Brunch spot: Ozone

Green Sweater – COS. Jeans – James Jeans. Bag – Kurt Geiger. Leather knot bracelet – COS. Gold coral ring – Michelle Oh. Watch – Sekonda. Slingback heels – Zara. Tartan shirt – Motel Rocks. Bar necklace – Kirsten Goss Urban Edge.

While the first half of my twenties can be illustrated with cheap pleather shoes of varying glue smells and £4 Covent Garden jacket potatoes, the second half is decidedly turning out to be a compulsive, obsessive hunt for the best weekend brunch spots in town – as if life depended on pancakes. That and deleting emails like it’s a sport. Life does depend on pancakes, what am I talking about. There’s also the worshiping of coffee – as if I know what ‘good’ coffee is meant to taste like. Apparently the more it tastes like Chinese herbal medicine the better, where you cringe at the sip but nod ferociously like you know what it means… although, in my book, vending machine coffee is pretty agreeable too so I guess anything with caffeine is a winner. Ozone in Shoreditch has been our latest sweetheart spot for weekends, dedicated mainly to roasting and brewing sustainable, artisan coffee but also does a mean eggs benedict. Plus, the open kitchen also means brunch usually becomes more of a bLunch after a few ‘can I have whatever he’s making’. Despite the name that sounds like a 90’s underground club, and the exterior that doesn’t promise much of an interior, it’s definitely one of those Londoner’s secrets that hide in plain sight.

Floral print-cami – Topshop. Sunglasses – Celine. Flower garland – Topshop

Hat + Dress – Topshop

Top – Topshop, Skirt – Kenzo. Clutch – Kurt Geiger

Look 1 (Crop-top): Linen crop-tee, Coulottes – Topshop. Rope belt – DIY. Bracelet – Saught.

Look 2 (Floral patchwork Dress):   Dress, straw boater hat – Topshop. Bag – Bottega Veneta. Heels – Zara.

Look 3 (Maxi-skirt):  Printed strappy-cami – Topshop. Basket-weave skirt, Tiger bracelet – c/o Kenzo. Clutch – Kurt Geiger. Loafers – Hudson. Leather bracelet – COS

The classic British Summer is here – hot, muggy, air-just-shy-of-armpit-consistency, one cloud away from November degrees. I’m not complaining though, at least not on Thursdays and Fridays. See, I’m trying out a new career path where I now professionally complain part-time and the rest of the week I focus on freelance weather forecasting, because apparently in this country you don’t need a particular degree to read the weather. Here’s the secret: a rusty slot machine at the BBC does the job for you – the reels groan a bit and a series of icons forecast the weather. Today I played with a few pieces from the new Topshop Reclaim to Wear collection, in which disregarded prints from the previous seasons got upcycled into airy, summery pieces. The slots pooped out a perfect weather for this: Fog – Cloud- Sun, 28 degrees, humidity 2,000%; there also may or may not have been a Tsunami looming but unsure as the icon for it is a Bucket of Water. They’ve been using the machine since the 70’s after every single barometer/thermometer in the country quit and left for Spain. I’ll leave for Spain sooner or later, I predict.

Thank you Charlie for helping with the shots! 

My favourite froyo in London, Tutti Frutti in Covent Garden

Military Navy Coat – Zara. Grey Jeans – Urban Outfitters. Waffle-knit Sweater – COS. Structured shirt – Zara. Shoes – Kurt Geiger Ella. Snakeskin Bag – Marc by Marc Jacobs. Cheeeers Kit for the shots!

I’m going to let you in on a secret, and while I know that if I just carried on like this only a small percentage of you who have mastered the skill of reading will be privvy to this information, but I’m just going to need a bit more audience for this one. CATS CATS CATS BOOBS WEINERSCHNITZEL BIGGER BOOBS CATS BACON. There. Welcome, ten new members of the reading club! Back to what I was going to say – believe it or not, I have an ‘editorial schedule’ for this blog. You’re meant to be seeing posts every two days, three if delayed but no longer than that. Yeah but your blog is like Skyping with grandma in Tibet is what you’re saying, and I get it, I go quiet for so long you wonder if I died at the end of the line, or I give out an incoherent cackle at one go…  and I smell of goat urine, I get it. The secret I wanted to share, is that it takes FOREVER to write this blurb and usually the prime cause of post congestion. I have plenty of photographic content, but words don’t come easy. In my defense I wrote my last semi-decent essay six years ago in highschool (dissertation? that thing in art school I wrote in blood?) and my vocabulary basket (made in Tibet) is leaking words. I know I never write anything profane or philosophical, in fact these blurbs should essentially be put in the same category as the noise that modems used to make back in the early days, but I guess the problem arises mainly from the fact that I really am not interested in writing about the outfit above… there’s only so much I can tell you about grey jeans. I plan to wear this next week, what do I say THEN? So there’s that’s the secret, I’m an idiot. Shini had an OK day, and bought a Coke Zero at the gas station… and wore white shoes in January. Raise the roof.

You couldn’t SEO this blog even if you tried.

Sandals, Dune

V-neck tee, YesStyle. Heels, ASOS Sienna. Boyfriend Jeans, ASOS. Headphones, Urbanears. Brown satchel, ASOS. Leather Bracelet, COS. Watch, GUESS (Have you entered the GUESS One to Watch competition!?), Gingham bike-seat, YesStyle; Photos on rows 4,5,6,7 taken for Editer feature

Pop quiz: What does Ceviche, iced lemonade on a humid day, 2-for-1 sale at Sainsbury’s and cushioned flats during LFW have in common? Answer: The ‘Ahhrrrhhhhhhhhhhh‘ from an angelic choir that fill your head and relieve your stress-bar of gremlins and oafs (oaves? no). It’s one of those difficult-to-explain things that forces you give a vague explanation but also allows you to witness that rare surprised look on your ever-sceptical dining buddy as the first fork goes in – you know – the subtle hop of eyebrows and the curt nod before he catches your eyes and says ‘yeahhh it’s alright’. Pah, men and egos. Personally, when I had my first bite while shooting for Editer not only did I join in with my angel choir with a high-pitched medley (think ‘Oh Happy Day‘) but there was also hooting and banging of spoons on the table some. It’s that good. And as far as vague explanation goes, Ceviche (of Peruvian kitchen) – is basically raw fish and seafood marinated in spicy citrus juice, or what they call Tiger Milk. I obviously had a brief moment of imaging milking a tiger and thinking THAT’S RIDICUWOOS, but a sip of it induced another angelic ‘Arrhhhhhhh‘ plus a happy tiger roar and then I understood why the name. So there you have it, a perfect birthday lunch with le hubby. (Bday is actually the 4th but since every year I’m busy counting fireworks [FOR ME!?] we decided to celebrate earlier.)

Speaking of birthdays and delights, got some fun news from the lovely folks at Motilo: An opportunity to win a ridicuwoos amount of dosh to spend at NET-A-PORTER.COM. I have my eyes on a certain PS1 classic or contents of a full suitcase to take to Japan next week. In fact, the competition ends on the 10th of July and that’s just about when I fly so I’ll see you, suitcase, at the airport. Note: if you’re feeling generous, please feel free to enter with variations to my name (i.e Shini Parko, Shini Parkookoo, Shini Pee…etc) and I’ll never complain that someone spelt my name wrong in an email again.

Look 1 Boyfriend Fit Cargo Trousers – Uniqlo, Jacket & Bag – Zara, Shirt – YesStyle, Shoes – Sam Edelman

Look 2 Trousers – Uniqlo, Jacket – Vintage, Furry Bumbag – ASOS, Sweater – YesStyle

Look 3 Trousers – Uniqlo, Knitted jacket – Topshop Unique, Leather Jacket – Alpine Stars by Denise Focil, Shoes – Topshop, Necklace – COS, Shirt – American Apparel, Polkadot top – Motel Rocks

I say 3 different looks but I do realise that when you lean back a little and squint it’s really just one outfit, or one big ball of minty marshmallow-thing. Hey at least it’s healthy, this pastel obsession. Because erh… mint is a herb? I digress. I’m back on my favourite collaboration project with Uniqlo and will be posting many many many marshmallow outfits into Uniqlooks via Facebook, join me in on the fun! This is actually fun because I genuinely like Uniqlo and would’ve happily sold all my possessions for some extra fine merino socks anyway! Best improvement about Uniqlooks is the fact that they made a ‘share on Facebook wall’ an option so all my hipster ‘2-kool-4-skool’ Central Saint Martins buddies on Facebook from don’t need to be updated what eyebrow-raising things I do in my spare time.

Thank you hubby for your photo services x