Hello August

I think I get to this point in every season, when I'm tired of the weather not being what I want, and I haven't done all the things I wanted to do and blah blah blah... And then I start anticipating the next season, the next month, and then I miss out on moments, whilst I'm dreaming of the future. I loved having this kind of post on my blog for Autumn 2014 (and even did a seasonal recipe round-up!)  so as it is now officially August, I thought I'd share what I've been pinning on Pinterest, and how I want to make the most of the last few weeks of the summer...

This is my summer in a nutshell, my summer holidays were spent at the various lakes, woods, meadows and fields where I live, finding rocks and getting my feet wet and chasing my brothers. We would spend longs hours playing cricket or tennis in the grass (which mostly just consisted of me throwing the ball for my brother to whack...) 

As I've got older, it was filled with the joy of coming down in the morning to the dappled sunlight in the kitchen, opening the patio doors and drinking coffee on the patio...

I used to think I was missing out, when I was little, that I never had the 'exotic' holidays to Majorca or Disneyland (where all my friends seemed to go) - but now I have precious memories of stunning Cornish coastlines, fond memories of eating picnics in the countryside and feeling like I always have a connection to those southern counties.

Near the somewhat unglamorous office block that I work in, there is a roundabout that they've covered entirely with wildflowers, and it makes my heart sing every time I see it in the morning sunlight, waiting for my turn to cross. I want to cover my entire garden with wildflowers of every kind, and have that amazing hum of the bees. 

My goal, every year is to just spend more time outside - unfortunately since having my operation unexpectedly - it's just not happened. I tried to get out whilst I was healing, but it didn't go to plan - however now I'm feeling much better, I have started to plan a few trips (taking it easy, mostly just around the south of the UK) to explore a bit...

I want to devour all the summer foods, eat flat peaches and nectarines with the juice dripping down my fingers, to consume strawberry clotted cream ice-cream overlooking the sea, I want to sip gin and tonics in the fading sunsets on the patio, feeling crispy and sunburnt from a long day in the sunshine. 

What is on your 'bucket list' for the last of the summer? Share in the comments below, and leave links to your Pinterest accounts, as I'm fully obsessed with it at the moment..

Follow Uncia + Tigris's board seasons | summer on Pinterest.

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(All images credited where possible on Pinterest.)

a personal gift guide (or, what I want for christmas)

I'm in the midst of that Christmas hell, where you're not sure what presents you've got for people, and you know you need to get stuff still for people and you're not really sure what to buy them... and when you're coming down with a hideous cold like I currently am, I really can't be bothered with thinking of presents for other people. Selfish, but true. I've been sort of partaking in that 'one presents for someone else, one present for me', hence a couple of new things have worked their way into my life (see above, new vintage handbag, new candles, and new black patent loafers). But anyway, here is what I want for christmas...

• Tom Ford Black Orchid perfume, I sprayed it on recently, and it's all I can think about.
• A new job, retail is hell at Christmas, particularly when you're sick & feeling under the weather.
• A new Macbook, this one is slowly dying the more I use it.
• To lose the last 15lbs before December 31st, it ain't gonna happen, but if I can shift another five, maybe, I'd be pleased. 
• A maid, I'm fed up of cleaning my room to only make it a mess again when I'm dressing in the dark at 6AM.
• The winter solstice, I need the days to start getting longer again like I need air.
• To have all my blog posts ready for the next month, hopefully I can get ahead this weekend.
• To be fluent in Italian.
• A year's supply of Diptyque candles.
• To eat my weight in Christmas biscuits, sausage rolls and cheese.
• And approximately 2kg of mince pies. 

So if any of you lovely readers can make any of the above a reality for me, that would be amazing, thank-you!

fictional wishlist

I've always been a big reader,from when I was little and used to prefer reading to people and could read better and quicker than anyone in my school had for a long time. I used to make my mum read them to me until I got frustrated that I could read quicker than her (oops.. haha) so it's no surprise that I have ended up with a big wish-list of books on amazon that I am going to purchase as soon as I am through with my current lot. 

1. Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion: I have read a few essays by Didion, and I always really like them, so want to read more. This is one of those things that has been sat on my wish list for a while but I keep putting off in favour of perhaps more exciting reads? I should stop that.

2. Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer: This book has it's basis in that sort of sensationalist-true-crime style novels, which I always get sucked in by (see here), but seems more like a history of the violence of Mormons, and a critique of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, which intrigues me.

3. Red Sky at Night: The Book of Lost Country Wisdom,  Jane Struthers: I am quite romantic and captivated by the English countryside, and the reviews of this book make it seem perfect for people like me. 

4. Sanctifying Misandry: Goddess Ideology and the Fall of Man, Katherine K. Young and Paul Nathanson: Someone I follow on tumblr spoke about this book and it intrigued me, essentially. I want to be more well-read about feminism and I have heard that their books are a good place to start.

5. Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I Have Not Visited and Never Will, Judith Schanlansky: On one of my brief forays into Good-reads I saw this book reviewed and thought it sounded really interesting - it reminds me initially of the work of the artist Charles Avery who makes artwork about an imaginary group of islands. I read a book about this work of his and I think the parallels would be interesting.

6. The Lowest Heaven, Various: I was recently in Greenwich with my friend Tam to see the Turner exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, and they had this book in the gift shop there. A collection of stories inspired by photographs from Greenwich Observatory sounds perfectly made for me, and I am 90% sure it will be my next purchase.

7. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney: I wanted to re-read American Psycho, basically, and then started wondering what other fiction in that vein is out there. Amazon recommended me this and I realised that I had it on my wishlist for a long time. I don't think it sounds as compelling as American Psycho, but it still looks interesting.

8. A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Rebecca Solnit: I got really into Solnit whilst writing my dissertation about walking, wanderlust and wanting to be other places, I read excerpts from this whilst writing it, and it has been waiting for me to purchase it ever since.

9. The Last Werewolf, Glen Duncan: This is the most recent addition, I think, as my friend Tam recommended it to me this week just gone. I implicitly trust her book recommendations as she has never led me astray, and this sounds like something I would enjoy, but never look for myself.

I knew that I liked to read a mixture of fiction/non-fiction, but I didn't know how heavily the non-fiction featured.. Let me know if you have read any of these and loved/hated them, or any recommendations you think I'd like based of these! 

Leather Goods, Fragrance, and Chanel - the Holy Trinity

Now it is the new year, my thoughts immediately turn to one thing.. my bonus. I work for a pretty good company that gives even lowly part-time Sunday-girl's like me a pretty awesome bonus in February/March. Usually it's somewhere between 15-20% of my years salary. Which works out pretty well! I normally buy myself one extravagant treat - last year it was my Cambridge satchel, which I am still in love with and use daily, when I'm at university. This year, I'm thinking of investing in another statement piece..

A Castor & Pollux Wallet

(Images courtesy of their website)

I saw these wallets a couple of years ago in Vogue.. and god, I still think they they are the perfect wallet. I love frame-wallets, they seem really timeless and elegant, and in a modern colour - like the blue, green, or yellow, they are superbly stylish. They lie flat, have all the pockets necessary, and are beautiful. They're a bit steep, for a wallet, at $168 - about £107. My satchel cost almost that. But god, they're beautiful. I still lust. Also, the brand name totally gets my vote. I'm a Gemini through and through (even though I do not believe in horoscopes, haha, work that one out!), and I love all things mythological and astronomical.. so of course I think it's awesome.

My heart will always desire a new fragrances. I have accumulated so many, I have given myself a ban since Christmas 2010. Then I watched this wonderful documentary about fragrances, bespoke scents vs mass produced perfumes and it has made me lust after a personalised perfume..
Knowing this is still a bit of a pipe-dream I  decided to buy a quality one, instead. I want a brand that has history and cares about making beautiful scents, instead of mass-producing something sickly sweet for the masses. This hunt began in the Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy in Florence, Italy. My mum bought a beautiful rosewater perfume here. However, they were far too expensive for me. I have tried and tested nearly every perfume in the fragrance room at Liberty's, and my hunt has led me too.. Penhaligon's. I was walking through Burlington Arcade recently to get to Haunch of Vension and stopped dead in my tracks. It's one of those places I always pass, but never consider. A quick look on their website, and I'm smitten. Yes, they're pricey. Around £100 for 100ml, they vary. But they are gorgeous. The bottles.. Ah!

Endymion and Juniper Sling

These two sound the most gorgeous, but I have to go and smell, you see. I'll make sure I have a good nose, that day..

The other thing that's caught my eye is Chanel Sublimage. Just because it's so extravagant.

£145-£240 for 50ml? It's crazy, in my opinion.. Maybe I'm that insane because I'm seriously thinking about it. However, I think the Beaute Initiale sounds like it would be more suited to my skin - and my wallet.

There were other things I was considering, too. Sensible, practical things. But these are the things that although I really, really, really don't need.. I really, really, really want. And that is sometimes what you need!