Monday 27 April 2015

LIFE LATELY: EDSCIFEST

At the start of this year I was feeling pretty pleased with blogging. I'd got back into a three-posts-a-week schedule, I blogged some fun DIYs, and I'd worked out how to take reasonably okay (if a bit blurry) outfit posts. I knew work was going to be pretty manic over April, so I took loads of photos, thought of future blog post ideas... and then ran out of time to actually write them. Aargh!

Science Festival Lates - all photos by the wonderful Chris Scott
And then the Festival happened! The 27th Edinburgh International Science Festival rolled into town (from our offices in sunny Leith), and any work/life balance I previously had disappeared. I run the sponsorship team at the festival and we've been working on this for a whole year, so there were a lot of people to keep happy!

Happy cloud biscuits!
Over two and a bit weeks I went to over twenty events, watched a massive dinosaur skeleton get built from scratch, had my mind blown by the quantum theory concept of the multiverse (whaaaaaaat), snacked on roadkill rabbit, listened to one of the hardest maths problems of all time, looked at the blackest black material ever made, decorated a happy cloud biscuit, listened to very intelligent people, did my best to speak to very intelligent people without sounding like too much of an idiot, and drank quite a lot of wine in the name of science.

How the Light Gets In - Scifest art at Summerhall
I love the happy clouds
I also had more late night/early starts than was probably sensible, spent any free moment frantically trying to catch up with emails, had too many stress dreams about work (where my unconcious mind would dissect the most boring details of my job... did I remember to get pop-ups delivered in time?!), had a fairly frantic few days dealing with the aftermath of an unexpected cancellation, aaaand ran out of any conversation that wasn't fully centred around the Science Festival (sorry normal pals).

LateLab: Tron vs Tron Legacy

But that's festival life! You spend most of the year under the illusion that you have a perfectly ordinary job, and then bit by bit it takes over your life in exhausting and rewarding and excellent ways.

I've had my first weekend off work post-festival and it's been weird (but lovely!) to return to normal life. I've managed to catch up on Game of Thrones and read a book and do my washing... who knew life admin was so satisfying? Now I just need to get my head around planning for festival 2016... aaah!

Wednesday 15 April 2015

OUTFIT: POLKA DOT PINAFORE

I've been posting more outfit posts lately, and whilst my awkward self-posing is a million times better than how it used to be, I don't think I'll ever nail the cool, slouchy scowl face of bloggers that actually do this well.

Anyway, here's some smiley school-photo-esque poses, of my very favourite dress.

Pinafore - H&M
Shirt - H&M
Shoes - ASOS
I bought this pinafore in H&M at the end of last summer, and it's been such a brilliant staple in my wardrobe. I'm quite lucky because I work in a very creative place, which means my work wardrobe is super flexible - almost anything goes, as long as I know when to look a little more presentable (like when I'm meeting clients).

I usually wear this pinafore with t-shirts under it for a casual cute look, but I recently discovered that it goes SO nicely with this sheer shirt, and helps the whole outfit become that little bit smarter.


I absolutely adore these mary jane shoes from ASOS, which were a total bargain at £25 (and at the time I'm writing this, these exact shoes are in the ASOS sale for £8!). I do worry I dress a little bit like a schoolchild (especially when paired with my red duffel or yellow raincoat), but I think I pull it off? I hope so, anyway!