Michael, Isabel and Tommy have been busy...

Hey you! Remember me?

Its been such a long time since I last blogged I'm not surprised if I've been forgotten amongst the hundreds of bloggers that slowly lose interest. I can assure you I have not forgotten Damselfly, I am still here, squirrelling away ideas for future posts and looking for inspiration where ever it might surface.

As you might have gathered from my last post all those weeks ago, I have been out of the country. I knew facebook was blocked in China but blogger... who knew!? It seems a shame because Tumblr wasn't blocked, I was so desperate to post I even considered starting up a Tumblr account. Instead I stand today still a loyal follower of blogger. Unfortunately it appears I've left my camera charger in my hotel room in Beijing. I have ordered a new one buuutt it still hasn't arrived so I am unable to post photographs!

As it happens my new copy of Elle arrived in the post this morning and I spent a precious hour just flicking through the photographs and advertisements (I love love love the september issue!). I am not ashamed to admit that when it comes to fashion and make up I am such a sucker for adverts in glossy magazines and this September's edition has some beauties. So many designers have come up with delightful styles for the new season from Isabel Marant (a personal long term favorite) to Hunter. Below are a few new campaigns that have really caught my eye this month.

First off I was really struck my the make up in Estee Lauder's new campaign. I'm going to be brutally honest and admit that I've never really take a huge interest in make up advertisements. Every morning its moisturiser, bronzer, eyelashes curled, mascara and carmex on the lips. Occasionally I will add eyeliner or a bit of lipstick but I'm generally too lazy to do anything other than the bare minimum. Estee Lauder has made me want to make more of an effort. I want to achieve those smoky eyes and perhaps invest in some darker/deeper lipstick colours.




On to perfume and I wish I could pull off this tanned! So jealous of Hayden Panettiere right now!


Whilst I'm not sure I could sport a bright green outfit such as these below I really like Mulberry's new campaign. This image reminds me of little pixies in a giant magical forest.


Tommy Hilfiger always gives you so much to look at! I love how they incorporate all ages into their more recent photos in celebration of generational fashion and the contemporary family.



Michael Kors makes me want to fly over the channel and ride a moped in a bustling city street.


... and even Topshop has something to offer this september. I would be very happy with that dress on the right!


Hope you haven't missed my little rants too much ;) Its been a pleasure to finally post again!


speak soon!

xoxo

Please Can I Sleep Here Tonight?

I found this photograph a couple of days ago and thought it was real, I immediately set about trying to find the actual hotel so I could discover where it was and find out how many '0's would need to be on my payslip one day to ever justify a night spent beneath the waves. To my great disappointment it is only a digitalised image of future plans for underwater rooms. Underwater hotels are not common place as of yet but with great excitement I can announce that there are currently a couple under construction! There are plans for hotels all over the world, the first of which include Poseidon Resorts in Fiji, Hydropolis in Dubai and a further underwater hotel yet to be named in Istanbul.

Unfortunately even the websites reveal very little! I wait with eager anticipation to see actual photographs. Who knows maybe some day I'll get to experience one myself.

A unique dining experience:


This slide is pretty cool too though maybe a little too claustrophobic for some.



That's all for now...

xoxo

The Ultimate Outfit for Packing Light

Dear Damselfly,

I'm sorry I have been neglecting you recently. I have had my mind on many things and forgotten the enjoyment I get from posting. Today I am stuck in bed with a cold so I am going to write post after post to keep you entertained for the next week whilst I work. On Saturday I will be flying to Beijing for a couple of weeks, providing I can use blogger over there I'm sure I will have many exciting things to tell you but for now lets stick to the everyday things. Damselfly travel edition starts in just over a week. I'm so excited!

I am home now and left all my stuff back with family in Cornwall. The suitcase I had to pack for 2 months is ridiculously small I dearly hope I can be creative with my outfits! Thankfully its apparently boiling in china during June and July so I won't be packing many jumpers or coats. Currently, I am in love with casual effortless and classic short shorts.


I think the best thing about these beauties is you needn't buy any! I have had such drama in the past buying short shorts only to find that when the denim gives they become to baggy round the waste and never look as good as they did in the changing room. Instead this morning I found an old pair of jeans that I know fit me and chopped off the legs. You get to pick the perfect length and do anything you wish to them. I have ripped the edges and I'm thinking of using a bit of bleach. For high wasted jeans wear with a good quality leather belt and a tucked in loose fitting tee add some embellished sandals or wedges and you're good to go.


Fed up with denim? These rose ditsy floral print pleated shorts (what a mouthful!) from topshop are cute and perfect for those girly days. I'm always a little worried about wearing floaty skirts because often its so windy at uni you cannot leave your flat without having to hold your skirt down, the issue is very much reduced when you're wearing shorts instead!



White can be a pain in the neck to keep perfect but I love love love it when paired with sun kissed skin.



Miso belted white shorts with this Harleyford belt from Mr Wills :)

speak soon!

xoxo

Winnie the Poo Stands Outside my Window

Just thought I'd share this with you. Who wouldn't want a big blue bear staring into their office each day?

I'm moving out of halls in the next couple of days. My walls and desk are bare and last night I went out for the last time as a fresher. Its been such an amazing year I wish time didn't speed along so fast!

xoxo

I'll never grow out of Disney

Recently I have been ‘educating’ a friend who has spent her childhood deprived of the wonders of Disney! She argues that she spent her freetime outside in the fresh air where children should be but a bit of Disney on a rainy afternoon or a saturday evening before bed has not caused me any major damage! It is almost unbelievable to me that a child brought up in the western world has somehow missed all the magical stories Walt Disney has brought to life.


About a month ago I thought Disney had lost its essence. The movies they have been churning out recently (barring Pixar studio’s productions) have been nothing on the classics I grew up on. The exception to this rule surfaced with ‘Tangled’ which adhers to the classic disney charm but with new computer graphic technology. The only thing that annoys me is that it is perhaps a little too sickly sweet. The villains are not scary if indeed you read a villain into the story at all - surely you could argue the henchmen and Mother Gothel are just misunderstood? I would be difficult to claim this for characters such as Maleficent, Jafar, Ursula or Hades? Another observation is the lack of memorable songs, the music in 'Tangled' is okay but that is about it. Rapunzel's 'usual morning' song may be sweet but will never play like a broken record in my head throughout the day like 'A Whole New World', 'Can you Feel the Love Tonight' or 'Kiss the Girl'.

Nevertheless, tonight I will delve into further new territory and watch Ratatouille which others have sworn to be the best disney movie of the last 20 years. I will withhold all judgement until I have seen it, however, it seems impossible that any more contemporary disney film could beat these childhood favorites (the ultimate has got to be The Lion King hands down);









I'm missed out so many as well... Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, The Rescuers, Phocohontas, Cinderella, Bambi, Brother Bear, The Fox and the Hound, Lilo and Stitch, The Aristocats, Robin Hood, Dumbo, The Sword and the Stone, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tarzan and 101 Dalmations to name but a few! All are amazing stories, I hope I never grow out of them!

xoxo

A Memoir

He was closer in stature to a wolf than a dog. Occasionally I would look out into the garden in the summer and imagine a lion lazing beneath the trees rather than our oversized German Shepherd, Kray. He had always been big, as a puppy and as a young dog he used to jump up on his hind legs and nearly overshadow me. But despite his great strength and power, Kray was a gentle giant and had the nicest temperament of all the 12 puppies we have trained for guide dogs for the blind.

We always knew when my Dad returned home from work as children. There would be a stampede of heavy paws to the door and a high pitched whining noise as Kray tried to stick his noise through the letter box. The moment the door opened Kray would start ‘crying’ and whining wildly as my father tried to get a foot through the door. For such a large animal I’ve always found it comical that Kray rarely barked but used to cry like an excited toddler if he made any noise at all. He truly earned his nickname ‘Kraybaby’.

Despite his formidable size, Kray, was fearful of the oddest things. Whilst he was young our granddad's tortoise bit him on the nose, the poor boy was so shocked he never quite got over his wariness of the shelled reptiles. He never chased other animals and use to lie quite at leisure in the garden with our cat, Travis, and my rabbit hopping about him. Sometimes I link his unorthodox fears to the idea that although very obedient, Kray was probably quite dim witted. By the way of an example Kray had an absolute obsession with chasing and trying to catch light. His obsession was so intense that he tore up the dining room carpet in our old home in a desperate and hopeless attempt to grab a flicker a light. You could let the sunlight shine on the face of a watch so that the reflection hit the wall of a room and watch Kray chase it for hours.




There was something about Kray that left a lasting bond with my family, we were used to puppies moving on but when Kray left for his training just over a year after we first carried him home our house felt empty. We were missing something. So when we were offered him back in his retirement 9 years later we all jumped at the opportunity. I still remember the day we picked him up from the centre. The moment Kray recognised my father he went wild with joy crying and whining as he used to. He still knew us, remembered us and loved us.

Kray passed on last week and we are all so sorry to see him go. He truly was man’s best friend and the memories he left us with will forever bring tears of happiness.

All my love.

xoxo

Magic Beneath your Fingertips

I was sent this piece just over a month ago and fell in love with Ludo Einaudi's extraordinary song writing talent.



Of all the instruments I have heard and experienced (aside from the human voice) the one which will always send shivers down my spine is the piano. The piano was my first love, it helped me to discover music and melody. I look back to the days when I was small, I used to write little songs in a notebook and take them with me to piano lessons. My piano teacher would accompany me singing them and suddenly the beautiful chords she played would bring life and breath to my bare lyrics. The song became tangible, grew wings and took flight.

I have chosen another path for now and no longer have the time to play as I did. When I hear pieces by Einaudi or Yann Tiersen I miss the feeling of keys beneath my fingertips. Playing with pure melody allows you to play with absolute openness. You can learn to pour your heart into improvisation; fears, desires, passions and sorrows so that the pieces you play are raw and stripped bare. It is those pieces that hit home for me. There is something about the pianist who plays with such dexterity, honesty and passion that alights my soul.

Hope you enjoy this little gem too;





xoxo

P.S. Thank you for the music always! (you know who you are) ... well at least most of it is pretty decent! ;)

Those by which memories are made

A little bit of a 'mixed bag' approach to blogging today. I'm aware have been gone for some time due to revision and exams and want to do some catching up! My whole world semi-ceases to turn during exam periods. My room was in dire need of hoovering, the pile of washing started to create a small mountain range and my exercise regime went flying out the window alongside the healthy diet. On the bright side I am through the tunnel and have been released into relative freedom for the next 4 months. Heaven.

I spent my first weekend of liberty travelling around cornwall with my family. We visited the stunning and unique Minack theatre briefly, Sennen Cove and finally Land's End to watch my father conclude an insanely long cycling trip from John O'Grouts to Land's End. It really is an achievement when you consider he cycled over a 1000 miles from the very northern tip of Scotland to the most western point of Cornwall. Well Done, Papa! I'm so proud!

We dined at a restaurant in Mousehole Bay (pronouced Mow-zel) its a very sweet little fishing village which is famous for its Stargazey Pie. Although I dislike seafood the Stargazey pie is quite unique because unlike normal fish pies the stargazey has fish tails and some times heads popping out of the pastry for decoration. There's a children's book you may have read once about The Mousehole Cat it brings back a flood of memories from my childhood; below is a rather long video version I've just discovered:

Recently I've been inspired by looking at old photographs from times past, there is something so elegant and graceful about them;






More to come when inspiration surfaces!

xoxo

Recommended: Play 'Chariots of Fire' Theme Whilst Reading This Post

A wise person once claimed, 'success is a staircase not a doorway'. Its important to remember that we will always have to work to achieve our potential, whatever that may be, and when we achieve that potential our success is oh so much sweeter because of the work we have had to put in.

This concept applies to almost everything in our lives. Last night I was reading an article in Elle describing the writer's experience of training for and running a marathon. She gained such a sense of personal fulfillment and satisfaction as she completed her goal after months of exhausting physical and psychological training and exertion. But what was most fascinating for me was that in the end it was the journey that had made the lasting impact not the achievement of passing the finishing line. She ended up addicted to running and had signed herself up for another two marathons that year!

Behind every success story there's a struggle; from the big city law firm lawyers and politicians to world famous athletes, dancers and singers. I'm willing to bet if you ask any of these people they'll have some experience to bring to the table and most of the time, if not always, they'll look back at those experiences and battles with pride.

So why am I chattering on about these musings? Simply put: today I need inspiration! I have exams in 3 weeks... actually more like 2 weeks and I'm really struggling to push into my revision. The sun is glorious and I'd reallllly like to work on a tan. I've spent the last 5 days procrastinating and seeing friends but this work just will not budge! In my head it all very much looks like this:



So here's a shout out to all those revising and working towards exams right now. I feel your pain! Lets get our heads down and work towards something bigger and then we'll look back on these days gone by with pride of our own (the good kind of pride!).



P.S. A further theory: Sipping hot chocolate from this mug would definitely enlarge the brain cells and basically make you a more intelligent person... now who sells these?

Good Luck!

xoxo

There's just something about shoes...

... please don't ask me what exactly; there just is. Somehow if I can find the right pair of shoes to wear in the mornings I feel my day is going to be just that little bit better. I know some people hate it but i absolutely love the 'clip clopping' of someone walking along wearing heeled shoes/boots.

Shoes have this way of reflecting how we're feeling or how we want to feel. A pair of ugg boots or keds say 'today I'm relaxing and taking things as they come' or perhaps 'I really had no time to think shoes through this morning!'. Some pairs of shoes make me feel empowered, stronger or even more intelligent! If I'm feeling girly florals or pastels have never let me down. Outdoorsy? Wellies! They portray everything from elegance to indifference.


Aldo (£65). If only I was a lawyer already...


and a little bit of Christian Louboutin... (£495 on net-a-porter)



These shoes were in a little independent store in my village that I think my mother is half smitten with. I loved the colour, unfortunately I got frightened off by the price tag!

It is sad that I get all excited when I have bought the perfect pair of shoes? I bought a beautiful pair a couple of days ago and I insisted on showing my whole family.... It is isn't it? Ah well.

xoxo