to a room with some lace and paper flowers

I am really not amused with the weather right now. It's nearly the end of May; it should be sunny, or at least bright and looking like it's going to be summer soon. For some reason, though, we have been living in what feels like a state of perpetual grey for the last week or so. I'm convinced it's because I bought a pair of vintage Birkenstocks from Beyond Retro on Saturday. I thought I'd try and get in on the whole slider-sandal trend and it seems instead I've angered the weather Gods or something, as they seem hell-bent on making it impossible for me to wear them. I've even had to break my winter coat out again, which is actually no bad thing as I am still completely in love with it (I mean it's yellow. How can you not love something that's yellow?!)

Anyway, yesterday I went out with my family to get all pampered and ready for my cousin's wedding on Saturday. I've never been the girliest of girls, and rarely manage to paint or maintain my nails (or my hair, or my makeup, or anything to be honest). It is so nice to actually get them done though - I mean I had one lady working on my feet and one on my hands, while I sat in some kind of futuristic massage chair. It was a little odd but once you got used to the whole concept of a pedicure (I just find it so weird because I mean, they're basically just washing your feet) it's actually quite nice and relaxing. I've always loved getting my hands painted, despite the polish usually getting ruined within a day or two because of art or textiles.
I wore my dungarees from Beyond Retro, a shirt from To Be Worn Again in Brighton, coat from River Island, socks from Topshop and shoes from Clothes Show.

I'm really getting into wearing jewellery. I went through a phase of just not really having time to put any on, but my growing collection of cute pins and beads has inspired me to try and match some to all of my outfits. I bought the squirrel pin in an art shop on Brighton beach and the beads from Snooper's Attic, and have since been wearing them with literally everything. I kind of want to buy loads of different coloured beads so I can just colour-coordinate them with my outfits every day.

As usual I had to have a nose around Camden Passage - it's a real hive of vintage and antique shops, and although the majority are a little out of my price range, I still think they're worth looking through.  "Cloud Cuckoo Land Vintage" is such a gorgeous little shop full of the most amazing and authentic pieces, while "A Fat-Faced Cat" sells the best dresses and jackets, and "Issy's Milky Way" is the coolest 50's rock and roll milkshake bar, complete with Elvis music videos playing in the background. Basically, I love it. And there's a street market on Wednesdays that is really cheap and sells loads of dresses, silverware and brooches.

We had lunch in The Breakfast Club - I've been a few times before, but haven't had a proper meal in there for ages. Hollie's post reminded me how nice it was, so I was quite pleased when I realised that was where we were going. I had one of their 'hot wraps' and it was seriously, seriously good. So good I didn't even have time to take a picture of it. I still want to go back to try the pancakes, though.

I hope you are all having a good week! The Motel sale is on until 7pm today, and I'm going to be there at about 10/10.30ish tomorrow morning so come say hi if you are around! There's going to be lots of cool stuff on sale so I'm really looking forward to it.
Hugs,

she was born in a handbag, love left on a doorstep

To make the most of the bank holiday weekend (and get a little bit of a break from exams) I went to Brighton for the day on Saturday. It's only the third time I've ever been but for some reason I just feel so at home there...although that probably has something to do with the copious vintage shops sprawled all over the North Laines. It's just got such a lovely atmosphere, and is somewhat like Brick Lane but on a much, much larger scale (complete with multiple East London beards). 

Revision has been good to me in the sense that it has made me incapable of going out and spending money, so I felt I was definitely deserving of a day of retail therapy. I've also been in a bit of a clothes rut recently, and have found myself just wearing the same few outfits over and over again, so I felt I did really need to jazz up my wardrobe a little bit before Summer properly kicks in. I also need to stop wearing orange. Seriously, it is all I wear.

I wore my skirt and shoes from Rokit, shirt and gold vest from a car boot, a cardigan from Spitalfield's market, tights from H&M and socks from Topshop. The badge is from Camden market and the necklace is from Beyond Retro. The weather was, as usual, looking a little undesirable, so I turned to plaiting my hair to try and avoid the inevitable frizz it turns into when it gets wet. However, I couldn't find two matching hair bands and so resorted to using gold ribbon instead - which I actually really liked (I felt quite Lolita-esque) and think I might do more often.
Anyway, we got up ridiculously early and so managed to get to Brighton in time for breakfast. There's something so nice about arriving somewhere whilst the shops are still closed; you feel as if you can get a headstart and explore at leisure without worrying that you're missing something. We chose a cute little café and I have since been trying to recreate the perfection that was the breakfast I had there (but with little success). We then spent an age looking through all of the gorgeous little shops, especially Snooper's Attic, which is literally my idea of heaven.

Snooper's Attic is like the debenhams of antiques and vintage; at two storeys high, it is a maze of separate stalls selling the biggest variety of odds and ends that I'm sure anyone will ever come across in one place. Glass cabinets house figurines and oddities like the stuffed ducklings pictured above, embellished china spills out onto tables and chairs, clothes hang from the ceiling and books line the walls. It is every vintage-lover's dream, and you are guaranteed to find a whole host of new treasure each time you visit (even if you visit twice in one day). Everything is haphazardly but perfectly placed, and it has that wonderful sense of organised chaos that I just feel so comfortable in.

I found these shoes in a corner of Snooper's Attic and completely and utterly fell in love...it was as if someone had handmade my dream shoe and placed it there for me to stumble across. They were quite cheap too, but a size 13, making them way too small. TOO SMALL. I have the tiniest feet in the world, how can a pair of shoes be too small?! I spent a long time holding them and willing my feet to shrink but at long last accepted that it was a little unnecessary to buy shoes I couldn't even wear. So basically, they're still there guys. I hope they go to a good home.

The heavens then decided to open, so we mimicked the rest of the population and scurried like ants into a nearby café for lunch and to shelter from the sudden onslaught of torrential rain. I was easily pleased with the fact that the iced tea I bought matched my outfit. We then carried on exploring the Laines, and I found one of my favourite antique malls that is almost hidden along and inbetween a row of residential houses. Like Snooper's Attic, it was piled high with a huge amount of quirky pieces that I wished I had enough car boot space to have taken home with me. I think in a sense it was lucky that I travelled by car, as it prevented me from buying all of the china teacups and saucers they had...I have a secret obsession with vintage china and am slowly building up my collection.

We also found a cute little street market kind of thing and I spent too long taking pictures of a cat asleep on one of the chairs hanging up on the wall.
By this time, the sun had decided to come out (I have officially given up trying to understand English weather) and so we headed down to the seafront, to browse through all the cute touristy shops and walk along the pier. Brighton pier is one of the highlights of the coastline, and is both busy and vibrant yet relaxing at the same time. It would be a lovely place to sit and read if you lived nearby.

I found a little ice cream kiosk that matched my outfit, and felt like the queen of colour co-ordination for a few brief minutes. It was great.

There are free deckchairs left out for you to use on the pier, so we sat overlooking the sea for a while and lapped up the last of the afternoon sun whilst eating the compulsory fudge that you just have to buy when you're in Brighton. It's from a very particular shop and the whole place smells like fudge when you go in...the best flavours are chocolate orange and mint chocolate, and I of course ate way too much. Let's just pretend the orange one is one of your five a day.

 I hope you all have a fantastic week...don't forget to pop down to the Motel event and come and say hi if you see me there! I'll probably be wearing something weird.
Much love,