Feeling Kawaii

On Sunday Joe and I were lucky enough to be given press passes to Hyper Japan to cover for Wonderland magazine. I'll be writing a post about Hyper Japan for this weekend but first I thought I'd share the incredible outfit photos that Joe took for me on the day.

I hate having outfit photos taken, as although I claim the title 'Queen of the Selfie', I'm such an awkward poser in photos taken by someone else. My standard face is awkward, or drunk. But Joe's such a great photographer, that I trust him completely and after a while he always loosens me up enough to take a couple of good shots. He knows my angles better than I do.

I picked up the dress I'm wearing from a gorgeous little boutique so I can't link you to it but I'm pretty sure Bank and Missguided have lots of similar styles going on at the moment. The dress is my favourite thing to wear at the moment as although it's ridiculously short it the fancy collar and the print make me feel like Blair Waldolf from Gossip Girl. My shoes are my New Look faves and my frilly socks are from Primark - I live in frilly socks at the moment and felt they added a little bit of lolita style to my outfit for Hyper Japan.

Despite this being a mildly professional street style shoot, I couldn't help pulling a few faces. Here's the outcome. I hope you like the photos which were all taken by Joe from Unlimited by JK

Matisse Exhibition and Thai Square Review

Last week I had the pleasure of going to a private viewing Matisse cut out exhibition at the Tate Modern with work. Being the best daughter in the world, I chose to take my Mum as my guest and before we headed off, we went out for dinner in Covent Garden.

As much as I love working in Covent Garden with the beautiful buildings and the bustling atmosphere, it can get a bit much and a bit too touristy. With an abundance of restaurants to choose from, I really want to make sure that my Mum saw the local side of Covent Garden so took her away from the over touristy area to Thai Square.

Having had the pleasure of travelling to Thailand, I know a good thai restaurant when I see one and Thai Square is the real deal. Aside from the beautiful, open interior complete with central shrine to Buddha, the smell of fresh chilli and spices when you walk into Thai Square screams authenticity. With a pre theatre menu at a steal of £15.95 a person, we quickly ordered and awaited our meal.

We shared a platter of starters with Chicken Satay Sticks, Tempura Prawns, Crab Cakes and Duck Spring Rolls. They all came with a sweet chilli and a plum sauce dip and tasted so fresh, a hundred times better than my usual oriental take aways. 

For the mains we were given a selection of dishes to share. Thai Green Chicken Curry and Chicken with Cashew Nuts were served with Phad Thai Noodles and Steamed Jasmine Rice. Each dish was beautifully presented and the portions were so generous that neither me nor mum could finish them off. Luckily we were given a refreshing mango sushi post meal to cleanse our palettes before we headed off to the Matisse Exhibition.

Art Exhibitions never fail to amaze me, there's just something about seeing a famous piece of art up close and looking at everything from the brush strokes to the little flaws that makes you understand how much effort goes into creating a masterpiece. I loved seeing Matisse's cut outs, as up close you can really see all the different layers of paper, each step in creating the perfect curve. As my Mum rightly said 'that exhibition was awesome, in the true sense of the word.'

I had the best evening out and in a silly way I loved feeling like a proper grown up showing my Mum round London and taking her to a work event. I'm so lucky to work at Mission with opportunities like this.

Bloggers Take on Clapham

Dress - Miss Selfridge Sale
Shoes - £20 New Look
Bag - H&M

To help me celebrate my move to London, my incredible blogger friends Lydia and Joe came over to Clapham for a wild night out on the tiles. Seeing as Joe is by far the best street-style photographer I've ever met, we decided to make the most of his talents and have a fun little shoot before we headed out.
I've never been very good at outfit posts, as I tend to feel awkward having photos on my own, but it was a lot of fun messing about with Lydia and Joe in front of the camera.

Lydia and I ended up having fairly coordinated outfits too, with our white summery shoes. I'm dying for a pair of white mules like hers and will definitely be purchasing a pair after pay day.

I'm wearing a summery shift dress from Miss Selfridge that I bought in the sale. I love the coral colour and I'm obsessed with the slouchy shape, I must of bought five or six dresses in that style over the past few months, it's just so comfy - so far from my normal bodycon going out ensemble.

After a bottle of wine in my flat, we headed off to Revs on Clapham high street to sample some of their 30 different flavours of shots. They have a fantastic offer on at the moment with 10 summer shots for £10 and we thoroughly made the most of that offer. As you would expect from a Revolutions Bar, the music was your classic cheesy disco and chart and we had fun having a good dance and a giggle before heading home late, drunk and happy.

Bring on more nights out in London!

Carioca Brixton Lunch

Without a doubt the best thing about moving to Brixton has to be the food. I'm amazed by the variety of restaurants and cafe's available and it's so nice to eat in little independent places instead of relying on the same old high street chains. While having a hungry wander round Brixton Village Market with my best mate Cris we came across Caraioca Brixton. Enticing us in with a chalk board stating that hot sandwiches were £4, we ventured in, in search of a bargain.

Cris opted for the sandwich of the day. Pulled lamb with feta cheese and balsamic vinegar on sour dough bread and I had the Arepa on the main menu. Both came in healthy portions and were made of the loveliest freshest ingredients. My arepa had delicious slow cooked beef with peppers and onions in the most gorgeous sauce on a maize bread roll. Cris wolfed down his lamb sandwich, but I managed to get a little taste in beforehand and it was equally delicious. Considering our mains only came to £10 for both I was incredibly impressed.

We managed to get in a few foodie snaps before devouring our meals so you can have a jealous look at the food we enjoyed. After tweeting Carioca, I managed to entice them into tweeting their arepa recipe, which is pictured below and I think I will definitely be trying this at home!

I'd never had Brazilian food before, but after literally wiping my plate clean with my last bits of bread, I will definitely be making a return visit. It's so nice to find a cheap little gem so close to my flat.

New Beginnings

Hi and welcome to my new blog. I've probably had loads of half hearted attempts at blogging over the years. But having finally secured my dream PR job in London and my teeny tiny but gorgeous room in a flat in Brixton I thought I might as well have a final go at throwing myself into it. 

This blog will not be your run of the mill fashion blog, as I don't to see myself as a fashion blogger. I hate taking outfit posts and could never have the incredible dedication that fashion bloggers have to have. Seeing my friends like the lovely Lydia Rose Smith and  Joseph Kent keep their fashion blogs has shown me how much commitment it takes and while I admire them, I know it's something I'd never be able to maintain their levels of dedication. It's going to be more of a lifestyle blog centred around my life in London living on a budget. There will be fashion, food, bits of beauty and a lot of lifestyle. I want to share any advice I can on living in the big city on a tight budget with expensive taste. 

As for me and my style, I'm a cross between Blair Waldorf, Cher from Clueless and Ivy (Drew Barrymore's character) in Poison Ivy. I can be an uptown smart princess one day, and then just live in my endless supply of DC and Marvel tshirts with my silver Vans the next. I'm a burger fiend, so you'll be sure to see posts about London's best and cheapest meaty haunts and I love a good gig and a cocktail. 

I hope you enjoy my blog, I'm really excited about what's to come! 

Lizzie x