a night of fan-girling, mechanical bulls, & kate freaking nash

Before reading this, if you haven't heard Kate Nash before, you should go listen to her. Or if that's not really your cup of tea, try this song. Also before reading this, be aware that it's going to be quite long. I don't feel like I'd be doing the night justice if I skimped on details.

Years ago I was really into Regina Spektor (still love her, just not the way I used to), and one day a Kate Nash song came on my Regina Spektor Pandora radio station. It was so quirky and fun. Over the next few years I came to really love her music and as I found out more about her as a person, I came to love what she stands for.

My friend Jenny and I went to see Kate at The Pyramid Scheme last year on St. Patrick's Day. It was my first time seeing her live. We were front and center and everything was perfect. We ended up making friends with one of the sound check guys, Kris. He was on tour with Kate and her band. After the show ended, we sat with him for an hour or two and chatted. Jenny and him kept in touch over the following year.

A couple months ago, we found out Kate was coming back to Michigan; this time in Kalamazoo. So of course we decided we had to go. Next thing I knew Jenny was telling me Kris put us on the guest list and that we didn't need to buy tickets. I was actually in disbelief for a few days. As the end of July approached, we solidified our plans for the night, which included adding our other friend Jamie to the guest list. 

After what felt like years of waiting, July 30th finally rolled around. Jamie, Jenny, and I headed to Kalamazoo. We got there early so we stopped at a Coney for hot dogs. Then we went to wait in line for the doors to open. When we got to the front, we gave our name and were let in. The venue wasn't what I expected at all; it was outdoors and had tables and fire pits and was fairly cute. We picked a table and sat there while we watched the opening band and waited for Kate... Also would like to throw out there that she tweeted me not too long before they went on stage. I had posted a picture and tweeted her and she responded with a bunch of emojis. My inner fan-girl was hard to contain.

friday finds

With plans of (hopefully) finding an apartment soon, I went on a little shopping trip this weekend. A few months ago I found some amazing, vintage, tin canisters (the coffee, tea, flour kind) at some shop, but I wasn't as close to moving as I am now and wasn't even sure if I had a job, so I decided to pass them up.

I went back on Friday, hooooping that no one had bought them yet... no such luck. However I did find a bunch of other cool things, so I guess it ended up alright.

Some pretty neat rooster plates. I think it's the polka dots that won me over, to be honest.

Got two of these lovely little soap dishes. 

Found this awesome stainless steel knife set, complete with sharpener.

Corn on the cob is really good, so naturally I needed corn on the cob holders.

Super cute salt and pepper shakers! The leaf on the apple is broken, but hey it was only $1.

The world's most amazing clothes hamper. 

And this super lovely jewelry box. Not exactly necessary but I've been needing a bigger one.

I'm sure I'll be going on more vintage and thrift shopping excursions once I find an apartment to move into, so if I find anything awesome I'll share!

-teddy x

life is crazy, guys

It's been longer than normal since I've posted! Life has been hectic. Since my last post I've become a car owner and have emailed maybe 2 million people (or so it feels) about apartments.

I am ready to get this show on the road.

I've been planning on moving out for ages, literally the longest time, but I've needed to get to the right place financially before doing so (obvs). So here I am. Pretty much in the right financial place. Honestly it felt like I would never make it here.

Everyday I think of how lucky and grateful I am that I have been given my current job opportunity. It is so much better than anything I've ever had; I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Yesterday, I bought a car. Yes, at almost 26 years old, I just bought my first car. And it's the car I've been driving since I got my license almost 10 years ago. But nonetheless, I bought a car. HUGE accomplishment. I don't even really like the car (at all), but I'm so happy it's mine, I don't even (really) care!!

Today on my lunch break, I went to my first apartment viewing. Yes, again, at almost 26 years old, I just went to my first apartment viewing. I have lived out of my parents' house before, but only for 6 months, and the lease was not in my name. This time, it will be.

Do you guys know how difficult it is to find two bedroom apartments (that aren't in Timbuktu or bad parts of town) that are affordable on one income? It is (as you would expect) twice as hard to support not only yourself but another person (in this case it's my cute little child so I forgive him for being dependent on me).

The apartment I saw today was absolutely positively perfect. Well, perfect except it didn't come with a washing machine or dryer (hey, what are parents for, right?). Other than that, it was wonderful. Two porches, a huge backyard, and the most lovely, dark, hardwood floors... Only problem is, I would be stretching my budget massively if I agreed to that for 12 months. So, the wise woman in the back of my brain has told me not to. Sometimes I really don't like her!

However, there's still hope. I've been in contact with another renter this afternoon and I'm seeing one of his properties tomorrow on my lunch break. The rent is much more affordable. It's currently unoccupied, so he'd like to move someone in for August. I was shooting for September, so not to rush things, but financially I would be able to do a month sooner. Let's not get too carried away though... I haven't seen the place in real life yet.

I've included this photo of my cat, Zusi, just for kicks, as I didn't have anything else relevant to this post.

Anyways, I'm sure I'll be back with an update for you sometime soon!

Cheers!

-teddy x

street style

LOTS of pictures with this one! My friend and fellow blogger Jamie and I went out on a bit of a photo adventure today. 

OUTFITS

hers: dress - H&M // vest - Blue // boots - Marshalls // hat - Forever21 // necklace - vintage

me: top - American Eagle // shorts - Forever21 // shoes - H&M // rings - topshop & Primark

We went to this gorgeous, run down gas station near our houses. The colors are brilliant.

We had so much fun! We already have another spot in mind for our next shoot. :)

-teddy x

Biking in Belgium

Since the beginning of May, I've been doing fitness classes through my work four days a week, almost religiously. Monday I do spin, Tuesday is bootcamp, Wednesday yoga (or spin if I'm feeling like a heavier workout), and Thursday is bootcamp again.

Well, since I got back from the UK, I've been severely lacking motivation to keep up with these. I reaaaaally did NOT want to go to spin class today, but my lovely co-worker Marcia conned me into going by saying she'd come to bootcamp with me tomorrow (which I've been begging her to do for two months).

I really don't know much about the Tour de France except that it's a massive bike ride with loads of people and it seems to last forever. So I went into spin today and the instructor was like, "we're going to Europe today." So naturally my ears immediately perked up and I'm interested now because that's where I'd like to be.

She went on to say that the Tour de France started July 5 and today they're in Ypres, Belgium, heading towards Arenberg-Porte du Hainaut in France. Aaaand then she said she mapped out the route they're on and that we were going to cover the same route in our ride... All 95 miles of it, or whatever.

Of course she shortened it up so we could do it in our 45 minute class but still, it was kinda cool. We started in Ypres and went over all the cobblestone patches (by adding resistance... surely nothing compared to actually being in Ypres, but still a challenge) the Tour de France bicyclists had to go through and made our way to France.

 Our spinning room probably isn't as pretty as Belgium or France...

Jeannette, the instructor, really had it all planned out. I wasn't just impressed with the effort she went to to get the mapping and routing accurate, but she also had a European playlist set up. Honestly music can make or break a class like that.

It ended up being a pretty good class. I managed to peddle through a whole 17 miles, despite not having wanted to even go. Hoping I can keep up the motivation to get full-swing back into my classes.

Something Jeannette said to us in the middle of a big hill was, "how you do one thing, is how you do everything." So... I'll leave you with that to ponder.

-teddy x

39 of the best British words

I'm kind of excited that some of the words Tom uses are catching on with me. I secretly (or not so secretly) wish I had an English accent and that I used all of these words all of the time. 

They're not all slang. Most are but I've included a few that I've noticed English people use way more or in a different context. Also, some of these might be pretty specific to Cumbria, the county Tom lives in. I'm not exactly sure which ones are used all over the country and which aren't.

Anyways, here's my list!

1. Knackered: 1. tired, worn out ex. "Just been playing footy and now I'm knackered."  2. broken ex. "I dropped my iPhone and now it's knackered."

2. Shattered: tired, worn out ex. "I'm bloody shattered after that walk through the Lakes."

3. Ace: cool, awesome ex. "That film was ace!"

4. Bloody: really, very (considered a swear/cuss word) ex. "I'm bloody knackered."

5. Mint: good, cool ex. "That outfit is mint."

6. Proper: really, very ex. "That was a proper good meal."

7. Lovely: nice, good ex. "She's such a lovely lass don't you think?"

8. Hiya: hi, hello ex. "Hiya, how ya doing?"

9. Cheers: thank you ex. "That was a lovely meal, cheers."

10. Y'alright?: Hi, how are you? ex. Seeing someone you know (or don't) and saying "y'alright?". I've noticed that this doesn't ever seem to get answered...

11. Mate: friend ex. "I'm just going out with my mates tonight but I could meet up with you tomorrow sometime."

12. Lad/lass: guy/girl, respectively ex. "What a great lad he is!"

13. Fit: good looking, hot ex. "She's proper fit!"

14. Gan on: go on ex. While watching an Arsenal football game, "Gan on, Giroud!"

15. Faff about: waste time, mess around ex. "Quit faffing about, we need to go!"

16. Div: idiot ex. "That woman was a complete div."

17. Summat: something ex. "You wanna grab summat to eat?"

18. Crack: news, gossip ex. "What's the crack?"

19. Tidy/bang tidy: good looking, really good looking ex. "Did you see him? He's bang tidy!"

20. Mental: crazy, insane ex. "You're wearing that in this weather? Are you bloody mental?!"

21. How's it gan?: How's it going? Kind of self-explanatory.

22. Aye: yes, yeah ex. Q: "Are you going to that concert Saturday night?" A: "Aye I am."

23. Fink/fanks: think, thanks Basically you just take any word that has a "th" and replace it with an "f"

24. Us: me ex. "When were you going to tell us that?" (I was confused by this for so long but Tom refers to himself as an "us" all the time... was literally starting to think he had multiple personality disorder or something!)

25. Minging: gross, nasty ex. "Ewww, that smell was proper minging!"

26. Spot on: right on, ideal ex. "That pizza was spot on, mate!"

27. Cuppa: cup of tea (or other beverage, but I think it usually refers to tea) ex. "I'm just gonna have a cuppa then go to bed."

28. Gutted: bummed out ex. "I was completely gutted after that loss to Germany!"

UPDATED 7.09.2014 - I decided I needed to add the ones I left off. I couldn't stop thinking about it! 

29. Whinge/whinging: to whine or complain ex. "Will you quit your whinging already? We're going to leave soon!"

30. Deeks: to look at ex. "Give us a deeks"  (meaning "give me a look")

31. Me: my ex. "Me mum and I are going to the shop later, do you need anyfing?"

32. Toilet: bathroom ex. "Do you need to use the toilet before we go?"

33. Nowt: nothing ex. "I went for a beer in the shop but there was nowt left."

34. Owt: anything ex. "You got owt for us?"  (meaning "have you got anything for me?")

35. Radge: crazy ex. "Brazil lost 7-1 and the fans are gan radge!"

36. Ratch: to search, look for ex. "Let us have a ratch for it later."  (remember, by "us" I mean "me")

37. Scran: food ex. "I'm gan for a scran."

38. Shan: embarrass ex. "That's a proper shan."

39. Smart: dressed up, fancy outfit ex. "Don't you look smart tonight!"

So which of my American friends are gonna help me bring all these terms to popularity???

-teddy x

product review : unite blonda shampoo

Haven't done a product review in quite some time... In fact, I've only ever done one. After washing my hair this weekend I decided it's time for another.

I've been in the process of going blonde for about five months now. Part of the reason why it's taking so long is because of the stupid amounts of $4 box dye that is plaguing my hair. I get bored so easily, but it's not as easy to dish out $80+ every time I decide I need a change. Sooo, my go-to solution is a cheap box of terrible hair dye that destroys my locks and insists on sticking around FOREVER.

I have since made a vow to quit box hair dye. As quick and easy as it is, it's not worth the hassle getting rid of.

I've been through a couple lightening treatments as well as one highlighting sesh. I'm sorta stuck in the ombre phase currently. I like it, but I want a more all-over look. Currently giving my poor strands a break though, so that they don't literally break off (I never used to believe that could actually happen.... and then one time I bleached my hair and months later I realized the right side of my hair was way shorter than the left, thanks to breakage).

I picked up a bottle of UNITE Blonda Shampoo after being recommended it by my lovely hairdresser Sara at Cheeky Strut. It's a bit pricey (by a bit I mean a lot), the 8oz bottle goes for $26.25 on the website. However, I think it's worth it. The shampoo is a toning shampoo and essentially does what a glaze would do. So instead of having to go to the salon to fix your brassy blonde every couple months, and pay however much that costs, you use this shampoo once or twice a week. I think it was February when I bought mine and I still have maybe 1/4 bottle left. 

The instructions say DO NOT leave on for more than 60 seconds... But I definitely leave mine on for like five minutes. Sometimes I'll go without using it for up to two weeks and it's crazy to see the difference it makes when I use it again. This shampoo is fantastic, especially if you're an ex-box-dye-user like myself.

The last photo is of my hair in its most current state. Hoping to gradually work that brown out soon. Anyways, if you struggle with brassy blonde tones, I would highly recommend trying out this product!

-teddy x

I Hate Shorts

Okay, so the title is pretty self explanatory: I hate shorts. I'll wear them around the house every once in awhile but it's veeeeery rare you'll see me out in public in them. When it's hot I prefer a dress a skirt. However, today I came across some high-wasted shorts and decided to try them on. Surprisingly enough I actually liked them.

I apologize for posting creepy headless photos. I was using the self-timer on my phone, propped up against my iced coffee, and it was slightly tricky to get a good composition. Also, my hair was a mess so I decided it wasn't really necessary that my head be included!

Still feel kinda weird in shorts, but I think these have potential. I love the high-wasted style. I think they add back a little bit of class to outfits that is taken away with today's extreme-short-shorts.

What do you guys think? Yea or nay??

-teddy x

easy up - do

First off... Alliston in Wonderland has a new look! I think I'm pretty happy with it but I always appreciate feedback. :)

I wore my hair like this the other day and it was actually mostly unintentional. I like to do wrap-around French braids (I start it on one side of my head and braid it around to the other side) sometimes and that's what was supposed to happen here. Halfway through, I completely messed it up. Instead of starting over, I just ended up leaving the part of the braid that I had and then pinning up the rest into a messy bun. Turns out it's a really simple, quick way to put your hair up and it looks pretty classy!

I am so good at looking awkward in pictures. Probably why I prefer to be behind the camera! Also maybe I should mention I've embarked on the long journey of growing out my bangs so I just had them pinned back! 

Enjoy your weekend!

-teddy x