Sweet as a peach

This glorious weather reminds me of childhood summer holidays. lazy mornings and extended evenings, going out to play hide and seek, eating icepops and having picnics. these assortments of 'friendship bracelets' being spotted on every wrist at fashion week are such a wonderful throwback to those carefree days. the juxtaposition of a tailored blazer and structured clutch along with a pick-a-mix of tangled strings and beads in an array of colours and textures, it's the dash of nonchalance every outfit needs.

Look through old trinket boxes and you'll be sure to find a collection of your own. pile them on, the more the merrier, and set off with an eye catching nail colour.

When i'm with you (i have fun)

Every year, coachella marks the start of festival season. the celeb-filled music fest always tops the style stakes, giving the rest of us inspiration for our own festival outfits in the coming summer. the reliable sunny days and long balmy evenings, along with limos awaiting to bring them to their 5 star hotels makes it easy for our famous counterparts to look impeccably 'boho chic' and fresh. Irish girls don't have it so easy. battling with the wind, rain and spending nights in stuffy tents doesn't produce that same chic look. wellys and anoraks have become the accepted uniform for oxegen and electric picnic.

But for now, let's pretend that alessandra ambrosio's summer-hippy look is perfectly achievable and practical. the flippy cream dress with the bohemian fringed scarf, the sun kissed skin and summer-inspired accessories. to me, this is dream festival dressing. check out the rest of the coachella style on justjared.com, also worthy of a mention are isabel lucas (in a tie dyed maxi) and kate bosworth.

There's a possiblity

How did two weeks pass in what feels like two minutes?

Study marathons infused with dashes of fun and games, not the worst lifestyle but doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging, or sleeping for that matter. highlight of my week, month (year?) waslykke li in tripod. to say i was blown away is an understatement. she is the most incredible performer, relaxed yet impossibly energetic, brimming with passion and talent and absolutely beautiful. she commanded the stage with such an ease, using nothing but a swinging black curtain and a pair of drumsticks as props for the spectacular show. the crowd were an awe. if you don't know who lykke li is, you should. immediately search 'i follow rivers' and 'little bit' on youtube. that's an order. and i will be back soon. that's a promise.

Wedding belles

British Vogue has definitely caught royal wedding fever in their may 'true romance' issue. for the first time, we have the choice between three covers and three of our favourite supermodels. lara stone, natalia vodianova and freja beha erichsen share the glory of may covergirl, shot by photographer extraordinaire mario testino. 

I'm unsure as to whether i love or hate having the choice of three covers. priding myself on owning every Vogue UK since 2007, i almost feel like i'm cheating by not possessing 2 out of the possible 3 covers. is that ridiculous? on the other hand, there are no doubts in my mind that i will be opting for freja's face over the other two belles. i'm not the biggest fan of lara and her facial expression in the shot really isn't appealing to me (those asymmetrical eyes just aren't aesthetically pleasing to me) natalia's cover is pretty, but freja is simply flawless. her ability to transform from androgynous to angelic really is astounding. for me, those delicate features and her wispy, flyaway hair epitomises the perfect 'wedding belle'

-Which one will you be picking?

Kickstarts

American Apparel Jeans. almost every day in work i get asked by customers 'do you do jeans?' to which i respond in an apologetic tone 'well, no, but we do have these great pleated pants that are so much better than jeans because......' so i'm delighted to see that soon, i can simply say 'why, yes we do. they're right over here...' the masters of basic clothing, AA have perfected the tshirt, the hoodie, the slim slack and the LBD, so i can only hope that their jeans fulfill all those customers' need for the perfect pair. i'll be first in line to buy the indigo wash ones, i'll keep you posted.

Feel our love

When mother's day and the momma's birthday fall in the same week, the pressure is on. it gets awfully difficult to think of the perfect presents to buy for your mom-cum-bessie-cum-councelor-cum shopping buddy for this double event. although my SuperMom and i have a lot (everything!) in common and share almost all the same interests, she's admirably modest and not demanding when it comes to accepting presents. 'oh i'd love a new pair of slippers' etc. after much discussion, we came up with a couple of things to make her day extra special! .. - tom ford perfume, oud wood. sickeningly expensive but the scent is second to none. - adele's new album, for my ipod as much as mom's. one of the few cd's we can agree on during those car journeys to dundrum! - sex and the city 2 dvd. again, more for me than the birthday girl. we saw it in the cinema together the week it came out and although it was undeniably silly, we loved it. i can't wait to watch it during the week and remind myself why i love patricia field. those outfits. - big bags of minstrels and maltesers, mom's favourites! cheap, cheerful and great for bulking up the present! ..Happy Mother's Day to all of you lovely Mommas out there.

True colours

Get real, topshop. nobody in their right mind will aspire to replicate this outfit. nobody will match hot pink tights with that.fair enough, you want to be seen as high fashion, but this is more fashion victim than anything. people go on style.com to check out the big bold trends of the season, and then they go totopshop.com to get the pared back wearable version. .. in seasons past, i've always felt that topshop are just that little bit superior to any of the other shops on the highstreet. i've always thought of them as the leaders of the highstreet, other shops following behind copying their ideas on styles, colour schemes and merchandising. this season, everything is somewhat different. topshop's clothes seem like cheaper copies of their neighbouring stores. zara and h&m, for instance, have proved real leaders this season bringing us cutting edge styles at very reasonable prices. zara's quality is streets ahead and h&m's prices are about half of what can be found in topshop. .. topshop used to be my go-to store when i needed my fill of what's new in fashion, and this season it's almost last on my list. its only redeeming feature is undoubtedly its shoe range, which constantly produces a huge selection of gorgeous, well made shoes. their boots are fantastic and i recently picked up a pair of leopard print slipper style flats which i am living in. i can't say the same about their clothes, although i'm living in hope that next season will be better. ..

Rebellion

I am, by no means, a film critic. the thought of me trying to review a movie when my favourites include 'the devil wears prada' and '500 days of summer' makes me cringe. .IIn saying that, i watched tom ford's 'a single man' the other night. colin firth was incredible, julianne moore followed close behind. but for me, the highlight of the film was 'lois.' an icy cool college student played by brazilian model aline weber, lois didn't have a speaking part in the film. words weren't needed to portray her character. impossibly chic dressed permanently in black, her beauty is radiant on the screen. .. watching lois made me want to retract every promise i have made to stop wearing black, change my anti-smoking policy, and dye my hair white-blonde. of course, none of these things are likely to happen and i will never have the chic nonchalance that this girl does. watch 'a single man.' as i said, i'm no film critic but it really is a masterpiece.