Grease is the word

This Saturday was one of a kind and one I have been looking forward to for far to long.

My girls and I got our retro glad rags on and headed to an unlikely location. A field in west London.

We were on our way to Future Cinema’s Grease night.

Previously I have been lucky enough to attend a future cinema event (In fact I went to the Bugsy Malone night twice!) and this one was nothing less than expected.

My friends and I were in ‘Grease’ for GCSE drama so since then it hasn’t been on my radar but since I got to wear a prom dress, put on red lip stick and dance to ‘Chuck Berry’ I was in.

When we turned up we were overwhelmed by the amount of people. We arrived slightly late and were scared we’d miss some of the fun but it was still in full swing when we arrived. We were greeted by friendly ladies who asked us if this was our first year at Rydell. Unfortunately my American accent is as about as convincing as Dick Van Dykes English accent so I couldn’t play along but it didn’t stop us from giggling the entire night.

I was a little bit upset to see that we had to pay for so many things when we got into the event. We had debated the price hike up from the Bugsy event but since it was Grease we couldn’t say no but it was disappointing to see how much extras were called for. Rides were £3 each. Candy floss £3 , hot dogs £6 and a cocktail in a small cup was £8 (in fairness they did put candy floss in my cocktail so I was quite happy) but I was upset we couldn’t buy more.

This didn’t dampen our night too much. We were jiving the night away before the movie even started with too many photo ops to keep up with. For a girl who’s personality is mainly instagram it was almost mind bending to see so many pretty things at once.

We were so busy entertaining ourselves that we missed most of the acting and dance sequences but believe me we still enjoyed ourselves. When the film finally did start we ran to our seats. Despite being as far back as the crowd went (which note for future shows- more dancing room!) We heard every word and had a great view.

The atmosphere was electric. It really was. Every line was echoed by the audience, ever song sung at the top of everyone’s lungs and when ‘Grease lightning’ started people got on their feet and danced like no one was watching.

I think my favourite thing about Future Cinema is the atmosphere. You are all there in costume and you always know what you are going to see. You are playing a character before you even arrive. I know that Future Cinemas is run by the same company that does Secret Cinema. I have a ticket (an extremely over priced ticket that I’m regretting even with the success of Grease…but that’s another story for another time) but I wonder if the atmosphere with rival Future Cinemas ones as no ones knows what they are in for. I imagine you get a mixed response. I’m also hoping that they still have a dance after the films finish as the dancing after Grease and Bugsy have been some of my favourite nights out. They know good music.

We danced into the wee hours and didn’t want to go home. Before we left we stopped into Frenchie’s house which had been build especially for the occasion. My friend had a make over which was stunningly done by the lovely ladies at www.Rockabettystudios.com. I would recommend them for any future event. We had our photos taken in Frenchie’s room and were amazingly not charged for them but just given a Facebook page to visit which was a great touch for the night that cost me a small fortune.

I made memories I will cherish for a life time and I would recommend any one who enjoys dancing around like a extra in footloose to get their sweet patooties to the next event.

Like I mentioned it is a shame that the prices are being put up and up each time but I’m hoping that the price of the next event means we wont be paying for so much on the night, but we will wait and see.

Conclusion: Grease really is the word.

talking in pictures

I have a new love. Its there when you need it, It is really pretty and makes me want to create even prettier things. Picture social networks!
Ok so Pinterest and Instagram aren't new but as an (sucky) android user I have only just been allowed to assess this wonder and yes I was on the mailing list to know the day I could join.
As well as instagram I am in love with Pinterest.
Its something I've done for years on my own anyway. I've always had an inspiration folder that I'd put photos  I liked and I always stick and rip things out of magazines to keep me inspired. So instagram and pinterest have just combined my old loves with a fantastic ingredient , laziness. Now I have a constant stream of fantastic art work and beautiful photos to keep me excited.
Long like the photo stream!!

http://pinterest.com/missbobbypin/

http://web.stagram.com/n/marshmallowpenguin/

Parasol I love you

OK, I sneakily bought one of my 'must have' items on holiday....a Chinese parasol :D
 I love it and want to carry it everywhere but especially on holiday. It was the perfect excuse to take some pictures 

Mr Photographer

I have recently had the luck to have my photo taken by the amazing Mr B. He has some how managed to get some photos of me that I don't want to throw away and burn . He is my therapy as he has forced me to be in front of the camera.

So here are the results

inspiring Pictures

I've recently started a sketch/scrap book. I have so many magazines and random pictures in the house that I needed to do a culling. I started cutting out any pictures that inspired me or were just too pretty to throw away. Here are two pages from it so far. The top is all things vintage from lots of different magazines and the bottom photo is a picture of the lovely miss Teese from Elle magazine. Its surprising how inspiring it is to look at lovely photos (and I have much more space in my shoe box of a flat!) 

Favourite Classic Smokey Bar Songs

Been trying to find inspiration for songs the last few weeks so thought I'd share some ideas: (so hard to narrow these down to eleven)

.Fever - Peggy Lee
.Why don't you do right - Peggy Lee
.Cry  me a river - Julie London
. Summertime - Ella Fitzgerald
.Dream a little Dream of me - Doris Day  or Mamma Cass (couldn't decide which version)
.Georgia on my mind - Ray Charles
.What a difference a day makes - Dinah Washington
.Danke Schoen - Brenda Lee
. Something's got a hold of me - Etta James  (I wish I could sound like this woman!)
. Fool's Rush In - Peggy Lee


I'm starting to realise there are few songs that suit my voice but they have to be specific. The huskier the better so its lucky that all my favourite Lady's and gentlemen are husky piano bar singers.
I know these ones are quite obvious choices but they are the ones playing on loop at work this week so they make the list oh and this one, a modern one for all you modern muggles out there Imelda May (this girl can sing!)

The start of a song

When I was little all I did was draw and sing.
All day long. I would sing every song possible and a lot of the time I'd just make up songs on the fly. This sounds inventive but for a 5 year old to be making up songs about forgotten love while on a swing set is slightly creepy. Think 'The Shining'.

One holiday my older cousins dragged me on stage to enter a talent competition and some how, I won. That was the moment I was hooked. I was allowed to stand on stage and sing. It was the best feeling I had ever had. Even at 5 I can remember thinking 'this is it!' (I was a very dramatic 5 year old)
I use to tell my mum that I would be a animator for half the week and a singer in the nights. (I also wanted to be a lolly pop lady for a while so i wasn't as insightful as you think)

During a competitions  I was on stage, singing 'dont you make my brown eyes blue' and I forgot the words. well I thought I forgot the words. I've since watched it and realised that to anyone else I had sung the song perfectly fine but my tiny crazy mind was in charge and I decided I had completely ruined it. I ran off the stage crying and didn't sing again for about 18 years. (Like I said, A very dramatic 5 year old)


Despite all this I have some of my fondest memories from this time. The major reason for these memories is because I was lucky enough to have a mum that only wanted me to have fun and checked regularly that we still were having a good time.


Thinking back on it all I understand that I was probably only winning on the grounds of peoples expectations. A 5 year old in a pink dress and ringlets is expected to sing ' Mary had a little lamb' whereas my fantastic mother taught me Patsy Cline and Elvis Presley songs. So maybe shes to blame for my love of all things vintage.

Still its a nice memory. This was all behind me until I started working at a bar , which of course had an obligatory karaoke night. (damn!) I sung and loved every hyperventilating, tequila induced moment, even if I was singing 'opphs I did it again' by Brittney Spears (not my choice!). I couldn't believe I'd done it because It had become an actual fear. My throat would swell up and the sound would stop before it hit the air but once the curse was broken I had the love for singing back and firmly stuck but none of the talent left.

Since then I've started practising. very slowly. In my house with Mr B sat across the room .A very patient man. In the beginning it would take me about an hour of apologising and procrastinating just to get a note out. I've got louder and tried harder and Its a feeling in my chest that I just need to sing.
So I decided to bite the bullet and even if I fail I'm going to try.

I don't want fame, I don't want fortune. I'll sing for free but the mission is to one day sing in a smokey burlesque bar , with a piano and a band.
Just once would be good but fingers crossed the plan of action will happen and I will find someway to do it more and more. So this is a warning that I'm going to write about what I'm learning and convince myself through the power of blog to sing in public properly.


So singer of the week has to be, Miss Patsy Cline

photo time

Some Photos that the lovely Mr B took recently

Girl Crush / film review of the month

I get made fun of a lot because I fall in love with girls at random. 

Now that sounds like the first line of a seedy novel but what I mean is that I see a girl and fall in love with her style, their hair, shoes or most of the time their singing/dancing skills. 

I've also combined this blog with my film review. Since I fund my local cinema with all the tickets I buy I thought I'd write about them when I get a chance. But for this month I have combined 'girl crush of the month' and my old favourite film. '500 Days of the Summer'

Living in London has made this happen a lot more often. This weekend my two favourite friends came down and I showed them the lovely sites of Portobello Road. We spent most of the day pointing out lovely dresses and all fawning over bits and pieces we can't afford. When it came time to go home and get ready for a night on the town I made a horrible mistake.
I mentioned '500 days of Summer' and was absolutely astonished to discovered they had not seen it.

To me this is as big a crime for a female as you can get. Its under not seeing 'When Harry Met Sally' and one above not putting flat shoes in your bag on a night out. (this might be my own private rule but its a good one. Ask my poor deformed feet)


The first time I saw '500 Days of Summer' I was mesmerised. I couldn't absorb each frame enough. I loved the music , the cinematography and especially loved the story. It was so lovely to not have a traditional film. I love a rom com as much as the next ice cream loving lady but it was just refreshing to see a different perspective.

I should summarise what the films about in case you crazy people haven't had a chance to see it yet:
A girl called Summer , a extroverted, Strong willed and detached young girl ,meets a boy called Tom, a shy, romantic and emotional boy who falls madly in love with her. We follow a chopped up story that cuts to different points in the relationship and shows the difference and similarity's between the start,end of love or something like love. It shows the opposite views of a relationship two people are sharing together.

It is also one of the first rom coms that caused great discussions with my friends. I could sympathise with the weight of ones happiness being on your shoulders and how hard it can be to be the bad guy but I also felt every second of Tom's (Joseph Gorden-Levitt's character) Pain.
My one friend had sympathised with  Joseph Gordon-Levitt  character so much that he punched a pillow with anger.
any film that makes you punch a pillow and feel something so strongly has to be great. Marc Webb the director does such a fantastic job of combining reality and the delusions of love and the expectations that come with a new relationship. He manages to bring the audience into the story and join the fantasy without confusing us. This is harder said than done. The last film I saw that did this so brilliantly was probably Ferris Buller. You hold your breath during the film. Hoping for the best even though you are told from the get go to expect nothing. How he does this while still making you like the desperate, sad and sometimes hurtful character traits that all people have is compelling viewing.

My initial reason for seeing the film was because of my current girl crush on the naive yet worldly wise Zooey Deschanel. She has a cute yet completely graceful and grown up feel about her that makes me wish I had such poise...and her hair.I'd like her hair...oh and her wardrobe. Not that I'm asking for much.
I was first introduced to Miss Deschanel through 'Elf' which also happens to be a fantastic film. (and its almost near enough to Christmas for me to get it out)

Her voice was like silk. Just lovely. Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee combined. It is in truth how I wish I sounded and it encouraged me to get out there and sing again so it was a firm foundation to go on. Her band 'She and Him' with guitarist and producer M.Ward is going from strength to strength and carries on making my day better. If you are having a bad day or are on the bus with nothing to listen to then put this on and you will have a smile all the way home


Anywho, back to the film.

The colours of the film are stunning. All pastel blues and lovely black sketched lines. I would kill a man for her flat 

The clothes in the film really are stunning. It made me think that I can actually wear dresses like this in public and not just buy them and chicken out of wearing them. Whether my bank agrees this is a good thing as I have now bought a lot more of them but if anyone knows of good sites that sell similar dresses PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!

The film made me happy. Its not exactly a happy story at all times but it is real and shows that likable people don't always do likable things.
This was Marc Webb's directoring debut and he is definitly on my list of directors to watch.
It has all the heart of a woody allen film with the touching loving relationships of a Rob Reiner classic. A new director has finally arrived to show us what his town has to offer and I can't wait to see more.
but for those of you who haven't had a chance to see it yet (or those who have) here is an extra little video that was made along side the film
Enjoy and Happy Tuesday xxx  Click here

Camden Saturday

This weekend I snuck down to the lovely camden. 

After some Pie and Mash (Mr B tries to get me to have Jellied Eels everytime we go but I will never give in. Anytime the advice is 'then you pull out the spine' is not a food i'm willing to try) 

We had a wander and saw some of the best odd balls around. Camden is definitley the place to go to find the best fashion, weirdos and food. A weird mix but it some how works. 

Luckily for my bank I haven't been paid yet or there were a few Wiggle dresses I had my eye on.

Favourite things of the weekend: 

Costa Vanilla latte's, Lemon Cake and Lie ins...ahhh empty weekends with nothing to do are easily the best.

My London So Far

Moving to London has been a huge change but i've loved every second of it. I'm lucky that the lovely Mr B is born and breed Camden so I have my own personal tour guide (which I use to it's full advantage!)
Here are some snaps from the months so far.

Favourite spots so far:

.Blues Kitchen Camden - half price mondays make their gumbo twice as tasty!

.Proud Cabaret in Algate...Just Pure Burlesque Love. I'm so close to storming the stage every time I go. 

.Natural History Museum. I could stay here for hours

.ZOO! any zoo is good but this one is just extra special. Although its lacking in red pandas.

. Foundation Bar in Covent Garden. Go and try a teapot cocktail with french fancies...or definitley a sour cherry Caprihana. Love!!!