Sublime Runs: Or Doesn’t Run

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So not long after catching the running bug  I am now suffering from my first sports injury. At first I was secretly a little bit proud, however not being able to run for the last 5 days, it has now morphed into being majorly pissed off.

When you start running, everyone says to get the right shoes. I knew this and did plan on getting some. However I wanted to make sure I was into running before shelling out £70 on the right gear. I guess this is the catch 22 of running. Last Saturday I did my first park run (a 5k run organised in loads of parks around the world) in my normal, old trainers. After it my ankle hurt. So I decided to invest in some proper shoes, I was desperate to try them out and so on Monday I ran for a further 5.5k. After that, my ankle swelled up and I found it difficult to walk. I’ve been wearing a support bandage ever since and I still can’t run.

I tried to go running today, got out the door and had to hobble back after 5 minutes. Angry and frustrated doesn’t begin to describe how I am feeling right now. In 2 months I am meant to be running a 10k race. I am determined to be better and ready in time. I have some serious training to do and I’m really worried about it now.

I know everyone says it, but it is advise worth listening to – if you want to run, get the right shoes before you start. Or you risk messing up you ankle like I have.

Fabulous Fashion with Ebay’s S/S Launch

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Last week I was delighted to be invited along to the launch of the eBay fashion spring summer collection. I am a total eBay girl – both a buyer and a seller. I love hunting a bargain, and then every so often I have a massive clear out and sell off all my old stuff to make room for the new. So, I was really interested to find out a bit more about their fashion offering.

Since I started to care more about ethical fashion eBay had been my saviour. I would say that currently about 50% of my clothes come from their online auctions – I think having the app on my phone is both the best and worst thing in the world because it means you always know when those ending times are! I love that you can search for specific items:  recently I really wanted a bright pink vintage lace dress, I typed it in and hundreds popped up. It is just the best and easiest way to shop ever.

I tend to buy mostly second hand clothes on eBay, both vintage and those high street purchases that just don’t fit right, but people don’t take back to the shop. I sort of knew also that many brands sell directly on eBay (often for a discounted price), I’d been lusting after a Biba dress a while back, but I didn’t realise quite how many – French Connection, Office, Boohoo to name just a few.

For the launch party we were invited along to a bar in Soho and let loose with a fab casual collection of high street, high-end and vintage pieces. Each blogger was asked to style an outfit and not only did we get to use the real clothes, we had a real life dress-up doll in the form of stunning model Chanie! It felt like best ever version of those paper dolls: the ones with the outfits on tabs that I loved so much as a child! Chanie was a great sport, taking on all of my slightly bossy instructions of exactly how I wanted her to hold the bag for her photos!

For lesson 101 in how to look short and fat look at me standing with her in this photo!

For me, fashion is all about creativity and a mix and match approach. I loved having the chance to put my outfit together and seeing how other people did such different things with the same collection. Weirdly I thought I would be agonising over my choice, but as soon as I saw the rail I knew what I wanted! I am really into my muted colours but this summer I’m loving a pop of neon. It was great to be able to experiment with a look that is a little bit different – which I think sums up perfectly what eBay is all about.

There was a bit of a competition (which I didn’t win unfortunately) but you can view on all the bloggers outfits here.

And, just for the record  my best ever eBay buy? Well, my boyfriend told me that he bought my engagement ring from an eBay seller (and TV jewellery expert) so, though not a purchase of mine, still my favourite.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever found on eBay?

Sublime Runs: Getting Started

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So…I’ve started running.

If you follow me on twitter you are probably well aware of this, as I’ve been tweeting about it constantly for the last week and a half! If you know me in real life you will probably be very surprised. Yes, this is me, the girl who came up with a million ingenious plans to get out of PE at school and who until about 6 months ago didn’t know a pair of trainers.

But I think I’ve caught the bug.

In the last quarter of last year I was going to the gym, I went very regularly for a couple of months but then moved jobs, and as the gym was near my old work I had to give it up. I got engaged, it was December – my birthday, Christmas, then new year and I got caught up in all of that and didn’t get back into the habit. However, I missed it and I want to do something. I need to get fitter, be healthy and look as bloody hot as possible when I get married in just over a year.

With the saving I’m doing for the wedding I can’t afford a gym membership, so I was thinking what i could do on the cheap to get some exercise. Inspired by a good friend who just ran the Brighton Marathon and Bangs and a Bun and her bad-ass team of girls – Bangs on the Run, I decided to get those trainers on and head out onto the pavement.

Starting is really hard. I though – ok, so what, I just go and run?! How the hell do I do that? I asked a load of questions on twitter and got some great advise. I was advised to download the Couch to 5K app for my iPhone, which is amazing. I would tell anyone starting out to get it. You can pay your music in the background and it guides you when to walk and run, slowly building up your stamina. Armed with Couch to 5K I felt much happier getting out there.

I did a week and a half of Couch to 5k and then decided I wasn’t sure it was stretching me enough. My fitness was ok before I think so maybe I can push myself a bit more. So I’ve now switched to the Nike + GPS app which tracks your distance and speed. I ran 1 mile and a half the other day. Not great in the grand scheme of things but a huge deal for me and I was really proud. I’m loving the sense of achievement, plus getting out into the open air after a day stuck in the office is a great feeling. Russell Square is my running area of choice.

Being either crazy or stupid (or both) a friend and I are going to go to a Park Run this weekend and attempt to do 5k. I’m pretty sure I will have to walk a fair bit of it!

In a possibly even stupider move, I’ve signed up for a 10k race in July. 10k is just over 6 miles. I can currently run a mile and a half before I feel like I might die! And I’m planning on doing a half marathon in October. Oh lord – what have I done!?

 

Sublime Cooks: Avocado Omelette and Asparagus, Lentils and Feta Salad

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Today has been a good day for food. I am back on the healthy eating wagon and feeling really good for it. I fell off quiet majorly recently and put most of the weight I’d lost back on – however I am very happy to announce that this week I’ve lost 3lb!I’ve also properly started running and am loving it, I’m going to post about that another time. For now – here some of what I’ve been eating today:

I started the day with a really delicious avocado omelette. It was really simple but super healthy and a great way to start the day.
I made a simple 2 egg omelette, just seasoned with a little salt and pepper (no water or milk added to the egg). In a separate bowl I mashed half an avocado with a little olive oil, a spring onion, some fresh dill (my favourite herb) and salt and pepper.
One the omelette was down I added the avocado mixture to the middle and flipped it over and served straight away with a lovely cup of tea. Some of the mixture fell out so I just put it on top (as you can see in the picture!)

For lunch I had a down of homemade lentil and chickpea soup, which I forgot to take photos of, so no recipe for that one!

Dinner was decided when I spotted some lovely English asparagus on a farmers market stall earlier for £1.50. I can’t ever resist good quality UK asparagus, I love that it is now in season!
I made a fried half a red onion and clove of garlic in olive oil then added dried puy lentils, then veg stock and boiled until the lentils were tender and the water was all absorbed. I mixed in a load of quartered cherry tomatoes and fresh dill, then salt and pepper. I griddled the asparagus (on my pride and joy – my le creuset cast iron griddle pan) in olive oil. I then served it – with a mixed salad (leaves, radishes and spring onion), then the lentil mixture with the asparagus on top and covered with crumbled feta, fresh dill and a drizzle of olive oil. It was really good!

An Aussie Catwalk Show

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I am a little late posting this, so apologies, but it was a great event so better late than never. Recently I was lucky enough to be invited to a catwalk show put on by the lovely people at Aussie. I am an Aussie Angel, and I always look forward to their events as they always do it so well – great things, great people and plenty of bubbly! Many of my best blogging pals I met though being an Aussie Angel so I always love it when we get to have a catch up.

This time we were treated to  fab catwalk show, with models showcasing a couple of fantastic Australian brands – Minkpink and Evil Twin. I have to admit that I hadn’t heard of either of them before. Of course all the outfits were accessories with super-shinny and stylish hair styles, created by the Aussie stylists. Everything was high-summer and fabulous. I just wish it was the weather for it (I’m currently feeling pretty fed up with the cold and the rain!)

I particularly loved this Evil Twin tan snakeskin cut out dress. After all this time I am still lusting after it, though I think it is now sold out :(

Beautiful Aussie Angel Reena also had a go on the catwalk – doesn’t she look gorgeous!

I wore my favourite claret velvet shorts – I always feel great in them!

Thanks Aussie, for (another) great day.

No Sweat Swap

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Do you love a good clothes swap – and a good cause? This Sunday some friends of mine are organising an amazing switching event to raise awareness for sustainable fashion.

It’s at the Shacklewell Arms, which is a lovely pub in Dalston
www.shacklewellarms.com

It kicks off at 1pm with a talk called Clothing with a Conscious with:
Lyla Patel, Head of Education at TRAID
Nadia Idle, Activism and Outreach Officer at War on Want
Anna Hesse, Sustainable Designer at Here Today, Here Tomorrow

Then at 2pm the swap will start and all day there will be workshops on how to knit and embroidery.

I have an entire spare room full of old clothes and no money to buy new ones so clothes swaps are perfect for me! I love a good rummage and at every clothes swap I’ve been too I’ve found some amazing treasures.

I will be there all day. It would be great to see some of you guys there!

You can see more info on their facebook page

Sublime Cooks: The Best of Spring

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Easter is a time for eating. And I don’t just mean chocolate eggs – I’m talking about all the exciting new produce of spring! As a vegetarian, roast lamb (the traditional Easter lunch) is off the menu, but there are a whole load of wonderful things that have just come into season.

I actually spent most of the weekend eating out or heating up supermarket soup and pizzas, I wasn’t really feeling the cooking bug. But after a couple of days off I totally got my mojo back and I went a bit spend-crazy in The People’s Supermarket when I saw all the great fresh produce they had in!

One of the highlights of my weekend was finding the entire set of Telegraph Supplements inside my Observer (alongside all the normal ones). I love Stella Magazine and it featured this great recipe – Purple Sprouting Brocoli with Jersey Royals, Quails Eggs and Caper Sauce. It was meant to come with an anchovy sauce, but I used capers instead (my favourite vegetarian substitute for anchovy as they give a great saltiness). I know the sauce isn’t the prettiest of things, but it tasted amazing so please forgive it!  The capers seemed to make a thicker sauce than in the image in the magazine – though maybe I used the wrong quantities – I’m not one for mesurements, I prefer to taste as I go along! The only other change i made was to use walnuts rather than pine nuts (as I have a stash from my mums tree). It was a perfect celebration of the light, fresh clean flavors of spring veg! And of course no Easter meal would be complete without eggs. Quails eggs are my favourite as they are just so pretty and feel so decadent!

For our main, I made a recipe from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi, my favourite cookbook – Asparagus with Green Lentils in a Watercress Sauce and Cheese. I was looking for something that used asparagus as I had just spotted my first bunch of English Asparagus on sale – always an event to be celebrated, and this one with blended watercress and lentils caught my eye. I used a hard English goats cheese instead of the pecorino he suggested as it fitted better with my English theme!I also displayed it slightly differently but other than that kept it exactly as suggested.

For desert – Easter eggs of course!

An Easter Egg Hunt

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I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. I really enjoyed my four days off and spent some quality time with my boyfriend. I spent the entire weekend doing lovely relaxing things, like getting a massage, going to the cinema, going swimming and having several glasses on wine in the pub!
On Saturday we decided to do some proper Easter activities – we visited Covent Garden to see all the eggs from the Big Egg Hunt, which were all being displayed in the Plaza. It was great to see them all together as I only saw one when they were dotted around London (though to be fair, I wasn’t really looking!). I love the big dippy egg and soldiers – much better than any chocolate egg in my book!

After that we visited the Notre Dame De France, a beautiful Catholic church just off Leicester Square (Next to the Prince Charles Theatre) to see the newly restored Jean Cocteau crucifixion mural. I am a huge Cocteau fan – he is one of those incredible people who was outstanding at everything he turned his hand too, art, poetry, film-making, playwriting, poetry. I had no idea he had done any work in churches, but I heard this mural being talked about on Radio 4. It was created in 1960s and took a week. It is very much in Cocteau’s signature style and it was wonderful to see it in such a atmospheric setting. If you are in central London I would definitely recommend you go and have a look.

We also came across this amazing little van driving round Covent Garden, with a mechanical teddy bear waving, bubbles blowing, music playing and the driving singing A Crazy Little Thing Called Love at full volume. Apparently he is a handyman. Might get him in to strip my walls.

I wore an outfit that I loved, though I didn’t really feel like me! It was totally not my usual style! For a girl whose staple is a little black dress, these coral chinos are about as far away as I could get! However They felt great and I actually loved wearing the bright colour. They were a gift from the lovely people at ESpirit when I visited the Bentall Centre a while back. The cut was super flattering and the fabric was gorgeous. I now want a pair in every colour!

Sublime Wears: Spring Fling

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A quick post with an outfit that I wore the other day. I’ve spoken a lot on the blog before about how I am rubbish at dressing in the spring – I tend to favor dark colours and leather and velvet. I have to dig really deep into my wardrobe to uncover the old summer clothes. These silk shorts were a firm favourite a couple of years ago. I have even worn them on the blog before (I just noticed I am also wearing the same blazer!)

It always annoys me when the press say celebrities are ‘recycling’ clothes by wearing them more than once. Kate Middleton gets it all the time – oh look, she’s worn the same coat twice! Its crazy, as if we are all meant to wear clothes once and then throw them away. I wish the glossy magazines would be a bit more normal about it – celebrities and even princesses are just normal people, of course they wear the same thing more than once!

This coral top was a gift from the lovey folk at Apricot. Expect it to feature heavily as it is my new favourite thing – he colour is so perfect and it is a great shape and super easy to wear. Its my new spring staple. Maybe I can get my head round summer clothes and colour after all!

 

Sublime Wears: Spring is in the Air!

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The sun is shining! I know everyone is saying it but I’m still finding it very exciting. It has been a truly beautiful weekend in London and I’ve been doing all those first warm weekend cliches – BBQ, beer gardens, walks along the canal – check, check and check!

I love the sunshine. I am happiest in temperatures of 30 degrees plus, although my pasty English skin can be misleading. I never tan and don’t look like a typical beach-bunny but nothing makes me happier that feeling the sun beating down on me. However I am awful at dressing for warmer weather – 90% of my wardrobe is black or velvet. At this time every spring I start to panic about what on earth I am going to wear for the coming months. For the last few years though the summers have been so bad it isn’t much of a problem – I am really hoping this year will be different.

This weekend I treated myself to a new dress from Joy – it felt really naughty as I am saving up for the wedding (and possibly found my dress this weekend!) but I just fell in love with the warm terracotta colour. I love that Joy stocks independent designers. The dress I bough was from Louche, who are a small London label, and was in the sale so was a total bargain. It was perfect for wearing in this lovely weather. I love the colour and cut.

I spent the day, trying on wedding dresses, having coffee with my maid of honor, then meeting up with my boyfriend, hanging out in the Guardian building for their open day, walking along the canal, reading the papers in lovely beer garden, eating BBQ veggie burgers and then finally heading to our local pub where a friend was DJing – a perfect (and quiet packed) Sunday!