I know I’m a bit behind on the whole Fifty Shades of Grey hype, but about a month or so ago, I started reading the first book and just COULD NOT put it down! In general, I’m a pretty slow reader, but I finished it in 3 days, then had to have the second book, Fifty Shades Darker and I’m currently reading the third book in the trilogy, Fifty Shades Freed. Just as I was getting into the whole Fifty Shades, E.L James launched her fourth book; GREY – The Fifty Shades of Grey story as told by Christian. With such a huge fan base, GREY, which opened sales on the 18th June 2015 (Christian’s birthday by the way) sold a massive 647,401 copies (physical and digital books) in its opening 3 days in the UK. Pretty impressive! Of course, I had to read it – between finishing Fifty Shades Darker and watching the movie (of course)! If you’re a Fifty Shades fan, GREY gives you a chance to get to know Christian a little bit better. Yes, it’s the same story as the first book, but reading GREY gives the reader more understanding into how he thinks and acts and how he was feeling the whole time he was pursuing Anastasia – the girl who changed his life! In…

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Hi Kids This week I’m off to Greece for a little summer vay-cay (yay, yay) and I am so excited! Sun, sand, sea and summer! What could be better?! My plan is to soak up the sun, enjoy some Mediterranean relaxation and catch up on some reading! I’m planning to clock many, many hours doing sweet nothing, but relaxing!   But with the ecstasy of a holiday comes the agony – the 12 or so hours of nothing-to-do on a plane! Plus all the other hours sitting waiting for my connecting flight at the airport! Grrr! For the plane trip, I plan to read Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres, a novel set in Greece, which I think will be quite fitting. And because I’m a sucker for history, Paris and Ernest Hemingway, I couldn’t resist downlaoding The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. It’s the story of Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, and their love story and life in Paris in the 1920’s. Then, if I finish reading them both (and that’s a big if!), I have The Carrie Diaries by Candice Bushnell as a backup read. It’s been sitting in my Kindle (or Kindle for iPad rather) for ever, I just haven’t had the…

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Decorating made for girls, decorating made fun… When I’m not obsessing over shoes, clothes and makeup (in that order), I’m obsessing about decorating. In May last year we bought our house and while it’s been fun making it “home”, being an older house, we’re still at the “must-do-fixes” stage! You know that stage when you really want to revamp your living room with pretty curtains and some new furniture, but fixing the leaky roof generally becomes more of a concern, and an expensive one at that. It’s nice to know though, that with a little bit if inspiration, some creative thinking and expert advice, you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg on the decor details. I received a book a few weeks ago and I’ve been reading it religiously, like it’s my decor bible. It’s by designer and stylist Abigail Ahern who owns one of London’s leading interior stores, the name A Girl’s Guide to Decorating – don’t you just love the title? The book itself is fun to read, beautifully illustrated and it’s filled with fun, hip ideas to zhush up your home! Everything from analyzing a room to planning you space. Making small spaces look bigger…

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Just got my hands on Jonathan Alder’s book, Happy Chic Accessorizing and feeling very inspired by some of his design ideas. Like most of you that read this blog, I’m no interior decorator, but I do like everything to look like it’s been expertly chosen and placed, whether its makeup, clothes, furniture or the odd vase in the corner. This book gives lovely ideas on how to place items on your coffee tables, how to decorate your bed and just general stuff on how to make everything look more, well, happy chic! Conformity is a bore, Jonathan’s mantra is classic foundation, playful punctuation and you’ll find a lot of this in his book. I’m off to make myself a big ol cup of coffee, put my feet up and and start reading. Oh, and speaking of coffee… Jonathan Adler designs and sells a wide range  of cute accessories (among other things via his site), but I do love this stylish, eco coffee cup he designed for Starbucks Buy this book online from Kalahari

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