silent disco & the science of speed

On wednesday a small group of us went to Science Museum Lates. For those not in the know, every last wednesday of the month the science museum re-opens it doors at 6:45 and welcomes you to an evening of seemingly rather random fun things to do based around a theme PLUS a few regularly occurring bits including silent disco, pub quiz and speed dating!

 July's theme was speed so there was a whole host of talks covering anything from clock and time technology to free runners and an actor playing the role of the last man to set foot on the moon! Also speed cup stacking and even a beep test (I did not partake as memories of the beep test at school still haunt me - how could that ever be seen as fun?!).

We, of course, made a bee-line for the silent disco. It did not disappoint. There's something pretty special about listening and dancing to 'baby got back' whilst reading about the moon landings. The lighting in the 'exploring space' bit of the museum is absolutely perfect for a disco and the two DJs gave a great choice of tunes. so. much. fun.

After a good ol' dance we went for a wander around the museum as much of it was still open. (I swear that every time I go there I always find something I'd never seen before.) We caught a talk by someone from the team predicted to be the winners of the World Solar Challenge 2013. Their team had designed and constructed a car (also at the museum) due to race 3000km in the Australian desert powered on nothing but solar energy. Cool huh? and v.interesting.

I was a little gutted that we didn't get around to the Rollapaluza Roller Racing or the Speed Derby but the time passes super quickly and you've only got until 10 before the science museum kick you out. The next one is on Aug 28th and I fully intend on going. If you're London based I think you should too - it's a strictly over 18s affair, completely free AND they give you lollipops on the way out. Convinced? Good!

july: hello heatwave!

The summer finally hit and boy has it been super sunny and hot! Lots of great stuff happened this month AND things are certainly back on track with my 4 things challenge!

De-clutter: the ultimate de-clutter took place this month with the partaking of the brockwell park car boot sale. We managed to shift a whole box of stuff and then the things we didn't sell went off to the charity shop! Even more stuff has been listed on eBay so I'm pretty chuffed with myself in terms of clearing out the flat.

Health: thanks to the heat I've been drinking a hell of a lot of water and I think all the vitamin D we've had means my skin has been feeling pretty good. Not so much good news on the exercise front mostly because I cannot bare to go for a run in the heat (poor excuse I know). But, I shall have a bit of spare cash next month so I fully intend on joining the gym.

Money: saving is again under way, thank god as we're fast approaching the time when we need to start paying deposits for wedding related shiz... 

Do more new: Obviously the car boot sale experience was a first and I also branched out and tried a new restaurant in the village AND cooked a few new recipes, all of which turned out rather well and will definitely re-created soon. Plus, tonight I'm heading to the Science Museum Lates. This month it's all about SPEED (the force not the drug) - should be fun I reckon.

this + that

It was a pretty quiet weekend - plenty of eating and sleeping and not much besides. Kinda nice really, especially after the last weekend where I went back to work on Monday feeling anything but rested. Anyhoo, here's a bit of this + that from the last week or so.

I've started working on a new quilt - a baby quilt no less - to give to one of mitch's best friends who recently had a baby girl. It's coming along nicely.

Starting the day right with poached eggs and salmon on toast. I bought mitch an egg poacher for his birthday and we finally tried it out over the weekend. It works like a dream, plus as a former egg hater, I've now discovered that I like poached eggs! Weekend breakfasts are the bees knees.

Bought some new hamster food for Moriarty and it's heart shaped! This pleases me a lot.

Watermelon during these hot days is a god send.

On an afternoon visit to Angel I took a stroll down the camden passage and picked up a pretty sweet dress and this is its inside label. It intrigues me and although I  don't get the bit about 'the game', I do like the last statement. 

On saturday mitch and I cashed in on our car boot sale profits with a well deserved trip to The Joint. Simply lush.

And lastly, this was actually taken at the beginning of the month on an impromptu visit to mitch's parents. This peacock has decided to settle in their garden and happily potters about the lawn and roosts in their tree! Crazy but true.

summery stuff wish list

Some summery things I'm a-wanting to match my sunny mood. 

I love fridays.

1. sunglasses from the white pepper - wouldn't mind a couple of their dresses either - too bad this beauty is sold out!

2. pin up ukulele from the ukulele workshop - obviously I love my plain pink ukulele but wouldn't this be awesome. Ally has quite a few different designs to choose from, they're well worth a look.

3. petits four plates from BHLDN - I don't need them. I just want them. i bet cake would actually taste better eaten of them.

4. tea dress from motel - They've stopped making just body con dresses which means: Motel has once again become one of my favourite sites. so. many. pretty. dresses. 

5. cat pacifier tee from fab - love it.

6. metal triangle necklace from fawn and rose - v.pretty colours.

7. boyfriend cardi from ASOS - I've been on the hunt for a long-ish grey cardigan for aaaaages. I like the look of this one but am I too old to have stars on the elbows? I hope not.

8. folk modern fabric from the village haberdashery - I'm not too sure what I'd make with them but by god I need them in my stash.

experiments in dressmaking - 1000 cranes dress

Whilst compiling my illustrated packing list for Italy I came to realise that I was seriously lacking summer dresses and with extremely limited funds, buying something was out of the question. So, I made one.

It's nothing fancy just a simple elasticated waist sleeveless number but it was perfect for the warm evenings in italy, eating alfresco and drinking on the terrace.

As it was a very last minute thing and I didn't want to spend any money I raided my fabrics stash and decided it was high time I used the fabulous 1000 cranes fabric I bought back in March. I didn't have enough to make both sides of the dress with it so I improvised with some plain navy that was left over from my parents' quilt.

 If I'd had more time I'd have added some pockets. This was a very simple shape but I think it works well. I'll probably make another like it again, maybe before the end of the summer...!

And here, for your viewing pleasure, is a rather blurry picture of me wearing it!

Tuesday's Tees - Out of Print

How I've managed to go for over a year without devoting a tuesday's tees to Out of Print I don't know, but here it is!
The delightful coupling of books and tees - oh what a romance! I pretty much want their entire stock but here are a few of the long long-term favourites plus a v.cute Barbar tote bag. Yoga for elephants! <3