FREEDOM!

Apologies for my absence as of late but I'm sure it comes as no surprise to you that A Level exams are currently ongoing, and I finished mine last Friday! My last one was French, which thankfully didn't go too badly. 

But anyway, after being a sleep-deprived hermit for the last two months, we hit the ground running and headed straight to sunny Oxford Street on Friday afternoon to one of my favourite haunts, Meat Liquor (previously blogged about here). As it was also Hannah's 18th birthday the day before, there was no excuse (except possibly money...) not to have as many cocktails as possible.

Two Grogs and a Henrietta Fizz 

As far as first legal drinks go, I think Hannah did pretty well...

FOOD. Dirty chicken burgers and the Philly Cheesesteak...

More cocktails... I had the jam jarred Louisiana Jam, made with Southern Comfort and apricot jam.

We then found ourselves wandering towards Carnaby Street in grease induced comas in search of more drinks. 

After having heard a flyer-giver on the street advertising half price cocktails, we followed his lead and ended up in a very chic little bar called Zebrano's which did not disappoint...

A 4 hour happy hour on Fridays and Saturdays?!?!

I didn't think proper cocktails for £4.25 existed in central London, but they do here. I definitely recommend.

 On Saturday we flocked to Hannah's garden for ice cream cupcakes and mojitos from teacups...

And champagne from teacups because we're classaayy.

A good way to end exams? I think so.

Bises,

Riona

Vogue/Kurt Geiger Secret Garden Party

Last Thursday, Hannah and I forgot about our English and Media exam related worries to lose ourselves in a chic evening of heels, Pimm's, cake pops and strawberries, courtesy of Kurt Geiger and Vogue.

I obtained an invite through Vogue, who advertised the event in last month's issue, the aim of the evening being to officially launch KG's summer collection, with Vogue's retail editor Emily Zak presenting her take on the summer trends. There's nothing I love more than a good free event. And people from Vogue were there. So despite our A Level English exam mere days away, off we went (prepare for lots of shoes).

Taking advantage of Starbucks' Happy Hour promo

The queueueueue outside the Covent Garden KG store

Guests were invited to participate in a game of croquet in heels upon entry...

Flowery Pimm's

Hannah's judgin

Ladies from Nails Inc. offering manicures

Cocktails which were grabbed from the poor waiter's tray as quickly as they had arrived

Hannah being chic

Myself... Wearing the black Jules jumpsuit from Forever Unique with heels from eBay and leopard print clutch from H&M

Hannah doing what she does best - being sasseh

An acoustic set from Ria Ritchie

Not just strawberries and cream. Strawberries filled with cream.

Emily Zak presenting the summer trends to us - flats, low heels, neon and animal print.

Emily Zak looks effortlessly chic and summery in a Derek Lam maxi dress

After having asked to take her photo, and having gushed admiration at her amazing career, I asked her a few questions about succeeding in the fashion industry, such as her stance on a university degree vs fashion experience. She was on the side of the degree, and not any old fashion journalism degree, she favours 'classic' subjects, such as English, History etc and seemed to think the true way forward is, of course, internships. Having spoken for ten minutes and collecting my coat about to leave, I realised I'd made the excruciating faux pas of not even properly introducing myself. I tried to salvage this rookie mistake by tweeting her the following morning, but it turns out there are several Emily Zak accounts, each with very few tweets and followers, so I got a reply off an Emily Zak I hadn't actually tweeted... But it seemed to be her all the same.

Little did we know there was a promotional shopping night event going on at the Seven Dials in Covent Garden, just down the road from the KG branch, so we had a wander round there...

Our free American Apparel headbands

And rounded off the night with how all chic nights should end - Pret.

Obviously, the 6 inch heels came off and the ballet pumps went on the moment I stepped out of KG

Cute.

So the moral of that story is - always buy Vogue.

Bises,

Riona

A Facebook Plea

I know you're all waiting with baited breath to hear my thoughts on Gatsby, but I want to take time to write a proper post on it and, as my life currently consists almost exclusively of college, work and college work, I just won't have the time for a few days - but on the whole I definitely enjoyed the film.

I've noticed quite a lot of people are reading my blog lately but not following - if you're on Google+, please follow! If not, I installed a little gadget on the sidebar the other day which allows you to follow by email! Just enter your email address and you'll receive an email every time I write a post.

Alternatively, if you've enjoyed reading my blog, I'd really appreciate it if you could like my Facebook page! I often post photos and links on there:

https://m.facebook.com/#!/ImGoingToBeLate?__user=535792400

Thanking you. Here's a bit of my life over the last month:

1) First legal bottle of champagne! 2) the sunset through a phone box yesterday.

3) Sweep had a haircut the poor soul. 4) Seeing Gatsby eeek. 5) Travelling planning going extremely well... Slightly worrying that two friends and I are being left to backpack in foreign countries for 2 weeks... 6) My cocktail of choice, mojitos. 7) The best iced tea you will ever taste. Recipe coming soon. 8) Erm, in the garden? 9) A summer haul, also coming soon.

Bises,

Riona

P.S. The observant among you have probably realised I've also decided to change the font I use. Ooooo.