Going for a run

Lovely day in Stirling, Stirling Castle

No, not a run as in a run around the park, or a run on a treadmill (however I did actually run on a treadmill for the first time in about two years his week)... Sideswerve! No, this is a run in the car.

Lately I've been feeling that my Saturday's have been waste days. Wasted in the sense that i haven't really done much on a Saturday for a while.

My Saturday's tend to go something like, wake, breakfast, drop the sister and nephews at football training, Insanity class at the gym, brunch at home, then... nothing much. There's the usual housework, food shopping etc but nothing of note. Then before you know it it's 6pm, time for dinner, Strictly and (let's be honest here) XFactor. Saturday? More like Saturdaze.

So, I thought to myself. I'll go for a run. So I did the first part of my Saturday routine, then shortly after lunch time, and a detour to my aunt's to find out he latest family mini crisis, I set off in the car in fairly decent weather and headed North.

First through Stirling and past the back end of Stirling Castle. What a great view. Then out towards Doune and Callendar then up through Crianlarich and I gave up at Tyndrum. The plan was to head to Glencoe with my camera and take a few wonderful shots to show you all here. The weather wasn't playing ball though and yes, at 3pm when I pulled into the Real Food Cafe at Tyndrum I knew I wasn't going any further.

It was windy and wet and pretty much no views to be had through some very low cloud so i grabbed a cup of tea and a slice of millionaire's shortbread, which by the way you'd need to be a millionaire to eat at £2.45 a slice! Kidding, but still a bit steap for a pretty underwhelming bit of chocolate shortbread. I sat there and ate half the cake and then set off back down the road. Which was a slow ass journey because lo and behold, just five miles into that journey, just past Crianlarich, I was stuck behind a police jeep escorting a huge ass aid load lorry with a crane on the back of it. ALL. THE. WAY. TO STIRLING. An hour and a half along wet winding roads behind this lorry. And because there were hills surrounding me the radio kept cutting out.

But the scenery was magnificent. Russet would be the colour I'd describe Scotland just now. Rusty coloured blankets covering the hillsides. Faded green trees lining the roads. And to set it all off a grey mist hanging in the air. Pretty perfect.

Don't you just love going for long drives? Where do you go?

Angela x

NYC: Central Park and Jeff Koons at the Whitney Museum

Back to my travels after a brief interlude...

Monday saw me wander through central park after a breakfast on the rooftop of the Refinery hotel with this AMAZING view. BOOM!!

I headed out into central park via a detour to 5th Avenue and back to the hotel to get a new camera battery. Fail. Hopping on and off the subway it didn't take me that long and I was soon into the relatively quiet city oasis that is Central Park. It was wonderfully calm apart from a few runners and cyclists and the odd street performer.

It was near lunchtime by the time I reached the Boathouse Restaurant and so I grabbed a burger and fries at their takeout bar at to the rear of the main building. It was okay. Not that great if i'm honest. Live and learn. Once I had refuelled I walked to the Bethesda Fountain area and then onto the Alice in Wonderland statue. All the while wandering, I kept thinking how can it be so quiet in the middle of this vibrant city? The trees were a welcome noise dampener as well as much need shade from the daytime sun. Although there were grey clouds in the air too. I hoped it wasn't going to be another tropical downpour since I was without a jacket!

I made my way onto Park Avenue and into the Whitney Museum. There was a small queue that only took about 10 minutes for me to reach the entrance. Once inside I FaceTimed home to update the folks on my days adventuring. Floor by floor I took in all that Jeff Koons has to offer through the decades. From the silver whacky decanters to the wonderful giant balloon dog on a higher floor. One of my favourite things was the giant bundle of coloured plasticine. I mean it wasn't really plasticine but it looked just like it (except it was about 10 feet tall). Then there was a giant helium like balloon on the wall. So real looking but made from highly polished metal. I had fun taking some selfies in which you can hardly see me. Then there were those where you could - in the giant coloured animal head shaped mirrors. So cool.

Jeff Koons split rocker head at the Rockefeller centre

Th Whitney Museum

Popeye!

plasticine - playdoh?

The museum was busy and I thoroughly enjoyed my few hours spent there. Bonuses being the Andy Warhol originals. Wowsers.

Andy Worhol

After that I headed back to hotel to freshen up and have a bite to eat. Then I headed out into the muggy New York evening for some gift shopping. The NBA shop for the boys, the Bose shop for me. The Hershey's chocolate shop for others. Times Square was lively as usual but it didn't stop me hanging around to soak it all in, on my last night.

Back at the hotel I was knackered and was sprawled out on the bed when - wah wah wah - the fire alarm went off. I wasn't sure what it was at first but soon realised. I grabbed by bag and phone and headed down the fire escape at the back. The strange thing was there was only me and another family from a room on our floor - either this hotel was empty just now or we were the only ones taking notice of the fire alarm. The fire escape took us out the back of the hotel, so we walked around the front where the doormen were in no panic and indeed let us into the lobby. A few minutes later the siren of the FDNY could be heard and in strolled 4 firemen in full uniform. It was like Chicago Fire, except in New York haha. A few guests were milling around in the lobby so we sat down. The security man made an announcement to say it was a false alarm but a few firemen went up in the lifts just to be sure. The others stayed in the lobby and were trying to reset the random alarm that kept going off. About 20 minutes past and everything was fine. We were allowed back to our rooms and the FDNY went on their way - not without some guests taking pictures though.

Back in my room it was now 11pm and I still had some packing to do. I did as much as I could and settled into bed watching the latest episode of The Leftovers. All in all, another brilliant day in New York city.

Angela x

Alexander Wang for H&M - my wishlist

I quite like this look, minus that beanie hat!

Tonight sees the launch of the much anticipated Alexander Wang for H&M collection in New York City. If there's one thing I love more than NYC, it's Alexander Wang clothes. It's a pity they're so expensive and I'm probably on the wrong side of height to weight ratio to be able to carry them off stylishly.

What I love about AW clothes are that they are sporty as well as being smart, and that's just my kind of style. Not to mention the bags. I love my dreamy grey leather Rocco bag.

When the newest H&M collaboration was announced back in April I marked the sate in my diary and booked a day off work so that I could 1) stake out the H&M store in Glasgow in the hope that i'm first in the queue and 2) so that whilst standing in that queue I can be on the world wide web ordering items that may not be in store. That is all assuming that the Glasgow store will be carrying the collection since my tiny local H&M in Stirling most likely won't be! (Boo).

The look book has been released this morning and I've already made my draft shopping list. It seems like women could make the crossover into the men's collection (if you like baggy clothes). I only hope H&M's website can cope better than it did last year when the Isabel Marant collection launched.

Here are my picks!

mesh jumper - £79.99

mesh top - (could be worn as dress) - £79.99

cropped sweatshirt - £34.99

crop top - £27.99

vest - £24.99

Images above courtesy of Vogue.co.uk, full gallery here

The accessories look great - those little keyrings, the duffel bag, a sports towel, and a backpack! I predict the backpacks will be the first to go. Image below courtesy of HM.com.

New gym bag?! Love this jumper too. I cannot get on board with that beanie hat though.

And... how good does Andy Carroll look in this picture!

What are your picks?

Angela x

The Good Stuff Of... September

September. That transitional month that's not quite autumn but the summer is still hanging around too.

New York
It started with me in New York - I'll finish those blog posts soon. There's still Central Park and the Jeff Koons at the Whitney Museum to show off. So, yeah, me in New York was a great thing of September. Check back later...

Music
I go through phases with music (as I do with most things in my life). I listen to music for months then not much for weeks. This month high in my playlist priority have been George Ezra (that voice!) with Blame It On Me. On repeat most days for me that song. Next up is Blame from Calvin Harris feat. John Newman. For me there is no one out there that can produce tune after tune like Calvin Harris. I still regularly listen to the 18 Months album. Plus he is ageing very nicely indeed. Hashtag HotScot. Other tunes very much in my ears are Zombie from Jamie T, Iron Sky from Paolo Nutini and All Of Me John Legend. What's in you ears this month?

New iPhone!
No Photo. You'll have seen one by now...
I can hear the android device people groaning from this far. But it had been three years since I had a new iPhone. I know, first world problems. However, I ordered it online and it was delivered by O2 on launch day. Within an hour i had it set up, number transferred and everything. I have to say, going from a 4S to a 6 is a big leap. Although the device is larger I cannot tell you the last time my 4S battery lasted more than 13 hours. In fact i don't think i ever did. On my 6 I have had a fe times this month that it has lasted me 1 day and 4 hours or more. I can tell this from the battery usage. I even think the novelty of having my battery at 5% and not flaking out on me will not wear off for a while. It's a revelation to me. The Phone itself is nice. I didn't opt for the larger 6 Plus device. It was a step too far for me. I made an actual cut out of the size and dimension of the two versions of the phone before i ordered it. The 6 barely fits in a pocket and the 6 Plus certainly wouldn't have fitted in my pockets. There's been talk about phone bending when you sit on them. Well, what donkey would put a £500 plus item in their pocket and sit on it? I mean really people, come on. Plus if you're wearing jeans that have pockets large enough to fit a 6Plus hen you should be having a word with yourself. I joke, but seriously! Anyway, so far i've got no complaints with the phone. I really love it. In depth review there, huh?

Vampire Diaries, The Originals, Netflix
I've expressed before how much I love Netflix, butler me just reiterate it. I LOVE NETFLIX. This month i've overdosed on the whole Series 1 of The Originals (the Vampire Diaries spin-off), then i went and started watching The Vampire Diaries from the beginning. Two weeks in and i'm on series 3. I'm really enjoying it. Binge watching is the way to go with programmes. Why wait a week when you can hit go on the next episode. Gotta be done.

Having said that I started watching The Leftovers when I was in New York and it had only just started when i came home so i've been watching that weekly on Sky. Not least because Christopher Ecclestone is in it, as well as Jennifer Aniston's absolute hunk of a man Justin Theroux. Dreamboat. The story is decent too. Haha, at the story being an afterthought! Jeez.

Le Labo body products
Oh Em Gee. Have you ever smelled a Le Labo product? In particular Santal 33? It is absolute heaven to the senses. I first used these products back in March when I first visited New York and they were the toiletries at the swish Refinery Hotel I stayed in. When I stayed this time I made sure I brought some products back with me. Shower gel, body lotion, shampoo, conditioner. They're only tiny bottles so I'm trying to ration them for special occasions but every now and again i'll just open the body lotion bottle and take in a huge giant sniff of that scent. It's warming, it's homely, it's masculine and feminine at the same time but most of all it reminds me of two fabulous trips to New York.

2014, what a mighty fine year you've been so far.

Angela x