Arrested Development UK Premiere

Posted in Films, TV by ameliaflorencesimmons

Much as I’d like to pretend a thick, glossy invite popped through my letterbox (ok, now I just sound like Tobias), I actually stumbled across the Arrested Development premiere by mistake on my way back to the station after work. Usually I avoid Leicester Square as it’s full of ghastly tourists who shamble about taking photos, but last night, something caught my eye. The Bluth frozen banana stand! It’s been doing the rounds in London, and each time I’ve managed to miss it.

Not this time, though. I fought my way through the crowds, shoving my way towards the banana stand. Hang on….what was all that orange carpet? And the massive posters? And all the photographers? Oh. My. God. Using skillz wot I honed at London Fashion Week, I politely but authoritatively slipped to the front of the crowd (NO TOUCHING!)

No one seemed to know what was happening, twitter was low on info, everyone was cold and damp, but spirits were high. Word was that some of the cast would be heading down, and after grilling the people closest to me, I heard Jeffrey Tambor and David Cross were rumoured. At that moment, I knew I was in it for the long haul. Come on, the girl in the $5000 shirt shaking from cold is gonna miss out on this?

Buster…running

After nearly an hour of shaking violently from the chill and craning my neck to see what was happening, the stars began to appear. Tobias, George Sr, George Michael, Maebe and Buster, all lined up before my very eyes. Seriously, has anyone in that family even SEEN a chicken? I’m not usually such a crazy fangirl, but I was so excited I nearly cried. Some TV shows are just special, and you love them and cherish them, and then Fox cancels them. All the cast seemed lovely, smiling and chatting away, and giving autographs. I got a huge smile from Jeffrey Tambor, which probably made my entire life.

Sorry for the crappy quality of the pics, they were taken on my phone (SLR sadly perched on my desk in the office). How great does Alia Shawkat look? MARRY ME. Arrested Development is out on Netflix from 26th May, but I think I’m going to be too busy reading Bob Loblaw’s Law Blog and attending Blue Man Group rehearsals to watch it, so let me know what it’s like, ok?

7May2013

Met Gala 2013: Best Dressed

Posted in Fashion by ameliaflorencesimmons

Again, another departure from my usual posting style, but having spent the early hours of this morning eagerly devouring the Met Gala dresses, I felt compelled to choose my favourites. The theme this year was punk, and dresses varied from the sublime to the…well, quite frankly, boring. Usually a showcase for the most thrillingly outre garments design houses have to offer, some stylists obviously misread the dress code and opted for simple black instead.

You won’t find any of the boring black numbers on here – instead, I’ve chosen my top 10 favourite looks from the night:

1. Sarah Jessica Parker: just the right amount of fruit loop required for the Met Gala. Usually a great time to wear the bizarre couture creations that would get slated on any normal red carpet, SJP is embracing the spirit of the night. I’m just waiting for the horse jokes to roll in again, thanks to the headpiece…

2. Katy Perry: Usually not a fan of Ms Perry’s contrived and cutesy style, I actually appreciate her adoption of the D&G regal, Italian aesthetic. Especially digging that grey blusher. She looks like a Borgia.

3. Alison Williams: A toss up for me here between Williams and Blake Lively for the obligatory dress with train look. I like the dichotomy of this dress: she’s at once ridiculously covered up AND almost obscenely exposed.

4. Carey Mulligan: Part of me wants to resign this to the ‘boring’ pile, but there’s something about ol’ Mulligan that just means I can’t stop looking at her. It’s so utterly simple, but rather that than Kim Kardashian’s curtain dress. (Not pictured. I wouldn’t do that to you).

5. Sienna Miller: sometimes I get really nostalgic for when Sienna used to be on every ‘best dressed’ list. I miss her SO GODDAMN MUCH. This is too perfect. That’s Cara D to the right of the pic – what do you reckon would happen if they hugged? Ouch.

6. Florence Welch: I debated putting this in. You want to know why? Because it’s my firmly held belief that this is exactly what Florence Welch wears every. single. day. No, really. If you close your eyes and imagine her, this is pretty much the outfit you’ll think of. But why not? She looks ace.

7. Kirsten Dunst: Where have you BEEN Kirsten? I’ve missed you. This dress rivals Anne Hathaway’s in the sideboob stakes but I love it. Sidebooob.

8. Rooney Mara: Rooney Mara is TINY. Tiny tiny tiny. It’s difficult to wear a big dress when you’re small, but she’s got it. I love white lace with a plum lip.

9. Mary Kate Olsen: Might have air punched when I saw this. Absolute vintage MKA. Mental proportions? Check. Fur? Check. Beachy boho hobo hair? Check. Looks a bit like what an old lady would wear to remind herself of glory days, a la Grey Gardens? Check. I would wear the heck out of this thing. uhh that’s the outfit, not MK. Mkay?

10. Kate Bosworth: Oh Bosworth, you absolute smash. Her legs are 900ft long, her forehead is anointed with sweat from a priceless diamond, and her hair is made of the sun. Ok, small chance that I’ve been looking at Met dresses for too long and have lost my mind, but doesn’t she look amazing?

(All images courtesy of Getty)

6May2013

My week in pictures

Posted in Adventures, Girl About Town by ameliaflorencesimmons

I don’t usually do these kind of posts as I think they’re a bit of a cop out, but things have been absolutely crazy the past week and a half. After coming back from holiday, things went into hyperdrive and I went from being a freelancer to working full time in a London entertainment PR agency. I’m enjoying every minute of it. It’s one of those jobs where you can’t wait to get started in the mornings, and I couldn’t be happier about working there.

But awesome job aside, I’ve barely had a minute to sit down and blog. So to fill the gap, here’s a selection of pictures of what I’ve been up to (spoiler alert: mostly eating). To sum up, I did the following: went to an open air screening at London Zoo (more on that soon), ate, went to a hen do, rehearsed for a musical in a gun room, accidentally attended an ‘Ibiza Pizza Party’ in a tiny village pub in Surrey, drank cocktails with pipettes in, wore an oversized cricket jumper, and ate some more. Not pictures are the pheasant impressions I did with friends at the end of the night. Don’t ask.

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20Apr2013

Recipe: pears poached in red wine

Posted in Food, Recipes by ameliaflorencesimmons

Because you’ve been very good, I’m going to give you one of my favourite easy dessert recipes. I mean, you could do this blindfolded (don’t). It’s ridiculously easy, but hugely satisfying, and a completely fuss-free option for finishing off a supper with friends. While it’s perhaps a little Autumnal, so is the weather. Cool, richly flavoured pear, hot spiced sugar syrup, and the chill of a vanilla-flecked ice cream make this a real crowd-pleaser.

This particular recipe is for 4 people, but it’s easy to adapt the quantities accordingly.

Pears poached in red wine

4 firm pears, peeled and with stalks in tact
500ml red wine
1 vanilla pod, split
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
125g caster sugar
2 tbsp honey
Peel and juice of 1 orange

1. Put all of the ingredients apart from the pears into a saucepan and head until the sugar dissolves.

2. Slice the bottoms off the pears to make sure they stand upright, and place in the saucepan. If you like it, then you should put a lid on it. For 25-30 minutes to be precise, allowing it to simmer.

3. Turn the heat off and let the pears sit in the liquid for at least two hours to fully infuse them with the liquid.

4. When you’re ready to serve, simply plate up the pears, then bring the remaining syrup to a boil. Pour it over the pears and serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. If you’re going commercial, it HAS to be Green & Black’s, which is the very best store bought vanilla ice cream I’ve ever had.

Happy cooking! Coming up soon, a veggie bangers and mash recipe, burger chat, and Ben Ainslie’s boat.

18Apr2013

Do or DIY

Posted in arts and crafts, Challenges, DIY, Projects by ameliaflorencesimmons

A PUN! Hooray. And also, sorry.

In my last post, I talked about a general restlessness that had descended on me, and how taking a break had been what I needed to refocus a bit. While away, I decided to have a bit of a life clear-out, so this week I’ve been cleaning out my outrageously messy room. I’m generally pretty houseproud, but a lack of storage space and abundance of freebies from my fashion/beauty editing work (I’m not complaining!) left me Confucius-like, yelling at a tide of clothes to stay back.

Clothes to the left of me, clothes to the right of me, and hours later I found myself standing shell-shocked with a variety of huge bags around me. Some were destined for the charity shop, others for the textiles bin, others were tucked away until next Winter, which is probably a good two weeks away, based on my reckoning. I was left with one pile. I called it the ‘adapt or die’ pile. So, look here. I’m bored of most of my clothes, but I’m also poor. The solution? To get sewing, painting, and gluing.

I started with two small projects last weekend, just to ease myself back into it. There’s a danger with DIY that you’ll go too far, customise a bit too enthusiastically, and end up looking like you covered yourself in E6000 glue and rolled around in a habadashery, then Claire’s Accessories, THEN ransacked the wardrobe of that ghastly Kirstie Allsopp. Tread carefully, is what I’m trying to say.

My two projects, then. I picked up a lovely cornflower blue man’s shirt from a charity shop for £3.30, and some non-roll elastic (AMAZING STUFF), and was inspired by Geneva Vanderzeil’s book to create a mini skirt from it. Seriously easy stuff, and perfect for first time sewers. I don’t want to write up the full instructions here, as I don’t think it’s fair to Geneva and her hard work, but I’d encourage you to grab her gorgeous book..Initially I tried the shirt as a dress, as you can see below – something I might explore another time, but it was VERY short. Sorry about the rubbish quality of pics in the post, was without my usual camera.

The second project I can tell you exactly how to do, and it’s the easiest update for jewellery ever. I dug deep into my jewellery box and found a pair of very boring rhinestone earrings. Beyond boring, they looked cheap. A clear crystal rhinestone tends to look dull at night and strange during the day, so here’s what I did: I grabbed some nail varnish. And I painted over the crystals. I used jade and lavender for a colour blocked effect. I did three coats to get a decent coverage, and left them to dry overnight. Easiest thing ever. Bonus tip: my favourite leather jacket had zips that were starting to discolour, so I painted them over with a metallic nail varnish, and it looked brand new. SIMPLE.

15Apr2013

It’s always better on holiday…

Posted in Adventures, Positive Thinking by ameliaflorencesimmons

On Friday, I grudgingly came back from Cornwall, smashing back into the real world. I’m not entirely sure how to write a post about this without it being the 2013 equivalent of showing you my holiday slide show (‘how did THAT get in there?!’) so I’ll do what I can to keep it lively.

I spent two weeks with the fam in St Ives in Cornwall, mainly just eating, reading, walking and cooking, and very occasionally thinking. It was my first holiday in a year, and I desperately needed to take a bit of time out from pressures at home, and come back with a fresh perspective. For me, that’s what a holiday should be for – in a way, a break from yourself and a break from your routines.

I was stagnating a bit before I went away. It was a stressful start to the year, and I went from knowing exactly what I wanted to do to being more or less completely lost in a matter of weeks. Circumstances around me changed and I found it hard to change with them. I’ve been freelance for nearly two years now, and I hit a wall. Projects wrapped up and I suddenly couldn’t bear the thought of having to come up with a slew of new ideas to get going on.

Nearly two years of pressured deadlines, answering emails at 11pm, constantly seeking new clients, projects not coming off…and more than anything, the ALL-ENERGY-ALL-THE-TIME aspect of freelancing. I was exhausted. I was fed up. I lost all motivation and found myself questioning what I wanted to do. I hated writing, didn’t want to do, couldn’t do it, most terrifyingly of all. I couldn’t pick up a pen, couldn’t open an empty Word doc. I’ve been craving photocopiers and office gossip and leaving work at 6 and drawing a line under it. No messy overspill. Defined days. Measured time.

Two weeks away gave me time to reflect on all of those ragged, half-formed thoughts. I was so cross and frustrated with myself. While I was away, I put down my phone(s), zipped up my laptop bag, and just tried to ‘be’ for the two weeks. I read a lot, went for long walks, cooked meals over a period of several hours with a glass of wine in hand. I’ve come back ready to address things properly instead of running away from them. This Monday, I’ve been excited again, keen to work hard, wanting to get things done. I feel a million miles away from the way I did before the holiday, and it’s a relief.

If you’ve been feeling a bit lost or a bit confused, try and take some time away if your circumstances permit it. Get away from social media and the relentless tide of everyday communications. Try and remember who you are and what you’re doing. Step back before you jump in again. What a sappy post – I’m sorry for the fortune cookie wisdom I appear to be spouting, so I’ll wrap up right here. If you’re anything like me and you tend to run away from things, then try running a little further then coming back more prepared.

And if you found that the most saccharine pile of old rubbish, then here are some pretty pictures and photos of food wot I ate to cheer you up. Coming up soon: more recipes, and watch a shirt magically transform into a skirt.