bloom
book
estée lalonde
Featured
photography
reading
Bloom by Estée Lalonde
I recently read Bloom by Estee Lalonde, and as I found myself unable to put it down (it only took one day to read from cover to cover), so I wanted to share my thoughts with you.
Firstly, this book is damn beautiful. The titled part of the cover is made from a gorgeous textured fabric, the image of Estée on the front is lovely, she just looks like her (you know what I mean right? Or am the only person who think we sometimes look like our personality in photographs?), and the colour of her jumper on the front carries through to the inside cover of the book. The aesthetic of this book are on point and I think the cover itself is a good reflection of Estée and the contents of the book.
I've watched Estée's videos and read her blog for years now, I feel as though I've really seen her grow into herself on camera, and I feel as though she's an old pal (sadly she's not!), and this book represents her truest version of herself through and through.
The book is split into the sections: life, people, work, beauty, fashion, home, travel and food. Each subject covers a wide ground. The book talks about serious topics such mental health and more light-hearted stuff like styling hair.
The book is very honest throughout, and Estée shares a lot with the readers than she hasn't already shared on her Youtube and Blog, such as her relationship with her dad, and her struggles with mental health, all of these things she shared in her book only made my respect for Estée grow and made her seem so much more relatable.
The book is very well written, I think sometimes when Youtuber release a book there's a stigma which surrounds it, and people assume they're writing a book because it will sell, whether or not they can write - well I'm telling you that Estée can write. Her words were engaging and the content was interesting throughout (hence why I read it in a day).
I found myself emotional as I read letters to Estée from her mum and partner Aslan.
I also loved hearing more about Estée and Aslan's story. You know there is something special about a relationship when someone is willing to move to another country which they've never visited to be with someone - reading this made me see what relationship should be and understand that when you know, you just know. Their love story is just really really lovely.
Estée talks a lot about finding yourself, and 'blooming' into who you're supposed to be in this book, and that's something I think I've realised is really important, and has begun to impact my day to day life as I trying to be the truest version of myself.
This book is also very beautiful - it's filled with lovely photographs which are all very personal to Estèe, that fit perfectly where they're placed. The layout of the book and the images chosen just really work, you can see the thought that has gone into it!
Bloom is really something special! I'd recommend picking up and having a flick through, take in the words, and appreciate the beauty and work that's gone into it.
autumn
coat
coconut lane
fashion
fashion blogger
Featured
leopard print
office
ootd
outfit
outfit of the day
topshop
winter
Leopard.
I've recently been on the hunt for a new coat, I was in desperate need as the ones had just weren't cutting it. I popped into Topshop one day and this one caught my eye, and I knew it would be a great addition to my wardrobe but wanted to be sure, so I decided to go away and think about, and it seemed it was something I couldn't stop thinking about, so I knew I had to go back in and get it.
Leopard print in so on trend at the moment, and also never really goes out of style. Considering I was in need of a new coat and didn't have any leopard print in my wardrobe (shocking I know) this coat filled two pretty big holes in my wardrobe.
I'm between sizes, so decided to size up and go for a slightly oversized look. I think it's always good to go a little bigger in coats, it means you can fit chunky knits underneath and it also gives off an oversized and androgynous vibe to the look which I love.
I decide to keep the rest of my outfit fairly simple, as the coat is statement enough. I wore it with my grey high neck dress from Boohoo - it's a really simple piece, but I think cut gives it a sophisticated edge. I like the grey against the leopard print, as it brings in more depth to the outfit, but it's monochrome so compliments the printed coat.
I paired this with plain black tights to keep my legs from getting chilly, and these cutest little black ankle boots from Office which have a same, circular heel which I love (unfortunately the boots are no longer available, sorry, similar here).
To finish the look, I popped on my Tom Ford specs and a NARS Lipstick in the shade Heatwave, alongside a couple of cute little rings I got from Coconut Lane, (where you can get 20% off with the discount code chloeharriets20, go go go!) and my much loved Urban Outfitter backpack (old, similar here).
What do you think of this outfit? I love this coat so much, I'm going to be wearing it constantly!
annasbrownies
baking
brownies
Featured
food
recipe
salted caramel
yummy
Rather than turning to a recipe book, this time I took to the world of blogging to decide what I was going to make. One of my favourite bloggers, The Anna Edit posted a salted caramel brownie recipe on her blog and youtube channel, and as it looked truly delicious (I mean, who doesn't love anything with added salted caramel?) I decided to pick up the ingredients and see how it turned out.
I began by referring to Anna's blog post to get my ingredients ready. It didn't require loads of different ingredients so that gave me hope that it wouldn't be too complicated, and I was right.
I then popped on Anna video and followed the steps - I found myself pausing the video and going back a lot to check I was doing the right thing - but that's the beauty of youtube, I was able to watch the same parts over and over as I needed.
The thing I loved about the video, is that Anna makes it very clear she is not an expert and she was winging it just as much (well probably not quite so much) as I was when it came to baking.
Making the brownies was fairly simple, it took melting some dark chocolate and butter, and then mixing in flour, sugars, eggs and vanilla extract.
Once everything was all mixed together, I just needed to pop it into a lined baking tray and spoon in my salted caramel.
Once all the caramel was in, I simply took a chopstick (it was all I could find, okay) and swirled the salted caramel around the brownie mix, which left a pretty pattern, that looked a hell of a lot more complicated than it was to create! Such an easy way to make the brownies look a lot more impressive than they really are.
They brownie came out a lovely texture, crispy on the top and soft and moist (sorry if that word makes anyone cringe) inside. The salted caramel added a sweet, and salted twist to the flavour to the brownies and went nice and crisp once it had been baked.
Salted Caramel Brownies | #annasbrownies
In my Tanya Bakes cookies post, I touched on how extremely rubbish I am at baking, and how it's something I'd like to be able to enjoy and hopefully be okay(ish) at. I found myself feeling the need to bake once again, so I thought I'd share is how I go on.
Then, of course, all that was left, was baking the brownies, so I just popped them in the preheated oven - and when they were done I took them out and chopped them up.
I cut the brownie into quite big squares, and still had more than the recipe was intended to make - not that I minded, of course, they were so yummy!
I was seriously impressed with these brownies, they were so simple to make, and I think they're one the tastiest things I've ever baked - I'd definitely recommend giving them a go, your taste buds can thank me later! You can find the recipe I followed here.
autumn
day trip
exploring
Featured
friends
leigh woods
lifestyle
nature
photography
Explore with Me - Leigh Woods.
As I mentioned in a previous post that I'd recently went for an Autumn walk in Leigh Woods with some friends, of course, I took this as an opportunity to play with my camera.
As we wandered through the woods I found myself snapping away while being a bit of a creep lurking behind my friends to get some pictures, and scanning the environment for the best photo-taking opportunities. Of course, my friends took the chance to hide from me when I stopped to take some pictures, after aimlessly walking in circles, I noticed them peeping out behind the trees - uhh, very funny guys.
I felt so relaxed as I walked amongst the trees, and taking in the nature which was all around. It was a definite reminder of how good it is to get outside, especially when you can wrap up warm on a lovely crisp autumn day.
I love being outside this time of year despite the cold, I think everything is so beautiful during Autumn, and of course, it was nice to have a good ol' catch up with close friends as we explored.
Apparently somewhere along the lines, I became Matt and Lauren's personal couples photographer - I quite like these images, even if I did drive them insane as constantly taking pictures of them and creeping behind them to get the candid shot I wanted... they both asked me to send them the pictures I took later that day, so as much as they complained, I'm sure they were a little pleased really!
There were some incredible views along the way. I often forget what a beautiful place Bristol really is.
All round, it was just a lovely afternoon! I'm definitely going to be taking my camera on more day trips - I love taking enjoy opportunity to take photographs!
Love C x
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