Revenge Friday- Culture in Mayfair, Kings Road

Hello darlings,

I hope you had a good weekend. I am sorry that this is being posed late, admittedly I had pretty much written it but I was struggling to write the intro bit- I am worst blogger. Anyway here it is...

Day Out in Mayfair

I went to Mayfair because I wanted to go to Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo at the RA. The exhibition was really fabulous, and his drawings are so atmospheric and characterful. I would recommend going; also if you are under 25 you can get a half price ticket (I think it was like £7.50).

I then walked down Bond Street and I needed to respond to an email so I went to John Lewis Cafe for  a cream tea (OAP vibes) and yeah did some emailing. Then after that I was sort of ready to go home, so I slowly walked back to Victoria station. 

Revenge Friday

I went to Chelsea on my own because I wanted to have a browse of a few shops. I went to a bouji stationary shop and picked up a couple of items. Then I received a text from my father to say he was in Kings Road Five Guys with spare chips and I legged it down Kings Road to Five Guys. I got myself a milkshake and had some chips. I then walked up Kings Road. I looked in Zara because I needed some black work trousers to wear when I am on my period; I didn't see any I liked. I looked in Peter Jones and Waterstones- nothing took my fancy.

In the stationary shop I purchased a chic notebook for work (navy, lined paper, ring bound and lovely quality) and I got a box of stickers that I thought my sister would like (my sister is visiting LDN in a few weeks and I just like to give her a little something something whenever she visits). Now when I got home I was excited for my new purchases and so I opened the box of stickers... it was empty... there were no fucking stickers inside the box... I was sold an empty box. I then proceeded to piss myself laughing for like an hour. 

I had a good day. I really like going to Kings Road- it is defo one of my fave places to go if I want to do some browsing of shops. If you have any recommendations of caffs or restaurants on Kings Road let me know.

Okay that is a wrap for this week. I will chat to you next Friday. 

Love

Happy hippo

Revenge Friday-What I have been watching, deinfluencing and day out in London

 Hello darlings x

I hope you have had a fabulous Revenge Friday. My day was really nice.

What I have been watching and listening to

Things fell apart presented by Jon Ronson (BBC Sounds)- I sort of adore Jon Ronson he seems very empathetic and he reports on some really intriguing things. There is a series two of Things Fell Apart which is a podcast where each episode of the podcast is a story from the culture wars but this series it is about the Coronavirus Pandemic. It is so worth listening to. 

Hunting the Rolex Rippers (BBC Iplayer)- This just popped on TV one night when my mum and I were just about to go to bed. However, we were so gripped by this show that we ended up staying up and watching it to the end. It is a short documentary about the rise of watch thefts that have happened. It is actually shocking and sort of frightening, luckily in the documentary the thieves say they only go for watches above 10k so it is safe to say I wont be targeted for my casio lol. But yeah it is so sinister because they speak about almost spying on their victims, like they will get women to sort of look for victims in like bars and clubs ect. The ending of the documentary is a bit, it ends on quite a weird note.

Milli Vanilli documentary (Paramount +)- I watched this with my mum last week and tbh we weren't really expecting much. If you don't know about milli vanilli they were like a pop duo who basically had a few hits but the thing was they had never actually sung on their albums and in concert, it was literally someone else. So they were basically living a lie. The documentary is a very sympathetic portrayal though, you defo feel sorry for them. It is quite interesting because in the documentary the surviving member of the duo said that they started to sort of believe their own lies, like they started to think it was really them singing. It is just such a crazy story.

Deinfluencing you

So I am not sure who originally coined this deinfluencing term, so I am not sure who to credit but it is a term I have seen floating about the internet. Deinfluencing is basically the opposite of influencing, so you are telling people not to do/buy things.  Usually like deinfluencing products or things with a lot of hype; so here is my list...

Candle Warmers- This is just honestly pointless. It is basically a lamp that you put over a candle instead of burning the actual candle wick. I think I had seen this in a gift guide around Christmas time and my first thoughts were like... please please no one buy this for me. I just don't get it.

A Square Croissant- I saw this recommended by like a London Instagram page (one of them pages that recommends places to eat and things to do ect in London) and it is basically a bakery that sells... square croissants but there is a lot of hype around it. It is just a bit gimmicky. Is it popular because it tastes nice or is it popular because it is a square croissant?

Ralph's Coffee Bar- I keep seeing this coffee place on Instagram. It is a cafe at the bottom of the Ralph Lauren store on Bond Street and I was thinking of going if ever I found myself in that neck of the woods. I just thought it looked cute and preppy. But back to the square croissant, people won't be honest on Instagram and say 'my square croissant was stale', it is about the aesthetic. It is the case of style over substance. 

Whispering Angel- I saw a lot of hype around this wine and so I did get a bottle at Christmas. It was either corked or this is just not a good bottle of wine.

I can defo see myself doing more deinfluencing lists so if you have any ideas drop me a line on Instagram or comment below. I didn't put Stanley Cups on this list because I sort of get the appeal although I don't get why you would collect them in multiple colours. I think the more intriguing aspect of the trend is that I have seen a few posts on Instagram where people are putting alcohol in the Stanley Cups which honestly if you are doing that you are an alcoholic.

Revenge Friday

I met up with my partner for lunch and we went to J Sheekey. I had like battered prawn and courgette to start and then risotto for main which was really good. I have been really enjoying trying out a few restaurants in London; I love places that are quite classic.

We then went shopping, and neither of us really purchased anything. My partner was looking for clothes but I think he prefers to shop on his own. I did sneakily buy a Valentines card from a stationer while my partner was stood outside vaping and I got my sister a Galentines card- I am very organised this year.

After browsing some shops we got a matcha late and we actually decided to see a film. We decided to see the Wonka film but neither of us had seen the trailer and I am not sure what I was expecting but that wasn't it lol. It wasn't quite our thing (it is very much a children's film) but tbh it was like enjoyable nonetheless.

These are the cards I got... the one for my sister is like lowkey creepy. Like it looked really cool in the shop because it has like the lenticular design but on the train home I actually felt a bit creeped out- I feel guilty sending it to her. The the one for my partner is just like a simple rose. 

Lots of love

Happy hippo x

Revenge Friday: Boudoir Makeover and errands

Hello darlings,

I was in LA for two weeks and I might post a blogpost about what I got up to. It was really fab. Anyway, I have sort of just spent the week chilling and doing some admin bits and errands. I had a big to do list this week and there is some desperate organisation needed for my boudoir. This is going to be a bit of a boring post. 

Boudoir Makeover

I brought this print when I was in LA, in an art gallery. The print is a photo of a cinema which opened in the 1960s and it had quite a distinct concrete dome structure. I sort of wanted some fresh art/pictures in my bedroom because the old pictures I had on my wall were a bit childish. I have also chosen two other prints to put up on my wall which my parents didn't have a place to put. Anyway, my print didn't fit a standard frame so I took it to the framers. I am so excited to get it back and then I need to put them up on my wall.

It has felt like a challenge unpacking from university but I am getting there.

IKEA Trip Revenge Friday Fieldtrip

I went with my mum to IKEA on Friday and we got lunch. I went for the vegetarian meatballs and the Daim cake (my first time trying it) which was indulgent. We actually had quite a successful trip.

 I got: a shoe rack, filling paper rack, drawer organisers, a bamboo tray (to put my perfumes on) and a plastic white tub for my bedside table. I so can't wait to show these all in action. 

When we got back I did some organising of documents in my new paper file. My mum also got a new washing basket which is on wheels and it came flat pack, so I had my first go at assembling flat pack furniture. 

Doesn't it look neat?

Evening in London

I went out with my friend in London on Saturday. We met up in Covent Garden. Omd it was mobbed in town; there was like queues to get into the shops. We had a browse of some boutiques in Covent Garden. 

We walked to Soho and got an Indian which was really yummy. My friend wanted some clothes for work so I tried to style him in the menswear section of Liberty's department store- he wasn't too enthusiastic about my suggestions. Then we walked back towards Covent Garden and we stopped by a cake and cocktail place on Old Compton Street. I got a matcha latte and a macaron. Yeah it was such a lovely evening.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading this weeks post. Sorry it was a bit late. I will try and show you the results of my boudoir transformation next revenge Friday.

I never know what to say on these blogposts because originally I wanted it to be about self-improvement but like I don't think I am like the person to blog about self-improvement. As long as you guys don't mind the self-improvement being a bit sparse. But anyway chat next Friday.

Love,

Happy hippo x

Day Out in St John's Wood

 Hello x

So today I went to St John's Wood. Yesterday I went to the V&A with my mum to visit the Menswear exhibition. The exhibition was really good actually, very interesting. They had loads of interesting things on display and loads of paintings as well which were really interesting. Anyway, it was while I was in charity shop on Kensington Highstreet yesterday that I had the idea to go to St John's Wood today. St John's Wood is a really nice area to brows the boutiques and charity shops and grab some lunch.

I picked up Kate Atkinson's Case Histories in Oxfam. I was looking for it in my house this morning but could not find it and just concluded that we had given the book away, so yeah it was lucky I picked it up in the charity shop because I wanted to read it next.

Then I browsed another charity shop and tried on a dress but was not quite sure because I thought it made me look quite pale. Anyway I thought about it over lunch (ice coffee and a feta and spinach pastry from a deli) and decided t buy it. I also picked up some really cute crystal bowls in the shape of flowers, I only picked up two but there were twelve there and I really regret not picking up more than two because it turns out my mum actually collects these bowls. I did think I recognised them.

The bowls are 1960's Dartington and I paid actually a good price I paid £3 for each but yeah I should have got four because they are really cute. The dress is really gorgeous it is a silk slip with lace. I paid more than I like to admit for the dress (£24) but to put it into perspective one might pay that on like a bad quality fast fashion dress. I know I will wear this.

Then I went to Regents Park where I had some raspberries and a drink. Yeah it was really chill. I walked down to Marylebone where there are more charity shops. I was soo tired by that point I was sort of done with charity shopping.

I then headed down to oxford street because my sister wanted me to look for a particular dress for her at Urban however I couldn't find it. Honestly it was so chaotic in there and soo warm.

I also popped to a haberdashery because I wanted to look for some bias binding. So I was making a top out of some fabric last week when I realised that I would have a lot of fabric left over, so therefore I decided to make two tops but as a result I wouldn't have enough fabric to make the bias binding. Therefore, I was looking for some bias binding in a solid colour but somehow I managed to leave the house without my fabric swatch and yeah I just could not find a colour that would match. I will go back again with the fabric swatch and hopefully there will be a match. It was a really lovely haberdashery, although I felt a bit intimidated because there were lots of studenty, fashiony people looking at fabric.

I apologise for that boring explanation. Here is a picture of my very nearly completed tops- they do not have the straps which is made from the bias binding. They look really adorable, one is for myself and one is for my sister if she wants it. I am planning to make a few more things this summer (weirdly all tops) so if you would like to see a blogpost of my sewing plans and/or my completed garments, let me know. 

Anyway, yeah I had a really lovely weekend. I definitely enjoy doing that charity shop route (St John's Wood to Marylebone) if there is an occasion I need to buy a dress for- you can pick up something for a good price and the likelihood is it has only been worn once before (there have been surveys on Christmas Party Outifts and statistically most outfits are only worn once).

See you later x