"the girls in their summer clothes pass me by"

Hello, hello. I'm back. In case you'd forgotten who I am (and let's face it, I wouldn't blame you), I'm apparently the worst blogger in the entire world. Just a quick note to say many thanks to the people who have still taken the time to check the blog over the past few months. I could give you a billion excuses but really, I just think your patience is commendable - I'd have given up on me long ago.

One of the many reasons I've been horribly absent is that I've been on holiday. The Mister and I made a somewhat last minute decision to stay at Le Meridien Hotel & Spa 5* resort in St. Julian's, Malta, and it was just perfect - here are a few pictures. I see this as a sort of last hooray for summer style, as Autumn has reared its actually-not-very-ugly head here in the UK. (Think conkers and falling leaves, as opposed to grey skies and drizzle, which I'm sure are just waiting in the wings for now.)

Frolicking in St. Julian's bay, wearing Topshop on Topshop
(forgive me o fashion father, for I have sinned.)

Faux-vintage bathing chic, courtesy of H&M
(robe) & New Look (bathing suit).

St. Julian's bay.
Streetlights and railings and quaint Mediterranean charm.

I don't know who Basil is, but I'll always
appreciate thoughtful street art.

Balluta Bay.
I really recommend the restaurant left of the arches - Barracuda.

The view from our balcony.
Just beautiful.

Me clambering over rocks in a much less ladylike manner than
the pictures suggest, at the blue lagoon, Gozo.

The bay. It was just so pretty,
I couldn't stop taking pictures.

The phenomenal blue lagoon.
I've never seen water so perfectly clear.

Other than that, the Summer just seems to have passed me by. I've had a very busy few months - I finished the second year of my degree, passed my exams, turned 21, went to Paris for the first time since moving there as an eighteen-year-old and whilst there, saw my first ever opera, and moved to Singapore and then moved back (a long, not-very-interesting story about graduation, job prospects, finances, etcetera etcetera). Later this week I'm going back to Leeds for my final year.

So, I guess my final request for this post is that you stay posted for more posts on all of the above. And in turn I promise to not use the word 'post' so much.

Ciao for now,
Charlotte

Breaking Out of this Two-Star Town

If you recognise the lyric in the title, I love you forever. Yes, it's Music Monday and this week's theme (because I do like a good theme) is pretty personal to me, but hopefully the songs are awesome enough to transcend that.


I'm one of those people who likes to 'soundtrack' their lives; it may be morbid, but I'm always thinking about songs for my funeral. And for my wedding, I guess. But mostly my funeral - I figure I can be more sure that I'll have one of those than a wedding.


My Gap Year then (sounds so pretentious!), as my first taste of freedom after years of education, and my first opportunity to really, really go see all the world I wanted to (well, at least some of it), was just begging for its own soundtrack.


And as usual, the gods of music delivered.


Here's a run-down of the songs that accompanied me on my travels, enjoy! (Disclaimer: Brace yourself now for a very, very long post.)


1. The Killers - Read my Mind
Obviously. This song is more the soundtrack to my life. It's probably one of my favourite songs of all time, and as a small town girl (originally) who moved to the big city and has since been looking even further beyond, it speaks to me like no other. And makes me tear up every time. Plus Brandon Flowers is a genius, hands-down. (I listened to Sam's Town loads in general that year, especially on roof-down drives with my Mum while I was at home; For Reasons Unknown and This River is Wild are other particular favourites.)

Of course, it helped that when the song came out, the (awesome) video was set in Tokyo, the very place I was saving up for a flight to. 




2. Yves LaRock - Rise Up
'My dream... is to fly... over the rainbow, so high'. Duhh!





3. One Republic - Come Home
More than the whole 'missing home' thing, I chose this song for that first line, 'Hello world, hope you're listening'. It was like my mantra for the year.





4. Bob Sinclar - Love Generation
This song is awesome and always makes me super happy. I love the official video; the little dude getting on his bike and cycling all over the place. What a legend. And eco-friendly too.





5. Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
An obvious choice maybe, but the perfect accompaniment to the beaches of South-Eastern Asia, and to elephant rides through the Thai jungle. (p.s. check out the amazing hotel I stayed in on Koh Chang here)





6. Tina Turner - Missing You
Again, not actually because of the 'missing you' message but because my friend and I enjoyed rocking out to this on the overnight train between Beijing and Hong Kong.





7. Bruce Springsteen - Dancing in the Dark
This could just have easily have gone in my 'Married a Music Man' post, but it's here instead. 'You can't start a fire, worried about your little world falling apart'. The Boss. Enough said.
p.s. Courteney Cox!





8. Kanye West - Home
Not as well-known as his more recent version of it, Homecoming (feat. Chris Martin of Coldplay), but I much prefer the soul of this version. Strange how a song that is seemingly so personal and so obviously about Chicago can feel so applicable to anyone and their own home town. This is without a doubt, my favourite Kanye West song & one of my favourites in general.





9. The Pipettes - Pull Shapes
Like, the funnest song ever. My travel-companion (The Danner) and I had soooo much fun dancing to this when train-station stopovers got a bit much. If you like vintage-inspired music, you'll like this.





10. Underworld - Born Slippy
Not sure why, but this song makes me think of, like, everything all at once. Just before I went away, my Mum and I took some us-time driving through the countryside just outside London at dusk with the roof down and this song on. It was nice to know that I had that to come back to.





11. Train - Drops of Jupiter
My Mum told me one day that this song always makes her think of me. It's one of my favourite songs ever ever.




12. Bobby Darin - Somewhere Beyond the Sea
I think I told my then-boyfriend to listen to this whenever he missed me! I'm always thinking about what's out there, so sometimes I forget to think about the people I leave behind, but this song brings me back to them.

 


13. The Source [feat. Candi Staton] - You've Got the Love
Say what you want about Florence and the Machine, her version of this is very good. But this is The Source's remix of Candi's original and - for me - it's just so much more soulful and uplifting: 'When food is gone, you are my ddaaaiiilly meeeaat'. Plus, it's the last song in the last season of Sex and the City.





14. Adele - Hometown Glory
I was listening to this on the plane on the entertainment system. I have to admit to getting a bit emotional over it, but in a good way - it paints such a perfect picture of London for me. I also listened a lot to Make You Feel My Love because I love Dylan's songwriting and Adele's voice.





15. Eva Cassidy - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
First off, this version actually accompanies me everywhere (as I may have mentioned before, it's my ring tone), but again, this was a flight-home song. I remember sitting on the flight home and feeling so happy-sad, as I was going home to be in time for my Mum's wedding. It's just such a beautiful song and has been a favourite of mine since I was teeny-tiny
.



16. Lights - Last Thing On Your Mind
I love love love Lights. I don't know why this song in particular is travelly for me, but it gives me a sense of freedom, I guess. If you're not already into Lights, find a few of her songs on Youtube. 





17. Augustana - Boston
Ok, so I didn't go to Boston. But I totally could have done. Again, the theme is kind of... breaking out, doing your own thing. Plus it's beautiful. Like I can't stress how beautiful it is.




18. Plain White Ts - Hey there, Delilah
If you don't love this song you probably don't have a heart. Or maybe have just heard it one too many times. It's the perfect soundtrack to being separated from the person you love because you're pursuing your dreams, though.




19. Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence (2004 Version)
For some reason, to this day, this song makes me think of Tokyo. Maybe it's the synths and stuff, maybe it's the innate coolness, maybe it's the sense of complete longing that I associate with Tokyo. (I cannot stress how much I love that place, for real). It's also a fantastic song.




20. Moby - In My Heart
Ahhhh, this song inspires me so so much. I think it's one of the songs (along with Read My Mind) that made me turn around and go - I'm gonna save up some money, fly to the other side of the world, and just... do that for a while. The chorus section gives me actual tingles, I swear. I love Moby so much, and 'Why does my Heart Feel So Bad?', 'One of these Mornings' and 'I'm not Worried at all' are just a couple of his songs that could have been included on this list. He was very prominently on my travelling playlist. 




It's just occurred to me that I've totally left off my anthems for when I interrailed around Europe, so I guess that's another Music Monday post in the making. (Yes, I'm still trying to make it a thing.)


Hope you enjoyed the playlist and that maybe they inspired you to take a chance and hop on a flight somewhere amazing.


Ciao for now,
Charlotte

Badgley Mischka, Nice to Meet Ya

Another post about favourite things. Every single January we are bombarded with statistics and statements about suicide rates in January, how it's the most depressing month, the poorest month, yada yada. One of my favourite ways to beat the post-Christmas & New Year Winter blues (because, let's face it, those are the best things about Winter anyway) is to start looking forward to Spring & Summer. Particularly wardrobe-wise.

This year I find this particularly exciting, because so many of the collections are just my cup of tea. (And you must know how much I like tea by now.)

Uptown Twirl recently did a great post about Valentino's S/S 2011 campaign, all chiffon and movement and embellishment and delicate details. It is in short, amazing. Find her post here.

Valentino S/S 2011 Campaign
Image from uptowntwirl.com

This got me thinking about another designer's line that I'm very, very excited about, which I stumbled across on nymag.com. I've since heard that Rumer Willis is the new face of Badgley Mischka, but I'm not here to give an opinion on that. (And I can only apologise for the quality of that source - Badgley AND Mischka, seriously?)

My point is, I am seriously over-excited by every single piece in the Badgley Mischka line. I am in love. Here are some of my favourites (although honestly I'm tempted to just give you all of them). All images from nymag.com.

  

 

 

 

 

Now, I wouldn't say it's anything groundbreaking, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The pastels, the details, the nudes and tans, the accessories, the silhouettes and lines, and the fabrics really make this look kind of divine to me, in the literal sense. If I wanted to feel like a goddess, I would most certainly choose one of those gowns. I also love the more casual looks. And honestly, with the opportunity to spend a year in Singapore, what else would look as chic in that level of humidity?

If I could afford to, I would buy every single one of the items above in a heartbeat. They're just the right balance of the romantic and the tailored, the relaxed and the couture. I like to think they suit my rather feminine, girlie style whilst still being grown-up. And we all know how important it is to combine styles, right?

See the collection in it's entirety here. Honestly, you want to.

So I'm off to revise some more, but I'm thinking my new-found romantic interest will keep my spirits up for a while.

Ciao for now,
Charlotte

I ♥ SGP

This week, top of my 'To Do List' was: apply to study abroad for a year! Fingers and toes and all other appendages crossed that I get to go!

One of my top choices for the year abroad is the National University of Singapore. It's a great uni, has loads of amazing modules on what I hope will be my specialism (20th Century American Poetry and Drama, for any lit-geeks interested) and is in one of my faaaaaaavourite places!

Just a few of my favourite pictures I've taken in Singapore.

(Yes, that's me being an idiot in the top right corner...soz.)

After living in Tokyo, I travelled around some of East Asia with my friend, The Danner, and we used Singapore as a base when we were in the South-East of Asia, because of it's great airfare deals to places like Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Indonesia (to name but a few), and because we could stay with a lawyer friend for free there! Cushty!

If you are travelling to Singapore, you can always get great airfare deals on Expedia (try and fly Singapore Airlines as it's the best aeroplane food you'll ever eat!), and great hotel deals on Hotels Combined. (My absolute best tip for luxury travel on a minimal budget, you lucky things).

Anyway, my intention is not to write a full guide to exploring Singapore, because there are plenty of those out there. Some I recommend would be: YourSingapore, CNTraveller, Lonely Planet and WikiTravel.

ANYWAY, I'm super-excited about the prospect of possibly, hopefully, maybe going back to Singapore; for the ease-of-access to some of my other favourite places, to be a teeny bit closer to my Big Buddha (big bro) in Australia, and for the amazing food, great standard of living, the great nightlife (including Singapore Slings at the legendary Raffles Hotel)...

The Danner and I on a night out in Singapore. We went for a meal on Clarke Quay and for cocktails at Raffles.

For the linguists among you, Singapore (like Hong Kong, another fave) is also a great place to learn a new language (Cantonese or Mandarin) in the comfort of a bi-lingual environment without any language barrier... the list goes on...

But WAIT! I also, also, also love Singapopo (as we so affectionately termed it)...

...for the SHOPPING. (obv.)

Yes, sirree, Singapore is one of my favourite shopping destinations worldwide; up there with London, Paris, Manchester, Tokyo, Milan and Hong Kong. The shops there range from high-street style shops and little, unique, Korean-influenced fashion boutiques to the most lavish of designer fashion houses, but my favourite finds were tucked away in the many shopping centres on Orchard Road.

Some of the shopping centres on the famous Orchard Road.

These shops are sort of collections of vintage, second-hand and overstocked designer clothes; mostly dresses, shoes and bags. The finds here are incredible; I found a gorgeous Chanel dress that I only didn't buy because the fit wasn't quite right (though there are thousands of very cheap, very talented tailors a stones throw away). The shops are all neatly laid-out (no rummaging required) and the staff extremely helpful.

Some of the items may have had the labels cut out - I'm still unclear as to why exactly this is - but this doesn't stop them from being great finds, just means their sell-on value will be less (if you're into that - I prefer to keep and collect clothes... I'm a hoarder).

Here are some of my favouritest finds from my last time in Singapore:

(Please note, I have tried to give an approximation of price in GBP but a) can't remember exactly what I paid and b) even if I did, the conversion rate from SGD will have changed)

Dolce and Gabbana anchor print dress (seen in pictures above - navy with white bow tie; sailor chic at its most whimsical) = approx. £80

Marc by Marc Jacobs heels = approx. £45. The embellished heels are metal so set off the detectors when going through airport security! (I'm not normally one for heels on long-haul flights but they wouldn't fit in my bag, whereas flats would!)

These are amazing shoes, so beautiful. They're velvet with a metallic inner - they go with more outfits than you'd expect and always get so many compliments, which is nice.

(On another note, apologies for the pasty, bruised legs [I'm living in thick tights at the moment] and poor quality of the pictures - I'm still using my phone at the moment as my camera lead is nowhere to be found.)

Lovely, lovely pair of navy satin peep-toes with a woven effect from one of the Korean import stores. The label reads 'style by pearl', but a google search was unfortunately fruitless.

If you live in London, a lot of the stores in Camden Town's Stables Market specialise in Japanese and Korean import clothing and accessories - they're some of my absolute favourite places to shop. (Although it's depressing now knowing how much the prices are marked up in the UK and Japan from the original prices in South Korea.)

These cost about £15-£20 and are such great quality.

A cute, purple crochet-style top with a zig-zag pattern. I bought this from one of their more high-street style shops (think New Look or Forever 21). It's really flattering and transcends the seasons; as well as being a lovely colour. Plus I get brownie points from the mister for wearing it because purple is his fave (he's a Prince fan).

This cost the equivalent of about £5-£10.

This Miss Sixty mini-dress (the bottom half is not shown but is a black pleated skirt) is very 'Marissa Cooper' and cost me about £30. It's a great throw-on-and-go piece; I even got complimented on it in Milan so it must have some style acumen!

Apologies again for the mish-mash nature of the pictures; I don't have all my clothes with me at uni (they don't all fit in my ample storage space at home, never mind in my wardrobe here!) so getting pictures together wasn't as straightforward as I'd planned.

I hope this gives you some idea of the great fashion finds Singapore has to offer for if you get to go there anytime soon; and also some idea of how to find similar things wherever you may be.

Hopefully, my study abroad dreams will come true, and maybe - if I go to Singapore - my Singapore 'Fling' will become a full-fledged romance. And my wardrobe kudos may just happen to increase, too!

Ciao for now,

Charlotte