Hello from Hollywood! Kat and I are in our new home for the next week, an oversized loft with a view of the city, and needless to say, we’re extremely excited! Shauna joins us on Wednesday, and we have a few adventures planned before we kick off The Blogcademy: Los Angeles on Saturday!

I can’t believe it’s already been a month since my last Favourite Things column! Time flies, gorgeous. Okay, here we go!

Beautifying
My new favourite lipstick is Lickable by MAC Cosmetics; I wore it the Fashion 2.0 Awards and can’t get enough! The same goes for their Mineralize Moisturise SPF15 Foundation, which I want to wear everyday.

One of the happy side effects of the Clean Program is that my skin has been glowing so much I’ve barely felt the need to wear foundation. Laura Mercier’s Tinted Moisturiser provides just enough coverage for daily life, and a dusting of Illamasqua Powder Foundation keeps shine at bay. Two wonder products, for sure.

Last month, I had an incredible experience at Mauricio Hair in New York City, a private hair salon with only two chairs. It’s an intimate and beautiful space, where the products are eco-friendly and the chair at the shampoo station transforms into — wait for it — a bed! Mauricio refreshed my colour and gave me a protein treatment, and I’ll admit, I did, in fact, I fall asleep in the chair. I adore Mauricio and his emphasis on using products which are as good for your hair as they are for the environment. Totally worth seeking out!

Buying
Firstly, I have to say that Kat and I were pleasantly surprised by the shopping treasure trove that is Portland, Oregon! We did quite well at The Red Light, and two different locations of Buffalo Exchange. (Even better was getting to pay for all those things with the credit I’d earned from selling them my clothes in New York!)

We were also delighted to discover that Oregon has no sales tax! Can I get an amen?!

Eating
Green juice is my new favourite thing, and I’ve been guzzling it faithfully every morning in New York City. Since I’m currently on the go, and sadly sans juicer (or genius husband to make it for me), I’m making up for it by purchasing bottles of Evolution Fresh Sweet Greens in bulk.

In Portland, I discovered Prasad, which is my new favourite place in the entire world. The Rita and Witchdoctor juices are my two picks. I had an incredible breakfast there yesterday: gluten-free toast with avocado, baby spinach, slow-roasted tomatoes and jalapeno cashew cheese. Insane. I think I’ll be fantasising about it forever!

The real key to eating healthily when you travel is to make sure you’re stocked up with good snacks. I have a few Kind Bars in my bag at any one time, as well as a bag of pistachios. I also bought some almond butter and green apples from Trader Joe’s: easy and delicious. Gotta keep your fridge full of treats!

Gallivanting
In NYC, I had dinner with Elsie and Emma of A Beautiful Mess at Freeman’s (one of my favourite restaurants in the whole world). They are such sweet girls, and one day I might even take them up on their offer to go horse-riding in Missouri!

But of course, travelling is so exciting. Being in a new city is one of my all-time favourite things, and Portland is INCREDIBLE. I understand why people love it so much! I wish we’d had more time to explore, but duty (and California sunshine) called… !

The Blogcademy: Portland was amazing. The Cleaners at the Ace Hotel is an incredible venue, truly enormous, with huge windows and super-high ceilings. We scattered heart-shaped confetti around, had our graduates blowing bubbles in the class photo, and of course, we were honoured to meet 30 fantastic BABES!

I am always so pleasantly surprised by the women that come along to our classes — we really couldn’t ask for more. It’s rare to have so many kindred spirits in one room! At one point, during the class photo, with everyone around me blowing bubbles and laughing, I said, “I am in heaven. This is truly like my dreams come to life!”

Listening
Justin Timberlake! I downloaded his new album and I’ve been enjoying it way too much.

When we’re travelling, I’m always in charge of the soundtrack. Since it’s almost impossible to pick an album that everyone will enjoy — especially at The Blogcademy — I’ve been relying on 8tracks playlists. It’s just so much easier! I love to type in “80’s” or “funk” or “disco” and see what comes up. The playlists have contributed to some solid boogie-down moments in class!

Manicuring
I had a violet glitter manicure all month long, which matched my dress for Fashion 2.0. It was a custom blend, made by mixing several shades of pink and purple glitter together.

I removed the manicure last night, though, and tomorrow, Kat and I are going out in search of a good gel manicure in Los Angeles! Fingers crossed! Pun intended!

Reading
I picked up Alain de Botton’s Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion and blitzed through it in a few days. It’s brilliant: an examination of the best parts of religion, what it can teach us and how it can improve us as a society. So much food for thought… I adored it.

I am also constantly buying books for my iPhone, to read when I’m on the go. I recently purchased Born To Run, about how humans are designed to run, and a tribe of people who can prove it; Kasher in the Rye, because Mike and I watched some Moshe Kasher stand-up on Netflix which made us laugh like mad; and Alone Together, about how technology isn’t bringing people together, and is instead pushing us apart. (I’ve been meaning to read that one for ages!)

Wearing
It has persisted in being so very frigid in New York City that I feel like I have been wearing the same thing for six months: fleece-lined tights, a steady rotation of coats, Madewell skinny jeans, Frye riding boots, a chunky-knit turtleneck from Zara. But I’ve been going nuts on the accessories, to make up for it. I have a whole new slew of rings: an evil eye, an Elvish twine ring, Kenaz rune rings, and a Bloodmilk medium ring, which I’ve been wearing every day and loving.

The sunshine on the West Coast has been much-needed, and of course, since it’s spring, I’ve been wearing flower crowns like it’s my JOB. I’ve borrowed/stolen a couple of Crown And Glory ones from Kat, which I don’t ever want to give back. I’m also really into maxi skirts with long-sleeved crop tops. It’s just a phase, I’m sure!

Wishlist
I am inexplicably obsessed with simple silver star stud earrings, and I can’t find a good pair anywhere! I’m hunting for the perfect set. Plus, I keep seeing so many other cool earrings that I’m starting to wonder if I should get a bit early 90’s on it and get my ears pierced multiple times?! Or is that totally naff? What do you think?

I also really feel the need to find the perfect hat. I have a feeling this will happen here in Los Angeles, probably at Hidden Treasures. But just in case I don’t find a goodie, I packed my plum one from American Apparel. I wore it on the plane and it was all very dramatic!

Writing
Here are some of my favourite posts from the month, just in case you missed ’em!

Blog On, Babe, my blogging series, came to a close. Over the past month, I’ve encouraged bloggers to step away from the computer, go their own way, innovate or evaporate, educate themselves, and finally, a post for anyone who is struggling to start.
March’s Carousel was fairly epic! (Make a cup of tea and dig in!)
Once we were reunited in Portland, the three Blogcademy headmistresses sat down for a livestream Q&A which was so much fun!
I wrote about how to make the most of any workshop or event.
Here’s a funky mixtape which is full of some of my favourite songs of the moment.
The biggest news all month was that we announced a Blogcademy world tour! It’s gonna be a big year… !
I wrote a summer prayer, about all the things I want to do when it’s warm outside.
Your phone can change your life!
Season of the witch is the most fun I’ve had writing a style post in a long time.
If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to tell the future, Palmistry 101 is for you!
And finally, I wrote about a weird night out I had at the vampire ball.

…I had to end with that, it’s too funny! Okay, I just introduced Kat to RuPaul’s Drag Race, and we can’t tear ourselves away…

Much love,