Causal Friday - Anna Calvi

Following in a Casual Friday tradition of saluting kick ass women in Music: I present

Anna Calvi

First we kiss - My personal fav.

She has a very distinct style - always in red with a bold lip, smokey eyes and polished up-do hair

Musically she is known for her powerful voice, intricate guitar playing and ambiguous lyrics.

She released her Eponymous debut album in January 2011 to critical acclaim and a barrage of industry awards - her new album 'One Breath' is due to drop in October #totesexcite

Eliza - single from the new album.  Take a listen.

Of the new album Anna Calvi told NME it was inspired by her battle with depression:

"It's a huge part of what life is, having no control," she said. "How terrifying that is, but then soothing too - that's what love is about, what death is about, the whole thing is about not being in control. It seems to be something that always comes back in my writing, and it's expressed a lot on this record."

 In other words - when life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

Beautiful, melodic lemonade.

Girl collects award bling!

Are you all fans of Anna?

You should check out her stuff - she's awesome.

Do you have a particular female performer you're rocking out to?

♥ Paula Shoe Fiend.

Stratford Upon Avon - Home of Shakespeare

Prepare yourselves for lots of medieval building pictures, you know i luv 'em

Look at this street!!
Tudor World - interactive Tudor Era museum We missed the ghost tour - BOO

Next door - The Golden Bee.  Voted the nicest Wetherspoons in the country.

Ye Olde Chemist... kidding, it's probably a Boots.

Shakespeare's house Museum - Street-front. Like, Willy's ACTUAL HOUSE.

Shakespeare's house - Gardens. My edging does NOT look like this.

Shakespeare's House - back yard.

Williams Bedroom* (*surmising) As it's a Heritage site and museum these are all replica

furniture and original wall decoration - just like it would have been back in 15th Century England

The kitchen - Nerve center of any good home.
I freakin Love Tudor Museums - even rich people had to live in pretty rough conditions.

Looks like a fairytale village.

Just had to take a photo of this - the Thatched Tavern.
It's all wonky and has a thatched ROOF!  Love.

Shakespeare's 'Insults' - Bought at the museum gift shop
Use these next time someone takes the piss and watch the incomprehension dawning...

"Thou art a boil"

"Thou smell of mountain goat"

"I do desire we may be strangers"

"scratching could not make worse such a face as yours"

Classics.

You don't have to be a Shakespeare fan to enjoy Stratford Upon Avon - it's a picturesque village with heaps of heritage activities, canals and boutique shopping. Five minutes out of town Shakespeare's wife Anne Hathaway's cottage is also an attraction, you can purchase a combined ticket with the museum.

Didnt get any shopping in but I did Instagram this shoe window - lovin the snake.

Are you guys a fan of the bard?

I also visited his rebuilt theater 'The Globe'(the original burnt down 3 times) 
on London's South Bank.

 Built in 1993 (if I remember correctly) it is the first building in the city to have a thatched roof since the fire of London in the 17th Century. #HistoryLecture

Had to snap this - it's just outside the Globe - for Facebook,
Auckland, New Zealand's at the top, only 11687 miles!
Anyway - this is an all together different post!
Happy Travels everyone.

♥ Paula Shoe Fiend.

Shoesday 27.08.13

Hello fellow shoe fiends!!

For Shoesday today we are looking at some shoes that I never get the opportunity to wear - you know; heels too high, designs too loud, they hurt me beyond belief... that sort of thing:

I bought these half price online thinking they were the ultimate shoe porn, however once they arrived I quickly realized the platform is insane (they make me a giraffe) and the soles are super slippery!  So even if I ventured out in them, I could still die!

 These were a 6quid bargain from Newlook - I really only bought them because of the price..

they're very loud and once again the heel is a bit slippery.

 These shoes are just damn fine - even if they're a little too fancy and the heel is so high you almost fall forward with every step.

These shoes have become one of my trademarks... I use them as my avatar on some platforms ;-)

 These shoes get worn quite a bit - I just wanted to show you them because they're so cool

#crossword #pattern!  Clues inside:

Look at 13: Heinie - enough said.

I get comments on these shoes when I'm out and about.

 I should wear these boots more often but i feel they're also a bit too fancy...

Plus they're peep toed boots - how unpractical!!

These puppies are the sacrificial lambs in my next shoe DIY - haven't done one in AGES.  I have the paint, I'm just waiting for a less windy and not raining day so I can get to work!

Do you guys own any shoes you never wear because of the deathly platform or killer sole?

drop me a pic if you like, would love to drool over your shoe collections.

♥ Paula Shoe Fiend.

#Manimonday - Braided Nails

Have been on a bit of a blogging holiday as I'm back in full time work now and don't have as much spare time to invest in Shoe Fiend :-( being a grown up sux!

But today I am sharing a manicure for #manimonday

I hope you re-create it and share the results with me:

Instagram : Paula Shoe Fiend

I've also been baking up a storm - Sunday baking!

AND I have a potential Shoe DIY in the pipeline for Shoesday, so stick with me!!

Are you guys enjoying Manimondays?

If you're trying any of these I would love to see the photos!

This was a particular blingin one I tried after watching one of 

Cutepolish's Youtube Tutorials (below) watch it here for the braid part of the tutorial

Hers are perfect.

 You will need: 3 polishes in complementary colors, I went with:

Rimmel #700 Block your green

Essie #210A Orange, it's obvious (na, seriously what it's called)

Revlon Top Speed #860 Metallic

I painted my index Orange, Pinky Green and the rest silver.

Now on the ring and thumb I did the braid pattern,

then on the rest I dabbed a bit of clear polish at the base of the cuticle (half moon) and sprinkled on glitter

 What do we reckon?

Finish off with a couple coats of clear top coat to keep the design (and glitter) in place.

And there we have it!

Were we inspired?

♥ Paula Shoe Fiend.