Christmas Wish List 2013

With tomorrow being the 1st of December everyone will be able to officially and sensibly talk about Christmas. Finally. Any seasonal talk that has passed before I therefore deem unofficial and nonsensical, y’all know who you are. Those of you that have been chatting about gifts, movies and decorations since Halloween, yes I’m talking to you. Consider yourselves festively chastised. But on a jollier note tomorrow is the day from which you can buy your gifts, watch your movies and decorate your Christmas tree to your hearts content.

Say it loud and say it proud: IT’S CHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISTMAS! Or there abouts.

So what better time for a Wish List post?

This year I won’t be asking Santa to slip a sable (what the hell is a sable? When I was young I mistook it for stable & used to wonder how he would get an actual stable with horses down the chimney and under the tree? Anyway, lets get back on point,) a yacht or a diamond ring under the tree, although if you’re feeling generous I won’t argue against the last one. What with money being a bit of an issue and my attempt to curb my spending on unnecessary things, this years list is comprised of silly little bits and bobs that I’ve been after for a while. Nothing terribly exciting I’m afraid. But I made a list anyway. Never let it be said that I don’t respect tradition.

1. Diesel Loverdose Tattoo Perfume 2. Topshop translucent pressed powder 3. Urban Decay Naked 3 4. Subscription to Company Mag

1. Before I Go To Sleep 2. How To Fall In Love 3. Some Kind of Fairy Tale

1. Debenhams Gift Card (beauty) 2. MAC Cosmetics 3. Subscription to Cosmopolitan Mag.

1. Nails Inc Fibre Optic Effect 2. Topshop Gift Card 3. Downton Series 4

One present I know I’ll be receiving is a trip to Edinburgh next weekend. I’ve never been to bonny Scotland before so I’m well and truly in the Christmas spirit for that. 

And if we’re going to make this wish list a true wish list (the never in a million years kind) lets throw a London townhouse into the mix, as far as they go this ones not too shabby.

Those are my Yuletide wishes along with world peace, global prosperity and chocolate biscuits, etc, etc, etc. What has made it onto your Christmas lists? I’d love to know what you’re expecting wrapped up all pretty under the tree so comment, tweet or Facebook your wishes to me. 

Jemm xoxo

P.s Don’t forget those advent calendars tomorrow & no cheating, only open the windows a day a time! 

Friday Faves…

Happy Friday! I’m off to see the new Hunger Games Catching Fire this weekend, what will you be up to? Leave a comment!

 

Tattoo

 

Treats

 

Dresses

 

Palette

 

Padlocks

 

Pics: Instagram Imsheryn, Instagram LoloHyde, Instagram Company Magazine, Instagram Urban Decay Cosmetics Instagram Sarah_Barlow

 

Jemm

xoxo

Instagram Diary…

 

1. Coveting this iridescent Topshop clutch. 

2. Love a trip to the hair dressers. Bouncy curls.

3. Heard lots of good things about Beauty Blenders so thought I’d give them a try.

4. Was excited at the arrival of my ASOS bobble hat. This will keep my ears toasty warm this winter.

5. Rimmel eyeshadow primer. 

6.Company Magazine getting all glittery for December.

7. Loving this lip colour in Company’s beauty feature.

8. At 25 years of age is Macaroni Cheese still an acceptable dinner choice? Oh well.

9. Monsoon notebook. Perfect present for a glitterbug.

10. Feeling all Christmassy seeing decoration everywhere. 

11. Nails. Spent ages fishing stars out of a glitter nail polish bottle. 

12. Screw you Starbucks! Costa Christmas cups. 

Find/Follow me on Instagram @ JemmFrances

What has your week looked like?

Jemm xoxo

Friday Faves…

It’s Friiiiiiiiday! Here are this weeks faves:

Flowers:

Fashion:

Sparkle:

Books:

Tattoo:

Pretty Pastels:

Happy weekend!

Pics: Instagram ElleUK,Pinterest repinned from Katie Garland, Pinterest repinned from Angela Lustyuk, Instagram ALMONDS_, Pinterest repinned from Alex Navarrete, Instagram CompanyMagazine

Jemm xoxo

A Series of Obsessions…

The latest issue of Company Magazine has only just fallen through my letterbox and already I’ve read it cover to cover but one particular feature caught my attention. The headline asked ‘Have you got OSD?’

No, before your imaginations run away with you, OSD does not refer to a nasty condition nor it is an abbreviated euphemism, it does in fact refer to Obsessive Series Disorder.

OSD is pretty self explanatory, it happens when you love a TV series so much you watch it religiously and then when it’s done you buy the box set and watch it all over again. And again. No matter the series its something we all have to fess up to experiencing at some point. We’ve all been there, where you know the characters better than you know family members and you know the storylines so well you’re convinced they happened to you.

I’m not a big telly watcher and all the series that people seem to be loving I’ve usually never bloody heard of but OSD has definitely happened to me a few times.

As proof I tweeted this last week: Get far too excited when I see the #Downton advert.

Oh yes, it’s that time of year again. Glorious autumn. New Downton Abbey time. Four years on from the very first episode and I’m nothing short of obsessed with this show.  Even while on holiday last year in Tenerife I refused to miss an episode, if that’s not dedication I don’t know what is. Surely its only a matter of days before the Abbey throws open its doors and welcomes us back into the lives and loves of its inhabitants. In roughly 8 weeks time you’ll be able to find me ordering the box set and mourning the ending of another series…

…and counting down the days to the Christmas episode.

The story of my OSD doesn’t start with the upstairs aristocracy and their downstairs servants, instead it starts ten years ago over in One Tree Hill and at the age of 14 I was ripe for the picking. Nine box sets later I regularly start at season one and work my way through every school year, basketball game, relationship, fight and quote even though I’ve seen them all a hundred times before. Find out what else I blame OTH for here.

The next series to bring out my OSD tendency was Lost. I mean who wouldn’t want to be stranded on a desert island with Dr Jack and Swayer? Trying to figure out how it was all going to end boggled the mind but there I was at 4 o’clock in the morning  watching the final episode which went out on American time. Like hell was I going to Sky+ it and find out how it ended after everyone else! Which reminds me, I need to finish watching all the DVDs for ooooo, the seventh time? 

So far the last television series to really deserve my Obsessive Series Disorder is Criminal Minds. Never really one for American Crime shows this one just has something special. Google Matthew Gray Gubler and Shemar Moore if you don’t believe me. Thanks to this show I also harbour a secret wish to become a criminal profiler with the FBI. Well, you know, if this whole writing thing doesn’t work out. 

So there you have it. In answer to Company Magazines question I provide a resounding yes. These are series that caused my OSD.

Now that the nights are drawing in and there is soon to be a chill in the air what better time to go box set bonkers with a series you love? Curled up on the sofa with the fire on watching the shows you just cant get enough of. Sounds like a good autumn/winter pass time to me. 

What TV shows cause you to get all OSD? Girls, True Blood, Revenge? Gossip Girl, Sex and the City, Homeland? Downton, One Tree Hill, Lost? Let me know! Comment or tweet me to tell my why you love these shows and perhaps recommend a new series for me to get obsessed with, after all its going to be a long winter with nothing new to watch!

Right, I must dash, I’m making my way through Downton series three…

Jemm xoxo

Instagram Diary: Week In Pictures

 

1. Soap & Glory’s Sugar Crush body wash. It smells of lime! LIME!!

2.My Topshop T-Shit bargain. £20 in the sale.

3. This week I’ve been in a ‘I wish I was Megan Fox’ phase. And, when I say this week, read it as the past couple of years. 

4. Mamma Smith brought me this skull print scarf and popped it in a Audrey bag. She knows me so well.

5. Physio time. It nearly killed me this week.

6. My first Costa of the week didn’t happen until about Thursday. Not good enough.

7. Went to see Les Mis at the pictures. Best. Film. Ever. Now on a mission to see it on the West End.

8. Ok so a bag of chocolate Buttons might have happened while watching Les Mis. Might have.

9. Obsessed with this malt bread toastie loaf. Toast never tasted so good.

10. Random night time Monopoly, I beat Mamma Smith’s ass and laughed myself silly in the process. As you do.

11. Two beauty looks I love from the Feb issue of Company Magazine.

12. I umm-ed and ahh-ed over this Topshop dress but in the end it was a no. The material was way static, very annoying. 

13. Second Costa of the week was very satisfying in sub-zero temperatures. 

14.Couldn’t resist these frilly socks. I just like saying frilly socks. Frilly. Socks.

15. This is my last Topshop purchase for a while I SWEAR. Until next week.

Follow me on Instagram @ JemmFrances

Jemm xoxo

Instagram Diary: Week In Pictures

 

L-R

1. Finally upgraded my phone, long overdue. Hello shiny new iPhone 5 🙂

2. My fabulous new Topshop boots. Saw them. Tried them. Brought them.

3. The sparkly phone case I received for Christmas that now doesn’t fit thanks to my new iPhone 5 😦

4. Back to blogging, expect a new post tomorrow.

5. New galaxy print phone case. This one actually fits an iPhone 5. Happy days.

6. Mamma Smith surprised me with mint M&M’s. 

7. Yes, that’s right, I said MINT M&M’s!

8. Coffe & Walnut cake. My first ever tasting. It won’t be my last.

9. How cold has it turned? Everyone should should go to Costa and drink a latte to warm up.

10. Boots haul. Tangle Teezer Aqua Splash, VO5 Hot Oil & Miracle Concentrate, Real Techniques Lash Brow Groomer & Cosmo Mag

11. Every issue of Company Magazine since 2008. Time for a clear out? Nah.

12. New obsession with sweet potatoes and salad.

13. Black and white me.

14. Mamma Smith split the TV screen in two. Queue momentary panic before Corrie.

15. Latest nails. Black with pink glitter fade. Essie & Nails Inc.

16. Cinema time with the bestest. The Impossible is a brilliant film. Go see.

Find me on Instagram @ JemmFrances

Jemm xoxo

Week In Pictures

 

L-R: The first Jemm Frances Reads post The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton, New compact mirror from Debenhams, Sparkly door hook also from Debenhams, Vanilla Latte (Im branching out!), Bonfire toffee, Love this image of Cheryl in the latest issue of Glamour, A little collection of the Blogs I Love, Pretty blossoms, HUGE chocolate cheese cake topped with choc rolls Aero Snickers M&M’s Mars Bars and Rolos (I didn’t have any), Instead I had a choc muffin and ice cream, Watching some brilliant fireworks, Got in there early this year to make sure I got a good advent calendar you snooze you loose, Latest nails, Find the polish post here, A Christmas praline and cream latte, My #ReadItAndTweet recommendation in the latest Company Magazine, Proud poppy on this Remembrance Day.

Follow me on Instagram @JemmFrances

What have you been up to this week?

Jemm xoxo

Jemm Frances Reads…The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

If there is one thing that I love more than writing, it’s reading. From being a tiny little Matilda I have always appreciated the merits of getting lost in a good book. Curling up, shutting out the rest of the world and instead getting lost in someone else’s. 

I own far too many books for my bookcases to cope with and it was Company Magazine’s latest #ReadItAndTweet page that gave me this new posting idea. Why not review some of the many stories that have captured my imagination?

With this new series of Jemm Frances Reads… we can all discuss our fave reads one bookworm to another (I know I’m not the only one.)

I’m going to start it off with the last book I read, Kate Morton’s The Secret Keeper.

 

I’m so pleased that I have discovered Kate Morton’s books. This is her fourth novel and right from the first she has been a favourite of mine. Her books are easy to read and easy to get lost in, with characters and a mystery that draws you right in. Without a doubt her pervious offerings will be making an appearance in this particular posting series. 

The tale of The Secret Keeper opens on a sunny summers day in 1961. Sixteen year old Laurel Nicholson is sitting in the tree house dreaming of a boy called Billy and becoming an actress when she witnesses her fun loving mother commit a terrible crime. She will never speak of it again.

Fast forward to 2011. With her mother, Dorothy, nearing the end of her life and the repercussions of her crime echoing down the years, Laurel returns to the family farm knowing it is now or never if she ever hopes to get to the bottom of their family mystery and discover the reasons behind her mothers shocking actions in the summer of 1961.

The finding of an old photograph sparks Laurel’s search for answers and her mother’s reminiscences, which takes us back to wartime London at the heart of the Blitz. Here Dorothy’s life becomes linked with Jimmy, her wartime sweetheart, and Vivien, both friend and foe. When their three worlds collide the consequences are life altering, not only for them, but also for generations to come.

When Laurel finally uncovers her mother’s secret the truth is almost too astonishing to believe. 

I have been waiting in anticipation of this book for quite a while and it didn’t let me down. It really is a brilliant read.

The story may start a little slowly but it quickly picks up the pace, and as per usual the research Kate puts behind her books is meticulous, she recreates London in the 1930/40’s with perfect precision.

About three quarters of the way through the book you do question whether the mystery will be solved in time for the books end but everything comes together in the books final pages.

Do not try to guess the secrets or untangle the history of this family, like me, you will be proved wrong again and again. The amazing and totally unexpected twist at the end will see to that.

So whether you’re a newbie to KM books or already a fan, if you haven’t already got this and it sounds like your thing, pick it up. You won’t regret it.

Have you already read The Secret Keeper? Do you think you’ll be purchasing a copy? What are you reading at the moment? Comment in the box or send me a tweet (@JemmFrances) to get in on this bookworm business.

Jemm xoxo

 

Week In Pictures

Hello, sorry for being a little absent of late but I’ve been busy with work bits and pieces, so any spare time has been focused on that. As soon as I get a bit of time to blog I’ll get back to it asap.

L-R: Outifit: Tshirt H&M Skirt Primark, Bracelets, Lunch, Want to get a Cheryl fringe cut in the next time I go to the hairdressers, thoughts? Snap of me, Who remembers The Never Ending Story? New Topshop dress, Costa Vanilla Cooler, Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub, Mine and Mamma Smiths matching friendship bracelets, Pink Topshop shorts, Smoky Bacon crisps mmmm, New iPod arrived so the beat goes on, Soup in a cup, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, A little lacy number, Double shot skinny hazelnut latte, Outfit: Dress Topshop Belt ASOS, My dotty nails featured in August Company Magazine, A cheeky bun treat, Latest nail look: Rainbow Crackle, Favourite Miss Selfridge skirt, Two new pairs of Office sandals the best part being they were both in the sale! Eylure eyelash overload, I’m addicted to these Costa latte’s, My curly ends thanks to this unseasonable rain.

Follow me on Instagram: Jemm Frances

Jemm xoxo