Lauren_Edit

(1) view from the pier (2) view of Habitat 67 (3) brothers + pier (4) coffee shop (5) Lowell (6) Tony Hawk is coming to Montreal in August (7) poster for a Vintage Sale we missed (8) left - raspberry sorbet, right - ginger ice cream

Since we last spoke I've done some more exploring, walked to Old Port, bought a vintage pullover (I literally have 50 now) eaten some delicious homemade (not made by me) ice cream, bought some chocolate chip bagels, bought some postcards, ate the best Shakshuka, literally the best and finished watching The Staircase on Netflix.

Food Links:
Ripples Ice Cream
Arts Cafe (Shakshuka of my dreamzzzz)

Other stuff:
> Am I the only person who didn't watch the Love Island finale? (possibly? probably? definitely?)
> Being on holiday is actually amazing
> I brought three pairs of trainers with me (four pairs of shoes if I include flip-flops) and as we've been doing a lot of walking, I've tried to vary my footwear to find the most comfortable. My TNs (review here) are without a doubt the best shoes for long distance walking - obviously, I'm not going to scale a mountain wearing them, but could I? (Not really no, but it's a nice thought)

Song of the day: Hell of a Night - Travis Scott

Lauren x

Montreal to be exact and it's lovelyyyy over here! It was a smooth flight, just under seven hours (I think) the food was good, I packed an adequate range of clothing, I've unpacked, we've eaten some good food since landing, walked around, done some exploring and now I'm ready to sleep for a few days to recover from this jetlag.

So far we've visited Mount Royal, realised we know very little French (but enough to get by), walked back to the house from Downtown at the hottest part of the day (do not recommend) and discovered the mall hidden beneath part of Montreal. I'm not sure what we have planned for today, but it's 9:30am I'm enjoying a glass of Tropicana, we've picked up some bagels for breakfast and it's just so lovely to be on holiday!

Other stuff:
> I get ultra paranoid that all my liquids are going to leak in my suitcase (I know). I seal everything with masking tape and put them into ziplock bags to ensure this doesn't happen... I mean it sounds extreme but saves me a lot of worry.
> I took three different things to read with me on the plane: recently purchased Gone Girl, the August issue of British Vogue and ES Magazine which we picked up at the airport. I also had an episode of The Staircase downloaded on my phone. This was slightly too much, and I spent a majority of the flight trying to sleep.

Song of the day: Move Me - Mura Masa, Octavian

Lauren x

I've been the proud owner of a pair of Adidas Originals X Alexander Wang Bball Soccer trainers for about six weeks now. I've broken them in, braved through the blisters (took them off in Boots on Carnaby Street so I could apply a layer of six plasters) worn them in the sand (big mistake) hoovered the suede and kept them in as nice condition as I can, whilst also wearing them as much as humanly possible.

Falling from £200 to £140 in the sale at PamPam and after canvasing basically everyone I know about whether they were too expensive, I bought the shoes.  I remember walking along Brick Lane like it was the happiest day of my life, I was so pleased when the shop assistant asked me if I wanted to try them on, and when I left I carried the shoe box like it was a stack of important books I'd just checked out the library. (see photo above)





I opted for a size seven and as much as it pains me to say, they're a tiny bit on the tight side. I've got quite wide feet, but then the shoes themselves are fairly narrow. They've definitely loosened as I've worn them more though. As for the overall shape, they have a nice look on foot and a strong silhouette which means whatever else I wear tends to be quite muted. Due to the weather been so hot over here, I've worn them with black runner shorts and an oversized tee. When its been cooler in the evenings I've just worn a pair of black jeans instead.

Sorry, I have no fit pictures yet, hopefully, when I'm away I can get some good ones!

Song of the day: Tried Up - Ama Lou
(Why have I only just seen DDD?? link)

Lauren x

^ image source

Playsuit // £9.99
Swimsuit // £19.99
Top // £6.99

I've just bought some summer clothes. It took me nearly two hours to make the decision between a handful of items that were essentially the same but in the end, I checked out with a playsuit, swimming costume and a new stripey t-shirt. I honestly can't remember the last time I wore a swimming costume and it was a bit of an impulsive buy. I've really had enough of wearing bikinis so this felt like a good alternative. I'll just wait in anticipation for the parcel to come before I decide if I've made a huge mistake.

Dresses and skirts have never really been my thing either - unless I'm going to something or somewhere I usually wouldn't. I did buy a new bodycon-esk dress from Topshop not too long ago, but, that's beside the point. What if I suddenly want to do a handstand or cartwheel? I can't if i'm wearing a dress or a skirt. Black Jersey Playsuit. Click. Add to bag. Done. The stripey top came up as a 'selected favourites' option alongside the playsuit. I wasn't sold initially but after realising it would go with practically everything I own I ordered it too.

All in all, I consider that a successful shopping experience. I got slightly sidetracked looking at throw pillows and coats but managed to checkout with a few items that I think will be nice additions to my virtually nonexistent summer wardrobe.

Other good summer items:
Gold jewellery SeolGold
Jason Markk shoe cleaning kit Amazon // £17
Stussy socks GoodHood // £19
Champion lilac pullover Urban Outfitters // £65
Champion shorts Topshop // £35 (I came so close to buying these legit)

Other stuff:
> This Lazy Oaf Cafe thing at Sans Pere that never happened but should've because it looked like it would be amazing
> Wet's new album Still Run is SO GOOD (Love Is Not Enough is literally so good, and so is Out of Tune and Softens - I mean the whole album is great)
> I'm going through a patch where I haven't seen any new trainers that I like? Maybe it's because it's summer but all I want to do is buy new white AF1s??
> @veryadvanced for outfit inspiration at the moment
> The Debrief Podcast (now called Don't Panic) I love podcasts and this one is so so good. I'm listening to How To Do Things That Scare You right at this very moment

Song of the day: Out of Tune - Wet

Lauren x

Hi, yes, it's me, I'm back with one of my many fleeting and in-between blog posts. In my own defence, I'm a busy girl. I am! I've accepted I can't be a frequent blogger, so here I am trying to be an infrequent one. Fingers crossed I can at least stick to that. Where have I been? Working whilst simultaneously getting into a flow with my uni project in the week. Busy but worth it.

I'm actually looking for some shorts as we speak. I bought a sweatshirt in the Carhartt sale at the beginning of the month whilst telling myself this heat was never going to last and it was bound to rain again. I was wrong, and now I'm emergency summer wardrobe browsing. It's been very hot.

Other stuff:
> I went to Federation Coffee the other day in Brixton and it was sooo good (I didn't even take a proper photo I was absolutely starving)
> Are clear bags in right now? I've seen so many on Instagram (here, here and here) and I'm not sure how I feel about them. On the one hand, I'm like yes and on the other, I'm a bit like mmmm. I just had to decant my bag of ice cream wrappers, old receipts and long-lost biros which wasn't very chic.
> Garnier Ambre Dry Mist Spray Suntan Lotion gets high marks from me for literally maybe being the first non-greasy lotion that I've used. Amazon // £6 // Available in SPF 20, 30 or 50
> I was watching Love Island, missed one episode then completely fell behind. In all honesty (+unpopular opinion) I wasn't really enjoying it this year and I much prefer having my evenings free to watch other programmes, like The Staircase on Netflix which I'm currently on episode four of
> I've been ordering books left, right and centre from Amazon lately. Their option to buy an item used has been a humungous lifesaver and I've been finding such. great. deals on books. I'm in a really heavy research phase with my university work where I'm just trying to absorb as much information as I can. This has been so, so helpful I have no idea why I never used it before. (Literally just ordered Gone Girl for 89p + postage!)

Are we all caught up? Just about!

Song of the day: Someone That Loves You - HONNE, Izzy Bizu

Lauren

Photos:
(1) London somewhere (2) Near The Mall (3) I had never tried one of these before (4) Barnes (5) For the best ice cream in Oxford (6) Windswept me (7) Oxford (8) Carhartt Sweatshirt £60 £42!