under the iron bridge we kissed, and although I ended up with sore lips

Hello again...wow it feels so good to be posting this. It feels like forever since I've been able to sit down properly and blog (well I'm actually standing up right now but whatever). My mock exams start next week (eek) and I have finally hit that part of my school life where it is actually necessary to work...hence my slightly erratic blogging patterns and permanently panicked tone. I have been trying to revise as best I can but it's so hard to fit it all in on top of coursework, and college visits...which are conveniently all at the same time as my exams. Fabulous. Anyway, my family and I managed to make a quick getaway to Oxford last weekend to see the play Cabaret...which although centered around the topic of sex and promiscuity in pre-war Berlin was actually incredibly moving and relevant. We stayed in a really nice B&B and I managed to take a few pictures of this slightly weird but wonderful jacket I have...I got it way back last april but haven't had the chance to photograph it properly for you guys. It didn't stay on long though as I was absolutely freezing and instead opted for the warmth and comfort of my new fur coat (there is a photo of it further down in this post). I'm wearing a jacket and shoes from Rokit, belt from Beyond Retro and dress from a vintage market in Oxford.

Oxford itself was lovely, especially since we stumbled across an amazing vintage fair taking place in the town hall. It was completely packed but I managed to find some really great pieces, including the most amazing faux fur coat which I bagged for at least half of the price of a normal winter jacket. I've been a bit of an animal rights activist since I was little and so buying and wearing it did kind of clash with my morals a bit, but at the end of the day it is second hand faux fur, so not a single animal would have been harmed in its production. We also found a cute covered market and an Alice in Wonderland themed shop, as Lewis Carroll allegedly came up with the idea for the story whilst rowing in Oxford. I bought the tiniest jar of strawberry jam and, as the cool person that I am, am waiting for the perfect morning to enjoy it on some hot toast.

I also got some film from Halloween developed, and before we all get too christmassy I thought I may as well show you my last-minute chucky outfit. My birthday was the day after halloween and so I stayed up at my friends house, dancing to abba and s-club 7, until midnight, when we celebrated with an amazingly creative tomato cake (my friends scavenged in the kitchen and managed to find a tomato vine and candles...best cake ever in my opinion).

Ah. I can finally relax a little now knowing I've updated you all a little...as always, I have more posts on the way, but I will warn in advance that with my exams it might be next week before I get to show you them. Thanks for sticking around!

ellie x

In an octopus's garden in the shade

 

Hello again. I'm still waiting for the film from my birthday to be developed, so instead I've got a kind of autumn-y outfit post for you guys today. Recently I've been really getting into the autumn spirit, and it all kind of manifested into this outfit that I wore to the Radio 1 Teen Awards on Sunday. My cousin sorted out some tickets for two and my friends and I to go to the event at Wembley Arena, and we actually had a really good time...despite being a little bit clueless about some of the performers (I'm much more of a bowie girl than a directioner if I'm honest) we had such a laugh and got to see Fall Out Boy; I had a serious obsession with them for the best part of four years so I was a pretty happy bunny. We also got on TV (I'm wearing a Rita Ora mask but whatever) which was seriously awesome. It was a fantastic experience with a great atmosphere and reminded me of how much I love events like it.

I got this Tatty Devine necklace for my birthday a few years ago and I absolutely adore it...I feel like I have a connection with foxes because we share the same hair colour. When I was about 7 I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up,  and I replied 'A Fox.'

 

(all inspiration photos from Rookie)
Hope you are all having a good week...I had my English GCSE on Tuesday which was incredibly stressful, but totally worth it as afterwards my English teacher treated us to 500 days of summer and two huge boxes of chocolates to share in our lesson. The pressure isn't completely off though, as my mock exams start in about two weeks and so I'm on a tight revision schedule...and I'm already getting behind (I have 36 illustrations due by 4pm tomorrow afternoon). It's weird because I'm actually really enjoying everything I'm doing at the moment...having a lot to do seems to make me do more, and enjoy the little things like breakfast in bed and reading more than I used to when I didn't really do anything. I feel like the more work I do the more breaks and treats I can have, and the more I enjoy them. Who knows, maybe I'm actually getting the hang of school at last.
hugs,

ellie xo

you have never been in love until you have seen the dawn rise behind the home for the blind

 

So I turned 16 on Friday. Sixteen. That sounds big. It's like a kind of big sweater that I just don't quite fit into yet. I was actually incredibly apprehensive about the whole thing...however I had such an amazing time that I soon forgot completely about the number and just enjoyed being the centre of attention for a day. I took loads of photos over Halloween and my birthday however they're all quite different and there's too many for one post, so I'm going to kind of group them into several separate posts over this week. These photographs are from our trip to London Zoo...I know, why the hell would you go to a zoo on your birthday?! It's a bit weird I know, but I wanted to spend the day being all nostalgic before meeting up with the family and the zoo just seemed like a good idea.

 

I wore my shoes from Rokit, skirt from Beyond Retro, shirt from Blitz and socks and jumper (a present from my parents) from Urban Outfitters. I also decided to live the blogging life and lug five cameras around with me all day...because that's totally normal right?

 

These are all from the butterfly house, which is basically an enclosed tunnel that is really humid and full of butterflies flying around. It's really humid and so my camera lens kept steaming up, hence the slightly dreamy quality to these pictures. I apologise for the plant spam.

 

I've always been really into animal protection and London Zoo fully incorporates the issue into their work. As much as being a tourist attraction, the zoo is famous for it's conservation work and tries hard to enlighten visitors about the plight of the animals on show and their environment. They also encourage them to try and do their part to help fight the battle against extinction and global warming, by either donating money, sponsoring an animal, or just cutting co2 emissions. The idea of so many animals just simply ceasing to exist horrifies me, and so it's lovely to see others trying to do something about it. It also brings the zoo up to date - with such rapidly increasing availability to mass media, we no longer need zoos in our modern society to be able to learn about and see animals from other countries. We could quite easily just watch 'blue planet', instead of trekking all the way to the aquarium on the southbank to see a sting ray or clown fish. However, London Zoo have adapted to become an information and conservation centre, so that instead of being merely a showcase of exotic animals, they are a place where on-going work is helping to preserve biodiversity for the years and generations to come.
Anyway, I apologise for the quick post...I am getting my disposables from Halloween and my birthday developed in the next few days, and so better posts are on the way (I know I say this every time).
Have a lovely week,
ellie xo

california dreaming (Pretty zine review & autumn post)

Hello again guys. I haven't got an outfit or anything for you today but I felt like I needed to post something as I have a pretty hectic few days coming up, so it might be next week before I get the chance to blog again. Anyway, I woke up the other morning to a lovely email from Sophie, sending me her zine Pretty. I had breakfast in bed and had a good read of it, and came to the conclusion that she is a zine queen. Seriously, it rocks. It's really imaginative and covers a range of things such as fashion, film, music, even fiction and recipes! It's like a proper mini-magazine and has kept so well to the 'pretty' theme. It made me think of cosy, fresh autumn mornings, crisp walks, hot drinks...I loved it and recommend you check it out. There are two other things getting me in the mood for autumn at the moment....the first being the fact that it is my birthday on Friday. I'm turning 16 and despite being excited because, who isn't excited for being the centre of attention for a day, I'm kind of petrified because 16 seems somewhat 'big'. It's like, up until now, I've been able to say 'ah, it doesn't matter - I'm only ---teen', whereas all of a sudden, it's like 'damn I'm 16 I'm supposed to be civilized and mature and DOING something with my life.' I don't know. I think it's just nerves. The other is these gorgeous autumn inspo posts from Eryn and Maya...and I loved theirs so much I thought why not make my own?!

 
(from eryn's blog)

 
(from maya's post)

 
(art by eryn and maya)

(ads I picked up from csm last spring)

 
(maya)

 
(my shoes, shirt from Hollie, palm tree top and Fleetwood mac)

 
(collage I made in summer)

 
(journal page from when I saw To Kill a Mockingbird at the regent's park open air theatre)

 
(my school shoes make me insanely happy)

(more pretty zine)

 
(ginger and rosa...I saw the film way back last year in a really old-fashioned movie theatre and loved it)

 
(tumblr)

 
(tumblr)

 
(rookie)

 
(me in Italy last spring)

 
(scans of old books)

 
(my house)

 
(my mum)

(old family photos)

I hope you're all having a good autumn so far. I'm planning some shoots for Halloween and my birthday so you never know, watch this space!

ellie xo
p.s I apologise for the layout of this post. blogger is being temperamental and I have spent over an hour trying to fix it and can't cope anymore. I'll have better posts up soon!