The English Mademoiselle Diaries

//Sports Bra -USAPro//Bottle - Urban Outfitters//Leggings - USAPro//Yoga Top - Swetty Betty//

I've called this what I wear to the gym but this is what I wear regardless of where I am working out, excluding swimming obviously. I tend to stick to black for my gym clothes as sweat patches don't show up as much, and black is a slimming colour so a great confidence boost when you are surrounded by super fit people who have the time to workout everyday. The other thing I look for in workout clothes is good support for my chest, due to having quite a large chest I tend to wear two sports bras or a sports bra and a top (like the one above) that has a built in one. The last thing is comfort, if you try on some sports kit regardless for what it is for and it isn't comfortable don't get it. If it isn't comfy in the fitting rooms it won't be when you are sweating it out.

What do you look for in your gym attire?

XO, Miriam

At the beginning of June I wrote this post about my eating habits and changes I want to make both with my diet and within my lifestyle as a whole. So here is an update in list form:

I have decided that eating meat isn't right for my health, the environment and supporting that industry raises a lot of ethical concerns as well.
In other words I am now a Vegetarian.
While I am generally eating two vegan meals a day, this does mean I still eat dairy or eggs most days of the week.
I am not totally comfortable with this and would like to increase the amount of vegan meals I eat in a week of the rest of the summer.
Basically I am a plant based vegetarian until further notice.

XO, Miriam

As many of you know I am in the process of gradually living an increasingly vegan lifestyle, and I have started where most people do with food. So to keep myself accountable and to give other people ideas I am going to start to share my favourite vegan recipe each week. So lets start with this wonderful bowl of goodness.

Ingredients:
//2 Small Potatoes//1 Bell Pepper//4 Mushrooms//1 Spring Onion //Leafy Greens//Basmati Rice //Spices of Choice//

Method:
1. Cube and boil the potatoes and begin to cook the rice, I personally cook rice in a pan but if you have a rice steamer that is fine.
2. Chop up the rest of the ingredients, and choose your spices. For the bowl showed above I used, cumin, chilli, cayenne pepper, ginger and a small pinch of cinnamon.
3. Pour out most of the water from the boiled potatoes and add the remaining veggies excluding the spring onion and leafy greens.
4. Add the spices and a small amount of salt to the cooking veggies stir until the veggies are coated in the spice mix and are cooked to your tastes.
5. Put the cooked rice and leafy greens into a bowl, followed by the veggies and top with the spring onion.
6. Tuck in.

Let me know if you try this on Twitter: @coffeechanel or Instagram: @englishmademoiselle

XO, Miriam

The Outsider by Albert Camus - 3/5

I definitely never saw myself picking up this book ever again after my experience studying it on IB, but here we are and it is on my reading list for next semester. This is the first book on the reading list that I picked because it is short and I already knew the story. Well that and I know it can create existential thoughts for sometime afterwards. The basic premise of the book is a man gets tried in court for murder but is condemned for his lack of emotional reaction.

Overall I enjoyed this book, but because of the lack of emotion in the main character's perspective I couldn't sympathize as much with him as I can with the other characters. While I was reading this I was definitely aware of the discussions that I had when I previously studied the text, in that it is possible that the character was autistic but due to the knowledge at the time and the setting in Algiers this was unknown and therefore he was seen as an outsider. This book has definitely changed my perspective of the way you can use emotional arguments alongside logical ones to change people's perceptions and to create a society in which there are unspoken rules. I am of the opinion that you lose something by reading this book in English, I feel like there would be more meaning if it was read in the intended language of French. But maybe that is just me...

I would say that anyone who loves to read should give this book a go, if only to see a different perspective on things. It is a short book so in theory won't take long to read and digest the main themes.

XO, Miriam

//Headband - My Sister's//Dress- Mango//Shirt - Vintage Sale//

I would love to be able to write some beautifully crafted words about these photos, the wonderful clothes I am wearing, how they were inspired by something beautiful, and about my life lately, but I can't. I have no energy at the moment, I want to persue all of my creative ideas but the reality is I get as far as taking and editing the photos but when I sit down to write the words nothing comes. I don't want to force my creativity, or it will create a longer gap between the times when I do get creative. Hopefully I will be back up and running creatively in a couple of days, I feel like i need some time to live. I also need to sort somethings out that have been making my anxious and stressed over the last few weeks.

Sorry this is going to continue to be very rambley, that isn't a word is it...

I think that thing is with me is I struggle to find balance within the main areas in my life at any given time. So right now I have plenty of motivation and energy for looking after my health, for my job and for keeping up socially. But when I get home or have a day off I have no energy to blog which is sad because I really do love working on this little space on the web. I hope this is a case of needing new creative inspiration, be that music or finding some art that catches my eye.

Thank you for reading I appreciate it more than I can express in the written word.

XO, Miriam

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and Bombs on Aunt Dainty by Judith Kerr - 4/5

I'm still fully into reading historical fiction especially about World War Two, there is something about the way fiction can educate you and create images of what that time period was like that is truly magical. Now these two books which my mum bought as a one book edition are based on Judith Kerr's life but are written with different names to allow for alterations in the story where she couldn't remember what happened. However all the main events that occur throughout the book are as how they happened to her.

While the book is actually aimed towards middle-grade readers the writing was not too young to make it frustrating to read. And as the story progresses the topics that Kerr covers become more adult as well as Anna the main character becoming more aware of what was occurring in the war. This book is beautifully written and while it is written with a focus on Anna and her view of the war it allows insight into the lives of her parents and her brother who happens to be my favourite character. He was old enough to understand what the Nazis were doing before Anna as well as being less adaptable too the new countries they moved to as the war progressed. He represents the emotions of many displaced jewish people in europe at that time, never knowing where they belong and having to move on just as they had learnt to live somewhere. This is something that people today can still relate to, just maybe not to the same extent.

I would definitely reccommend this book, but don't read it shortly after reading All The Light We Cannot See you end up comparing the two far too much.

XO, Miriam

//Top - Urban Outfitters//Trousers - Fat Face// Shoes - New Look//

This is slightly different to what I normally wear, but if there ever was a time to experiment the Summer Holidays are that time. And for once I am glad I did, not only are these trousers lightweight and perfect for the abnormal summer we have in the UK right now they are also so easy to move around in. And for some unknown reason I haven't worn these outside besides going to the washing machines in halls since I went to India last year. Also now I know they look so good with these shoes I am pretty sure I am going to wear them to a lot of lectures over the course of my next year at university. It is a shame I can't take my sister's top with me when I go though... Because as with quite a few of my personal style posts this summer I have been using my sister's wardrobe more than I should.

XO, Miriam