Christmas dinner with a gym

While waiting for the waiters to clear the main course plates the stunning realisation that not a single person has cleared all of the carbs off their plate!

Also all the girls are hot and the boys are bench. God help the wanker that spills a drink on one of us tonight!

'tis the season

So December is finally here and the festivities are getting into full swing, my iPod is treating me to Christmas songs, the postman is delivering things for me to wrap, Costa has black forest hot chocolates back in and the decorations are glittering at me from the cupboard ready to be put up. The only thing that isn't being particularly wintery is the weather, it's 21 days until the big day and the temperature is still in double digits! Just worth taking a short interlude here to point out that this is a clear indication of a climate change, shun the non-believers. That being said I'm not begrudging the warmth entirely as this weekend kicks off my party season.
Tomorrow (Saturday 5th) is Mill Road Winter Fair, http://www.millroadwinterfair.org the whole length of the road is shut off from cars and the pavements are lined with stalls and traders, dance groups, musicians and mulled wine or cider if you prefer. There's even a parade! Last year I successfully got into the middle of the parade kind of by accident, luckily I was wearing a pink glittery mask and a light up skirt so I looked like I was supposed to be there.
After the fair it's time to get beautified for the Full Circle Fitness Christmas party, the one day that I don't have to feel guilty about not following the nutrition plan because the head coach chose the restaurant! We are starting at the Bath House, eating at Zizzi and then drinking in the Hidden Rooms. Italian might not be a traditional Christmas dinner choice but damn Zizzi food is tasty, I used to work for Zizzi, I lived off Zizzi for a while, I still drool just thinking about their cheese and onion garlic bread.
So aside from a headache what will Sunday hold? Glad you asked. The boys are hosting their annual fakemas dinner, christmas jumpers will be worn, turkey will be carved with swords, and faces will be slapped with the leftovers. Unfortunately I won't be there for the actual meal as it clashes perfectly with the Cambridge Style Week casting call back for the 2016 shows.

I will be posting photos throughout the weekend of course, but given the amount of prosecco that is bound to be available I doubt I'll have anything intelligent to write along with it. Follow me on instagram to see what happens! https://www.instagram.com/154w/

Artisan food hamper

I was invited to an event today at Cambridge Wine Merchants on Bridge Street to celebrate the launch of Cambridge Artisan, a business started by a teenager in Royston.

"Year 10 school pupil Amelise Burr, has created a new online gift box and hamper company called Cambridge Artisan... each thoughtfully curated hamper presents the very best of Cambridge's artisan food and drink (£59-£135). Gift boxes start from £20."



I had a chance to sample some of the food included; meats, cheeses, fudges and sauces all sourced from local growers, producers and markets. I also had a chance to chat to Amelise's dad who owns his own food business selling churros.

The website is up and running www.cambridgeartisan.co.uk (you won't find it on Google yet I tried) to order the different hampers, each of the individual products are available in the shop as well and currently you will find festive themed ones as it is the season for eating too much.

The samples I tried were delicious, I definitely recommend the red velvet and white chocolate fudge. So if you have been stuck for a Christmas present for someone, or just want to get yourself a treat they are definitely worth checking out.

Big life changes possibly ahead

Looking into starting freelance work.

It's a bit scary.

But also exciting...

Any advice on not getting bitten in the ass by fees and taxes would be much appreciated.

#RestInParis

There are millions of different species living on this planet, and each of those species has variations. They live in different places, they have different colours, they eat different things. The human species is made up of nearly 7.4 billion individuals and with the exception of identical siblings every single one of these has a totally unique DNA code. However the fact that all humans are genetically able to breed with all other humans (medical issues aside) proves that we are all still the same species regardless of what filters you use to separate people into groups.
Now here is the kicker, the human race is the only species out of the maybe even trillions of species on Earth that wage war on themselves. Yes a lion with fight another lion for dominance, but I have yet to hear of a lion sneaking into another pride with a coat full of explosives and setting it off purely because they believed their pride was better.
There is a lot of focus on the religious aspect of fighting, not just this week but almost every war ever fought has had some kind of religious disagreement at the base. "My god is better than your god" type stuff, or even more absurd "my way of believing in our god is better than your way of believing in our god". Now that last one seems to be the one causing the most amount of hatred at the moment, groups of people with a particular religion, interpreting the teachings of their faith in a violent and destructive way, then going out and publicly declaring their faith alongside an act of extreme violence. The upshot is that a lot of people get hurt, maybe even die, and an entire faith is put under scrutiny.
Here's the truth that transcends all acts of violence...

GODS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE.

You can argue the existence of a higher power all you like but this one truth will remain, it is humans that actually pull the triggers.
Now obviously this doesn't account for the large number of people who are killed in earthquakes, or lightning storms, so called acts of god. If you are going to subscribe to that one you will have to decide which god, if lightning kills someone was is Zeus or Thor, and did anyone actually see them throw the bolt or was it in fact a discharge of static electricity between highly charged atmospheric particles?

My final thought here is about my choice of title #RestInParis. Over the past 3 days thousands of people have lost their lives, thousands more have been injured, plus the families and friends of those who now have to deal with that loss and find a way to wade through the literal and metaphorical rubble left behind. Vicious attacks on normal people doing normal things. People in Libya, Paris, Germany, Beirut, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq and probably a whole load more, have had their lives taken or ruined by people who believed that their beliefs where worth killing for. I chose Paris simply because it fits nicely with RIP, if RIB was a popular acronym I would have gone with Beirut. I have chosen not to offer prayers for Paris despite the high attention social media has on this, prayers can not heal the wounded or bring back the dead, it won't stop the fighting if the fighting is based on who can pray better. Instead I offer a message of peace and logical thought. It doesn't matter who you kill for, you can do it in the name of Voldemort for all it counts, the outcome is still the same. One person choosing to take the life of a fellow person.

#RestInParis

Designer announced - Scott Henshall

This story was in the Cambridge News this morning and I could not be happier about it.
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Famous-fashion-designer-Cambridge-Style-Week/story-28149070-detail/story.html
For a couple months now I have been emailing backwards and forwards, drawing up documents, and keeping all of it a secret but now it is official the contracts are signed and the press has been informed. Cambridge Style Week 2016 will be in collaboration with Scott Henshall.
There's still loads more to sort out, lots of little side projects and a whole load more paper work but it will all be worth it when I get to see it all come to fruition in March.
Scott is bringing two lines to CSW both of which will be premier shows. One is his own couture range and the other is the Tempest London line which is ready to wear and will also be available to buy at the shows.

Tickets will be on sale soon for the shows from www.cambridgestyleweek.com but also keep your eyes peeled for VIP opportunities (meet and greets, parties, competitions).

Poptastic palette

Love superdrug for a good deal on some new colours and these ones are really pretty.
This is the poptastic palette by MUA professional.
From left to right...
Pizzazz purple
Jade jazz
Cool cyan
Cherry sour
Lime sizzle
Atomic aqua
Electric purple
Shocking pink
Gold mine
Crystal blue
Blue suede
Sonic blue

I'm particularly enjoying cherry sour and lime sizzle together, can't wait for the chance to play.

New photos

Just been sent the finished photos from the shoot I did last month in Hyde Park head over and take a look...
Http://isamacksmodelling.wix.com/macks

Radio silence

What have I been doing while I was away from my keyboard? Well here's the whistle stop tour...
Bought and completed Tom Clancy's Ghost Protocol 2
Cooked aromatic chicken with rice for me and the boy, just like pappa used to make
Made a crown
Started playing Call of Duty Ghosts
Had the back of my hair dyed purple
Spent 2 hours on my Halloween make up
Didn't break my ankle when my heels went down a hole in a beer garden
Went to the final casting for Cambridge Style Week*
Had a home made Sunday dinner courtesy of the boy
Had a meeting with Purple Haze
Went to my first training session with Full Circle Fitness and didn't die**
Actually put away the pile of washing that has been cluttering the foot of my bed for about a week.

*Congratulations to everyone that has been called back from all the castings, see you in December.
**it was touch and go for a minute though! Just in case anyone was wondering yes there will be progress updates on here because it's all about motivation! I just had to wait for my face to return to a normal colour before I could take a picture of day 1

Black Swan Halloween

Day 1 

Irritation's what you need

I wanted to tell you all about the Penhaligon Halloween party and how amazing it smelt and how delicious the mulled wine was...
But instead I waited for an Amazon prime delivery...I thought if you paid £80 a year for this service you were supposed to get the premium version. This is not the case, today I was guaranteed that my package would arrive by 9pm. I spent the entire day in waiting for it. I lost an entire day because I didn't want to miss the delivery that I specifically requested be delivered next day.
Tesco can get delivery pin pointed down to an hour. Even Argos for all their sins text you to tell you when they're about an hour away.
Amazon prime is now in my waste of money column along with stick on nails and coloured hair extensions from the 90s.

On the plus side though, I went for a delicious meal at rockers steak house on mill road instead.

This morning I was wondering why my deodorant seems to catch in the back of my throat and make me cough, but the male alternative doesn't seem to choke quite as much. This article doesn't answer my question but it is an interesting read.

It's a vanity thing for definite but I use products that contain deodorants AND antiperspirants but I know people who only use a nice smelling spray, to begin with the effect is the same, but by the end of the day the smelly spray has worn off and the natural musk has come through.
Here is where my comments are probably going to get some backlash...not all natural body odour is nice! You will have probably noticed that your own smell changes depending on what you have eaten, or what you have been doing. Personally I know that if I have been somewhere uncomfortably hot and sticky I smell different to if I have been exercising. I am conscious of this and make the effort to apply a sufficient layer of whichever spray I am currently using so that I do not cause offence to the person who has to stand in the queue behind me later on.
Some people are not that considerate.
So here is my personal advice take it or leave it, Lynx and Impulse is very popular with the teen/preteen crowd, young energetic kids that don't stand still long enough to get stale. It's also popular with the club crowd but let's face it after a couple shots no-one is actually going to notice whether you smell better or worse than the 5 years of beer stains in the carpet. Adults in normal every day situations should not smell like teenagers. Invest in some Rightguard or Sure, then some fragrant EDT over the top.

The graphic is from Compound Interest, the rest of the article can be found here

Some days are for relaxing a bit

After yesterday's excitement today was one of those paperwork days, there is always more paperwork. So between stints on my laptop and being nice and helpful around the flat I have now decided it is time to have my hair done again. Photos as soon as I can get an appointment at my favourite place Filippo Russo.
Lovely little surprise in my inbox after dinner, thanks to Penhaligon's I will be going to a cheeky mulled wine and fragrance party on Wednesday.

Happy Monday have a pinot grigio for me!

Casting

Love being a part of Cambridge Style Week again. The casting today went really well met some lovely new faces and a couple of familiar ones from 2015.
Next casting is in a week and so far it looks like 2016 is going to be an epic set of shows.

Square Peg fashion show

Anglia Ruskin university tonight hosts the square peg fashion show and I spent the afternoon back stage learning how to tie a sari, and eating pretzels.

Every back stage has a unique atmosphere, today was calm and really well prepared, the designers had done everything in advance so all that was left was some steaming and last minute fittings.

The models were lovely and relaxed playing jenga in between make up and hair and zooming around the room was a single photographer on one of those segue things.

Great to be a part of this!

Skirt on, lipstick on, let's go!

Lovely colour from gosh makeup. One of my favourites. Tonight I've gone for a light layer on top of a bit of keihls lip care in mango. Stops your lips from staining and gives you more shade control too. 
Mwah xxx

Hidden Gems

I spent Wednesday wandering the streets of Cambridge in the wind and the damp and was amazed by how many gorgeous little shops there were and the quality of the stuff they were selling too, some of them are independents some of them are small businesses but all of them had lovely staff.
Brora on Trinity Street
Quiver on Newnham Road
Harriet Kelsall on Green Street
Laird Hatters also on Green Street
to name just a few.

My feet hurt and my hair was a complete mess but by the end of it all I had a great day and I got my Halloween costume sorted, fingers crossed it doesn't rain or my feathers will look very depressed!