Wearing: By Malene Birger dress (old, but similar style here) // Valentino bag // Karen Walker sunglasses // Kenneth Jay Lane bracelets (similar style here) // Dune sandals.
Hello lovelies! The past two weeks have absolutely flown by around here. I’ve been trying to make the most of the sunshine and have been cramming in as many hours outdoors as possible (hours spent reading in the park, having picnics, and weekend brunch outdoors with friends). This Sunday I’m so excited to be heading back to New York for a week! I’m actually going for a press trip with a few fellow bloggers to see Michael Buble (*faints with excitement*) and then I’ve extended my stay by a few days to catch up with my friends and just soak up the city. If you have any suggestions for great new cafes to try, your favourite things to do in the city, or how to score tickets to Hamilton, please leave me a comment below!
1. Is the weather going to be nice where you are? There’s only a month left of summer so make sure you get out and enjoy it. Last weekend y cousin came to stay and we got ice cream, lazed by the river, had a picnic and saw an excellent performance of Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’ in the Kings College Fellows’ garden at sunset. It was just perfect. If you’re in Cambridge in the next couple of weeks, try to get to one of the productions of the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival (they perform a different play in each of the college gardens and it’s one of our very favourite annual summer traditions).
2. I have lots of beautiful perfumes, but when I wear this fragrance, I literally get stopped on the street to ask what I’m wearing. I’ve never been to the Mediterranean Riviera, but I imagine this is how summer holidays there must smell. I have a major thing for Aerin (both the woman and the brand), but this is by far my favourite from her perfume collection.
3. I had a bit of a pre-emptive packing panic ahead of New York this morning and ordered a couple of new summer dresses, including this cu-ute little white number. I’m really not ready to say goodbye to summer dressing just yet, and thankfully it’s meant to be scorching hot everyday that I’m there, so I only want to wear dresses that pack well and that I can just throw on with sandals, sunglasses and little more.
4. Filling my home with art and prints I love is proving to be a very slow process (mostly because it takes me forever to get around to framing everything), but I’m gradually getting there. I just added this marvellous print to my collection and can’t wait to hang it by my desk (I also love the ‘London‘ and ‘Paris‘ prints).
5. Lipstick is one of my ultimate treats, and I recently indulged in two of the new ‘Hot Lips’ collection by Charlotte Tilbury (the 60s pink Bosworth’s Beauty + the perfect nude Kim KW) and they’re just as good as the hype. So good in fact that I’m going to go back for the fuchsia Electric Poppy.
6. When I travel, I always try and take a book set in the same city as the one I’m visiting. I bought this book from Strand Books (one of my favourite bookstores in the world) when I was in New York last May, and was so enthralled I’d finished it by the time my return flight touched down at Heathrow. It was so good, I’ve just ordered the second book for this trip (and will pick up another New York-themed book while I’m out there).
7. Every September I get that ‘back to school’ feeling and become obsessed with organising everything; life admin, working through my absurdly bulging ‘to do’ lists, and getting back on track with my New Year’s resolutions. Although I put all my appointments in my phone calendar, I still love keeping a proper agenda for scribbling all my thoughts, ideas and daily lists. I’ve just ordered this 16 month 2016-17 Kate Spade version (my annual favourite), but I also love this striped version.
P.S. Don’t forget you can follow me over on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook for daily updates + catch my latest posts (in case you missed them) here:
Life: On seeking (and finding) that summer mindset + how I’ve been having the best summer yet
Travel: A weekend spent exploring beautiful Brussels
Style: A technicolour rainbow on the amazing island of Burano, Venice
Style: Weekend brunch dates in Notting Hill + the perfect little white dress for summer
As always, please do let me know what you’re buying, doing or enjoying this week in the comments below (I always love reading your favourites). I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Love, Miss B xx
That agenda is lovely! I might just forgo using the last 4 months of my Paperchase one and snatch that up instead!
I’m on the hunt for a tweed blazer and riding boots for fall.
This is my third Kate Spade agenda and they’re so good! And I’m also on the hunt for some flat black riding boots, so will report back if I find any!
B xx
Can’t wait to see you!!!
Eek! Can’t wait to see you too!
B xox
Thanks for share such a wonderful post, really very nice post.
Thank you!
B x
Recently discovered your website, but it’s already on my “favourite” list of fashion blogs/sites to watch. Great style of writing and I absolutely adore the tips about living in a big city, as I’m going to be moving to London soon for my Law LL.M.
Not to mention that your style is very feminine and elegant! Keep up the great posts..
What a lovely thing to say. Thank you so much and good luck with the move and LLM!
Briony xx
I bought the mini version of the striped agenda a while ago and I’m totally in love!!
Hope you have a fantastic time in NY, it’s still on my list of places to go!
Jess xx
Isn’t it the best? To be honest the mini version would have been more practical, but I love having the big version on my desk for all my daily ‘To Do’ lists and reminders.
B xx
For the Hamilton tickets, wait for the cancellations line, I’ve seen many people get them or buy them on ticket master – it’s not cheap, but you can get them until about the last minute.
Thank you so much for the tip! I tried, but sadly it wasn’t meant to be this time. Hopefully I’ll get back there again in the next year.
B xx
Your agenda is cool, great post! I also love the “back to school” feeling like a new beginning of something, every year!!
http://www.stayclassi.wordpress.com
Me too! And thank you!
B xx
Yikes! I am way behind on visiting blogs – anyhow, IDK if you’ve been to NYC I hope that you had a wonderful time! OMG I need to go to the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival…total English Literature nerd here. I’m still on the hunt for a summer perfume – any hints? Actually, I need to find a perfume period. 🤔 I adore those prints from Anthropologie, and the lipstick shades are gorgeous! I love the little imprint in them! 💋Reading a book set in the city you travel to is a wonderful idea, and a great way to learn how another person viewed the city. Though if I ever write a book about my hometown…I don’t advise reading it. HAHA I need to get a planner myself – the ones from Kate Spade are absolutely gorgeous, but I’ll probably end up getting something at the Dollar Store.
Perfume is my favourite, so I’ll gladly help! If you don’t know where to start, I’d suggest visiting a Jo Malone or Diptyque store and working your way through the fragrance family (fresh green, citrus, gourmand, spicy or woody scents) until you find those you are most drawn to and then trying a few on your skin to see how they wear. Those two brands are both beautiful, but don’t smell too sweet or generic so you won’t smell like everyone you pass. At Diptyque my favourites are L’Ombre Dans L’Eau (blackberry leaf and rose) and Do’Son (tuberose) and at Jo Malone it’s Orange Blossom or English Pear & Freesia for summer and Blackberry and Bay or Nectarine and Honey Blossom for Autumn.
Hope that helps!
B xx