SO, I'M STILL ALIVE...

...just taking a few months off from blogging.

It wasn't intended and I've been feeling SUPER guilty and all panicky about it, but the truth is I've just not been as interested in blogging recently.

Partly due to a mix of a particularly hectic period at work, trying to find a flat, some stupid boy drama and AMAZING sunny weather, the last thing I've felt like doing recently is sitting down to write about clothes and makeup... Which is WEIRD cos I freaking LOVE clothes and makeup!

So, yeah, without getting all One Tree Hill up in here, things have been up and down and sideways and I've just been feeling a little STRETCHED, and FFS accidentally took a bit of a backseat while I got on with my actual real life.

But I DO feel bad and that's because I genuinely enjoyed posting content I was happy with and INTO and getting involved in the wee blogging community I built up, and I'm sick of HARPING ON AND ON about how I never have time for blogging and starting every post with an apology for my absence... Something has to change!

SO, I'm going to approach this like I would a project at work and concentrate my efforts into an SHINY NEW RELAUNCH IN SEPTEMBER!

Give me another month or so to get my head back in the game, redesign the layout and fall back in love with it again and I'll be back, I promise.

In the meantime I'm still Tweeting away at @kirsty44SUNSETS and Gramming obsessively under that name too so you can hit me up there.

Catch ye in the Autumn :)

Dugs, pals, booze, birthdays, sunbathing, shopping, more booze, more shopping, boys, more sunbathing, more pals... You get the idea...

:)

INSTAMADNESS

Jings, feels like it's been a while since we just kicked back and caught up!

This week I turned 25. I KNOW. 25! Believe me, the giant ticker to 30 has started counting down inside my head already... Every day it's looming closer! It's a strange feeling - in some ways I feel old before my time (I enjoy an early night and hanging out with my cat more than is probably normal), but in so many others I still feel like a teenager. Recently I've been feeling VERY gawky, unsure and anxious in myself and my decisions. I thought I'd grown out of my horrible emotional/social awkwardness that plagued my late teens and early twenties, but it seems to have come back with a vengeance. I hope this is just a neurotic glitch brought on by turning one year older and not a hint at things to come... Hopefully by 30 I'll have figured it all out!

Besides having a mini mid-life crisis, I also caught the Lurgy and lost my voice completely for three whole days which was pretty inconvenient to say the least. Other than that things have been quiet. I half considered it, but in the end I bailed out of TITP cos I couldn't really be bothered with it and none of the acts bar Florence really caught my eye. I DID go and see The Amazing Spiderman (in the midst of my voicelessness I might add, which caused minor mortification on my part) which was EPIC, despite a few cheesy lines... Spidey: I've been bitten. Gwen: Me too... BOKE!

 Here's a few Instagram snaps from the past wee while...

Oscar holding my hand, nighttime face routine, Chris Kane Galaxy tee, the cocktails that brought on the Lurgy.

Lurgy-busting homemade soup, me as a blonde, 90s choons, me in Topshop today...

Boy London tee and headphones - what a douche, creepers that cause car accidents, Oscar lounging, my dress for birthday drinks this Sat

Couldn't resist a wee MAC Heavenly Creatures collection splurge, philosophy book from my paw for my bday, Alexander Wang Rocco which is pretty beat up now, birthday balloons :)

Double-bagging peppermint tea, @WeirdHorse takes on Call Me Maybe, early night, Jayne persuading me that ABC is a good idea...

This weekend, if the lurgy stays at bay, I'm heading out for some birthday drinks with my pals. It's going to be EXTREMELY weird without Kirsten there... I've really been missing her y'all. I guess that's pretty pathetic but there it is :( I also plan to spend more of my birthday money on makeup and skin goodies since apparently I'm now obsessed, and hopefully get a haircut because it's out of control.

OH, THE EXCITING LIFE I LEAD!

Also, enjoy Lykke Li covering Fleetwood MAc's Silver Springs. I've been obsessed with this tune for ages now and I can't WAIT for the tribute album - Just Tell Me That You Want Me - featuring MGMT, The Kills, Best Coast and The New Pornographers, to come out in August. I still think this'll be my favourite though. Can't get enough of her... And have you seen THIS?! PLAN.

UNITED COLOURS OF BENETTON

Here's a secret. Although I never shop there, I am actually a really big fan of Benetton.

When I was around 7 or 8 my most favourite jumper in the WHOLE WORLD was a bright yellow Benetton jumper with a pale blue seahorse and pink bubbles on the front. I swear, I used to wear that thing everywhere. In fact, every childhood birthday from the age of 6 was marked with a brand-new, garish Benetton jumper and I absolutely could NOT get enough of them.

While I was growing up and not particularly interested in fashion, only the singing Gap adverts and controversial Benetton ads under the direction of Oliviero Toscani really stuck out in my mind. Since his resignation in 2005 it's been a long time since I've seen any ad campaign that's had as much impact as 'Unhate.'

But yeah, Benetton rocks. Aaaanyway...

While the SS12 lookbook doesn't set out to shock or provoke, it is still remarkably pleasing to the eye, focusing on muliti-coloured basics and sticking to the the rulebook they pretty much created back in the 90s.

Loving that last Asian model SO much!

It's weird, I can only assume that Benetton must have a huge following in its native Italy or elsewhere in Europe because in the UK it's presence is virtually nil. The shop in Silverburn is always totally deserted which is a real shame because these are quality, fashion-forward essentials. The whole candy-coloured denim, bold prints and nude & neon trends are ones Benetton could easily get on board with, and yet I only rarely see the brand advertised in magazines.

Come on Benetton, time for an overhaul. Get your finger out!

LITTLE BLACK DRESS

Pretty unexciting post for y'all - sorry! Still working all hours at the moment and haven't had much of a chance to peruse the shops or get inspired recently.

But even I couldn't fail to notice that the weather has suddenly got a lot more spring-like these past few days which prompted me to pick up this little number...

 Black knitted slouchy dress from Boutique at Topshop

Picture it with bare legs, long silver necklaces and some black Ray Bans...

 Can't help but think this is the perfect thing to ease me into summer. It's casual and comfortable looking and I love the semi-sheer effect of the open knit. Hopefully this will come up as long and slouchy as it appears in the picture - Boutique stuff does tend to run slightly oversized, I've found.

PLEASE stay nice into the weekend so I actually have somewhere interesting to wear it other than the office, my car, Cessnock co-op and my house...

INSTAGRAM

How have I lived without Instagram all this time? I'm obsessed!

I have no idea what I'm doing of course - my photography skillz are much in line with my artistic skillz of any kind... TOTALLY GUFF. But still, it's fun trying out all the different effects and borders, and of course hoarding all the cute cat pics...

Dinner, Oscar, Makeup, Jenna, Oscar, Abigail's Party, Froggy jobby, Chapped lips, Clothes, Oscar, Maw, Exhaustion, Dress, Memories, Oscar, New lippy.

BOOM!

Come follow me... @kirsty44SUNSETS for more pictures of my cat, my face and my friends.

But mostly my cat.

DEVON AOKI (LUST)

Wowzers, can you spell B-U-S-Y! So many things have been going on in the last week or so! Managed to get my Masters portfolio done and handed in after a couple of major last minute changes (STRESS!) and also lined myself up some SAWEET job interviews!

One is located down near Southampton, and the other is for a magazine based in Glasgow. Positive thoughts for me bloggies! Good karma coming your way and all that... I'm really desperate to get my teeth into something new and the one down south in particular ticks ALL the boxes so keep 'em crossed!

Since my last yin, I've had loads of cool blogposts lined up but not had a spare minute to bash them out. This one's a bit of a cop-out but I hope y'all will appreciate the STUNNING images :)

Last week model and actress Devon Aoki (her from Sin City and Really Fast and Extremely Angry) turned 29. I took this as an opportunity to drool over some amazing photos of her. Slightly creepy? Maybe. Enjoy anyway:

Photos pinched from Google and Tumblr.

ALSO Blogger still being weird and fussy about letting me comment back, so appologies if I haven't been keeping up to date with commenting lately. I'm still there stalking! And HEY to my new followers. Love yeez.

x