Flamingo Shoes

I bought these gorgeous Flamingo shoes (Office £65) this bank holiday whilst shopping with my friend Beth in Oxford Street. I fell completely head over heels for them and I can't wait to spoil my feet rotten in them!

Afternoon tea with a slice of theatre and fort building

Yesterday my beautiful friend, Emily travelled all the way from Cumbria to visit me in London for less than 24 hours. 

Emily is my wanderlust friend, if I ever want to go on an adventure, it's Emily I call. 4 years ago we'd travel the country spontaneously to see bands that we loved (Oxford, Bingley, Bristol, Manchester, Nottingham, Cardiff to name a few) 2 years ago we road tripped to Exeter and visited Paris for a week for my 18th birthday. After Paris we went almost 2 years without seeing one another again, life got in the way, but neither of us gave up on the friendship, and more recently we've been having monthly Skype dates and met up in Preston in January. 

And a week ago, we were on one of those Skype dates, and Emily was suffering from a particularly severe case of wanderlust, and I, being the good friend I am, convinced her to come and see me the following weekend. 

We started the day in my home, catching up and hugging a lot, then we rushed to the theatre to see a matinee performance of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Considering most of the cast were made up of children, the show was incredible, although I was saddened that none of the classic songs were included - until the very end that is, when Willy Wonka and Charlie Bucket performed Pure Imagination together; but it was the set design that really stood out for me. I studied set design at university for a year and still have a huge passion for it. 

Afterwards we went for afternoon tea at Ladurée.The weather was beautiful, and so it was the perfect place to visit, as the store in Covent Garden is all seated outside. 

                                                                                           

The food was, honestly, incredible. At £21 the afternoon tea is one of the cheapest in London, and also one of the best. 

However, although the company and food were the best I could have dreamed of, the service was awful and ruined the experience, after taking our order the waiter did not return to ask us if everything was ok, nor did they bring milk to the table for my tea, they didn't even offer. After the deliciously filling macaroons and finger sandwiches, plus other desserts, neither Emily or I could finish the absolutely Ispahan, pictured below, we asked for them to be boxed up so we could take them home, something I have done often at other restaurants. They told us it was illegal to do so and completely refused. 

In the evening we had planned to go into Camden to see Frank Turner's DJ set in Underworld, however we were both exhausted and instead decided to build a fort made of sheets and a dozen cushions with a home made picnic, diet coke in champagne flutes with a children's film playing. Both of us are adults, and both of us know how to do adulthood properly. 

Thank you for a wonderful weekend, Emily - I can't wait to see you again soon!

Until next time,
Stay Beautiful.
Jessica 

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The fault in our stars - Little infinities.

Two weeks ago I finally moved back to London. I'm so excited to be back in the city I love, I've been away since end of March and I didn't realise how much I depended on London until I went back to the countryside. 

Last weekend I had the privilege of seeing The Fault In Our Stars (TFIOS) 40 days before the release of the film with my ex-flatmate but forever friend, Rebecca. We're both huge fans of John Green and the book, we both pre-ordered TFIOS and so received signed copies when the book originally came out 2 years ago. We were also lucky enough to meet John and his equally talented brother, Hank, in February 2013 and will have the same privilege this summer at Leakycon, Orlando. 

We were asked not to blog spoilers, so instead I'll say just take tissues. TFIOS is one of my least favourite of John's books (seriously, have you READ Paper towns ?) and so I didn't expect to cry at all, except 10 minutes in the first tear rolled down my cheek and after that there was stopping it. I was full on sobbing by the end, and even as the credits were rolling I couldn't stop. I was a mess! I had liquid eyeliner all over my face - when the lights came up, Rebecca just laughed at me! I was so surprised at the quality of the film, films are never as good as the books they're inspired by, and this film is no exception, however it did the book as much justice as it possibly could. 

We received free copies of TFIOS with the movie cover (REALLY ?! I already have 5 copies from different events) and also a free T-shirt with #littleinfinities  and The Fault In Our Stars with the release date on the back. It is THE least flattering shirt I have ever owned, and it drowns me, but I love wearing it to bed. 

Until next time,
Stay Beautiful.
Jessica 

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Hair Wavers

                    

     

My younger sister is blessed with the most beautiful curls, I, however, was not-so-blessed with temperamental locks that go from curly to poker straight within one wash. It makes planning for an event ahead difficult as I never know what my hair will look like on the day. 

I must have wasted a small fortune on the amount of hair curlers I have purchased in the past, desperate for the curls my sister models so beautifully (seriously, she's the prettiest 17 year old this side of the moon)  - none have ever worked for me, but if at first you don't succeed...

And now, it seems, i have FINALLY succeeded.  That's right, ladies and gentlemen, you heard it here first, I am more than happy with a hair curler. Well, not really a curler, but a waver.

I trawled the internet for a pair of wavers, watched hundreds of youtube review videos and finally settled on the Babyliss Pro Porcelain Triple Barrel Waver.

They're so simple and, more importantly, quick to use and have the exact effect I wanted on my hair. It looks like a natural beach wave and will be perfect for summer. These photo's are taken 12 hours after first using the tongs and although they're obviously not as tight as they were when it was freshly done, you can still clearly see the waves. (I didn't have time to edit the first three photographs so don't judge me too harshly!)

I've had them for a week and I can no longer imagine my life without them. Aww.

What are your hair product must haves ?

Until next time,
Stay Beautiful.
Jessica 

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I'm wearing -

Mint scallop dress from ASOS

Sheer cardigan from Miss Selfridge 

Hair pins from Etsy (full review coming soon)