Where you been hiding lately, where you been hiding from the news?

Ben Howard "The Wolves"

Here's what I got up to the rest of the weekend. So as not to overload you with too much food related content in one go, you've had ample time to digest the first post (yep, pun intended), I'll continue. I have unintentionally given up alcohol for Lent, by this I mean I haven't had a drop since Lent began. My weekend was uncharacteristically quiet and devoid of any hard liquor. If I will stick to this accidental alcohol fast, only time will tell, which ultimately hangs in the balance once the weekend arrives. But the lack of alcohol has by no means meant a lack of indulgence, I have simply replaced drinking with eating, and a lot of it!


Saturday night, the bestest and I cooked a veritable feast!

To start we had herb poached egg, roasted asparagus and smocked salmon inspired by Jamie Oliver's "Jamie's Great Britain", followed by Moroccan chicken, lemon and courgette couscous, loosely following this recipe and this recipe, finishing with cinnamon baked pears inspired by this recipe, but we skipped on the sugar  and ameretti in replacement of chocolate Philadelphia, as gross as that sounds it's like the best chocolate cheesecake topping ever!

The real high point of the weekend though was the glimpse of sunshine!! It might not have stayed out long, and it might not have been that warm, but there was actual sunshine! I would like to think that this may be the long awaited signal of British Spring time? Those of you that follow me on Twitter will know that I fully embraced this fact and threw caution to the wind, along with my old faithful 60 denier tights and downgraded to 40s. Yes, I made the transition, and I urge you all to join in too!

H&M black maxi, charity shop St.Michael black and gold belt, Miss Selfridge coral multi-bead necklace

Pink Converse via ebay with H&M Kids pink ankle frill socks

This is actually what I wore Sunday to enjoy the last of the sun, as it was inevitably short lived. I also wore my Oasis leather jacket with this outfit, sunny it might have been but official maxi dress weather it was not. Being an all black outfit and not wanting to look like death walking, I livened my outfit with my baby pink Cons and matching frill ankle socks and a bright necklace, it's a great way to wear a normally Summer associated maxi dress in Spring. How do you ease yourself out of your winter wardrobes?

KDx

You won't get no dessert 'till you clean off your plate

Weird Al Yankovic "Eat it"


Having to work on a Saturday is a rarity, so I was only too happy to return home to find that this had arrived in the post for me, the only thing better than a bargain is an edible freebie:

Graze box

Those of you not familiar with Graze boxes (as I wasn't, prior to the introduction from a friend at work, who is also to thank for my lovely header and logo-Thanks Stu!) they bill themselves as 'Nature Delivered'. The idea is that you can select via their website foods you would like to be delivered-normally to your place of work, but as I did, to your home address, on dedicated days of the week in a letter boxed sized 100% biodegradable, recyclable box. The foods are arranged into categories, dips and dippers, breads, crackers, flapjacks, olives, natural treats, dried fruit and nut mixes, nuts, dried fruit and seeds. Prior to selecting your foods you rate them as either bin, try, like, love or send soon. This is then saved in your preferences, and depending on how you choose your box to be compiled, you will get a mixture of the items you have rated. I was tempted to cheat a little and select all of the items I had rated as 'send soon' but in my quest for the ultimate Ibiza body ( in just over 21 weeks, or only 149 days) I didn't as this would have resulted in flapjack, bread and dips, more flapjack and chocolate...Not really my idea of 'Nature Delivered', more like supermarket bakery delivered! You can also tailor your box further by selecting the 'Graze Health Eating Plans' whereby the boxes exlude or include specific foods, for instance the 'Light Box' only contains foods between 54 and 146 calories, other plans include the 'Boost Box' and the 'Eatwell Box'. 

  

First of all the box, I was really impressed by how well considered the packaging was, the personalisation on the welcome booklet was a really nice touch, as was the little bit of graffiti I found inside the box, 'ellie woz ere,' Hi Ellie!

Inside are the four foods I received, top left, Fruity Ploughmans, bramley apple and pear chutney with a roasted poppy seed flatbreads, top right, Apple and Cinamon flapjacks, bottom left, Pina Colada, dried pineapple, mango and coconut flakes and bottom right, Natural Vanilla Seed,vanilla sunflower seeds and vanilla pumpkin seeds. I wouldn't have necessarily chosen them, but that's the element of the Graze box I liked. You can also opt in to receive an email the evening before so you know what will be getting in your delivery, I call this cheating, but I also hate not knowing, so I did get my email Friday evening :) The food was perfectly portioned and really tasty, my favourite had to come in the form of the dried pineapple in the Pina Colada, something I had never considered, the Vanilla Seeds were also delicious and would make a nice addition to natural yoghurt, I may have to seek out a recipe....

Now the cost, Because I had a 'feed your friends' code, my  first box was free.But you still 

have to enter your card details for future deliveries, but even so you have up until the night before your scheduled delivery to cancel. The Graze boxes are priced at a very reasonable £3.79 per box, which I think is a complete steal! I wouldn't have a box delivered everyday to work as was the intention behind the original idea of Graze boxes, as I think it might become a little expensive over time, but as something to look forward to once a weekend, I would seriously consider it. I can really see how this idea would work for people that are chained to their desks and can't always gauruntee they will be able to escape the confides of their office to pick up a healthy, albeit natural lunch via the lure of the fast food outlets en route. 

For all of you that are interested in trying Graze boxes out for yourself for free, visit the website here and enter the code CLQN2GH.

KDx

Photoshoot fresh, looking like wealth, I'm about to call the Paparazzi on myself

Jay-Z and Kanye West "Otis"

H&M Trousers, Topshop chain drop armhole vest and Topshop 'Glam' black courts via ebay, River Island sequin clutch, Oasis leather jacket and carboot sale belt.

So this is how I actually wore the outfit I posted earlier on the blog, I swapped the brown gladiators for my Topshop 'Glam' black courts, whilst thinking 'What would Emmanuelle Alt do?!' She being my trouser-spiration of course. 

I was approached a few weeks ago in our local Lloyds bar, emerging from the ladies by a woman who turned out to be a sponsor and a judge for Miss Worcestershire, she suggested I entered, at which point I laughed in her face-standard response surely?! So after much encouragement/persuasion from friends I filled out the application and this is the outfit I wore to my 'open audition' last night. The dress code simply read 'smart' which leaves itself open to interpretation, the relaxed cut of the trousers and side pockets gave the overall look an element of nonchalance, which was the perfect mask for the fact I felt completely like a fish out of water!!  All was not as bad as I had first feared, by open audition, they meant an informal chat-style interview, I guess to judge your eligibility for the possible role. My impending fate will be decided by Monday...!!

In other news, I secured a standing ticket to see Jay-Z and Kanye West on the Watch The Throne tour when it comes to Birmingham in June, I am BEYOND excited. I am a massive fan of Jay (yeah, he lets me call him that) we're talking 15 plus albums on i-tunes. As for Kanye... whilst I can't fault his credibility as an artist, his personal exploits leave a lot to be desired, namely this incident at the 2009 VMAs...

Video via Youtube

I'm in hope that some Kanye style storm staging takes place at the Oscars this weekend, maybe Brad Pitt storming the stage to protest how his mate George (Clooney) should have won Best Actor in a Leading Role instead of Jean Dujardin... if only the Oscars were actually that interesting!

KDx

I never know what's coming, forever fascinating

Skrillex, Benny Benassi, Gary Go "Cinema"

                                         

Skrillex live at the O2 Academy in Birmingham

Pictures of the past few days activities: 

Top-Bottom

Mary Berry 'Christmas Spiced Cupcakes,' better late than never! Made somewhat less Christmassy by omitting the cake ruining mixed peel in favour of chopped glacé cherries and nuts, and saving the brandy meant for the frosting for a coke at the weekend and replacing it with lovely lemon frosting-yummy!

My new bed! Despite it's deceptive appearance, this beaut was an absolute bugger to put together! Sleeping this high up is how I imagine the Princess in the 'Princess and the Pea' felt...minus the pea! 

Zane Lowe and Skrillex

So Sunday night I went to see Skrillex at the O2 Academy in Birmingham, supported by Alvin Risk and Zane Lowe. Now I'm sure everyone has heard of Zane, who was as awesome as has come to be expected from the Radio 1 DJ, but the surprise of the night came in the form of Alvin Risk who warmed the audience up as we arrived. More surprising than the fact that the relative unknown (to some at least) is a pretty good dubstep dj, is the fact that he is a dead ringer for Will McKenzie, aka 'briefcase wanker' from the Inbetweeners! Until they are seen together I am going to say it is him! 

I’m typically a girly dresser, and even when I am dressed down, I still feel dressed up, but I kinda like it that way, my motto is ‘You never know who you might bump into,’ but gig dressing is never going to be something I am going to excel at. In my head I am thinking, it’s not quite a night out, so no need for heels, (being 5ft 10 it is argued whether I ever need heels at all, but that’s none negotiable!) but then it’s hardly like going to the pub where a cute pair of ballet flats would suffice, so instead I plumped for this outfit on the night.

Levi’s cut off as before, Playboy men’s t-shirt via eBay and then customised by cutting the sleeves off, River Island leopard print belt, Converse red hi-tops via eBay and black H&M kids hoodie.

Absolute ultimate saviour of the night came in the form of Lipcote, honestly, lipstick lovers, there is a reason this product has been loved by women the world over for 50 plus years! My outfit post was taken when I got home after the sweat-fest of a gig, and my lipstick is still in place!

These are the other bits and pieces I threw on

Vintage brown leather satchel via ebay, H&M and H&M kids bracelets, found Casio watch (broken!) Topshop and Matalan rings and earrings, Warehouse silver cuff, Accessorize purple flowers and New Look leopard head scarf.

I swapped my normal nigh-out oversized clutch bag for a gig worthy shoulder bag in order to: a) tie my hoodie around, which proved invaluable seeing as this turned out to be the sweatiest gig ever!! How I laughed at the ‘idiots’ queuing in just their vests, clearly they are more attuned to gig wear than I am. And b) in order to keep both my hands free for ultimate music appreciation. Unfortunately keeping my hands free didn’t make me any better equipped to capture a decent video clip, as if the first one didn't demonstrate the point enough, here’s a clip from Cinema. In the words of Trainspottings's Jeremy Factsman 'Reach for the lazers, safe a fuck' 

KD x

Never a frown with golden brown

The Stranglers "Golden Brown"

Gold jumper H&M, shirt H&M, skirt Miss Selfridge via ebay, boots New Look, belt charity shop, feather Accessorize

I find it so hard to motivate myself to put something on that even verges above 'meh' when it's raining, but I brought this gold jumper yesterday in H&M after seeing it on the website the previous day, and for £9.99 I couldn't resist! Styled it with a mullet hem skirt from Miss Selfridge in similar tones. I'd like to think the little peak of sunshine through the clouds is down to the effort I decided to put in to getting dressed today, how can you frown in gold and brown? 

Never mind I'll find someone like you

Adele "Someone Like You"

You would be forgiven for thinking this is another heartfelt cry about the ‘one that got away’ with it being Valentines Day and the fitting choice of title, and in a way it is… Except, when I talk about finding someone like you, I’m talking about interpreting trends (on a purse friendly budget) and I’m looking at you Stella McCartney!

No one worth their fashion credentials can ignore the influx of Spring/Summer 2012 ‘trends’ and ‘must buys’ that have been floating round the magazines and the internet. Now, I don’t consider myself to be particularly fashionable or led by trends, but I do appreciate it when something is in on trend that I like to wear as it means I can buy more of it. One trend that I did not see myself taking notice of was the ‘Pyjama Party’ that the likes of Stella, Jonathan Saunders and Jil Sander sent down the catwalk in their offerings for S/S ’12.

Images courtesy of Vogue UK and Telegraph Fashion

The reasons for this was not only the fact that wearing your pyjamas out in public was something that was reserved for late night car trips as a child, or late night takeaway trips as a uni student, but also because of my adversity to trousers. The only trousers I own are ACTUAL pyjamas.

A couple of weeks back, filling my lunch break at work browsing the shops, I found myself strangely drawn to some pyjama patterned, silk-to-the-touch, tailored 7/8^th trousers. (On the trouser-phobe rating scale they score an 8 for complexity alone!) I tried them on, dabbled with the idea of them in my head, but returned them to the sale rack, even at only £7; there wasn’t enough pull to take them home with me.

On a quick dash into town at the weekend to buy essentials (hair bobbles and toiletries for those of you interested) between running errands, I sauntered past the sale rack in H&M and was once again met by these same trousers. Many of the beliefs that people place on relationships I place on shopping, for me, this was meant to be, these trousers were still there, last pair in my size, SOLD!

Just because I can’t get my head around trousers, doesn't mean I don’t admire/envy those that can pull the look off aplomb; Emmanuelle Alt, and Miranda Kerr to name a couple, besides being incredibly leggy and waif like are always in a good heel when rocking a killer trousered look. So here, laid on my bedroom floor with Alt and Kerr for inspiration, the trousers that I was meant to have, styled up how I think I will interpret the Pyjama Party trend. Here’s hoping I get further than a late night dash to buy take-away...

Troursers £7 H&M, Topshop chain drop arm hole vest and brown gladiator shoes via ebay

Here's a detail shot of the outfit, as the above image washed the colours out and I really wanted to show you the colour/pattern of the trousers.

On a side note, this alone is reason enough to love Emmanuelle Alt... Fashion Editor+Wham=AWESOME!

Youtube video found via the Guardian

KD x

We're all no one until someone thinks that we're someone, 'til then we are no one

Nervo, Steve Aoki and Afrojack "We're All No One"

First post is the hardest right?! Well for those that know me, this has been a long time coming, I have been admiring many a blog, almost to the point of envy, but my crippling fear of writing what might actually be read by people that care (?) maybe got the better of me. So here goes... A blog that I hope you will find witty and interesting, and possibly even a little inspiring on fashion, personal style, and a smattering of things I love, namely my friends, music, food and anything that I don't have to pay full price for. (I am an ebay addict, I will attempt to undercut 'rrps' at any opportunity!)

First outfit post (pretty sure you can almost feel the awkwardness radiating off my face from here)

What I'm wearing: Topshop tall burnout t-shirt, cut-off mens Levi's that I made into shorts, Dune pony skin leopard pumps, River Island leopard belt, H+M jewellery (H+M kids bracelets) New Look snake print head scarf and Accessorize purple flowers.

These shorts are fast becoming my wardrobe staple for casual days hanging out and errand running, I don't (yet) own a pair of jeans, so this is as close as I have come. 

KD x