I've just had a bit of whirlwind weekend during which I was laptopless and, thanks to my inability to remember my phone charger, was also on a serious battery conserving hype until this morning. All of which means my posts are a little behind the times (sorry). Anyway... 

On Friday, dressed in dance wear, I boarded several trains all the way to Olympia ready to attend Move It for the first time ever. Move It is the biggest dance event in the UK - it's aimed at anyone who possesses a relationship with dance, from teachers and potential professionals through to dance enthusiasts. If you're looking to pursue a career in dance, it's basically unmissable; with the hundreds of stalls for the various dance colleges and courses, it's the perfect place to start planning your future. I, sadly, am too old for that now. Or rather too poor, after already spending four years at uni studying a more academic course, so I went more for the atmosphere and of course the main stage performances. 

I literally have no limits in my capacity to watch dance. I can sit there like a human shaped sponge and absorb every performance, which is what I did since I had to experience Move It alone. Sob, sob, sob. I was lucky to have the day off work but I think I definitely would have enjoyed the day more had I had someone to mosey round with. Nevertheless, I got to witness some incredible performances and snapped a few shots while I was there. The day was split into little sets; World Class, Grace, Fresh, Reflect, Stateside, Curtain Up and Festival. Each one depicted a different branch of performances for example World Class explored dances from other cultures and countries, whilst Stateside explored dance styles originating from the States. Unsurprisingly my favourite sets were Grace, with brilliant ballet and contemporary performances from Performers College, as well as Reflect which consisted of two Romeo + Juliet inspired pieces from MADD college and Cambridge Performing Arts. Another great performance was by Wilkes Academy, with their Lion King inspired piece. There was also a heartwarming performance by the Larondina Dance Company and Dance Aid's lasting messages that we should all dance to make a difference. My main highlight was of course watching Duplic8 close the entire first day. They were incredible and I even got to watch a little interview with them (as well as Lizzie Gough and Tommy Franzen from So You Think You Can Dance Lukas McFarlane from Got to Dance fame and Kristina and Robin from Strictly Come Dancing). It is safe to say I fangirled a lot little. 

Move It also presents the opportunity to try tons of different dance classes. As I booked my ticket last minute I missed the advance booking and so the classes I would have done were already full. Cry, cry, cry. There were a handful you could have booked on the day, which a lot of people did actually do, but I felt a little embarrassed being alone and covered in pineapple juice after a little accident with my snack food. (Check the definition of socially awkward and voila, there standeth I.) I did have little nosy at the classes going on throughout the day though and they looked amazing! If I were to attend Move It again I would definitely book earlier and sign up for more classes. 

For now though, I'm going to catch up with all the blogging I've missed and repeatedly watch the video I took of Duplic8. Bliss.

Jade x

Despite having lived in the UK my entire life (minus a tiny stint as a toddler where I lived in Amsterdam), I still get ever so excited to spend a bit of time in London. Coming from a dead-end town, London just feels so current and alive so I relish any chance to visit the country's capital. The place in question this past weekend turned out to be Covent Garden, where a few friends and I spent almost all of Saturday afternoon. After a little walk around the market we headed for food, feeling more than a little famished (London'll do that to you). As is often the case, we were on the lookout for anywhere that we, as a mixture of graduates and students, considered to be reasonable (aka a little restaurant where a meal was under £10!)

 

It was almost accidental that we stumbled across All Bar One, a little bar and restaurant tucked away a few hundred metres from the market. We were initially making a beeline for TGI Fridays - a place I still have yet to try out! - but the pull of food with the bonus of some celebratory cocktails won us over. Now I'm not the biggest foodie ever but determined to continue broadening my palette, after a quick perusal of the menu I opted for a delicious chicken and basil wrap (with added fries, because every indulgent weekend needs a few fries on the side, right?) The whole meal was exactly what the doctor ordered after a busy morning of trains, tubes and tons and tons of talking.

 

 

After stuffing our little stomachs, we swiftly moved onto the drinks menu where you're almost spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing a cocktail. A stickler for summery fruits, I opted for a raspberry daiquiri which was lovely, if a tad too strong for lunch time consumption! All Bar One also offer the chance to have a cocktail in a teapot for two or more people to share; very Mad Hatter-esque!

We only had to wait ten or so minutes to be seated and the staff were superbly attentive. We lucked in by arriving at the time we did; by the time we were half way through eating, it was getting busier and busier by the minute! It's definitely somewhere I'd go and eat at again, if I can remember how we found it that is. Geographical genius, I am not.

 

IT'S COMING. And by 'it', I mean the first instalment of the The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. Sixty three seconds worth of action and it's enough to make me want to watch the first two films all over again.

The majority of those most excited by this trailer have read the books (countless times, no doubt) so the excitement isn't about what's going to happen. It's about how it's going to happen. I remain in awe of Jennifer Lawrence's acting ability but she's in an all-star cast here (any screen time Liam Hemsworth gets is absolutely fine (read: welcomed greedily) by me). The musical score from the first two films courtesy of James Newton Howard were some of the most hauntingly beautiful pieces of music I've heard in a while and I have no doubts that this film will more than match. Even in this 1 minute clip, we get a taster of the type of crescendo and climatic score that hypes up all the drama we can be sure to be seeing.

 

President Snow, draped in all white (everything) but is anything but innocent, stands as stoically evil as ever and J Law plays Katniss as true as before. I recently watched American Hustle and it amazes me just how well Lawrence is able to play such a range of ages. The cinematic start to the trailer, with the cuts in image and muted, pewter grey colour scheme both set the tone well. The excitement is building: this is the first half of the finale we've all been waiting for. I've been impressed with the first two filmic adaptations and I have no fear this one will be as true to the most important milestones in the text.

 

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I have definitely found a new author to add to my list of favourite writers. The Flavours of Love is the first book I have read by Dorothy Koomson but I do not plan on it being my last. I have been waiting to read some of her work for months and now, with university officially being over, I was quick to snap up any book of Koomson's that I could find.

 

On the surface, I should hate this book. I am not your rom-com, chick-lit kind of girl. Usually spotting the word love in a title is enough to turn me away but my interest in Koomson's work acted as an exception, and I am so glad it did. The Flavours of Love was the perfect blend of all of life's little complexities and had me turning the pages so quickly, I'm sure I probably missed some vital parts of the plot.

 

What I liked most was how much Koomson's characters irritated me, and I mean that in the best way possible. I like it when I feel entitled whilst reading a character, when they become someone I could encounter in real life or on the new, and ever so easily pass judgement on. Koomson's writing provoked a reaction - many reactions, actually - and it is one of those books that seeps into your consciousness. Starts the 'what if it happened to me' strands of thought that are sometimes difficult to stop.

 

It is a dark book; it covers some of the darkest parts of humanity but Koomson is careful to balance these out. Not with artificial lightness but with reality. We all suffer from hardships, from anxiety, from stress but we cope because we create our own ways of coping. We balance things out and, to use a cooking analogy since much of the book revolves around kitchens, though the scales will tip from time to time, equilibrium is usually restored. There are a lot of decisions made within the novel, some I agree with, some I don't, but they keep you on your toes and force you - in the gentlest definition of the word - to carry on reading. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more of Dorothy Koomson's books in the future.


Jade x
 

Yes the title of this post has taken a little inspiration from Dreamgirls. (Musical theatre is definitely my guilty pleasure. I ain't even sorry bro). Anyyyway, this very whimsical buy has actually turned out to be a little bit of a dream, hence the title. I don't usually blog about beauty (mostly because I don't really feel like I'm qualified to!) but I was so impressed with this that I felt I needed to feature it. I haven't been wearing foundation for probably close to a year now. I've been relying on a few different BB creams as coverage but I've recently found myself wanting a slightly more long-lasting base. I really didn't want to spend a lot of money though so the super saving specs were on. Figuratively speaking.

 

Seeing as I have already tried and tested the Maybelline BB cream, I stuck with the same brand which turned out to be the best decision. For a pretty reasonable £7.99, I bought the Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid foundation in Sun Beige. It was weirdly the first tester I tried, completely on impulse so imagine my surprise to discover that it matched my skin tone more or less perfectly! Being mixed race means I often struggle to find a suitable foundation, hence the reason I haven't purchased any in months. I never have high hopes that a foundation will be a perfect match but would have been content with at least a workable match, in my price range. I had tried numerous testers of various foundations, all of which were such poor matches that I was getting a little disheartened. I obviously just wasn't looking the right places though because Sun Beige has turned out to be my little dream in a bottle!

It is so easy to apply and projects a really smooth coverage which is what I really wanted above anything else. Awkwardly my (massively oversized) forehead has a slightly different tone to the rest of my face so it's nice to finally look a little less blotchy! It doesn't look too heavy once it's applied either which is good - I'm definitely a fan of minimal make up, but it's nice to know you've got a subtle base that lasts more or less all day. With it being a liquid foundation, I don't even need to use too much each time either so it looks like this dreamy (sorry, the puns will stop soon) bargain buy will last a pretty long time. That's the dream! (Sorry, I really will stop now.)

I have to admit I'm a bit lazy with my face. Not that I can really afford to be, with my incredibly oversized features (I kid you not, they're MASSIVE). Ears, mouth, forehead - I got it all. Regardless, I'm pretty bad at wearing foundation all that often. I do moisturise every day but I tend to only wear foundation if I'm going on a night out. Tut, tut.

 

It's not surprise therefore that what I love most about this BB cream is that I can still be pretty lazy. I still don't wear it everyday but I certainly wear it much more than my foundation. It's so easy to slap on in the mornings and seems to be lasting me a decent amount of time. I'm not sure if it actually gives me a "natural glow" (I tend to avoid reflective surfaces, which is difficult when you're a dancer) but I do feel it grants me an enhanced state of evenness that my face simply refuses to create without a great deal of assistance.

I decided - with much assistance from my mum - to opt for the dark shade. It doesn't match my skin tone completely (things rarely do) but it does a seamless enough job so I'm happy with it. And since I don't have to alter my early morning make up ritual by more than a couple of minutes, my BB cream really is my little baby.

Morning all :)

 

One of my closest friends turns 21 soon and I've been wanting to get her something special to remember it by for a while. So I clubbed together with my other best friend to buy her a Teeny Weeny friendship bracelet as one of her presents because our friend is teeny tiny! It was actually by accident that I stumbled across Annie Haak designs in the back of an old Vogue magazine I had in my bedroom (I keep almost all the magazines I buy - I've actually got a pretty big collection now!) I am so glad I did though because the bracelet arrived the other day and it's so lovely - I just hope my friend likes it now!

 

I particularly like how dainty the bracelet is and the fact that it's adjustable means it should fit everyone (time will tell!) I am really excited about giving it to her but as she'll be at her uni on her birthday, I won't get to see her open it (sad face). I might get her to text me a picture with it on to see if it fits!

 

Anyone else bought anything from Annie Haak before?