Seen On: "The Lady Killer"

Before I start to praise the episode I have to ask the  obvious question: How do these girls find the time to shop between all those murder investigations and stalker nutcases?  Years ago, Nancy Drew taught us that a cute outfit is essential for crime fighting, but she didn't have to take on the A-team. So,  kudos to Spencer, Hanna, Aria and Emily for keeping it together, style wise at least...

Once again it was Spencer who stood out the most to me. Especially her navy Ted Baker blouse, I fell in love with the print when I saw it on a dress last spring. The dress came, however, in a nude-ish shade of pink, something  I would never wear. But the navy version is to die for, and has me hoping for an Asos sale...  

The donkey shift dress (via Anthropologie) is a love or hate thing. I love shift dresses and anything with horses (or horse like animals), but  the color is a little too minty for my taste - if this came in navy or maroon I'd be the first to get it though.  

And because it's awesome here's the preview for the Halloween episode - only a few weeks until the Liars are back!

Peace, Love and Sunshine
Laura

Style Spotlight: Not Another Happy Ending

A romantic comedy about a publisher and a writer -  seems like the best  plot ever, right?  But the cute plot isn't the only  thing I find intriguing about Not Another Happy Ending, which just wrapped  filming in Scotland, it's the star's Karen Gillan's wardrobe that caught my eye before I even realized that the pictures came from a movie set and not a fashion shoot.

 

source 1, 2 & 3

This look is a far departure from her usual Amy Pond get up - but she wears it oh so well - and it makes me wish that I cold pull of a bowler hat  without feeling like it's Halloween  and I'm going trick or treating as Alex DeLarge.

Peace Love and Sunshine
Laura

Hump Day Homework: Scatterbrained

Usually  these assignments have a theme,  a common thread,  something that holds them together, but  that just didn't work this time, it's a little all over the place, a hot mess, scatterbrained - which is actually a pretty fun theme.

Watch:  Casanova (BBC Miniseries)
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This very loud adaptation of the classic stars David Tennant as Casanova and  reminds me of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette or anything Baz Luhrmann  - it's not for everyone, but if you enjoy  this particular (crazy) style, you're going to love this. 

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Listen To:  Lana Del Rey: Born To Die

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Lana on iTunes

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I love this album so much,  I remember a review that described Lana's sound as "creepy Americana" - which sounds strange but is so fantastically accurate.  Favorite Song:  Off to the Races,  not only does she quote one of my all time favorite books (Lolita) in it, but the lyrics and beat create the illusion that you are actually hearing a galloping horse -  which is pretty darn brilliant. 

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Read: Jincy Willett: The Writing Class

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The Writing Class on Amazon

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This  wonderfully witty murder mystery is the perfect end of summer read. When a member of a writing class is murdered all clues lead to the other students, and the teacher must enlist the whole class - including the murderer - to figure out this  brilliant whodunit.  I've read it this twice already, and you should give it at least one chance.

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Peace, Love and Sunshine

x

Laura

Geeking Out: Out of Print

We are always told not to judge a book by its cover, but sometimes those covers are little pieces of art. Little pieces of art that often get lost in the depths of our  bookshelves (or e-readers) - and that is were Out of Print comes in.

The company sells  T-shirts, sweatshirts, and accessories like tote bags, coasters, and phone cases with classic book covers  on them.  Things that aren't only cute but also charitable  (for each sold product one book is donated to a community in need).  

Of course I had to get this one...

The products aren't exactly on the cheap side, but well worth the money. A shirt with one's favorite book-cover makes an amazing and very personal present for any bibliophile or literature-geek. 

And most exciting?  The company is about to release a  line of eBook jackets  - yes, that's right you can turn your iPad or Kindle into a hardcover book.

Photo Credit: Out of Print

Peace, Love and Sunshine

Laura

Hump Day Homework: Shark Week!

I strongly believe in the idea that Shark Week should be an international holiday, presents, cupcakes, the whole shebang...

But sadly it is just a regular week with awesome TV,  but there are a few things we can do to make it extra special:

Watch: Shark Night

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If the Shark Week specials aren't enough check out Shark Night.  It's not a great movie,  it isn't even good, but  Shark Week isn't about great cinema, it's about blood and awesome action sequences  - and this movie has plenty of both.  

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Read:  Shark Life

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Photo: Amazon

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In this masterpiece Peter Benchley (yes, the guy who brought you JAWS) recollects his  own experiences with the feared predators. Benchley moves back and forth between his own thrilling adventures, and  informative parts about sharks and sea-life -  If you like the ocean,  you won't regret sinking your teeth into this (and the award for cheesiest pun of the day goes to...)  

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Bake:  Shark Bite Cupcakes

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Photo&Recipe:  Cupcakes and Cashmere

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That's right,  a "Bake" instead of a "Listen To",  but there isn't really much Shark music except for the JAWS score,  and these cupcakes from one of my favorite blogs Cupcakes&Cashmere were simply too awesome to ignore...and yes I should have saved the teeth thing for this, oh well.  

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Peace, Love and Sunshine

Laura

Geeking Out: Zombies, Run!

I promised a review of this forever ago, but since I tend to get very excited about new workout apps or gadgets and then forget about them a week later  I actually wanted to see if my interest in this would last before doing so...and let's just say that zombie apocalypses might just be my thing.  

First things first,  I am one of those crazy people who really enjoy to run, and I don't need fancy gadgets to motivate me,  the good old endorphins are usually enough... but that being said, sometimes  everyone needs that little push that makes you want to put on your running shoes at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning - and Zombies, run! is just that.

The story is simple,  it dumps you in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and sends you on various missions.  The aim of these missions  is to  provide the population of your new home, Abel Township, with news and supplies  - all whilst you have to  avoid getting caught by  those pesky zombies...

Zombies, Run! on  iTunes

The  missions are assigned and explained  through (extremely well acted!)  voiceovers, when the first briefing is complete  the app will play a song from your playlist of choice until it is time for the next  segment of the story, which is always entertaining -  trust me I had literal laugh out loud moments that  earned me very concerned looks from other runners....  

Depending on the length of your songs a mission will last between  25  and  30 minutes  - but there's no need to stop after that because the radio mode that follows is just as entertaining.  

Besides the hilarious characters (I'm not ashamed to admit that I have a giant crush on Sam the radio guy), the impromptu zombie chases that can occur randomly throughout the game are definitely my favorite part - nothing get's your adrenalin pumping like the fear of being eaten alive...or whatever it is those zombs will do to you...

After you finished your run it is time to see what you collected and distribute the items in the township,  meds to the hospital,  clothing to the housing,... improving the Township with each mission,  and as the township improves the population grows, and you'll unlock more exciting missions.

This app is well worth the 7.99 and a way cooler alternative to “normal“ running logs. Now all that's missing is the perfect outfit  (I wouldn't be me without including that), and after stumbling upon the adorable David&Goliath sweatshirt that is pictured below it was pretty obvious that even a Zombie apocalypse workout would call for hot pink (yes the Zombies will see you faster, but so will  drivers if you like to run in the street)   

Product List

And how amazing (and true!) is this top, I found on Etsy?  Because nothing clears your head like escaping a hord of flesh eating zombs.. 

Photo Credit: Etsy

All in all, the game is a must for any zombie fan who loves to run, and to quote one of my favorite movies:  The first rule of Zombieland: Cardio.

...The only  -  I really mean only -  thing cooler than this would be a  Detective or maybe even Noir themed workout app. Think about it:  high speed foot chases through urban metropoles, such as...let's say London... Not that I'm thinking of anyone in particular...

Peace, Love and Sunshine
Laura

Hump Day Homework: Romance with a Twist

Read: P.D. James "Death Comes to Pemberly"

Read Me

I am reading Ford's “Parade's End” right now, and because I'm old fashioned and hate reading on electronic devices  I needed  something a little lighter as my "on the go book"  (cause there's no way I'm carrying around a book the size of my Oxford,  no matter how amazing it is),  and this one just happened to be on my Amazon start page.  The  follow up to "Pride and Prejudice" is the perfect blend of romance and mystery as Jane Austen's famous characters find themselves  in a thrilling whodunit.

On my personal list of favorite authors P.D. James ranks high above Jane Austen (now don't look so shocked, I'll  always be a mystery nerd before a literary scholar...), but I still have to admit that I had my doubts about this "sequel", but those doubts disappeared after the prologue - so  get yourself a copy 'cause this is a great read and as Miss Bingley once said “there is no enjoyment like reading!” ...I really mean it though.

Listen To:Rockin' Romance I&II

Listen to me I & II

What makes a Jessica Simpson song bearable?  An amazing cover,  and these  two  albums are full of those -  and fit perfectly into the romance with a twist theme that I have going on here. Highlights include A Change of Pace's version of LFO's iconic "Summer Girls" and Moneta's "100 Miles"

Watch:  The Olympics

photo credit

I hate to disappoint but the only movie I saw in the past week was a 90's horror flick  (a great one, but nothing that should be on here before October).  So just watch what's left of the Olympics. Mainly because hot people winning medals is always a good thing, and for the horsey stuff, they are just too cute... 

Peace, Love and Sunshine

Laura

Graduation Haul: Burberry & Ralph Lauren Home

To celebrate my graduation and those epic grades (yeah, still gloating and I'm not gonna apologize or stop anytime soon), my mom took me on a spontaneous shopping trip to Burberry.  

The main purpose of that trip was a pair of chocolate brown flats. And after lusting for them the entire summer I can finally call them mine: 

But then my eyes caught something else,  something navy,  piraty, and 50% cashmere...something that I really couldn't just walk by...

The moment  I put it on I knew that this could go  two ways: 1) It would come home with me or 2) I would have to stay at the store forever, because there was no way I would ever take this off again (the air conditioning and Britishness of the store made me forget that it's still summer).  And thanks to my mom it was  number 1 (Thank god, or otherwise this would have ended with me cleaning out my bank account for a coat...and I would have.)  

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Another stop was made at Ralph Lauren Home, which - as surprising as that is - I've never been to. I wasn't a huge fan of the women's collection, however (everything was either baby pink or blue which just aren't my colors, not even for sleepwear).  But the men's pieces  are to die for!  And since I'm tall , and like baggy PJs the men's pajama pants fit just perfectly.  I got  forest green  ones, with horsies all over, and a gorgeous salmon robe from the kid's section. 

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Also, how to they keep people from taking naps in those gorgeous king size beds at the store? That was so tempting...

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Peace, Love and Sunshine

Laura