Spellbound #1
Ladies and gents, roll up for another magnificent new idea from the mind of moi! Yes, this post is the first of (hopefully) many in a series going by the name of (as you already know from reading the title): Spellbound *ooooooh*
At its root, this is not exactly an entirely new idea, but it's also not exactly the same as its contemporaries. I shall explain.
'Favourites' seems to be one of the most popular things out there, with masses of blog posts and YouTube videos alike filling the interwebs as people share their favourite products, often at the end of each month.
This series is similar except for the fact that I don't really buy things very often... When I do, it tends to be a bigger purchase that I have thoroughly researched (seriously, THOROUGHLY researched), thought about extensively, and saved up for. Therefore there are not a great many physical products that I can talk about and recommend in the way that most people do in their favourites blog posts/videos/thought sharings.
Here, instead, are things I am spellbound by. When looking for a name for this series, I wanted something similar to 'earworm' (a song you can't get out of your head) but for more than music. I tweeted Susie Dent (and she replied!!! #fame) for advice but still couldn't get quite the right idea, until I chanced upon 'spellbound'.
You can be spellbound by physical things, whether or not you own them. You can also be spellbound by ideas. You can be spellbound by people, places, music, shops, organisations, theories about life - absolutely anything at all.
So without further ado, and in no particular order, let's get into episode one of Spellbound.
1. Street Box
This is a Thai takeaway (with some very snug seating) just a hop, skip and jump away from me and I couldn't be happier about it. I mentioned it in my review of Edinburgh Foodies Festival, and shall repeat it here: the staff are wonderful and the food truly glorious. I recommend the Pad Num Prig Prow with tofu, and a side of sticky rice (but then I always recommend sticky rice).
2. Gillian Cosgriff
If you like Tim Minchin and have a dry sense of humour, you will love Gillian Cosgriff. She very kindly invited me to her show at the beginning of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and I cannot sing her praises highly enough (although she could easily sing them better - go see her for her voice, if not for the comedy). Music + a very quick wit = winning combo. Plus she sells really cool wee badges too.
3. Broste Copenhagen
Interiors, homeware and kitchen stuff, but really, fantastically gorgeous. I'm already sold on anything that comes from Scandinavia (don't even get me started on fika and hygge) but these go above and beyond. I'm in Scandi, crockery love.
4. Curiouser and Curiouser
One of my most favourite Edinburgh shops, this one conveniently happens to sell some Broste stuff. So far, my favourite purchase from Curiouser and Curiouser is a giant print of Emily Mackenzie's 50 Shades of Scotland artwork, which has actually been painted in humongous form directly onto the windows of their Broughton Street shop. If you're a fan of Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters (same company, #funfact) then you will adore this place. They also have a shop in Bruntsfield, and you can buy things online... goodbye dolla.
5. Chrissy Teigen's Twitter
This may seem an odd one, but I love Chrissy Teigen's Twitter - specifically, how lighthearted and normal she is with it. Anyone who can poke fun at themselves AND talk about serious things AND honestly answer the until-now-unanswered questions about celeb-hood AND have a bestselling cookery book that looks really quite fantastic seems like a good egg to me.
6. Garmin Vívosmart HR+
Ah, my fitness/activity tracking watch - a prime example of incredibly thorough researching prior to spending a not insignificant sum. I was jammy enough to get mine half price thanks to a partnership ~thing~ with my (former, *sad sad*) employers, but I do still recommend this, pricetag and all. It tracks your steps, floors climbed, heart rate, sleep, workouts, GPS and more; it pairs with your phone to give you your notifications; it tells you the weather forecast; it acts as an alarm clock... oh, and it tells you the date and time. Win. (You would not believe how many articles I read comparing all the activity trackers currently on the market, and ones specifically evaluating this one on its own. This was an extremely informed decision.)
One thing I would say about this watch is that it is quite large. Being rectangular rather than square, it's narrower than the Apple watch (and cheaper by a landslide), but it sits a bit taller on the wrist due to having a built-in heart rate monitor. It works perfectly for me since my wrists, although small, are quite.. flat. As in, where a rounder (but narrower from above) wrist might be a chocolate finger, mine would be more of a bourbon. If that makes any sense at all. Basically, if you have very small wrists which happen to also be flat, you'll be fine. If you have very small wrists that are more cylindrical, you may want to try it on first.
7. manifestation and the Law of Attraction
This is something that I find myself going on about to anyone who will listen. It's just SO INTERESTING. There's way too much to it for a wee paragraph (may do a full post on it at some point soonish...) but essentially, it's an approach to life that both depends on and cultivates positivity, ambition, big-dreaming and success. The articles linked above are a great introduction, and I can highly recommend searching YouTube for people's stories about the Law of Attraction working for them. It's kind of mind-blowing. And REALLY, REALLY COOL.
8. coffee table books
Coffee table books - the kind that you can browse for hours, endlessly, not just in Waterstones (where they are generally displayed on tables - yeah, those books), but also places like Anthropologie, the aforementioned Curiouser and Curiouser, another nearby homey shop that I flipping love - Homer - and various other places that are just nice to be in. Example uno is the unexpectedly-bestselling (non-fiction book of the year 2016!) Norwegian Wood book that I knew was perfect for Dad the second I saw it, and is just one of many that are perfectly acceptable to leave lying around. I could not be more of a fan of books (and lately fancy lifestyle/interior/fashion magazine-book hybrids) becoming interior decorating props in their own right. Especially Scandi ones (may do a whole post on these...).
9. KeepCup
Hello, person-who-cares-enthusiastically-and-often-a-little-too-emotionally-about-the-universe alert. It seems to be a running joke in my family that I constantly have about ten million causes on the go, so I may as well play to it and keep singing the praises of the KeepCup. There are quite a few reusable coffee cups available now, (Starbucks even have their own, although it's only reusable to a point (specifically 30 uses, according to Starbucks - still 30 fewer disposable cups though!)), but after investigation the KeepCup does seem to be one of the most readily available as well as the cheapest. Although these cups aren't super cheap, the potential environmental benefit (providing you actually use it!) is huge AND cafés all over the place now offer discounts on drinks if you use your own cup. Plus the glass ones look amazing.
10. The Great British Bake Off
The season of extreme Britishness is upon us - it's Bake Off time!!! (aka the very best time.) This is when the nation comes together as one in cake/bread/pastry/etc-induced stress, and an adoration of national treasure, Mezza Bezza. (That's Mary Berry, for those who don't know.) As if the second-hand angst from vicariously baking the most extravagant creations known to man (no exaggeration) wasn't enough, I have now set myself the challenge of mastering at least one bake from each week. I haven't done a cake week recipe yet, but can cheerfully report that Mary Berry's Viennese whirl recipe was a big success for moi this week! Bring on the bread.
And so concludes Spellbound #1! I do hope you enjoyed, partly because I just do and partly because I like this as a series and want to do more. So. There you go. Ciao!
*Disclaimer: some of these are affiliate links, but don't worry - clicking on them won't secretly charge you millions of pounds and turn you into a back page tragedy of a tabloid newspaper; they just help me a lil bit without taking anything from you.
 |
| Norwegian Wood book | Broste Copenhagen | Cravings | Garmin Vívosmart HR+ | KeepCup Brew |
'Favourites' seems to be one of the most popular things out there, with masses of blog posts and YouTube videos alike filling the interwebs as people share their favourite products, often at the end of each month.
This series is similar except for the fact that I don't really buy things very often... When I do, it tends to be a bigger purchase that I have thoroughly researched (seriously, THOROUGHLY researched), thought about extensively, and saved up for. Therefore there are not a great many physical products that I can talk about and recommend in the way that most people do in their favourites blog posts/videos/thought sharings.
Here, instead, are things I am spellbound by. When looking for a name for this series, I wanted something similar to 'earworm' (a song you can't get out of your head) but for more than music. I tweeted Susie Dent (and she replied!!! #fame) for advice but still couldn't get quite the right idea, until I chanced upon 'spellbound'.
You can be spellbound by physical things, whether or not you own them. You can also be spellbound by ideas. You can be spellbound by people, places, music, shops, organisations, theories about life - absolutely anything at all.
So without further ado, and in no particular order, let's get into episode one of Spellbound.
1. Street Box
This is a Thai takeaway (with some very snug seating) just a hop, skip and jump away from me and I couldn't be happier about it. I mentioned it in my review of Edinburgh Foodies Festival, and shall repeat it here: the staff are wonderful and the food truly glorious. I recommend the Pad Num Prig Prow with tofu, and a side of sticky rice (but then I always recommend sticky rice).
2. Gillian Cosgriff
If you like Tim Minchin and have a dry sense of humour, you will love Gillian Cosgriff. She very kindly invited me to her show at the beginning of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and I cannot sing her praises highly enough (although she could easily sing them better - go see her for her voice, if not for the comedy). Music + a very quick wit = winning combo. Plus she sells really cool wee badges too.
3. Broste Copenhagen
Interiors, homeware and kitchen stuff, but really, fantastically gorgeous. I'm already sold on anything that comes from Scandinavia (don't even get me started on fika and hygge) but these go above and beyond. I'm in Scandi, crockery love.
4. Curiouser and Curiouser
One of my most favourite Edinburgh shops, this one conveniently happens to sell some Broste stuff. So far, my favourite purchase from Curiouser and Curiouser is a giant print of Emily Mackenzie's 50 Shades of Scotland artwork, which has actually been painted in humongous form directly onto the windows of their Broughton Street shop. If you're a fan of Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters (same company, #funfact) then you will adore this place. They also have a shop in Bruntsfield, and you can buy things online... goodbye dolla.
5. Chrissy Teigen's Twitter
This may seem an odd one, but I love Chrissy Teigen's Twitter - specifically, how lighthearted and normal she is with it. Anyone who can poke fun at themselves AND talk about serious things AND honestly answer the until-now-unanswered questions about celeb-hood AND have a bestselling cookery book that looks really quite fantastic seems like a good egg to me.
6. Garmin Vívosmart HR+
Ah, my fitness/activity tracking watch - a prime example of incredibly thorough researching prior to spending a not insignificant sum. I was jammy enough to get mine half price thanks to a partnership ~thing~ with my (former, *sad sad*) employers, but I do still recommend this, pricetag and all. It tracks your steps, floors climbed, heart rate, sleep, workouts, GPS and more; it pairs with your phone to give you your notifications; it tells you the weather forecast; it acts as an alarm clock... oh, and it tells you the date and time. Win. (You would not believe how many articles I read comparing all the activity trackers currently on the market, and ones specifically evaluating this one on its own. This was an extremely informed decision.)
One thing I would say about this watch is that it is quite large. Being rectangular rather than square, it's narrower than the Apple watch (and cheaper by a landslide), but it sits a bit taller on the wrist due to having a built-in heart rate monitor. It works perfectly for me since my wrists, although small, are quite.. flat. As in, where a rounder (but narrower from above) wrist might be a chocolate finger, mine would be more of a bourbon. If that makes any sense at all. Basically, if you have very small wrists which happen to also be flat, you'll be fine. If you have very small wrists that are more cylindrical, you may want to try it on first.
7. manifestation and the Law of Attraction
This is something that I find myself going on about to anyone who will listen. It's just SO INTERESTING. There's way too much to it for a wee paragraph (may do a full post on it at some point soonish...) but essentially, it's an approach to life that both depends on and cultivates positivity, ambition, big-dreaming and success. The articles linked above are a great introduction, and I can highly recommend searching YouTube for people's stories about the Law of Attraction working for them. It's kind of mind-blowing. And REALLY, REALLY COOL.
8. coffee table books
Coffee table books - the kind that you can browse for hours, endlessly, not just in Waterstones (where they are generally displayed on tables - yeah, those books), but also places like Anthropologie, the aforementioned Curiouser and Curiouser, another nearby homey shop that I flipping love - Homer - and various other places that are just nice to be in. Example uno is the unexpectedly-bestselling (non-fiction book of the year 2016!) Norwegian Wood book that I knew was perfect for Dad the second I saw it, and is just one of many that are perfectly acceptable to leave lying around. I could not be more of a fan of books (and lately fancy lifestyle/interior/fashion magazine-book hybrids) becoming interior decorating props in their own right. Especially Scandi ones (may do a whole post on these...).
9. KeepCup
Hello, person-who-cares-enthusiastically-and-often-a-little-too-emotionally-about-the-universe alert. It seems to be a running joke in my family that I constantly have about ten million causes on the go, so I may as well play to it and keep singing the praises of the KeepCup. There are quite a few reusable coffee cups available now, (Starbucks even have their own, although it's only reusable to a point (specifically 30 uses, according to Starbucks - still 30 fewer disposable cups though!)), but after investigation the KeepCup does seem to be one of the most readily available as well as the cheapest. Although these cups aren't super cheap, the potential environmental benefit (providing you actually use it!) is huge AND cafés all over the place now offer discounts on drinks if you use your own cup. Plus the glass ones look amazing.
10. The Great British Bake Off
The season of extreme Britishness is upon us - it's Bake Off time!!! (aka the very best time.) This is when the nation comes together as one in cake/bread/pastry/etc-induced stress, and an adoration of national treasure, Mezza Bezza. (That's Mary Berry, for those who don't know.) As if the second-hand angst from vicariously baking the most extravagant creations known to man (no exaggeration) wasn't enough, I have now set myself the challenge of mastering at least one bake from each week. I haven't done a cake week recipe yet, but can cheerfully report that Mary Berry's Viennese whirl recipe was a big success for moi this week! Bring on the bread.
And so concludes Spellbound #1! I do hope you enjoyed, partly because I just do and partly because I like this as a series and want to do more. So. There you go. Ciao!
*Disclaimer: some of these are affiliate links, but don't worry - clicking on them won't secretly charge you millions of pounds and turn you into a back page tragedy of a tabloid newspaper; they just help me a lil bit without taking anything from you.
ooo i'm obsessed with this series now! what a glorious name for it - wish i'd thought of it myself!
ReplyDeleteStreet Box picnic for our next reunion? ;) oh and I didn't realise my Starbucks keep cup has an expiration date... but it also saves me hassle (AND 25p) because I wrote my own name on it in sharpie!
Thank you! Absolutely, Street Box is beyond wonderful. I've been meaning to name my KeepCup, but hadn't thought of it cutting down Starbucks name confusion - excellent plan!
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