The Topshop’s New Clothes
As you’ve probably already seen, Topshop have recently had a lovely redesign. It’s the sort of design that I love – sleek, minimal and lots of space everywhere. It just seems a lot easier to find a product that you like the look of.
The new product pages are quite nice too – although they haven’t gotten rid of the annoying scroll over zoom which doesn’t work that well on iPhones – but thats not much of an issue since Topshop have brought out their own iPhone app (I’d love more shops to do this!)
Unfortunately, a new redesign means I must look at things and NEED TO BUY THEM NOW. The old design was looking pretty tired – I remember 3+ years ago it looked the same (as I used to spend every lunch looking at it – Facebook has only just appeared really and was closed to most people, and Twitter was just starting as well). On the Topshop Facebook page, you can have a look at the AW10 lookbook. I’m not really a fan of Topshop, but I was drawn in by the capes:
I’ve been looking for a cape for a few years now, a nice navy blue or dark grey wool one would suit me quite happily. Thanks.
Movies Movies Movies
One of the things I love about Twitter is that a simple passing comment to someone can suddenly turn into everyone piling in and discussing crap movies, old music and sleep overs!
It all started with Sarah saying she was going to watch crappy movies, so I suggested Josie and the Pussycats (a modern classic you know). Somehow that turned into discussing sleepovers and totally amazing but crap movies from the late 90′s/early 00′s that everyone has probably seen*
* except me, but I’m a weird movie person.
So here, for use as a checklist, is the list of movies people suggested on Twitter as the teen movies to watch.
Josie And The Pussycats
I can’t believe I’ve never mentioned this film before. Its one of my favourite movies EVER. So the basic story is that this band suddenly becomes super popular and famous and that, but of course theres a big dark secret – the record company is putting hidden messages in their music. Boo! Its such a fun movie, with cheery catchy songs and Alan Cumming is in it. What else do you need?
Clueless
No teen movie list can be started without the one that set it all off, Clueless. I still can’t believe this was made in 1995. Its apparently a variation of the Jane Austin classic “Emma”, but lets face it, you mainly remember it for the fashions. Honestly, how many people had heard of Azzedine Alaia before this movie? (Also, can you believe Cher’s little white dress is being remade by Calvin Klein and sold for $916?!)
Cruel Intentions
Most blokes will only remember Cruel Intentions for the girl snog between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair. Most girls will only remember it for Ryan Phillipe. Whatever, its a good movie, and is a retelling of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. I loved this film so much, I replaced my VHS copy with a DVD. Bless.
Bring It On
I always wanted to be a cheerleader. Sadly, in the UK, we don’t really do the cheerleader thing like they do over in America, but watching this film made me want to move. I still know all the words to the first cheer in the begining of the movie. I use the music that the teams do their routines to do exercise to (they’re so high energy type stuff, fab for jogging to!). And I don’t put the whore in horrifying.
American Pie
When you think of American Pie, what do you think of? Flutes, apple pies or webcams?
Legally Blonde
Oh Legally Blonde. You irritated me because you kept up the blonde bimbo stereotype, but I love you because you say a blonde can be clever and beautiful (you can obviously tell where they got their inspiration from. No?)
Others that were suggested include:
(but I can’t really write about those because I’ve never seen them. Like my reviews above are so in depth?!)
You know whats even better about these DVD’s? They’re so old, they’re incredibly cheap now. Yay!
Aussie to the Rescue!
On Wednesday, I happily left my colleagues discussing how the filing system should work so I could catch a train to London for the next Aussie gathering.
Aussie to the Rescue (#ATTR) was more about getting advice on how to achieve a certain look – there were hair stylists (the lovely Zara and Amber who’ve been at all events I’ve been to this year), a make-up artist (Jo, who had a scary amount of Max Factor make-up all over the table!) and a personal stylist (Stevey, with his black folder of gorgeous clothes)
The journey to London was pretty good, although I had my first experience of the Tube during rush hour. UGH! How do people do that every day?!
I arrived a bit too early (as usual!) and was far too self concious to go in before the time on the invite! (Probably because of the first time I went to an event and turned up an hour early!) so I found an odd cafe around the corner and caught up on some emails and that (trying to ignore the people arriving because there was going to be an open mike night at the cafe)
I finally braved going to the hotel just before 7. The event was being held in the De Monfort Suite which was AMAZING. Honestly, I would give up at least 3 pairs of shoes to live there. Amy and I went on a little wander after we’d visited all the stylists, and I think I need that bathroom at least. And maybe the bed. And the officey area. And OK, I just want a house that gorgeous.
Of course, I was handed a glass of champagne when I arrived, and was introduced to the other guests that were already there. It made me laugh, because Emma (the lady who organises all these brilliant events) was introducing me as Hayley, and everyone was going, “Oh, you’re Hayles!” I explained that I know when people know me via Twitter, because thats the only time people in the South will call me Hayles, when I was introduced to someone else who had just arrived, who said “You’re Hayles!”
So, stylists. Firstly, I went to Zara, who braided the fringy bit of my hair, then curled the rest. I’ve been trying to copy the braid because its such a neat, easy way to keep your desperately-in-need-of-a-cut hair out of your face!
Before – and after!
Next, I sat with Stevey, and asked for some advice about dressing my shape – for some reason, I just feel frumpy in everything I wear lately. Boo! He gave me some tips (which is what he is doing in the photo above) and ideas of colours and pieces that would look good on me. In the photo above, he’s pointing out that instead of buttoning my dress to the top, I should show a bit of clevage off (or risk having a bit of a boob shelf going on – my words, not his!)
Finally, I moved to Jo, who showed me quite a quick sort of look. I love having my make up done, but unfortunatly my skin reacted to the Max Factor foundation stuff the next day – which is a shame, cause it didn’t look too bad on the night!
The ATTR was a much smaller event than I’ve been to previously, which was much less intimidating (not that theres anything to be scared of!) and because I follow most of the girls who were there on Twitter and their blogs, much less introduction sort of talk (you know, its like being in the first week of uni all over again!) and more random gossiping!
Thank you so much to Emma and Lisa at 1000 Heads for putting on such a fun event, and to the lovely ladies who attended with me – Fiona, Tor, Ellie, Amy and Christina.
All photos nabbed off the 1000Heads Flickr page, because despite taking my camera, I could barely hold it. Epic fail.
This Week
A short post this week, more picture heavy than wordy, because I can’t actually type properly! Last week, running for the bus (that turned out to be the other bus I can’t get ANYWAY), I wiped out quite spectacularly, and landed quite heavily on my left side. At first, my knee was giving me jip, but this week, its been my left arms turn! Its meant that I’ve had to cancel all plans this weekend (which had involved a trip to Southampton for a friends wedding – am gutted cause it would have been a big group of uni friends 
)
Yes, I am clumsy. Shh.
On Wednesday, I took a half day off work and headed over to London for an Aussie event. As you can see above (and below), I managed to get a FUTURETRAIN both ways. Oh man. FUTURETRAIN. I even love saying it.
The event was Aussie to the Rescue, and here are Amy of WolfWhistle and Ellie of Pretty Much Penniless papping me after I’d had my hair all prettified. I’m going to write a big post about it soon, but its a slow process!
On the way back, I fell asleep (I may have had a drink or two. Those cocktails were STRONG!) and woke up at Swindon to see some blokes staring at me. That might have been because I - ON OCCASION - make snoozy noises when I snooze. And by that, I mean Alex says I snore. I don’t. Its not very lady like to snore.
Anyway. Reason for this picture above was that it was half 1 in the morning, and I was pretty pleased to see the blue dot move towards Bristol. As soon as I could see my close on the map, I was happy!
Because I got home about quarter to two, I had taken Thursday off work, and headed down to Wells for lunch with the Wife at her favourite restaurant BEAH (there would be a picture of our lunch platter, but it was too delicious) then spent the afternoon drinking tea with Carrie of WishWishWish gossiping about everything. Lovely!
This is literally just around the corner from my house. I love living this far out of town because of the lovely countrysidey-ness, but bloody hell, its an arse to get back into town. I work in Clifton, which is a 35 min + 5 min 2 bus journey. Getting to Wells took me about 40 minutes and 1 bus. Guess which journey I like better.
Alex had never played Guitar Hero until Thursday (when the dongle that Game should have sold to us but didn’t arrived from eBay). Now he seems to love it. I think its mostly because (at the moment!) he can beat me. We headed into Bristol on Sunday and picked up another guitar, Legends of Rock, Lego Rockband (far too cute) and Singstar (you know this is the one I’m most excited about. Being able to compete against my friends online? Guess how Helen and I will be spending our evenings – thats right, I’m going to KICK HER ARSE. Consider this a threat Bel.)
This weekend was the Bristol Balloon Fiesta. I’ve never actually been to the event, but at half 6 on Friday morning, I peeped outside and saw BALLOONS!
This weekend, I’ve been starting my way through this stack of books. Just finished “Anyone Can Do It” which is exactly the sort of book I LOVE (yes, massive nerd, I know) and now trying to figure out which I need most help with to read next. Money, life or time?
Because I’ve been so crap at the details thing this week, why not ask me some questions for next week? Head over to my Formspring.me account and ask away, lovely people!
Question Time: The Girl
The Girl is one of my favourite commenters (sorry everyone, but its true!) and has a really lovely website. She replied about my little questionnaire and quite honestly, this is the greatest one I had so far just for her response to question 10. Seriously.
For those people who might not read your blog, tell us the basics about you
Don’t read my blog? Sorry don’t understand you. Ha. OBVIOUSLY I’m joking. The basics about me? I’m in my 20s (getting uncomfortably closer to 30), live in Hull and love cats and crisps. I did have a blog that was about living with my boyfriend but recently split up with him and so have just started a new blog documenting my incredibly interesting* life. I am currently deep in project Lose Weight You Fatty and have signed up the cult of Weightwatchers to help me in my endeavour. I hate to say it but so far it’s working. I did have a morbid fear of crochet but am slowly getting over it. And now I feel like I have most definitely ended up making my blog (and me) sound incredibly boring. I swear it’s not. It’s got pictures on it and everything.
*you can interpret this word loosely
Whats the most exciting thing you’re looking forward to this summer?
Unfortunately there aren’t any grand summer plans for me this year so it will be tiny little bursts of happiness to look forward to. These include a visit to Blackpool this weekend and a trip down to Torquay to see my cousin some time in August. Other than those trips there is nothing much planned, I shall generally be looking forward to getting thinner and browner (as long as the sun comes back!).
What bands/songs/albums will be the soundtrack to your summer?
This is where I show myself up as having absolutely no idea of what is cool and hip and down with the kids. I used to have Radio 1 on in the background all day at work but since moving to the windowless pit I hear nothing. There is a song I’m loving at the moment though Example – Love Kick (is that even what it’s called?!). It’s everything a summer tune should be – fun, summery and repetitive so it gets in your head (but doesn’t make you want to kill yourself.) Also I know the World Cup is now over but you know that song on the Coca Cola advert? The Wave Your Flag song? Love it. Summery and wonderful.
Where is the strangest place you’ve been on holiday?
I guess Phoenix, Arizona kind of counts as a strange place to go on holiday because it’s not traditionally where people go on holiday when they go to the States. In fact the man at passport control was most suspicious about why I was going there, I had to assure him that I was going because I was going to see friends who lived there. Incidentally I can recommend Phoenix to all people who may be reading this.
What song (old or new) instantly makes you think of summer?
Oh this is an easy one. It’s Shapeshifters – Lola’s Theme. Bloody love that song. It makes me immediately happy when I hear it because it reminds me of happy times.
Whats the most embarrassing thing thats happened to you on a holiday
Probably getting a lapdance on said holiday in Phoenix. It was my first time in a strip club and American Girl thought it would be a brilliant idea to get me a lapdance. Cue the most awkward 5 minutes of my life. I had literally no idea where to look or put myself. It was embarassing and yet possibly the funniest thing that’s ever happened to me at the same time.
Whats the best iced lolly: FAB, Magnum, Mini Milk or other?
Twisters all the way. Although if I was being a bore I’d go with those Ribena Calippo type ice lollies because they are so refreshing and so nice and don’t drip all over your hands when it gets too hot.
Did you look forward to the end of summer as a kid or did you dread going back to school?
I loved going back to school, mainly because this meant going shopping for new stationary. Have you ever seen me in a stationary shop? It’s my porn. I even used to do it at uni when there was absolutely no need to buy new stuff. It’s a ritual that has to be done. Also it was always good to get back to school to compare tans with friends (apologies, it was a private school, nearly everyone went away somewhere exotic for their holidays, guaranteeing tan envy every September).
What five things are essential for the perfect summers day?
Sun
Friends
A park
A nice breeze every so often
A good book
Anything else to add?
Why yes that is me and the Fonz in the photo above. Jealous?!
I am actually really jealous now. Follow her new blog at Just Me
If anyone else is interested in answering some questions, drop me an email – hi (at) ceriselle.org)
A Readers Dilemma
Till these hearts keep flowing, my love for you will keep growing. (explored), originally uploaded by .neha.
No, not the Nelly/Kelly song that ruled my first year of Uni.
The lovely Young (if you’ve never seen her blog, what. Go over there now and admire her photography. I’ll wait for you) asked on Twitter a few weeks ago*:
(* Yes, it’s taken me this long to try and get my thoughts on this down in a coherent manner!
)
It’s a question that’s got me thinking a few times but not one I’ve actually thought to answer. Personally, if a blogger I admired posted a picture of them smoking (or using a cigarette for a prop) then I’d be disappointed that they thought this was a good image to project to their readers. Even if its just being used as a prop, by using a cigarette in a picture, the blogger is implying that cigarettes are cool (At least, thats how I see it). However, I probably wouldn’t say anything to them, because I would be just one voice. (I know, not the right attitude to have!)
Natalie (another awesome photographer, you should look and admire her stuff too.) mentioned that she found bloggers who talked about the free stuff they got “tacky” – that it made the “person’s life seem artificial/bought by a corporation.” I agree with this to an extent – as you’re probably aware, I’ve been given opportunties by companies like Aussie and 3MobileBuzz to experience a product and then if I wanted to, I could write about the experience. The reasons why I’ve blogged about it obviously vary on the event, but with things like the Aussie Events, I write about those because they’re always such fun, and an experience I wouldn’t normally have. With 3MobileBuzz, I’ve written about how I’ve found the MiFi’s that I’ve been lent in the hope that it will help someone make a decision on whether the item is a good choice for them. Also, there are some blogs that just wouldn’t work if they weren’t offered freebies from time to time. Think about the best make up blog you read (for me, its the lovely lipglossiping.com) The more items that a blogger recieves, the more they can review them, and then (in theory) the more people that will go out and buy them. I’m fully willing to admit that I’ve been influenced by Charlotte to buy make up items I wouldn’t have thought about before – a good example of this are the Revlon Colorburst Lipsticks.I’ve bought two of these lippies and have found them to be amazing. I probably wouldn’t have bought one (never mind both of them) previously because Revlon always seemed an older age groups sort of brand.
However, with all the good bloggers that will give good reviews (and provide good images as well), there are the ones of course who will happily accept the free products sent, and give a vague review or worse, just have a blog which reads like a collection of PR releases. There are the companies who will inundate bloggers in the same circles (Eyeko, I am definately looking at you here) with the same products, of which not much can be written about. Once you’ve seen one review of a new nail varnish, you’ve seen 95% of the others. The companies whos product ranges are at a higher price range sending out review items to people who then write (and I’m paraphrasing/reading between the lines, of course) “I’d probably use this product, but its too expensive for me”. (This actually annoys me more, because if a product is that amazing, then the price shouldn’t be that much of a factor – this obviously depends on the persons situation, but even so)
I think I’ve gotten a bit lost here now. I think that it is a great thing that bloggers are asked to trial and review products and services, but disclosure is important, as is a unbiased, original review.
How do you feel about items being sent to bloggers? What do you like or dislike about sponsored posts? Tell me your thoughts – I love to hear both arguments 
Currently Listening…
I thought I’d share with you what I’ve been listening to lately. I have a pretty odd taste, so there might be something you’ll like in here. I’ve linked to the Amazon MP3 pages for the songs, as its usually cheaper per album than iTunes.
I always love a bit of Richard Cheese
I think that from the older albums, my favourite three songs are:
Enter Sandman
Bust A Move
Chop Suey
Stone Cold Sober
I can’t believe I’m admiting this one, but
Pack Up
The Fame Monster
The Family Jewels
What list of songs I love would be complete without a mention of the wonder that is Bonnie Tyler? I chose the album From The Heart: Greatest Hits
What are you listening to at the moment?
* all Amazon links in this entry are affiliate links, meaning if you click it and buy the item, I get a little percentage. Which would be nice.
Hide the Credit Card: Paperchase Cupcakes
I know, I know. I’m an enabler. Even if you don’t live near a Paperchase
Since this is a blog by a girl, and since all lady bloggers must love cupcakes (its actually part of the rules you have to stick to if you want to be a blogger. (1) Must like cupcakes), I thought I’d tempt you all with some of Paperchase’s Candy Cupcakes themed items
First up is a cute Cake Stand for £25. Paperchase is brilliant for random little gifty type items lately, and I love cake stands for no real reason other than they’re pretty and they’re quite useful to dump all the random stuff like jewellery on.
Of course, if you’re going to have cakes to put on the cake stand, you’ll need a cake tin
Of couse, with cake, you must have tea. This mug
Quite a few bloggers have their own business cards or Moo cards to give to people with their website address on. I love this idea, because its such a faff to either pull out a notebook and going “sorry, how do you spell that?” or to get them to write it (running the risk later of not being able to translate someone elses handwriting). This
Business Card Case
Finally, when you’re a bit drunken after the event (because be honest, that wasn’t tea you were drinking was it!), these
Key Caps
* all Amazon links in this entry are affiliate links, meaning if you click it and buy the item, I get a little percentage, which would probably be spent on more things from Paperchase *sigh*
MiFi v2: The Good, The Something and the Not So Ugly
So my second trial of the MiFi has come to an end (boo!)
The new version was launched by Three last month, and had a few improvements based on feedback on the original model. Because of my previous blog post, Michelle at ThreeMobileBuzz offered me a trial of the new one so I could compare them.
I took my MiFi out quite a bit this time. It came to Boston Tea Party a few times (if you’ve never been to BTP, you MUST! They do such yummy cakes, and have a massive selection of tea. Also their Park Street branch (my favourite) has a gorgeous little “secret garden” which is lovely to sit in during the summer. You might even see the shabby robin!) where it was a lifesaver – BTP offers free wifi with The Cloud, but I’ve never been able to get it working, and none of the staff there seem to know how it works either!
It came on the bus with me (after moving house, I now have a 40 minute bus journey to and from work everyday. This is me to use the time efficiently!)
It even came to work with me everyday, where I spent my lunches reading Google Reader applying for jobs and updating the blog.
The new version was a lot nicer to use as well. You pressed one button to turn it on, and then waited a little bit. Instead of having to decode the icons and colours (what does a green M mean again?), the new screen would tell you what it was doing. It was nice as well to see how many devices were connected to it at one time – obviously would be more useful if more than one person was using it so you could work out what was using it! Appearance wise – I much preferred the matt black and silver combination to the previous white plastic look.
The control panel (if thats the right word?) was much more useful to me as well – I only use Macs outside of work, and the old versions Windows only application was pretty useless to me! The new MiFi now has a web based control panel which not only gave the same information at the actual screen (useful if you’ve put the MiFi over on the windowsill for example) but also information about data usage, any text messages that you’ve recieved (and could send them as well – useful I’m sure for some people) and even what websites you visited most (interesting!)
I liked the old MiFi, but this one is even better. Its so easy to use, I’d be quite happy to recommend this to anyone – even my dad! I’m seriously considering this for myself as well, although that would be dependant on the signal strength in Somerset.
The v2 MiFi is available on both pay as you go contracts and pay monthly ones. You can choose whether to pay for the… well, its not a dongle is it. Device?… or have it on an 18 month contract and pay a little extra each month.
This Week
I’ve been trying to take photos to show how my week has gone, and its only when I’ve put them all together like this that I’ve realised this week was about food!
In terms of lunch, I’ve been pretty good! I bought a new lunch box (oh the excitement) and filled it with salads, fresh fruit and sugar free jelly. Yum! Good work me.
…which was all undone quite quickly by another milkshake and a burger at Rocotillos. Sadly, the burgers don’t seem as fat as they used to be, they don’t drop grease everywhere and the chips were horrible french fries. Disappointing. I met up with Abbi, Amanda and Ella for milkshakes and a bit of a gossip. We all follow each other on Twitter, and who needs an excuse for a milkshake? I want one now actually.
Finally, Dominos has opened up south of the river. I can’t explain how excited I was by the flyer that dropped through our door. For the past 2 years, I’ve been Dominos-less. I’ve had to go round to peoples houses just to satisfy my Texas BBQ craving (and yes, I’ve ended up buying quite a few pots of their dip to take home with me. Sad? Possibly. Delicious? Definitely.)
I was so excited that we ordered Dominos for dinner on Friday night, because since I last ordered it for myself, they’ve brought in this new thing where you can see where the pizza is. HOW AMAZING IS THAT? I kept annoying Alex to refresh the page until it said it was out for delivery. I was slightly surprised that with all the tracking of the pizza, the drivers themselves don’t have something like Google Latitude to tell the customer where they are on the road!
We stocked up on the dip again because its too good not to eat with everything. If only it was sold in the supermarkets!
Alex went up to York on Thursday night to visit his old colleagues, so I took advantage of being home alone and plastered on the face masks, Biore nose strips (why, why is it so compelling to inspect the strip when you’ve pulled it off your nose and be disgusted yet slightly impressed with all the crap its pulled out of your pores? I know you lot do it as well.) and followed a tip that we were given at one of the Aussie events recently where instead of leaving the 3 Minute Miracle conditioner on your hair for the 3 minutes, leaving it on all night. My hair was so lovely and soft the next morning! While I was looking like a creature from the Black Lagoon, I dug out my styling products because I keep forgetting to use them. I didn’t realise I had so much stuff! (OK, yes I did, I realised that when I moved recently)
Yesterday I bought Wii Fit Plus and the Balance Board
You might have noticed recently that a new little thing has popped up in the side bar (if you visit the site anyway!) Yes, I’ve set up a little Facebook page for the blog, which can be found (of course) at facebook.com/ceriselle.org
My best friend Helen has started blogging again, and has instantly made me jealous of her birthday trip to the Roberts Bakery in Northwich. This might sound like a weird thing to want to do, or be jealous of, to most people, but you’re weirdo southerners (who I like very much but still) but Roberts bread is one of the few things I miss from Chester (that is obviously not a person before anyone gets upset).
I managed to get to 30,000 tweets yesterday! Crazy!
Charity shops. I know so many people who adore a bit of charity shop shopping, but I hate it. I can never find anything that I like, and I’m also quite lazy. Thankfully, one of the local hospices in Bristol has set up their own eBay account so you can pick up a few bargains. St Peters Hospice cares for people in the Bristol area with incurable cancer and other life-limiting illnesses, so by buying something from their eBay shop, you’re helping!
I’ve mentioned it before, but Fuck Yeah Bristol is one of the best Tumblrs ever, celebrating the awesome city of Bristol. Check out the archive to see some really gorgeous and awesome pictures (my favourite is the grannys bopping each other on the head with their walking stick!
* all Amazon links in this entry are affiliate links, meaning if you click it and buy the item, I get a little percentage. I think.