i need to get myself a bike.

i think i have found one of the world's funniest t-shirts. literally ever.

http://www.threadless.com/product/1941/Missing#zoom

so funny!

it's a really awesome website too, it's community run and you can upload your own design & there's a possibility it could be chosen!

i think i may give it a go in future, if i can think of a good enough design.

am i blue?

yes.

i wasn't really feeling down today until about 20 minutes ago.

while trying to sort a (silly) argument out, i seem to have made it worse, although i'm not really sure how, sometimes people can just be a bit difficult & not willing to admit their wrongness. it is frustrating when people are like that though, & get angry for no reason, it's just daft & no one should have to put up with it. it's just plain rude not to reply when somebody makes the effort to sort an issue out.

*

things to cheer myself up with:

1) music. i'm thinking eddie cochran, buddy holly, jack johnson, maybe a bit of jimi hendrix. something with an upbeat cheery guitar anyways.

2) a bit of online browsing. seeing nice clothes always makes me happy, shallow as that may seem, and at the moment i'm quite addicted to ebay.

3) food. i can't really be bothered to get up at the moment, but when i can i will go & get some chocolatey sustenance.

4) positive thinking. quite an obvious solution really, but it's quite hard to do. it can be so easy to just get lost in a bad situation & get upset & angry, but it's good to remember that things won't always be this way & they will get better.

5) laughing. it's thursday, which means it's comedy night. mock the week followed by a bit of reaper, & then possibly the loop (i've seen it advertised, & it looks rather hilarious) should get rid of unhappiness.

sorry, for such a blue post but - in the words of eddie - i'm having a bit of a nervous breakdown.

bon voyage

i am, i have to say, more than slightly addicted to gilmore girls.
the last ever episode was on tv today & i had a really nice time watching that, it was sad but it made me feel all happy & stuff.

i know i know, i'm such a dork B)

but seriously, if you've never watched it, you should! or at least imdb it.

it started off my day pretty well actually.

after gilmore girls, my mum & i made some houmous which actually turned out pretty good!

and i learnt a few things too, like always put the lid on the blender before you turn it on.

a photo of our lovely houmous:

yes alright, it doesn't look all that appetising. but it was really nice! made me feel all healthy too, which i really need to feel more as i didn't really pay much attention to the doctor's orders =S

also, the weather perked up a little bit before (and then it rained buckets!) so i decided, briefly, to break out the summer clothes.

vest: h&m. i love this top, you can't really see on the photo, but it has little black hearts on it.

skirt: topshop. i looooove this skirt! had my eye on it for ages but it was too expensive, then i finally bought it last week in the sales. the zip is a bit dodgy, but i love the floaty sticky-outyness of it.

greetings from asbury park

i am properly excited today!

last friday i bought some bruce springsteen records (1 is staying with me, the other 2 belong to someone else) & they have arrived! i bought them from etsy.com, and the seller was truly lovely - their shop listings said "shipping only to USA" & after i asked, they were perfectly happy to post to the UK, which i think was rather nice of them.

the record i am keeping is this one, which is called greetings from asbury park NJ:

i love the design on it, the coloured asbury park bit folds off to reveal the lyrics underneath & there is a little "address" bit like a proper postcard which even has a cute little bruce springsteen stamp:

wow, this guy was seriously hot.

still is actually, even for a 59 year old (yes, i get weird older man crushes, but please don't judge me, the guy is bloody gorgeous!).
i haven't listened to it yet as my record player lives at my dad's house & i'm not there at the moment, but i'm contemplating buying one that i can keep at my mum's house, so therefore i can listen to records here as well. i mean, i've got my ipod speakers, but it just isn't the same thing is it?
i'm already a pretty big fan of bruce so i know i won't be disappointed by the record, & one of the songs on it is already a favourite of mine (spirit in the night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Iwz5uslQEM) so i know it's going to be pretty damn awesome - and i know, especially after watching bruce at glastonbury (sadly from the comfort of my own home), that guy does a fabulous live show.

edit

ok, i just found a freaking amazing quote from bruce which kind of makes me think we're kindred spirits:

"i do a lot of curiosity buying; i buy it if i like the album cover, i buy it if i like the name of the band, anything that sparks my imagination. i still like to go to record stores, i like to just wander around and i'll buy whatever catches my attention"

this is totally what i do!

oh my god, i think i'm actually in love with him.

retail therapy.

today was kind of a rough day; this morning was the funeral of a friend of a friend & her father (RIP) and then when my brother got home he told me that the art teacher at his school, who was my tutor & art teacher for my last year at the school & a lovely woman, died this morning from a brain tumour.

sorry, i know that's pretty damn depressing for the start of a post, but there is a point to this.

being in hexham abbey today at the memorial service kind of made me wish i was religious, or at least had some faith. i wish i could have such a strong, unshakeable belief in something like heaven or the afterlife (whatever you think happens afterwards). actually, i think i may try a bit more & find out about different faiths; buddhism seems more me at the moment as i've been trying a bit of meditation recently. i have no idea if i'm doing it right, but it's very peaceful.
although, one of the main things in buddhism is no material possessions, and hard as i try i highly doubt i could do that. you see, sometimes people just need nice things to make themselves feel better - this is where the more cheery aspect (hopefully!) of this post comes in.

retail therapy.

those two words can do so much.

on monday, i went out with 2 good friends (whose blogs you should totally follow by the way *shameless plug which i am actually okay with because those girls are awesome*) & bought some nice things without actually spending any money - gift vouchers btw, i ain't a thief.

i got a skirt which i have been coveting for ages in the sale (photos maybe to follow), & some rather groovy underwear (photos not to follow! all i will say is the wombles, mr men & wonder woman) from topshop, & i also bought some bloody brilliant CDs from HMV - bruce springsteen & bob dylan.

those guys are basically my gods.

(them and john mayer, jimi hendrix and the beatles of course)

to carry on the retail therapy (but from more of a window shopping aspect, if it's possible to do that online), today i've been doing a bit of bloghopping (yes, it's totally a word) & discovered some amazingly cute shops.

the first is a jewellery website.

yes, i KNOW i'm addicted to jewellery websites, but this one was just so adorable & kitschy i could not resist.

http://eclecticeccentricity.bigcartel.com/

i think it's so vintagey & cute, i really adore jewellery like this!

this is just a smidge of some of their awesomely lovely stuff:

going clockwise from the top left: be on your merry way carousel necklace, drip drip drop little april showers earrings, letter to my love necklace, summertime valentine eiffel tower necklace, a grand day out bicycle necklace, under lock & key eccentric edition.

the other website i found is more of an arty website called https://www.redvelvetart.com/. it's got loads of really cute crafts & things on it, i especially love the vintage paper pack (https://www.redvelvetart.com/craft/vintage-paper) and the bows (https://www.redvelvetart.com/accessories/limeandwhitepolkadot-bow). god help me, i love bows.

anyway, i hope that cheers everyone up a bit :)

my dear friend vivienne.

ohhhhhh

myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

GOD!

there is nothing in the world i want more right now than these:i actually adore them.

vivienne westwood amazes me, she really does. how anyone who dresses as much like a mentally ill person who has set up residence in a theatre dressing room as she does can design something as bloody brilliant as those shoes deserves a freaking knighthood in my opinion.

now, i don't normally go for the whole designer thing, but vivienne is pretty much my god(dess). i love the insane dressing, the tartan useage, the horns she wears! that woman is just awesome.

i might have to beg, borrow & steal to get these shoes.

£88 from asos.com.

please god let me buy these shoes!

blue suburban skies.

just got back from liverpool on friday from my beatles pilgrimage.
(yes, i'm an addict and i am not ashamed to admit it.)
i had the most AMAZING time ever! seriously it was just fantastic, i stayed in the hard day's night hotel & went on 2 beatles tours; the magical mystery tour & another tour where we actually went inside john lennon & paul mccartney's childhood houses. i cannot believe i've actually been there, it was just so cool! and bob dylan was there 3 weeks ago, EEK!
anyway, i think i bought a few too many things. as i inevitably always do. but they were pretty damn awesome things! i'll stick a few pictures of them up in a bit, there's some which i may transform into some jewellery - specifically my souvenir penny (yes, i am just that cool).
in the mean time, here's a few shots from the tours:

mendips, menlove avenue

john lennon's house

20 forthlin road

paul mccartney's house

george harrison's house.

ringo starr's house
(it's the white one)

brian epstein's house

the hard day's night hotel!

me looking at the cavern wall

penny lane!

strawberry field.

my sister's keeper.

today was a good day.

i went to see my sister's keeper, which was a truly lovely & very moving film. i think i'm actually going to have to read the book now.

*mental note to self - read my sister's keeper by jodi picoult*

i also got a very nice present off joanna as kind of a trade for the john mayer necklace i made her. glad you like it joanna! :)

anyways, the present was very awesome, an envelope of photos of my favouritest musicy people!

there were 2 bruce springsteen pictures. swooon! bruce is a serious babe.

an absent elk photo - with the bassist i hugged!

the koooooks! gotta love those guys.

orlando weeks. lovely, just lovely.

tommy reilly! i have quite a thing for this guy.

john mayer, obviously.

and, of course, harry from mcfly.

the pressure is now on for some jewellery to be made, watch this space.

hahaa! i have always wanted to say that! i'm such a dork B)

summertime blues.

i've had a seriously boring day today.

even though across the world it's been a pretty big day; it was ringo starr's 69th birthday & also michael jackson's funeral.

but i have had a little case of the summertime blues (which is a very good song by eddie cochran).

or maybe it's just boredom, who knows.

today i was struck by the fact that my family are possibly the most amusing creatures on the face of the planet.

i've just witnessed my brother try & get the coins that are trapped in the bottom of his trousers by jumping up and down and writhing on the floor.

i also watched him & my dad have an argument about whether apple white (the colour of the walls in our conservatory) is more green or more white.

oh lordy, they're now continuing their fight with a rolled up motorbike magazine. i tell you, living with men is an interesting experience.

*

to cure my boredom a bit (or at least attempt to) i made some more jewellery.

i seem to be doing this quite a lot of late.

*

it's all over now, baby blue.

purple haze all in my brain, lately things just don't seem the same, not that funny but i don't know why, excuse me while i kiss the sky.

i'd give her my heart, but she wanted my soul, but don't think twice, it's alright.

waiting on a sunny day.

as an explanation to the title of this post, i can only say that i've had that certain bruce springsteen song going round & round in my head today & i thought it was pretty appropriate as it's been quite dreadful weather today. i've also recently rediscovered my obsession with last.fm & have discovered quite a lot of good music today. i also found out gavin degraw has the same birthday as me which i must admit made me quite chirpy (:

i made some jewellery aussi.

originally i was only going to make one necklace today (a john mayer themed one for joanna) but i was kind of bored & had nothing else to do.

key earrings. the keys are from the props from my mum's old dollhouse.

"took my by surprise

that a man once made a key

to open her dark heart

he broke apart what was once in love"

strawberry milk carton necklace. this is a label from a purse (which looks exactly like the picture) i got for my birthday this year. i think this necklace is really rather cute but i don't know if it's really my kind of thing so i may try & sell it, although i'm not sure yet.

"let me take you down

cause i'm going to

strawberry fields"

*

warning!

joanna, if you're reading this & you don't want to know what your present looks like look away now!

front

&

back

"gravity, stay the hell away from me
and gravity, has taken better men than me
now how can that be?
just keep me where the light is"