stand by me;

 I have been utterly useless of late but I promise that is going to change. 

I have finally got into the routine of full time working life and have lots of lovely things to share with you. I am really enjoying working at Urban Outfitters and it is definitely the people that make it so good - thesweet discount definitely helps too. We had staff appreciation last week so I FINALLY bought the Crosley record player I have been fawning over for about a million years. 

 Work aside, my social life just got interesting too. I had a rare Saturday off, so Oliver and I

decided to go carbooting with his sister Alex.

 If you have never visited the car boot sale on York race course 

on a Saturday you are severely missing out, it was pretty much the best I've ever been to. 

I had to hold myself back on several impulse buys though next time i'd probably not have the same sort of will power -I bought the Dirty Dancing OST on vinyl for £1. 

Oliver had to buy a friend a birthday gift and picked out three items, 

a Star Wars toy, a cowboy hat made from animal hide and my favourite of the three, a signed Blazin' Squad photo (yes, you heard right). We were done and home by 12 so we made a picnic and headed out on a bike ride near his house. Pot holes are no ones friend, needless to say I have a very bruised bum. We decided to play with an old Super8 video camera of Ollies', the countryside was the perfect setting, though you only get around three minutes worth of film per roll but I am excited to see how it turns out. Oliver showed me the eighties classic "Stand By Me" that weekend too, it's such a brilliant
coming of age film, definitely a must-see if you haven't already.

Alex and Chris's puppy Blossom.

Thursday was my brothers twenty first and so we had a bbq party in his honor. There was a pinata, cocktails,and of course rainbow cake. Blythe and Oliver came over to keep 

me company and we had lots of fun playing on my beautiful bicycle.

I went out for coffee with my friend Claire after work and discovered the most 

amazing, oversized treats in Costa Coffee, and of course I had to sample them - I genuinely

don't think the Costa guy had ever known anyone be as excited about the giant biscuit as I was.

We recently held a surprise birthday dinner for one of my lovely friends Stephie down in Nottingham. 

I introduced her to one of my best friends Will in December and they've been together ever since, one of my 

fave. couples EVER.

Mama and I recently attended a 40's war weekend at a stately home near our house. We decided

to take a break from the tradition and fuss to look around the gardens and discovered this hidden beauty spot, I need a walled garden!

Finally, another car boot sale bargain, I found this vintage thermos flask for just 50p, isn't it a peach. 

I also managed to pick up several vintage childrens books to add to my collection for very little money too.

I love carboot sales.

Have a lovely Wednesday.

Sincerely, Alexa ♥ 

cause everyone's searching for treasure;

I've mentioned before about my home sweet home town being pretty 

amazing for thrifting. York has it's fair share of charity shops, and the majority are filled to the brim with treasures. My two current favourites are the Oxfam 

store which has an incredible vinyl section, vintage cameras

 and some great vintage childrens books.

The second is the Sue Ryder shop which has the most incredible vintage and retro section, full of dresses to die for, vinyl, home ware and sewing patterns a plenty. 

Here are my favourite thrifted treasures I have found (and brought home much to my mothers annoyance) recently.

Lovely collection of vintage childrens books I've been saving up for when
I have kiddo's to read them too. The illustrations in some of them are so beautiful.

 How amazing is this casserole dish? Isn't the floral print super sweet? It only cost £2.

Pastel coloured mixing bowls have been in my top 5 must have list for a little while now,
I found these powder blue bowls in Oxfam for £5, I cannot wait to use them when I'm baking.

Ice cream sundaes are my favourite, so when I stumbled on these little beauties I 

snapped them up straight away and they were four for just £2!

These two bird salt and pepper mills weren't thrifted, but they were an absolute steal, they were £5  from 

the Urban Outfitters January sale, and I cannot wait for them to take pride of place on my kitchen table. 

Another none-thrifted item, but Brionny and me discovered these floral patterned tumblers
in the 99p store opposite our work. At just 99p for four I just couldn't resist.

These super sweet sugary coloured bowls cost just 99 pence each, and they are pretty similar 
to the brightly coloured beauts they sell in Cath Kidston too. 

Finally this funny little plate was less than a pound. I aim to create a feature on my 

wall with sweetly illustrated plates, so far I've collected this, a nursery rhyme inspired tin plate from my child hood, a cath kidston tin plate and a couple designed and created by the Brionny from Fox Bunting. 

My tips for successful thrifting - 


1. Make sure you take lots of change - most thrift stores do not accept card payments.
2. Be patient and make sure you have plenty of time to rummage.
3. Don't waste your money on things you lust after on a whim - I used to do this so often, and now I am much more careful over what I buy, I just don't have the storage space. 
4. Don't be disheartened if one week you find nothing, but the week before you've found an absolute peach. This happens often, but there's always amazing new things appearing in these stores on a daily to weekly basis.
5. Give yourself a spending limit - this will help you be much more careful over what you purchase and will often help filter out the things you want on a whim but will regret later. 

What're you favourite thrifted pieces? Do you know of any amazing thrift stores I
should definitely take a peek at? Let me know.


Sincerely, Alexa ♥