Belated Birthday.

This is a (very) belated birthday blog post! Ooops!

I turned the ripe old age of 25 on the 4th November, and it was amazing.
I started off the celebrations on Thursday 3rd November by going to see Britney Spears at Newcastle Arena. I'd love to say I saw her live, but I don't think I can as she mimed! It was still amazing though!

I got home to find my birthday bedding on my bed ready for sleep :)

Love Cath Kidston - and love that this is from the children's range which is called "Cath Kids" ha. (If you're wondering that owl is my 'hottie' and I've named it Eglantine after the cute little owl in The Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole)

When I woke up as a 25-year-old I opened my cards etc off my family and then decided to get stuck into my presents off Jenny (and Max). I met Jenny two days before my birthday and was so excited as they were wrapped up so nicely :D

YEY!

 She even made me this brilliant card! So lovely!

I then went volunteering at GVOC (I'm a teaching assistant, helping adults with learning disabilities) and they sang me Happy Birthday :)

I got home to an unidentified parcel. Well, I knew it was off my good friend Lucy (and Harry) as Lucy text me saying she forgot to put the card in. Haha.

There is a lovely owl necklace from Forever 21 and some other great bits and bobs :)

I also had a little parcel and card from my very dear friend Billie who is currently in Berlin (Hi Bill!). It's a lovely hand-made tissue holder in owl fabric :D

I then got ready as I went out for my tea to Jack Sprats in Newcastle with my parents, best friend Hayley and neighbour Yvonne.

I didn't take any photos of the food, so here is a photo of my birthday nails.

The next day was obviously bonfire night. I changed my nails to look like fireworks, but apart from turning out to be a big mess I don't have any photos as my laptop died a few days later so I don't have that pic anymore. Sob.
I had some lovely cakes by Ms. Cupcake. My dad had been to London a couple of weeks prior and came home with 12 cakes (6 for then and 6 to freeze for my birthday weekend). I had a rose cupcake on my birthday, but we ate our way through these on the Saturday.

SO good!

On Saturday night, after spending all day getting ready and still ending up in a rush(!!) me and Hayley went to town to meet some other friends and had a very eventful, but enjoyable night.
Here are some photos.

Me and Jenny in Bar 42. 

Photo of the night is probably this one of me and Lowell (also in Bar 42).

Sorry I haven't posted for a while and then gave a short post, but like I said before my laptop died. Its a bit of a nightmare trying to blog on my slow, small netbook. Also tomorrow I'm going to a blogger meet up and then Hanson (don't ask) so I need to get to sleep!
x

Birthday Wish List

Birthday Wish List by emsilly featuring studded handbags

TopShop three quarter sleeve dress
$92 - topshop.com

Dorothy Perkins sleeveless top
£7 - dorothyperkins.com

TOMS flat shoes
$54 - toms.com

Forever21 slipper shoes
$11 - forever21.com

Mischa Barton studded handbag
$160 - asos.com

Jewelry
$1.80 - forever21.com

Dorothy Perkins acrylic glove
£10 - dorothyperkins.com

Hat
$28 - japanesegiftmarket.com

MAC Lipstick Dark Side (A) One Size
$15 - nordstrom.com

Floral Cosmetic Brush Set
$4.80 - forever21.com




With just over a week before my 25th birthday I thought I would share a little "wish list" with you, on the off chance you would like to buy me a present and are stuck for ideas (hint hint! hehe).
Obviously the GQ cover with Jake Gyllenhaal on means I would like JAKE for my birthday, not a magazine with him in....but I guess I'm living in dream world there*. Sigh!
I'm going shopping with my Mam tomorrow as it's VIP Week at Dorothy Perkins so hopefully will buy myself this spotty top with 25% off :D







* On the off chance Jake Gllyenhaal reads this, CALL ME, you will make my life!

Forever 21.

Nearly two weeks ago I went to London for the weekend.
The main reason I went was because two of my good friends from uni are both leaving the country. My friend Jess will be in Kenya now. She's there for 3 months then off to Australia for 3 months so I won't see her again for a long time :(
My other best friend Sophie is heading off to South Korea (again) for a minimum of 3 months. Sniff. It's not as bad though as Sophie will have the internet so we can skype (yey!)

While I was there I stayed with my friends, and ex-flatmates, Lucy and Harry.
In between meeting Jess and Sophie; Lucy and I went shopping and I finally got to go to Forever 21.

Even though it was a Saturday on Oxford Street I was loving it. The clothes were so well priced and lovely it was really hard to choose what to buy!

 I finally decided on these lovely things:

First up is a lovely red jumper that cost only £12.75! It looks great over dresses :)

This jumper cost £14.75 and is thin. I like thick jumpers but its so hard to find a good thin one! I'll be able to wear this when its cool and when its really cold I can layer.

My best find was probably this dress:

I'm in love! This cost £18.75!!! I couldn't believe my eyes it's so nice!

I also bought a couple of necklaces (it wouldn't be me without them!). I spent ages looking at them all and at one point I probably had at least 10 in my hands to decide between. I only let myself buy 2 though.

A lovely little woman who's ready for the winter months!

And a little brown dog.
Both cost a tiny £2.40 :)

The Gift.

During my first year of my Social Anthropology degree at SOAS I learned about the importance of the ritual of gift giving and exchange.
Marcel Mauss was a French Sociologist/Anthropologist who came from Durkheim's school. Mauss argued that gifts are never "free", he believed that sometimes humans do not want to be caught up in the practise of gift giving but due to the nature of the exchange they are left trapped in the obligation to give. If you have received a gift you must also give a gift. If you do not give, the spirit of the gift is broken and bad things will/may occur. *

I decided that grouping my necklaces into ones which were gifts would be a good way to show you the part of my collection that I didn't buy for myself.
As I didn't buy or chose these necklaces for myself it's hard to tell you where they are all from.

I'm starting off with necklaces I got for Christmas off my Aunty Barbara and Uncle Hal. AB reads this blog sometimes so hello!

I think I got this at Christmas 2009?

This one I got Christmas 2010.
If I'm honest I probably wouldn't buy these necklaces myself, as they're not the same sort of style I collect. However having said that I do really like them both. I think in some ways the fact I'd not buy them myself makes them better as it's good to have someone elses style input sometimes.
They are both beautiful necklaces and very unusual.....especially compared to my other necklaces! So I'm pleased with these :)

Next up is a heart necklace from Dorothy Perkins my best friend Hayley bought me for Christmas 2010. Again I probably wouldn't buy this myself, but again I really like it. I'm pretty sure Hayley told me part of the reason she bought me it was so she could borrow it. She hasn't yet, but if she does move back to Newcastle soon I'm sure it won't be long before she does!

Next up is a little girl necklace that my ex housemates (and very good friends) Lucy and Harry brought back from me on their recent trip to New York. It's my first Forever 21 item and I LOVE it. I can't wait to visit the newly opened Oxford Street store.

This owl locket is my most recent necklace! I got this off Jenny on Tuesday! She bought me it as a thank you because I told her about a job vacancy which she got!
As you will all know I love owls so this is great! Its a locket so me and Jenny decided I should put a photo of Jake Gyllenhaal and James Lafferty (aka Nathan Scott) in it. We were watching One Tree Hill and talking about how if a Jake G question came up on Pointless I'd totally win. Haha.


I hope you enjoyed my post, if you want more anthropology related posts then be sure to check out my friend Catherine's blog over at Style anthro. Also, I'm starting up an Anthropology of (vegan) Food blog, which I will link here once its all sorted.
Enjoy!

*sorry if my facts are wrong and/or confusing Mauss' argument with Sahlins, its been a long while since I read either and I'm going purely off memory as I can't find my notes!