“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.”
We have said au revoir to twenty-nineteen and I’m hoping that the decade ahead will sparkle like the chandeliers and champagne flutes at Gatsby’s illustrious parties.
As we enter the roaring 20s, I’m very much looking forward to embracing my inner Daisy Buchanan by wearing glittering jewels, feathers, sequins and faux fur capes…
Before this new decade is in full swing, I thought I would discuss the gleaming highlights of my twenty-nineteen…
March was filled with an array of wonders; at the beginning of the month I channelled my inner Lily James as Cinderella by attending my first horse-riding lesson! It was something I had been longing to do for years and I finally found the courage to try. I also had my first job interview which I was so nervous about but when I discovered I had the job, I felt so proud of myself!
April is my birthday month and there were so many magical activities planned to celebrate…
At the start of the month I made my first designer purchase in Louis Vuitton. It was a delightful experience and when I walked into the store I felt as though I had transformed into Rebecca Bloomwood from Sophie Kinsella’s Confessions of Shopaholic. As Rebecca becomes “the girl in the green scarf”, I became “the girl in the pink scarf” whilst purchasing the ‘Monogram Confidential Bandeau’ in ‘light pink.’ Purchasing the scarf in-store was a whimsical experience I shall never forget. My mother and I had just been for tea and macarons at Patisserie Valerie and we wandered over to Louis Vuitton… I picked up the scarf, felt the soft caress of silk on my skin and instantly knew it had to be mine. Receiving one of their iconic orange bags tied with a blue ribbon made me feel like a princess!
To celebrate my 21st birthday, my mother and I planned a weekend away in London. Some of the highlights of this trip were…
Ladurée in Covent Garden and Harrods
With pretty pastel pink and green interiors, candy-coloured boxes filled with delectable macarons and tied with bows, stunning chandeliers and charming cakes lining each cabinet, it’s difficult to not fall in love with Ladurée. On our trip I indulged in my favourite rose and vanilla macarons alongside their Marie Antoinette tea.
Seeing The Royal Ballet
For many years I have dreamed of seeing The Royal Ballet perform and I was delighted to watch their production of Romeo and Juliet on the evening before my birthday. I will never forget this magical moment and I’m going to see Lauren Cuthbertson as princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty this month and I’m so overjoyed!
Peggy Porschen Cakes
On my birthday I visited the prettiest pink café in all of Belgravia, for the very first time! It is every girly-girls dream come true and each season it presents itself with a new dreamy display of treats and matching fairytale interiors ~ on our visit the parlour was adorned in its Easter decor. Dotted around the front of the shop windows were little white bunny rabbits, nestled amongst the flowers. Their little ears stood up, they had a glittery sheen on their coats and a silky pink ribbon around their necks… I’m so disappointed that I didn’t get to see their Sugar and Ice display but I’m looking forward to seeing what they dream up for their Valentine’s range when I visit this month.
Harrods
Stepping into Harrods for the first time was like entering into a dreamland. I had a whimsical afternoon gazing at pretty pieces of couture from brands I adore like Chanel and Dior…
Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams
When I first heard about the V&A’s exhibition dedicated to Christian Dior, I knew I had to purchase tickets. Christian Dior’s creations encompass everything I adore ~ femininity, grace and elegance, and it was a pleasure to see them in real-life! “The Garden” section was my favourite! Inside there was an array of paper lilac blossoms which appeared to glow in the light. I encountered the dresses of my dreams in this room. I loved discovering the fact that Dior always wore a sprig of lily-of-the-valley in his button hole and requested that his seamstresses sew the flower into the hems of his dresses for good luck. I fell in love the ‘Muguet’ dress (lily-of-the-valley.) It was made for the spring/summer collection in 1957 and is made from cotton (organdie.)
In the summer, I decided to create the bedroom of my dreams and began re-decorating it. I have always longed for a Parisian inspired boudoir so we started by painting my walls in a light petal pink shade and added French, shabby-chic furnishings from the Dunelm Toulouse range; a vanity table, bedside table and chest of drawers. This year I’m hoping to save up for my dream French bed to complete the look!
I also began selling my illustrations on Etsy! I love painting with watercolour and sketching beautiful ballerinas and perfume bottles so I decided to create my own little shop! Some of you sweet angels made purchases and it warmed my heart! This year I’m planning on releasing some more designs inspired by Ladurée.
Ballet classes
One of my most treasured accomplishments of twenty-nineteen was re-starting ballet classes in September. Dance has always had a significant part in my life; I began at the age of six and loved it with all my heart! Originally it was my mother’s idea to take me to classes because I couldn’t stop dancing everywhere I went. My father had the Nutcracker suite on vinyl so I would twirl around to it as much as I could and watched/read Angelina Ballerina religiously. However, when I was fourteen, I decided to switch dance schools ~ none of my friends went to this one and I soon realised I had made a mistake! I was also struggling with personal troubles at the time which didn’t help and I ended up dropping out. I always regretted this decision and as I got older, academics became my priority and I slowly forgot about dance. Nevertheless, when I saw Northern Ballet’s performance of Swan Lake in 2015, I realised how much I missed it! After the performance I decided that whenever I could, I would attend as many ballet performances as possible. I finally had the courage to sign myself up to a course of classes in the summer ~ I was nervous but excited and purchased lovely pink ballet attire from Repetto! My first class reminded me of how much I want and need to dance ~ it’s something that I’m going to continue with in twenty-twenty so that I can work towards being strong enough to going on pointe.
Re-launching my blog
I published my first blog post back in 2017 and over the years my adoration for blogging has continued to flourish. I love using this space to create my own little pink fairytale land for angels to escape to when they feel overwhelmed or wish to let their imagination roam. Re-designing my blog was always something I had contemplated and at the end of last year, I contacted Vanessa from Blog Pixie and we began creating the website of my dreams! Vanessa is so talented at what she does and when I communicated my ideas for a pretty, princess-like theme, she was able to capture my vision perfectly… I can’t wait to share with you more pretty pink content this year.
For twenty-twenty, I have an array of exciting events and experiences in store! In January I will be going to London to finally meet my sweet friends Victoria and Tara. On this trip I’m also going for tea and sweet treats at Ladurée, shopping in Covent Garden, to The Royal Opera House to see The Royal Ballet’s performance of The Sleeping Beauty, ice-skating at the Natural History Museum and to Peggy Porschen. In February I have tickets to see Lana Del Rey perform for the first time and my mother and I have planned a trip to Paris for my 22nd birthday in April!
I hope this summary of my twenty-nineteen has inspired you in some way angels! Please let me know what your highlights were and I’d love to hear what you’re looking forward to this year… I’m sending so much love to you all from,
