WORDS...

"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to."



— Jim Jarmusch


I love this quote, I remember saving it from someones blog i saw it on, so if it was your blog leave me a comment and i will credit you.  New resolution for the new year- Write things down more!

I had an amazing Christmas and have gotten so many lovely things that have inspired me and given me food for thought.  Books, films, everything and anything.  I love when you get filled with new ideas for the new year.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to some NYE celebrations.

Thank you for all your lovely comments on the post below and the new followers that have appeared over the holiday season too.
Hello....
Anyway i want to say a belated Merry Christmas aaaand an early Happy New Year.


What inspired you most this Christmas?

Blue like the sky

Sorry that their isn't many photos of this outfit, the lighting was a little funny in most of them.
Oh and the third one down was just me kidding around/posing but it turned out to be the only one that you could see my make up clearly in it so it was the only one i could use!

This is the blue dress that I ordered a couple of weeks ago from ASOS. 
I really love it, it's kind of jersey material so it hangs really nice and the skirt part of it is wonderful for twirling around in.....not that i do that or anything....ahem!

P.s Merry Christmas Eve, Eve! x

Dress-ASOS, Tight-ASOS, Shoes-Peacocks, Ring-Italian Market

Young Hearts...

Such beautiful words

I always think it's lovely to see grown ups allow themselves to regress a little at this time of year

To remember that it's ok to believe in Santa and magical things sometimes....

Wear a ridiculous amount of sparkle and glitter....

And sing Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' at the top of their voices...

all because it's Christmas!

I think it's important for everyone to be allowed to let their young hearts out to dance every now and again and this has to be the best time to do it!

Image from Nirrimi 

In The Sun....

Some dreamy pictures for you from Mirage Magazine

Starring Elyse Taylor by Antony Nobilo

Love the styling in these. 
Stunning photograpghy

"Come on, be extraordinary...."

I am pretty proud of my nails I have to say...
This is my new Nails Inc colour
It's wearing off a little as I've had it on for a few days now but i Love it
You know when you do that thing where you use any excuse to talk with your hands so people can see your nails, I have so been doing that.
I said to someone 'do you like my new nail polish' and they were like 'Yeah it's pretty' and i was like 'What you don't LOVE it' and they went ' well i mean it's nice but its just nail polish'
I was like 'Its GLITTER AND GOLD how can you not love it'
Ha!
Seriously Christmas and glitter goes to my head big time!


So, I hope you like my nails too don't worry i won't hold it against you if you don't actually love them....even though you kinda should. hehe!

P.s If you could i would be super grateful if you click HERE

Show and Tell Sunday

Blake Mycoskie is a truly inspirational guy

I thought i would share these videos with you

For those of you who don't know much about Blake or TOMs shoes then the first video is for you

The second is a really interesting interview he did with Bill Clinton  

And the third is just a reminder of what a wonderful company TOMs is

(and genuinely how pretty the shoes are too)

Blake is one of my inspirations

and i always try and keep up to date with the company's goings on

What he has achieved and the way in which he is changing peoples lives never fails to inspire me

I really hope your are as moved by these videos as i was.

Oh and if you are really stuck on what to get someone for Christmas or need to pick up that last minute gift

Then head on over here to pick up a pair of TOM's for them!

P.S Remember and send me your awesome stories/pictures/videos/overheard loveliness on the bus, seriously it can be anything as long as it's put a smile on your face, for next weeks Show and Tell Sunday

Tweet me

Email me- isthisreallife@hotmail.co.uk
Or Comment on this post
As always Let me know what you think?

1.9.5.0.

How beautiful are these pictures?
I love the old Hollywood Glamour feel to them
And the 1950's styling is perfect
The dress in the 4th picture down is just so beyond pretty, It reminds me of an outfit from Dirty Dancing
I think Crystal Renn looks amazing in this style of editorial
What are your thoughts on her, are you a fan?
I think she is fab but i don't know if it's just me or not but she is looking less and less plus-size as time goes by, no? 
She still looks great and healthy though which i suppose is the main thing, right?

Crystal Renn for Paper Planes F/W 10
Photographer: Derek Kettela

Stylist: Andreas Kokkino
Hair and makeup: David Von Canon and Stevie Huynh

Willa.In.The.SunShine.

WILLA HOLLAND

I have been on an epic search for a hat

My perfect one has so far eluded me

I am currently awaiting to send back a bowler style to ASOS (TOOBIG)

and have previously bought then taken back a 70's style floppy hat (TOOSMALL)

Willa's hat is exactly what i have been searching for

worn in and beat up is what a hat should look like in my books

and this is it.

I love these images they make me feel excited for summer.....

.....and miss the OC

fill.your.boots.

If there is ever a time of year that you should allow yourself to splurge on a beautiful pair of shoes its now!
Christmas gives you an excuse to wear a near illegal amount of glitter/sparkle/metallic colours on your feet.  And it would be rude not to right?....
Some of my favourite party shoes I've seen. 
The first two would just make your outfit, Love them.
Let me know your favourite....?

1. ASOS
2. ASOS
3. ASOS
4. ASOS

P.S Please click here

A little bit of everything.....

I meant to post these snowy pictures on here last week, but kinda forgot

The snow just looks so fluffy and soft but there is still a crazy amount of it lying here

How fierce do those icicles look on my roof.  When they eventually started to defrost you could just hear this shattering sound as they hit the ground, they were massive.

This is some sneak peek pictures of my room that i have been decorating that I've spoke about on here before.  I finally got my furniture for it.. It is even more beautiful than i thought it would be. I picked it from a catalogue in the store as they didn't have any to show me before hand as it's all handmade.

But it looks even better in real life.

The colour and distressing to it is exactly as i wanted it!

As its all solid handmade wood its really really big and tall and when i first saw it, i felt sort of like Alice in wonderland.  It's So pretty!

It's amazing seeing it all come together though and once i have all my bits and bobs put in and all my curtains and bedding in i will take more pictures and may even do a video so you can all see it.

The picture that looks kinda like popcorn is actually my  carpet.  I wanted a little bit of the 1970's in there. It's so soft!

And the floral design is my wallpaper

The last two pictures are of my Christmas tree. I love how the pictures are blurry.  We went for a real tree and decorated it really traditionally!

P.S Oh please keep clicking here for me too, as many times as you can! Thank YOU so much!

Music Tuesday....

Found this beautiful song via this blog- (on a side note, the blog is pretty amazing itself, She has got such great style)

I vaguely remember seeing Burberry doing these little videos but i didn't really give them too much thought.

Which turns out to have been a mistake

If you like nothing better than some good old folksy acoustic music and come on we all know everyone likes a bit of that from time to time....right?

Then you should check out the other videos here.

Misty Miller has such a beautiful voice 

And isn't this just the sweetest song

Kinda wish i had found it in Summer though as nothing would sound better than this on a balmy summer evening.

ENJOY

Let me know what you think?  

*On another very irrelevant side note she name checks my heights in this song which i enjoyed.  I say heights as i know i am either 5'3 or 5'4 but can't remember which one, i know the logical thing to do would be to simply measure myself again but it somehow is more fun this way....Keeping the mystery alive, you know,ha!

EDIT- That no was meant to be a now*

1.Show and Tell Sunday

So here it is, The first ever Show and Tell Sunday post. 
Like i explained in this post, I will be making this a regular feature on my blog, to be used as somewhere for me and all of you to share really nice/cool/rad/inspirational/funny/etc things. 
It can be literally anything, music, art, videos, stories.....anything at all.

Today for the first post i have chose something that I found a little while ago when I came across this blog.
I am a massive fan of John Hughes and his movies.  Despite not even being born when any of then were released i own them all.  I don't think it matters what age you are as i think most people can connect to at least one character in all his movies. 
In my opinion without John Hughes most genres of movies wouldn't even exist today. 
I think this piece below just reinforces what an awesome man he was and I hope you all enjoy it.
Oh and don't forget to email me or comment below your suggestions for next weeks Show and Tell Sunday!
x
P.S I would be super grateful if could click here.  If your wondering why all is explained here.

The following is taken from the blog post Sincerely, John Hughes by Alison Fields from the blog We'll Know When We Get There.  All words and images are hers.

I was babysitting for my mom's friend Kathleen's daughter the night I wrote that first fan letter to John Hughes. I can literally remember the yellow grid paper, the blue ball point pen and sitting alone in the dim light in the living room, the baby having gone to bed.

I poured my heart out to John, told him about how much the movie mattered to me, how it made me feel like he got what it was like to be a teenager and to feel misunderstood.

(I felt misunderstood.)

I sent the letter and a month or so later I received a package in the mail with a form letter welcoming me as an "official" member of The Breakfast Club, my reward a strip of stickers with the cast in the now famous pose.

I was irate.

I wrote back to John, explaining in no uncertain terms that, excuse me, I just poured my fucking heart out to you and YOU SENT ME A FORM LETTER.

That was just not going to fly.

He wrote back.

"This is not a form letter. The other one was. Sorry. Lots of requests. You know what I mean. I did sign it."

He wrote back and told me that he was sorry, that he liked my letter and that it meant a great deal to him. He loved knowing that his words and images resonated with me and people my age. He told me he would say hi to everyone on my behalf.

"No, I really will. Judd will be pleased you think he's sexy. I don't."

I asked him if he would be my pen pal.

He said yes.

"I'd be honored to be your pen pal. You must understand at times I won't be able to get back to you as quickly as I might want to. If you'll agree to be patient, I'll be your pen pal."

For two years (1985-1987), John Hughes and I wrote letters back and forth. He told me - in long hand black felt tip pen on yellow legal paper - about life on a film set and about his family. I told him about boys, my relationship with my parents and things that happened to me in school. He laughed at my teenage slang and shared the 129 question Breakfast Club trivia test I wrote (with the help of my sister) with the cast, Ned Tanen (the film's producer) and DeDe Allen (the editor). He cheered me on when I found a way around the school administration's refusal to publish a "controversial" article I wrote for the school paper. And he consoled me when I complained that Mrs. Garstka didn't appreciate my writing.

"As for your English teacher…Do you like the way you write? Please yourself. I'm rather fond of writing. I actually regard it as fun. Do it frequently and see if you can't find the fun in it that I do."

He made me feel like what I said mattered.

"I can't tell you how much I like your comments about my movies. Nor can I tell you how helpful they are to me for future projects. I listen. Not to Hollywood. I listen to you. I make these movies for you. Really. No lie. There's a difference I think you understand."

It's been a month of boring business stuff. Grown up, adult, big people meetings. Dull but necessary. But a letter from Alison always makes the mail a happening thing."

"I may be writing about young marriage. Or babies. Or Breakfast Club II or a woman's story. I have a million ideas and can't decide what's next. I guess I'll just have to dive into something. Maybe a play."

"You've already received more letters from me than any living relative of mine has received to date. Truly, hope all is well with you and high school isn't as painful as I portray it. Believe in yourself. Think about the future once a day and keep doing what you're doing. Because I'm impressed. My regards to the family. Don't let a day pass without a kind thought about them."

 

There were a few months in 1987 when I didn't hear from John. I missed his letters and the strength and power and confidence they gave me and so I sent a letter to Ned Tanen who, by that time, was the President of Paramount Pictures (he died earlier this year). In my letter I asked Mr. Tanen if he knew what was up with John, why he hadn't been writing and if he could perhaps give him a poke on my behalf.

He did.

I came home from school soon after to find an enormous box on my front porch filled with t-shirts and tapes and posters and scripts and my very own Ferris Bueller's Day Off watch.

And a note.

"I missed you too. Don't get me in trouble with my boss any more. Sincerely, John Hughes."

Fast forward.

1997. I was working in North Carolina on a diversity education project that partnered with colleges and universities around the country to implement a curriculum that used video production as an experiential education tool. On a whim, I sent John a video about the work we were doing. I was proud of it and, all these years later, I wanted him to be proud too.

Late one night I was in the office, scheduled to do an interview with a job candidate. Ten minutes or so into the call it was clear that he wasn't the right guy, but I planned to suffer through.

Then the phone rang.

1…2…3…4…a scream came from the other room and 1…2…3…my boss Tony was standing in my doorway yelling, "John Hughes is on the phone!!"

I politely got off the phone with the job candidate who was no longer a candidate and

Hit. Line. Two.

"Hi, John."

"Hi, Alison."

We talked for an hour. It was the most wonderful phone call. It was the saddest phone call. It was a phone call I will never forget.

John told me about why he left Hollywood just a few years earlier. He was terrified of the impact it was having on his sons; he was scared it was going to cause them to lose perspective on what was important and what happiness meant. And he told me a sad story about how, a big reason behind his decision to give it all up was that "they" (Hollywood) had "killed" his friend, John Candy, by greedily working him too hard.

He also told me he was glad I had gotten in touch and that he was proud of me for what I was doing with my life. He told me, again, how important my letters had been to him all those years ago, how he often used the argument "I'm doing this for Alison" to justify decisions in meetings.

Tonight, when I heard the news that John had died, I cried. I cried hard. (And I'm crying again.) I cried for a man who loved his friends, who loved his family, who loved to write and for a man who took the time to make a little girl believe that, if she had something to say, someone would listen.

Thank you, John Hughes. I love you for what you did to make me who I am.

Sincerely, Alison Byrne Fields.

Check it out, Check it out.....

I really want this lipstick
It's  Pink 4 Friday by MAC Cosmetics and Nicki Minaj
She has created this to match the name and launch of her new album which has also just been released
I think it's the prettiest colour, so cute.
I know it's already sold out in America but I haven't heard about the UK yet, I know they are meant to be selling it here, so fingers crossed i can still get my hands (lips?) on some....

Next's 12 Days to Christmas Challenge.....

So some exciting news to share with you all.  The high street clothing store Next have asked me as well as around 100 other bloggers to be part of their 12 days of Christmas challenge.  And to celebrate that fact they have made these cute little Christmas countdown pictures which are below. 
Basically the more of you that click the link to Next's website to check out their lovely products then the bigger chance there is of me winning some prizes, which in return means that you lovely readers will win some lovely prizes too as my plan is to thank you all for your help in this challenge by doing a big giveaway with some goodie bags with a few bits and bobs at the beginning of the new year. 
So all you have to do is click the link to Next website every time you see it on my blog up until Christmas day.  And if you don't want to then please feel free to just skip this post and go onto the next...pinky promise i won't hold it against you! ha!

Also it's really handy to have these pictures as now i can have a proper Count down to Christmas day on my blog i will put the matching icon to the day it is in the sidebar.

So mission one my dear readers is to get clicking this link here- Next
Oh and have a look here while you are on their site.  Some super pretty pieces.  If you haven't been into next for a while i would urge you to have a look i think you will be surprised. I am really impressed by their knitwear/sweaters and outerwear especially!