I'm home alone for a few days &, rather than mope around & feel blue about it, I figured that I would take a quiet moment on this blustry Sunday, in between meeting potential flatmates for a vacant room across the corridor, to instead share a few of my current favourite things. These are all things that are helping to keep a smile on my face & I hope that they help to do the same with you too.
1. Finding an outfit that's just right, first time.
I've never been one to plan my outfits & often end up rotating the same garb week after week - usually a midi skirt with a thick jumper & lots of layers beneath it...! - but today I woke up in the mood for this outfit that doesn't find itself so frequently pulled from the depths of my wardrobe. Kindly altered by my grandmother, I decided on this navy sweetheart dress from ASOS (six pounds from my local 'Oxfam') with an H&M striped turtleneck (just under four from a Camden 'Marie Curie') underneath , the sleeves long enough to pull down over my wrists. I've already spilt tea down the skirt, I don't own an iron so it's creased & I'm yet to organise the long-awaited reunion of one of its puff sleeves with a bereft button but it is one of which I am fond all the same.
2. Revisiting old favourites.
I must (slightly guiltily) admit that I wasn't altogether disappointed to wake up to grey skies this morning as I didn't feel up to doing much other than reading recipes & watching old films all afternoon. Discovering 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' alongside a host of classic films on Netflix (praise be) was a highlight of yesterday evening & one that also reminded me of my intention to watch the first two seasons of 'Mad Men' again. I have the first three on DVD but I'm sorry to say that viewing rather fell by the wayside mid-S2 as my boyfriend & I started 'Breaking Bad'. Better late than never & I'm more than happy to be falling in love with the vintage fashion & wonderfully candid portrait of 1960s New York all over again. That collar! Swoon.
3. Starting new books.
Having finished a more contemporary novel than many I've read over the last few years, namely 'Taipei', a disconcertingly original & frequently brilliant novel by en vogue Brooklyn-ite Tao Lin, I've felt a yearning to return to my trusted favourites of late. While trying not to lapse into an extended lieu of magazines & newspaper supplements while in between books, I think that this early novel of Virginia Woolf's, 'Jacob's Room', might just sweep me up into one of those absorbing, literary stupors that I have missed so much.
4. Leftovers for lunch.
One of the many reasons I love weekends is the opportunity to break from my routine of eating the same sandwiches on the same park bench every other day of the week. This afternoon I enjoyed a bowl of savoury rice that I had left over from a quick dinner earlier this week - onion, garlic, quorn, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, mangetout, peas & plenty of curry powder - alongside a couple of hunks of organic, lightly toasted rye. This dense, tangy, almost spongy bread is already a new favourite & one that I discovered as an accompaniment to a recipe from one of my favourite food blogs, Green Kitchen Stories, for shakshuka that I whipped up last night - super simple, wholesome & filling, let me know if you give it a go too.
Time for a brew & a scroll through Pinterest (you can find me here) ahead of making Thai green curry (I like Kim's recipe including sweet potato the best) this evening, yum.
What's helping you to keep a smile on your face this afternoon?
Speak soon - O.
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