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Fun at Focus Day

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I had a bit of a change from the norm today. A welcome break from my new full time status and an all round brilliant one, at that. I awoke to a text from my old English teacher the other day, asking if I would like to go back to school to assist with Focus Day. I thought about my answer for all of about five seconds, before promising to get in touch with her, as soon as I had asked for the morning off work. As mentioned in my previous post , I have a new job. So I felt a little bit cheeky asking for time off but they were fine about it, on the condition that I made the time up. I arrived to a reserved visitors parking space but I didn't take a photo to treasure the memory (boo). It's always nice to pop in (very) occasionally and say hi to the teachers that you actually liked and blank out the awful bits of school. Media and English were where I hung out, so I was happy to be hanging out there. I thought Focus Day was fun, as a teenager but it's even better when you&

Recipe for a Fabulous Saturday

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This post is long overdue. But it's worth it, promise. Saturdays. I adore them. And following on from the previous post, I promised to tell you all about my last fabulous Saturday. Ingredients for a fabulous Saturday One fabulous friend. Mine on this particular day was Lisa. I recommend that everyone has a Lisa.  Sunshine - we got plenty of it on this day. Happy :)  One fabulous outfit. Refer to previous post -  Outfit Post One vintage fair. On this particular day it was  Birmingham Vintage Fair  at the Custard Factory, Digbeth. Fabulous food. We checked out a place called  Yumm . It's amazing! One gig. We went to see  Friends . Pretty damn cool five piece from Brooklyn, New York  Anyway, we headed off to the Birmingham Vintage Fair, which started at about 12 and it did not disappoint. For £1 entry, we were whisked into The Old Library, a beautiful building which was packed wall to wall with some beautiful vintage items.  The beautiful Old Library

Newness!

Apologies in advance that this blog is a bit of a ramble and has no photos (boo). It's all change here, in Melly's World. As finishing my degree in English and Creative Writing loomed, I had started to worry that beyond summer, I would be a part of the frighteningly high statistic of 18-24's who had no job. So, I started to Google around about how to erm, move on with my life. The most important question I had to ask myself was 'what do I want to do?' When I was 3, I decided that I wanted to be a teacher and that was my dream until the age of 18. Well, for anybody who has ever had a dream, you'll know that the only thing scarier than not achieving your dream is having no dream at all. All I knew was this: I love to write. And since the teaching dream died, I'd thought of how I was going to acquire a job where I could do what I loved all of the time. Teaching would have been the easy option. But who wants easy? A conversation with a friend of

New Shoes: Fashion for Charity

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Ladies! Fashion. You can't escape it. And you know what's even more exciting than just fashion? That's a very good answer...but it's actually fashion for a great cause. No, I'm not just referring to your vintage section in your local charity shop - although it is fab and I myself have found some absolute gems there, I'm actually talking about New Shoes. It's an amazing night of fashion, food, entertainment and it's all for an amazing cause.  All the information you need to know about New Shoes, including  ticket hotline In July of this year, in the West Midlands (Netherton, near Dudley) to be precise, a new home is being opened for girls and women with life-controlling issues (read: addictions, victims of trafficking etc) to get them back on track, restore their dignity, show them their worth and have them experience the amazing love of God and find purpose in their lives.  As you can imagine, an amazing project like that cannot be

Outfit Post: Birmingham Vintage Fair - May 2012

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Feeling so terrible about being a lazy blogger. Fact is, I'm not solely a fashion blogger, so Outfit of the Day posts are a total fail, for me. I'm working on it. I shall hopefully be getting a camera, for graduation. Yay! So bear with me, on the photography front. However, I did actually manage to get a super cool photo or two, last Saturday. One of my best buds and myself headed to Digbeth, Birmingham for the Birmingham Vintage Fair. I'll do a separate post about the fair itself, but thought I'd share the outfit. It's also on  LOOKBOOK , so if any of you guys are on there, you know what to do. Anyway, here are the pictures. More than anything, I was absolutely loving the scenery around me. The tyres and scrap that you can see in the photos were the entrance to a car park and the bridge is by a canal, in Birmingham. I'm hoping I managed to defy Stu Bradley's  How To Pose Like A Fashion Blogger  at least once. The first photo is just me bei

Fallen Angel Bakery

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There are few things sweeter than waking up on a Saturday and knowing that you have a few hours to spend with a lovely friend or take some time out for yourself. That's why I'm so thankful that I only work during the week (sorry those of you that work weekends).  Today has been particularly fabulous, as I've spent it with a friend, in a new place.  I'm a sucker for a great hideaway to do some reading, writing or general pondering and if there are drinks and cupcakes, count me in.  Well today, we headed off on our adventures with a hyperactive two year old to keep occupied and found ourselves at Fallen Angel, a gorgeous little bakery, on Harborne High Street. What child doesn't love cake? The display case of cupcakes is certainly tempting but I opted for a mocha cupcake and tea. Cassy had a red velvet cupcake and tea too. I was pleasantly surprised, when the tea came in two charming hand-painted teapots - some of which they have on sale, in a couple of differen

The Time of My Life

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Thursday 20th October, I had the amazing privilege of going all VIP and attending a fabulous event, hosted by Glamour magazine to celebrate the launch of Cecelia Ahern's brand new novel 'The Time of Your Life'. Following a warm welcome, into the beautiful Customer Services Lounge of Selfridges, Oxford Street, people quickly began to line up for one of the two fabulous, complimentary beauty treats on offer - a manicure courtesy of NARS or beautiful eyebrow threading, courtesy of Blink Brow Bar. I couldn't believe my eyes when the lovely Cecelia entered the room. Looking very elegant in a polka dot A Line dress (bang on trend!!) and court shoes, she was even more elegant in the flesh. Glamour's interview (including a question written by myself) was an amazing insight into the mind of a writer whom I admire above most. Young, fresh, imaginative and a total darling! I feel more inspired than ever to pursue my goals. And to top it all off, I had a quick chat wit

Yamamoto at the V&A, London

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I'm alive! Here's a little of what I've been up to. I edited out the boring bits and thought I'd bring you something to go do, now that summer time is coming Even those of you who are not avid followers of fashion will have encountered Yohji Yamamoto’s design influence, in one way or another. The Tokyo fashion wonder counts the likes of Sir Elton John as a friend and his haute couture pieces are to die for. So imagine my joy when my artsy friend suggested we go to an exhibition of his work at The Victoria and Albert Museum. As if that place didn’t have enough of the ‘wow’ factor already. Although minimalistic in its layout, don’t be tricked into thinking that there is nothing to do at the exhibition. The booklet that you are handed at the door gives a description of every garment, carefully dressing the mannequins that are positioned carefully around the room. Also, look out for the other garments installed around the museum. The concept of the collection in this exhibi

Lessons from Dirty Dancing

This film had taught me a lot. Mostly that I love dance and Patrick Swayze. It ignited the passion to dance, in me, when I was younger. But now, watching it with a different mind-set has taught me some valuable lessons. Baby comes into the story on a family holiday as the shy, unheard member of her family, who very much lives in the shadow of her flamboyant older sister and she meets Johnny who has a bit of a bad boy reputation around the resort. They meet when Baby carries a watermelon into the dancehall and she sees him getting his groove on. So my life lesson is this: one watermelon can change your life. And that in a season when you feel ordinary, one simple action could change everything. Baby didn’t know that carrying a watermelon would change the course of her whole time there. You never know who is going to come across your path, when you’re just doing something ordinary. And when that person crosses your path, learn from them . They may only be there for a time. She wasn’t g

20!

So I finally faced it and I've entered my 20's. I won't say I'm 'in my 20's' yet though. Give that a couple of years. It's a massive cliche but I really am amazed at how time flies. School is becoming a more distant memory, college still feels like yesterday and more memories are being made all of the time. I know that we shouldn't live in the past but it is good to reflect, every so often. Have I achieved everything I wanted to in the last few years? In my teenage years, even? All except a relationship, I think. But even they have come and gone. Which is another thought. 'Is it possible to be 'just friends' with your ex?' Some people are happy to drift through their lives but I've never been that way. I see my future, or I at least try. Imagination truly is key. 'Seeing it before you see it' is essential when exercising your faith. How can we hope for something that we have not already envisaged? On my birthday, I