I'm leaving, but don't worry, I'll be back again

Ciao, bellas!

An uncharacteristically short post today, my sweets. What with a fortnight of May Balls, merriment and utter decadence, followed by a frantic job hunt and big decisions being made like lightning about every aspect of my life for the coming year, it's been hard to find the time to write. And now, with a last-minute trip to Italy (yes!) next week, followed by a swift start at a new job towards which I have highly ambivalent things, I'm afraid it will be another week before you hear from me again. 

So just to say: don't give up on me, gumdrops! I'll have plenty to share with you when I return!

PS. All those partaking in the Spectacular Sparkles & Crumbs Book Club, getting delightfully lost in the Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society in Guernsey or in the mind of Naomi Wolf, let me know all your thoughts on this month's choices over the next week! I can't wait to see what you all think - and to announce July's summer reads!

Love, milkshakes and mango martinis xxx

I'm putting on my top hat, tying up my white tie, brushing off my tails

~

It's just another May Week in Cambridge, mio cuore, and the balls season is here! Which means another heady round of hedonism, decadence, and - of course - dressing up!

"I'm stepping out, my dear,

To breathe an atmosphere
That simply reeks with class
And I trust that you'll excuse my dust
When I step on the gas...

...For I'll be there,

Puttin' down my top hat,

Mussin' up my white tie,

Dancing in my tails!"

 My first ball? Peterhouse, Cambridge's oldest college. Their ball is a once-every-three-years, tres exclusive affair, which I attended with my two favourite theologians - such a treat!

Doesn't my gentleman companion look like a regular Fred Astaire with his silk scarf and spotless white gloves? I opted for a floor-length black H&M gown, a marketplace pashmina, and my beloved Alex Monroe bumblebee necklace!

The Ball web site promised: 

"Dark, draughty passageways, an echoing ancient hall and the trees and walls of the Deer Park: so stands Peterhouse. But for one night only, all of this will be transformed, redrawn as a spectacle of light and laughter! Food and drink to tickle palates and warm hearts, entertainments drawn from all corners of the globe and recesses of time. Whilst above, drifting on the summer breeze, music to calm the mind and rhythms to excite it."

Well, whilst the balmy summer breeze was decidedly lacking, everything else was, indeed, a dream...

Dancing the night away with friends in the Old Court to a swing band playing Glen Miller's 'In The Mood'...

BOATLOADS of champagne...

Drinking said champagne from old-fashioned coupés with masked men on stilts...

... And handsome Scotsmen!...

Sharing cheese boards, burgers, oysters and cocktails with old friends...

 Taking a turn on the ferris wheel!!... 

Singing along in the silent disco...

...And, of course, gambling in the casino, winning a stuffed tiger on the coconut shy, watching a magic show and hearing Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' reinvented by a Spanish guitar duo! What a night...

 Now for the next one, with all of my friends and The Boy! I can't wait!

Wherever you may be, my bumblebees, I hope you let a bit of the May Ball spirit add a spring to your step and a dreaminess to your dressing up this week!

Love, bellinis and bacon xxxx

You will hear that she has left the country...

 ...that there was a gift she wanted you to have, but it is lost before it reaches you. 

Late one night the telephone will sign, and a voice that might be hers will say something that you cannot interpret before the connection crackles and is broken. 

Several years later, from a taxi, you will see someone in a doorway who looks like her, but she will be gone by the time you persuade the driver to stop.

You will never see her again. 

Whenever it rains you will think of her. 

-Neil Gaiman

So sad and beautiful.

Love, eternal sunshine and the spotless mind xxx

If it is right, it happens. The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.

Well, that's it, my inklings. It's all over!

My Masters thesis - and, hence, my time as a student at Cambridge - is printed, bound, done and dusted, come to an end.

So, too, is my internship at Chic Weddings in Italy. And guess what?

I won the Blogger Award!

And in my imaginary acceptance speech, I have you to thank, my dear friends! [If only Rock Hudson was presenting...!] Thank you so much for every click and comment on my posts as official wedding intern. You won it for me, my wonders!

 I am currently thinking up a fabulous contest of some kind to say a proper 'thank you'... but for now, hopefully you can share in my delight at having a rather generous gift voucher to spend on Net-a-Porter as my reward!! 

It's incredible to have the gift voucher to spend, as it's definitely a site I could never spend my own cash on! A £2,500 Victoria Beckham gown? A pair of £990 heart-print pumps by Charlotte Olympia? Oh, if only! And let's not even get started on the lingerie... £100 for a single pair of pants? Obscene! But, oh, what pants...!:-

Net-A-Porter Lingerie by pixiejuly featuring a lace chemise

Agent Provocateur lace bra, $790

Agent Provocateur lace bra, $790

La Perla balconette bra, £385

Kiki de Montparnasse lace panty, $163

Stella McCartney lace chemise, $150

Agent Provocateur lace bra, $250

Agent Provocateur lace panty, $220

Stella McCartney soft cup bra, $96

Stella McCartney lace bra, $63

Deborah Marquit lace panty, $110

As it is, I've been in a frenzy of absolute excitement [as you can only imagine!] trying to choose just what to spend my wedding winnings on! I am painfully aware that I am about to enter the world of work, so wanted to pick out some chic, classic pieces I could confidently carry in to wherever I end up... sort of like these effortlessly elegant ladies...

So, I picked out my first two purchases! #1: A gorgeous, tomato red, grained leather Donna Karan tote:

And #2: A beautiful, 22-karat rose gold, bumblebee necklace by Alex Monroe! I wanted to pick at least one item that could last forever, that would remind me of myself, my good bits and my triumphs when I'm feeling down! I've always thought that if I was an animal, I would be a bumblebee - often overenthusiastic, easily enraged, and just as easily placated by a pretty flower or some delicious pollen!:

I have £100 left to spend [such a treat!] - any ideas, folks? I do rather adore these Hermes-style sandals by Ikaria...

...What do you think?

In between ogling designer goodies online, I've found the time to celebrate a few weeks of freedom with plenty of fun and frolics: keeping it traditional with a punt along the Cam [how lovely, happy and relaxed do my fabulous friends and The Boy look in these pictures!]...

...taking a cocktail-making course [hello, mojitos topped with champagne instead of soda...!]...

...And heading home for a day to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee at an old-school street party organised by mia madre! Cue plenty of Pimm's, endless Union Jack bunting, and community karaoke!

[SO want to join in this conversation!]

Despite all of these delights, a combination of recent relentless rain showers (grey sky = grey mood! What is wrong with this country?! It's June!) and plenty of job rejections have left me feeling rather wobbly about my ever so uncertain future. Parts of my life that felt like such a sure thing have become decidedly more shaky of late. Where to next? How to judge the best path to take when the ground beneath you feels so unstable?

How do you handle uncertainty, darling readers? How do you manage to stay in the present, and still plan ahead without worrying about what's to come?

I guess I should simply don my bumblebee amulet, and take a leaf out of Kerouac's bestseller:

Love, Pimm's and polkadot bikinis xxx