The English Mademoiselle Diaries

Finally I am back writing about books, its been a while hasn't it... But oh well I am back at it and this time with two short speeches in book form, from two of my favourite authors.

Very Good Lives by J.K. Rowling - 4/5

Very Goof Lives, is the speech Rowling gave to the Harvard Class of 2008, I have listened to this speech before but when I wasn't at uni or on the verge of 'adulthood'. This speech if something I will be coming back to again and again for the same advice. No you don't have to buy the book you can listen to the speech online, but I like having something tangible, something I can add to with a speech like this. I have already added several post-it notes of more positive and inspirational quotes and ideas that the words made me think of. The other thing I loved about this book is the illustrations and the typography, it is a well crafted book, it looks good both with and with out the dust jacket. If I learnt one thing from this book it was that in order to succeed you need to have failed first, and that applies to all areas of life not just academically. This book will definitely be in my top books of 2015, for how it impacted me and my outlook.

Shaking Hands with Death by Terry Pratchett - 3/5

I haven't actually read all that much by Terry Pratchett, but I know a lot about him, seen multiple book to screen adaptations of some of the Discworld novels, and heard Neil Gaiman talk about writing with him during the last few years of his career while he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Which is what this speech is about, it was written by him for the BBC, but it wasn't all read by him, someone else stood in partway through to finish the speech. For me this book was eye opening, there is so much we don't know about Alzeimer's, especially about how it effects the individual. But Pratchett didn't avoid those topics, he addressed them, and brought the disease into the public eye and discussion. The only problem I would say with the book for me is that, this disease has never affected me in my family, so in some places i found it hard to engage. However given how small the book was I don't see that as too much of a problem.

XO, Miriam

This wasn't the post I wanted to write today, but I have so many thoughts, ideas and feelings about what is going on with local media right now, about Essena O'Neill (someone I have followed for a while now) 'quitting social media', about what real life is, about finding a balance. I don't even know what to do with my thoughts right now, I have pages and pages worth of thoughts running through my head enough to fill my entire journal. I am going back to a piece I wrote a while back in pen on paper about how the internet and social media is killing our creativity, how we can only be creative in one way.

I'm a blogger of sorts, I love creating the stuff I do on this blog, I enjoy editing, I don't really mind about how many page views it gets, I do it for enjoyment, to document what I am doing at the time, my travels, what I wear, what I have read, what I think. yes there are times when I can be consumed by the numbers, but then I just take a break I read a book, turn off my phone, hang out with my friend, drink some tea, workout, meditate, go on a walk, make some food, just stay away from social media and the numbers for a while. That is what I would call balance, there are times when social media can get too much, but there are also times when it does what is says it will can connects me with likeminded people.

Yes Essena's reaction is extreme but it is what is right for her, if something makes you unhappy then remove it from your life and for her that was social media and the pressure she was under. i also think that she has gone a little far in that she seems to be tarnishing a lot of people of social media with the same brush. I doubt she means to but it is unfair on those she made connections with outside of social media, as well as everyone else who uses it for inspirational, creative and communicative purposes. But like i said earlier she need do what suit her, I know that sometimes I need a break, hers just happens to be public and incomplete. What she is doing has started a global conversation about the importance of social media and the damaging effects it can have on peoples mental health and wellbeing, and for that I am grateful.

The way I see it as you either see that social media is used as an advertising tool as well as being somewhere to create, or you don't realise how 'fake' it all is. Of course social media isn't real life and sometimes it can feel like that, but it isn't there is some much more to life that social media. If you spend most of your time on social media then you might want to question how you are living your life, but for some people it can be a way to connect with people who they would never have had the chance to engage with. I have made friends, found a better way of living, joined communities and created something I am proud of through social media.

I definitely will be writing more on this topic, once have done some more reading and looked at some the resources Essena has put up on her new site (here) about creativity and what really goes into that insta-worthy life.

As with everything, too much of it can be bad for you. It is all about balance.

XO, Miriam

P.S. I hope this made some sense.

So recently Boohoo contacted me and asked if I would like to style one of their dresses in three different ways for autumn. And as you can tell my the time I said yes so here are my three looks using this amazing roll neck dress that you can find here.

Look 1:

//Dress - Boohoo//Tights - TU//Socks - Topshop//Boots - Ted and Muffy (Gifted)//

I chose this dress because it is so versatile and well I will never have to wear a scarf again this autumn/winter because of the amount on fabric for the roll neck, and well of course I chose the colour as close to black as I could get... All black everything, everyday. For this look I paired the dress with some plain black tights, and riding style boots, but of course I couldn't keep it too plain so I added my glittery socks to poke out of the top of my boots.

Look 2:

//Dress - Boohoo//Other Dress - Monki//Cardigan - Boohoo//Belt - Primark//Shoes - Converse//

I went for something a bit more grungy this time, by layering this light grey midi dress, and long cardigan to add a new dimension to the dress, by creating more length. I originally tried out this look without a belt but I felt a bit shapeless so I added this skinny white let to match the monochrome layers.

Look 3:

//Dress - Boohoo//Skirt - Topshop//Shoes - Converse//Bag - Boohoo//

As with the last look I tried to play around a bit with the dress, and this time instead of adding length I took some away by folding the dress under this gorgeous velvety skirt. This is by far the most colourful outfit I have worn in the past few days, excluding all gym and swim kit. But I felt that by pairing this skirt with the bag I kinda matched the leaves. How very cliche of me.

Anyway I hope you liked the looks, and I will speak to you more this weekend.

XO, Miriam

P.S. Disclaimer, Boohoo gifted me the dress, cardigan and bag in order to create this post, but all opinions and other items are my own.

This year I have been given the honour of being an Oxford Fashion Week ambassador, and while I don't have to I am going to write a little bit about it on here because this is definitely one of the most exciting things that this blog has got me into over the last few years. So Oxford Fashion Week or OFW follows the same principle of the major fashion weeks that have come before it, with less shows. So here are some photos from the Oxford Fashion Studio catwalk shows from Fashion Month, to get you excited for the upcoming shows.

Having been through all of the collections from this seasons shows, it is hardly surprising that I am very ready to see the Oxford Shows, and what that have planned for LA and Houston. If you are just as in awe of the previous shows as well as being intrigued and excited as me for the Oxford shows, see you you can head to the show there are still some tickets left for all the weeks events and you can buy them here.

XO, Miriam

P.S. Please let me know if you are coming along I would love to meet you and get excited over the shows with others.

Music is such a healing entity, it can change your mood in seconds.

WARNING: RAMBLING POST

The other week I went to see Florence and the Machine with J, and it was the best gig I have ever been to, better than Taylor Swift, Imagine Dragons and everything else I have seen. Even though the LG Arena is massive the gig felt so intimate, the songs ran through your body with such energy and passion. I came out with such energy, with such belief in what I am and who I want to be as I grow. The whole band were just incredible from Florence to the drums, they lit up the stage and everyone's minds. You felt every emotion connected to the lyrics as they washed over the room, you could feel other peoples reactions next to you without looking. It was such a soul healing experience for me, allowing me to completely relax into the situation something I don't do nearly often enough.

Just thinking back on the experience makes me crave more like it, where I put away all my worries, social media, and concerns with appearance and just live. I feel like I need more experiences where I just feel everything deeply, with raw emotions, reactions and thoughts.

XO, Miriam

As a vegetarian I sometimes think is is worth me finding vegan alternatives for some of my favourite meals, but while I still eat dairy, eggs and honey I honestly believe that eating and living my life using as few animal products as possible is not only good for my health but for the environment and the animals that the products are sourced from. Now I have never had proper french toast, but I have had 'eggy-bread' which is similar so I guess this is my alternative to that.

Ingredients:
4 thick slices of bread
1 cup Almond milk or similar nut milk
1 tablespoon Chia seeds or Basil seeds
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
2 teaspoons Sugar
Sunflower of Coconut oil

Plus any toppings you desire.

Method:

1. Slice the amount of bread that you want, this works best with granary or wholewheat bread but white is fine.

2. Mix together the almond milk, cinnamon, chia/basil seeds, and sugar and leave for 10 minutes to thicken. If you leave it any longer the chia seeds will begin to create a pudding like texture.

If you don't want to see the seeds or are cooking for picky eaters you can always grind up the seeds into a more floury texture.

3. Heat up a frying pan, with a small amount of sunflower oil or coconut oil while you are waiting for the almond milk mix.

4. Dip the slices of bread into the milk mix so both sides are coated and fry until the slices are golden brown and crisp around the edges.

5. Top with what ever you like, I chose golden syrup, desiccated coconut and fresh raspberries.

Let me know if you try it out, I would love to see your pictures on Instagram

XO, Miriam

P.S. Are you following me on Bloglovin' and Instagram

Source

So you may have noticed i haven't been around these parts lately. There are so many reasons for this the main one being a lack of wifi in my new student house, but also other reasons. Reasons that i could talk about for ever because of how much I love that they are dragging me away from the life I live online. Because let's be honest there is so much more to my life than this blog, as much as I love and as much as it is bringing me fantastic opportunities right now.

So here is that long list of reasons why I haven't been updating this space as much as I really want to:

Starting my second year of university, boy has this been hectic, getting my head around my new timetable and the massive increase in work and reading. Let alone coping with all the stresses of having forgotten a bunch of stuff from last year.
Having a part-time job and learning a whole load of new things there the coolest of which is that I can now make coffee, like proper coffee with foamy milk and all that jazz.
Spending a hella amount of time with my housemates and all the other friends I haven't seen since last semester. And watching a lot of films and E4 as a result.
And most importantly I am just living in the now, I have been travelling around doing the things I really want to do, watching rugby, seeing music acts, and just being me.

I really hope I get back into the swing of blogging again over the next week or so as I share some of my most recent travels, outfits and recipes.

XO, Miriam