Urban walkabout...

Urban Walkabout is a free guide to the main tourist areas in London.  Originally starting in Australia they have begun to create an international series aiming to bring out a new guide every few months which can be posted to your door, downloaded as a pdf or picked up in information centres around London. The creators of Urban Walkabout support up and coming creative talent and uses contemporary illustrators on its covers.  

The London series contains guides for Soho, Marylebone, Shoreditch, Notting Hill, Farringdon and Angel/kings Cross.  The guides includes great finds in the area from places to eat and drink, unique boutiques, places to explore and handy hints about the area. Each guide contains a map which is detailed enough that you can find your way around easily but simple enough that it doesn't overcrowd you with unnecessary details.  All the places it mentions are lovingly colour coordinated and pinpointed on the map along with tube stops and buses.  

If you are travelling to Australia soon there are also guides available for Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth Brisbane, and Hobart.

Lx

Parisian book market

Whilst wandering back to our hotel one day of our trip we noticed a market place that said it was open the next day, so on saturday morning we headed down not knowing what to expect and it was incredible.  Firstly it was huge and all the stalls had such a wide range of old books, magazines, prints and posters. It was my ephemeral heaven.  I spent a lot but I did get a few bargains and I just think I would never get these things anywhere else and they are too beautiful to not get.  Although we didn't speak french all the stall owners were lovely and tried to speak to us in English and explain where things were from etc.
I love collecting ephemera like this, not only because of the history but they are often so beautifully designed, with amazing typography and handwriting.

I cannot wait till I have my own place so I can frame and display all these things properly!

Paris changes everything..

Last week I finally got to have a holiday after god knows how long and got to visit somewhere I've always wanted to go, Paris!  I can honestly say I had the most amazing time.  We were extremely lucky with the weather with temperatures of 26C everyday and only a few showers dotted throughout the weekend.  I studied French at school but grasping languages was never my strong point and sI barely remembered it, but whilst in France I was able to recognise words and knew a few basic phrases to get us through, it does make you feel like a very ignorant tourist though when most of them have a basic understanding of English. 
On the first day we went up the Eiffel Tower which looked beautiful with the rich blue skies. The queues weren't too bad but there are several bits you do have to queue at which was a bit long but totally worth it when you get to the top.  After that we went to dip our feet in the beautiful fountain behind the tower to cool down before getting soaked by the spray of the jets! 

The next day we visited the Louvre, if you ever go don't queue for the entrance in the Pyramid but walk towards the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and go down into the shopping centre where you can get in without queuing.  It was great to find out that because I am under 26 and live in the EU I got in for free!  The Louvre is absolutely beautiful.  It's huge and you need about 2 weeks to go round it and you will most definitely get lost, but there are just so many breathtaking ceilings, paintings and historical objects it is incredible.  On our last day we found a gorgeous book market which I shall do a separate blog post about and had a nice wander through the shops and aswell as visiting the tourist attractions we found a lot of great idea/ concept stores in which I wanted to purchase everything.   

I absolutely fell in love with Paris.  Not only does it have beautiful architecture and sights but just the general culture is so inviting.  There aren't loads of chain stores, everything is independently run and you have fresh fruit shops, bread shops and pattisieres instead of supermarkets.  They have a much healthier attitude towards food and where they get it from, and its much more friendly.  
The only thing I missed about London was the nightlife.  We did manage to find the 'trendy' area with lots of bars and people our age, but the majority of places close at 2am and there are very few nightclubs if you wanted a spontaneous night out.  Saying that the french have a much better attitude towards alcohol and you don't see people rolling on the floor, passed out and with their skirts pulled up because they don't enjoy getting 'Mortal' they like to drink and be social, something which has become a bit lost in England I feel.  
Aswell as visiting the tourist attractions we found a lot of great idea/ concept stores in which I wanted to purchase everything.

Frankie...

I always have been and always will be a magazine lover.  There is just something so nice about curling up of an evening with a beautifully designed magazine, printed on quality paper and filled with real people and real stories.  

I have long been aware of the Australian lifestyle magazine "frankie" but have only just begun to buy it and have fallen in love.  If you haven't had the pleasure of coming across it yet Frankie is a lifestyle magazine aimed at 20 somethings who want a bit more from their magazine. The beautiful matte pages are filled with design, art, writing, home, life, photography and craft, and give you something thats full of real life people and their stories yet doesn't take itself too seriously.

Now I love pouring over celebs and finding out who's dating who, but sometimes I need a bit more, I need some inspiration and to know that its okay to not know what I'm doing with life at 22.

Each issue comes with a beautifully illustrated pull out poster and is thick enough to last you till the next issue. It manages to have something for everybody, mixing great illustration and photography amongst its articles and is great to dip in and out of.  

I'm currently making my way though issue 60 and I haven't been disappointed.  The design is very clean filled with pastel patterns and easy to read typography.  

I can totally rate whilst Reading 'thanks but no thanks' by Caro Cooper.  I'm reminded that I'm not alone in this big 'ol world.  There are loads of people trying to 'make it' and find their way in the world, whether it be in the creative world or just the world in general.  Everyone faces rejection and questions like 'am I no good? should I just disappear?' often come to mind. But it's not all so bleak, things will work out if you believe they can and 'you'll be OK'.

Aswell as reassuring me that things will be ok I especially liked the Party directory.   Yes many of the things are based in Australia but who doesn't want to browse bakeries and confetti supplies to give the best party in town.  It's like a physical pinterest board of ideas and crafts and who does't want that.

So if you are after something funny, smart and inspirational or just want to gaze and beautiful designs pick up a copy of Frankie and you won't be disappointed.