5 YouTube covers all diva-licious riffers should kick back and enjoy.

1) Tori Kelly's cover of Michael Jackson's 'PYT' - particularly 2 mins 22- 2 mins 27 (PHWOAR)

2) Jessie J's cover of Taylor Swift's 'I Knew You Were Trouble' - all of it.

3) Jazmine Sullivan when she was 11 years of age absolutely SMASHED 'Home' from The Wiz (last minute is probably the most jealous I will be of an 11 year old)

4) My voice idol and all round MT goddess - Natalie Weiss. Here singing 'Say Goodbye':

and finally...

5) Pentatonix's 'Evolution of Beyonce' - goosebumps; the good kind.

Return of the Graduate

5 things one must ALWAYS do upon their return to Leamington Spa as a graduate: 

1) Attend a spooky Halloween basement party dressed as a bunny 

2) Get a TJ's breakfast (two days in a row) 

"THE SMALL BAD BOY WITH EXTRA BACON, PLEASE?"

3) Eat out at every given opportunity (because you are a graduate and can afford such luxuries now... NAWT)

4) Eliminator.

5) Make your names out of alphabet potatoes and play board games until 4am whilst drunk.

And a bonus one:

6) Never want to leave and return to the real world. 

I put a spell on you: getting well and truly caught in Charlotte's Web.

It's exactly 10 days until the witching hour is upon us and what better way to prepare for the spookiest, trickiest, treatiest Halloween than by brewing up the best costume add-ons this side of Salem.

The recipe is extremely simple for all you padawans/apprentices/Merlin's/first years at Hogwarts etc:

-Take a pouch full of pennies and empty into your cauldron
- Add a dash of style, sophistication and pizazz
- Stir up some cheeky trouble at this year's Halloween party

....and KAPOW, you got yourself Charlotte Olympia's kooky, spooky Halloween Collection for 2013.

I honestly am tempted to completely blow the whole of this year's Halloween budget on a pair of these pumpkin pumps (PUN FULLY INTENDED. Punkins? Yes? Yes.) At £495, I'm going to have to be doing a lot of tricking to gain this treat!

'Trick or Treat', £495

NB: There is also a matching shoulder bag which is, literally, to DIE for. (*Insert evil Thriller-esque 'mwahaha' laugh here*)

Top it all off with some devillish 'Vampira' heels for busting out some moves a lá Bette Midler, SJP and the-one-I-can-never-remember, in the much-loved Halloween classic, Hocus Pocus.

'Vampira', £975

Olympia's Halloween collection just goes to show that you don't always have to go OTT with the fancy dress to be the talk of the town. Team any of these with an all-in-black inspired ensemble and you will be golden.

And on that note, I will leave you to peruse the whole collection by clicking the link below:

http://www.charlotteolympia.com/halloween-13.html

Meanwhile...

I Put A Spell On You - Disney's Hocus Pocus, 1993

Peanut Butter Me Up!

This genuinely doesn't need any more words than: 

£4.99

Waitrose

Ben

Jerry

Genius

Go

Buy

Be happy. 

(Immediately stocks up entire freezer with tubs of said icecream in a Bridget Jones come Peter Griffin frenzy!)

Mmmmmmmmm ❤️

  

Pug of the Week #2

Hello, gorgeous!

Sunny Sunday

The happiest dog I've seen all day! My grandma's beautiful retriever, Benson. May his silly face brighten up your day and make you giggle like I did after taking this. 

My Top 5 Drive-time Albums

Okay, so watch from about 1 min in - this basically epitomises how great music makes you feel when you are driving. Yes, I know, I can't quite believe I am citing the classic 1996 Spielberg film that is Twister for this post BUT it just goes to show that we all have a song for a mood/moment/drive/road trip. And, sure, as Philip S-H screams "It's the power of nature, baby!" we realise theirs are a bit more storm/hurricane/nature related, we can all relate to that feeling of whacking on your favourite album and powering down the motorway (at the appropriate speed limit for the road you are driving on, of course. No endorsement of speeding intended.)

I was sat on the National Express home from London last night and got to thinking what my top 5 drive-time albums would be. They were surprisingly easy to come up with so here we go:

#1  The Lady Killer - Cee Lo Green

If the album cover doesn't make your soul scream "FREAKIN' COOL", then take a listen and feel like you're touring around Miami/LA/Motown city
Recommended speed limit to enjoy at: A nice, slow, cruisin' 30mph (yes,  I am a grandma)

#2 Songs About Jane - Maroon 5

Sexy and full of excellent vocals from Adam Levine (yum). It's a classic album and a perfect sing-along drive-time choice.
Recommended speed limit to enjoy at: A steady 50mph

#3 La Roux - La Roux

Electro, techno, retro, spectro- call it what you like. The beats dropped on this album and the notes reached by La Roux herself are enough to make you want to get everywhere, quickly.
Recommended speed limit to enjoy at: 70mph (or as fast as you can legally go!)

#4 Number Ones - Stevie Wonder

The most wonderful tunes of Wonder's career, I stole this CD from my father to play on the drive to uni once and he hasn't seen it since.
Recommended speed limit to enjoy at: 40mph-60mph (dependent on tempo, memories, emotions roused by each song)

#5 Paramore - Paramore

The first track on their self-titled album is called 'Fast In My Car'...I think that speaks for itself. 
Recommended speed limit to enjoy at: An angsty 70mph. Down the motorway.

And there you have it. My top picks to make every road trip that little bit more super-wicked-cool. 

DRIVE SAFELY, KIDS!