The Lawn for a #PicnicAtTheTower

Hello everyone!

So today is a slightly different post as I want to tell you all about this lovely picnic that I attended on The Lawn at The Tower Hotel a couple of weeks ago. A big group of bloggers were invited to have an evening tea on The Lawn, which is a literal green space in front of the Tower Hotel that borders the Thames and looks on to Tower Bridge. It has a spectacular view and a lovely ambiance, with groovy music playing and fun "yard sized" games to play.

It really was beautiful to watch the sun set - look at that sky!

Hollie from PrettyBigButterflies and I went together and after one (or two) cheeky glasses of deliciously fruity Pimms, we headed straight for the mega Jenga where we played a heated game that went on for much longer than everyone expected.

Once we finally settled down, we enjoyed the view whilst testing out all the goodies in our picnic box. We had a selection of small sandwiches, fruit, Innocent juice and of course dessert! They had options for vegetarians and other types of foodies too!

The Lawn would be an amazing place to have a party after work or take friends who are visiting London or even to celebrate your birthday! It's in the heart of London and has some amazing views - not to mention you can sit and watch the sun go down whilst enjoying the outdoor bar and passing people.

Check out this lush lawn against my orange shoes!

Here Hollie and I are enjoying our delicious cocktails all in blue - we don't coordinate on purpose - it just happens.

The Tower hotel is part of the Guoman hotel group and is really a one of a kind spot to stay in London as there aren't many hotels around the same area and certainly none that can offer the views and proximity to sights like Tower Bridge and the Tower of London too! 

I had so much fun at the picnic and will definitely be heading back to the Lawn again soon!

The Tower St Katharine’s Way London E1W 1LD Phone: 0871 376 9036 / +44 845 305 8335

#FrenchCurves - Birthday Bikini Surprise!

Hooray,  and happy 2nd birthday to the French Curves challenge!

To celebrate this exciting month, we, the French Curvettes have done two posts!

The theme for the second challenge is Bikini Surprise and I am so happy that I took lots of photos of my bikinis on my holiday in Turkey.

This is my favourite set of photos and they were taken at a water park just outside the town of Fethiye.

Hourra, et joyeux anniversaire aux challenge French Curves!

Pour célébrer ce mois spéciale nous, les French Curvettes avons écrit deux postes!

Le thème de la deuxième poste est "Bikini Surprise" et je suis si heureux que j'au pu prendre beaucoup de photos de mes bikinis sur mes vacances en Turquie.

There are my favourite bikini photos and they were taken at a water park just outside of Fethiye.

I rode the waterslides with Steven, my fiance, all day and swam in the pool and it felt great!

Ces photos ont été pris a un water park juste à l'extérieur de la ville de Fethiye.

J'ai montais les toboggans avec Steven, mon fiancé, toute la journée et on a nagé dans la piscine et c'était formidable.

This bikini is from Forever21 and it is almost perfection. I love the colours and the pattern, and the fit is great too. I wish it had better support in the bust, but sometimes you can't have everything.

I am so excited to see what everyone else's posts look like and too see all the beautiful curvette's in bikinis!

Ce bikini vient de Forever21 et il est presque parfait. J'aime les couleurs et les motifs, et la taille convient bien. Je voudrais qu'il avait un meilleur soutien dans le buste, mais parfois vous ne pouvez pas tout avoir.

Je suis tellement excité de voir toutes les French Curvettes en bikini! 

Congratulations to our beautiful and amazing challenge creator, Gaelle from The Curvy and Curly Closet, you are an inspiration! 

And thank you to all the wonderful participants in the challenge for sharing, reading and letting me a part of your wonderful community!

Here's to another great year!

Félicitations à notre belle et magnifique créatrice du challenge, Gaelle de The Curvy and Curly Closet, vous êtes une source d'inspiration!

Et merci à tous les participantes du challenge qui continue a partager, lire et m'inclure dans votre merveilleuse communauté!

Voici une  nouvelle année super!

French Curves: Facebook/ Instagram/ Twitter

ToodalooKatie: Facebook/ Instagram/ Twitter

Shop this post:

Body Positive Dance is For Everyone!

Good morning everyone!
I hope you had an amazing weekend full of sunshine - London was beautiful and I took full advantage! Today I wanted to do a little post about something amazing that I did on the weekend - I attended a Body Positive Dance class run by the amazing Ashleigh Owen, who I saw perform at the British Plus Size Awards last year.  I have to share this experience with you because it's one that I think every person, regardless of their size should have.

It's hard to explain what it's like to stand in a room full of beautiful people who have shown up simply to move and express themselves through dance and to encourage everyone to feel good. As soon as we showed up, even if we didn't know each other, I felt at home, knowing that the space was safe and positive.
Just like the dance classes I attended when I was younger, we all lined up in front of the mirror and did a brief warm up, before learning an amazing and fun routine to Uptown Funk!

It's amazing how much you can learn in an hour and just how awesome it was to laugh and practice in a big group like that. I really thought that my dancing days were probably done, mostly since I am terrible at remembering the steps but also because I have never found a place like this that makes me feel at home. I don't ever want to walk into a space that requires me to justify my body for the sake of exercise and activity and I find it hard to do this most of the time.
Near the end of the class, we performed what we had learned and Mel, Ashleigh's partner and resident dj filmed us  - the video can be seen on the Facebook page, and has been viewed to date over 20 000 times - which is amazing!

Check out this gorgeous pic with instructor extraordinaire, Ashleigh!

If you live in London please take advantage and get a ticket for the next one when it is announced! It's so much fun and really caters to all bodies and abilities - Ashleigh is a dream of an instructor - kind and patient and most of all, fun!  She is plus size herself so is in the know on how to make it friendly for everyone!
This is just further proof that you should never put off something that you would like to do because of the way that you look or how you feel in your skin - live in the now and dance like no one is watching - you will feel better for it!

Have you seen the video?! Are you jazzed and going to come dance with me at the next one?!

And look at all these fabulous babes!!

How Time Flies...

Hello my lovelies!

So the last time we spoke I had just finished the SWAP ALL THE CLOTHES event, and had the first big weekend for the Rockabilly Bakeshop market stall. I am happy to report that everything went well and although we don't get to do the bakeshop often it still remains one of our favourite things to do, and will hopefully get it back up and going very soon.

Since my life rarely is constant and normal, another enormous event occurred back in the middle of June. Steve and I got the opportunity to move to Dover and manage a pub called The Eagle. So, 2 weeks later we moved, out and away from London sadly and into the little somewhat unexciting town of Dover. It's now been a long and very busy July and part of August. I have barely had a second to think about my lovely little blog, or making jewellery (which I am longing to do) or even about getting dressed in more than jeans and a boring T-shirt with my hair up.

I must say it is a sad state of affairs when I have recently acquired some amazing new pieces in my closet. I am vowing today to pull them out and take photos of outfits, because it's only that they be shared with the world.

Although I am not super keen on Dover as a town, I have totally fallen in love with Canterbury and have a real soft spot for Folkestone. I think it's the fact that both places have a buzzing arts community that I feel more at home when I'm there. Dover is very much a port town which people tend to pass through without really stopping and the town lets it happen without really making an effort to grab the tourists along the way.

Anyways, I didn't come back to bore you with my whereabouts, but if you are in Dover, please come up to the Eagle for a visit, I am here Wednesday to Sunday all day. Also, if you anyone fancies holding an event, we have an event room, so maybe later down the road we could organise a Kent swap or meet up or something fun like that!

Ok so here is me now, flamingo pink hair and fancy new eyebrows done by the amazing Benefit Brow bar in Spitalfields, London. It was my first time getting them waxed and it really wasn't that bad, nor do I think it looks weird or over the top. THANK GOODNESS!

And now I will share with you a couple of the things I have acquired lately - proper photos of me with them to come once I finish cleaning out my closet and organising.

First, this is probably my most favourite skirt ever. I will also say that a size 20 would easily fit a size 22 for those of you who are shy with the non plus sized items. The waist is stretchy and I find it quite big on me.

You can find the skirt on the Collectif website - I am also awaiting the day that they make the button down shirts in sizes bigger than 18 for us bustier girls.

Next, I am having my dearest mumsy bring me over a new back pack when she visits from Canada as the epic Vegan bag company Matt & Nat had a sale. You can purchase the bags online in the UK as well, but since my Mum offered I thought I would make the most of the Canadian dollar while I could. Although I haven't seen the bag in the flesh, other than over Skype, I am told it is like blue canvas feeling material with awesome leather looking straps just like the picture. I can't wait to travel someplace with it when I get it in early October! Hurry up Mum!

My next purchase will be this amazing skirt from Asos that I saw on another wonderful blogger, Lolly Likes Fatshion. I want this flamingo skirt and it is low in stock so I am feeling the pressure. I've been doing a lot of Rockabilly styled things lately and I really think this would fit right in -justification at it's best!

Thanks so much for the continued support on Facebook and Twitter, you are all amazing! I can't wait to take photos of everything I have and the outfits I have put together. I'll tell you more about the pub another day, but I hope some of you are around Dover and can come for a visit :)

Much Love,

ToodalooKatie

Welcome to Margate: Land of Dreams...

 



Sometimes the best things in life show up when you least expect them to, and I have been witness to this in the last couple of months. Although London feels like home now and I have found a kind of comfortable routine, everyday still feels in someway like an adventure. London has afforded me some amazing opportunities and now more than ever, I feel like I have complete control over what I can do with my life. I can choose everyday whether I get out of bed or not - and yes it is ok to stay in once in a while, to appreciate what it is to do nothing.

For some of you who don't know, I recently left the job I started when I first arrived in London. I have kept my small part time job which I work online each week and was fully expecting time off to explore and hopefully be creative. My plans were thrown into the air when I was lucky enough to snag a small contract at the High Commission of Canada doing similar work to my previous contract in Paris. I have put my creative plans on hold to work at the HCC for a few months and come summer I will see what happens next.



 

In the midst of all these ever changing plans in my life, there is someone who has shown me a million and one beautiful things in the last couple of months who I want to tell you all about. Meet my boyfriend Steven. He drives a bad-ass car, is smart as a whip, has impeccable taste in music and movies and knows how to make me smile. For the last couple of months we have been swapping time in London and Margate adventuring, laughing and learning to roller blade(for him) and skate (for me).



We are both becoming pro skaters, as you can clearly see by the photos above, and Steve is hoping his newly formed soon to be ice hockey team will be up and running full steam soon . Here they are, the Margate Skulls, having a late night practice: (Go Habs Go!)



Margate is an adorable sea side town which I think should be turned into the new Brighton - to be fair, I've never been to Brighton but I know enough about to it to make this call.  With an old downtown full of funky retro vintage shops and handmade markets, a cup cake shop, England's best fish and chip shop and plenty of little galleries and studios all next to a long beautiful beach, it has all it needs to thrive - now if only people would come.



Even after several weekends of walking through Margate, I'm not tired of it, and perhaps it's because of who I am walking through it with but I still think there is something about this little place that deserves more. The tired main strip of old shut arcades makes me think that everything is just waiting to be awoken from its slumber. How could you resist this?:



I love hanging out by the water, and the first day that I spent in Margate, we walked along the beach collecting shells and Steven knew the names of absolutely everything. What I know as a shell, there being many versions, is known to him as the proper name. I've decided knowing things like this is important, and is what makes a person worldly and fascinating, so I think I will start reading more. I want to know things.



It was only a short while ago that weekends came and went, cold and rainy in London and now they feel like a vacation. The countdown is no longer for the weekend but rather for the dream to resume again.

I have lots of photos from Canada to show you all so I'll be back tracking soon with those.

xx Spec

I Planned For An Hour, Stayed For The Day: Deptford, London

Hi everyone!

I know you are probably shocked to find an update here as it very well looked like I would never write again. I had completely lost my desire to write when I got to London and was really struggling to find the excitement and creativity to write about things you would actually want to read about. I want to assure you that I have been very busy doing fun things all over London, but just couldn't find the drive to write it all down in the right way. Today, however, I had a spontaneous day of exploring that reminded me how it felt to want to tell lots of people about something amazing, and I thought that this would be the best way to launch myself back into blogging, by making a new project for myself. I want to really explore London with no boundaries and visit areas that perhaps I wouldn't go to had I not searched them out or stumbled upon them. I want to know many parts of London and not just my area.  Let me tell you about my day!

This morning when I woke up, I popped onto Facebook, as I usually do, being the addict that I am, and the top post came from Handpicked London, with a picture of a tube car turned cafe. With a little research, I found that it was The Deptford Project Cafe. The Deptford Project is a sort of artist collective, including Jail Make, a group of creatives who do amazing revolutionary projects,  Crafty Bitches, who run workshops for sewing, upholstery and many other wonderful things. Last of all, there is the Union Cycle Works which is a wicked organization that works with disadvantaged people, teaching them bike building and repair skills to get them involved in the community and other great projects.  On the weekends, next to the cafe, they hold a handmade craft sale as well - bonus!!!

My new bag skull who I will call Mo - can you guess why? (made by Little-Rose Designs)

Just based on my own poking around on the websites, I decided I would go check out the cafe and see what the Union Cycle Works was all about, as I am on the hunt for a bike to get me around this huge city more efficiently.

It didn't take too long to get there by bus, and I was greeted by a huge street market full of clothing, house stuff  and fresh fruits and veggies. I walked up and down first checking out what there was, until I stumbled on the cafe in the old train car. It's a really neat set up as it is hoisted quite high up, with a beautiful deck built around it, complete with a ramp for accessibility. The car has been painted a fresh coat of white and has refurbished furniture and crafty handmade chairs from old pallets set up both inside and out. I ordered a hot chocolate and sat outside, thanking the weather gods for letting us have such a warm day in November.

For the record, the hot chocolate was out of this world.

While I was sitting enjoying my chocolate heaven, I flipped through a pile of flyers sitting on the table and came across one for  a hair salon called Miou Miou that really caught my eye. I have been needing a haircut for a while now, and this flyer felt for some reason like a calling. I decided to take a chance and book in for today. They booked me in at 3, which gave me about another 2 hours to explore this new area. After walking around for a good while I stumbled down a charming half block long street with a cafe called Blossoming Together. Naturally, since the words arts and craft cafe appeared outside, I felt obligated to enter.  Once inside, I felt like I was stepping into someone's cozy kitchen with comfortable chairs and home baked goods. It was lunch time.

I had a delicious soy cappuccino and a homemade pizza bread.

After eating my most delightful lunch, the woman serving me said I absolutely had to go downstairs to meet Francisco who was a shiatsu massage therapist doing free 15 minute trials. Now normally in my book of rules, meeting a guy names Francisco in a shop basement is a no no, but this time I made an exception. He talked over a couple of exercises to help me relax me Camino calves as I have started calling them, and then gave me a 20 minute massage which felt amazing. What a treat!

My new hair!

After the fantabulous relaxation lunch stop, I headed over to my appointment at Miou Miou where I had my hair cut by Keiko, who is from Tokyo, so of course I rambled on about how in love I am with Japan after my trip there 3 years ago. I love my new hair and Keiko brought back my fringe! How I missed you fringe!! I can't say enough nice things about this salon, as it's a lovely funky little place with style and charm and the cut is great!  They are new, so be sure to check them out and their prices are very reasonable and refreshing for London.

Thanks Miou Miou for completing my Deptford adventure today!

I'll be back as soon as I can with a new adventure to tell you all about! London here I come!

Spec.

Vide Dressing Totally Swag

Hello! (Français en rose italics)

 

This past Sunday, 5 bloggers, including myself held a huge clothing sale here in Paris. We emptied our closets and sold our gently used items to friends, other bloggers and anyone who showed up. It was a great success and also really fun!

 

Not only was it a blast to spend the day with some of my most favourite people in Paris but my wonderful friends got together at the end and surprised me with a goodbye drink since I am leaving Paris in a week. I was so touched and tears were shed. I am going to miss all of you so much, but I promise I will come back and visit often! I feel so lucky to have met all of you and don`t think Paris would have been the same without you.

Dimanche dernier, 5 bloggeuse, moi inclus, on organisé une vente de vêtements d'énormes ici, à Paris. Nous avons vidé nos placards et vendu nos articles usagés à des amis, d'autres blogueuse et tous ceux qui se sont présentés. Il a été un grand succès et aussi très amusant!

 

Non seulement c'était le fun de passer la journée avec mes amies les plus super à Paris, mais elles se sont réunis à la fin et m'on surpris en prenant un verre `au revoir` car je quitte Paris dans une semaine. J'ai été tellement touchée et les larmes ont coulé. Je vais m'ennuiyer de vous grave, mais je vous promets de revenir vous visiter souvent! Je me sens si chanceuse d'avoir rencontré chacun d'entre vous et don `t que Paris aurait été la même sans vous.

A bientôt!

xo CurvyKatie 

 

The Photos are up!!! Plus London!!!

I just arrived home from a busy fun filled weekend of snowboarding in the French Alps ( I know, how fancy!) to find that the photos from Plus London taken by The Second Floor studio and Fashion Loves Photos have been put up! They are wonderful photos and I think they really capture how great everyone was feeling that evening. It's nice to see so many dressed up smiles in one room!  Here are a few of my favourite shots- and to see the entire set click here.

Here I am trying out my new must have item from the Anna Scholz collection

Gaelle (Les Pitreries de Vanoue) and I looking oh so serious.

Diane (Fat Girls Like Nice Clothes Too!) and I doing our best blogger pose!

Daphne looking radiant as per usual!

I love this picture of Valerie (Blog to Be Alive), absolutely gorgeous!

I also absolutely love this photo of Nefferth (Modeplus). Stunning!

 

Be sure to check out the album as there are tons of super fun shots and everyone looks amazing! Thanks again to the wonderful photographers!!!

 

xo CurvyKatie

OOTN: Plus London & Anna Scholz

Hello again!

Back so soon, you say? Well, yes. I had so many people ask me 'who' I was wearing on Saturday and I thought, seeing as to how it was a piece from one of the sponsers, it was only fit to do a post about it. After many a month spent lusting after this black Anna Scholz zipper dress, I came across it in person back home in Toronto at Lola&Gigi (my new favourite place to shop in Toronto.) Having never ordered from Anna Scholz before I had no idea how the fit would be  so I was super excited to have the chance to try a few pieces on in store.

Not being very tall, I was worried that everything would be too long, as I have the impression from most of their photos that the models are quite tall, however this was not an issue at all. As soon as I put the black zipper dress on, both I, my mum and Laura (owner of Lola & Gigi) decided on the spot that I must own this dress.

I'm not one to wear things that are particularily close to the body, but this dress is cut as though it were made to measure. You can see the structure and the way it is sewn creates curves in all the right places no matter the body underneath. On top of that it has a rockin' silver exposed metal zipper all the way up the back and a fun bright fuschia lining.

I have to thank Anika from byanika.com for the photo as foolish me did not ask anyone to take a photo me in full length. I will re-do the outfit for you and update ASAP so you can get the full effect.

As for accessories, I am carrying a clutch made by my bestie Sarah of Elizabean textiles that I love. It`s a beautiful deep blue/purple with a wild print on the inside. She makes jewelry rolls, clutches of all sizes and incredible other bags, I think it`s decided I will do a post on her creations soon for you all to see, as I am her biggest fan.

I can`t say it enough, thank you again to everyone for this weekend, all the blog posts with pictures popping up on twitter and facebook are making me so happy. It`s like re-living the weekend!

xx Curvy Katie

A foggy day at the Eiffel Tower...

Hi everyone!

So this past week I had the opportunity to go up to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower! It's been over 8 months since I arrived in this delightfully old world European city and this was the first time that I could really take it all in from above. I have been to several other areas, like Sacre Coeur, a church on a hilltop in Montmartre in the 18th arrond. where I have seen magnificient views of Paris, but there is something very different about being atop the Eiffel Tower. For one, it's the only view of Paris that doesn't include the famous tower itself. Since my camera is currently not working, I was forced to rely on my trusty iphone to take pictures, and it didn't do too bad a job! I'm positive I will go back once the weather gets a little better and when I have my regular camera as well.

 

I really loved going up the tower and it gave me a new outlook on Paris. It was nice to see it from above, a new angle to take it all in from.

Tomorrow I am heading to London for the weekend for a fashion blogger day so I'll be sure to report to you on that just as soon as I get home.

Until then my trusty friends, take care and see you soon!

xo Spec.