Summer holidays!

While taking a break from writing my dissertation at my local Whole Foods (which is actually, the best Whole Foods in the world), amongst sipping my Vita Coconut water and contemplating a scone I have decided to update what various articles I've written for Bring the Noise over the summer. Sorry to have been so neglectful. Once I am free of this 15,000 word dissertation monster, as well as my immigration issues, I will be back in action and hopefully writing much more.

Here we go:

LIFESTYLE EVENT: Style Icon's Style & Glam Pop-Up Party at Cucumba
LIFESTYLE EVENT: 2013 London Watch Show 
FASHION NEWS: Mike D's New Track for Kenzo's Menswear SS2014 Show
LIFESTYLE NEWS: Alexa Chung's New Book 'It" 

Album Review: Laura Marling - Once I Was An Eagle

I was lucky enough to be the one to review Laura Marling's new album for BTN. Click the photo to follow through to the review, or click here. What a truly stunning album!

Eric Church visits London

 My review and photos from the Eric Church gig at The Forum in London are finally live at Bring The Noise. So click the photo or here and go read about what a wonderful time it was.

Also, click here to see all my photos on flickr of handsome Eric.

Exciting times ahead!

I've got a load of new BTN news posts going up this week. The one I'm most excited about is my review and photos of Eric Church's first London gig at The Forum last Wednesday, on the 24th of April. It was an absolutely brilliant gig, and the first time I've shot a show since early 2012. I will throw up a link as soon as it goes live.

 This week I'm off to review Portugal. The Man in London, which should make for an interesting Wednesday night.

Gucci Timepieces and Jewelry/The Recording Academy UK Music Fund Event

I got a chance to go to a press conference celebrating the UK Music Fund last week. If you click the photo below to go read all about it what a wonderful experience it was. 

Review updates

I've been way busy in April reviewing some shows. Click the photo to go to the review!

Professor Green Secret Gig

I was lucky enough to get a chance to go see Professor Green help Barclays and TFL celebrate them teaming up for Barclays contactless on TFL buses. I am going to submit my review tonight but I will absolutely link it here, as always, when it goes live! So until then, here, have my craptastic instagram shot of the gig featuring not just Professor Green on stage, but a very deer-in-the-headlights security guy.

Willy Moon Gig Review

Didn't realize this got posted, but my reiew of the excellent Willy Moon went up at Bring the Noise the other week! Click here or the photo to read!

Album Review: Lexie Roth "Stay Or Go"

My review I did for Bring the Noise on Lexie Roth's album Stay Or Go finally got posted. Click the photo or click here to check it out.

Birthday Shoes

Tomorrow is my 25th birthday, so via money my parents gave me for a gift I went to Kurt Geiger today and got these! I lusted after the black version of these shoes until I saw the tan ones. I've already worn them out to get something quickly from across the street, and they're fantastic. Happy birthday to me!

Frightened Rabbit Pop-Up Shop and Show in Soho

Tonight I headed with my husband down to Kingly Court in Soho to catch Frightened Rabbit's pop-up gallery, and show at 7pm. This was a nifty promotional move for their new album, Pedestrian Verse (which is now streaming for free on the guardian website, go listen!).
The pop-up gallery was such a great idea to promote the album. To name a few things they had there:  massive prints of album art, the props they used to make the album art, prints of areas of the Highlands where they toured previously, and the bands guitars they recorded the album with strew about. And more!  They also had a documentary on loop but I missed that as I arrived just as they were about to begin their set. There was an impressive turnout there, and a lot of people (like myself) waited outside the show by a door to watch the set. They played some new songs and some old songs and it was just a real treat to see. It definitely made up for the fact I can't make it to their London show as its sold out.

The Carrie Diaries

I just finished a massive re-watch of SATC. This was mostly because we didn't have cable nor the internet for two months so I've had it on the in the background as I got ready on a morning and watched  an episode or two before falling asleep. I admit that I am really late to the Sex and the City bandwagon. As in, just started watching it in the summer of 2012 after viewing a few episodes at a friends house. Although I wasn't so convinced in the beginning, the show really won me over by the middle of the first series. It gives every woman who watches it some small storyline or character trait to relate to. (The story that struck me as my relatable moment was when Carrie felt absolutely alone in Paris.)
I've read Candace Bushnell's The Carrie Diaries, and have just downloaded the first two episodes of The CW's show of the same name and I'm beyond excited to see how it measures up to the books and the show. It will be great to have Carrie Bradshaw on screen again and AnnaSophia Robb is absolutely adorable.

A love letter to....By Terry.

Dear By Terry,

I try not to get too terribly girly on this blog, but this is the most sincerest of love letters. Every morning your beautiful Cover Expert in 01 Fair Beige transforms my skin. Gone are pale, dull and discolored patches as it gently smooths away the flaws in my skin, leaving behind an even, all-around glow. On a serious level, this is the most must-have makeup I have ever used in the 10 years since I first purchased foundation. It leaves you with an radiant and natural skin tone that looks healthy and well moisturized (but never oily!). I really couldn't live without it.

I know this foundation really worked when I travelled by train from London to Leeds (a two hour and twenty minute draining journey) to see my now-husband on the first day I used the foundation. In his car in the dark of the train station car park he looked at my face and went "Wow, your face looks beautiful! What have you done differently?"  It's actually gag worthy, I couldn't even make this up. 

By Terry makes fantastic products. Every one I have tried I have been so supremely happy with I could burst, and I just want to spread the word. They are a bit more expensive than the average Clinique, running from £42 for the above mentioned foundation, but so well worth it and a bottle of foundation usually lasts me 5-8 months. 

Another By Terry product I covet is the Touch Expert Advanced. It was the first product I ever ventured trying from the company, and has had a permanent home in my bag ever since I first began using it in November of 2011. I've tried similar products before that woo you with promises of erasing under eye circles and vanishing shadows, and those simply don't come close to the results you get with the VIP Touch Expert Advanced. 

Thank you so much By Terry, for your fabulous products that make a girl look and feel wonderful.

Writing Credits

Here is a complied master list of all the writing I've done for various music websites (ranging from reviews of albums, concerts and artist interviews).

Bring the Noise UK 
Live Review: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Live Review: Twenty One Pilots
Live Review: Professor Green
Live Review: Willy Moon
Album Review: Lexie Roth - Stay Or Go
EP Review: Random Impulse - No Sleep for Winners
Album Review: City Lights - In It To Win It

Shockblast Media
Interview with Such Gold
Live Review: Valencia
Live Review: Laura Stevenson And the Cans
Live Review- Bayside's Anthony Raneri

Audio Perv 
Live Review: We Are Augustines
Live Review: Enter Shikari (2)
Live Review: Givers
Live Review: Enter Shikari (1)
Live Review: Blink 182 (writing only)

E-readers

Well, a small tragedy occurred over New Years Eve. My Kindle Keyboard unfortunately did not make it into 2013.

 
Let me just go on shortly about my love affair with Amazon's Kindle. I've had a Kindle since the first version, and have absolutely loved it ever since. I upgraded in the summer of 2011 to the Kindle Keyboard, and it was a beautiful and loving relationship. (I did defect to a Nook for a short while, but was unimpressed and went back to the Kindle...shhh!)
I so wish I had had one as a kid! I remember lugging a huge, over-stuffed backpack full of large books onto planes, and in cars for family trips between the ages of 7-14. Having a kindle would have saved me so much packing space, and I wouldn't have had to agonize over which books I could fit in my backpack.
Well on New Years Eve, after a few glasses of wine (okay, more than a few), I left my kindle on the side of the sink in the bathroom of our flat. All was well, until my husband, also a few glasses deep, went into the bathroom and for some reason decided to put the Kindle for "safe keeping" standing upright in it's case on the tippity-top shelf of our bathroom cabinet behind the mirror.
Cue my skipping in not thirty seconds later to look for makeup, open the cabinet and BOOM CRASH.  It bounged off the sink and to the floor. All seemed well until it seemed frozen on a screensaver in sleep mode, and I could not get John Steinbeeck's face off.
Since it was technically both of our faults, I told my husband we could split getting me a new one sine he felt pretty terrible.
I'm always curious how long people tend to keep their e-readers before they pass on!

Living the (extraordinarily busy) London Life!

It's been absolutely ages since I've blogged. Mostly due to the move to London, the wedding preparations and then the wedding at the end of November, as well as getting a new job! Things have been quite busy (as well as a little stressful). But now things have calmed down, I can't wait to get back into using this blog. I feel like I should changed the name of it, or get back into photography ASAP! It's been such a long time since I've taken a photo, mostly due to the above reasons and being plain old busy.

We just printed out some of our wedding photos today, and they look absolutely phenomenal, even more so than in digital form on a computer. Our photographer was Kat Forsyth and we are so beyond pleased with her photos. She was absolutely lovely and chilled out, not to mention really excited about the wedding (which made us excited!). You can check out her blog post featuring our wedding here. As of right now, I only have a dongle/minimal internet right now, so I am unable to upload many photos (or stream videos! such a bummer).