Soft Launch at Waterstones West Quay Cafe!

Last week, I had the absolute pleasure of being invited to the soft launch of the brand new ‘book-cafe’ opening downstairs in my local Waterstones. They’ve ripped out their old Costa concession and put in a beautiful, little indie cafe and honestly - I couldn’t be more excited about it. It’s going to be my new lunch-and-writing spot. 

Sam and I arrived straight after work and there was already a large group, buzzing around the cafe. We were provided fancy, almond milk coffee and then glasses of wine, then a tour of the cafe - whilst it’s not a huge addition to the store in terms of size, the lower ground floor of Waterstones has completely changed - for the better. 

Booths that you can nestle away feature all the way along the far wall, each table sporting it’s own framed book-cover and table name. I spotted the perfect looking sofa tucked away in the corner for melting into when the day feels extra long that I’m quickly going to ‘bagsy’ as my spot, as well as a booth picked out for me by the lovely Alex; the perfect distance away from the kids section (which whilst beautiful, is obviously full of over excited children) but not too far away to miss out on perusing the vast section of cakes and snacks on offer. 

During the evening at the launch, Sam and I got to sample a bunch of different cakes all of which cater for some kind of dietary requirement, so if you’re vegan, gluten/dairy/other free, then this Waterstone’s cafe has got you covered, thanks to Nathan and the team for working to support local businesses by sourcing local ingredients and preparing most of the snacks in-house.
This is possibly one of my favourite things about the cafe; everything feels very ‘home-grown’. Nathan, the cafe manager, used to run their Costa concession so he knows exactly what he’s doing and it shows effortlessly in the way that the cafe is put together - far enough away from the monotonous Costa-way, whilst still professional enough to be business savvy and easily marketable. 

Plus, when you’re wandering around bookstore like hours for I am, surely all you need is a little sit down and some cake? Exactly. 

I’ve snapped some pictures so you can check out the cafe and the menu - hopefully you’ll be as excited about it as I am! 

books + coffee + good food + friends = Happy Lex :) 

You can follow Waterstones West Quay on Twitter, Instagram, as well as Facebook so head over and show them some love.

Finding THE Jeans

Some people wait a life time, for a moment like this. I think Kelly Clarkson was singing about finding true love or something just as sentimental, but I know that some people wait a life time to find the perfect pair of jeans. My moment has come. 

As a human being on this planet, I’ve been wearing jeans for the majority of my life. That’s almost 23 years of various cuts and coloured denims, so I know a thing or two about picking out jeans. Sadly, I also know a thing or two about not being able to buy jeans from any stores on the high street due to my height. I’m 5’11; long torso long legs, and nowhere within my price range caters for that.

I recently wrote a lengthy diatribe about hating shopping for trousers/jeans in particular and how hard the high street have made it, but now - elated - I can safely say how happy I am to have found a style of jeans that I love and that fit me well. We all wear jeans - it’s a part of our culture. Bruce Springsteen’s artwork for Born In The USA is only half as brilliant as it is because of his jeans (and amazing ass…)

Anyway, back to the point in hand. This autumn, I bought a pair of jeans from Topshop because they were the only ones long enough in the whole of Southampton. Now, I’m realising how much I love them. Normally, because I wear jeans every single day (in work and at home) I wear through them pretty quickly, and although my Topshop jeans have faded, they’re still going mighty strong. 

So, ladies and gentlemen. Let me introduce to you the jeans that shall henceforth be known as the “Lex” jeans, otherwise known as The Jamie Jeans - Tall - Size 10, Length 36’’ in black. Obviously in black. Thank the lord for Toyshop’s instore Tall Range.

I’m sure to another generation this is going to sound weird, but I feel like finding THE pair of jeans that makes you feel both sexy and comfy, casual and smart, dressed for the part and feeling like yourself is a right of passage. There’s a time in your life when you grasp the jeans on their hanger in the store changing room, that’s always a little too hot for your liking, and you look up to the denim Gods and whisper “…thank you…” as the lights in the changing room dim, a halo of light appears above you and you can hear the faint echo of the hallelujah chorus. 

 I will live in Jamie Jeans from now on, until I venture into another style from Topshop who now have my jean-loyalty, but overall I’ve found my match made in denim heaven. They’re tight in all the right places with rips in the knees so I don’t ever look too overdressed; they’re a welcome drink in the sahara wasteland of jeans made my designers who only cater to 32” legs. Trust me, those extra four inches make a world of difference.

I know it may seem strange to write about the sheer love of an item of clothing, but when those jeans make you feel like Kelly Kapowski in all the right ways, there’s nothing I can do but shout about it. All the love for those jeans.

Here's the link for my Topshop jeans if you fancied a look-see at the jeans that have got me all excited.
Here's also a couple of pictures of me and some of my best friends from University - I am wearing the jeans from heaven in these pictures, but apparently no full length pictures of me exist in the world.

(I do not own Bruce Springsteen's Cover Art or this delightful picture of Kelly Kapowski, images were sourced here and here.) 

The Need For Good Underwear.

It is a need, after all, not a want. I really do need to wear nice underwear and mainly for no one aside for myself. Cora Harrington from The Lingerie Addict agrees that women who want to wear wonderful lingerie can be doing it for themselves and don’t necessarily have to be doing it to impress a man even though every other article online reads “Buying the right underwear to impress your man…”

“Everyone who wants it deserves gorgeous lingerie” - Cora Harrington, The Lingerie Addict. 

One of the many reasons I love nice underwear is that it’s almost like a little sexy-secret that only you know about (unless you choose to show someone else you saucy minxes) You might be hiding in your work uniform, but underneath you’re rocking a badass matching set. One of my favourite blogs/ Instagrams at the moment is The Lingerie Files - check them out for beautiful, beautiful pictures of amazing lingerie that make you want to give your whole wardrobe an overhaul. I love The Lingerie Files because they believe that underwear can (sometimes) be outerwear and that lingerie is all about making you feel more confident and sexy in yourself.
When you wake up on the wrong side of bed and you have to be somewhere in an hour, a good selection of underwear can make the day a whole lot better. If you feel happy and sexy, hopefully it’ll shine through.

Nothing feels less sexy than your ancient bra strap finally giving up the ghost and snapping. Or the elastic in your favourite panties giving out so much that you can barely keep them up; throw them out, invest in something amazing. As useful as the handful of Primark pants for £5 is, they're sure as hell not going to make you happy in the long run. I'm not saying cheap isn't good, but some pieces of lingerie deserve to be treated like the fashion items they are. 

The Lingerie Files also has this cute image explaining ‘lingerie terms’ for those who are just figuring out what they like. 

This image belongs to The Lingerie Files. 

When I was younger and I started wearing real underwear, as opposed to days-of-the-week pants, I shopped in New Look, Tammy Girl (way back then) and M&Co - remember them? After that came the La Senza phase, and to this day, two of my favourite bras that I own are from La Senza but over the last few years everything I’ve seen in La Senza has become a little too neon-and-leopard print for me. 

Victoria’s Secret has recently opened in my local shopping centre, which is West Quay in Southampton, and reminded me how much I loved the brand. I shopped at VS when I was in NYC and then again when I was reunited in Las Vegas; since then VS have branched out in the UK and seem to be popping up everywhere.
My favourite slip/babydoll that I own is black (obviously) and silky - that was a Vegas VS purchase and now that they’re open so close by I can see myself spending a little too much in their VS/Pink store. 

My next purchase is going to have to be a satin Kimono from VS as I get too hot in a full blown dressing gowns and the one I’ve got my eye on is nicely balanced between sexy and simple. 

With the more decadent lingerie, there’s an air of putting on a costume that I quite like - meaning you can be whoever you want to be, and your tastes might change from costume to costume. At the same time, because ‘underwear’ is such a vast term, you can really explore things you’ve never worn before and find out what you really like, especially before you start buying underwear to impress someone else… 

Of course I’m not damning the idea of buying underwear with someone else in mind, I’m just saying it’s important to make yourself feel special first. Good underwear is emotionally good for you; it makes you feel happy, sexy and strong. To all those people out there who are buying lingerie for their significant others this Christmas, good luck and happy shopping. Buying someone else underwear without them knowing takes balls, and I’m so glad that you’re doing it. 

The Rough With The Smooth Solid Body Scrub - Lush Oxford Street

I started working for Lush in October of 2014, which means I was just in time for Halloween holiday products; all kinds of magical wands and sparkly pumpkins and it was in this season of trick-or-treating, I found one of my favourite Lush products to date; Lord Of Misrule Bath Bomb. 

Named after a pagan festival ‘The Feast of Fools’,  in which the town would name a peasant king for the day and allow all sorts of feasts and frivolities, this patchouli and black pepper scented bath bomb is the ultimate blend of sweet and spicy.  Who wouldn’t want a speckled green bath bomb that looked to be wearing a crown? I was sold. 

Of course, with my love of the bath bomb I was also quickly introduced to the perfume, the FUN bar, the shower cream and eventually...the scrub. 

When deciding what to pair with my (currently) Oxford Street exclusive Rough With The Smooth solid body scrub, I thought why not make it a complete Lord of Misrule bath? I fished out my penultimate Lord of Misrule bath bomb (the problem with loving a seasonal product!) and threw it in the bath with a splash of Lord of Misrule Moisturising Shower Cream for some bubbles. 

The shower cream is a little creamier (shocker) than the shower gels I’ve used from Lush before but in actuality it’s just thicker and glossier as well as being a little more moisturising so it gives great bubbles too. The lovely Lucy at LulabelleMUA picked me up a mini bottle of Shower Cream from Lush Oxford Street; they sell them in four sizes 100g, 250g, 500g and 1kg. 

Now, this past week we’ve been having a typical English summer – torrential rain followed by a day and a half of blistering heat and then back again. But of course, this means that I too followed natures course and behaved like a true Brit – I threw on a strapless summer dress and stayed out all day, playing in the sunshine. By 6pm the following evening I was uncomfortably pink, being the English Rose that I am I had forgone the sunscreen and burned like a bitch. 

Give it an extra four days and although I’m no longer sore from the sun, I’m peeling.
Sexy as hell, right?
For someone who usually takes pride in being soft-and-smooth, any kind of peeling freaks me out. Luckily, The Rough With The Smooth seemed perfect; murumuru butters and castor oils are said to be healing and supporting in the recovery of general skin complaints (including burns - score!) and hydrating for the skin.  Pairing that with the perfect creamy-come-crisp scents of Lord of Misrule and this product was just what I needed. 

Aesthetically, when you first use Rough With The Smooth it looks great; a warm, reddish brown with smooth on one side and (you guessed it) almost corrugated/rough effect on the other. Once used, the red fades a little and you are left with a brownish sugary square which melts away pretty quickly if left near the spray of the shower.
Obviously, the aesthetics should come second to what the product actually provides and it does – mine lasted a good amount of time as I remembered to put it away after each use, as opposed to leaving it out on the shower rack as I have done before (sorry, Sugar Scrub.) The Rough With Smooth is a really great scrub, I much prefer it to Sugar Scrub because it’s not too harsh but my skin feels buffed and soft – gentle enough for my whole body, but harsh enough for those tough spots.

After my bath which included all of the facets of Lord of Misrule which I currently own, I feel great – most importantly, I smell great. Lord of Misrule is one of those scents that lingers forever keeping you comforted and happy throughout your day. 

Lord of Misrule, as a scent, will always remind me of my first Christmas at Lush – making new friends, crazy days attempting to squeeze £15k+ worth of stock into a truly tiny stock room and laughing at the hysterics of serving, what felt like, fifteen customers at the same time, consistently, for eight hours a day. 

If you wanted to layer your scents even more, like I’ve mentioned, you could also introduce the perfume (solid or liquid) and the FUN bar. And why you wouldn’t want to, I just don’t know...

Rough With The Smooth Solid Body Scrub
Lush Oxford Street Exclusive – £4.95
“All of us have dead skin - some of just better at scrubbing it. If you like it rough take this sugar-packed scrub into the shower and scrub all over to reveal softer skin underneath, nourished with murumuru butter and castor oil.”

Rub Rub Rub Solid Body Scrub - Lush Oxford Street

One of my favourite products that Lush sells at the moment is Rub Rub Rub. It’s around £7 for a big black pot and it’s truly glorious. Which is why, when the time came for me to make my pilgrimage to Lush Mecca (aka, Lush Oxford Street) I, of course, picked up the new SOLID formulation of the Mimosa and Orange flower beauty .

Around the same size of current Lush product You Snap The Whip (which I happen to love), Ox St Rub Rub Rub is a pale blue colour and feels a little powdery to touch; each block has a delicate cherry blossom dried and pressed into the top which just makes the aesthetics of this product near enough perfect to me. 

The solid block is far easier handle than the original black pot version of Rub Rub Rub and there’s no chance of losing a blob of this to the sinkhole. With the same perfect scent as the black pot version, the new formulation remains true to its predecessor and comes up as a worthy opponent.

Some people like to use original Rub Rub Rub straight onto dry skin for a rougher scrub, and if you like it rough maybe the naked/solid version isn’t for you. Whilst the ingredients are mostly the same, the liquid content is obviously far less so to scrub yourself, dry, with the solid block would hurt. However, you could wet the block and then scrub onto dry skin if you are craving a harsher exfoliation. 

Whilst the product is aesthetically beautiful, it didn’t seem to be too popular when I visited Lush Oxford Street at the end of May, however I urge you all to go out and buy it. It may not be a brand spanking new product with all kind of newness to discover, but it’s a winner in my book. 

I had doubts that due to the solid nature of the reformulation that the super-silky feeling I have after using original Rub Rub Rub wouldn’t be the same with the block; I was wrong. That silky feeling is still there and the scent lingers just the right amount of time. 

Rub Rub Rub Solid Body Scrub.
Oxford Street Exclusive - £4.75
“A final cherry blossom flourish tops this sea salt scrub blended with Illipe and Cupuacu butters. Scrub your body in the shower or the bath to exfoliate dead skin leaving you smoothed and florally fragrant.”

One for those Tall girls....

I was in a dance school when I was younger and in the videos I'm the kid in the back, who's a least a whole head height taller than everybody else. There's one number in particular when we're all five/six and dressed up in blue and red toy soldier outfits, tap-dancing to Following The Leader from Peter Pan. I'm at least a foot taller than every other little girl in the class.

Needless to say, I've always been the tall girl. Ive always been 'the tall friend' and that's okay. Sometimes it's very easy to feel like you're in the way when you're as tall as I am, because it feels like you're so large that you're Alice when she's ten feet tall. Honestly though, It's never really bothered me that much, but I can completely understand how some taller people do feel uncomfortable with it. Being tall forces you to be slightly more extrovert than you might want to be; there's no shying away when you're towering over everyone you meet and constantly being met with "Wow, you're all aren't you!" - like, thanks. That is brand new information. "You should be a dancer, you're so tall!" "You're like...model tall." And the old favourite that gets dragged out at every family event "Wow, you don't get any shorter do you! How tall are you now?"

Here I'm wearing flats and my three girls are wearing heels.

There are a million upsides to being tall, don't get me wrong. I can reach for things that others can't, I can put on more weight than shorter people can without it looking overtly obvious, I don't have to wear heels if I don't want to. Old ladies can ask me to reach their bran flakes from the top shelf and I can and it makes me feel good. You can always see at concerts, or movies... No one is ever going to borrow your shoes and forget to give them back, because they'll look like clown shoes on anyone else but you. You can get on that Indiana Jones loop-de-loop rollercoaster at Disney Land before any of your friends can... 

 

My first year of University...

 

Of course, there are also a million downsides; I know a few tall girls who have really bad posture because during their school lives they slouched to be more similar to their friends in height, sometimes people don't understand why you're willingly paying the extra £10 for extra leg room on a long haul flight (these are the same people who understand why you like aisle seats at the movies), there is so much more surface area to think about when it comes to shaving/waxing your legs - same goes with fake tanning. But my main bug-bear as we transition (slowly after all, I live in the UK) from Winter into Summer is buying (and wearing) clothes. 

 

Graduation Ball 2014 with two of my favourite girls.

 

Today, I went into three fairly big highstreet stores only to be told that they do not stock any jeans longer than a 34 leg, and when they do order their 34's in, they only order one or two pairs in because there simply isn't the demand. I felt like shouting, I'm here! I'm demanding! Ideally, I'd love a 38 leg, but a 36 could do the job nicely too. If my jeans are slightly too short in the winter, it's fine, because I'll just wear thick socks and tuck my jeans in. In the summer, I'm not really feeling thick socks and boots - I want my jeans to be long enough and I want to wear dollies, or plims, or Toms, or (heaven forbid) sandals.
Not just jeans either - Maxi dresses are not Maxi dresses. The Maxi Dresses that are designed are built for women between 5'5 and 5'9. When you're as tall as I am, those extra few inches count. Jumpsuits - same deal. I've got the longest torso of anyone I have ever known, so a jumpsuit/playsuit that fits you will definitely not fit me. Skirts, shorts, playsuits all become inappropriately short. I have not chosen super-short hoochie shorts to wear, I just have more leg than the average chick. This is not my fault.

Graduation Ball 2014

New Look used to stock a Tall range in their larger stores, but now they don't even do that; you have to order online, which I'm sure is great for some people but I don't have the time, money or patience for that. I want to go into a store on a Saturday, pick up a pair of jeans, try them on and then buy them. Whilst many girls don't have to try things on, I do because I'm tall and constantly between sizes (again not my fault) so any kind of buying online service is immediately redundant. 90% of the time, the first pair of jeans I pick up instore wont fit and I don't want the hassle of having to order ill-fitting jeans online and then go through the hassle of sending them back. I shouldn't have to. I should be able to shop for clothes with ease just like anybody else.

River Island simply just don't make jeans for tall people. 

 

Student Awards 2013

 

Topshop has a Tall range and I'm sure Levi's do long jeans too, and of course there's Long Tall Sally, but then we're venturing into a totally different budget zone. I don't have hundreds of pounds on jeans. I want to spend £20 on a pair of great fitting, long jeans but can I? Hell no.
Men, on the other hand, are expected to be tall so they can buy their jeans from wherever the hell they want to. CK Men's Jeans are awesome, ASOS are great for Men's jeans as are Levi's and I'm sure Primark and New Look's men's ranges are great too. 

 

Vegas in April 2013

I wish this was being sponsored and I could come up with a resolution for this problem I'm having, but it isn't and I don't have a solution. So, welp. I will continue searching for tall-clothes for tall-people. And I will continually ask myself "Is this dress too short for me?" when on other people it might fall below the knee. I know this is obviously such a first world problem, but needs must and all. 

 

Summer Ball 2012 - First Year at University