Autumn is here!

Hello lovely people! It’s time for us university students to crash freshers week, return to our lectures and top of the list, it’s the start of the best time of year! Autumn, a time of hot chocolates, piping hot homemade soup and layering of beautiful jumpers and drop-dead-adorable coats. Plus, its a fabulous countdown to Christmas! Can ya tell i’m a little bit excited?!

After two separate days of shopping, both in lovely London and the less lovely (but okay for a hometown) Stevenage, i have collected a few pieces to prepare me for the colder months ahead. So, instead of doing the reading for uni that i should be doing today, i’m going to show you some of the pieces i’ve bought! It’s a tad worrying that the procrastination has already begun… tehe.

Also, i can’t find my camera charger atm so i’ve taken all these images from the clothing websites 🙂

 

Primark

Of course being in London i popped into the huuuuge Primark, i had a list of items that i wanted to get whilst i was there but sadly didn’t get to! It was crazy busy and we were both starving for Yo Sushi! so we only made it through the front door aha! However, the item i wanted most was right in that doorway, so it was alllll good. It is the most beautiful coat, another to add to my ever growing collection, i can’t wait to add a huge pop of colour to any winter outfit!

Primark – Red coat with detachable fur collar – £25
(photo from Primark.com)

As well as getting the coat, in the Stevenage Primark i managed to get the beautiful purple/berry skirt that i featured in my last post and a dozen pairs of tights – you can never have too many pairs of tights!

 

H&M

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with H&M. Their sizes irritate me to no end but some of my favourite things are from there, it’s bittersweet! But whilst in one of the Oxford Street stores i found a gorrrrrgeous shirt that i simply had to have. I’m a big fan of Miss Gracie Francesca and i’ve always loved her casual style when it comes to wearing shirts, so she was the inspiration for this purchase.

H&M – Cream and black flannel shirt – £14.99 – (photo from hm.com)

I also picked up a burgundy coloured beanie, which looks so cute with the shirt!

 

New Look

I popped into NewLook to get a cute top with a collar to put under my winter jumpers and found the perfect one… well two actually!

New Look Top – £8.99 – (both photos from newlook.com)

New Look Top – £8.99 – (both photos from newlook.com)

 

 

Matalan

Matalan has given me some really adorable home ware pieces in the past, as well as adorable Disney underwear and very well priced batteries! So, i was really surprised (and excited!) when i spotted the most beautiful shawl. I think i actually skipped over to the mannequin haha! I tried one on and the rest is history…

Matalan Shawl – £12 (what a bargain!) This is the monochrome version, mine is a red/purple/navy colour but i couldn’t find a photo on their website – matalan.com

Topshop – Online

As i didn’t spend very much money during my London shopping trip, i decided i would grant myself a little splurge on the Topshop website. I got two more pairs of Joni jeans (of course) because they’ll be super comfy for commuting and i also got a suuuuper cute top! I think returning for my final year of uni has given my bank account a bashing but who doesn’t need a new fall wardrobe?!

Topshop Top – £22 (all images from topshop.com)

Topshop Joni Jeans – £36

Topshop Joni Jeans – £38

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well i hope you’ve enjoyed a little peek into my new fall clothing pieces! I now need to close my wallet and open my uni text books – it’s time for my third year and hopefully a degree and graduation!

Have a wonderful week and i’ll be back soon!

 

a graceful attempt at life and other such things, xxxxxxx

My Wish List for A/W

Heyhey sweethearts! Tonight’s post is a few of my favourite picks for this coming season and what I will hopefully be purchasing in the near future!

These are all fashion pieces, i’ll be putting up a beauty wish list soon 🙂

 

Firstly, is this gorgeous cream faux fur collar from River Island (although i’ll buy it from ASOS to get student discount, hehe ;D). The added black ribbon is such a beautiful detail that makes this collar a bit different from the others i’ve seen, hoping to grab this very soon!

River Island (on ASOS) – £12

 

I’ve wanted a purple/berry coloured skirt for a reallllllly long time but i’ve always struggled to find the exact colour i want… well, i’ve found it! And believe it or not, it’s from our lovely cheap and cheerful Primark! I’m so impressed with the style and colour of this skater skirt, here’s hoping that the material lives up to it too!

Primark – £8

 

Next up is a beauuutiful Topshop diamond pleated blouse. It’s a very classic and chic style in ‘nude’, it’s all very me. The colour is lovely as it’ll go with everything, i’m thinking my berry coloured Joni jeans or even the skirt pictured above! It’s a bit of a splurge at £42 but if it’s good quality then it’s worth it!

Topshop – £42

 

Lastly is a pair of shoes, or perhaps i should say boots/mules. I first saw these heeled sling backs on the Zara website and instantly fell in love and then the lovelyyy Becca Rose featured them in a recent haul on Youtube and they look even more beautiful on screen. I’m hoping to pick these up on Monday when i pop to London with a friend. Bit pricey but again, if they fit nicely and the quality is good then i’ll give in!

Zara – £49.99

 

I hope that you’ve enjoyed a little look into my wish list, i’ll be putting up a beauty post in a few days and hopefully a haul of all the lovely bits i get in London!

Have a wonderful weekend my lovelies!

 

a graceful attempt at life and other such things, xxxxx

That Time I Had an Epiphany…

Growing up and having to figure out what career path you want to take in life is one of the hardest decisions you will ever have to make. I’m going to tell you about mine 🙂

 

I have always had a huge passion for film, television and theatre. Even when i was a little girl, i knew that i wanted to work in the entertainment industry. Something i’ve always been proud of is my imagination and the things and stories it creates. All my dolls had accents and my teddies all had back stories. My cousin and I would write perform shows & songs for my family at parties, under the wonderfully named ‘The Bubble Girls’, aha! I thought that i was meant to perform, be on a stage or on the big screen.

It wasn’t until i turned nineteen that i realised that maybe that wasn’t my destiny or my dream. And that’s when i had an epiphany… writing. I would create the stories and then make my friends act them out with me, i would write the scripts and create the characters for myself, i would come home from school on a rainy day and write (awful) novels on the family computer… writing was always there – it just took a few drama school rejections to figure it out.

I’d still love to act, of course. There’s nothing like the rush you get on stage after you’ve acted your heart out but i wasn’t good enough and i’m sooo happy that i had enough sense to realise that. Writing never lets me down, i can’t mess up lines or have to squeeze into a costume and i’m actually pretty good at it (which is a biggg bonus aha!). I can be myself and still create wonderful characters and interesting story lines.

 

Hopefully in the next few years, you’ll be reading one of my novels or watching one of my screenplay’s come to life in a cinema. It’s never too late to figure out what you’re meant to do with your life, if i hadn’t taken a gap year after my A Levels then who knows what i’d be doing or where i’d be today.

I’m currently studying a fantastic course at University that i am completely in love with. I know that i’m on the right path for me and i hope that you figure out what your future has waiting for you.

 

a graceful attempt at life and other such things, xxxxxx

Rainy Day Ramblings…

Hey cuties, hope you had a wonderful weekend and are enjoying your Monday so far! I cannot believe that it is September, this year has flown by sooo quickly – it’s a little upsetting but i love winter & Christmas time so much that i’m more excited than sad >.<!

I’ve got a bit of a cold so i’m in my cosy bedroom, wrapped up in my huuuuge Great Gatsby jumper (see my instagram), leggings and fluffy socks – heaven! And although my view out the window is depressingly rainy and grey, i’m actually in a rather good mood 🙂 so i thought i’d share a few of my new favourite things with you!

 

Firstly, i’ve added a new member to my ever-growing Disney collection, Louis (see instagram)! The jazz loving, trumpet playing, singing alligator from ‘The Princess and the Frog’. Until my mumma lets me get a puppy, i’ll be adding to this collection for a longgg time aha.

 

Netflix has been my best friend this summer because i’ve been quite ill for the majority of it – which frickin’ suuuuucked. I’ve rediscovered my love for programmes like Gossip Girl, The IT Crowd and a few of my childhood films but i’ve also found new favourites.

Archer is probably my favourite new find, my brother suggested it to me and i have to admit, i was extremely sceptical and went in with the mind frame that i wouldn’t like it at all but it seriously surprised me! I’ve always loved Bob’s Burgers – which if you haven’t watched it, then you MUST, it’s hilarious! – so, as soon as i heard the title character speak, i realised it was the same guy that voice’s Bob. Brownie points there. I did have to watch a few episodes to fully get into the show but the humour is fantastic, the dialogue and jokes are seriously laugh-out-loud funny and the characters are just perfect. I have to say that Carol/Cheryl is my favourite, with Sterling Archer being a close second – the guys & gals that made this show really made a corker and i will continue to recommend this to anyone who’ll listen! (it’s definitely made for adults though, plenty of swearing and cartoon nudity aha!)

 

A few days ago i popped into town to meet my favourite boy & best friend for lunch and a bit of shopping and i picked up some new bits ready for Uni to begin again! I’ve already raved about the Topshop Joni Jeans and how comfortable they are, so i think they’ll be perfect for commuting. I picked up a Size 12 (W30, L30) in black and one in a berry/wine colour, as i only have printed pairs atm and thought these would be more practical. However, when i got home (i’m way too lazy to try things on in the store hehe) the berry/wine pair fitted wonderfully and looked lovely but the black pair were a bit tighter, with less stretch and just felt different to all my other pairs. So, i thought i’d check the Topshop website for the reviews. At the time of reading, there were 127 reviews for the Black Joni Jeans with the rating of 3.75 stars – already a bit worried as almost all the others have a full 5 stars. Reading through the reviews there were loadssss that said things about how tight they were (check), how they weren’t as good quality as the other prints/colours (check), but also that they wore thin after a few wears and did not wash well, leaving patches were the black dye would transfer during washing. So unfortunately, i’m going to be taking the black pair back because, as a bit of a germaphobe, i do like to wash my clothes very regularly! So i don’t recommend getting the black version of the Joni jeans but the wine coloured ones are beautiful!

I also popped into Boots to repurchase a classic favourite of bloggers and people everywhere, the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer in shade 2 – cool medium. And they had 2 for £5 on all Rimmel London Lasting Finish nail varnish’s! After falling completely in love with the cornflower blue shade, ‘Fancy a Dip’, which i have mentioned before on here, i had to buy some more! My favourite is lilac/lavender, so of course i chose the lilac purple shade ‘Keep Calm and Party’, which is such a beautiful shade, despite the name – not a huge fan! And i chose a darker blue in, ‘Loafer Love For You’ – which is a brilliant name! I’m excited to try these and swatch them for you soon, so look out for that post!

 

Well, i feel like i’ve been rambling on for a while now so i’ll leave today’s post here and i’ll be back soon! Hope you all have a wonderful week and if you’re back to work/school this week because the summer has finished (saddd face), then i hope it all goes well!

 

a graceful attempt at life and other such things, xxxxxxx

Holidayyyy!

Helllllo lovely people! It is currently gone 11pm but i have an unexpected burst of energy, (which is fab as i’m battling a hefty cold right now!) so ima post about maaa holiday!

My lovely dad whisked our family of six off to the wonderfully beautiful Rhodes this August and it was fabulous. I’ve never been to Rhodes before but i will definitely be going again because it is a truly beautiful place! Well, Greece in general is pretty darn pretty but yeeesss, i loved it!

We stayed at an all-inclusive, four star resort resort called the Kalithea Horizon Royal, which lived up to every star ❤
It’s a very family-friendly resort, not much night-life but we went there for relaxation & family time but there was plenty of daytime activities to keep everyone busy so that was fab – my youngest step-brother does notttt stop moving aha!
The food was really lovely and there was sooo much variety, (although one night my melon was gone-off, not brill), the cocktails were lovely but sooo strong, they seriously wanted drunkness haha! (The ice-cream milkshakes were a firm favourite with my brother).
The majority of the resort staff were lovely, a big shout out to Panda, who got me doing Aqua Zumba (which i never thought i’d be doing haha!), he was always smiling and so much fun, i would go back just for him! The reception staff were a bit of a mess, especially the night staff – rudeness at its best! You’d literally be talking to them and they’d start talking to another staff member or just walk away – ain’t nobody got time for that. Buttt there were some helpful reception staff so i can’t moan too much!

We spent a week laying by the pool, eating food, swimming in the sea, getting a tan, reading, sleeping, drinking cocktails and just having fun – it was pretty perfect and i definitely recommend the resort and Rhodes in general!
Here are some photos!

one of like eleven swimming pools – so perfect because i could actually touch the bottom with my feet aha! (i’m damn short)

 

the view from our sunbeds ❤

 

outfit number one (excuse my tirred face!) – kimono: newlook, top: topshop, shorts: ASOS, sandals: urban outfitters, necklace: accessorize.

 

pre-dinner drinks!

 

this is literally heaven in a bottle. Ice Tea is my favourite drink and there were sooo many flavours available in Greece!

 

the view from our balcony ❤

 

outfit number two (squinty) – kimono: zara, top: topshop, shorts: tesco, necklace: accessorize, shoes (unseen): newlook.

 

booooty. (hehe)

 

my brother & father and the beautiful sea – in which i found two Sebastians!

 

my favourite outfit of the holiday! still so tired looking though aha – top: topshop, shorts: ASOS, necklace: pull&bear at ASOS, (the most beautiful) shoes: topshop

 

these are my untanned legs aha & my nice easy holiday read, before the film comes out!

 

my view from my sunbed, so damn beautiful. i wish i could live there forever ❤

 

my daddy! and an outfit i forgot to photograph properly (oops).

 

awful photo of my outift, sorry! – top: topshop, shorts: tesco, sandals: newlook, (the most wonderful) clutch bag: primark!

 

i love you, Rhodes!

 

i hope you’ve all had a lovely summer and if you’ve been on holiday, i want to hear about it! if you’re going on holiday soon then i don’t want to hear about it because it’ll only make me jealous, hehe 😉
i love you all and goodnight!

a graceful attempt at life and other such things, xxxxxx

Wardrobe Staple: Topshop Joni Jeans

Happy Friday! I cannot believe that we are now in August, it just blows my mind how fast the summer is going! I hope you all have lovely plans for the weekend, i’m off to my step-brother’s birthday BBQ tomorrow (with a great chance of rain and lightning, fab!).

BBQ’s have always been one of my favourite occasions for a gathering of your favourite people, sunshine, drinks and chatting but… i hate BBQ (burnt) food haha! So for me it’s usually one sausage and piles of lettuce/potato salad!

 

Anyway, i digress… like usual >.<. This post is actually about my new favourite thing, Topshop Joni Jeans :). I realise that i am suuuuper late to the party on these but i’m so amazed with them, i had to write a post!

 

I have always found jeans really hard to buy because i have a bigggg bum aha and a small waist, so usually i just give up looking. I have a couple of lovely pairs from Urban Outfitters but apart from those, i was useless with trying to buy jeans. Untilllll, i read so many raving reviews about the Topshop Joni jeans. I decided to bite the bullet and try them, i mean if they didn’t fit, i’d just send them back! But boyyyy did they fit and fit perfectly!

 

I chose the pineapple print for my first pair, i believe they were £38 but at the time i got 20% student discount, a lovely bargain! I couldn’t believe how small they looked when i opened the parcel, i immediately regretted not getting a size up but thought i might as well try them on anyway… and my god, did they stretch!?

They are fabulous if you have curves, they hug all your good parts and flatten your wobbly areas – literally the best jeans ever. I’ve already purchased my next pair, a pretty thin stripe pattern in blue and white, which i’m excited to wear!

 

I honestly cannot recommend these jeans enough, they are really flattering and really comfortable. The colours and prints they come in are brilliant and they wash really well too (a big bonus)!

Topshop Pineapple Print Joni Jeans – Now Sold Out (£38) – please ignore the pop socks, tehe!

I will definitely be continuing to buy Joni jeans for ever and ever! My new favourite wardrobe staple and this cute print is perfect for the cooler summer days & nights! ❤

Enjoy your weekend and i’ll be back next week with a mini fashion haul!

 

a graceful attempt at life and other such things, xxxxxxx

The Great Love of My Life…

I love a lot of things, like a crazy amount of things. I’ll often start a sentence with ‘____ is my favourite thing ever’ or ‘i love ____ so much’ and my mumma will always say “Grace, you say that about everything. You love everything, everything is your favourite” and ya know what, she has a good point. hehe.

But the subject i’m most guilty of saying the above about is films. I loveeee films. I will literally watch anything and everything.
Films never fail to make me smile, laugh, cry or get goosebumps and today i’m going to tell you about one of my favourite films!

Last Monday i caught the train down to London to go to an intimate screening of the 2011 genre-bending film, Detention, at the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square. After the film was over, there was a Q&A with the film’s writer and director, Joseph Kahn, who may i say is absolutely hilarious! I saw him tweet about the screening about a month prior and i immediately text one of my film fanatic friends to tell her that we had to go. An hour after that, i’d bought the tickets and marked the date in my calendar – i seriously love this film aha!

I honestly cannot recommend Detention enough, you have to watch it. I genuinely believe it’s a future cult classic. Kahn anticipated that 90’s fashion would come back with a bang, he managed to incorporate just about every genre into 90 minutes of film, with realistic characters that you want to be best friends with – it’s a full recipe for a fantastic film and it will always be in my top five.

I saw Detention about two years ago and it blew my mind! I have to be honest, i found it by googling a list of Josh Hutcherson films (haha, major fangirl moment) and it was the best discovery i’ve ever made. The film’s casting is incredible, i was lucky enough to ask Kahn a question during the talk and he told us how he handpicked each member through the casting process and that this is the film that helped Hutcherson land the role of Peeta in The Hunger Games, amazing right?!

If you fancy watching a film that will surprise you with every camera movement, that will make you laugh at forgotten 90’s references, that will make you cringe & envy the fashion sense and lust for incredible characters then pleaseeeee take the time to watch this film.

I can guarantee that you’ve seen some of Kahn’s work before; maybe a Britney, Kylie or Eminem music video but this is his masterpiece. He sunk so much of his own money into this film and he deserves the recognition, the film deserves the recognition! Kahn told us that the film’s fan-base literally grows one by one, there isn’t enough advertisement about this film and it kills me that it’s going almost unnoticed!
If you’re in the UK you can find Detention on Netflix or it’s super cheap to buy the DVD on Amazon, so what are you waiting for?!

If anything, watch it for Josh Hutcherson’s beautiful face. hehe. but honestly, the best he has ever looked. Clapton Davis ❤

Anyway, thanks for sticking with this post, i know it's a bit of a strange one but this film is something so close to my heart and i am determined to get more people knowing and talking about it! Seriously, check it out. It may become one of your top five 🙂

a graceful attempt at life and other such things, xxxxxxx

I’m Useless…

I’m useless. Haha, completely useless!
Yes i’ve been a little under the weather recently, yes i’ve been a bit busy but i still had time to blog and i failed… massively! Big apologies for my lack of blog posts but i’m going to fix this 🙂

I really love blogging and i don’t really have an answer for why i’ve been so absent recently, but this is changing. I won’t be posting every weekday like before (i managed two weeks, aha) but i will be posting regularly – particularly focusing on fashion and beauty because thats the area i enjoy writing most ❤

From now on, i'm just going to post whenever i feel the inspiration! The subject matter will be whatever i fancy at that time & with proper photos now i have someone to take them for me!

I hope you're all enjoying your summer and thanks for sticking with me!

a graceful attempt at life and other such things, xxxxxxxx

Mellow Monday: A Week Off

Oh hey gurrrrll! Sorry for being gone for so long! My week has been full of snotty tissues and Netflix… so bad and good aha!

I’ve had the worst cold (during this beautiful weather!) mixed with my awful hayfever and i’ve just felt like poop tbh – butttt i’m finally feeling better, hooray!

Unfortunately i had to take the week off blogging to rest & get better and thanks to my bed, a thousand tablets and RuPaul’s Drag Race, i’m fighting fit again 🙂

 

This post is short but sweet (being bed ridden hasn’t left me much to talk about >.<!) but there will be more to come this coming week, i promise!

 

a graceful attempt at life and other things, xxxxxx

Friday Favourites: Part Two, Anything & Everything

Hello again! Part Two of my Friday Favourites is here, this will include pretty much anything and everything that i’ve been enjoying for the past two weeks. Thank you if you read the first part and you’re here to see what else i’ve got to ramble about aha!

 

TV Shows

If you read yesterday’s post then you’ll know how much i have been looooving the ABC/More4 show Nashville. It is literally the best thing to have arrived on my screen since the beginning of One Tree Hill.

I’m a huge Country music fan so Nashville is the perfect programme for me. It fuses the drama and excitement of the music industry and the real lives of stars and those around them with incredible country music – all written for the show! Not to mention to show’s creator & writer is the fantastic Oscar Winning Callie Khouri! For those who have seen Thelma & Louise, you’ll know how incredible this woman is! And if you haven’t seen the film then… where have you been?!

 

Next is HBO’s ever so famous and popular, Game of Thrones. I was super late to this party but i’m so glad i joined! I watched the first three seasons last year and then the fourth as it came on TV and it really does deserve the ‘hype’ that surrounds it! Although i do wish my fave characters would stop dying aha.

If you love blood, guts, revenge, incest, a lottttt of nudity, sex, violence, swearing, beautiful people, great acting & dragons – then this the show for you!

Game of Thrones box set – Seasons 1 – 3, £40 HMV

I have a hugeee film & box set collection, so of course i had to purchase the first three seasons on DVD!

 

 

Disney

As well as a large collection of DVDs, i also collect super adorable Disney soft toys. I only buy the cutest ones from the films i like the best, so i was crazy happy when they released new characters from one of my favourite films, Alice in Wonderland. For those of you who’ve checked my instagram lately, you would’ve seen this adorable character…

The White Rabbit – Disney Store, £18

During my trip to London last week, i popped into the Disney store (of course) to pick up a gift for a friends birthday and to treat myself to him! He is so super soft and sits perfectly on my bed with The Cheshire Cat my mum bought me for Christmas.

I really can’t recommend the Disney Store enough, their products are fabulous and are perfect for all ages! Yes even 21 year olds haha!

 

 

Candles

I have the biggest obsession with candles, i pretty much always have one burning beside me when i’m in my room. I just think that candles are the greatest invention ever!

Not only do they smell fantastic, they look gorgeous and make brilliant gifts. My two favourites at the moment are both from TK Maxx.

For EveryBody Candles – ‘Citrus Vanilla’ & ‘Lemon Crisp’ – Box £5.99 from TK Maxx

I honestly can’t even describe how amazinggggg the Lemon Crisp one smells. It’s like a lemon tart but also a lemon cheesecake with a bit of lemon meringue pie mixed in – best smell everrrrrr! I’m almost too scared to burn it incase it doesn’t smell as good as it does now aha – if i’m having a bad day, i literally just sit and sniff it for a while.

I’ve been burning the Citrus Vanilla and i’m really impressed with how well it burns and it does smell really lovely too. Very pleased with these candles!

 

Well that’s all for my Friday Favourites this week, i hope you’ve enjoyed reading both parts and i wish you the best weekend ever! I’ll see you on Monday ❤

 

a graceful attempt at life and other such things, xxxxxxx