Earphones

Razzle Dazzle Jumper - Topshop 

Accessorize Butterfly Earphones* - c/o Three Mobile 

"OHAI something's different about you! Did you... buy new clothes? Yes that's it, nice." 

There are few landmark moments in a persons life, for a lot of people this means anything from learning to ride a bike to having their first child. I like to think I've hit a milestone since turning 21 came with acquiring my very first touch screen phone (I came fashionably late to the party I know). Aside from not being able to get through a text without using autocorrect, I think I'm becoming somewhat of a touchscreen wizard. It's so cold outside now I refuse to take my gloves off to answer the phone so I've been using my nose instead (I don't think any one's sure what to make of that, but I like to think it's up there with the other great ideas of our time, like the invention of the wheel, and toast)... I also have instagram now which is pretty exciting (@citylightmaverick) along with downloading a tonne of other apps, including Shazam, which is now my favourite thing ever - no more bothering my brother with "hey bro, what song goes da-da-da-daaa nana-nana-NAAAH? Yeah, you know the one!"

Something else I'm loving right now are these super cute butterfly headphones I received from Three Mobile recently. They're a great size and have a built-in microphone for if you're taking hands free calls, which was something I didn't actually notice at first and when I did I'll admit, it blew my mind just a little. It's up there with owning a coat for six months and discovering it has pockets you didn't realise were there before (something that's definitely not happened to me, more than three times). They're also the kind with inner ear cushions which are ideal for stopping sound escaping, so when you're on the bus pretending you're not secretly listening to *insert embarrassing band name here* nobody will be any the wiser, mwahah. Also, this may be coincidence but so far, unlike all my other headphones, they haven't once magically tangled themselves up in my pocket. I swear it's like there's an invisible pixie-sized cub scout living in my bag practicing complex knot techniques every time I put my i-pod down (that's right mr pixie I'm onto you ¬.¬) Anywhoo, if you're looking for some new earphones these get a thumbs up from me. They come in a range of designs and are available online and at most Accessorize stores, for a bargain £12.00, pretty cute right?

George @ Asda A/W Blogger Event

I went to the George at Asda blogger event on Carnaby Street last night. The team put together an amazing evening showcasing the new A/W clothing line and party pieces from their online exclusive range, G21. I'll be honest I'd never heard of G21 before but after seeing that burgundy velvet and tulle dress it's a name I won't be forgetting. I want need that dress in my wardrobe, like now. The detailing on some of the pieces were just amazing, far beyond what you'd expect for the price. In terms of trends; baroque's back with a bang, alongside some snazzy sequins and iridescent, um, everything. There was an definite element of Gatsby-inspired embellishment on some of the pieces, which is all over perfect for the Christmas party season.
The George guys were kind enough to let us try on some of their winter knitwear to take a group photo in - so I now know what Christmas jumper I'll be buying / living in for the next three months. It looks like one of those over-sized vintage / stolen from my deffinitely not imaginary boyfriend jumpers that everyone will be wearing soon.
It was so much fun I literally felt like a princess; being surrounded by so much sparkle, having my hair done by a professional stylist whilst the caterers plied me with more cake than Marie Antoinette. Oh aaaand there was a chocolate fountain, oh yes, a chocolate fountain. Although I think I ended up wearing more chocolate than I did eating it.  Eh I have my clumsy moments, but I hold no ill will as it lead me to one of THE GREATEST scientifc discoveries of all mankind; chocolate and pretzels are an amazing combination - I should really copyright that before someone else does... wait, what do you mean they're already a thing?! Uhh this is like heat sensitive nail polish all over again -_-
Anywhoo I had an amazing evening viewing the new winter pieces, everything was so well put together and the caterers / cocktail crew were just fantastic, thanks everyone and thank you Siobhan for inviting me!

Twenty One Candles

Hey guys it's been a while! I've been doing a live project for Banana Republic which is taking up a lot of my time but I've got quite a few exciting posts lined up so stay tuned (she says in a 90s kids TV show voice). I've been at the George at Asda blogger event this evening and taken like 10294043 photos (90% of which are of the chocolate fountain :3)
I also turned 21 since I last posted, which is err, crazy. I have the face of a child which has it's pros and cons since I get ID'd absolutely everywhere (I can't buy sharpie markers without my passport -_- seriously). But I actually had THE BEST birthday cake ever ever everrrr, check it out...

Anyone following me on instagram will have seen these already but even though my birthday feels like ages ago I still can't let go. My mum made it herself, she's so talented - the horses are made from icing and everything (people kept asking me if they were edible and yes, buuut I wouldn't recommend it as they're pure icing and all your teeth would fall out). But yeah my birthday was amazing, I'm thinking of doing a video post on things I've got recently as I did a massive birthday haul so if that's something you'd be interested in seeing lemme know! Even if it's just one person I'll do it haha, ooh also I finally have somewhere to live in London again, yaaay! New room tour coming soon...

OOTD: No place for heroes

Crochet Open Back Skater Dress (worn back to front) - Chicwish | Embellished Ankle Boots - ASOS | Silver Necklace & Bracelet - gifted. 

I spent this afternoon enjoying what's left of the sunshine in my new dress from Chicwish (it's more of a 'going out' dress but I was so far beyond excited when it arrived I couldn't take it off). Hmm but what's this? Oh that's right, I'm wearing it backwards - which was totally intentional and not the least bit by accident ¬.¬ yeeeah... Universe: 237989 Me: 0. On the plus side now I have two dresses in one, not like I don't wear enough black dresses already (what am I saying? a girl can never have too many LBD's). I also took some photos to show what it looks like 'the right way' round, I love the subtle way the crochet peeks out, one thing I don't love though is how gross my hair looks up, blaaah, c'est la vie.

What I Used To Wear

Last month the beautiful Ellie over at "Ellie's Favourite Things" did a post like this and in true blogger style I thought I'd try to make it a trend and do one too (you're welcome universe). One of the best, and sometimes worst, parts of blogging is having a visual diary to remind you of how your style's changed over the years so I thought I'd look back to embarrass myself and show you what my style was like between then and now.

I was one of those unfortunate girl babies who looked like a boy so my mum would put giant bows in my hair to end the confusion. However, this way of thinking was lost 3 years later when my brother was born and our mum decided to dress us like twins. Being a girl this never worked in my favour. She was never gona put my brother in a dress, so up until I turned 7 it was all shorts, polo shirts and corduroy trousers (with matching hats ofc). By the time I was thirteen I'd hit the obligatory teen emo phase, or as Ellie accurately called it "discovering the black section in Claire's Accessories". I was always in jeans and had an extensive collection of fingerless gloves which went with absolutely everything. We'd listen to heavy rock music, hung around the stone lion statues in the square and idealized Kurt Cobain, we were cool. 

In school I used to have plaits and wear glasses with an oh-so glamorous nose guard, which as you could guess made me reeeally popular. The plaits were generally how people would identify me since from the age of six to sixteen that's how my hair would look EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. It got so out of hand my friend Amy drew this little comic strip in my year book demanding I lose the plaits before college or she'd burn them off with acid (this was a joke... I think). The colourful hoody phase came about when I was about 15/16; whilst school ruled my weekdays I spent every weekend at the ice rink, wearing leg warmers and skater-style dresses. Coincidentally most of my clothes were from New Look (as I didn't realize any other shops on the high street existed :P). By the time I started college I was already addicted to Gossip Girl and started dressing like a combination of Jenny Humphrey and Blair Waldorf. I called it my vintage phase as I'd just discovered the joys of thrifting in charity shops and wore a blazer with practically everything cuz I thought it made me instantly sophisticated.

Eighteen came with the indie throwback phase, I was trying to go for 'girly grunge', which to me translated as wearing hobo boots and floral dresses beneath an over sized denim shirt. Dip-dyed hair had just become a trend but me and my friend Abi were too chicken to actually go through with doing it permanently so we started spraying the ends of our hair pink(ish)/purple with this really cheap colouring we got from Superdrug. The colour was barely noticeable, it smelt like strawberries but made my hair feel like straw so that didn't exactly last long... Eventually I took the plunge and got my hair dip-dyed blonde and I absolutely love it!I figured the colour showed up best over black and that's when the all-black-all-the-time phase kicked off (hmm, can I really call it a phase if I'm still in it?) It wasn't even intentional, I just love wearing black... and topshop, oh topshop. 90% of my wardrobe is from there, which some people would frown upon although I don't know why, I just love their clothes and I like to think they love me too - although maybe not as much as my mum loved making me wear this...

Aha I actually look like a doll ^.^ Soo that's my style chronicle so far, if you've got any embarrassing style stories of your own or fancy doing a post like this I'd love to see it, literally anything would make me feel better after looking back over the dreaded nose guard days *shudders*.