Five Friday Faves: 09.09.2016

Hey pals, how’s your week been? If I could sum mine up in two words, it would be ‘annoying’ and ‘sweaty’. The weather in Manchester recently has been a total soupy mess recently and I’m longing for crisp Autumn days, mugs of hot chocolate and the chance to wear a roll neck jumper in public again without becoming a giant melting mess. However, I have been cheered by the thought of eating a giant burrito for lunch and putting together this list of five Friday faves. This week’s picks include maps, books, skirts, purses and a small ode to the joy of face masks. Ready? Let’s get down to business then.

ART DECO LONDON MAP – £8.00

I love interesting maps and this one from Blue Crow Media showcasing London’s art deco architecture is an absolute beauty. Frame it and put it on a wall, or use it as an excuse to grab some friends and embark on an adventure. If you’re looking for something a bit more austere, Blue Crow also do a map which showcases London’s brutalist architectural gems.

MARKS AND SPENCER PER UNA PULL ON METALLIC PENCIL SKIRT – £45.00

Marks and Spencer get a lot of stick from the fashion press. I always feel that this is a bit unfair because I – and many other remarkably fashionable people I know – adore their clothes. They were one of the first high street retailers to go up to a size 24 and their stuff tends to be well made, doesn’t fall apart after a few washes and fits well. Recently, I’ve gone all gooey eyed over this gorgeous pink pleated midi skirt (pink is the new power colour after all) and can’t wait to spend my September swishing around in it.

THE COOL HUNTER ALPHABET SOUP PRINTED CLUTCH – £67.00

Seeing as my idea of an ‘exciting night’ involves me drinking red wine and eating pizza in my pants, I’m not entirely sure how I ended up on a mailing list called ‘The Cool Hunter.’ But I’m glad I did as it introduced me to this gorgeous alphabet print clutch. It’s fun, it’s bright and according to their website, it’s roomy enough to accommodate the 25 lipsticks, three books and giant pair of headphones that I appear to be incapable of leaving the house without.

READ JILL DAWSON’S ‘THE CRIME WRITER’

I’m a huge fan of Patricia Highsmith‘s books (such a wonderful mixture of queerness, glamour and evil deeds. If you haven’t read ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ go and do it now.) ‘The Crime Writer’ is a fictionalised account of her life based around the period of time she spent living in Suffolk. It merges Highsmith’s life and her fiction into a gloriously claustrophobic tale of love, murder and intrigue. Think ‘Carol’, but an alternative version of ‘Carol’ where they get to murder the husband and run off into the sunset together (or do they?) Grab a copy and a glass of scotch (Highsmith’s preferred tipple)  and spend your weekend in the company of one of the 20th century’s best female crime writers.

TREAT YOURSELF TO A FACE MASK 

I have a Sunday ritual where I lock myself in my bathroom, light a scented candle, listen to the football on the radio and treat myself to a long hot bubble bath and a facial. They’re a great means of shutting yourself off from the world for a bit and indulging in a bit of pampering. I usually start off with a clay mask and then move on to shoving a sheet mask on and forgetting about it for half an hour while I snooze. When I was in Barcelona, I bought a vast amount of TonyMoly’s sheet masks. They come in a variety of different ‘flavours’ and always leave my skin feeling peachy keen and teentastic. I’d strongly recommend buying them in bulk online from places like Amazon or Ebay as it tends to work out cheaper than buying them individually.

If you’re super duper skint but still want to indulge, you can often request free face mask samples via the magic of the internet. I’ve got heaps of Charlotte Tilbury’s goddess skin mud mask sachets that I love slapping on when I’m away from home and fancy feeling a bit luxurious. The Body Shop will also give you free samples of their masks to try at home if you ask them nicely (I’m really digging their new Expert Face Masks range which happen to both smell lovely and work wonders on super sensitive skin like mine.)

What are your Friday faves? Let me know in the comments or by tweeting me at @christinamcmc with the hashtag #mcmcfridayfaves. And please follow me on Bloglovin’!

Competition time! Win a copy of Meera Sodha’s ‘Made in India, Cooked in Britain’

I adore Christmas for many reasons – long lie ins, crap TV and not having to get dressed unless it’s strictly necessary. But mostly it’s because I love receiving presents and cooking up a storm in my tiny Merseyside kitchen. So, I was over the moon when the lovely people at Penguin Random House sent me two recipe books as a lovely festive gift. One of them was The Happy Pear, a book full of vegetarian recipes which I’ll be squirreling away until the New Year when I’ll (probably) be in the grips of a resolution to eat more vegetables. And the other was Meera Sodha’s incredible ‘Made in India. Cooked in Britain: Recipes from an Indian Family Kitchen,’ which is full of delicious, easy to follow Indian recipes.

I’ve taken ‘Made in India…’ out of my local library so many times over the past year that I’ve lost count. It’s a gem of a cookbook which dazzles the senses with pretty pictures, beautifully written prose and mouthwatering recipes. (The Coriander Chutney Chicken is a favourite in our house – it’s fresh, quick and a great way to use up that huge bunch of coriander moldering away at the bottom of your veg drawer.)

As a lovely little Christmas present, I’m giving away a copy of ‘Made in India…’ to one lucky reader. To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment telling me which dish you’re most looking forward to scoffing this Christmas. Perhaps it’s pigs in blankets? Or a whole baked Camembert? Maybe you’re one of those people who will be taking to their bed with a family sized Tiramisu once you finish work for the festive season.  No matter how big or small, there’s no judgement here.

The competition closes at 12pm 5pm on Friday 18th December and I’ll endeavor to get this sent out on Monday 21st so it reaches you before Christmas. Unfortunately, this competition is only open to readers in the UK and Ireland. Sorry folks!

Good luck and may all your Christmases be filled with half price M&S party food selections.

 

 

 

Radio Silence

I got a passive aggressive email from WordPress last week, informing me that it ‘missed me.’ While I was previously unaware that inanimate cloud-based blogging platforms were capable of feeling human emotions, it reminded me that I really should pull my finger out and get posting again.

While it’s no excuse, my July has been a little chaotic. I’ve left my job in London, been to a wedding with a mariachi band, necked red wine from the bottle on a street corner in Soho on the hottest day of the year, started a new (terrifyingly grown up) job in Manchester and discovered the ‘joys’ of having to get up at 5.50am every morning and apply eyeliner flicks on a Northern Rail train. TLDR; I’m skint, knackered and happy. I’ve also been unable to nab any decent pics of my (admittedly excellent) work attire, so until I a) figure out how to get my phone to do a full body selfie and b) find a disabled toilet somewhere in Manchester where I can achieve this feat, I thought I’d do a bit of a round up of things I’ve been enjoying recently.

• Magical beauty products for manky Mancunian weather: While I have missed Manchester, I have not missed its ridiculous climate. My return back to the North has seen me singing the song of my people – ‘Seriously, it’s July and I’m wearing sandals. Can you stop bloody raining?’ The bizarre weather has also made a total mess of my skin – think dry patches, dark circles and a general sickly ‘Victorian orphan’-esque pallor. Two products have sorted me out – REN’s Flash Rinse One Minute Facial (which has left my skin looking firm, fresh and zingy) and Lush’s Ultra Bland cleanser (which smells like marzipan and strips every blob of make-up from your face in one swift swoop. It’s calming, soothing and great for eczema sufferers such as myself.)

• Make Yourself Beautiful: I can – and will – rave about Charlotte Tilbury’s make-up until I’m blue in the face, so it’s quite dangerous that my new office is a fifteen minute walk away from one of her concessions. Her new Norman Parkinson collection is out of sight, full of gorgeous bright colours and packaging featuring Jerry Hall in her prime.  For me, the stand out product is her 1975 Red matte lipstick. It’s £23, and it’s sheer perfection, a rosy coral with staying power, which puts one in mind of warm beaches and sipping cocktails by the pool.
• Munchies: Now I work in an office five days a week, I am determined to be sensible and bring my lunch to work with me. It’s cheaper and way more satisfying than blowing all my £££ in Pret. Smitten Kitchen’s Carrot Salad with Tahini and Crisped Chickpeas is on regular rotation – it’s satisfying, savoury and crunchy. Hollow Legs also posted a delicious sounding Sesame Peanut Noodle Salad last week which I can’t wait to shove into my lunchbox.
• How Should a Person Be?: I recently read Sheila Heti’s fantastic How Should a Person Be? after reading an interview she did with Juliet Jacques for her book Trans. I’ll admit, I initially approached it with scepticism – every review I’d read of it made it sound like some awful hipster edict filled with selfish people. (It’s frequently been compared to Girls after all, which is – guess what! –  an awful hipster edict filled with selfish people.) In reality, it’s warm, funny and a brilliant examination of female friendships. It’s a book narrated by someone trying to navigate the world and her place in it, while also figuring out how to be a decent human being. Read it.
• Gordon’s gets us drunk: I recently wrote a piece for Munchies on Liverpool, gin and Liverpool Gin. I had great fun writing this, not least because I got to drink a fair amount of G&T’s while writing it.
• Oh look, it’s me: The lovely Holly at Gadgette recently called me one of the ‘top ten plus sized babes to be following on Instagram this summer.’ It was very unexpected but utterly delightful, particularly as I was described as a ‘tattooed temptress.’ I’m in some great company too, so check it out if you fancy following some excellent plus sized fitties on IG.

• And finally, a selfie:  Like I wasn’t going to write a round-up without including a picture of my face. Behold me in all my Friday-morning-7.45am glory, wearing my favourite ASOS breton top, a Tatty Devine anchor necklace and my beloved NARS lipgloss in Corsica. How very nautical of me.