Television over Christmas was more than a little dire, (Downton Abbey, The Borrowers and the epic Great Expectations were my viewing saviours. Gillian Anderson’s Miss. Havisham was nothing short of marvelous – who would have thought she would be portraying one of literatures greatest known characters back when she was covered in alien goo, investigating the Smoking Man?) so I found myself tuning in more than ever to my beloved Radio 4, and watching music videos on Youtube.
Florence and the Machine
I absolutely never tire of listening to Florence. And every time I watch her, I’m captivated by her amazing voice and consider dying my hair auburn. Oh, and she wears amazingly beautiful vintage clothes.
Emmy the Great
I discovered Emmy when some of her music appeared on our system at work – and then by happy chance, ended up contributing an illustration of her to Amelias Magazine for a review of her new album.
Au Revoir Simone
This remains one of my favourite songs, and always gets me singing, even when I’m in the depths of an almighty pregnancy-grump. I love the fact that it’s a little bit electro, but not in the same way that makes you feel like you should be in a club, waving a glo-stick in the air. *shuffles off to fetch zimmer frame*
Foals
My current favourite song, also found on the system at work, hurrah. For some reason, it reminds me of when I was traveling and living in New Zealand, which is peculiar as it obviously wasn’t even written then!
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
A permanent favourite, and almost never off of repeat – ‘Home’ makes me want to wear sundresses and go and live in the deep South. Lush.
I’ve also been torturing myself with the People Tree sale, and lamenting the loss of my waistline. I have a hate-hate relationship with maternity clothes (the expense, the fabrics, the sheer ugliness of them….) and keep trying to find ways of wearing my own clothes without looking like I might explode out of them at any moment. (Watch out! She’s going to blow!) If I had the money (and wasn’t smuggling a bowling ball) I would almost certainly buy these pretties:
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| Orla Kiely, how I do I love thee? Let me count the ways….. |
In other news, we’ve decided to give cloth nappies a go this time around, and have managed to buy some very cheaply from a friend. The thing that puts most people off of using re-usable nappies, I think (apart from the, err, washing part), is the initial cost – to kit yourself out completely costs around £300, which is an awful lot of money if you consider that the whole thing might cause you incredible amounts of stress and you end up irritated and sending your husband to the nearest shop for disposables. Or something. Ahem. We’ve managed to get enough for next-to-no-pence to last about two days before having to wash a load (although I can’t imagine leaving them in the bucket for that long….erk….) and are going to top up with eco-disposables in between until we work out if cloth really does work for us. The only thing I wouldn’t compromise for an ethical choice this time around is my sanity – sorry Mother Earth, my brain cells come first.
Also, if you loathe Topshop as much as I do (loud music, young people pushing and shoving, overpriced clothes that don’t last, terrible customer service), be sure to read this article – make sure you click on all the links as well.
Crafty post coming soon!
Hiya! Your blog post cheered me up no end – am also lamenting the loss of my waistline due to expanding baby bump but have not been able to resist the lure of the People Tree sale. I am clearly deluding myself but hey ho, roll on 2012 and some serious nappy washing time!!!
Ooohh, what did you buy? I am seriously tempted by a couple of things – and technically it's like giving to charity because they're made by the wonderful People Tree! I just bookmarked the woman who makes the bibs that you did a post on – I think I might have to add those to my list of 'things to buy'!Which nappies have you gone for?
I love Florence's look – so strong and distinctive, instantly recogniseable. I'm gradually becoming a redhead and her hair colour in that video is pretty much what I'm aiming for!VERY interesting article about Topshop – it's so easy to criticise the really cheap high street shops like Primark for their dubious ethics, but I admit I'd never given Topshop a second thought. Plus, I used to work for Lush when I lived in London, and I'm reeling from the revelation that Topshop employees earn less than Lush employees – scandalous!
I just HAD to get the red tea cup dress. Not very practical really, but I saw it in a shop window in Brighton and fell head over heels! Glad you like the bibs – have some more baby-related bloggage up my sleeve, I just need to actually get blogging!!!!
I love, love, LOVE Au Revoir Simone, it made my day to see someone post about them! And I'm with you too on maternity clothes. I bought a couple of dresses to tide me over, but even then I only parted with my cash because the dresses would also look lovely on a bumpless bod too. Hats off on the cloth nappies too. Sounds like you've got a very sensible attitude to it all and even if you end up using both kinds, you'll still be cutting down on the amount of nappies that will end up on a landfill site. At the end of the day, all you can do is try eh? Kim x
Rebeka – there will always be an occasion for a tea cup dress, it sounds like a marvelous purchase! Eleni – I too crave red-headness, but lack the motivation to keep it up! I too, never really suspected Topshop – simply because it was SO expensive for a high street shop that I naively assumed the manufacturing processes must be at least passable, even if the fabrics were tat. Apparently not. I can't stand the place anyway, and now I have even more reasons!Kim – where did you buy the dresses from? I'm a big tunic fan, and most of those are loose anyway. Once I get past 35 weeks I tend to just stay in pyjamas unless I absolutely HAVE to leave the house. Ha!
TEA CUP SKIRT *scherwooon!!*I too never tire of Flo. She rocks. I have actually heard of none of the other artists featured. I shall have to investigate!! I am always on the look out for new music!
You know from our earlier convo on twitter today that I am starting to struggle too with my expanding waistline but have decided to give maternity stuff a miss. It just seems so overpriced and pointless sometimes. PS adore Florence too (she inspired my daughter's name choice).