10 Things That Make Me Smile :)

1. Old Books
I love old books. The feel of the thumbed pages, the illustrations, the crumbling covers and the way they look all lined up on a shelf. I have quite a few childrens books ranging from the late 1800's to the 1960's and I find it fascinating how the way that literature speaks to a child has evolved and changed over the years from strong didactic tales of morality to books that are solely for entertainment, adventuring and amusement.

2. Trips to the zoo
I took this snap at Edinburgh Zoo of a sea eagle who seemed to be posing ready for my photo. I love a trip to the zoo, you could go to the same zoo and every time you'd see different things.

3. Vintage Inspired Kitchens
The perfect backdrop for an afternoon of baking is a vintage inspired kitchen!

4. Doodling
I love doodling, there's something really theraputic about it, especially when you can totally switch your brain off and let the pencil do the drawing.

5. Vintage Roller Skates
I adore my vintage rollerskates from Rokit Vintage. Luckily I have a skating buddy and we frequent the promenades and seafronts from Hastings to Eastbourne!

6. Brighton Lanes
There's nothing that makes the summer more summery than a lovely trip to Brighton Lanes for a spot of shopping in the weird and wonderful shops. On my recent trip I discovered the brilliant Dollydagger boutique.

7. Period Dramas
I've been making a lot of resources for school and to make the endless cutting, sticking and laminating less tedious, I've been watching a lot of period dramas... I watched Downton Abbey again in preparation for the upcoming second series. I absolutely love Maggie Smith's character and the interaction between the "upstairs" and "downstairs" characters.

8. Creativity and Cakes
I love that there is so much creativity and baking inspiration out there. Being a blogger I find myself constantly in awe of my fellow bloggers and tweeters and their baking skills!

9. Positivity
I think a positive mental attitude can do wonders for any situation. Some of my friends may be going through times of uncertainty in the post-uni job hunt, others may be feeling the pre-september nerves before starting their first teaching post, but keeping positive is the way through it all, that, and drinking a lot of coffee ;)

10. Churros and Chocolate!
When I lived and taught in Spain for a month I became dangerously addicted to these crispy doughnutty delights dunked in gorgeously thick hot chocolate.... YUM! Here's an amazing little churros recipe from the lovely Thomasina Miers.

The Prettiest Vintage Polka Dots Around...

As you are all well aware, I am a self-confessed polka dot addict, and thus I am always looking for my next fix. Vintage shops are always a good source of this retro pattern and whenever I trawl a vintage shop I always fall in love with at least a handful of beautiful polka dotty clothes... so I thought I'd share some little gems I have found on my recent trawling of online vintage shops with you... Enjoy!

50's Polka Dot Circle Skirt - Vintage Child UK £20

60's Blue Polka Dot Sailor Dress - Vintage Child UK £26

80's Navy Polka Dot Dress - Rokit Vintage £40

80's Polka Dot and Floral Midi Skirt - Rokit Vintage £25

*She Was a Rollerskater, Rollerskating All of the Day*

I got these little delights from the wonderful Rokit Vintage! I was eyeing them up after the blogger event at Rokit HQ back in April. I've been wanting some roller skates for a while now, so I could relive my childhood. I had some neon pink and yellow liquorice all sorts roller skates as a child, but I'm not sure I could pull those off nowadays! You lovely lot helped me decide on buying these great skates when I asked you to cast your votes in a previous blog post... and I'm so very glad you steered me towards getting the roller skates. They're fab!

One of my best friends has some roller blades and so we headed over to a nice spot on Bexhill sea front so I could give the skates a whirl (in a relatively quiet area so if I fell over I wouldn't have a massive audience!). The weather was gorgeous too, despite the ominous looking clouds in the photo.

After some serious skating an ice cream was in order! A good waffle cone, whippy ice cream and a flake went down a treat!

I did manage to incur a slight skating injury... but not when I was whizzing up and down the promenade... I actually fell over and cut my legs after coming to a stop and looking out to sea by the railings. The lovely Joanne captured the moment here for me! Thanks... not my most glamorous moment I have to say! :D

I Just Love Scrabble!

I Love Scrabble... Me and my sisters without fail, every Christmas, sit down to some epic games of Scrabble. The world seems to share my love for geeky game and has incorporated it into all kinds of lovely things! Like my wonderful "Geek" Scrabble necklace courtesy of Miss Holly's Boutique over at Rokit Vintage... I also really want the Scrabble sofas and the Garden Scrabble!

My Lovely Geek Scrabble Necklace - Miss Holly's Boutique at Rokit Vintage

Tweet Scrabble Necklace - Craftorama

Scrabble Ring - Mandy Fisher

Scrabble Mug - Retro To Go

Scrabble Keyboard - Datamancer

Garden Scrabble! - Big Plastic Head

Scrabble Sofa - Bedzine

Chocolate Scrabble - Serious Eats

Scrabble Business Card Holder - Oh My Darling

There's More To Tea Cups Than Cups of Tea!

There is more to tea cups than just cups of tea... I love tea cups, but I cannot stand tea - I know, how very un-British of me! So, for me, any excuse to have tea cups around the house and not have to drink the stuff is a bonus. After the event at Rokit Vintage where the Vintage Patisserie provided jasmine tea and prosecco cocktails served in gorgeous mismatched china tea cups, it got me thinking about other uses for the humble tea cup!

Dessert in a tea cup!

Tea cup lamp shades

Jewellery storage

Flower Pots

Tea cup candles

Antique tea cup magnetic jewellery holders

Rokit Vintage - Cast Your Votes....

I'm in the depths of essay-writing despair... it's just not happening... I thought you lovely lot could help cheer me up by helping me make a decision. The folks over at Rokit Vintage have given me £30 to spend. But there are SO many lovely things I want from them I thought I could use a bit of help... So people, cast your votes!

Polka Dot Bow Headband - £6

Brown Buckle Bag - £35

1980's French Glass Set - £14

1970's Glass Storage Jars - £24

Pink and White Roller Skates - £25

"Signed Sealed Delivered" Stamp Earrings - £15

Love Heart and Scroll Earrings - £5

So guys... what should I get!??

"Geek" Scrabble Necklace

I'm back home for Easter and I took a welcome break from essay writing and job application forms to pop out and have a nice meal with the parentals in Porters - a lovely little place in Hastings Old Town. I had jerk chicken, chips and salad, and my mum had the most delicious greek style cottage pie with aubergine and feta mash. Yum!

I absolutely LOVE my new necklace courtesy of Rokit Vintage and the talented Miss Holly's Boutique! It combines my love of scrabble (You can't beat a good game of scrabble on a Sunday afternoon... or any aftrnoon for that matter!) and all things geeky...

You could get some serious points with the word "geek" on a triple word score!

I spotted this fuscia plant in my parent's front garden, all of the flowers were heart-shaped! How lovely!