My week in smiles #4

I was unsure whether to post about smiles this week as sadly my Grandma past away. It somewhat seems wrong to post about having a happy week when in reality it has been filled with many tears. But, Grandma was very unwell.. and she is at rest now. I know she would want us to all be positive and strong, while smiling at the good times. So this week my weekly smiles is going to be a little different, it isn't necessarily going to be from the last week. I have instead decided to write about 10 family times and smiles spent with my family as well as remembering my Grandma. I hope everyone has had a great week and bank holiday weekend and that you enjoy this post even though it is not the norm. Bring on next week, may it create many happy memories!

1. Ice cream cake for my birthday in Australia. I always remember this cake being the best birthday cake I had ever had. 

2. My Grandma was GLAMOROUS! She loved her makeup, getting her hair done and a pamper. I always remember her dyeing her hair.

3. Making french toast together.

4. Christmas, spending Christmas many years ago in Australia. I remember getting a baby Annabel! That's how young I was. Anyone else have a baby Annabel when they were younger?

5. Bingo! Grandma loved bingo.. but who doesn't! 

6. Skyping Grandma and Mum when I was in University. I hadn't seen her since I was very young, so when mum went to visit her in Australia we Skyped, it was a conversation filled with many happy tears. 

7. The Big Bang Theory. This is more a memory from my mum, I remember mum saying Grandma loves watching The Big Bang Theory, whenever it is on it now makes me smile.

8. Spending precious time together. Every moment no matter how small I am grateful for.

9. Even though my family are spread all over the world, we always pull together and support each other. There is no love like the love of family. 

10. Memories. Grandma may now be in the heavens but she will always be in our hearts, her memories will never leave us.

Sorry if this post was too personal and not what you were hoping to read this Sunday. I know it doesn't really give you much insight into my week and what I have been loving, but it didn't feel right posting anything smiley other than happy times spent with my family and Grandma.

To keep you enticed until next weeks smiles I will however still share my favourites in song, movie and blog, so check them out if you haven't already!

Song of the week: MNEK - Wrote A Song About You Last Night. Such a great track, I am obsessed!

Movie of the week: Warm Bodies. I have been loving Amazon Prime to catch up on films I wanted to watch but never ended up getting around to watching. I did have Netflix, but they got a bit slow on updating there contents, anyone else feel like they watched everything on there? I bid farewell to my Netflix membership a few weeks a go and have now jumped on the Prime bandwagon.

Blogger of the week: The Londoner. I am sure everyone knows Rosie over on The Londoner, she is my all time favourite blogger, I religiously refresh her blog waiting for a new blog post. This week she has been keeping us all updated regularly on her Parisian adventures.. so grab a cup of tea and head on over, you will spend hours perusing her blog if you haven't already!

My week in smiles #3

The weeks are passing so fast, right? I can't believe this is the third weekly smiles post… spoiler alert: this week might of been the best so far. Although I have said a sad farewell to working in studio with the interior company I had been interning with, I have amazingly been offered the opportunity to work from a distance for the company while I continue the rest of my placements and studies. Tomorrow I will be starting my next internship working for a high-end fashion design company. I am not going to lie, I am fairly terrified. I know fashion can be quite demanding especially as we will be working in the run up to London Fashion Week. I am preparing myself for many sleepless nights, aching feet, finger blisters and eye bags so heavy it will be like lifting weights at the gym. But hey, its going to be a whirlwind experience. Anyway, here's a little list to peruse of the things that have made this week a truly lovely one and I hope you all had a delightful week too!

1. Spotting men with beards. A man with a beard and tattoos is becoming my guilty pleasure. Dreamy.
2. Victoria Sponge Cake with the Sian Zeng team. Another week, another fear food tackled. Victoria Sponge is so simple & traditional but one of my favourite cakes.
3. Stevia. I have recently developed a coffee sweet tooth, Stevia makes this craving slightly more innocent.
4. The Girl with All the Gifts. Finished listening to my first audio book on audible! I enjoyed it but would still rather a good ol' fashioned paper book.
5. Snuggling up in my duvet. I love summer, but appreciating the cooler nights this week.
6. The advice and wisdom from friends and family. I am truly grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful and caring people.
7. Health progress. I had a successful appointment at the doctors this week, to get my mind & body healthy. I have also upped my food content and although it's not as big of an increase as it should be, I can feel myself getting stronger and improvements with my energy levels already.
8. Having the most beautiful Lillies delivered to my flat. You know you have the most amazing best friend when she sends you flowers for no occasion other then to make you smile.
9. Continuing my work with the Sian Zeng team. Even though I will not be in studio, I am glad I get to remain apart of this little design family.
10. Blog reading. Spending my weekend armed with a cuppa and a good blog.

Song of the week: Jamie T - Zombie. Ooooooh yes Jamie T is back! About time as well if you ask me. Loving this track, can't wait for the album to be released.

Movie of the week: After the heartbreaking news, a Robin Williams film had to be my movie of the week. After appearing in so many amazing films I found it hard to pick, so I decided on two of my all time childhood favourites, Jumanji and Flubber! 

Blogger of the week: Catherine Sprunt aka Sprunting. This girl is also a Sian Zeng employee from a distance, so I am yet to meet her. However, I came across her blog through work and have been enjoying reading it, she blogs all things food, interiors, travel and life!

My week in smiles #2

HELLO. Happy Sunday. 

This week has mostly focused on good health. As mentioned in previous posts, I have realised that my body is not healthy and functioning properly.. which is effecting me being a good Textile Intern, the Textile Intern I had promised to be at those endless amount of interviews. So I have been focusing on gaining a healthy body & a healthy mind. 

Also, you or may not know this about me, depending on how well we are acquainted. But it is no secret that I am very unlucky when it comes to technical products. I would estimate that I have broken around 8 iPhones and 6 laptops - I once had 3 new laptops in a year - I can imagine my insurance company wasn't best pleased. Now I have to sadly declare that my technical unluckiness has made its way on to kitchen appliances as I have said bon voyage to the second microwave I have broken since moving into my flat, to make it even more a sad farewell the last one came with a vegetable steamer, It had full approval from the rest of the kitchen equipment - excuse me well I just fantasies about everything coming to life dancing and singing around the kitchen recreating Beauty & The Beast - Shameless Disney fan & proud. Any-who to continue my ramble, yep, I have undeniably broken.. not one.. but two microwaves in the space of a month. I sincerely apologies to my accommodation. On the topic of microwaves, I also managed to somehow burn/disintegrate a sweet potato in the microwave the other day, this was a not such a smiley part to the week as I was so Hank Marvin at the time (a bit of cockney rhyming slang, living the London Lifestyle after all) Luckily, I managed to cook up another quickly before my stomach got too foul mouthed. Anyway, I hope you all had a peachy week and lets hope the sunshine doesn't quit on us just yet!

Here are a few things that have made me smile this last week:

1. The Power is Within You - Louise Hay. I mentioned this book in my last post, I really recommend it even if you don't find yourself struggling in life, it is really interesting how powerful our minds can be & you never know it could change your life in 232 pages. 

2. Cardio Barre - Lower Body Shred Workout. I have been doing this workout on Youtube, it is only 15 minutes but really works your legs and glutes and it doesn't get boring, look out Kim Kardashian!

3. Andrew Johnson - Deep Sleep. This man has been talking me to sleep every night. Zzzz..

4. Lindt 70% dark chocolate. Made baby steps to find my balance, haven't had dessert/chocolate in weeks until today!

5. Cuckoo - Taylor Lautner. Need I say more?

6. Sushi. I only tried sushi for the first time a few months back, I am addicted. I could eat it every day of the week, and this week was one of them. Mmm.. 

7. Picnic in the park. Met up with Rosie on Saturday and headed to Hyde Park for a picnic, luckily the sun was shining brightly!

8. Lemons. When life gives you lemons? I have been loving eating lemons this week. Some might find it weird but I eat the whole lemon, even the skin. The skin actually has 5-10 more vitamins then the juice, and it tastes good.

9. Planet Organic. Treated myself a few goodies from this Devonshire Sq Planet Organic the other day, it is so good in there but so expensive. Why is healthy so expensive?

10. Discovering my new favourite coffee - Black Americano with Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup   I have visited Cafe Nero three times this week for this drink. 

Song of the week: Jesus Culture - Your Love Never Fails. This song cheers me up within seconds!
Movie of the week: The Wedding Planner. Is it just me that misses seeing Jennifer Lopez in movies?
Blogger of the week: Thumbelina Lillie - for making the #ProjectBareAll tag!

Let's Explore: Bricklane

Bricklane is one of the most well known streets in East London, with its cultural history, buzzing vibes, amazing curries, artistic patterns and vintage fashions. 

If anyone asked me when to go to Bricklane.. I would say on a Sunday! No other time compares to when your walking down the street and its bustling with people from all over the world. Be sure to get your people watching binoculars on as it is a great place to spot some of the latest vintage trends. 

The markets fill the street with fashion and antiques, there is also huge options for all you fellow foodies to sit down and grab a bite or get something on the go.

I spotted this little stall on the way down and couldn't resist a photograph of these man-vs-food wraps.

But what you really MUST do is experience the curry, Bricklane is famous for the best curry you can get in London!

The first day I moved into my flat I headed down Bricklane for a curry, we even researched which was the best curry house in order to avoid disappointment. Disappointed we were not! In an attempt to dine like curry royalty we decided to try Aladin's, after reading it had been praised by Prince Charles!

I went for the Vegetable Biryani and we shared a Peshwari Nan, sweet and stuffed with almonds and sultana. There is no words for this nan, I have never had a Peshwari that was like this one - it truly was sweet and tasty. With Biryani being my go to curry I was further impressed as this was definitely the best Biryani I have ever devoured, the portion of rice was generous and even enough for everyone else to dig in to! I had only wished for more sauce as it was so good.

If you feel like your stomach can't handle a curry and your wondering the streets for lunch, I would check out 'The Boiler House Food Hall', it has over 30 stalls of international culinary delights!! Your senses will never be so pleased as you step in to this place and experience being surrounded by food from all over the world, be prepared to 'ooo...' and 'aaah…' as you salivate approaching food heaven. TMI?

A few weekends ago I headed down there for lunch with Rosie we couldn't decide what to order, so we went for Ethiopian and Turkish and then split them, feasting in the open air.

Our box of Ethiopian cuisine was all vegan friendly, filled with all types of beans, pulses, vegetables and olives in an Ethiopian style pancake. I couldn't tell you what half of it was but I would happily relive this moment, eating this meal again and again.

The Turkish box was um, not adventurously Turkish. With couscous, red cabbage slaw, more olives, lettuce, pickled long green peppers, halloumi and garlic sauce. This one was tasty but nothing compared to the Ethiopian box of dreams.

Before our feast we headed into a few of the vintage stores, rummaging for some bargains.

(What is great about London is the diverse style, you can really pick up some great tips just by getting outside and exploring the streets. Especially in East London, with the clashings of culture and fashion.. it is a place where anything goes and even the most extravagant looks won't be judged. That is what is so fantastic.. you can be whoever you want to be, wear whatever you want to wear and just be you)

Of course with great alternative fashion, you need great music.

You will catch some new up-and-coming bands as you walk down the cobbled streets.

And don't forget to grab yourself a fresh juice on your way down!

Or a Pineapple.