit jet lagged, but quite happy to be home, seeing Mat and enjoying all of my creature comforts around me. Not enjoying the change in temperature however!

Plenty of photos from the holiday will be up very soon!

THINK PINK

2011-03-15T21:00:00.004Z

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

Since February (and part of March) has officially been "Pink" according to Kate Spade I have been using the colour as much as possible.

The photo at the top is a close up of one of Anthropologie's window displays. It's actually the frilly underskirt of a paper mannequin. They were rather impressive!

Admittedly I've been a little lazier than anticipated about my blogging since I arrived here, but I am on holiday after all, so frankly I'm not beating myself up about it.

Here's a couple of "Pink" photos from a couple of days ago.

Okay, there's nothing pink here, but this was my delicious lunch which consisted of broccoli cheddar soup & sourdough bread from Panera's. Yummmmmm.

My mum is always partial to a bright colour and I think she really suits this pink shirt from H&M! Are we freakishly a-like or what? We couldn't have had more comments about how similar we look since we've been here if we tried!

OH COFFEE CRUMB CAKE HOW I ADORE THEE

2011-03-13T18:59:00.003Z

One of my all time favourite things to do when I come on holiday to Florida is to go to Millenia Mall in Orlando, arrive early in the day and go and get a Starbucks and a piece of Coffee Crumb Cake. This will seem completely superficial, dreadfully uncultured and most likely quite dull to almost everyone who reads this, but oh how the little details thrill me so!

In the UK they don't sell Coffee Crumb Cake and so I indulge my appetite for it, without guilt when I come here.

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

WELCOME TO SUNNY FLORIDA

2011-03-12T18:46:00.002Z

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

So we landed in Florida last week and we've been pretty busy getting the house all cleaned up and looking lovely! This was the first time I'd had the opportunity to drive in America and I've really been enjoying it, despite being all fingers and thumbs when I first got into the car!

So far I've mostly been stocking up on magazines that I can't get easily get at home and lusting over homeware things from West Elm that are simply too large to take back to the UK with me.

I've been admittedly running a little behind when it's come to my New Year Resolution to 'Live Colourfully' but I fully intend to catch up!

On one of the first days after we arrived I was in the garden when these two huge birds came wandering up. It turned out they were pretty docile and also pretty interested in me and my camera! I looked them up and they're called Florida Sandhill Cranes and they are actually an endangered species. They're so big and almost pre-historic looking, pretty interesting birds!

THINGS I LOVED FROM LONDON FASHION WEEK

2011-03-01T20:10:00.004Z

Well there's no doubt in my mind that there are a million and one better, more informed London Fashion Week posts than this one, but I wanted to just stick up a few of my favourites from this season.

I can honestly say I am never disappointed with any of Betty Jackson's collections. Every season I look forward to seeing her designs! This collection for AW 11/12 is definitely one of my favourites from the whole week, I loved the rich reds and the crisp creams and the big voluminous shapes, everything looks so cosy and warm it almost makes me wish for winter again....well, maybe not just yet!

I'm never completely sold on House Of Holland, a lot of it I do like, but the more sporty and 80s inspired stuff I am pretty indifferent about. These outfits in particular from this season I really did love though. They're so prim and proper but wonderfully colourful. I especially love the suits.

Images sourced from Catwalking via London Fashion Week

Topshop Unique this seaon was kind of cyberpunk meets Cruella Deville meets 1920s elegance and I liked it! I'm always up for a big statement coat and this collection delivered. I'll most certainly be keeping an eye out when this range comes out and I'll be ready to fully exploit my staff discount as soon as it hits the website!

TODAY I WORE...

2011-02-25T17:32:00.002Z

Image © Hollie Reid, 2011

Classic error with the camera there. Oops. All the same I thought it was quite a nice photograph of my outfit, despite my lack of face in it!

Today I have spent most of the day with Mat, who got back from his trip to London and Brighton yesterday. We went to Lytham, another seaside town just outside of Blackpool for some lunch.

Today I wore:

Black leggings - Topshop
White long mens shirt - H&M
Cream patent Mary Janes - Topshop
Vintage leopard print coat - Retro Rehab

NEXT STOP... AMERICA

2011-02-23T20:48:00.003Z

Image © Matthew Pike, 2011

In exactly one week I'll be tucked up in bed getting an early night before our flight to Florida. I have been looking forward to this trip for such a long time. I can almost hardly believe it's been quite so long since we last went over to Florida. My family and I have had a lifetimes worth of fun there since we started going when I was four, it's really like my second home.

Here are a few of the things I am most looking forward to:

• Heat, give me blistering smothering heat.
• Buying Nick & Nora pyjamas at Target.
• My first legal Margarita at The Outback!
• Driving on the big wide mad roads.
• Listening to country music on k92fm.
• Kilwin's gigantic portions of ice cream.
• Drinking a Starbucks with a piece of their Coffee Crumb Cake (catch up UK Starbucks).
• Sitting by the lake in Celebration.
• Panera Bread!

Yummy ice cold Margarita.

The lake at Celebration.

York Peppermint Patties

Celebration at Night.

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

FEELING NUDE

2011-02-11T21:12:00.005Z

This past month, aside from trying to embrace RED as much as possible as part of my New Years Resolution I have been craving beautifully neutral, soft colours everywhere I go. I can't get enough of them!

These are some of the things that I have been most admiring this month a couple of which I might treat myself to at the end of the month if I'm lucky!

No.1 : Topshop Boutique Ivory Silk Midi Dress - £85
No.2 : Melissa Patchuli Cream Shoes - £85
No.3 : Kate Spade Natalie Cosmetics Bag - $145
No.4 : Topshop Boutique Stripe Midi Dress - £70
No.5 : Matt Dorfman Wedding Invite
No.6 : Topshop Patent T-Bar Shoes - £55
No.7 : ASOS Matt Finish Keyhole Sunglasses - £14
No.8 : Diana Eng Fortune Cookie Coin Purse - $65
No.9 : Muji Key Ring Memo Block - 99p

PEGGY WOLF ILLUSTRATIONS

2011-01-23T22:16:00.002Z

Illustrations and collages sourced from : Peggy Wolf

After a browse around on Etsy this afternoon I came across this beautifully colorful array of illustrations by Peggy Wolf. Originally from Germany, with a background in fashion design, Peggy is now based in London and currently works in interior design. Her illustrations and collages are a culmination of all of her previous design experience and take inspiration from graphic design, fashion illustration and art.

I'm seriously in awe. Find more right here.

VINTAGE LEOPARD PRINT COAT

2011-01-20T18:46:00.005Z

Image © Hollie Reid, 2011

I picked up this little beauty of a vintage coat from Retro Rehab in Manchester last month. It's in beautiful condition with it's original buttons and the most gorgeous mustard yellow silk lining! Mat and I popped out for a coffee yesterday and this is what I wore.

I didn't end up including an awful lot of red in my outfit yesterday as I don't have too much red clothing. My lipstick, nails and my "ruby slippers" brooch just had to do!

Images © Matthew Pike, 2011

COLOURFUL NEW YEAR

2011-01-16T17:35:00.007Z

Having never been one for New Year's resolutions, I have decided to break my pattern and introduce one for 2011. Earlier today whilst having a look around the Kate Spade website I came across their LIVE COLORFULLY campaign and was inspired to embrace it for myself and try to use their chosen colour each month during 2011 as much as I possibly can!

This month is red, which will be a breeze for me as red lipstick and nailpolish are staples for me and I love the colour red in general. I'll be thinking of the best and most interesting ways to get the 12 different colours into my life (and I'm open to suggestions by the way!). Being realistic I probably don't have enough colour specific clothing to fill a whole month with so I'll most likely introduce the colours through make-up, nail polish and accessories as well as food, design, products, pens, notepads, and even my blog design perhaps!

Watercolour by Caitlin McGauley sourced from : Kate Spade

Kate Spade are also commissioning a print and video to celebrate each month's colour. January's is by Caitlin McGauley who specialises in watercolours and just fits so seamlessly with the Kate Spade brand. If you are interested you can see some more of her work right here : caitlinmcgauley.com

Ely Kim is the man responsible for this month's video and it's a bit of a corker if you ask me! I don't want to really say anything about it other than just press play!

MODERN GINGERBREAD HOUSES

2011-01-10T23:12:00.004Z

Image sourced from : Babble

I know that my posts have been rather food related recently, but I can at least excuse this one because there's a bit of architecture and design involved here! Before Christmas I was dead set on making a gingerbread house, unfortunately those plans did not come to fruition quite as I had hoped having forgotten to buy the required cutters and any of the ingredients for icing. I always see gingerbread houses as a very seasonal thing and wouldn't ordinarily think of making one any other time of the year.

However, earlier on today I came across some rather special gingerbread houses indeed. My favourite is the one above, which I came across on a Babble article written by Liz Stanley of Say Yes To Hoboken. I think I'm going to have to put this on my list of things to do this year, I'll have to restrain myself to hold off for a few months at least otherwise I'll be on gingerbread overload, but it must be done at some point.

Images sourced from : Babble (L + TR) & The Little House In The City (BR)

The next few definitely look a bit trickier to do, complete with full furniture and wind turbines, but my favourite detail of all has got to be those spun sugar trees!

KALASFORM MUFFIN CASES

2011-01-05T22:25:00.003Z

Image © Hollie Reid, 2011

I've been doing a bit of baking recently as some of you may have noticed! A couple of days back I stumbled across these delightful muffin cases by Swedish brand, Kalasform whilst frantically trying to spend £1 extra to get free delivery at John Lewis!

Despite being a couple of pounds over the intended £1, I decided they were too lovely to resist and snapped up a packet of the floral poppy print cases. They come packaged in transparent packaging with a recipe card included in the box, mine is for "carrot muffins" which I'll definitely be testing out! Kalasform cases are all designed and produced in Sweden and provide a colourful and stylish alternative to the boring plain white baking case. I think they're doing rather well, don't you?

WILCO

2011-01-05T21:24:00.005Z

Looks like a pretty neat-o party! That looks like one proud-to-be-wearing-a-party-hat camel too.

I'm not advocating the use of camels in parties, I think they're best in their natural habitat, but I do love this picture and I do love the album for which it is the front cover. If you're not familiar with Wilco, but like bands like Midlake then they might just float your boat also.

JAMIE'S ITALIAN IN LIVERPOOL

2011-01-05T16:56:00.005Z

On Monday I went on a day trip to Liverpool with my family and my boyfriend Mat. We went to see the This Is Sculpture exhibition at the Tate, which was really good. I've been once before and really enjoyed it and this was Mat's third visit in the year!

After a spot of lunch on the Albert Docks and our visit to the Tate, we went on a little shopping spree to the sales at Liverpool One, before going to Jamie's Italian for some early tea before we drove home.

It was the first time I had been to Jamie's Italian, my dad has been a few times earlier in the year to the one in Leeds and has always raved about the food. I was sold from the moment we walked in through the door, as the restaurant just had a really great atmosphere and design and the staff were very friendly and bubbly too.

We had a quick drink at the bar whilst we waited on our table being prepared and the food being carried past looked pretty de-lish!

After much deliberation (and admiration of the colour-blocking on the menu!) I ordered the "Crispy Squid" to start and the "Beautiful Bucatini Carbonara" as my main and polished off the lot with a couple of glasses of Messina beer and a coffee to finish! I wasn't disappointed, the squid was definitely my favourite part of the meal, as were the fresh olives on ice that we ordered for the table.

Images © Hollie Reid, 2011

There seems to be quite a few of them dotted around the country, with a couple of new locations opening up in Nottingham and Bristol by February this year. A little birdy in the know tells me that one is also due to open up in Manchester by the end of this year!

NIGELLA'S GUINNESS GINGER BREAD

2010-12-29T19:00:00.000Z

I made some "Guinness Gingerbread" last week from Nigella's "Kitchen" book. It turned out to be a treat and a half, I'd highly recommend it! In fact it's been devoured so quickly that unfortunately I didn't even get a chance to take any photos of it, it'll just have to wait until the next batch I guess!

I got to take some pictures of my much beloved Cath Kidston apron, which I got from Mat of Buckets & Spades last Christmas!

Images: © Hollie Reid, 2010

JESSICA TARAZI MAKEUP

2010-12-12T18:02:00.001Z

Photography by : Paul Cruz

Photography by : Raya Photographer

Photography by : Tiffany Walling McGarity & John McGarity

Photography by : Tiffany Walling McGarity & John McGarity

I discovered the work of Jessica Tarazi, New York based make-up artist earlier on this year. I quickly became a firm fan of her style, writing a piece for another blog about her work. Jessica approached me shortly after she came across the article and I got the opportunity to interview her to find out a little more about how she got into the industry and what she's been working on recently.

This has been tucked away waiting to be published, so here it is!

How did you get into make-up artistry? Was it something that came really naturally to you?

My mother's make-up bag held endless wonders and became my visual toy box when I was growing up. Watching my mom dip into that bag and transform herself is one of my most exciting and vivid memories. I’ve always had an idea of what I would do to enhance a person’s appearance simply by looking at their face.

So far what's been the highlight of your career?

That would have to be when I worked with Andrea Bocelli and when he sang to me.

Who and what are you most inspired by?

My grandfather was an artist and I loved watching him sketch and mix oil colors and paint on his canvas. I am always inspired by music, nature, art, fashion, people, kindness and love.

What are your top three products that you can't live without in your kit?

Embryolisse Skincare Lait-Creme Concentre – a delicious rich primer/moisturizer that can also be used as a gentle makeup remover.

Makeup Forever HD powder – zero pigment makes this work for all skin tones, absorbs excess oil without leaving powdery residue behind.

L’Oreal Voluminous Waterproof Mascara – a classic for the thickest blackest black lashes that will hold the curl even in high humidity.

What are you working on at the moment?

I just got back from a fabulous advertising shoot in Tulum, Mexico. I am very fortunate to work with talented, creative and wonderful people, at times in beautiful exotic locations.

Do you have any make-up artistry 'pearls of wisdom' to share with us?

Take good care of your skin – drink lots of water, cleanse, moisturize, and protect. And most importantly, smile!

To see more of Jessica's beautiful work visit her website right here : jessicatarazi.com and once again a very big thank you to Jessica for taking the time out to do this interview!

TOASTY TOAST PYJAMAS

2010-11-18T18:30:00.001Z

Product images sourced from : Toast

I'm a bit of a pyjama obsessive as my boyfriend Mat, any of my friends, or in fact even the postman will confirm!

I'm always in the market for a new pair and now that the winter months are truly upon us I'm hankering for a nice flannel pair.

I love the Toast brand. Their clothing and textile products always look to be beautiful fabrics and although I've never purchased a pair of their pyjamas I can imagine that they would be rather a luxury to wear and would surely see me through several winters before losing their lustre.

I'll definitely have a pair of these on my Christmas wish-list. My top pick: the Tapestry Print Pyjamas in Autumn Leaf!

I've been away from my blog for a few weeks as I've been quite poorly, so I've been doing a lot of R+R in between my regular jobs and internships. However, since Christmas is just around the corner now (yippee!) I feel that there will be a fair bit of festive cheer around here over the next few weeks!

UTILITY LADIES NIGHT

2010-10-15T21:18:00.002+01:00

Last night I went to Utility's Ladies Night at their Preston Gift Boutique store in the lovely, Victorian Miller Arcade. The event was held to raise awareness and funds for the North West Cancer Research Fund.

By the end of the night Utility had helped to raise over £250 for this incredibly worthy cause which touches most lives at some point.

I picked up quite a few bits and pieces for Christmas presents and this necklace is really tempting me as I've been a bit hooked on the illustration from the original 101 Dalmations film by Disney. It's one of my all time favourites, I was hooked by the opening credits!

My mum bought the cow milk jug, which I can't wait to use! How sweet are the vintage print wrapping paper and cards?

Images © Hollie Reid, 2010

UNIQLO J+

2010-10-15T20:27:00.004+01:00

J+ product images sourced from : Uniqlo

So the new J+ collection launched yesterday at Uniqlo and by the looks of it, there was a fairly healthy queuing session outside the London stores! It's unusual that I wear an entire outfit from one brand, but I would definitely wear this one!

J+ product images sourced from : Uniqlo

HO HO HO!

2010-10-12T22:15:00.003+01:00

It's probably too early to go mad with Christmas related posts, but I had to share a sneaky peek at a couple of the beauties I picked up from the Paperchase concession at Selfridges a couple of weeks ago!

I thought these Christmas cards had a really 1960s look with the colour and the font and they even have a charm you can take off and hang as a decoration next year!

As for this glittery fellow, you'll see more of him in a couple of months, but I feel he may end up being one of many in the Reid house!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN

2010-10-09T19:00:00.002+01:00

John Lennon images sourced from : John Lennon

PAPER BOUQUET

2010-10-06T20:11:00.003+01:00

Images sourced from : Ali Degraff Photography

I saw these photographs today on 100 Layer Cake and fell in love with them. The idea of having a massive paper flower as a bouquet is such a good one, it means you get to keep it! Aside from the bouquet, I think these are probably the most lovely wedding photographs I have seen in absolutely ages, the photographer is Ali Degraff and you can check her blog out here.

The bride is wearing her mother's wedding dress, which has been altered to suit and look at those shoes, they're like little trench coats for feet! The men in the wedding party were all sporting bow ties made from floral Liberty print fabric and matching cream suits too! You can see more about their wedding day over at 100 Layer Cake. If you haven't heard of, or visited 100 Layer Cake before, you must quickly remedy this, get over there right now!

INGRID BAARS NEO DADA

2010-09-30T21:14:00.002+01:00

Images sourced from : Ingrid Baars

One of my favourite photographers and artists at the moment is Ingrid Baars. Her work can be quite mixed, some pieces feel ethereal, soft and light, others are incredibly blunt, sharp and quite disturbing. Her monochrome montages are brilliant, but I absolutely love the coloured pieces for their boldness.

The first thing I thought when I saw her work was how clear the similarities were, between her own imagery and that of the Dadaists’. I’ve always been fascinated with Dada art since I was at school, my favourites were by Raoul Hausmann. A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to be in New York for the final leg of a touring Dada exhibition at the MoMA, featuring most infamously perhaps Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain”.

DON'T YOU STEP ON MY NUDE SUEDE SHOES

2010-09-27T19:00:00.000+01:00

I snagged these little beauties in the ASOS sale for under £30 last month with a bit of left over birthday money. They're really comfy and I am honestly no advocate of the high heel. I almost never wear heels (despite owning a fair few pairs) unless I'm going somewhere where I can sit down!

I really like suede and neutral coloured shoes at the moment (not to mention the whole camel/neutral thing that's been going on for the past couple of seasons), the upside being that these colours go with pretty much everything. I also just purchased some grey suede saddle shoe/brogues from ASOS and a pair of soft brown lace up hiking boots which Mat Buckets posted on his blog recently.

Images : © Hollie Reid, 2010

JONATHAN SAUNDERS SS11

2010-09-26T17:19:00.003+01:00

Jonathan Saunders SS11 images sourced from : London Fashion Week

Definitely one of my highlights of this season. I'm in love with the colours and shapes. The prints remind me of maps of the world! I look forward to these delicious neons and crisp fresh colours being all around.

ELIZABETH LAU

2010-09-26T14:30:00.004+01:00

I recently entered a competition through Coggles to win a Elizabeth Lau coat. The brand teamed up with Liberty and Mackintosh to create two limited edition coats for SS10. The coat has a beautiful Liberty lining, designed in collaboration with Elizabeth Lau and was produced by the iconic brand Mackintosh. I was one of the lucky winners and got first dibs to choose between the two coats up for grabs. I naturally picked this one with the velvet heart shaped buttons, it was a no brainer! It's been much too warm to wear this until recently, so I've been saving it until now!

Images : © Hollie Reid, 2010

BLACK BEAUTIES

2010-09-25T16:41:00.010+01:00

F-Troupe product images sourced from : ASOS

Anyone that knows me will know that I don't need much of an excuse to treat myself to a pair of shoes. I'm also the first to admit that I really do have too many, I definitely don't need anymore, but it never hurts to look does it?

I came across a little footwear gem whilst browsing today, the British brand F-Troupe. They started in London in 2003 and have since spread internationally. F-Troupe are inspired by classic British design focusing on historical footwear detailing. I particularly loved these two pairs!

Although I said it doesn't hurt to look, I decided to treat myself to a pair of shiny patent shoes from Topshop since I'm so poorly this week. I can rationalise these somewhat, because I don't actually own a pair of black heels at all and they seem like a good classic style.

Product images sourced from : Topshop

CHARLES ANASTASE SS11

2010-09-25T11:26:00.003+01:00

Charles Anastase SS11 images sourced from : London Fashion Week

Another one of my top picks from last week's London Fashion Week. Charles Anastase is probably one of my favourite designers. He's not afraid to be playful within his work, which I really admire.

I really love his SS11 range, it's very dainty and pretty all round! The purple dress with the string of pearls and the big floppy hat is one of my favourite looks, along with the short sleeved black coat and cropped trousers.

EMILIO DE LA MORENA SS11

2010-09-20T20:30:00.000+01:00

Emilio de la Morena images sourced from : London Fashion Week

Spanish born designer Emilio de la Morena, who is in his third season at LFW brightened my day with these pretty and crisp saturated pastel shades! I'm particularly taken with the mint green skirt and jacket.

I think for the winter I'm going to stock up on lots of pastel nail polishes just to get some of these light and airy colours into the dark and drab English mornings!

DAKS SS11

2010-09-20T19:00:00.004+01:00

Daks SS11 images sourced from : London Fashion Week

Daks SS11 range is one of my ultimate favourites so far! I love everything about the collection, the colours, the fabrics, the loose, relaxed cuts and the nod to 1930s inspired resort and beach wear! Quite a few of the looks remind me of looks captured in images by the Seeberger Brothers'.

Seeberger images sourced from the book - Elegance - The Seeberger Brothers & The Birth of Fashion Photography

HANG YOU ON MY BATHROOM WALL

2010-09-19T20:36:00.005+01:00

Image of my bathroom wall © Hollie Reid, 2010

My mum raised me on a solid diet of Hollywood movies and it's still one of the more popular past-times at my house! We recently decorated the bathroom in our home and framed these beautiful prints of Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, Doris Day and Grace Kelly. Besides the fact that these are some of our favourite actresses, I absolutely love the colours.

Top Row L-R : Audrey, Marilyn, Marilyn, Rita
Bottom Row L-R : Doris, Marilyn, Grace, Marilyn

JENA THEO SS11

2010-09-19T16:56:00.004+01:00

Jena.Theo SS11 images sourced from : London Fashion Week

I'm not much one for rushing to my computer in the hopes that I'll be the one of the first to have covered a show each season at London Fashion Week. I know for certain that there are plenty of others who will give far more comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of LFW than I can, but I've just decided to stagger some of my favourites from LFW over the next week or two. I'm letting it all sink in slowly!

This was another one of my highlights from the live streaming on the first day of LFW. I'll admit I wasn't completely convinced when I saw the first few outfits of the Jena.Theo collection, but the colours have really grown on me. I love the candy purples and pinks. The pink dress with the gold embellishment around the neck and arms was really beautiful!

MARIA GRACHVOGEL SS11

2010-09-18T19:00:00.001+01:00

Maria Grachvogel SS11 images sourced from : London Fashion Week

So, yesterday was the first day of London Fashion Week for the SS11 season. Unfortunately I haven't been lucky enough to get down to it this time around, but I've been keeping tabs on the live feed!

I really enjoyed the Maria Grachvogel show which I tuned into as soon as I got into the office. I thought it was great how the collection started off very pure and gentle and slowly these volcanic, moody prints emerged as it went along. They reminded me of images of nebulas and views of planets from space, did anyone else think that?

Nebula and planet images sourced from : Astronomy Pictures

BUCKETS AND SPADES RE-DESIGN

2010-09-17T19:12:00.003+01:00

I've been a busy little bee this past couple of days! My boyfriend Mat, of Buckets And Spades wanted a blog makeover and enlisted my help to give his old layout a bit of much needed TLC.

Now that his is all finished, I'm starting to think that mine needs a bit of work! Buckets And Spades was recently included on the Fashion 100 list published by vouchercodes.co.uk, if you haven't already checked his blog out, I recommend you do...not that I'm biased at all!

I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE!

2010-09-17T10:39:00.004+01:00

One of my highlights of the week has been this competition, currently running at one of my favourite shops, Coggles to design the colourway for a Bike By Me bicycle.

Click the photo above, to head over to Coggles Facebook page, become a fan and scroll down to see more info about how you can design and win your very own custom bike from Bike By Me!

Bike by Me product shots sourced from : Bike by Me

Bike by Me launched with the intention of getting their customers creative juices flowing, getting them involved and selling them a bike that they had designed themselves. I am absolutely appauling on a bike, but if I ever get round to it, this will be the bike for me!

I decided to go for quite a girly colourway, with a vintage inspired Lady Penelope pink frame and red tires...would it be so corny if I said it was to match my lipstick?

JEAN SEBERG

2010-09-03T18:46:00.004+01:00

Image sources unknown

I love Jean Seberg, that is all!

A SEASIDE HOLIDAY IN LLANDUDNO

2010-09-02T21:53:00.009+01:00

Images - © Hollie Reid, 2010

So my boyfriend Mat and I spent the past few days on holiday in Wales. We drove to Llandudno on Bank Holiday Monday and stayed at The Empire Hotel in the centre of town. I used to visit Llandudno quite often with my parents when I was little and I just remembered it to be this sleepy little seaside town, which hadn't changed much over the past century... I was right.

During our stay we walked down the pier, ate fish and chips, went on a Victorian tram up the Great Orme, visited an ancient copper mine and took a lot of wrong turns! We had a really fun time!

Images - © Hollie Reid, 2010

On the way home we went via Liverpool and had a quick trip around the Tate and The Beatles Story on the Albert Dock where I had a few moments of Beatlemania in the shop. We also had a fleeting trip around Liverpool One, the highlight of which was going to the Utility Design shop, where I got to have a closer peek at the Uniform Wares and the Mondaine watches that I'm still undecided on!

It gave me a good chance to try out my new Digital Harinezumi camera, which was a birthday present from my friend James earlier this year.

VILLE SAVIMAA ILLUSTRATIONS

2010-09-02T19:08:00.006+01:00

Ville Savimaa illustrations sourced from : Ville Savimaa

One of the best things about my current internship jobs is that I get to pour over amazing creative work and I'm constantly introduced to new artists and designers. One of the most recent people I came across was Ville Savimaa.

Ville, born and based in Finland works as a freelance illustrator. His work at first glance looks incredibly dreamy, with pastel shades and rather cuddly looking characters, but there is a bit of a twist to it. Many of them are, after closer inspection, revealed to be rather creepy indeed! He takes inspiration from the wild; wild places and wild things.

Ville Savimaa is represented by Finnish illustration agency Pekka.

My favourites are actually his black and white illustrations, but I really just love the soft colours, shapes and the fact that you have to look again to really see the work.

LONDON & FUTURISING

2010-08-21T11:15:00.004+01:00

Last month I went down to London for the first Futurising event, with one of the companies I am interning with, The Chook. The Chook is an online creative visual directory for creatives from a wide variety of disciplines, due to launch this September. I'll keep you posted!

Futurising was fantastic, the event was held inside an old Victorian tiling factory, which was split into five separate buildings in the Shoreditch area. We got to speak with some incredible creative people from all sorts of areas, from fashion designers and illustrators to photographers. The talks were also very well organised and incredibly useful.

I have no doubt that Futurising will be back next year, it's a much needed event for graduates making their mark in the creative field.

Here are some of my snaps from my trip!

Images - © Hollie Reid, 2010

TOPSHOP CAR COAT & JOHN RAWLINGS PHOTOGRAPHS

2010-08-20T22:14:00.008+01:00

When this beauty came into stock on the Topshop website, I couldn't resist picking it up for the winter. The colour really swung it for me, I am very much looking forward to it arriving on my doorstep in the next few days!

It put me in mind of the early 1960s, The Shangri Las, 'Mad Men' the TV Series and most of all John Rawlings photographs during his time at Condé Nast. Particularly the ones I remembered to have big colourful American cars in, after all it is a 'car coat'!

Here's a few more John Rawlings images, I love the soft, pastel colours. I feel a photoshoot coming on when my coat arrives...

John Rawlings images sourced from : Agent Lee

KATE KANZIER SHOES & ACCESSORIES

2010-08-20T21:12:00.009+01:00

I recently came across the brand Kate Kanzier on The Licentiate (thank you Sarah!) and I proceeded to get very excited by the selection of amazing brogues and ballet pumps at even more amazing prices!

I am currently deliberating which pair of brogues to buy, I'm trying to decide which might be the best colour for the coming season. I'm also failing quite miserably at talking myself out of snapping up a couple of pairs of the £10 ballet pumps in the sale!

Here are some of my favourites, don't they match my blog a treat too!

Product images sourced from : Kate Kanzier

RICHARD MOSSE INFRA

2010-08-12T20:34:00.001+01:00

Images sourced from : Richard Mosse

I saw this series by Richard Mosse earlier today on Pieter Wisse's 500 Photographers and I was seriously blown away. He uses infrared film, which produces the colours you see. The series that these are from is titled Infra and were shot in the Eastern Congo. Don't you think these are incredibly beautiful and scary all at once?

WHITE TENT CLOTHING

2010-08-12T19:19:00.003+01:00

AW 10/11 lookbook images sourced from : White Tent

This has to be my favourite find of the week so far. White Tent showed their AW 10/11 collection at the last London Fashion Week event as part of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion's Esthetica exhibit.

This new brand uses performance textiles and laser cutting techniques to create their womenswear line. White Tent, who launched their first collection for AW 07/08, utilise ecologically friendly fabrics into their collections, all produced by a family run factory in Portugal where the brand is based. They aim to work in with their supplier as partners to develop a completely environmentally friendly fashion label.

I particularly love the metallic fabric in the brown and charcoal grey as well as the flashes of Yves Klein blue!

Their accessories are stocked online for the UK at their own White Tent Shop and also on Not Just A Label.

Product image sourced from : White Tent

I'm definitely saving my pennies for this bag!

TOPSHOP PINAFORE

2010-08-11T00:40:00.001+01:00

I love this, it's the colour and the pleats! I am so very, very tempted by it!

Pleat Pinafore - Topshop Boutique - £60

Product image sourced from : Topshop

UNIFORM WARES VS. MONDAINE

2010-08-10T16:38:00.002+01:00

Well, I have found myself in a bit of a conundrum! I have been looking for a watch for, oh approximately four years. "Four years!" I hear you exclaim, yes indeed I am quite the picky consumer when it comes to watches and other every-day items.

So here I am going about my long desperate search and I come across two brands, who both have watches in-stock, which perfectly suit my tastes, price range and colour preferences! Four years of no joy and now here I am with two perfect possibilities.

The companies in question are Uniform Wares and Mondaine.

Uniform Wares, who I believe launched early on this year specialise in everyday watches for those with an eye for design detail. They currently have a fantastic selection of colours available on their website. Their designs are minimal and clean, which I love!

Product images sourced from : Uniform Wares

The other contender as mentioned is Mondaine, the prestigious maker of the official Swiss Railway watch, originally designed by Hans Hilfiker, pictured below. I do love the second hand on this watch, it sort of reminds me of a clowns nose every time I see it!

Mondaine & Hans Hilfiker image sources unknown

BRETON STRIPES

2010-08-08T20:06:00.002+01:00

One of my favourite tops at the moment is my yellow and white Breton stripe, this one is from COS, I picked it up at the opening of the COS concession in Selfridges, Manchester. COS is one of my favourite brands, for their clean lines and fresh colours. I recently went a little wild in their sale when I was down in London, I was like a kid in a candy store!

Image - © Hollie Reid, 2010

I'm hoping to pick up a Saint James long sleeved t-shirt at some point for the winter, I'd really like either one of these colour combinations. These are available from Oi Polloi, a menswear shop based in Manchester, England not too far from where I live. They also have an online store here.

Product images sourced from : Oi Polloi

SHAKSHUKA FOR LUNCH!

2010-08-08T14:42:00.001+01:00

One of my favourite finds recently has got to be Smitten Kitchen, written by the truly lovely and incredibly informative Deb, who works as a freelance writer and photographer based in New York City. Not only are her selection of recipes simple to follow, with brilliant results they are also accompanied by brilliantly creative photography.

After a couple of weeks of bad health, I was feeling a bit needy today and felt like cooking up something yummy and comforting, which for me usually involves eggs of some variety, I love almost anything with eggs at any time of the day!

I had Smitten Kitchen's recipe for Shakshuka bookmarked ready for just such an occasion and as luck would have it, I had every ingredient ready to hand! I cut the recipe down to be more suitable for a single portion and I also didn't add in any water with the tomatoes as I felt it may end up just a tad too runny for my taste, but I think it's all subjective, of course.

Here are my results from today :

Image - © Hollie Reid, 2010

It was just what I needed and I will be making a big batch shortly to serve up for dinner one evening with some fresh, crusty breads. For the full recipe visit : Smitten Kitchen's Shakshuka

CATALOGUING THE GOOD STUFF

2010-08-01T18:00:00.000+01:00

It's high time I created somewhere to catalogue all the interesting treasures I come across. I'm not really trying to do anything with this, I just want somewhere to give some much needed order to my inspiration.