Trying and failing to avoid the sun

I woke up this morning with terrifying tan lines and an inability to lift my arms above 90 degrees.  After applying way too much suncream, I put on yet another nautical outfit and headed to Weymouth town centre shops.

This street is one of my favourites.  It leads up to the promenade and holds a newsagents, a fab bakery, bookshop and several gift shops.  After picking up a few postcards and getting my Euromillions ticket (new addiction) I headed back to the caravan where I read a whole book (The second in the Sophie Kinsella Shopaholics series), wrote my postcards and listened to the 500 Days Of Summer on the caravan decking.  Bliss.  Then I burnt my ankles.  Oops..

Sunglasses - H&M. Writing pad - Paperchase

The view from the caravan decking.  I could see cows on the hill!

Didn't Katy Perry look AMAZING at The Smurfs premiere?  The dress, the matching shoes and eyeshadow, it all just worked!  Definitely one of my favourite looks this month.  I can't wait for the film either!

Off to Dorchester Market tomorrow and probably more shopping and sun.  Hopefully some delicious cakes too from the cake stand!

'What I wore... In Weymouth' post coming soon, it's mostly nautical inspired though...  

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Simple Pleasures Of The Seaside

The view from my deckchair

I'm currently sitting on a rock in Bowleaze Cove, Weymouth overlooking the sea and the whole of the town. Today I sat on the beach and read the whole of 'The Secret Dreamworld Of A Shopaholic' whilst my ghostly pale skin turned a painful shade of red. Whilst walking along the 2 mile walkway from the caravan to the centre I started thinking about the little things I loved about being on holiday in good old Britain.

1. Being greeted with 'good morning' from strangers walking past.  Isn't this lovely?  It restores all hope I had about manners in society today.  Just a simple 'morning' really does make the world a better place.



2. A full English breakfast everyday.  Waking up to the aroma of sausages being cooked in the caravan kitchen is divine and makes me dread the days when I have rush through a slice of toast to get to uni.  


3. Having the tune for 'I do like to be beside the seaside' stuck in your head.


4. Forgetting to check Twitter, Facebook and all things technology.  Back home I practically live with my head in the internet checking out what's going on and seeing everyone's opinions on it.  Yesterday and today I have been about 8-9 hours without checking any social networking sites or emails.  I even missed several calls and texts because I put my phone on silent and simply forgot about it.  Back in Leicester this would kill me but I'm more carefree than ever.


5. Deckchairs.  I had forgotten how comfy they are!  And so nautical chic.   


I think the sea air has had a strange effect on me.. 

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Strolling around Lyme Regis.

I'm on holiday!  Yay!  Today we went from Weymouth to Lyme Regis where we found a street  filled with nautical novelties and bakeries.  Due to my unlucky bids on eBay I wasn't able to get a lomography camera in time so I put all of my photos through the Instragram app!

Chips in Lyme Regis

Vinyl cakestand - £80

Buckets & spades in Lyme Regis

Beach huts in Lyme Regis

Vintage glass from an antique shop on Lyme Regis.  (£4.50 & £4)

Cake!

Lyme Regis street of shops

My Dolly Mixture cupcake!

Weymouth promanade

Checking to see if the other car is ok!

Bowleaze Cove where we are staying

My sister and I - she was weirded out by her forehead spot..

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Books - the tiny and the fashionable.

During my run around Leicester doing a final holiday shop yesterday I popped into Waterstones and was forced to stop when I spotted lots and lots of tiny books!  I picked up one of my new favourite books to take a peek.

As you can see from the two pictures that I secretly snapped, they are really tiny (I have really small hands) and are unconventionally read by turning the page upwards rather than across.  Although it is probably more pleasing to the eye due to the length of the lines and lines to a page, I think it would be extremely difficult to get into the habit of both turning the page and holding the book differently.  Furthermore, because of the need to be lighter and more travel-friendly, the quality and thickness of the pages has reduced dramatically causing the pages to resemble greaseproof paper that would easily rip in a handbag if not placed perfectly.

Waterstones (on a shoddy handwritten sign) were selling these at £9.99 and not in the 3for2 offer.  Honestly I think that whilst the idea was good, the price is way too high.  On Amazon I could buy three of the same book for 70p less.

My love of quirky accessories lead me to a new arrival on ASOS today - a book clutch bag.  It's only been online a day and I'm already hovering over the 'add to bag' button as it would go perfectly with a dress I'm planning to wear to a wedding. I may have to remove the tassel however..

On Saturday I head off to Weymouth for week!  My books to read on the beach include the first four 'Shopaholic' books - Sophie Kinsella, One Day - Davis Nicholls (re-read) and The Single Girl's To-List - Lindsey Kelk (fabulous re-read).

Let me know what you think in the comments!

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The bag of my dreams - 14.5" Classic Red Zatchel.

For many years I have lusted over satchels, specifically leather and (inevitably) expensive.  I was close to buying a Cambridge satchel many times but felt that they were just a little too expensive (£120+) for what they actually are.  Surely there much be another retailer that makes the beautiful bags?

I struck gold a few months back whilst reading the Leicester Mercury - 'Zatchels' a company that hand-makes better and more unique satchels is based in my hometown.  Yippee!

After deliberating for about a month and testing a few in my local Fenwicks store, I finally ordered my red (of course!) classic satchel on Wednesday night with a promise that it would be handmade and dispatched in 3 working days.  True to word, my Zatchel was shipped on Monday and it arrived on Tuesday morning by Parcelforce!

I chose the 14.5" Red leather satchel from the classic range which was £82 (free delivery)

Here's some lovely pictures and descriptions..

I chose to add a handle to my satchel for an extra £7 because I like to grab my bags quickly when on the move.  Because of this, the lovely people at Zatchels made the strap detachable!

All Zatchels bear the official tag.

Open!  The bunny ears sticking out are from my new iPhone 4 case!

Inside:  Glamour magazine, 'The Single Girl's To-Do List' - Lindsey Kelk (Read it now!), Umbrella, purse, iPhone 4, sunglasses

Adjustable strap for the little people like myself!

Sizings 14.5" Zatchel, A4 Vogue and 13" Macbook

 All Zatchels arrive in a dust bag and with a Certificate of Authenticity which is rolled up and tied in a pretty bow!

Certificate of Authenticity - my Zatchel was made on 18th July 2011 by Sharon & Karen and it was quality checked by Jeanette.

Today I had my first official outing with my Zatchel and I loved it!  It was slightly heavy but I'm used to carrying around even heavier bags around uni.  I originally thought that the buckles would be a pain to open but I soon got used to them and ended up feeling like a pro when opening them both at the same time. The outside pocket was really handy for keeping my iPhone and bus ticket handy without feeling like it would fall out or get stolen easily.   Overall, I think it's fair to say that I'm completely in love with my Zatchel and I will be for the next few years!


Do go over and visit the Zatchels website - they have a wide range of different leathers including spots, metallic and pastels.  Let me know which ones you adore!

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Refusing to take off my new shoes

I had to share my bargainous new shoes!
River Island £49.99 down to £30 and then they scanned for £20 at the till! I do love it when that happens. I'm so looking forward to skipping around uni in them. Is it October yet?

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Fashionable reasons for buying an iPad

I could write an essay on why I do and really do not need an iPad but instead I just (innocently) stumbled across these on Net-A-Porter. :)

Jimmy Choo - £375

Michael Kors - £105

Marc Jacobs - £350

Gucci - £215

Alexander McQueen - £250

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