tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84974886769418942892024-02-07T19:21:39.787+00:00Inferior DesignAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.comBlogger189125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-14135807260795637542015-07-19T19:18:00.000+01:002015-07-19T19:18:39.339+01:00Confessions of a reluctant runner:<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now here's a blog post I never, ever, EVER thought I would be writing...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have a confession to make, and it's something I've been keeping secret for the last three months. I've started running. For fun.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPx1am-qtcqfzPo1U_Hrfbyjge5nhlatsJcyn06cqPubPnOcUWgXQhYdqrpS5JYV5LZIJYPH9pclgpqSJbAZ9yVvxu2PS0F1jPmueNcM4VX-sfNGZIPEQVW2udxBBNLFPodsvDz4t7FfE/s1600/Photo+19-07-2015+13+59+26+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPx1am-qtcqfzPo1U_Hrfbyjge5nhlatsJcyn06cqPubPnOcUWgXQhYdqrpS5JYV5LZIJYPH9pclgpqSJbAZ9yVvxu2PS0F1jPmueNcM4VX-sfNGZIPEQVW2udxBBNLFPodsvDz4t7FfE/s640/Photo+19-07-2015+13+59+26+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you know me personally you'd be forgiven for letting out a little (or maybe even big) snort of laughter after reading that last sentence. I haven't been posting Instagram photos of my trainers or tweeting about my progress. I haven't even told my parents yet (don't be offended, guys). It might sound silly, but I've kept it so quiet because with my track record I knew nobody would believe I could keep it up. I needed to prove to myself that I could start running and stick to it before I could prove it to anyone else.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I hate exercise, and I always have. I'm usually a complainer and a quitter when it comes to anything physically demanding. I've joined a gym twice in my life and can count on two hands the number of times I actually went and did a meaningful workout.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Around the end of last year I tried to go swimming at my local pool because it's an 'easy' form of exercise. I endured ten minutes of flailing around in the water before I realised I had forgotten everything I learned in Standard Grade PE, sheepishly retreated into the changing room and never went back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's horrible to realise that you're completely unfit in your mid-twenties. Not significantly overweight, but 'skinny fat' as they call it. I didn't want to lose weight, I just wanted to feel less self-conscious about my flabby tummy, where all the sugary treats I can't resist instantly go after I eat them. I wanted to stop being out of breath walking up the stairs at work I used to jog up without a second thought. I wanted to be less tired all the time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But I hate the gym. It's not for me, and I know that now. Being stuck in a sweaty box staring longingly out of the window while trying not to fall off an exercise machine-cum-medieval torture device is not my jam. By the time I had packed up my gym bag and made the half hour trip to the gym I was so unmotivated to exercise that (full disclosure, guys) on more than one occasion I just turned round and went straight home again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So back in April I decided that I wanted to give running a try. Not running on a treadmill. Not running with a friend or a personal trainer. Just me, pounding the pavement in search of that euphoric mental state that many far superior runners call 'The Zone'. But I had never run before, aside from sports day. I was undoubtedly the most unfit I'd ever been in my life and there was no way I could just lace up my trainers and nip out for a half hour jog. I knew I had to start from rock bottom and - oh, boy - was it rock bottom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>My secret weapon:</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjcYQEQLTR4RdcvVQ89I9YO-im3UVsU-V3-2KxdbJPhXL3JZXJJUy8ESVF2PY8EkfT-23LiPLDRFY67t1w8VTcUfSUl8f-h7_SsqEDtr1GH5poFrirjAqR0wb9GWEQIOC9o0GbdDz2Ted/s1600/Couch+to+5k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjcYQEQLTR4RdcvVQ89I9YO-im3UVsU-V3-2KxdbJPhXL3JZXJJUy8ESVF2PY8EkfT-23LiPLDRFY67t1w8VTcUfSUl8f-h7_SsqEDtr1GH5poFrirjAqR0wb9GWEQIOC9o0GbdDz2Ted/s1600/Couch+to+5k.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k.aspx" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My most sensible decision was downloading the <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k.aspx" target="_blank">NHS Couch to 5k running app</a> on my phone, which is free and - although not the most flawless piece of software - really worked for me. The aim of the game is to run three times a week for 9 weeks with this app, building up your fitness through interval training until finally you'll be running for 30 minutes non-stop, covering at least 5k. As well as charting your progress, the app has a built in podcast recorded by 'Laura', who times your runs and shares words of wisdom and encouragement to motivate you while you sweat your bum off. Sounds kind of lame? Yes. Totally works? Also yes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Gear:</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1olR8U9-Hj3TysMhnOIny7VRkO2JNb6Ux4gMYCCR8avpASaOUTERf_Eq3ULDjJWa6nSDFo7Vh3XosFhBBVyIN76KwgFZZeAseAIG1dlxe5dUPWf3hcFiKPXUQvdS8C9SwsidCs-AmDAlr/s1600/Nike+trainers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1olR8U9-Hj3TysMhnOIny7VRkO2JNb6Ux4gMYCCR8avpASaOUTERf_Eq3ULDjJWa6nSDFo7Vh3XosFhBBVyIN76KwgFZZeAseAIG1dlxe5dUPWf3hcFiKPXUQvdS8C9SwsidCs-AmDAlr/s640/Nike+trainers.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.sneakersnstuff.com/en/product/18111/nike-w-air-zoom-structure-18" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first couple of weeks were the hardest, when running for 60 or 90 second spurts was unbearably difficult and doing so eight or so times in one session was nearly enough to kill me. At first I was running in a pair of cheap, old trainers I'd bought when I joined my uni gym back in Dundee, and they absolutely killed my feet and ankles. Once I had kept up with my training for three or four consistent weeks, I decided it was time to upgrade.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As a lot of people will tell you, decent and supportive shoes are the most important things you can buy as a runner. Since I was running on the hard pavement most of the time, and could already feel I needed extra support in my arches and ankles, I chose the <a href="http://store.nike.com/gb/en_gb/pd/air-zoom-structure-18-running-shoe/pid-10264971/pgid-10295561?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2F" target="_blank">Nike Air Zoom Structure 18</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The shoes weren't cheap, but since I bought the rest of my running gear cheaply at H&M (or already owned it) I figured I could justify the splurge. Running is bad for your knees, back, feet and everything else - I know that - but spending a little more money on your trainers gives you a better chance of avoiding longterm ill effects. Even if this pair only last me a year before they become worn out, I will definitely have got my money's worth by running a few times each week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It wasn't all smooth sailing with the Nikes though, and at first I thought I'd made a bad decision when they took a few weeks to properly break in. I had crippling ankle pain, which I self-diagnosed via Google as tendonitis. But - and maybe this was stupid - I really didn't want to stop. I was making progress. I had managed to run for 8 minutes without stopping. Um, what? Is this Alex Watson or Paula Radcliffe you're talking to?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And suddenly, just as I was thinking that I'd need to go back to the footwear drawing board, my Nikes stopped punishing me. It's like I had earned their trust, and now they were going to be my loyal friends for life. They were the best and most comfortable purchase I'd ever made. Running in them still feels like running on a cloud, and I haven't had any ankle pain whatsoever since.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And it was lucky that the pain stopped, because then shiz got real. After a few 10 minute runs with a little rest inbetween, suddenly Laura wanted me to run for 25 minutes without stopping. Was she insane? Yes. Did I hate her? Yes. Did I manage it? Absolutely, yes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Physical health:</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZCpD0W96FPg6uJPH8l6-WLWt1jhIvlywpqZen96cC6A6yuWzblcjwVB9ZCVjW7M2IBQa8ChovuItlXlCk1VOWHGD0uRdoRDXawhMJv5j0BRTQNYyxpD9ssY8YrsLlZYMkUb2GWY46RbE/s1600/run+vest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZCpD0W96FPg6uJPH8l6-WLWt1jhIvlywpqZen96cC6A6yuWzblcjwVB9ZCVjW7M2IBQa8ChovuItlXlCk1VOWHGD0uRdoRDXawhMJv5j0BRTQNYyxpD9ssY8YrsLlZYMkUb2GWY46RbE/s400/run+vest.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Source: <a href="https://www.etsy.com/market/ladies_tank/3" target="_blank">here</a></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The thing is that - as the app keeps telling you over and over - once you've got your base fitness back up, your ability to run long distances is purely a mental issue. I'm a quitter, but I'm also stubborn as hell and I wanted to complete this running challenge properly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If I ever had to stop running during a longer stint (which happened a couple of times early on) I treated that run as a practice and did the full run again later that week. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I ain't no cheater.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> It was my brain telling me to stop, not my body, and I knew that because after a few weeks of running - provided I stretched once I got home - my muscles weren't even sore the next day. My body was fit again, but my brain was holding it back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I learned what worked for me. I can't run easily in the morning. I'm much more likely to complete a run if I go in the evening. I get very warm while running and definitely don't need to be wearing anymore than a vest top when it's more than 12 degrees outside. Music drowns out my hideous breathing and motivates me to keep going, and - although the volume jumps around quite a lot - you can play music on your phone, even through Spotify, while the Couch to 5k app is still running in the background.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don't care what anyone thinks when they see me out running like I thought I might, because I'm too focussed on not dying and just getting home again. Plus, if I see someone out running I always applaud them internally for getting out there and working hard.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Mental health:</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNU1I_Vh1WyBFoJdYw4schSiC6DvswR8PYaAPigECKvBwEc05hBPN2SU9xSrlvZ4ZYyEjfgPwX5bRiNzGTtLKAYb4jeWj-X-51lC-m8nOk0hieH13DdyAvM87BEvB82JpzaszONp0wmxB8/s1600/running+motivation.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNU1I_Vh1WyBFoJdYw4schSiC6DvswR8PYaAPigECKvBwEc05hBPN2SU9xSrlvZ4ZYyEjfgPwX5bRiNzGTtLKAYb4jeWj-X-51lC-m8nOk0hieH13DdyAvM87BEvB82JpzaszONp0wmxB8/s640/running+motivation.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Source: <a href="http://runnerforeternity.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/motivation.html" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don't think I've ever really reached The Zone while running yet and maybe I never will, but it's definitely been good for my mental state. I'm a classic over-thinker, always making to do lists so that I don't forget anything, and then worrying that I've forgotten something anyway. Even if I've had the busiest day and my brain is bursting with worries, I can't stress out when I'm running. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After a while all I'm thinking about is breathing in and out and how I'm going to keep going for the next 20 minutes when I'm already sweating. My body started to tone up after a few weeks as a result of the running and I started to look a bit better and feel better about myself. Plus there are the endorphins which I had been missing out on for a long time by not doing any exercise. In general I'd say that (contrary to popular belief) running will make you happier.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>And finally...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I hope this post hasn't come across as preachy because I'm nowhere near an expert. I only just completed the 9 week programme today after stops and starts for holidays and illness. I still love (and eat a lot of) cake. I still want to die halfway through my runs. But my main message here is that total cliché which - in my case - is absolutely true. If I can do it, <span style="font-size: large;"><b>anybody can do it</b></span>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Believe it or not, it's easier to run non-stop for 30 minutes than it is to stop and start like you do in your early interval training. And what a sense of achievement! If my PE teachers could see me now...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So try it. The Couch to 5k app really worked for me, but there are plenty of others out there. Next I'm planning to try the 'Zombies, Run' podcast, which turns your run into a creepy-fun zombie escape game.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Are you a runner, or thinking about becoming one?</i></span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-47130409566229295342015-06-28T21:46:00.000+01:002015-06-28T21:46:06.711+01:00Dubrovnik, Croatia:<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's been a while now since <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/a-sleepy-sunday-in-nyc.html" target="_blank">my last holiday to the USA</a> back in October, and just as long since I got to completely switch off from work, the internet and the everyday stresses that seem to bother me much more than they should.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Luckily, Craig and I were able to escape for a few (extremely hot) days to Dubrovnik in Croatia earlier this month. We walked until we had blisters and I felt like a sweaty mess most of the time in the humid 25-30 degree heat, but it was a stunning place and I loved the novelty of wearing shorts all the time. Imagine the complete opposite of your usual Scottish summer weather, and that's what we got.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, here are a few snaps of the Dubrovnik old town (where some of <i>Game of Thrones</i> was filmed), Lokrum Island and us being dorks. My top tip for anyone else visiting would be to check out sea food street food restaurant <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dubrovnik.barba?fref=ts" target="_blank">Barba</a>, where we had an amazing octopus burger.</span></div>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-24944920268814724022015-06-07T13:03:00.000+01:002015-06-07T13:03:11.056+01:00Instagram #32:<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I thought I'd probably saved up enough photos to make another one of these worth it, so here we go! Strap yourself in for four months worth of Instagram memories...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>1. </b>Snowboarding for the first time ever on Valentine's Day with my lady love. (Craig was also there.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>2. </b>The view at the top of a very snowy CairnGorm Mountain, taken after falling on my bum a lot while attempting to snowboard.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>3. </b>I've been taking a fair few domestic flights for work lately, so this has become a fairly standard sight in my life.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKihzT4Obvt0DbeBRLuDTyrSZVxvXXv_G5mTduvg8Vi9yqCvsWcIEMLG6HYObuvh-1qIYfSPoXFJVYOyvoBDQgQymDweOucGJxXUX2Nx2AN5qH7swBP1EmQc9tSYnTc5cJVXFjpKAzCrG/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKihzT4Obvt0DbeBRLuDTyrSZVxvXXv_G5mTduvg8Vi9yqCvsWcIEMLG6HYObuvh-1qIYfSPoXFJVYOyvoBDQgQymDweOucGJxXUX2Nx2AN5qH7swBP1EmQc9tSYnTc5cJVXFjpKAzCrG/s640/2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>4. </b>A truly wonderful burger at <a href="http://www.thebreakfastclubcafes.com/locations/soho/" target="_blank">The Breakfast Club in Soho</a>, London. I forced two of my work friends to travel on the Tube for an hour each way just to eat here, and it was totally worth it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>5. </b>A dorky morning selfie, but I guess I felt good that day, so why not?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>6. </b>There's pretty much always cake at <a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/" target="_blank">WOW247</a> meetings, and this time it came on <i>Toy Story</i> plates. Awesome, right?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm0azbzvi31M76tuiTrarVxtrDrxYUnXD9S2sQ60uTdVFdrUKoHRBGYKe7nWyKukz7_ly6rQ9sI2_PD7j2V5s2hUMu0hc90sYDYr_AqxQNRR4mg0DK2jEp4jHPIGm2x8GSO3ZkrRLcrezd/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm0azbzvi31M76tuiTrarVxtrDrxYUnXD9S2sQ60uTdVFdrUKoHRBGYKe7nWyKukz7_ly6rQ9sI2_PD7j2V5s2hUMu0hc90sYDYr_AqxQNRR4mg0DK2jEp4jHPIGm2x8GSO3ZkrRLcrezd/s640/3.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>7. </b>Celebrating my oldest and best friend's birthday in March with a meal at my home from home, <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/burger-meats-bun-edinburgh.html" target="_blank">Burger Meats Bun</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>8. </b>My glorious usual at BMB: the Big Cheese and cheesy chips.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>9. </b>Another (perhaps unnecessary) selfie! I guess it was sunny that day, what with the sunglasses and all.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPse1hU6ZunVF6wNyErJNoh4gMVWZcqaffxcaAAexO0ovKiHqKDnZJ40o0NSHKx16BfpDqKsFcjWyR3JmSX5d-v6uOaamFe8i_ezrSixa5LZYitCmwdzSbuj_xVuq6oAUepcqZ91Vu1vSt/s1600/4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPse1hU6ZunVF6wNyErJNoh4gMVWZcqaffxcaAAexO0ovKiHqKDnZJ40o0NSHKx16BfpDqKsFcjWyR3JmSX5d-v6uOaamFe8i_ezrSixa5LZYitCmwdzSbuj_xVuq6oAUepcqZ91Vu1vSt/s640/4.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>10. </b>Craig's Easter basket, complete with a chocolate 'egg sandwich', <i>Community</i> mug and - of course - Easter chicks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>11. </b>My amazing <a href="http://www.marysmilkbar.com/" target="_blank">Mary's Milk Bar</a> Easter egg from Craig.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>12. </b>A photo in my Grandad's album (from August 1963) of the first Forth Road Bridge half built.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>13. </b>Irn Bru flavoured cider (discovered in Carlisle, of all places) called Clan MacFannie. Stay classy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>14. </b>Me and the brother of the bride at his sister's lovely vintage-themed wedding. I could've been a '40s war wife, for sure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>15. </b>The sun setting on one of many flights back to Edinburgh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>16. </b>Attempting to juggle journalism and eating/drinking is not always the easiest, but as long as there's one hand free for my G&T...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>17. </b>A new decal for my laptop - I love it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>18. </b>Home made salad niçoise, with smoked salmon instead of tuna. Yum! (And, yes, I actually prepared it myself...)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>19. </b>I got a complimentary postcard with my cocktail at <a href="http://slighhouse.com/" target="_blank">Slighhouse</a> on George IV Bridge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>20. </b>I volunteered myself to DJ at my sister's flat warming, armed with Franz Ferdinand, Arcade Fire and way, way too much prosecco. Oops.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>21. </b>Visiting with my friends' new cockapoo puppy, and brand new love of my life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>22. </b>Another shot of little baby Chumbo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>23. </b>Indoor fireworks at a lovely wedding in the <a href="http://www.thegeorgehoteledinburgh.co.uk/" target="_blank">George Hotel</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>24. </b>My dorky face on <a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/edinburgh" target="_blank">the new and improved WOW247 Edinburgh home page</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>25. </b>Craig, me and our toothy smiles at the aforementioned wedding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>26. </b>A delicious burger on my first visit to <a href="http://breadmeatsbread.com/" target="_blank">Bread Meats Bread</a> in Glasgow. (I'm sorry Burger Meats Bun, please forgive me!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>27. </b>Making new furry friends at <a href="http://tchaiovna.com/" target="_blank">Tchai-Ovna</a> in Glasgow this weekend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>28. </b>More burgers (at <a href="http://www.nicensleazy.com/" target="_blank">Nice 'N' Sleazy</a> this time) with my best burger boys, Craig and Steven.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>29. </b>And my chosen Nice 'N' Sleazy burger, the Lucretia - delicious!</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-72432634428526812412015-04-02T12:48:00.001+01:002015-04-02T12:48:47.043+01:00Inferior Book Group #12:<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let's ignore the fact that I haven't written a blog post in two months and just jump right back into it, okay? Okay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I recently finished reading Tina Fey's 2011 autobiography <i>Bossypants</i> and - as with most non-fiction books - I whizzed through it. I've been a casual admirer of Tina Fey and her work for a while now. I'd be surprised if you haven't heard of Tina before but, just in case, you will probably recognise her as the unfortunate but well-meaning teacher Ms Norbury from <i>Mean Girls</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Source: <a href="http://giphy.com/gifs/tina-fey-lindsay-lohan-movie-12E2Xmt6y73ClW" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But here's the best bit - if you didn't know already - Tina Fey actually wrote </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mean Girls</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> herself. She also co-wrote and starred in US TV comedy institution </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Saturday Night Live</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> for many years; created, wrote and starred in off the wall sitcom </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">30 Rock </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and - most recently - handcrafted one of the best written, most intelligent and hilarious TV shows I've seen in my life: </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I myself knew all of this information before reading </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bossypants</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, but somehow witnessing Tina Fey (very humbly) list all of these achievements one after the other made me realise exactly how much talent this incredible lady has, and just how much she's done with it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Source: <a href="http://theblackmaria.org/2014/02/25/whatever-happened-to-the-comedy-team/" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As you may be aware, Tina Fey and fellow </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">SNL</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> alum Amy Poehler are best friends in real life which is both amazing and awful. Amazing because they are (by all accounts) two of the sweetest and most hysterical ladies in comedy today, and I love imagining them making each other roll about laughing on the floor when they meet up for a cup of tea and a catch up. But awful because I've always felt that I needed to choose my favourite out of the two. Up until recently my love of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Parks and Rec </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">had me thinking I was firmly in Amy's camp, but </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bossypants</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> may just have shifted the balance. That's how brilliantly written this book is. Tina Fey should consider becoming a politician. (Although remember to ask me again where my loyalty lies after I've read Amy Poehler's autobiography.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, onto actually discussing the book. Back when I read fellow funny lady Mindy Kaling's autobiography in 2013, I wrote in <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/inferior-book-group-4.html" target="_blank">my review</a> that it felt like Mindy was chatting to me as though to a friend through the pages. I realise now that I was wrong. Compared to Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling speaks to her reader like a business acquaintance, or maybe her hairdresser - polite and really funny, but still ever so slightly guarded. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tina, on the other hand, lets it all out. She swears, she makes snide remarks, she shares gossip and doesn't skimp on the juicy details. Throughout the whole of <i>Bossypants</i> I felt like I was having my own rather surreal coffee shop catch up with Tina Fey. Move over, Amy Poehler.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The content of <i>Bossypants</i> is fairly standard for an autobiography. Tina's childhood, awkward teenage years, struggling artist stories and rise to fame are all chronicled - and it's all hilarious. Quite often the writing style reminded me of the way my friend Marianne (the Amy to my Tina and an extremely funny human being) talks, and I now realise that's because Tina Fey's comedic timing is absolutely flawless, even written down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/01/_30_rock_finale_the_legacy_of_tina_fey_at_the_nbc_show_s_final_episode.html" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Not to hate on Mindy Kaling unnecessarily (because I don't, she's great) but I remember finding the structure of her book to be particularly disjointed and jarring. Tina Fey has written what is in essence exactly the same book and it flows together beautifully. If you have the time you could easily read </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bossypants </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">in one sitting, but it isn't a throwaway book by any means.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you're a fan of <i>SNL</i> or <i>30 Rock</i>, you'll find out things you never knew about their creation by reading <i>Bossypants</i>. If you ever wondered why Tina Fey wanted to impersonate Sarah Palin repeatedly on live TV, you'll find out by reading <i>Bossypants</i> (vague spoiler: she didn't actually want to!). If you've never even heard of any of these new-fangled telly programmes and you haven't got a clue who Tina Fey is, you'll want to find out after reading <i>Bossypants</i>. That's how darn funny and good Tina Fey is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm going to stop fan-girling about Tina Fey now (how many times have I written 'Tina Fey' in this blog post now?) but if you are a human person and enjoy laughing you should read this book. As long as you don't mind snorting out loud on public transport.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Amy Poehler's autobiography <i>Yes Please</i> will be appearing in one of these book group reviews soon, but to space out the funny ladies I'll be reading John Darnielle's novel <i>Wolf in White Van </i>next. You might know Darnielle better as frontman of the Mountain Goats. I love his lyrics, so am very much looking forward to reading his first novel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Read my last review here: <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/inferior-book-group-11.html" target="_blank"><b>The New York Trilogy</b></a></i></span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-42273278849085091852015-02-08T21:44:00.000+00:002015-02-08T21:44:21.605+00:00Instagram #31:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, I kind of thought that the end of January would be a pretty quiet time for me work-wise and I'd be twiddling my thumbs. It turns out that I'm busier than ever, hence the pathetically low number of Instagram photos I managed to take all month...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>1. </b>My tired face when I was drinking an airport coffee after getting up at 4am for my very first business trip.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>2. </b>A keep-sake from a 'Polaroid party' club night - in my head the pose made me look a lot cooler and a lot less chubby.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>3. </b>This is Guillame, a resident of Edinburgh's new cat café Maison de Moggy. I was allowed to film there for <a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2015/02/05/maison-de-moggy-cat-cafe-edinburgh-video/" target="_blank">WOW247</a> just after it opened and you can watch the resulting video below! Best two hours of work ever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>4. </b>A hilariously poorly taken panorama of the brilliant <a href="https://iamsupermoon.bandcamp.com/releases" target="_blank">Supermoon</a> playing at Henry's Cellar Bar.</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-70943184705303519562015-02-01T14:08:00.000+00:002015-02-01T14:08:25.701+00:00Inferior Book Group #11:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh143yuUDeyooTRehiJBSXgoMnwlbi5f6n9h8cYTIbTmiWhGLg2hBDVGH5c0M72_lTOqlxVl9RppKGxLUMBTN-REYNDGqQgnU67tpkXheecEZZ6y9V_Qy9vWsZ9lN6LIRDAoeeOwPUh4OTF/s1600/Photo+31-01-2015+11+19+00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh143yuUDeyooTRehiJBSXgoMnwlbi5f6n9h8cYTIbTmiWhGLg2hBDVGH5c0M72_lTOqlxVl9RppKGxLUMBTN-REYNDGqQgnU67tpkXheecEZZ6y9V_Qy9vWsZ9lN6LIRDAoeeOwPUh4OTF/s1600/Photo+31-01-2015+11+19+00.jpg" height="640" width="498" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hello book friends and fiends! You may (quite understandably) assume that it took me nearly three whole months to read <i>The New York Trilogy</i> by Paul Auster. Actually, I just completely failed at reading anything at all during most of November and December. When I finally got around to properly giving <i>The New York Trilogy </i>a go I was - to be completely honest - kind of dreading it. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because <i>The New York Trilogy</i> was critically acclaimed and a university course text I fully expected it</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> to be a really difficult read, but it's actually one the most artfully written books I've read in a long time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I mentioned in <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/inferior-book-group-10.html" target="_blank">my last Inferior Book Group post</a>, this is a book I was assigned to read for a module on detective fiction during my final year of uni in Dundee. Don't tell my tutors, but I didn't read all of the books we were meant to read, and this was one of them. That being said, after uni was over and I sold a lot of my course texts, I still held onto my copy of <i>The New York Trilogy </i>because I had a feeling it would (eventually) be a story worth my time - and I'm pleased to say I was right.</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The New York Trilogy </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">is a series of of three novellas written between 1985 and 1986 that are now published together in one volume. The stories - </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">City of Glass</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ghosts </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Locked Room</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> - are very, very loosely linked in that you'll notice recurring character names and repeated themes, but otherwise they all stand alone.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.famousauthors.org/paul-auster" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Without going into spoiler territory, each of the three tales is a pseudo-detective story which explores the fine line between an author and their characters. To make things even more confusing, Paul Auster even puts himself (or someone named after himself, who also happens to be a writer) into <i>City of Glass</i> as a peripheral character. And that odd turn of events really sets the mood for the whole trilogy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In each novella Auster weaves an impressively perplexing mystery which I fully expected to be neatly explained by the final page. Maybe writing this is giving too much away, but nothing is explained. Nothing. Normally I would expect to get very frustrated with such a baffling book, but I couldn't fault Auster's writing style and after a certain point I couldn't put the book down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In my opinion, to be able to write such a confusing yet compelling collection of stories - each one stranger, yet more interesting than the last - is a truly impressive achievement. <i>The New York Trilogy</i> doesn't feel dated or aged at all (to be honest, I didn't even realise it was written in the '80s until I had finished reading) and that's another indicator of the author's skill.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I would definitely read more of Paul Auster's work, and highly recommend <i>The New York Trilogy</i> to anyone - but prepare to be simultaneously fascinated and frustrated by these deliciously abstract stories.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">During February I'll be reading the hilarious and totally inspiring Tina Fey's autobiography <i>Bossypants</i>. I get the feeling I'll whizz through this one, as her writing style is brilliantly funny and so easy to read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Read October's review here: <b><a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/inferior-book-group-10.html" target="_blank">Orange is the New Black</a></b></i></span></div>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-52101473373599626992015-01-10T19:22:00.000+00:002015-01-10T19:22:55.122+00:00Instagram #30:<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you, friends! Sorry for my absence during most of December but - as I mentioned in <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/hey-life-i-am-still-here.html" target="_blank">this post</a> - I have been pretty busy lately, and I very much enjoyed having some time off over the festive period. Here's what I got up to while I was gone:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>1. </b>Another amazing hand drawn Christmas card, made by my talented buddy <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Me3Comedy" target="_blank">Marianne</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>2. </b>I was lucky enough to lose spectacularly in this surprisingly intense spontaneous game of Scrabble on a trip to Dundee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>3. </b>Our Christmas gator ballerina tree ornament made a new friend this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>4. </b>Craig and I did the obligatory couple photo on our fifth anniversary. We still (kind of) like each other really, don't worry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>5. </b>Not only did <a href="http://nicolabrownblog.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Nicola</a> give me the amazing Amy Poehler's book for Christmas, but she also wrapped it in paper with my own Instagram photos on it. How amazing is that?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>6. </b>Mossy proof that we spent Christmas in deepest, darkest Cumbria. There wasn't even any phone signal!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>7. </b>I was given this badass burger cushion by my lovely adopted cousin Anna for Christmas, which is now in pride of place on our bed. I can't express how much I love it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>8. </b>Speaking of Amy Poehler's book - here it is alongside her pal Tina Fey's book and Lena Dunham's book! I got all three for Christmas, and I'm very excited to read them and write about them in future <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/inferior-book-group-10.html" target="_blank">Inferior Book Group</a> posts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>9. </b>Some of my favourite adopted family in a Hogmanay group selfie that gives Ellen DeGeneres a run for her money. Right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>10. </b>And finally: a charming 'Happy New Year!' photo we sent to all of our friends...</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-56458936181841175072014-12-08T22:51:00.000+00:002014-12-08T22:51:36.276+00:00Instagram #29:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgynCfzvcumWGs055D3eBPT0N88Ap8f31fi5T9J1BDjjlSq1g0_EhJkxCr8ycXkNJfJvI3TY81-geZ1oTqYwGj3sIjiSn2ZaixOLHNg9c4A16gVfVpI7nRDD6hsIPcLxNvIQJnN4IY5ur5B/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgynCfzvcumWGs055D3eBPT0N88Ap8f31fi5T9J1BDjjlSq1g0_EhJkxCr8ycXkNJfJvI3TY81-geZ1oTqYwGj3sIjiSn2ZaixOLHNg9c4A16gVfVpI7nRDD6hsIPcLxNvIQJnN4IY5ur5B/s1600/1.png" height="218" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>1. </b>A stunning sunset from the <a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/" target="_blank">WOW247</a> office window. No photo does the view justice - on a clear day you can see all the way from Fife to the top of Calton Hill, it's insane.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>2. </b>A Throwback Thursday photo with my wee pal <a href="http://nicolabrownblog.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Nicola</a> (in honour of her birthday) as we got ready to see The Reflektors (AKA Arcade Fire) in Glasgow last year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>3. </b>Waiting to interview the charming <a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/11/19/jonnie-common-interview-trapped-in-amber/" target="_blank">Jonnie Common</a> while drinking an amazing orange hot chocolate at Mary's Milk Bar. Go have one!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmW6UBAlhDhL0KrTywnzWiF9BDgnsdqX80A5JeJWu-TxRCKwsVqNWluoHlX0n_oe2d8dVPckZs9cRhq-iu7uH_qpvkk9klquQQG_vcbUf2GOTtBrZOytwbbrSTIi2lOeeYFCzzRkNIIJuS/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmW6UBAlhDhL0KrTywnzWiF9BDgnsdqX80A5JeJWu-TxRCKwsVqNWluoHlX0n_oe2d8dVPckZs9cRhq-iu7uH_qpvkk9klquQQG_vcbUf2GOTtBrZOytwbbrSTIi2lOeeYFCzzRkNIIJuS/s1600/2.png" height="218" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>4. </b>An amazing rainbow I spotted on the walk to work that apparently ended in my office building... (No pot of gold, though.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>5. </b>A wintery weekend face of the day, complete with fuzzy earmuffs. It wasn't even properly cold then - it's freezing now!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>6. </b>Tipsy shopping in Waitrose after a boozy Sunday lunch with my irresponsible family...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg49tw94FVMNXFDDLyJGDzSw_uCEvj2d5NzzC3OkYuVkSz1EQmUqenzhMxxM-pK2r_8sXNckAk6yqL1hoznWKcRUrrwiym8Xq2rBWwUvCCjJqhDmY7tWbbPxKlBWoR-AlAkvzAmQROHOmXw/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg49tw94FVMNXFDDLyJGDzSw_uCEvj2d5NzzC3OkYuVkSz1EQmUqenzhMxxM-pK2r_8sXNckAk6yqL1hoznWKcRUrrwiym8Xq2rBWwUvCCjJqhDmY7tWbbPxKlBWoR-AlAkvzAmQROHOmXw/s1600/3.png" height="326" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>7. </b>Two un-Christmassy dogs for our Christmas tree. They go perfectly with our Christmas ballerina alligator decoration.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>8. </b>Trying the daily special at <a href="http://www.burger-meats-bun.co.uk/" target="_blank">Burger Meats Bun Edinburgh</a>. It was the first time I have ever eaten something other than their Big Cheese burger. Not bad!</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-62368134621459042212014-12-03T22:13:00.000+00:002014-12-03T22:13:16.621+00:00'Hey life, I am still here':<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've been incredibly rubbish at getting blog posts written lately, and that's partly due to currently working two jobs, but - let's be real for a second - it's mostly a result of my own laziness. I'm definitely guilty of writing endless to do lists and then never completing (or usually barely even starting) any of them. This very blog post has taken over a week to finally get around to. Anyway, here's what I've been up to since I essentially fell off the face of the blogosphere back in October.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHFOnakDQdl_LgmyK0msGbxQRFa8LLQukQwhi3AFzHgvCVAZvcY25PPUOOwSMkuxKVqnMcRLktpFf7RgyrfpYT7J-52gJx8Hps57MCb5nK7XSu2q87D8IlTvUPtVfhM0YaOe14V5fgGoyT/s1600/Photo+02-12-2014+21+41+14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHFOnakDQdl_LgmyK0msGbxQRFa8LLQukQwhi3AFzHgvCVAZvcY25PPUOOwSMkuxKVqnMcRLktpFf7RgyrfpYT7J-52gJx8Hps57MCb5nK7XSu2q87D8IlTvUPtVfhM0YaOe14V5fgGoyT/s1600/Photo+02-12-2014+21+41+14.jpg" height="640" width="328" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here I am looking like a dork on my second graduation day, but smiling because I've finally escaped education forever. (Although I almost definitely said that last time around too...) Graduating with my MA journalism buddies was good fun, but the whole experience felt a little rushed and kind of surreal. I knew this would happen, but as quickly as it started (and very quickly totally overwhelmed me) my postgrad is over and done with.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwIilea6oNwgcetgPoS_L6Ze_37rjC6WWqfwCzwATItSKgsHvmm8iWni2m3j_P6b5E2Ycm2GF2ECi-x70SSSSjMw9P1rGZeUqGopyi5CiAR-34prxxtqVf7dmoaHD_zidexZ-9dilryjf/s1600/WOW247+bio.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwIilea6oNwgcetgPoS_L6Ze_37rjC6WWqfwCzwATItSKgsHvmm8iWni2m3j_P6b5E2Ycm2GF2ECi-x70SSSSjMw9P1rGZeUqGopyi5CiAR-34prxxtqVf7dmoaHD_zidexZ-9dilryjf/s1600/WOW247+bio.png" height="128" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After graduation, normally the next task is to find a job. Lucky for me, I had actually already started a three month internship with </span><a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">WOW247</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> before officially graduating and I'll be there until January. I'm still working at my old job every other weekend so that means the occasional 12 day stint without a day off (just as fun as it sounds, let me tell you) but I'm really enjoying the opportunity I've been given.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've been writing a lot of articles for the website (which you can feel free to browse through <a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/author/alexwatson/" target="_blank">here</a>) and I've also had the chance to do a bit of filming and editing, which I really love. I've interviewed <a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/11/19/jonnie-common-interview-trapped-in-amber/" target="_blank">Jonnie Common</a> about his new album and <a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/11/28/supermoon-ive-got-absolutely-no-desire-to-compete-with-the-music-industry/" target="_blank">Neil Pennycook</a> about his new music pseudonym. I've discovered facts about two of my favourite movies - <i><a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/11/14/ghostbusters-30-things-you-didnt-know/" target="_blank">Ghostbusters</a> </i>and <i><a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/11/21/30-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-ferris-buellers-day-off/" target="_blank">Ferris Bueller's Day Off</a></i> - that even I didn't know. I got to write a piece about <a href="http://g/2014/11/18/centralia-town-inspired-silent-hill/" target="_blank">visiting Centralia, PA</a> and include my own photos, which is lovely because I thought those pictures were kind of beautiful (in their own way) and deserved to be seen. It's great fun when you can draw on your life experiences in your work. I especially enjoyed choosing <a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/10/29/13-films-that-perfectly-portray-what-its-like-to-work-in-a-soul-destroying-job/" target="_blank">13 films that perfectly portray what it's like to work in a crappy job</a> - very therapeutic.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUVPp03-k8-BABc_ntvaj4hZZvS8DQj4AIFAF0jbagZ3iMO4dynV6FEm-Ji1pfLd3A6Uq2KduSapqwN93HRV1ub9nreg-ybuXxw-IAjFpJ-sgjRSnBCiZ3FjLXV1w8UiAZCQpYXjUq-C7/s1600/Photo+07-11-2014+11+52+08+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUVPp03-k8-BABc_ntvaj4hZZvS8DQj4AIFAF0jbagZ3iMO4dynV6FEm-Ji1pfLd3A6Uq2KduSapqwN93HRV1ub9nreg-ybuXxw-IAjFpJ-sgjRSnBCiZ3FjLXV1w8UiAZCQpYXjUq-C7/s1600/Photo+07-11-2014+11+52+08+(1).jpg" height="640" width="586" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Weirdly I've found myself choosing washing up or laundry over blogging of late - simply because it means I get a break from staring at my computer screen. A hazard of the job, I suppose. Housework aside, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I haven't really had the time or energy to do much outside of my two jobs, but I did manage to get some time off to celebrate Craig's birthday with him last month. We saw </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Nightcrawler </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">at </span><a href="http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Cameo_Picturehouse/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">The Cameo</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> (so good, but such a moral minefield for any journalist viewers!) and went for a lovely dinner at <a href="http://rafaels-bistro.wikidot.com/" target="_blank">Rafael's</a> in Stockbridge - highly recommended.</span></div>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-13227949381466909952014-11-22T18:53:00.001+00:002014-11-22T18:53:19.220+00:00Counting down to Christmas:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Whether you like it or not, Christmas is now officially just over a month away. Some very organised people will have already made a start on their seasonal shopping, and a select few seriously ill individuals will have completed the task (wrapping and all) back in August. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For the majority of us, though - despite all the good intentions in the world - the 25th of December will creep up far too quickly. Before you know it, you'll be the person tearing your hair out in the middle of M&S, or fiercely wrestling a fellow shopper for the last Downton Abbey box set. Usually, that person is me. But not this year, friends, not this year.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtV0VVd25fGyCnedZ9NsWFwzdj_c8PDYtg7Bm40bOBdQX2bj1Hqu495pFR3srrZumS2z5KPlsz8iireQ7zyVcYmPqZNaOOnO3cFBuhs8LzOrrD795yNphBnGc24SMbxBd0etgkP-aGGEpV/s1600/Photo+15-10-2014+18+19+55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtV0VVd25fGyCnedZ9NsWFwzdj_c8PDYtg7Bm40bOBdQX2bj1Hqu495pFR3srrZumS2z5KPlsz8iireQ7zyVcYmPqZNaOOnO3cFBuhs8LzOrrD795yNphBnGc24SMbxBd0etgkP-aGGEpV/s1600/Photo+15-10-2014+18+19+55.jpg" height="462" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks to the (admittedly quite early) John Lewis Christmas launch night last month, I've been brainstorming gift ideas for my family and friends for a while now. Like <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/christmas-in-october-john-lewis.html" target="_blank">last year</a>, I met <a href="http://www.elevatormusik.com/" target="_blank">Gillian</a> and <a href="http://rubyrubyslippers.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lianne</a> (and also the lovely <a href="http://www.thelikelylady.com/" target="_blank">Laura</a> for the first time) at the Edinburgh branch to see what John Lewis have got in store for Christmas 2014. We were all greeted with a special cocoa infused gin and tonic and tasty canapés from the in store <a href="http://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/chocolate-shops/edinburgh-jl" target="_blank">Hotel Chocolat Café</a> - something which I'm sure would make the everyday Christmas shopping experience infinitely better.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBHWMaYUTPI_IREnE01yAmib4v3vZ9GnzFp8Ju4j6iP5d16MvqKMnQMQRYN22Akx-ZpJgqepQ6hlJo5ITdTkvq7Tm2JZVIS0MlCv078mQbZ-aHe1YDres46orGPaUHkfddo4cLorPhLWs/s1600/Photo+15-10-2014+18+23+24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBHWMaYUTPI_IREnE01yAmib4v3vZ9GnzFp8Ju4j6iP5d16MvqKMnQMQRYN22Akx-ZpJgqepQ6hlJo5ITdTkvq7Tm2JZVIS0MlCv078mQbZ-aHe1YDres46orGPaUHkfddo4cLorPhLWs/s1600/Photo+15-10-2014+18+23+24.jpg" height="446" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As always, we were spoiled rotten by both John Lewis and the <a href="http://stripecommunications.com/" target="_blank">Stripe</a> team, and I had a lovely time catching up with some of my favourite Edinburgh bloggers. Hopefully the snaps I took at the event will help you get into the Christmas spirit if you aren't already - is anyone else getting excited about putting up their tree way too early?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Have a look below at my John Lewis Christmas gift guide which I've split up into a few different categories. Maybe it will inspire you on your Christmas shopping quest, or maybe it will just make your own wish list longer...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncUSYW4xkagOShDSe0D6Z6hyphenhyphenw7-90_BOMdrDyZGkDkjjo12RF3ggLdm_dqQmXh_AWYuAmWG3WohcYsDJ2SX3oRTZwUZDNR1XDDHkMbHlB8TOX4cjJjIs3QFDWeYu_fDK9m1x4uRz0aOmo/s1600/Photo+15-10-2014+18+21+18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncUSYW4xkagOShDSe0D6Z6hyphenhyphenw7-90_BOMdrDyZGkDkjjo12RF3ggLdm_dqQmXh_AWYuAmWG3WohcYsDJ2SX3oRTZwUZDNR1XDDHkMbHlB8TOX4cjJjIs3QFDWeYu_fDK9m1x4uRz0aOmo/s1600/Photo+15-10-2014+18+21+18.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>Food & Drink:</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>1. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/veuve-clicquot-yellow-label-nv-champagne-with-ice-jacket-carry-pack-75cl/p1513281" target="_blank">Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label NV Champagne with Ice Jacket Carry Pack</a>: </b>If I'm ever taking a bottle of white or fizzy wine to a friend's house, I like it to arrive chilled and ready to drink. Now, t</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">his might be the most first world problem you've ever heard, but carting a bottle with a cooling jacket on it around is always a pain and obviously the John Lewis buyers think so too! Personally I think a carry handle on an ice jacket is a genius idea, and this one comes with a bottle of Champers too (worth over £35 on its own) - bonus! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">£48)</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>2. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/hotel-chocolat-classic-christmas-h-box-collection-150g/p1691750" target="_blank">Hotel Chocolat Classic Christmas H-Box</a>: </b>If you're going to give a box of chocolates as a Christmas present, you'd better make sure they're something special. Pretty much anything from Hotel Chocolat is guaranteed to taste great, but doesn't this special Christmas box look amazing too? <i>(£12)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>3. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/edinburgh-gin-cocktail-set-2-x-20cl/p1709122" target="_blank">Edinburgh Gin Cocktail Set</a>: </b>I'm a big fan of Edinburgh Gin (as any regular readers/friends and family members will already know!) and I also love a good cocktail. This cocktail making set comes with everything you'll need to come up with your own concoctions at home. I particularly like the little Edinburgh Gin bottle stopper. <i>(£45)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>4. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/natalie-chocolates-fondant-sugar-mice-stick-pack-70g/p231600774" target="_blank">Natalie Chocolates Fondant Sugar Mice Stick Pack</a>: </b>My Mum (err... I mean <i>Santa</i>) always used to put a sugar mouse in my stocking, so I still always associate them with Christmas. These ones are a soft fondant, so will save any cracked teeth dramas on Christmas morning! <i>(£2.50)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>5. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/build-your-own-gingerbread-train-830g/p1466013" target="_blank">Build Your Own Gingerbread Train</a>: </b>We're big train fans in my family, so I had to include this cute alternative to a traditional gingerbread house. <i>(£15)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>6. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/edinburgh-gin-rhubarb-ginger-liqueur-50cl/p1671182" target="_blank">Edinburgh Gin Rhubarb & Ginger Liqueur</a>: </b>Edinburgh Gin usually come out with a new flavoured liqueur around Christmas time, and this year it's rhubarb and ginger. These taste great in cocktails, or with some prosecco and I'm curious to taste the new flavour for myself. <i>(£18)</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9z3dGYSXLtwl6aLadzx9-R7CzwTPhhaEkSx785lXL0NI3df-9FtR3B8ctvpXXD63Zdp8eIzJX3-8AhjtwQ6F-Tz90_uUGvh4JCx26C1kxBQYUjwmbDpByd8_BjARcrLxOx1wz2UZzfEzc/s1600/Comfort+and+beauty.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9z3dGYSXLtwl6aLadzx9-R7CzwTPhhaEkSx785lXL0NI3df-9FtR3B8ctvpXXD63Zdp8eIzJX3-8AhjtwQ6F-Tz90_uUGvh4JCx26C1kxBQYUjwmbDpByd8_BjARcrLxOx1wz2UZzfEzc/s1600/Comfort+and+beauty.png" height="458" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>1. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/barts-maria-beanie-hat-one-size-ink-blue/p1607298" target="_blank">Barts Maria Beanie Hat</a>: </b>I have a strange relationship with hats. I kind of have too much hair to really stand a chance at making them look good on me, but I still always find myself hankering after woolly bobble hats at this time of year - especially when they're as cute as this one. <i>(£19.99)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>2. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/benefit-pretty-parfait-gift-set/p1667187" target="_blank">Benefit Pretty Parfait Gift Set</a>: </b>As a total make up novice, I've always been intrigued by what <a href="https://www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk/" target="_blank">Benefit</a> has to offer, but could never justify shelling out money on expensive products that might not work for me. This gift set comes with four famous Benefit items that I haven't tried, one of which - the Benetint lip and cheek stain - is worth £24.50 on its own! <i>(£29.50)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>3. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/mavala-nail-polish-bauble-5ml/p1483298?colour=Pure%20Diamond%20213" target="_blank">MAVALA Nail Polish Bauble in Rouge Rubis</a>: </b>Despite being an amateur when it comes to make up, I do have a soft spot for nail varnish. (I've barely had my natural nail colour for more than 24 hours in the last five years, and that's not an exaggeration!) I've never tried the MAVALA brand before, so buying a single polish like this seems like a good way to try it out, and the fact that it's encased in a Christmas tree bauble is just an added bonus. </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(£5)</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>4. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/opi-nails-nail-lacquer-gwen-mini-christmas-holiday-stars-gift-set/p1677258" target="_blank">OPI Nails - Gwen Mini Christmas Holiday Stars Gift Set</a>: </b>OPI have a great reputation, but up until recently their nail varnishes were pretty difficult to get your hands on in the UK. This special Christmas set has four festive colours (with amazing names like 'What's Your Point-Settia?') and the mini sized bottles will last longer than you think. Bargain! <i>(£14.50)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>5. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-christmas-tree-duvet-cover-and-pillowcase-set/p1369314" target="_blank">John Lewis Christmas Tree Duvet Cover and Pillowcase Set</a>: </b>Some people might think decorating your bedroom for Christmas is over the top, but I am not one of those people. Last year I bought a snuggly, tartan flannel duvet cover for the winter months, but I'd be willing to take it one step further with this pretty Christmas tree number. <i>(£40-£50)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>6. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/fat-face-reindeer-jersey-pyjama-pants-natural/p1761067" target="_blank">Fat Face Reindeer Jersey Pyjama Pants</a>: </b>If I'm going to be properly cosy under my Christmas themed duvet, I obviously need the appropriate reindeer pyjama bottoms to wear. I usually get a new pair as a present every Christmas and wear them to death throughout the year. As long as you get the size right, it's an ideal gift idea for anyone! <i>(£28)</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKp3wsEZl-Nv9tUoTiRXbnKMqDLmCBtp8zsPRe1geRiaZMZKjZBSW-w14OtJuCDQHzhWkrT6jmzGRCj2U4aow596T8jH1LYTNHHMJHExjg-CcOPWMyx1vgOz2m7OZk0y21JIZyuh7bsdv9/s1600/Gadgets.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKp3wsEZl-Nv9tUoTiRXbnKMqDLmCBtp8zsPRe1geRiaZMZKjZBSW-w14OtJuCDQHzhWkrT6jmzGRCj2U4aow596T8jH1LYTNHHMJHExjg-CcOPWMyx1vgOz2m7OZk0y21JIZyuh7bsdv9/s1600/Gadgets.png" height="466" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>1. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/lumie-bodyclock-go-75-wake-up-light/p231686152" target="_blank">Lumie Bodyclock Go 75 Wake-up Light</a>: </b>I've hankered after one of these alarm clocks that simulate a sunrise for a long time because I have real difficulty waking up in the morning. The idea is that the gradual light will wake you up naturally, rather than jolting you out of bed. I'm not sure if it would work, but I really like the idea! <i>(£75)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>2. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/joby-griptight-gorillapod-tripod-for-smartphones/p231838931" target="_blank">Joby GripTight GorillaPod Tripod for Smartphones</a>: </b>My Dad has a GorillaPod, so I've seen firsthand how cool and useful they are. I've wanted a tripod for my iPhone for a while (more for filming than taking photos, but it could come in handy for that too!) and having the bendable legs means you can wrap it around anything to get your shot, rather than carting around a bulky, tall tripod. <i>(£25)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>3. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/nespresso-inissia-coffee-machine-by-krups/p1221431?colour=Red" target="_blank">Nespresso Inissia Coffee Machine by KRUPS in Red</a>: </b>I never thought I would be a coffee (or tea) drinker, but apparently adulthood requires a lot of caffeine. We had a Nespresso coffee maker in one of our USA hotel rooms, and it was really easy to use. Buying a machine like this might be a bit pricey, but at around 30p per Nespresso pod I would save a lot of money on coffee in the long run! <i>(£62.99-£80)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>4. <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/apple-wireless-remote-mc377z-a/p230733040" target="_blank">Apple Wireless Remote</a>: </b>Having a remote for my laptop (and phone) is a bit of an extravagance really, but it could come in handy while watching movies in bed or listening to music around the house. I don't think the Apple remote is compatible with third party programs - like Netflix - but that's not the end of the world when it's not overly expensive. <i>(£15)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>What's on your Christmas list this year?</b></span></div>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-27598637209160076882014-11-09T00:48:00.000+00:002014-11-09T00:48:28.386+00:00Instagram #28:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGiXrmHrOgcmDIpF5xU6BdQRlM9c4W2261MdVxQCfzCy43hdm44dK_-8tOoF8vnbZ03ESxlmr9R33K4yi8ge1hazCqcRzk_Yt4oPUqEa-jR820FGEjb5aZGr9L0iJsOcuE0Wc9diR0MfE_/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGiXrmHrOgcmDIpF5xU6BdQRlM9c4W2261MdVxQCfzCy43hdm44dK_-8tOoF8vnbZ03ESxlmr9R33K4yi8ge1hazCqcRzk_Yt4oPUqEa-jR820FGEjb5aZGr9L0iJsOcuE0Wc9diR0MfE_/s1600/1.png" height="218" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>1. </b>Well these photos feel like part of a distant (beautiful) dream now, but Craig and I had these much needed cocktails at The Cheesecake Factory in Boston after a terrifying drive into the city during rush hour. (You can watch Craig's traumatised reaction to that journey in our travel vlog <a href="http://youtu.be/76xebzz9qCg?list=UUL8ga5C2h1IHXDNBcM6vJ6Q" target="_blank">here</a>...)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>2. </b>I loved these coloured lanterns in Boston's Chinatown.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>3. </b>Autumn leaves (and my Doc Martens) on a rainy day in Harvard Yard.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZDwdIdn_15iu3ZAiCJzBu_foGxWnTNocUWOllYq0yqmFZpHVbKJsylJotnt7jonWPDLwfELGxZtbvuhDc1lAUZle2jIpNqzQtAQEa8SmYDqdP6j_dP_LovP_V_-IIUqPWEQ3hs2BmpPAY/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZDwdIdn_15iu3ZAiCJzBu_foGxWnTNocUWOllYq0yqmFZpHVbKJsylJotnt7jonWPDLwfELGxZtbvuhDc1lAUZle2jIpNqzQtAQEa8SmYDqdP6j_dP_LovP_V_-IIUqPWEQ3hs2BmpPAY/s1600/2.png" height="214" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>4. </b>Extremely strong cocktails in glasses made of ice at the amazing <a href="http://www.frosticebar.com/" target="_blank">Frost Ice Bar</a> in Boston.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>5. </b>Here I am eating a McDonald's in Times Square on our last day in NYC - the quintessential American experience, right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>6. </b>Back in Blighty and having a lovely time at the John Lewis Christmas launch event.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxTsXCc4lfOkXKgG0hXNhERHGtc32fbs-5wHG9utKUXDF77SRHAJfmGnjeieof8PxNzxHSgCHMSmGYHY7J3kvYq8rfVJUEtzxmY97Vo1twyJ00nIPskK1tSBxisvkEjwXBoGLm06FZ5TG/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxTsXCc4lfOkXKgG0hXNhERHGtc32fbs-5wHG9utKUXDF77SRHAJfmGnjeieof8PxNzxHSgCHMSmGYHY7J3kvYq8rfVJUEtzxmY97Vo1twyJ00nIPskK1tSBxisvkEjwXBoGLm06FZ5TG/s1600/3.png" height="216" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>7. </b>Our flat was spookified for Halloween (just because I'm a saddo, not because we were having a party...).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>8. </b>£2.50 frozen margaritas at <a href="http://www.theparadisepalms.com/" target="_blank">Paradise Palms</a> on a school night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>9. </b>There's nothing like a seasonal window display at <a href="http://www.lovecrumbs.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lovecrumbs</a> to make a person feel festive.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9JzHc7tOqqM-tVQdc1zN9_AjxCehURoEfKS8o81D0G9gg_OoZNcERkY74_AsWgvr5qAXU9Ijuu-V0Sxu3BTDbgVa1Kg4aIQxWCZxtynjb_pOVi3qqDAheIaLhzKU6mUJZT_g6pmKdgBt/s1600/4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9JzHc7tOqqM-tVQdc1zN9_AjxCehURoEfKS8o81D0G9gg_OoZNcERkY74_AsWgvr5qAXU9Ijuu-V0Sxu3BTDbgVa1Kg4aIQxWCZxtynjb_pOVi3qqDAheIaLhzKU6mUJZT_g6pmKdgBt/s1600/4.png" height="216" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>10. </b>I can finally buy knitwear again after we got a new washing machine, so to celebrate I treated myself to this amazing orange jumper with quilted pleather shoulders from H&M.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>11. </b>I snapped this moody sunset on my way home from work a couple of weeks ago. Not bad, Edinburgh, not bad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>12. </b>The lovely Nicola and I on our graduation day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>13. </b>Last but not least, here's my (not so) wee Craig on his birthday on Friday. Isn't he cute?</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-85799238214302188142014-11-04T23:08:00.000+00:002014-11-04T23:08:23.884+00:00Inferior Book Group #10:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVcT27cs95kH4zSg4plqTcILvAJrVtIhhy0stdcRP_eGAVloJUcFaAjJjpNPBgs9eqYBAN8029eWQvE0fxkgciDXQhGtrRAyvtHoDdb_zJHxMNUJF6MhqwM8IvZT0GuAQeWhw1P5w2KqdW/s1600/Photo+01-11-2014+20+31+39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVcT27cs95kH4zSg4plqTcILvAJrVtIhhy0stdcRP_eGAVloJUcFaAjJjpNPBgs9eqYBAN8029eWQvE0fxkgciDXQhGtrRAyvtHoDdb_zJHxMNUJF6MhqwM8IvZT0GuAQeWhw1P5w2KqdW/s1600/Photo+01-11-2014+20+31+39.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I would never call reading a chore, but I'm a fairly slow reader compared to a lot of other people - especially people who also have English literature degrees. That being said, I absolutely tore through <i>Orange is the New Black </i>during October. I actually only started reading it on our flight home from America on the 13th, and I was finished by the end of the month, which - for me - is the equivalent of lightning speed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Those of you who read <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/what-im-watching-3.html" target="_blank">my occasional 'What I'm watching' posts</a> will already know that I'm a big fan of the <i>Orange is the New Black </i>TV adaptation, so I was intrigued to read Piper Kerman's original 2010 memoir about life in a women's prison. Piper was incarcerated for just over a year in 2004, after pleading guilty to money laundering and drug trafficking ten years before, although that charge makes her crime sound a lot more cold and calculating than it actually was.</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Orange is the New Black </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">follows Kerman's prison journey from start to finish, and she doesn't spare any of the gory details either. I was surprised to learn that there was truth behind the majority of the TV adaptation's story lines, although (funnily enough) the Hollywood version adds a lot of extra drama into the mix. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7x2IaAWzXtdsr478WR4O-LquVaKAPJZEHVeEOufom3ZNK4yXBk0zJG3u5-WsUmZwrxAwMLrnhAQV54cWq8Fz4_nsECHmRG7-E7vC-kFjOj9Lg8YYxmw6jIdWNiumDgwsV69-i6jhXeu8P/s1600/Piper+Kerman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7x2IaAWzXtdsr478WR4O-LquVaKAPJZEHVeEOufom3ZNK4yXBk0zJG3u5-WsUmZwrxAwMLrnhAQV54cWq8Fz4_nsECHmRG7-E7vC-kFjOj9Lg8YYxmw6jIdWNiumDgwsV69-i6jhXeu8P/s1600/Piper+Kerman.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/orange-black-author-piper-kerman-relieved-prison-transfer/story?id=19973731" target="_blank">here</a></i></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For the most part, the real Piper has a fairly painless prison experience, but generally thanks to her fellow prisoners and not the state. The book might not be as raunchy a thrill ride as the Netflix series, but Kerman is a witty and skilled narrator, and her writing style made me feel like I was listening to an old friend or 'bunkie' reminisce instead of reading a memoir. Now and again the surreal 'normality' of it all lulled me into a false sense of security, which made occasional </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">instances of cruelty at the hands of prison staff or other inmates all the more unsettling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Without digressing from her story, Kerman uses </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Orange is the New Black </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">as a platform to highlight the many injustices and flaws within the US prison system, and probably many others across the world. I did find myself sympathising with Piper and her friends on the inside, despite the fact that they are criminals. As the author points out, many of the women locked up with her in FCI Danbury had received long sentences for committing - or sometimes just being aware of - minor crimes, purely as a result of poor representation in court. Piper, who could afford a first class lawyer, got off lightly for what is considered a fairly serious offence.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rather than give the whole tale away (which I nearly have about forty times whilst writing this review) I'll just say this: I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a long, long time. I would highly recommend giving <i>Orange is the New Black </i>a read, even if you've already watched the TV show to death. No matter how tough those actresses might look, Kerman's account is the real, scary, warts-and-all deal. I spent nearly every minute of reading this book feeling thankful for the most mundane luxuries in my life, including hot water, conditioner and vegetables. If you know anyone considering a life of crime, buy them <i>Orange is the New Black</i> for Christmas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can follow the Piper Kerman on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/Piper" target="_blank">here</a>, and check out her website <a href="http://piperkerman.com/" target="_blank">here</a>, for more information about her story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Throughout November I'll be reading Paul Auster's 'meta detective fiction' work, <i>The</i> <i>New York Trilogy</i>. I was actually meant to read this book three years ago for a module on my undergrad English lit. uni course, but more on that next time...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Read September's review here: <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/inferior-book-group-9.html" target="_blank"><b>On the Road</b></a></i></span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-83255250370588292412014-10-29T22:47:00.002+00:002014-10-29T22:47:29.154+00:00Inferior Inspiration #15: Halloween food edition!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although my (fairly minimal) Halloween decorations are up again this year, they haven't changed one bit from <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/halloween-decor-2013.html" target="_blank">last year's Halloween decor post</a>. Writing a feature for <a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/" target="_blank">WOW247</a> about <a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/10/24/5-deliciously-wicked-halloween-sweet-treats-to-sample-in-edinburgh/" target="_blank">the 5 best Halloween inspired sweet treats on offer in Edinburgh</a> last week inspired me to trawl <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> and compile a list of </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the most creative and cutesy Halloween party food I could find for this year's themed blog post.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-geK-AbFotTVwe1H_xwcrtJQlu5PSrA-0er0dXB2WCcbzUMTQi4hcoXu4t1gSVqVolaAt5EcfGlc0I2AetsH0F30m2XKZ5Wk5WoTZzVwfrrcv9-sTNBNueCXai1RCE1tlVNt_C1KEUbgk/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-geK-AbFotTVwe1H_xwcrtJQlu5PSrA-0er0dXB2WCcbzUMTQi4hcoXu4t1gSVqVolaAt5EcfGlc0I2AetsH0F30m2XKZ5Wk5WoTZzVwfrrcv9-sTNBNueCXai1RCE1tlVNt_C1KEUbgk/s1600/1.png" height="234" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/371335931750408039/" target="_blank">1</a> / <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/512495632570245017/" target="_blank">2</a> / <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/402931497885726162/" target="_blank">3</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's pretty much unheard of for me to choose the healthy option when it comes to snacking, but I have to admit that these are some awesome looking fruits and vegetables. At least the <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/371335931750408039/" target="_blank">fruit kebabs</a> have marshmallows on them (which, as far as I'm aware, haven't yet been classed as a fruit) along with the melon pumpkins and kiwi Frankensteins. I also think the idea of <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/512495632570245017/" target="_blank">hollowing out a pumpkin and using it to serve dip</a> with vegetable crudités was genius and definitely worth a mention. And I'm not sure who could really find the time to dye rice orange using carrot juice to make the <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/402931497885726162/" target="_blank">jack o' lantern rice balls</a>, but don't they look adorable?</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-SQAxoq5qIsX0R3zwX-mIKbH5vf_S7ZMivNhALcdKwLeXOQ7e9zbC4FeHrg9RtQBfWjiHA4aJi_4FjUfdiRHpKI-JCohekjp0G_en9f7YPIf_FORGZERxzvvsADZCRPafr_E9Qo4Gg6U/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-SQAxoq5qIsX0R3zwX-mIKbH5vf_S7ZMivNhALcdKwLeXOQ7e9zbC4FeHrg9RtQBfWjiHA4aJi_4FjUfdiRHpKI-JCohekjp0G_en9f7YPIf_FORGZERxzvvsADZCRPafr_E9Qo4Gg6U/s1600/2.png" height="216" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/479985272758845016/" target="_blank">1</a> / <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/315533517616835343/" target="_blank">2</a> / <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/528539706242129304/" target="_blank">3</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I think these <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/479985272758845016/" target="_blank">poison toffee apples</a> look so cool, even if their blackest black colour makes me a little bit nervous. (If you're wondering, the secret is black food colouring, presumably in industrial quantities!) The eerie <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/315533517616835343/" target="_blank">eyeball cocktails</a> are actually just lemonade with green sweets to give the colour and a floating eyeball cake topper, but I bet they would benefit from adding some alcohol for a 'grown up' party. <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/528539706242129304/" target="_blank">Marshmallow pops</a> coated with festive coloured sprinkles look great and also seem pretty easy to make!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSgPH8yCJhybhmYzYW5352evNZpAkRdMHmzEqKnP5U9WYR00OQKtpEYCQjm1cxlijzn9OxYpbz_dH8JxmSJBm86_xl9SfHPMgs9cyljNG7cF3H-7gYsOaDfExV9Cf01A5SVINVVlLknGn/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSgPH8yCJhybhmYzYW5352evNZpAkRdMHmzEqKnP5U9WYR00OQKtpEYCQjm1cxlijzn9OxYpbz_dH8JxmSJBm86_xl9SfHPMgs9cyljNG7cF3H-7gYsOaDfExV9Cf01A5SVINVVlLknGn/s1600/3.png" height="232" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/139611657171861270/" target="_blank">1</a> / <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/535013630707431275/" target="_blank">2</a> / <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/7388786864325262/" target="_blank">3</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How blooming cute are these <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/139611657171861270/" target="_blank">chocolate owl cupcakes</a>, decorated with a separated Oreo biscuit and M&Ms? Again, they look fantastic but probably wouldn't take too long to put together, especially if you cheated and used store bought cupcakes - I promise I won't tell if you don't. Everyone loves a donut, so who wouldn't want to include some <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/535013630707431275/" target="_blank">monster donuts</a> on their Halloween party buffet table? Just be sure to remind everyone that the plastic vampire teeth are not edible... Last, but certainly not least, the ingredients for <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/7388786864325262/" target="_blank">spooky boo brownie bites</a> - chocolate brownie and marshmallows - are an unbeatable combination, and these wee ghostly faces prompted screams (of delight) from me on first sight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sadly I won't have time to try my hand at making any of these terrifying treats for myself in the next few days, although Craig and I will be having friends round for a traditional scarefest movie marathon over the weekend. Are you baking anything for a Halloween party this weekend?</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-86919480710781837592014-10-19T23:49:00.000+01:002014-10-19T23:49:23.887+01:00USA holiday haul:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssnJpZkfNa-PMTJTqjJEZrBHccHXRLsukKce1q799ynwY1DJBK6HFa7ssZeOsFhSg_V2SFqxOGL49t4bm4u_KZLaCbe_UX46kwEF6IquN4AR-Iqx4MQP1JseHoTaOJL3m3-y6svUCCl_g/s1600/Photo+19-10-2014+20+07+25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssnJpZkfNa-PMTJTqjJEZrBHccHXRLsukKce1q799ynwY1DJBK6HFa7ssZeOsFhSg_V2SFqxOGL49t4bm4u_KZLaCbe_UX46kwEF6IquN4AR-Iqx4MQP1JseHoTaOJL3m3-y6svUCCl_g/s1600/Photo+19-10-2014+20+07+25.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I wholeheartedly promise that I will shut up and stop posting blog posts and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL8ga5C2h1IHXDNBcM6vJ6Q" target="_blank">YouTube videos </a>about our America trip very soon, but first I wanted to share a few things I bought while we were away. Craig and I were both more interested in spending our money on nice food and memorable experiences than on shopping during this holiday, but I did end up buying one or two keepsakes to bring home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I may not be the girliest of girls, but I do still get excited about the prospect of being able to buy make up and skin care products that you can't easily get hold of in the UK. The (nearly) spherical <a href="http://evolutionofsmooth.com/" target="_blank">EOS lip balms</a> hold something of a celebrity status in the online beauty world, so I picked one up in the <a href="http://evolutionofsmooth.com/lip-balm/smooth-spheres/strawberry-sorbet-smooth-sphere-lip-balm.html" target="_blank">Strawberry Sorbet scent</a> at <a href="http://www.target.com/" target="_blank">Target</a> to give it a go. While the lip balm smells and tastes great and I really like the novelty of its unique shape and design, I don't actually find the product itself very moisturising or long lasting, which was a bit of a disappointment. Luckily, it didn't cost an arm and a leg, so I don't feel too cheated! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the same trip to Target I also felt the need to replace my mascara. <a href="http://www.maybelline.com/" target="_blank">Maybelline</a> seem to have around four million different types of mascara in their range over here, and there are even more to choose from in the US! I settled on <a href="http://www.maybelline.com/Products/Eye-Makeup/Mascara/Volum-Express-Pumped-Up-Colossal.aspx" target="_blank">Volum' Express Colossal Pumped Up!</a> Waterproof (always waterproof) which doesn't seem to be available in the UK as of yet. I'm happy with the results of this one, but the brush is a little larger and more unwieldy than what I'm used to (cue an increase in the number of times I poke myself in the eye each morning).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was very restrained and only made one homeware purchase (again, at Target - seriously, I could have spent many, many more happy hours browsing in there) throughout the whole two weeks, despite a lot of temptation. It was love at first sight between me and this <a href="http://www.shopaladdin-pmi.com/product/20oz-classic-mason-tumbler-tomato" target="_blank">20oz Mason Tumbler by Aladdin</a>, with a burnt orange lid and straw. The tumbler is made of plastic, as well as being reusable and insulated, so I can use it to keep drinks cold. Probably just water though, as it's a little on the large size for iced coffee!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I made sure we fitted a visit to <a href="http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/home/index.jsp" target="_blank">Bath & Bodyworks</a> into our itinerary so that I could buy some miniature scented candles that are rumoured to be the best around. Again, a lot of these scents have been made famous by bloggers and YouTubers but are impossible to source at home. Unfortunately, there definitely wasn't room in my suitcase for their large, three wick candles, so I settled for three miniatures for $10. The scents I chose were <a href="http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/product/index.jsp?productId=42164516" target="_blank">Autumn</a>, <a href="http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/product/index.jsp?productId=42164526&cm_vc=200" target="_blank">Marshmallow Fireside</a> and <a href="http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/product/index.jsp?productId=41813626" target="_blank">Leaves</a> (probably the one most raved about by YouTubers!) and I'm looking forward to savouring them during the autumn and winter months.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last, but definitely not least, I nabbed a bargain pyjama top in the <a href="http://www.oldnavy.com/" target="_blank">Old Navy</a> sale that perfectly sums up my feelings about running on a treadmill!</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-82490595033074345992014-10-09T03:20:00.003+01:002014-10-09T03:23:20.380+01:00Instagram #27:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWCeikHZDtMyKpmGebuVFH4y_WlhBRRSBkkE9UknZBewYoX8q7rugHCXjMvk5wm5BGrk3_3QiMZpgw8WG0fA_YZndwTCLXPbts3yb9xi5iMn8pddoPhdSxuxhJ58CsICfOAs-gpmWx05QZ/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWCeikHZDtMyKpmGebuVFH4y_WlhBRRSBkkE9UknZBewYoX8q7rugHCXjMvk5wm5BGrk3_3QiMZpgw8WG0fA_YZndwTCLXPbts3yb9xi5iMn8pddoPhdSxuxhJ58CsICfOAs-gpmWx05QZ/s1600/1.png" height="214" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>1. </b>Facetiming our Texan buddy from the Grassmarket. Ain't technology wonderful?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>2. </b>I discovered these amazing burger Converse in Schuh and now desperately want them in my life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>3. </b>A Throwback Thursday post of my sister and me sporting some chic late '90s fashion while on holiday in the USA.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>4. </b>Breaking in my Doc Martens and embracing the turned up jean.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>5. </b>We managed to make my final bottle of birthday fizz last for a whole three weeks before popping the cork!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>6. </b>Our first stop on arrival in New York was <a href="http://www.fiveguys.com/" target="_blank">Five Guys</a> for burgers. Pretty sure I'm a proper burger addict now...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>7. </b>You know you're having an American hotel breakfast when Froot Loops are on endless supply!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>8. </b>Here I am pricking my finger on the top of the Empire State Building.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>9. </b>Fanta in the US is reeeeeally orange. It makes me nervous (even though I'll happily drink Irn Bru without thinking at home).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>10. </b>One of many plates at <a href="http://www.norinori.com/" target="_blank">Nori Nori</a> - an amazing sushi buffet restaurant in Flushing, Queens. I would definitely recommend it if you ever happen to be in the area!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>11. </b>We nabbed half price tickets for Matilda the Musical on Broadway and it was an unbelievably good show.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>12. </b>Florals, stripes and leopard spots all in one outfit. Call the fashion police.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>13. </b>Delicious Tex Mex food at <a href="http://www.cowgirlnyc.com/" target="_blank">Cowgirl NYC</a> and (more importantly) incredible $5 frozen margaritas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>14. </b>I spotted this pretty fire escape in the Flatiron District and wished I could live in the building!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>15. </b>This eerily accurate pyjama top was reduced in <a href="http://www.oldnavy.com/" target="_blank">Old Navy</a>, and I knew I had to have it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>16. </b>Today we road tripped to 'Silent Hill' (actually called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania" target="_blank">Centralia, PA</a>) and walked on its abandoned highway, which was surreal and amazing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>17. </b>Our final destination for tonight was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scranton,_Pennsylvania" target="_blank">Scranton, PA</a> - home of The Office US and also known as the Electric City.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Remember, you can follow my American adventures via our travel vlogs! Just click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL8ga5C2h1IHXDNBcM6vJ6Q" target="_blank">here</a> to see them all or subscribe through YouTube.)</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-33166233266365305482014-10-06T13:35:00.000+01:002014-10-06T13:35:47.489+01:00A sleepy Sunday in NYC:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Like most big city breaks, this holiday has been great fun but also a little hectic and tiring. A combination of jet lag, late nights, early starts and miles of walking really takes it out of you! Craig and I decided to take yesterday (Sunday) at a slower pace to give ourselves a bit of a rest. Unfortunately we managed to get horrendously lost once or twice, but aside from that it was an enjoyable, stress free day!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our first and most anticipated stop was brunch (we intended to go for breakfast, but by the time we made it there it was after 12pm...) at a restaurant called <a href="http://piesnthighs.com/" target="_blank">Pies 'n' Thighs</a> in Brooklyn. Unsurprisingly, this place specialises in sweet pies and fried chicken, but they're also famous for their biscuits (kind of like a flaky, savoury scone) and their donuts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When Craig and I arrived at Pies 'n' Thighs there were around twenty people standing outside, with a waitress occasionally popping her head out to call out names from a list. I knew from online research that the place was very popular, so I had been expecting a long wait, or maybe even to be turned away. We were told it would be about half an hour's wait for a table, so we shuffled off in search of takeaway coffee as getting lost for so long had left us dead on our feet! True to their word, when we arrived back at Pies 'n' Thighs about thirty minutes later, we were quickly called and escorted to a little table in the middle of the restaurant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I chose fried chicken (two pieces) and buckwheat waffles, which came with cinnamon butter and baked apples on the top. This might sound like an odd combination, but it was actually really tasty! The chicken had an especially lovely flavour. Craig had fried chicken, a biscuit and home fries, and we both sipped on mimosas (bucks fizz) because I hear that's the done thing to do at brunch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After eating we were both stuffed, but I wanted to try a donut, which are rumoured to be the best in New York City. We ordered a couple to go (caramel apple for Craig and pecan butter crunch for me) and headed off in search of the Williamsburg Bridge. Halfway across, I tucked in to what was undoubtedly the best (and biggest) donut I've ever eaten while enjoying the Manhattan skyline in the sunshine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/infrastructure/williamsburg-bridge.shtml" target="_blank">Williamsburg Bridge</a> runs between Brooklyn and Manhattan, and you can drive, cycle or walk over it, depending on how the mood takes you. It only took us around half an hour to walk across - including time spent admiring the view - and it made a nice change from the subway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our next stop indulged Craig's nerdy science side. <a href="http://roastingplant.com/" target="_blank">Roasting Plant Coffee</a> in Greenwich Village uses a system called the 'Javabot' (designed by their founder) to select and grind coffee beans fresh for you, depending on how you would like your coffee to taste. All along one wall there are loads of different canisters full of different types of bean, and the Javabot will suck out different kinds to make a completely personalised coffee for you. As a novice, I opted for the house blend, but I would love to create my own perfect coffee. Maybe if we were staying longer!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Most relaxing Sundays involve a stroll in the park, and not far from Roasting Plant Coffee there is one of the most unusual parks I think I've ever seen. <a href="http://www.thehighline.org/" target="_blank">The High Line</a> is a disused railway bridge (nearly one and a half miles long) that has been converted into a linear park. The last section of the High Line was only opened to the public in September, so it was very busy and crowded, but I still really enjoyed visiting a rare slice of greenery within New York city centre. There are plenty of places to sit (and even eat and drink) along the path, and I can imagine it would be a really lovely way to spend a few hours with a book on a slightly quieter day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We rounded off our sleepy Sunday with a movie at the Regal Cinema in Union Square. We saw the stop motion animation <i>Boxtrolls</i>, which was super cute, before catching the subway back to our hotel.</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-41851713621264165472014-10-04T16:43:00.002+01:002014-10-04T16:43:48.796+01:00Food 'n' Stuff:<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>Hello from New York City!</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We've been having an amazing time on our holiday so far, and are slowly getting used to the time difference! As I mentioned briefly in one of my Hello, Holidays posts, Craig and I have been filming our exploits (also known as 'vlogging') and our first video went up on YouTube today. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You can watch it below (and subscribe to our channel, if you like) to see our first couple of days in NYC, which consisted of a lot of travelling, a fair bit of eating and even some sightseeing!</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/cD1grYikwnA?rel=0" width="640"></iframe>Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-60059954392344639912014-10-02T09:18:00.001+01:002014-10-02T09:18:30.374+01:00Inferior Book Group #9:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, well, well - it's been a little while since the official Inferior Design Book Group last met, hasn't it? Life (well, mostly uni, if I'm honest) definitely got in the way of my reading time between May and August, but since I've had more time to myself this month I've finally managed to finish what should have been June's book: <i>On the Road </i>by Jack Kerouac.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While I've read all of <i>On the Road</i>, I'm not sure I've exactly processed it yet. For anyone who might not know, Jack Kerouac was a member of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_Generation" target="_blank">'Beat Generation'</a>, along with writers like Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, and his style tends to lean more towards dense poetry than straightforward story telling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Based on Kerouac's own life and travels, <i>On the Road</i> (which is set over the course of several years) follows narrator Sal Paradise and a whole host of supporting characters as they repeatedly travel from one side of 1950s America to the other.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.praguerevue.com/ViewArticle?articleId=4405" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When I first started reading <i>On the Road</i>,<i> </i>I was surprised by the number of people who told me how much they disliked it.<i> </i>In fact, I don’t think a single one of my friends or family had a good word to say about this book! Their collective grievance seemed to lie with the novel’s ‘stream of thought’ narration, but Kerouac’s </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'spontaneous prose' </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">writing style didn’t really bother me.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">In the beginning, at least, I actually found the story fairly easy to follow and understand, despite the occasional philosophical tangent and a few unfamiliar turns of phrase. (Amusingly, Kerouac uses the phrase 'hipster' quite a lot, but apparently 1950s hipsters are slightly different to today's equivalent!)</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ironically, much like during a real road trip, the further I got through <i>On the Road</i>, the more bored and irritated I grew with it. Sal’s travel stories became repetitive and his confusing, abstract metaphors longer, while I found his partner in crime, Dean Moriarty, to be a fairly insufferable character throughout. To be frank, Dean is a terrible friend and a fairly awful human being - I can’t understand why Sal would hang on his every word for so long!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">That being said, I did really enjoy the majority of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">On the Road</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">, and it was fun to read about Sal’s USA road trips in the run up to my own. Kerouac's endless descriptions of bustling cities and peaceful countryside (even in a different time period) made me really excited to experience parts of it for myself, and may even have encouraged me to commit to <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/hello-holidays-remarkable-road-trip.html" target="_blank">road tripping between New </a></span><a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/hello-holidays-remarkable-road-trip.html" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">York</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/hello-holidays-remarkable-road-trip.html" target="_blank"> and Boston</a> in the first place!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next book on my list (which I've had ready and waiting for months now!) is the true story of <i>Orange is the New Black</i>. The TV show is based on this book, so I'm excited to find out how many events really happened.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Read May's review here:<b> <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/inferior-book-group-8.html" target="_blank">One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest</a></b></i></span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-54345951981905259022014-09-28T09:46:00.002+01:002014-09-28T09:46:47.522+01:00Hello, Holidays | Packing for a two week trip:<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCN6Axxl_9M2SxWYyq5r7F8LB66Ykf7pO5ozVgvezXP1xEoZMihHDzAzZO40Ln1zyzOFYhLtMVjUWeFynka8InUewkx96G0_H_Qx2r_B7sEJZU9bIJpt3UwZpRjKemqBqQ9Kcr4xXClBun/s1600/Hello+holidays.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCN6Axxl_9M2SxWYyq5r7F8LB66Ykf7pO5ozVgvezXP1xEoZMihHDzAzZO40Ln1zyzOFYhLtMVjUWeFynka8InUewkx96G0_H_Qx2r_B7sEJZU9bIJpt3UwZpRjKemqBqQ9Kcr4xXClBun/s1600/Hello+holidays.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.makkuted.com/?tag=%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A7" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can all breathe a collective sigh of relief: this is my last post in the Hello, Holidays series. (However, I will no doubt be writing a little about the trip while we're there and after we get back, so apologies if the subject bores you to death!) </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We leave for New York City in THREE DAYS and (as I'm sure you can guess) I'm very excited! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My last but somewhat mammoth task before we jet off is to finish packing and (while I'm certainly not an expert) I've put together my own personal survival guide for anyone packing for a fortnight. Hopefully it will help you with your own travel organisation in the future, or at least spark some ideas!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">1. Write a list: </b>I'm the type of person who makes to do and reminder lists constantly, but they are especially helpful tools when packing. Over the last week or so I've slowly started putting clothes and accessories into my suitcase, so - although it might sound trivial - having a list to hand with everything down to the number of pairs of socks I need for the whole trip has been useful. There's a lot to take for two weeks away, so I've used my list to keep track of what has and hasn't been packed. If you are likely to forget anything important, write it down and tick it off once it's in your case. Problem solved!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">2. Try before you fly: </b>A few years ago I started attempting to plan full outfits for each day of a trip in advance, rather than just throwing in the right number of tops and jeans and hoping I would look okay when the time came. It might be slightly more time consuming to organise your packing by outfit, but this way works better for me because it stops me from overpacking (and also from tearing my hair out when I don't like any of the clothes I brought to wear on my holiday!). Obviously outfits are weather dependent, and sometimes plans or activities change at the last minute, but for the most part it has made my life so much easier. For this trip, I will probably try most of my outfits on before we go to avoid any style related meltdowns when we're stateside.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/30235115/#/80235113" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">3. Embrace 'bagception': </b>Another way to make packing (and living out of a suitcase at the other end) much easier is to use smaller packing bags or pouches to organise your clothes within your larger travel bag. I bought two sets of <a href="http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/30235115/" target="_blank">the UPPTÄCKA packing bags from IKEA</a> (which come in a set of four different sizes for £7.50) and they have already proved themselves to be very useful for both short and longer trips. Store all of your tops in one travel pouch, your trousers in another and so on or, alternatively, you could pack by full outfit. Either way, the need to rake around in the bottom of your suitcase is eliminated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">4. Be a nervous Nellie: </b>I already mentioned this in <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/hello-holidays-whats-in-my-hand-luggage.html" target="_blank">my hand luggage Hello, Holidays post</a>, but I'm doing my best not to pack any valuables in my suitcase as I'm totally paranoid my luggage will go missing. Yes, it would be a huge pain if I lost all of my clothes and shoes, but they are covered by our travel insurance and I would be much more upset if more sentimental things (like photos on my laptop, or my diary) were never to be seen again. Anything that I want to keep an eye on will be going with me in my rucksack on the plane. Better to be safe than sorry!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqBKoAria_yFUeMuhj5ZFSaB1bBwzvUeLoTjTaR4R2Qvg-GzoDK_u4uxYiwF3MCsuFtLdY9CT5ZYoA4v5wKf7O5IfFG5eUBF_ipqL2KqKaiBjF6CCd19WEPLoEOCzazimg3RE2KvgfNwg/s1600/Luggage+scale.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqBKoAria_yFUeMuhj5ZFSaB1bBwzvUeLoTjTaR4R2Qvg-GzoDK_u4uxYiwF3MCsuFtLdY9CT5ZYoA4v5wKf7O5IfFG5eUBF_ipqL2KqKaiBjF6CCd19WEPLoEOCzazimg3RE2KvgfNwg/s1600/Luggage+scale.png" height="400" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rolson-60671-Weighing-Balance-Capacity/dp/B003KGARK4" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">5. Weigh it up: </b>Again, this is probably my inner Girl Scout talking, but I like to be sure that my suitcase is the right weight before leaving for the airport. For our USA trip the baggage allowance is a hefty 23kg, so it's highly unlikely that we'll go over the limit, but I still picked up an inexpensive <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rolson-60671-Weighing-Balance-Capacity/dp/B003KGARK4" target="_blank">Rolson luggage scale</a> (£2.99 from TK Maxx) so we can weigh our bags prior to leaving and also before we come home again. When travelling with just a small suitcase as hand luggage it's much easier to go over an airline's weight limit, so I would definitely recommend buying a scale for trips like that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Do you have any top packing tips of your own?</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-69646750342233235962014-09-26T08:51:00.001+01:002014-09-26T08:51:12.143+01:00Hello, Holidays | What's in my hand luggage?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWOAeXlMQZggHfQX3Ae_rCBe9hHFPkJiphRuGYxqGBZnmUvfTiHFkNQXSVLcFgoSawrSdRIt4AOQoYe1DBgDkotzPmxeS3IGVnSKTPJzRsKJ-OInU1glmr39LdrnIjW5rpPAa5ITZ2O9J/s1600/Hello+holidays.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWOAeXlMQZggHfQX3Ae_rCBe9hHFPkJiphRuGYxqGBZnmUvfTiHFkNQXSVLcFgoSawrSdRIt4AOQoYe1DBgDkotzPmxeS3IGVnSKTPJzRsKJ-OInU1glmr39LdrnIjW5rpPAa5ITZ2O9J/s1600/Hello+holidays.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.makkuted.com/?tag=%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A7" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcT6weVbyFuQsgFU4xmIODa5D_0vQuWko2iC-KJG6e3FO452_LI0pDZw8QkGuX3_xAD4quI6f9eKw073xhYrm9zgFTKfQnb5C6rQDyTrPc_-GsFwP9wvoRyOyux5o2iVcM9vSDiHBhvKP/s1600/Photo+25-09-2014+16+28+20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcT6weVbyFuQsgFU4xmIODa5D_0vQuWko2iC-KJG6e3FO452_LI0pDZw8QkGuX3_xAD4quI6f9eKw073xhYrm9zgFTKfQnb5C6rQDyTrPc_-GsFwP9wvoRyOyux5o2iVcM9vSDiHBhvKP/s1600/Photo+25-09-2014+16+28+20.jpg" height="640" width="534" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last year I wrote </span><a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/whats-in-my-bag.html" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">a blog post all about what I keep in my handbag</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">. Strange? Maybe. A weirdly popular topic for YouTube videos and blog posts on the internet? Definitely. Today's Hello, Holidays post is in the same vein, but this time I'm giving you all a look at what I'll be packing in my hand luggage for our flight to America next week. I've decided to take my </span><a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/mi-pac-cosmos-rucksack.html" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">Mi-Pac cosmos rucksack</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> (which I reviewed here back in May) so I can easily transport everything I need and keep my hands free in the airport.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As this will be my first long haul flight in nearly ten years - and also the first time I'll have to check in luggage in ages - I'm slightly paranoid that our suitcases might go missing somewhere along the way. For that reason, I've decided to pop a few items that I'm determined not to lose in my hand luggage, just in case!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEzzIQ0r9UJ-Kw_9BEoAqlxF52KoyEv3JA0SMOU0yXvEbP_0UU8sht_CdfWdBpcEAF47r9G3parBSVI7qj8yxgUW2e5WrL5CTcDvGs8_Qhgs4eY-vnQZDK7pg9qkCA2We3cfhvHsnv7IIR/s1600/Photo+25-09-2014+16+32+06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEzzIQ0r9UJ-Kw_9BEoAqlxF52KoyEv3JA0SMOU0yXvEbP_0UU8sht_CdfWdBpcEAF47r9G3parBSVI7qj8yxgUW2e5WrL5CTcDvGs8_Qhgs4eY-vnQZDK7pg9qkCA2We3cfhvHsnv7IIR/s1600/Photo+25-09-2014+16+32+06.jpg" height="464" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Tons of technology:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Okay, so the first thing you'll probably notice is the abundance of cables, plugs and gadgets among my hand luggage. Sadly, I'm a product of my generation and am pretty addicted to technology at the best of times. However, I'm really only bringing my <b>laptop</b> and my <b>camera</b> along because - wifi willing - Craig and I are planning to vlog most of the trip so you can all come along for the ride! (You can find and subscribe to our YouTube channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL8ga5C2h1IHXDNBcM6vJ6Q/feed" target="_blank">here</a>, if that sounds like your cup of tea.) Hopefully I'll also be able to put up a few blog posts while I'm away too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I wouldn't usually take these enormous <b>headphones</b> on holiday, but sadly my in earphones decided to stop working properly this week so I've had to send them back to the manufacturer. On the plus side, these ones will probably be good for blocking out noise on the flight. I'm also packing my trusty <b>iPod</b> (which I think now probably appears in some museums) to contribute to our much needed road trip soundtrack. Of course I'll then need to throw in the <b>chargers</b> for my laptop, camera, phone and iPod and at least one <b>power adapter</b> so I can actually plug them into sockets in the US!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNNVHWz8QE8Vokt_UxrNB4qPlsBN5fDzZ3wZ61X2cQu-9Nrfokfxze9_h4fvRfRbobMQkIrzj5Ki487tS_a0VUcBo2eLA-2aprfh1n1Q3GPFo0AsEojrs7UfXScx6L4DZW8Pm6_jZEzqUm/s1600/Photo+25-09-2014+16+33+43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNNVHWz8QE8Vokt_UxrNB4qPlsBN5fDzZ3wZ61X2cQu-9Nrfokfxze9_h4fvRfRbobMQkIrzj5Ki487tS_a0VUcBo2eLA-2aprfh1n1Q3GPFo0AsEojrs7UfXScx6L4DZW8Pm6_jZEzqUm/s1600/Photo+25-09-2014+16+33+43.jpg" height="466" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>A plethora of pages:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've been writing in <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/dear-diary.html" target="_blank">my <b>One Line a Day diary</b></a> every night since the 1st of January, so I definitely want to make sure I can keep that up in the event of my luggage staying in Edinburgh, or disappearing somewhere in Charles de Gaulle airport. I'm taking my copy of <i><b>Orange is the New Black</b></i> (not a novelisation of the TV show, as one of my friends thought, but the original novel the programme was based on!) to read both on the plane and throughout the trip. Also, my friend Nicola gave me <a href="http://www.anthropologie.eu/anthro/product/7580415773609.jsp#/" target="_blank">three <b>beautiful notebook</b>s from Anthropologie</a> as a birthday present, and I'm taking one along so I can be ready if and when creative inspiration strikes while we're on the move, or in case I want to keep a longer travel journal.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoB3tTEcpAdw7nw3TeOZExPyztJteYEtSx4ekn1W7TbsyRnJnMVa2w01HkrAvb7FeyLEnCQA0cVTiFKM3yLd72PmfWCTEbE8Du2Wy6mffvBHZ3u15JuteIlrc_GIfVgla371EUq3tyT9uy/s1600/Photo+25-09-2014+16+36+48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoB3tTEcpAdw7nw3TeOZExPyztJteYEtSx4ekn1W7TbsyRnJnMVa2w01HkrAvb7FeyLEnCQA0cVTiFKM3yLd72PmfWCTEbE8Du2Wy6mffvBHZ3u15JuteIlrc_GIfVgla371EUq3tyT9uy/s1600/Photo+25-09-2014+16+36+48.jpg" height="492" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Excellent essentials:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last, but absolutely not least, are my hand luggage essentials. These things are basically either irreplaceable, very useful or super cosy. (Spoiler: the super cosy item is the pair of <b>fuzzy socks</b>. It's a long flight, so I'll probably want to take my shoes off at some point, and I don't want my feet to get chilly!) Probably the most important object here is my <b>passport</b> - obviously I'm not going anywhere without that! Then I've got some <b>dollars</b> in the new small <b>travel purse</b> I bought from Primark especially for this holiday. It has room for a few cards as well as cash, and has a wrist strap which will be really handy if we're just nipping out to the supermarket at any point. I'm taking both my normal <b>glasses</b> and my <b>prescription sunglasses</b> in my backpack because I would be pretty much lost without them (when it comes to going to the cinema or reading road signs, at least). Finally (but perhaps most importantly) I'll be packing <b>a spare top</b> and underwear just in case I get stuck without a change of clothes. I'm determined to be prepared!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO3bF0DKrOT8uYi7sc5rIvEbD46OYqWkSTe-m31HyR_SzxsLjU2Af1lf8YFaBo0-lL3VhaSTlWNCxKVe6iLbHFpXgxN1_FAn1vrx52a8DDisbeiLXuvGgyZmm_8sTm64yM5WGRJ9oogXo_/s1600/Photo+25-09-2014+16+44+21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO3bF0DKrOT8uYi7sc5rIvEbD46OYqWkSTe-m31HyR_SzxsLjU2Af1lf8YFaBo0-lL3VhaSTlWNCxKVe6iLbHFpXgxN1_FAn1vrx52a8DDisbeiLXuvGgyZmm_8sTm64yM5WGRJ9oogXo_/s1600/Photo+25-09-2014+16+44+21.jpg" height="640" width="494" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And here it is, all packed up in my Mi-Pac bag. I'm really looking forward to taking a small rucksack on this flight instead of my usual jam packed mini suitcase!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What are your hand luggage staples? Is there anything that I've missed?</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-23222195754771433142014-09-24T09:51:00.000+01:002014-09-24T09:51:23.635+01:00Hello, Holidays | A remarkable road trip:<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi97FYzb_v-RHcG9Dzzvc5JYl32GgV7KusVyDxsoDCNn8V1RM0N7iW_VHUYcnbuVgMEVrDV377hC4SqpYy3jrhJubeLfBd0hZifI8XicjebP84CCRMT_nC9kx3rEaewDFqGYLzk06PSfWtX/s1600/Hello+holidays.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi97FYzb_v-RHcG9Dzzvc5JYl32GgV7KusVyDxsoDCNn8V1RM0N7iW_VHUYcnbuVgMEVrDV377hC4SqpYy3jrhJubeLfBd0hZifI8XicjebP84CCRMT_nC9kx3rEaewDFqGYLzk06PSfWtX/s1600/Hello+holidays.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.makkuted.com/?tag=%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A7" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I briefly mentioned in <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/inferior-inspiration-14-hello-holidays.html" target="_blank">my last (and first) Hello, Holidays post</a> that Craig and I will be road tripping between New York City and Boston (through Pennsylvania) while we're on holiday. Our plan was to share the driving, but sadly it would be very expensive to insure me on a hire car over there because I'm under 25. Boo! Poor old Craig will be stuck behind the wheel for a total of about ten hours, but - lucky for him - we're breaking it up with a few sightseeing stops and one overnight stay.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1N4zKMkBPkb_Hzqjfhgq5SH793F30SbYfGku6k4fW3DQlYrO45AIVeCgFszHWr9sM8KUV3JdFOAenEr3klchigoSsvxu_ueVn4yVQuHqfrMynihHu-dsH64mAmItigXSh9CH10gGLWGW/s1600/USA+roadtrip+map.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1N4zKMkBPkb_Hzqjfhgq5SH793F30SbYfGku6k4fW3DQlYrO45AIVeCgFszHWr9sM8KUV3JdFOAenEr3klchigoSsvxu_ueVn4yVQuHqfrMynihHu-dsH64mAmItigXSh9CH10gGLWGW/s1600/USA+roadtrip+map.png" height="318" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.9460628,-3.140381,15z" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our first leg of the trip will come after a seven day stay in New York City, and our first task (or, I should say, Craig's first task) will be driving through Manhattan not long after morning rush hour... So that should be fun! After we've made it out of the city (hopefully alive) we'll head west towards the state of Pennsylvania and our first destination: Centralia.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ4KQCyUau6nIAvVWovQ9VMXr_IBTgjqaaI1VQCp9l02Liu0rdi90MBFnOZVN7ls57wsvASIWnQ-52tqeOoleelxpCBrt3qZWsKTRlZ4dXzDGCV2HSIJwsfgcGjN4KuaOs6mvTOmNUGth1/s1600/NYC+to+Centralia.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ4KQCyUau6nIAvVWovQ9VMXr_IBTgjqaaI1VQCp9l02Liu0rdi90MBFnOZVN7ls57wsvASIWnQ-52tqeOoleelxpCBrt3qZWsKTRlZ4dXzDGCV2HSIJwsfgcGjN4KuaOs6mvTOmNUGth1/s1600/NYC+to+Centralia.png" height="156" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@57.7469948,-4.6873411,6z" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyone who has played the thriller video game series <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Hill" target="_blank">Silent Hill</a></i> (or seen the films based on that series) may be interested to know that the town of Silent Hill was reportedly based on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania" target="_blank">Centralia, PA</a>. A fire started in a coal mine below Centralia in the early 1960s, and that fire is still burning today. As a result, the majority of the town's inhabitants had to move elsewhere and from what I can tell the area is now pretty much a ghost town, with very few buildings left standing. Smoke rises up to street level and dangerous sinkholes have appeared as a result of the fire, which presumably inspired a lot of the landscape of the fictional Silent Hill. However, what I've read online has assured me that it's fairly safe (and legal) to explore on foot - away from any warning signs. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Craig and I both enjoyed the games and want to pay Centralia an ideally non fatal visit, but I have already stipulated that it must be in broad daylight. Otherwise it would be way too scary for me!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRtmQWGvEwcB2BmUsEVOK1lzQLNFpdDv8R2hsVl9UrAPipjLjeMWq8_ZTXM85ZoFrYHzHb2gI3Ucrkiiv0MvaHNiHWRE6T-Iq8bVgeiYC3C2IeQ8brAXfJF9bQSlMMP7AR4LaFbLyPBAlA/s1600/Centralia+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRtmQWGvEwcB2BmUsEVOK1lzQLNFpdDv8R2hsVl9UrAPipjLjeMWq8_ZTXM85ZoFrYHzHb2gI3Ucrkiiv0MvaHNiHWRE6T-Iq8bVgeiYC3C2IeQ8brAXfJF9bQSlMMP7AR4LaFbLyPBAlA/s1600/Centralia+2.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://shopwalkinlove.com/blogs/walk-in-love/9754128-centralia-pa" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlJBUCWQwjGG7rur3HZXGc8BEFKGC1xbfZZyWFUQK7yu5yyMFjSuZt3-jFiqqRivg0Uoq4cgghj5C4MNR0M1rsFep27PEK9MkGglEOwKOAmPyKDHkGti-eiHhxIGd4RnARq12hbYJvSx8L/s1600/Centralia+to+Scranton.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlJBUCWQwjGG7rur3HZXGc8BEFKGC1xbfZZyWFUQK7yu5yyMFjSuZt3-jFiqqRivg0Uoq4cgghj5C4MNR0M1rsFep27PEK9MkGglEOwKOAmPyKDHkGti-eiHhxIGd4RnARq12hbYJvSx8L/s1600/Centralia+to+Scranton.png" height="490" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/maps/preview" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We'll probably only spend an hour or so in Centralia before getting back on the road and heading north east towards <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scranton,_Pennsylvania" target="_blank">Scranton, PA</a>. Any fans of <i>The US Office </i>will know of Scranton, but unfortunately a lot of the show's locations (including the titular office building) are actually in LA, not Scranton. Still, a few places are really there, including the Steamtown Mall - which is apparently now home to the original 'Scranton Welcomes You' sign seen in <i>The Office</i>'s opening credits - and Poor Richard's bar (although only the name is the same, they didn't film in the real Scranton bar). We're also spending one night in the <a href="http://www.radisson.com/scranton-hotel-pa-18503/pascrant" target="_blank">Lackawanna Station Hotel</a> which was the setting (but, again, not the filming location) for an <i>Office </i>episode. As you might have already guessed, the hotel is a former railway station and looks absolutely stunning inside.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A lot of people who I've told about this leg of the trip seemed a bit bemused as to why I would want to go to such a small, relatively unknown part of America. Then again, all the <i>Office</i> fans that I know got really excited about the idea. Really, I just wanted an excuse to see beautiful, autumnal scenery and Scranton happened to be on the way, but I'm looking forward to visiting the Electric City!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqhz4r8JKQfjm_HDLKM0ysbO829iSNSFMTTqz6mrPOeT3a8rxBsUfARkVGfjHhSB9RwxnNvV5mKb6tHRaXlEQKgUmhVO7A6AoOeujXRbj-zGnAqduiW3Teg49qGTvJWKzP3wJE_8RinX1/s1600/Scranton+sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqhz4r8JKQfjm_HDLKM0ysbO829iSNSFMTTqz6mrPOeT3a8rxBsUfARkVGfjHhSB9RwxnNvV5mKb6tHRaXlEQKgUmhVO7A6AoOeujXRbj-zGnAqduiW3Teg49qGTvJWKzP3wJE_8RinX1/s1600/Scranton+sign.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ergodefacto/1804944111/" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQfoFMTKefXT721wCVzaEAPfRKa0e6fNg9ZMQ8sjZ5rfkqbZOBrQyoWwLlwhqt1pTdbxoJbNnCI_THDAXEmXy04k2ixqMviAm88EbbimJS84KdKJJFYOYLKcRyfA244PMuqdVcOhaG-hYR/s1600/Scranton+to+Cambridge.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQfoFMTKefXT721wCVzaEAPfRKa0e6fNg9ZMQ8sjZ5rfkqbZOBrQyoWwLlwhqt1pTdbxoJbNnCI_THDAXEmXy04k2ixqMviAm88EbbimJS84KdKJJFYOYLKcRyfA244PMuqdVcOhaG-hYR/s1600/Scranton+to+Cambridge.png" height="228" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@57.7469948,-4.6873411,6z" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last but not least, we'll spend the majority of a day driving from Scranton to Boston, although we're actually staying just outside of the centre of Boston, in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge,_Massachusetts" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">Cambridge, MA</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. It's a long journey, but I'm sure there will be at least one stop off along the way to stretch our legs. We'll be spending a few days in Boston once we get there (so Craig can relax after all that driving!) and I'm looking forward to exploring Cambridge - where Harvard University is located - as well as Boston itself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although we've done a lot of planning already, I'm always open to suggestions and recommendations (especially for Boston) so please let me know if you have any!</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-57542613907839896012014-09-22T10:11:00.000+01:002014-09-23T20:40:08.624+01:00Inferior Inspiration #14: Hello, Holidays edition!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYl3npY3Wo8o0cnrwO8PMzRMc8hK8IDkADcwzg1O0pknRtL95nj3Rco2IyPzROjxnKWNxel5U79LUeDWq07sx94rAXkYsJ3X17CQzXX6wVcHnm5J6MFuFvtNpKeT8vcAmPwNLQwEvT2MF/s1600/Hello+holidays.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYl3npY3Wo8o0cnrwO8PMzRMc8hK8IDkADcwzg1O0pknRtL95nj3Rco2IyPzROjxnKWNxel5U79LUeDWq07sx94rAXkYsJ3X17CQzXX6wVcHnm5J6MFuFvtNpKeT8vcAmPwNLQwEvT2MF/s1600/Hello+holidays.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.makkuted.com/?tag=%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A7" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hello, Holidays is the name of a (fairly brief) blog post series I've decided to start in the run up to an imminent and very exciting trip to the USA. Craig and I leave for New York City one week on Wednesday (eek!) and will stay there for a week before driving to Boston, via Centralia and Scranton in Pennsylvania because we are massive nerds. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In honour of this trip, my first Hello, Holidays post is a travel clothes and accessory wishlist with a few dream must haves for my upcoming adventure.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM8KbONnafa8sNDDd-WTy_-cWG6lxZiF9usZO6x19t2Obk6ab0EXogxtjZFUA78MBlRSx7p8-7iJWownybCcPXJfUt0fCVaOkyBk3um-82VntPh0b7SUvvV38nPMBedQ2IEplaIrzUnIU0/s1600/Travel+wishlist.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM8KbONnafa8sNDDd-WTy_-cWG6lxZiF9usZO6x19t2Obk6ab0EXogxtjZFUA78MBlRSx7p8-7iJWownybCcPXJfUt0fCVaOkyBk3um-82VntPh0b7SUvvV38nPMBedQ2IEplaIrzUnIU0/s1600/Travel+wishlist.png" height="418" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">1. </b>Of course, sensible shoes should be high on any traveller's shopping list. I've actually already treated myself to a pair of these <a href="http://www.drmartens.com/uk/Womens/Womens-Re-Invented/Dr-Martens-1461-Shoe/p/10084001" target="_blank">patent Dr Martens 1461 shoes</a> (a purchase made even sweeter by a cheeky 25% off voucher during their £3 sale a few weeks ago) in anticipation of both our USA trip and the impending winter months. They remind me of shiny new school shoes, but with a punky edge. Hopefully the investment will pay off and these will be brilliant for traipsing the length and breadth of Manhattan and beyond over the next few years! (£80)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">2. </b>Whilst buying my Doc Martens, I also spied their tiny but gorgeous <a href="http://www.drmartens.com/uk/Accessories/Satchels/Dr-Martens-7%22-Leather-Satchel/p/AB017650" target="_blank">7 inch leather satchels</a> on a shelf and it was love at first sight. I'm a big fan of satchels, and - although there is a special place in my heart for huge, cavernous handbags - a smaller bag is easier to carry around and keep a watchful eye over whilst sightseeing. Sadly my bank balance wouldn't stretch to one of these beauties, but maybe one day! I've seen a few dupes for this style in Primark, so I might settle for one of those in the mean time. (£45)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">3. </b>As a Scottish native, I'm always prepared for unexpected rain showers and I will be packing my trusty parka. On a recent flight to France, I spotted a fellow passenger wearing this <a href="http://www.lyst.com/clothing/topshop-flower-lace-plastic-mac-yellow/" target="_blank">yellow lace, plastic raincoat</a> which, frankly, looked amazing in person. I very excitedly tried to source one for myself, only to find out that it was a Topshop piece that (devastatingly) is now sold out and unavailable, apart from the odd size 8 on eBay. At a push, I might settle for something like this more <a href="http://www.asos.com/Rains/Rains-Jacket-in-Bright-Yellow/Prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=4455426&cid=19208&sh=0&pge=0&pgesize=36&sort=-1&clr=Yellow&totalstyles=23&gridsize=3" target="_blank">traditional yellow rain mac from Asos (£90)</a>, but I'm determined to stay on the hunt for something more unique. (was £48)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">4. </b>Again, I actually already own this exact <a href="http://www.paperchase.co.uk/gifts/bags-and-travel/travel-accessories/blue-floral-mini-insulated-cup.html" target="_blank">insulated travel cup in a blue floral pattern by Paperchase</a>. It was a birthday present from my sweet friend Nicola, and I think it's amazing. Our NYC hotel room reportedly comes with its own Nespresso coffee maker and (yes, just to repeat, because I am a massive nerd) my plan is to fill my travel mug there in the morning to save some dollars on takeaway coffees. The downside to this plan is that I will then have to carry the mug around with me for the rest of the day, but it's small enough that I don't think I'll have too much of a problem! (£6)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">5. </b>I've always been an advocate for keeping a travel journal, and I've done this on and off since I was a kid. My accounts of family trips as a 7 year old are hilarious to read now, but they are also a good way to bring back fond holiday memories, filling in the gaps between and stories behind photos. There are plenty of lovely journals and notebooks out there to choose from, of course, but I think this <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/cartography-travel-journal-and-pen/p1195125" target="_blank">cartography journal and pen from John Lewis</a> is particularly nice. It would definitely make a good gift for someone about to head off travelling. (£14.95)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Do you have any holidays coming up, or any recommendations for NYC and Boston? Let me know!</b></span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-75441684897178703712014-09-21T00:11:00.001+01:002014-09-22T21:53:44.682+01:00Edinburgh Film Festival 2014:<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/2014/06/19/eiff-2014-blog-1/" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/memoirs-of-film-critic.html" target="_blank">my fantastic experience at Glasgow's Film Festival</a> back in February, I was very excited to get the chance to attend this summer's <a href="http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/" target="_blank">Edinburgh International Film Festival</a>, reviewing for <a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/" target="_blank">WOW247</a> once again. It's the first time I've been to EIFF and - although I had an amazing time at GFF - it was so nice to have my pick of new movies waiting virtually on my doorstep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unfortunately I could only make it along for three days of the two week long festival (thanks for that, dissertation) but I managed to squeeze seven film screenings into that short space of time. I have to admit, I was very excited about getting a proper press pass with my photo on it, even if the photo was (quite embarrassingly) an old Instagram selfie...</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUl6fU9fZI9q11BhlhRzcdtw8MwCocgk8xtjedwA9sS8Q1LjE9sVckSSM9XN2uy6jIEAEmUE05LK6rCq8bzU4wBQwdQEeoXpLlty0_-ZYa8hytnKj0Zfn6l2YlzW04dgtbRnEv6Ct5t-7c/s1600/The+Infinite+Man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUl6fU9fZI9q11BhlhRzcdtw8MwCocgk8xtjedwA9sS8Q1LjE9sVckSSM9XN2uy6jIEAEmUE05LK6rCq8bzU4wBQwdQEeoXpLlty0_-ZYa8hytnKj0Zfn6l2YlzW04dgtbRnEv6Ct5t-7c/s1600/The+Infinite+Man.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.amfm-magazine.com/the-endless-anniversary-date-the-infinite-man/" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I kicked things off with Australian offering, <b style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/06/25/eiff-review-the-infinite-man/" target="_blank">The Infinite Man</a> </b>(click the link to read my review). It turned out to be a pretty dark and puzzling comedy, but funny nonetheless. Time travel causes most of the confusion (as it tends to do) in this starcrossed romance that I've dubbed a 'rustic sci fi'. Catchy, right? I'm hoping the term catches on.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigsRMsgp-6XFobmoVCnoqbwGzHr6PnvHlAhJBiUrAoLg9ZQUIZw1zM3Wqi6t8pCZDi75IZjTEoS8blkY8Q-f317vDnNol71fMvJRdaplXYLphANgfSAN31co3KgIwh-A5vGoCRea_ihu0v/s1600/Life+After+Beth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigsRMsgp-6XFobmoVCnoqbwGzHr6PnvHlAhJBiUrAoLg9ZQUIZw1zM3Wqi6t8pCZDi75IZjTEoS8blkY8Q-f317vDnNol71fMvJRdaplXYLphANgfSAN31co3KgIwh-A5vGoCRea_ihu0v/s1600/Life+After+Beth.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://filmguide.sundance.org/film/13924/life_after_beth" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My second screening was the one I got most excited about, despite my well publicised fear of anything scary (particularly zombies). <i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/06/25/eiff-review-life-after-beth/" target="_blank">Life After Beth</a> </i>stars the amazingly deadpan Aubrey Plaza (April Ludgate in <i>Parks and Recreation</i>) as well as a supporting cast full of familiar faces, including John C. Reilly and Anna Kendrick. Following in the footsteps of films like <i>Shaun of the Dead</i>, <i>Life After Beth </i>is a RomZomCom which I found both funny and clever. And I only had to hide behind my hands a couple of times (in a screening full of serious members of the press...).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7G5i4BVRRdb8kDWW2oa4L6HaOjK_rfyUExKhVrRZ3r6N0gLY4F-IFuBLWAN1ajsXB1lT_JnZ_r06i2vKWjlO7d8pgwvqwUB9KkLXsC-3PM51UrszNLZFhLjO6Uc8tPJ421F2YTWZgceUJ/s1600/The+Japanese+Dog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7G5i4BVRRdb8kDWW2oa4L6HaOjK_rfyUExKhVrRZ3r6N0gLY4F-IFuBLWAN1ajsXB1lT_JnZ_r06i2vKWjlO7d8pgwvqwUB9KkLXsC-3PM51UrszNLZFhLjO6Uc8tPJ421F2YTWZgceUJ/s1600/The+Japanese+Dog.jpg" height="436" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.librafilm.net/japanese-dog-selected-san-sebastian-flm-festival" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next on my list was a 9am screening of a Romanian film called <i><b><a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/06/26/eiff-review-the-japanese-dog/" target="_blank">The Japanese Dog</a> - </b></i>the first Romanian film I've ever seen! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The story follows a recently widowed and grumpy (but loveable) old man as he reconnects with his friends and family. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was simple, yet emotional and looked absolutely beautiful, especially the rural landscape shots. Not a bad way to start off a day!</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4winuDML1RwmVc-BngcuXwZgh7DksyYhiFX8QW_WMm6ZYuAry_BE7ROE5T3RY0XN5k1e_9Q3FUVVw8FW7S-_-3Y6osjG_lGdVJlVd6E-NBmprJdQ9uSrwitaohDQutNwKlz2ALnwG_gUV/s1600/Castles+in+the+Sky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4winuDML1RwmVc-BngcuXwZgh7DksyYhiFX8QW_WMm6ZYuAry_BE7ROE5T3RY0XN5k1e_9Q3FUVVw8FW7S-_-3Y6osjG_lGdVJlVd6E-NBmprJdQ9uSrwitaohDQutNwKlz2ALnwG_gUV/s1600/Castles+in+the+Sky.jpg" height="384" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jun/23/eddie-izzard-castles-in-the-sky-edinburgh-2014-review" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Later that day, I saw <i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/06/26/eiff-review-castles-in-the-sky/" target="_blank">Castles in the Sky</a> </i>starring comedian Eddie Izzard in a (mostly) serious role as Scotsman Robert Watson-Watt, the developer of radar. I went into this screening not really sure what to expect, and came out knowing a lot more about the truly fascinating (and, in my opinion, quite surprising) true story of how radar came about during the Second World War. Tim McInnerny does a truly awful Winston Churchill impersonation at one point, but it's fairly amusing, so don't let that put you off an otherwise very interesting and gripping movie!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxqnnQohCqiWlC7m-vxHU7F_dpCLSkPwxV05tmmUR0ctQsiJkDprloXQRkqWV7dSKZYoT4HmykUub6wx8TfpA_aWU4VSLSZndkhw2s7cfScP4ek1uEPE0mi_mwEM0kasilGJ16jnjs53AW/s1600/Photo+30-06-2014+18+48+28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxqnnQohCqiWlC7m-vxHU7F_dpCLSkPwxV05tmmUR0ctQsiJkDprloXQRkqWV7dSKZYoT4HmykUub6wx8TfpA_aWU4VSLSZndkhw2s7cfScP4ek1uEPE0mi_mwEM0kasilGJ16jnjs53AW/s1600/Photo+30-06-2014+18+48+28.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLfi_5AZG6o5aQJP2GrvHKtcfJymhGsT5EFWsAyYDSk6AvuKjYdepypgBf6SIdrPw3VXRgVrrZMrkBpY-U9HtxBxaNY7fC4gOs6Yt_Iq2z6i3tSkJQv3tZ2NXuoyEALTJ29OMQAk-C67RL/s1600/Photo+26-06-2014+17+52+22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLfi_5AZG6o5aQJP2GrvHKtcfJymhGsT5EFWsAyYDSk6AvuKjYdepypgBf6SIdrPw3VXRgVrrZMrkBpY-U9HtxBxaNY7fC4gOs6Yt_Iq2z6i3tSkJQv3tZ2NXuoyEALTJ29OMQAk-C67RL/s1600/Photo+26-06-2014+17+52+22.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Castles in the Sky</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, I stuck around in the Cineworld lobby for an open press photo call with actress Aubrey Plaza and director Jeff Baena for </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Life After Beth</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, complete with a troupe of zombies. I absolutely love Aubrey in </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Parks and Rec</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, and I'd really enjoyed </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Life After Beth</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, so I was looking forward to seeing her in the flesh in my hometown. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I did see her in the flesh and snap a few photos but then - totally by accident, if I'm honest - I actually managed to (sort of) stalk her to the cinema's bar, introduce myself and get a photo. She did her signature April glower especially for me, Jeff Baena took the photo, I babbled to them both about how much I loved their film and then I ran away. It was all very exciting and totally surreal!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig7pDBEH8DvfvkotEzYsMsByEpBSvjP9M7UYbE8Y50Na8T7Z0oH90XgzpexFYRmLe7k61E7WG2rhzr3SLNXT1dh6uvpa9hWEXAQDauE9qA0xhJeF9bqf2JvcBMWPstsZ9nMY5pIsHxXhwT/s1600/Photo+30-06-2014+18+52+09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig7pDBEH8DvfvkotEzYsMsByEpBSvjP9M7UYbE8Y50Na8T7Z0oH90XgzpexFYRmLe7k61E7WG2rhzr3SLNXT1dh6uvpa9hWEXAQDauE9qA0xhJeF9bqf2JvcBMWPstsZ9nMY5pIsHxXhwT/s1600/Photo+30-06-2014+18+52+09.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkOTCGp5uGQim1Kf0k_q0bkiFRNKIMiiZeOcPKGpIllyy6W2bhwpaG9uNi0hf6J_7e6ii4HHy4XeZDANs0jOiaDcGs9Sk112b-V-l4NGRKnaUZCp8aWsw1fyHI1clP9FFjcWW7UvlKw-K/s1600/Greyhawk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkOTCGp5uGQim1Kf0k_q0bkiFRNKIMiiZeOcPKGpIllyy6W2bhwpaG9uNi0hf6J_7e6ii4HHy4XeZDANs0jOiaDcGs9Sk112b-V-l4NGRKnaUZCp8aWsw1fyHI1clP9FFjcWW7UvlKw-K/s1600/Greyhawk.jpg" height="336" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.blindveteransblog.org.uk/tag/east-end-film" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The following morning I was present and correct (clutching a coffee) for another 9am screening. <i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/06/27/greyhawk-review-eiff-78134/" target="_blank">Greyhawk</a> </i>is a really heartbreaking and at times nervewracking British drama about a blind man's unrelenting search for his guide dog and best friend, set in a run down council estate. It reminded me a lot of the Michael Caine film <i>Harry Brown</i>, bleak, full of despair and painfully realistic. <i>Greyhawk </i>was a gripping watch, with some brilliant acting.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbC4SBu3ERRYwPNGVHE4OrRV5nrLKCZyZVs_6smGPBXUSVa29fmIRzGy2VuZ6HtpZecdr5O2miMtEOQsC5kZbRjx-2UyC4QbFzJDtSBaKW8-C-MyKnohAs4HNPPnzNmtRQd3JzN58JgHoq/s1600/The+Nut+Job.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbC4SBu3ERRYwPNGVHE4OrRV5nrLKCZyZVs_6smGPBXUSVa29fmIRzGy2VuZ6HtpZecdr5O2miMtEOQsC5kZbRjx-2UyC4QbFzJDtSBaKW8-C-MyKnohAs4HNPPnzNmtRQd3JzN58JgHoq/s1600/The+Nut+Job.jpg" height="330" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://screenrant.com/the-nut-job-reviews/" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After <i>Greyhawk</i>, I rushed across to Edinburgh's Odeon for a bit of a curveball screening: <i><b><a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/06/28/eiff-review-the-nut-job/" target="_blank">The Nut Job</a></b></i>. I chose this animated kids' film because I'm a big kid who loves animated movies, and also because it stars great voice actors like Will Arnett, Katherine Heigl and Brendan Fraser. Although I enjoyed this cute comedy adventure about a group of wild animals plotting to gather enough nuts to survive winter, I do think that <i>The Nut Job</i> is aimed primarily at children, with very few jokes for the adults watching. Sadly, in my opinion it doesn't quite capture the magic that a lot of my favourite Pixar films and other animated movies do.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiRRXgdTVplrKfk6QpAqRuvIXhEaKn-zujvVmkMpRZiT7FISR5Tg-_mSfkYA5ltUXN2zzlb0DG2nBN1NqaF4EV5TaaY5F555zPELMmGp51mVxaP06wE4p6LDEvPVMU2pARt8tY5KzTm80k/s1600/Photo+30-06-2014+18+55+08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiRRXgdTVplrKfk6QpAqRuvIXhEaKn-zujvVmkMpRZiT7FISR5Tg-_mSfkYA5ltUXN2zzlb0DG2nBN1NqaF4EV5TaaY5F555zPELMmGp51mVxaP06wE4p6LDEvPVMU2pARt8tY5KzTm80k/s1600/Photo+30-06-2014+18+55+08.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Nut Job </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I sought refuge from the rain in the nearest Starbucks (as I had done a few times already that week) to start writing up my reviews. Once I'd regained some strength, I headed to the Filmhouse for my last film of EIFF 2014, which also turned out to be my absolute favourite of the whole festival!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6K1quevB549JBno7jcCEeaOZN6BeAfLAup3tox_QDONmRC-ipWuOKzELSlB4lTGmOmOqMg0GN6JPZmjDXsfJ_zisDtIAmmoyXDPX3KgszH0cAwcnsEY5NtMeMu8mB8-sj-XwO4655qVI/s1600/We'll%2BNever%2BHave%2BParis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6K1quevB549JBno7jcCEeaOZN6BeAfLAup3tox_QDONmRC-ipWuOKzELSlB4lTGmOmOqMg0GN6JPZmjDXsfJ_zisDtIAmmoyXDPX3KgszH0cAwcnsEY5NtMeMu8mB8-sj-XwO4655qVI/s1600/We'll%2BNever%2BHave%2BParis.jpg" height="358" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.the-anonymous.com/events/edinburgh-international-film-festival-closing-night/attachment/926753/" target="_blank">here</a></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To be honest, I really wanted to see <i><a href="http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/06/28/eiff-review-well-never-have-paris/" target="_blank"><b>We'll Never Have Paris</b></a> </i>purely because I love Paris, and also because it was written and co-directed by Simon Helberg (AKA Howard Wolowitz from <i>The Big Bang Theory</i>). Quinn (Helberg) and his longterm girlfriend Devon (Melanie Lynskey) go through a rocky patch that results in Melanie suddenly moving to Paris - cue Quinn's fight to win her back. I had a feeling this film would be good, but I didn't expect it to be quite as hilarious or quite as realistic as it turned out to be. It perfectly encapsulates pretty much every human insecurity there is, and is simultaneously pant wettingly funny and very moving. I can't wait to see this film again as soon as I can!</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-86511027446646768662014-09-18T12:32:00.001+01:002014-09-18T12:32:59.279+01:00Organiser review 2014:<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's that beautiful, joyful time of year again, folks: new academic planner time. Most universities have just begun their new terms, and crazy people like me have been drooling in front of 'back to school' stationery displays all across the country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last year I posted a <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/back-to-school-stationery-haul.html" target="_blank">back to uni stationery haul</a>, and also a <a href="http://inferiordesignblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/academic-planner-guide-20132014.html" target="_blank">guide to my favourite academic planners</a>. After finishing university this summer (hopefully for the last time...) I decided to become a real grown up lady and purchase my very first Filofax style organiser which should last me for the foreseeable future. Although I wasn't completely against buying a proper Filofax, the organiser I eventually fell in love with was from Paperchase. I've never seen anything like it anywhere else!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJvJHEaBoSwWoRsEKrv0DCH9IKfOBSRU4rOuUpZV8KYqAxWJ6wSUWCrUlP3enDZBtOwzZQKHnA6NivkGOVmC_7Caex8yeAY5H2w05BlavhlNk14G789wKsY9RoLfCSz4TnVWn7muK_p7o/s1600/Photo+14-08-2014+17+45+26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJvJHEaBoSwWoRsEKrv0DCH9IKfOBSRU4rOuUpZV8KYqAxWJ6wSUWCrUlP3enDZBtOwzZQKHnA6NivkGOVmC_7Caex8yeAY5H2w05BlavhlNk14G789wKsY9RoLfCSz4TnVWn7muK_p7o/s1600/Photo+14-08-2014+17+45+26.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My new baby is a wood effect, teal coloured A5 size organiser, with plenty of room for all of the business cards, inserts and customisations anyone could ever want or need. It also cost £22 which (as long as I use it for at least a few years) is pretty good value, and cheaper than the Filofax brand.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Devastatingly, I can't find this exact organiser on the Paperchase website any more, but I bought mine in store here in Edinburgh, so there might still be a few lurking in shops if this particular planner tickles your fancy. The website still has different designs in the same size, like <a href="http://www.paperchase.co.uk/stationery/diaries-organisers/organisers/floral-stem-deboss-a5-organiser.html" target="_blank">this purple, floral pattern (£22)</a>, or alternatively <a href="http://www.paperchase.co.uk/stationery/diaries-organisers/organisers/wood-effect-teal-pocket-organiser.html" target="_blank">a pocket organiser in the wood effect teal (£12)</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Along with the organiser, I also bought a pack of A5 'To Do List' refills (£2.25) - because I'm a to do list obsessive! - and <a href="http://www.paperchase.co.uk/a5-zip-wallet-organiser-refill-pack-of-2.html" target="_blank">two A5 plastic zip wallets (£2.25)</a> which I've been using in the front of my planner to store pens and post it notes. The organiser came with an all important <a href="http://www.paperchase.co.uk/a5-wk-per-page-diary-14-15.html" target="_blank">18 month week per page diary insert (usually £5)</a> included in the £22 price, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">making it even better value.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although I might like to personalise my organiser a little more in the future (possibly with customised dividers or inserts for added functionality) at the moment I'm quite happy with the system I've developed over the last month or so. I had a day to day style planner last year, but found that I never really used up the space on each page. Going back to a week to week set up has been absolutely fine, and I love the flexibility of using inserts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As you can see from the snapshot below I have a vague colour coding system on the go (blue for work, red for important dates, black for everything else). I've also started using small post it notes to plan out my blog posts. This means I can plan well in advance, but also easily move the order around if I want to change things, or if I simply don't have time to publish a post on that day. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once I've written the post in question, I write it in my organiser, tick it off (because who doesn't love the satisfaction of ticking off a task once it's completed?) and throw away the post it note. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I keep my every day to do lists on a larger post it note, stuck on the opposite page, and then another to do list over the page on one of the Paperchase refills, with more longterm tasks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Do you have a stationery and planner obsession like me? Thanks to Instagram, I know I'm not the only one! Please feel free to share your own planner and organisational set up with me, I'm always on the lookout for inspiration!</span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497488676941894289.post-62744103657766257802014-09-14T15:30:00.001+01:002014-09-14T15:30:57.465+01:00Inferior Inspiration #13: Wedding edition!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A couple of weeks ago I found myself caught up in a whirlwind wedding week (not my own, I hasten to add) in lovely Brittany, France. The beautiful bride and dashing groom were my very good family friends Anna and James, who went on to enjoy a well deserved mini-moon in Paris after the festivities were over. I was honoured when Anna asked me to be a bridesmaid for the first time, and I'll never forget the amazing experience I had alongside such a lovely bunch of ladies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let's be honest though - mushy romance stuff aside - the best part about getting married has to be receiving lots of presents, right? Like most couples, Anna and James registered for gifts so their family and friends could purchase something online, but they were also happy for guests to bring along their own choice of wedding present. It was a brave move - they risked ending up with seventy or so romantic birdhouse mailboxes (any <i>Office</i> fans out there?) - but they also opened themselves up to a little bit of surprise and mystery (alongside the towels and Playmobil pandas - a must have for all newlyweds).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As this seems to be a wedding heavy time of year for a lot of people, I've put together a list of gift ideas below (at varying costs) to inspire those guests bold enough to go 'off list'. By now you all probably know that I usually lean towards practical things, but that doesn't mean they can't be beautiful too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Making a scrapbook or album of photographs is a fairly low cost gift option, but it is undoubtedly one of the most thoughtful presents anyone could give. I think the <a href="http://www.paperchase.co.uk/stationery/photo-albums-scrapbooks/scrapbooks/heart-laser-cut-social-scrapbook.html" target="_blank">laser cut heart scrapbook from Paperchase</a> (£12.50) is very wedding appropriate, and you can either fill the whole album with special memories, or leave some pages blank for the happy couple to add to in the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you're in the market for a bigger gift in the same vein, Polaroid style, instant cameras are very 'in' at the moment. Sadly, Polaroid film is pretty ridiculously expensive these days, but the Fujifilm Instax brand is a comparable alternative. I think their Mini 8 Camera (which comes in a few different colours) is adorable! The <a href="http://www.johnlewis.com/fujifilm-instax-mini-8-camera-with-20-shots/p1615536?colour=Blue" target="_blank">John Lewis set of a Mini 8, batteries and twenty shots</a> (£69.95) seems to be the most cost effective, seeing as <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-Instax-Mini-Instant-Camera-Blue/dp/B00C252KUO/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1410518596&sr=1-2&keywords=instax+mini+8+blue" target="_blank">Amazon</a> are charging £59 just for the camera. Make sure you hand this present to the bride and groom on the special day so they can start taking snaps straight away!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Crockery might seem like a boring cop out, but there are plenty of cute and quirky marriage appropriate pieces out there that I'm sure any couple would appreciate as a reminder of their wedding day. You can find 'Mr & Mrs' mugs in different styles and at various prices all over the internet, but I'm a big fan of the <a href="http://www.emmabridgewater.co.uk/invt/1poh020013" target="_blank">Emma Bridgewater set</a> (£39.95) because they also do a <a href="http://www.emmabridgewater.co.uk/invt/1poh030104" target="_blank">matching tea pot with four mugs</a> (£54.95) and a <a href="http://www.emmabridgewater.co.uk/invt/1poh010066" target="_blank">'Just Married' cake plate</a> (£39.95) all in the same pattern and style.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Le Creuset is a fairly traditional gift, but (even though your Mum undoubtedly has some in her kitchen cupboards) the brand is still very popular, and they have some lovely and unusual items in their range that will last forever! I like the idea of giving little <a href="http://www.lecreuset.co.uk/Sweet-Hearts-Set-of-2.aspx#.VBLaP0s2zwI" target="_blank">'Sweet Hearts' lidded dishes</a> (£30 for a set of two) as a wedding present, maybe even filled with the bride and groom's favourite sweets or chocolates? A good trick for guests on a budget is to keep an eye out for these dishes in TK Maxx, as they usually have them for sale individually at much cheaper prices.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Everyone loves a good novelty gift, but - come on, guys - let's make sure yours are cute and useful so they don't end up at the back of a cupboard somewhere, 'til death do us part. They always say communication is key in any relationship, and the <a href="http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/uk/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=5527412922001&color=001" target="_blank">speech bubble chalkboard from Urban Outfitters</a> (£12) will give the new Mr and Mrs an easy way to leave love notes (or abuse) for each other every day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I think a heart shaped vinyl record would be an adorable wedding present, whether it's to be played or hung up on the wall for decoration. The one above happens to be <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DN8X5VM" target="_blank">a remastered version of 'Love Me Do' by The Beatles which I found on Amazon</a> (from £5.99) but any heart shaped record would do! I know that Scottish band Kid Canaveral <a href="http://www.kidcanaveral.co.uk/2014/products/vinyl/who-would-want-to-be-loved-heart-shaped-vinyl-digital-download" target="_blank">also have one for £4.99</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally (if you don't fancy any of my suggestions) there are approximately one billion lovely wedding gifts for sale at <a href="http://notonthehighstreet.com/">notonthehighstreet.com</a>. My personal favourite has to be these <a href="http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/oldenglishcompany/product/big-spoon-little-spoon-pillow-cases" target="_blank">'big spoon' and 'little spoon' pillow cases</a> (£25).</span><br />
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178371431998615618noreply@blogger.com1