Oh Tori

An article posted on JEZEBEL sent me skipping down (yet another) Tori Amos path, merrily listening to my entire Tori collection on shuffle for 48 hours while working and humming along to the imagery. I have been fortunate enough to see the goddess perform live twice now, and both times she brought me to tears. Even when I didn’t want to be moved, she reached into my heart with her haunting voice and grabbed a hold of something in what can only be described as a long, motherly hug.

I’m mad about her and don’t hide the fact. 

Seriously, the way this woman plays the piano!

Just as Oscar Wilde and Richmal Crompton helped shape my sense of humor, and Lewis Carroll helped shape my sense of whimsy, I have come to realize that Tori is my spiritual mother and helped shaped the way I see the world and think about things for the better part of 20 years.

I love what she has to say about feminism in this interview:

"Well look, if you're a real feminist, in truth then you're a humanist because it can't be about the matriarchy that just supplants the patriarchy. It has to be about humanity and equality for all. And that to me is the seed of spiritual feminism. Now feminism came out of a place with the suffragettes and issues that completely and absolutely needed to be addressed at that time and still need to be addressed in certain parts of the world.

For me now, in the 21st century in 2014, in America and in the West, it's very much about human rights. Women's rights naturally are very important to me and violence against women and those types of things, of course is something that I'm aware of, but also, there are a lot of men who are feminists that I know that are very concerned about women's rights, and that needs to be acknowledged. There are a lot of men in my life that are feminists and I'd like to say that, as well, I'm concerned that the men in my life are being treated fairly and with compassion. And to me that is where feminism inspires me—it goes beyond gender. It has to. For us to be whole and for us to really have learned and for us to be giving back to the world, we have to consider everyone's equality and humanity."

Go Tori!

Love, lust and fairy-star-dust,

Cherry Blossom (aka Cornflake Girl)

In Love with Love

"Bianca: There's a difference between like and love. Because, I like my Skechers, but I love my Prada backpack.
Chastity: But I love my Skechers.
Bianca: That's because you don't have a Prada backpack!"

...10 Things I Hate About You

Love is a word I use a lot. Not because I can’t distinguish between like and love. I just love to love. I love to fall in love. It's something I do very often, and on many different platforms. 

There is, of course, my ultimate Love, Husband, and I am a lucky girl because he's one of those men you can fall in love with over and over again. 

Then there's the obvious shoe Love I have - this one is easily quenched with a bit of scouting, shopping or even just gathering pictures off the internet of beautiful creations that I couldn’t actually wear (or buy). 

Some of my Loves need no explanation. Some of my Loves should never be explained. (Don’t even attempt to understand them because even I don’t get it...ahem...like this song)

But then some Loves come into my world in a whirlwind of romance! Complete with wining, dining, butterflies, bubbles and all things intoxicating! I Love Jennifer Lawrence – serious girl crush. I'm crazy in Love with my giant cat and his purr-filled snoring! I Love CrossFit. I Love watching Husband cast out a fly line with expert ease, uncurling it onto the water with delicate precision. Or even better, when I make the perfect cast myself! (or as close as I am going to get at this point, that is) A new Love came to me in the form of a pink ‘Sage’ fly fishing rod he bought me, and I know this one is going to stand the test of time because I just keep thinking about it. I have even been mulling over the name Sage in my brain so much so that it has become the first name of one of the characters in my latest manuscript in progress.

Another Love arrived as a book. It was Love at First Read, and I wrote a blog post dedicated to the fiery fling we had, even though the reading was over too quickly. Isn’t that just the way it goes? The thing with books, however, is that they are never jealous when you find the next one, the new one, the one that keeps your bed warm as you lie in it reading on your kindle. (I Love my kindle!) And so, in the very happy after glow A Girls Guide To Fairy Tales left me, I found another Love of a book. This one involves vintage teacups! I'm hooked :)

And this week, my newest Love was a moment, sitting in a coffee shop with a dear friend. I fell, not only for the honey and cinnamon banana French toast, but while we were talking about loves (a pink scarf, an unpublished book, an upcoming wedding) I spotted a ceramic bowl amongst the shop decor that was filled with little matching ceramic ducklings, and fell instantly head over heels in love with that moment, right there and then.

The Loves that I love the most are the ones that are worth it. Don’t you just love that kind of Love?

Love, lust and fairy-star-dust

Cherry Blossom

BOOK NOOK: A Girls Guide To Fairy Tales

A Girls Guide to Fairy Tales

 What a pleasure to be able to kick off the newest feature on my blog, Book Nook, with this wonderful little gem! And it is even MORE of a pleasure, and an honour, that I get to interview the author herself right here on Cherry Blossom Boutique!

I found AGGTFT via a twitter/facebook page dedicated to chicklit. Having been burned before when purchasing books based on on-line recommendations, I swore I would never do it again. But when I saw this sparkling temptation (at a great price), I thought, oh why not.

What a great find! Not only is A Girls Guide To Fairy Tales fun and charming, but it is so enjoyably constructed I couldn’t put it down! (even though I was meant to be practicing for a piano exam…)

The book is about 4 girl friends, the English variety (not Manhattanites), who are each going though their own daily issues – love, work, self esteem, wardrobe dilemma’s, kick-starting a career as a Broadway star…you know, the usual. I loved that even though Laurey captured each of the different women’s unique personalities, I could find something in all of them to relate to. OK, maybe not taking the stage – naked – for a very important role in a very important play…but I definitely felt akin to every one of the women in the story at some point or another in their own personal journeys.

I loved that each chapter is written from a different viewpoint, of one of the friends, and that each chapter ends with you wanting to know what happens next! The beauty of the flow of this book, is that you then have to read 3 more chapters to get to the next part of ‘insert-protagonista’s-name-here’s story. Oh, Laurey, you crafty scribbler you ;)

When the girls get together, it’s as though I am there. I have BEEN there, only the group of girls is my own little cluster here in South Africa. How rare that a fun and heartwarming book captures elements of reality in a way that transcends continents!

I found myself laughing out loud at both Issie’s and Clare’s blind dates, having been in similar situations myself, ranging from the socially awkward to a particularly cave-manish face-palm specimen who had a very special way of charming the ladies. I felt deeply for poor Sophie who felt immediately less than worthy when she found out about her boyfriends newest employee, the drop dead gorgeous and can’t-blame-her friendly potential other woman; All the while, Sophie’s teenage language filled with OMG’s and WTF’s endeared her to me even more, and the scene where she hides eating a chocolate from her boyfriend is SO me - I couldn’t stop laughing! Maddie’s desire to open her own cake shop is one I would never have the guts to do myself, but one I would always encourage. Go Maddie! And of course, any book that has a ‘glittery shoe’ incident is right up my alley – fairy tale style!

Without further ado, I would like to introduce the lovely lady who made this gorgeous novel happen - Laurey Buckland. Take it away, Laurey!

***

Thank you so much Pami (aka Cherry Blossom) for hosting me on what I can only describe as a powerful-punch-of-pink blog which I love.  What I don’t want to do is bog your dear readers down with reams of rambling statements of what ‘inspired me’ or ‘why I decided to write the novel’. That will bore them senseless. What I will simply say is that I thoroughly enjoy being creative and was inspired by my own life and those of my girlfriends.

However, what I feel I should explain (briefly) is why I chose a fairy tale theme…..

I felt that the stories from our childhood related to those lives we live and the problems in them. How many of us are always looking for faults in ourselves before someone else can point them out? How many of us pretend to be something we’re not and adopt a false persona just to get by from day-to-day? How many of us would rather believe the worst than hope for the best? And how many of us believe our worlds are topsy turvy and should be something more? If you’re not one of these women, I envy you. A lot of us are shaped by society to want the mythical perfect man and to want to be perfect ourselves. Believe it or not, our fairy tale heroes and heroines have all been there before us: The Ugly Duckling; Pinocchio; Snow White; Alice...

There’s no need to go into too much detail about each of my character’s problems right now. For $1.16/£0.76 I’m hoping you will not feel it an expensive burden to discover them for yourself. However, I do hope you will relate to one of their experiences. I wanted them to be the Every Women of chicklit. I want their stories to resonate somewhere in each of your perfectly formed, feminine physiques. And if you’re wondering about happily-ever-afters, let’s just say I’m a huge romantic.

Pami has set a few questions for me to answer, so here goes:

Tea or Coffee?

Despite being British, it's coffee all the way for me. I would never wake up otherwise, although I've heard that half an apple is just as likely to help wake you up in the mornings. Think I'll stick with my cuppas though.

Sparkly heels or ballet flats?

Depends on the occasion. However, if we're talking about what I feel super special and sexy in, then it's sparkly heels every time. In fact, the sparkly heels I mention in A Girl's Guide to Fairy Tales were based on ones I'd bought the day I wrote the chapter they feature in. Oh, I felt like Dorothy herself wearing those beauties but instead of "there's no place like home", it was a case of "there's no place like a dance floor".

Diamonds or pearls?

Diamonds. Diamonds. Diamonds. After all, they are a girl's best friend.

Red or White? (wine of course)

Neither actually. I'm a rosé girl! And if there are bubbles on offer I'll take them, even though they do strange things to my brain. 

Audrey or Marilyn?

Hardest question of the lot! But after careful deliberation I've decided it has to be Audrilyn!!

If money wasn't an issue, where in the world would you live and why?

Wherever my family was....but seeing as money isn't an issue in this scenario, I'm guessing they could come with me. Therefore, I think I'd go back to Italy. I lived there when I was very young and have extremely fond memories of my life there. It is rich with history, which I would appreciate now I'm older (and wiser I hasten to add) and finally, with it being the most romantic country in the world (stereotypically or not) it would be the perfect setting for another chicklit venture.

What is your favorite book of all time? (or top 3 if you cant choose) (or, if you are like me, top 5)

I very rarely read a book more than once but if the story has gripped me, then I don't need to; it's embedded in the brain. I'm a hopeless romantic but love a bit of fantasy fiction too. Therefore, my top 3 are:

1)Jane Austen's Persuasion. I love P&P too, but the love between Anne Elliot and Wentworth is (dare I say it) more romantic than Darcy and Elizabeth. Controversial! 

2)Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This is where Rowling's world starts to turn truly dark and interesting. What an imagination that woman has.

3) Roget's Thesaurus - gotta love a book that can turn dark into tenebrous and light into resplendent.

Who should make the first move? Man or woman?

Another cracking conundrum here. But I'm going to go with *insert drum roll here*....the man. I believe men bounce back from rejection better than women and let's face it, when would a guy refuse anything with breasts and a pulse?

For those of you who do want to learn a little bit more about me (you just might) then you can visit my blog http://laureybuckland.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-me.html

However, my answers to Pami’s questions should have told you everything you need to know.

And finally, for those of you who are still reading this far, here’s my novel’s synopsis in a bit more detail.

For daydreamer Maddie, obsessive compulsive Clare, over dramatic Isobel and happy-go-lucky Sophie, life is more a world of tragic than magic.

For Maddie it’s a constant battle against the monotony of a job she hates while her heart aches to follow her dreams of setting up her own cake-making business and turn her talent into a career. But will she escape to the world where she feels she truly belongs?

Clare's inability to banish the image of the ugly duckling she remembers hampers her ability to believe she is good for anyone or anything. After being coerced by well-meaning friends to sign up to an online dating site, she soon starts to realize that looks aren’t perhaps everything and that she is just as quick to judge a book by its cover.

Isobel has the looks, the figure and the confidence – or so it appears. After landing the lead role in a new play written and directed by the beastly Guy Edmundson, she follows her mother’s advice to find a gorgeous hunk in time to escort her to the after-show party. But it’s only when she cuts herself free from the ties of a fake persona and stops living up to other people’s expectations that the unexpected happens.

Sophie has the perfect job and the devoted boyfriend who worships the ground she walks on. But when she chooses to doubt her own worth and believes in a poisonous rumour, it tears her fairy tale world apart. Can she find the magic to piece it back together?

Links:

Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Girls-Guide-Fairy-Tales-ebook/dp/B008E315NG/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

Amazon.co.uk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Girls-Guide-Fairy-Tales-ebook/dp/B008E315NG

It is also available on iTunes.

Feel free to get in touch and tweet me @LaureyBuckland

***

How gorgeous is Laurey's cat!? And the sparkly shoe that inspired some of the fairy tale...I love that it exists in real life :)

That's it from me for now. I hope you are inspired to buy and read the book - and let me know what you think! 

Love, lust and fairy-star-dust

Cherry Blossom 

Wo-Mance

In a world that gave us Bennifer, Brangelina and Bromance, I feel practically entitled to this new emerging concept: Wo-mance is my new ‘It’ thing.

Being a younger sister who grew up with three big brothers, I have had my fair share of men in my life. The torturous tot years where we hated each other, pummeled on each other and spent our time avoiding each other. Then the gawky years where I idealized them and lived in awe that they allowed me within 10 feet of them, and, more specifically, of their friends. The fun filled 20’s where they were my buddies, my partners in crime (or minor misdemeanors at any rate) and my party peeps… And now the adult years where they are my nearest and dearest – I absolutely love brother world, and therefore by default, boy world. I have always been able to relate to boys, fall in step with them, find my place around them and own it.

Now, at 33, married and mother of two cats and a very pretty stone (see it here), I find myself in a new space. A space that emphasizes the importance of the women in my life, and the growing romance I seem to have with finding new ones.

In the past I have been guilty of feeling that girls were a nuisance and that boys were just so much better, easier to get along with. Of course, I was blissfully unaware of that whole non-platonic thing and so never once thought that a guy was just being nice to me to get into my pants…(poor proverbial guy, never succeeded! Hah!)

But I was so wrong. Women are MUCH better friends than men! It’s just a matter of finding the right girl friend, Mrs. Right, if you will. Just watch any episode of Sex and The City, or a modern equivalent, and you will see it. A girl needs a girl in her life. For so many reasons. For example, things happen to our bodies along the way (much more than guys) from about age 12 to death…it’s a scary process and can be extremely embarrassing/worrying/daunting when you don’t have someone else going through the same thing to talk to. Girls understand things like mascara and choosing the right brand of cotton buds. Girls know about parabens. Girls know what you mean when you face the wardrobe and declare war on yourself. Girls can talk about the inner workings of baby making long after men have served their purpose and are no longer interested, or, lets face it, useful.

And girls get SHOES!

A girl needs, at the very least, that one confidant, the closest, bested friend in the world, who she can spill all her beans to and still be loved. Yes, Husband is my best friend, but there are times when I need to talk about Husband to someone other than Husband…Enter best female friend! Enter Wo-mance.

I say this is a new thing, which isn’t completely true. I have not been a stranger to a bit of lady love in my time. I have always listened to mostly female fronted music, look up to a variety of strong women as role models, mostly read books that have female protagonists, idealize beauty icons and enjoy a private fantasy that involves me as the mother of dragons…

I have a core bff who has been with me from the start (The Big Red Hen), a wonderful little sister who brings me all kinds of delight (Kitten of Discord), a 'wife' as it were (my current co-conspirator in work and coffee on a daily basis) and some fabulous crazy beautiful friends who I picked up along the way who have stood the test of time. But lately, I have found that I am collecting new friends of the fairer sex. More and more!

All these women I am wo-mancing! It almost feels like I am dating again, going through the whole ‘will he call me?’ ‘Does he like me too’, ‘Should I invite him?’…only replace that pronoun with ‘she’ and ‘her’. I have found myself investing time and energy in these lovely ladies, carefully orchestrating invitations or accepting offers just so that I can get to know them better. ‘Tis Wo-mance. An exciting space. Very rewarding. With lots of pretty people to have cocktails with.

And lets face it, you can’t go over to your best guy friends house to borrow a gorgeous dress. Ever. Girls rock!

Love, lust and fairy-star-dust
Cherry Blossom

Girl Crush Gwednesday: Gwen Stefani

Call it ska, call it indie, call it pop – what ever it is, this girl can ROCK! And my favorite part? She does it in heels.

If i had to sit down and pick one female figure who had the most influence over my life, (other than Tori Amos) style and even boyfriend choices, Gwen Stefani would be it.

Her persona radiated into my world when my usual attire consisted of doc martin boots, tiny teenage shorts and funky stockings – the weirder the better! Gwen, front woman of No Doubt, appealed to my adolescent self in the hit song Just a Girl because i identified with her wholly and completely. She wore an intensely fun and feminie get-up of perfect make-up, pearls, cherry-red short-cut nails, flat chested belly tank tops and big camo cargo pants with boots. Her best friend was her brother. She was the girl who could hold her own with the boys. And she wore a bindi.

Listening to Tragic Kingdom while rollerblading around good old South African suburbia, i was that Californian beach-bleached blonde damsel in docs. And even though i could never pipe it out like her, i sang my way though all No Doubts subsequent albums, right into my adult years.

 At the turn of the millennium, while i was on a working visa in America, all the stars and fairies aligned and i got to go see No Doubt play, live, on their Return of Saturn tour. The 90’s were over. The music was edgier. The boyfriend was adorably wholesome. And my foot was broken in the mosh-pit. That was the BEST concert experience of my life! i couldn’t believe i was this close to my teen-fan alter-ego obsession! Gwen, of course, was solely responsible for my burning desire to dye my hair pink.

 Then, when Mz Stefani went solo and released Love Angle Music Baby (L.A.M.B.) we met again, kindred spirits, but this time in high heels and skinny jeans. Our slouchy boy pants and flat boots had been replaced by six-inch leopard print creations and sky-high hemlines. Nails were French tipped and boys gave way to the men of my dreams. OK, sometimes nightmares. But Gwen got me through; Her light hearted, up-beat sound never failing to pick me up after even the worst failed relationship.

Girlfriend and i both went through a gold-glitter-ghetto phase together. Harajuku Girls sparked my eventual trip to Tokyo. Rich Girl was the inspiration for the pirate-girl outfit at my brother-in-law’s 21’st Birthday surprise dress-up party. Underneath it All encouraged me to prolong a relationship with an otherwise not so lovely man, and Simple Kind of Life echoed my own internal clock. i can guarantee she is up there as my future mom style icon too.

 Upon hearing the news that Gwen Stefani and No Doubt were teaming up again after 11 long years with a new album, Push and Shove, i couldn’t be more excited!

Gwen and i are now both married to our soul mates, she is as classy and sassy as ever, and i cant wait to see what else my old friend and i have in common through the music. Pre-ordering this one for sure!

No matter where Gwen and i end up, probably two purple-washed white haired ladies in viscose, i know that thanx to Don't Speak, i will have a soft spot for a navy blue and white polka dot cinch waisted sun dress till the day i die.

Love, lust and fairy-star-dust

Cherry Blossom