New home and new beginnings...

Hello all! I have been so very quiet the last few months, I have finished my first year of uni, met some absolutely incredible friends and had a fair few messy nights out in between! To end a great year at uni came a big shock when my housemate of 4 years got an amazing job down in London so we parted ways, I am so proud of her but sad we don't share a home anymore. This did infact lead to me and Joseph finding our first amazing home (to rent) together a little sooner than we planned but guess what? IT'S PERFECT! I love coming home to this house, it has so much light and space, it has beautiful real wooden floors and big stone fireplaces. The kitchen is quite small but has pastel blue wooden slats around the whole room, which home my vintage milkshake glasses along the windowsill, I am still waiting to use them! 

I can't wait to add our own touch to the place! Here it is so far! 

The adventure to Birmingham to meet some lovely bloggers.

Since starting up this blogging adventure i have met so many lovely people along the way that i speak to on a daily basis. Three in particular. We then decided that we should meet in April in person. (I am a bit behind at the minute so bear with me)

 Originally it was me, Tori, Chloe and Paige that was going to travel to Birmingham and stay for two days but sadly because of uni commitments Paige couldn't come, which if she's reading this, was totally understandable! We booked a hotel and our trains for the 23rd, we literally booked all of this months before hand. The day finally arrived with my bag packed i headed to Leicester train station. Now i may be the only person to ever say this but i love travelling on trains, i genuinely love it. It's so exciting to see the world fly past, and all the rolling hills through the window.

I found Tori first. She was so easy to talk to in person, cliche as it is, it was like we had known each-other for years! When Chloe arrived it was exactly the same, we just chatted for ages about our journey and what we should do. The weather was gorgeous so it was on our side. We went and put our bags in the hotel then headed towards the Bullring. The Bullring can be terrifying at the weekends but midweek its pretty easy to get around. Its home to Selfridges, Forever 21 and a huge Topshop. I bought a lovely tote bag from Forever 21 that has a giant decorative 'M' print on it, so excited this was my first bloggers meet up purchase! After much pondering round for the day in the city centre we went back to the hotel and got ready to go out for the night. Poor Tori ended up bashing her toe, which then ended up with free breakfast the next day (thanks babe).

We decided to go the Mailbox for food and drinks, It's lovely there because its right next to the canal and was buzzing with atmosphere. We settled on going Pizza Express but had to wait for a table so after walking further down the canal we found a quaint bar. Books and fairy lights adorned the walls, we sat on rickety chairs and had a drink. Over dinner we managed to cram in everything about our lives, ups & downs and all the hilarious things that have happened over the years. We also demolished a whole bottle of wine.

Feeling fuzzy headed we went to Broad Street which is basically a row of bars and clubs. We got enticed into one place with a free bottle of bubbly rose, couldn't say it was that busy but enough that we danced around and unfortunately drank sambuca at the bar. Deciding to try somewhere else we went to a retro themed club. It was here we met a boy standing at the bar alone just carrying a book, it was confusing to say the least, we didn't really get why he was alone with a book at a bar in the middle of Birmingham. Walking back to the hotel when the night ended we walked past the Mailbox security and cleaners, now in my drunk state deciding that jumping onto the mechanical street cleaning device was a great idea, i started cleaning the pavement, to say the least we all thought it was hilarious.

The next day feeling slightly groggy we traveled down to the vintage shop COW and the Custard factory. Its an amazing place for clothes, art and cake. Chloe found some rings for a shoot in Cow, we then got hungry for coffee and cake. I had red velvet cake for the first time and it was amazing! I bought coffee and some 'curiosity cola' as well. Wondering around we found a vintage style salon with a girl who looked like Bettie Paige styling hair, i got my hair victory rolled and bought an amazing black block eyeliner and brush.

It was nearing the end of our trip together, after i was getting so used to being around these lovely girls i realized i had to go home soon. We looked round Selfridges and had some urban pie lunch then headed to the station. My train was due first. I said goodbye and it was really sad because they are such lovely people to be around. Boarded my train and headed home. My boyfriend picked me up from the station and i didn't stop talking about how funny and wonderful my trip was. It didn't matter how nervous i was beforehand as soon as i met them i had the most amazing time and have made some serious friends for life.

Thank you Chloe & Tori for being so lovely.

 Hope we do it all again soon.
♥


P.S I have been super bad recently and not posted for ages! I really need to write while I'm out and about then edit after. Please have patience with me, i'll get into the swing of it eventually! 

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”

The weather has been so freakin' wonderful lately! Spring is finally here! This makes me so happy its unbelievable! I have put together a little outfit that would show my appreciation of what can only be described, as a miracle. It's all clothes that I've had hidden away. This winter has lasted five months so they've just been gathering dust. It feels so nice to not have to layer and wear a coat just to keep warm.

♥

Lilac shirt: Burton (Men's) 

Floral skirt: H&M 

Tan T-bar Shoes: Vintage 

Tan belt: Primark
Gold bird necklace: Primark

♥

Soon i'll be out riding Daisy (below) in no time! I love this time of year, everything is so fresh and it's the best time for clothing, warm enough to wear a skirt with no tights (YAY) but not too hot to miss out wearing a nice knitted cardi! There are some truly beautiful parks around Leicester that I'll be riding to, one of them even has a small lake with pedalo's.

Dining room windowsill.

Love Madison
♥

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

Okay so there are a few white lies in this quote. I am certainly not or ever been to Kansas and i sadly don't have a lovely cute dog like Toto for a pet. But i love the symbolism behind this. I moved to Leicester three years ago and had never quite settled, i have moved five times since being here and have always been on edge. I was lucky to have found such a beautiful home with my best friend Stephanie. We have been here for nearly a year now and it's usually around this time that we need to be packing up and moving on to a new place. Luckily this time round, we don't have to! It's finally becoming home to me. After moving the third time i really did detest trying to make my room personal and cosy because i saw no point. Alas i have now started putting my mark on the house, slowly but surely its getting there. 

My room is fairly small but i like it that way, my things adorn the walls, i have a bookcase full of jewelry pots, patterned boxes and my Cath Kidston sewing box, which is my pride and joy. I have floral and heart shaped bunting that lines two of the walls, I'm not usually a poster type of person, i am very particular about posters as they have a tendency to become tattered. The posters i do have are simple and quaint. Two of which are actually sheets of wrapping paper from the V&A (shhh). The one above my headboard is my favorite, it's of the art-deco Absinthe girl.The other is one of those cliche 'Keep calm' Pastel pink and has the phrase '...and eat a cupcake.' PERFECT for my mentality at times! My bed was from a second hand shop, a swirled black metal frame with fairy lights wrapped around the posts.

My room is very girly and cluttered, i really wouldn't have it any other way. Still working on making my garden lovely for summer so hopefully it'll be nice enough to do a post about.

 Sorry I've been so neglectful recently, been mad busy with my uni application and work at the bar. Looking forward to my blog meet up with Tori, Paige and Chloe in Birmingham! Hopefully the sun will be shining and the trains will be on time! 

Thanks for reading, 
love Madison

♥

Wait Mr Postman, is that for me?

After the most horrendous day of work with a very sniffley cold indeed, i walked home with a heavy heart, all that was waiting at home for me was a tin of Heinz and bad television. My boyfriend has a week of early starts so he's staying at his. My house-mate is working nights at her bar so I wont be seeing her till next week sometime. With this all in mind i put the key in the front door and went inside. Right in front of me was a HUGE package addressed to me. As i unwrapped it, i became overwhelmed. My STUNNING friend Paige Joanna Calvert had sent me the jumper i bought from her Ebay. Not only was the jumper amazing but she had also thrown in a delicate pastel blue shirt with an embroidered collar. As if that wasn't enough, i also discovered a lovely turquoise stone skull bracelet. 

 ♥

I delved deeper into the parcel bag and there was a card.

 It read 'Madison' with 'SWALK' written underneath.

(For those who don't know what this means, it is 'Sealed with a loving kiss'.)

After reading her lovely little card, I noticed there was another card in the envelope, it was a print of one of her brilliant illustrations. 
One of my favourites!

 ♥

It's amazing what little gestures can do to change so much about my miserable mood and my generally down-beat-ness of this week. It's a beautiful and incredibly generous thing to do for someone. I was a little overwhelmed by it all to be honest. 
  Made me all warm inside.

To see other beautiful illustrations by my friend Paige, you can visit her on:

www.paigejoanna.blogspot.co.uk

www.paigecalvert1.tumblr.com

www.facebook.com/PaigeJoannaIllustration

She also has a online store where you can buy these lovely prints & things from...

www.etsy.com/shop/paigecalvert1

And finally...

Thank you so much Paige for the wonderful bundle. It was amazing. Please keep a look out for the post-man, I'm sure there will be something on its way to you soon...

You wonderful little person, you.

♥