Dreamy Interiors

I bought my first home last october so have been on a neverending love affair with all things interior!

I would sum up my style as 'Shabby Chic' but with splashes of bright lime greens, pinks and muted turquoise.
Rachel Ashwell (Shabby Chic Icon!) is a big inspiration and if I had the money, I would commission her to make over my home.
I love love love pastal colours and am slowly starting to get my apartment looking as I envisioned.

I love lots of higgidly piggidly picture frames, books, boooks, boooks - one day I will have a proper library with a ladder and a huge suede armchair. Oh, and a proper fire!!! I would actually love to have a fire in my bedroom.

To me, home is where the heart is, its my safe haven - if I have a bad day I pull through by focusing on returning home to and locking the door behind me.
Knowing that I can trudge home, shut the door and be enveloped by comfort is something which I never ever take or granted. I have lived in quite a few places in the past 10 years as a result of moving away to Uni in Preston.
I moved from Salford to Manchester City Centre or Uni, then to Preston (when I realised that Philosophy was tough!) where I lived in 2 different places, following Uni and with no job, I moved in with my Sister in Lancaster. I then made the long awaited journey back to my hometown Manchester City Centre and rented a gorgeous place in Castlefield. From Castlefield I ventured out to hip Chorlton (loved Chorlton, hated the house!) then back to Salford and no - finally I am settled!

I thought I would indulge myself and post some Interior themes/ideas I love!

Adore the colour scheme above, Its actually fairly similar to my living room only mine isn't quite as stylish - yet!

I love this idea of mixing lots of random picture frames. It is almost a work of art in itself.
I also love the wood floor, very homely, which is difficult to get from a hard wood floor.

I really like the idea of draping jewelery and basically making art out of it as opposed to hiding it all away in a jewelery box.
We like jewelery because its beautiful so why not display it!

I am so into the colour and design of this table - WANT!

I am loving the style of this little French table. This quirky style reminds me of the walking bath tub in Nightmare before Christmas' by Tim Burton - I could almost imagine this table walking off with its little bendy legs.  Its got so much character for me and is also very feminine and aesthetically pretty.

I adore this kitchen - I love the contrast between the stylish chandelier and then the rather shabby looking table. Shabby Chic personified.

These are a few of my favourite things...

My Mum is a fantastic quilt maker (along with cushions amongst other things) so thought I would share my brilliant quilt.
It is a rare thing for me, with such a unique name, 'Anwen' to find anything with my name on it.
I remember visiting various museums, amusement parks etc when younger and apathetically searching for a cup or t-shirt with my name on it but alas, never found one!
There were always plenty of 'Sarah' or 'Emma' emblazened mugs but no 'Anwen' so thanks to my Mum I now have a personalised quilt!

Spot the Cats!

My Little Orl'wy Owl - I spotted him looking bemused (although he always looks bemused) in amongst random Christmas paraphernalia and had to have him.
The owl is totally one of those spontaneous purchases - you never really plan to buy an over sized bronze slightly bemused looking owl but when you spot one, you can not resist.

He perches by my TV and watches over the room, everyone should have an owl.

I was truly captivated and charmed by this wonderful ice scraper. Such a practical and functional tool but oh so funny. Forget Captain Hook's hook - he should have an ice scraper instead. If not just for comedy effect if he is hosting a party of something.

I love my little pink car!

Everyone always asks me about my car 'do you not feel really vulnerable in it?' - NO! Its little but its still a car!! It just makes sense to have a little car when in the city - I have the last laugh nipping in and out of traffic like a nimble mouse ballerina on a caffeine high.

Strawberry Blonde ?

Strawberry blonde, why is this type of blonde referred to as ‘Strawberry?’ where does the comparison to Strawberries come in? If anything, Strawberry blonde hair, is closer in colour and tone to uhhh lets say salmon, so why not ‘Rusty Nail Blonde?’

Why, why not?

Inanimate things looking emotive/human

North America Road Trip

One of my biggest life dreams is to do a road trip across North America, I have visited New York and California but yearn to travel across the country to see the contrast and diversity of the different states.

I remember when flying across the states to California after swapping planes at NY how much Barron land there was, it made me realise for the first time just how huge the country is.
I can recall looking out of the window whilst over Arizona somewhere and seeing nothing but rich bare desert, i then glanced out again around an hour later and what did i see but yet more desert!! We had just been flying over bare unpopulated unbuilt upon land for so long! Its mind blowing!

I know the Australia is an ever more extreme version of land mass Vs population but it doesn't appeal to me in quite the same way that the U.S does. I could be completely wrong here and am happy to be corrected if i am but Australia doesn't appear to have the contrast in cities or areas that America has.

I suppose the Hollywood films exaggerate everything in America so i have this stylised idea about how each state would look and feel, but i want to go and see for myself!

I'm going on a bit here, i did a laughably amateur 'paint'  edit to detail the route i would want to take, yes i use paint, i have zero fancy skills in any advanced edit software. Paint is just fine for me, if not slightly fan dangled.

Anyway, my masterpiece is displayed proudly (embarrassingly) below;

'Room' - Emma Donahue

Book Review: 'The Room.' Nominated for the Booker Prize 2010
I've just finished reading this book so thought i'd recommend because it was really very impressive.

Overall I enjoyed the story, but I wasn't quite as taken with it as other people, it wasn't a page turner for me personally. I much prefer those unanswered questions when your imagination can run wild and I like to read a book in a number of sittings so that I can put it down and have a think about what direction it could go in.

I admired the innovative narrative style, I credit the author enormously for her writing from the stance of the young Boy Jack. I have no idea how she managed to get into the head of a young boy! Amazing, almost too good, she probably articulated a child's thoughts about the world he/she sees better than even a child could in fact.

Again, as with reviews I am hesitant to expand too much into the narrative because the beauty of the read is in the unknown,this is particularly prevalent in the first half.
The book opens and the scene is murky, we are seeing life from the eyes of a 5 year old boy, Jack. His Mum seems to be his only living companion but then 'Old Nick' is introduced slowly. Who is this man? Is he Jack's father, a friend? Is he good or a danger...? You are left with a number of questions as to where the story will go.

Conversely, I actually enjoyed the second half of the book as opposed to the first where I was constantly trying to second guess the story, the characters and the premise. I am sure the majority of readers probably preferred the first half, the not knowing, the mystery.

I highly recommend this book and will definitely encourage my friends to read, my Mum for one adored the book so I imagine it being a compelling read for pretty much anyone.
I will be keeping my eyes peeled for further Emma Donahue books to See where she goes next.

Catfish & Is it Thursday?

...Is the question i have wondered for much of the day, however have not at any point, during any of these wonderment's actually taken pro active steps to confirm whether it was and still is Thursday.
I think it is, I do.
So that means its Friday tomorrow, if it is in fact Thursday.

I am in the middle of writing a novel. I have hit a major intimidating brick wall with it, right at a very crucial point and am stuck. Apparently, or so i have been reassured that this is a pretty normal occurrence during the writing process but alas, I've not even opened the document for, oh probably a week now and the guilt is kicking in.

Hmmm is what I need to stop doing and get down to it. Hopefully tomorrow, which is Friday. I think, I obviously still haven't checked for sure.

I watched 'Catfish' last night, fantastic, really enjoyed it and it was actually the first film in a long time which seriously captivated and intrigued me. So much in fact that it prompted me to seek out all the information i could about the filmmakers; was it based entirely on truth? Or, was it a complete hoax?

The film centered around the often murky world of social networking sites on the Internet and more specifically posed the question of; how do we know who we are talking to online are really who they say they are?
I shall not say anymore about the plot because its mystery and intrigue are the raw elements which make the film so captivating.
Instead, i shall bow down to the hotness of the main character.

I am not ashamed to add that I was ever so (extremely so) enamoured by the gorgeous Nev 'Yanic Schulman' Hubba Hubba, wooosh. So dreamy, and i NEVER use or have ever used the adjective 'dreamy' to describe anyone. So yeah.

If you haven't seen this film i seriously urge you to view it, i doubt its ever going to make the big screen so I recommend trusty LOVEfilm if you're a member, you can watch it online.

Film Info Here - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1584016/
Intriguing Trailer - http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi769787417/

Speaking of LOVEfilm I want to sing their praises for the *new 'watch online' function. It is absolutely fabulous, although I face the eternal dilemma of what to pick to watch - there are so many awesome films available to view, FREE! Its film buff heaven. It brings up the age old dilemma that the greater the choice, the harder the decision. Quite a joyous dilemma to have though.

Anyway, ramble over. High 5 to LOVEfilm !

*is it new or am I just late catching on?

A literal Cat Fish. Miabowb