And its hard to dance with the devil on your back

I'm currently sat on my sofa watching highlights from Reading and Leeds on my laptop. I only got home this morning after watching all these bands over the weekend... isn't technology wonderful sometimes?! Definitely the most tame Leeds festival I've ever had, (I even came home with almost half of my alcohol...) we were just in it for the music and well and truly made the most of it so as soon as the bands had finished I was basically diving straight into my sleeping bag... I am just so cool it hurts sometimes.

It was such a jam packed weekend, I'm not sure I could even name everybody who I watched off the top of my head. I saw loads of old favourites as well as loads of other amazing people that I've never had the chance to see before. Florence in particular was the ABSOLUTE HIGHLIGHT OF MY LIFE. I was genuinely awestruck for the whole of her set last night. I've loved her since Kiss with a fist and can't believe its taken until now to actually see her live. It was worth going to Leeds just for that. Incredible.

Anyway... I'll stop being a Florence stalker now, and just share a couple of snaps from the weekend with you.

                                      

1. We had a few casual trips to the signing tent. I'm now bezzies with Spector, Tribes and Mystery Jets don'tcha know...

2. Two Door Cinema Club, the busiest I think I've ever seen the NME tent

3. I said I'd stop going on about Florence but that doesn't mean I can't show you a picture

4. She had literally half the audience get on their shoulders... if Flo had asked the crowd to stand on their heads I'm fairly certain people would have done as she said quite happily)

5. Being groupies on the front row for Tribes 

6. A well earned break in between bands

As you can probably tell, I'm still buzzing from the weekend. Buzzing and simultaneously falling asleep on my keyboard at the same time. Didn't even know that was possible. Think its a sign that I need to go to bed. NOW. 

Baby I'm howlin' for you

I always feel like a massive numpty taking pictures of my outfits in my bedroom, I much prefer being out and about and having something other than just me to look at in the pictures! Sadly though, as I'm mostly spending this limbo period between Edinburgh and Leeds fest alone (everybody I know is at work and not available for playtime, boo), it doesn't give me much opportunity for interesting looking pictures. This dress, however, just couldn't wait for a fun day trip somewhere to be featured on my blog. It was love at first sight and the dress just wants you to know that. There's just so much right with it- the dipped hem (becoming ever so slightly obsessed with the floaty, swishiness of them) and the grungy marl colour just made it exactly what I needed in my wardrobe. 

dress: River Island, boots: River Island, jacket: Topshop, necklace: Dorothy Perkins

These photos have reminded me of how pasty my legs are, they look even more ridiculous now that my arms have a slight hint of a tan... I might just have to start getting my legs out AT ALL TIMES just in case the sun comes out and they experience a tiny bit of daylight. I think they'd die of shock.

Get dressed, jump out of bed, you do it best.

Today I thought I'd do a little photo collage of my trip to Edinburgh over the weekend as none of the pictures I took were particularly 'bloggy' but I still wanted to share the brilliant weekend I had with a few of my favourites. Mostly the weekend was spent eating, walking, visiting the zoo, walking, being confused by the millions of people trying to hand us flyers at the fringe, walking and drinking cider. My legs are now aching but my constant giggling (mostly internally... I try to give people on the street the impression that I've not escaped from a secure unit) about the constant entertainment that my lovely little gang gave me more than makes up for it.

1. Looking at Arthur's seat and deciding it wasn't just a 'little' hill that we could climb up in half an hour like I'd initially tried to convince the others.

2. Panda lovin' in the gift shop.

3. We walked the Royal Mile, and miles and miles.

4. The girl panda at Edinburgh zoo posing for her audience

5. The ticket guy said the zoo would take 2-3 hours to walk around. We were there for six. Sitting down at every possible bench may have contributed to this.

6. The boy panda, he was running excitedly round all over the place. Definitely the panda version of me.

7. Despite doing nothing but eat, this mirror seemed to think we'd lost weight over the holiday.

8. It makes me sad when I see this burger because I know its a looong way to go to get another.

9. Edinburgh castle. We could see it from outside where we stayed (I like how this gives the impression that we stayed somewhere fancy... in actual fact we were in student accommodation that looked a little like a low security prison from the outside). 

Right now, what you wanted

I've been eyeing up the bracelets on Raspberrygrape for months now, they're just so cute and absolutely perfect for festival season. If you've never seen the website before, go check out Lauren's collection- the girl is a genius of all things jewellery! I'm definitely a bracelet sort of girl... you can usually find me weighed down by an assorted collection of bracelets from here there and everywhere and these two were just begging to be added to my collection, just in time for Leeds Festival next week. On that note, I'm getting far, far, far too excited now... I've basically just spent the whole day bouncing round my flat listening to all my fave bands I'm going to see. And now I'm rushing to meet my friends as a result. Sorry guys if you're reading this!

Bracelets: Rasperrygrape

The colour of the cross bracelet is by far my favourite colour of the summer, so I couldn't pick any other really, I think its me living in hope that the sky will stay that colour for the next few weeks! Both the cross and the skulls are bang on trend right now, and they're just such a bargain that I'm seriously contemplating buying enough to fill my whole wrist with. 

Anyway, I'm off to race into town now... seriously, the days just fly by when I'm not in work, its no wonder I'm running late! 

Hand in hand through their parklife

And this is why I should be allowed to be a lady of leisure and not have to go to work. A delightful, sunny Tuesday spent wandering round the sights of Bradford (yes, believe it or not there are actually a few sights there...). We started off with a wander round Saltaire, a cute little village built for the workers in the old Salts  Mill, then headed into Bradford with a visit to Lister Park for a pedalo ride on the way. This seems to be accidentally becoming the summer of boats as far as I'm concerned... sailing, rowing, pedaloing... not bad for a girl who used to get seasick just thinking of boats! 

Dress: Topshop, Shirt: Glamorous, Shoes: Fred Perry, Necklace: Elsie Belle, Watch: Urban Outfitters

Sadly, I wasn't trusting the weather enough this morning when I got dressed, hence why my legs spent the day baking in tights. I spent half the day trying to find somewhere secluded enough for me to whip my tights off without being spotted by a passing car or a family having a picnic, an IMPOSSIBLE task. So my pasty little legs are still yet to see the sun this summer. I'm also going to have to wear my watch for the rest of summer now to hide the white patch of skin left underneath it... not that I'm complaining, I got the watch at the 20% off event at U.O I mentioned in my last post and I just couldn't resist buying it- the face is just so pretty! 

Not a bad day for my first official day off for the summer, lets hope this is a sign for good things still to come! 

To the centre of the city, where all roads meet

Today is a very, very good day. I've officially finished work until the 3rd September (okay, technically I'm working on Monday but I'm going on a trip to Chester Zoo with some of the patients which most definitely doesn't count as work!).

And so starts my summer of fun. As well as lie ins, catching up with friends and soaking up the sun by the canal (please weather, don't let me down), I'm off to Edinburgh with three of my friends which I'm majorly excited for- especially so we can explore the craziness of the Fringe. Then, its time to get my wellies on and head to Leeds Festival. Its a good job I've got a few weeks off work, its going to take me that long to decide which bands I want to see... so many bands I love clash with each other across the different stages. I wish I could clone myself. Maybe I'll work on that for next time.

In other news, a week or so ago Urban Outfitters had one of their delightful little 20% off evenings in Leeds. As well as eating half of the sweets they'd put out for the event, I bought myself this Joy Division top which I've completely fallen in love with and have worn an inappropriate amount of times since it came out of the shop. I love Urban Outfitters events, mostly just for the goody bags... mine was perfect for this summer. A hip flask (perfectly sized to fit inside my welly to sneak into the arena at Leeds!) plus a friendship bracelet making kit to keep me busy when I'm catching some rays in the garden. What more could I need?!

top: Urban Outfitters, jeans: Topshop, Vans: Office, necklace: Joy, bracelets: DIY, watch: a Casio one stolen from the boy, rings: Kukee

As you can see from the last picture, I am ridiculously happy that summer is FINALLY here. YAY.

First love, last love, only love.

This weekend, I went back home for my cousin's hen do (yet another excuse for me to eat mountains of food...) and a bit of quality time with my friends and fam. 

I do love Liverpool despite leaving it to become an honorary yorkshire pudding. I went home armed with my SLR to do my usual thing of taking lots of photos of my homeland to make up for the fact that I don't get to see it all that often these days. Sadly, my snap-happy plans were rudely interrupted by horrific rain on Saturday when I was out shopping with my friend. I left beautiful sunshine on my side of the Mersey and was greeted by a monsoon when I emerged from the other side of the Mersey Tunnel (no prizes for guessing which side of the river my umbrella was on...). 

I managed to get a few snaps of the skyline on Friday night as papa T wanted to go down to the river and see the QE2 along with everybody else from the Wirral, then earlier today we went to Crosby beach to go and have a wander across the beach to see the Anthony Gormley iron man statues. Probably should have checked the tide times first as we'd have had to swim to get near to the blooming statues! 

Excuse my odd little grimacing face on those last two... it was surprisingly sunny for a few minutes! 

Triangles are my favourite shape

I keep seeing these lists on other blogs and as I'm a nosy little so and so I like having a peek at what your favourite things are. This got me thinking about my own beauty and fashion faves... so just in case you're as nosy inquisitive as me, here are some of my go-to items.

1. Lipgloss/lipstick: Seriously, this is possibly the best piece of make up I've ever bought (okay so there's probably not massive competition as most of my make up bag is very cheap and cheerful), its just as bright and vibrant as a lipstick but has the added bonus of moisturising your lips too... what more could a girl ask for?!

2. Hair product: This Schwarzkopf volumising powder really does what it says on the tin, granted the packaging doesn't mention that it will leave your roots feeling oddly sticky underneath, but I absolutely swear by it for giving my hair a bit of a boost. Plus there's none of risk of crispy, rock solid hair that comes with hairspray!  Definitely a winner for me.

3. Perfume: Vera Wang's Lovestruck- pretty smell and a gorgeous bottle... need I say more?

4. Nail Polish: Okay, I'm cheating slightly here... there's more than one favourite in this picture. But I can back myself up because technically for the Barry M shatter to work it needs another colour underneath, hence why this lovely pale blue little number also made the cut. Sneaky! 

5. Earrings: I'm going to say these are my favourite earrings even though 99% of the time I wear the same ones that are in my ears right now (just little studs from accessorize, the first hole with an aeroplane and the second with a dragonfly). But they're basically just part of my body they've been in my ears almost constantly for the last 2 years so they don't really count. These little Topshop crosses are far more fun and really catch my eye whenever I look in a mirror if I'm wearing them (probably through shock of actually wearing something different...).

6. Top: Look at the ye olde Topshop label on this top! I've had it since I was in year 10 at school... sixth form, uni and a year of work have passed since those days which says a lot about how ancient this top is! And yet, I still wear it pretty regularly despite the ever increasing number of little holes appearing at the seams. Impressive for such a simple little top. 

7. Shoes: I don't feel like this favourite is actually a favourite by choice really. My real favourite shoes had to sadly be retired and sent to shoe heaven a few months back, so until I can find another pair of brogues that I can let into my heart, my stripy Vans will have to do. I must admit, I do love them though. They're not as clumpy as regular Vans plus the candy stripes are pretty damn cute. 

8. Bag: Again, I'm cheating by putting two favourites... The battered River Island is my day to day bag of choice at the moment- I'm one of those people who uses a bag to death before buying another, but the Accessorize backpack is possibly my most essential bag solely because its the only bag big enough to fit my camera in when I'm out and about. So really, the backpack comes out with me almost everywhere as its either bring the backpack or be a MASSIVE nerd walking round with my horrible camera bag. Not happening any time soon. Or ever for that matter.

So there you go, nosy folk of blogland, hope you enjoyed my little ramblings about assorted items currently littering my bedroom.