Bread and Blusher

My Favourite Motivational Inspirations.

03:55

My first week being an Intern

03:45

This is it! I have started on my career journey, Monday was my first day as the ‘Western Europe Communications Intern’ at Nike Ltd.

The night before was spent watching motivational videos on TED.com and relaxing in a candle lit bath reading a brilliant book I was lent be my wonderful friend called ‘How to be Parisian’, or I was relaxing before I dropped my phone and got the book wet (Sorry Hannah)… amazingly the phone worked fine but I put the hair drier on it just to be sure.

Commuting takes me about an hour and a half, and I never get a seat on the train, which is fine in the morning but on the way home I get tempted to just seat myself on the floor. To save money I make the journey from Marylebone to the office on foot, which takes about half an hour but it’s better than being on the crowded tube and its good for me, although my poor legs and blisters disagree.

WARNING, Never where new shoes on your first day! They were so harsh I went through a pack of 5 blister plasters! Or maybe the pumps from New Look are made from steel, I don’t know.

I have only been with them for a few days and this is a quiet time of year for the team but they are all so lovely and are making me feel really as ease. The whole look and feel of the office is every sleek and modern, which is brilliant to work in. I am sort of glad that it is quiet at the moment as it gives me time to learn the ropes before it all goes apparently mad in September.

As for Office wear, I kept an eye out on my interview day what people wear wearing as the contract said ‘Smart-Casual’ which everyone hates as it is ridiculously vague. Below should be some pictures of my outfits with week.

Its been ready murky weather in London recently, which is not fun for my walking commute but it means I’m not missing out on any sun while I’m in the office! See there is literally a Brightside to everything! As the song from Monty Python says “If life seams jolly rotten, there’s something you’ve forgotten”. I totally believe this and I’m planning on doing a whole over blog on my favourite positive motivational people and sayings etc.

I feel like I’m off to a great start here and can’t wait for the exciting things to come!

My Life

New House!

08:04

Reviews

...AS TOLD BY CHRISTIAN

11:45

As I mentioned in a previous post I recently bought 'GREY', the telling of '50 Shades of Grey' from Christians point of view. It took me all of two days to finish the book, I only finished it earlier today so I thought I would write this now as my memory would put a gold fish to shame.

Reading this you get to understand more about him, obviously, things that he wouldn't dare tell Ana for eden Dr. Flynn. The First thing that struck me about Christian's thoughts is the way in which he felt about her when they first met. You begin to understand that his infatuation with her just as strong as she to him.

I found it quite amusing the way he lusted over her, are all guys so sexually driven? stupid question.

His nightmares and dreams really show how hard his younger life was and how traumatic it must have been for him, therefore giving more of an explanation as to why he is the way he is.

If you have already read 50 Shades it is no surprise what happens during, which makes you think 'oh I know whats going on here!' particularly with the Leila situation.

It makes you want to sit with both books and cross reference .

It finishes a little later then Ana's story, sort of over lapping into the second book. It was especially interesting to see how he coped when she left and his evolving feelings, with the help of Dr. Flynn of course.

For anyone who has read the trilogy I would strongly recommend this book, and I especially implore those of you who have seen the tragic portrayal of this book in the cinema to read it.

In my opinion the film showed Grey in a cold harsh light and I do not blame the people who believe it glorifies abusive relationships, even if that is an over exaggeration, but I digress.

Overall I would give this book 7/10, Due to the fact that since the first book came out I have read many others that have been substantially better, however its the story line and the character of Ana that I love to read about.

Girly Things

DIY Haberdashery

07:02

I've always been interested in patterns and material but I've never really had the sewing skills other than your standard knowledge. So when I was in town a few weeks ago and I picked up some really cool material on sale in an independent sewing shop in Canterbury I needed an idea of what to do with it.

Its been sitting in my sewing box, which I got from my grandmother a few weeks back as a house warming gift (Below), until i finally got some cushions from wilkos and I decided I was going to use the material to make some simple yet decorative pillows for the new house.

Instagram/alannahollings

I had to wait till I was back home in the north east so I could use my grandmothers sewing machine (other grandmother from before), I thought I would only have enough for one pillow per material but it turned out I had more then enough!

The process was really simple and my mother worked the machine because she is much better then I, but you basically just measure out the size of the cushion and and sew to size BUT you MUST sew this inside out unless you will see the seam.

So with the other material my mother had the brilliant idea of sewing right around the edge to make one large pillow. We then filled it with stuffing from old pillows that we re-plumped by ripping all the cotton wool into small pieces before stuffing them into the newly made massive pillow. A brilliant idea if you don't know what to do wit your old flat pillows!

The idea is that this large pillow will go on the floor next to the coffee table and be used as a soft floor seat, inspired by my many trips to asian tea shop where you sit on the floor.

While I was buying my material I also decided to make a slip to go under a sheer beach dress, so that I could make it into a normal dress to wear everyday. I am still in the process of finishing this off but I'm nearly there!