With the film event of the year now less than 24 hours away, the JOY HQ team have been getting super-excited. Not only have we been swooning over the super-decs wardrobe (see here for our Great Gatsby style blog), sensational soundtrack and delicious Dicaprio, we have also developed a rather serious girl crush on the movies star, Carey Mulligan.

Brit born Carey made her debut into the film world starring alongside Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice , has been described as the ingénue du jour by Vogue and won a mighty SEVENTEEN awards so far . Cool credentials not stopping there, the stunning starlet is also married to the rather lovely rocker Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons fame who also happens to be her childhood pen pal, awww! A true English rose, we adore her lovely, laid back nature and pretty and easy style, looking just as fabulous in bold colours and flirty florals as she does in chic, adrogynous monochrome. Here are just a few of our favourite Carey looks.

 

 

While we were sleeping off the bank holiday weekend, the Hollywood elite were fanning their fashionable feathers at this year’s edition of the Met Ball. The red carpet event is unofficially known as the fashion pack’s equivalent to the Oscars and this time around, called upon its patrons to don a punk theme.
If you’re anything like us, you’ll have been glued to the coverage, rating and slating the night’s most photographed looks. While we love the ‘what not to wear pages’ as much as the next girl, we think Kim K’s floral faux pas has had enough air time, so we’ve picked out our Met must-have’s instead of highlighting the top of the flops.
Rather than overdo the theme, the punk princesses who worked the look best went for a stripped back and red-carpet ready interpretation of the stylishly subversive theme. Slick monochrome ensembles given a hard-core edge through statement accessories got our fashion pulses racing.
From left: Cara Delevingne in custom Burberry, Carey Mulligan in Balenciaga, Rooney Mara in Givenchy, Gwen Stefani in Maison Martin Margiela, Sienna Miller in Burberry, Ann Hathaway in vintage Valentino and sporting a new peroxide coif.

Get Met Style Monochrome at JOY

Cut out ring – http://bit.ly/10wgOm3

 Moon dress – http://bit.ly/18tlKIN

 Lyric gilet – http://bit.ly/143get2

 Albert clutch – http://bit.ly/10i37Qo

Hello culture fans, let us introduce…

The Shed
We are very excited to announce that we are now working in creative collaboration with The Shed!

What is The Shed?
The Shed is a pop up venue presented by the National Theatre and is open for one year from April 2013.

Where is The Shed?
On London’s stunning Southbank; just in front of the National Theatre.

What can you expect?
An exciting and contemporary theatre experience! The Shed celebrates new theatre and aims to bring the audience an adventurous, intimate and unexpected time. JOY fans will have exclusive access to all of the fabulous must-see shows. We will be updating this blog with our first hand reviews and any must-have information.

What’s on?
We have a full show schedule on our JOY Loves The SHED page PLUS, your first chance to get hold extra-special JOY pre-release tickets (on 7th May) for Mission Drift – Exciting!

Have you been to The Shed yet? We’d love to hear your thoughts! Get in touch by commenting below.

Where were all the cool kids these last two weekends? At Coachella of course! Since its sunny debut in 1999, the Valley Music and Arts festival has been THE place to be and be seen. Music loving celebs from across the globe flock to California every year to soak up the sun and showcase their achingly-cool, majorly jel-inducing festival fashion. Here are our top picks from 2013.

Alexa Chung

Cute as button (up shirt)! Alexa got it so right once again in a dandy print shirt, denim shorts and classic canvas high tops.

Solange Knowles

Showing off her zest for life, superstar DJ and singer Solange stood out from the crowd in this stunning Alice + Olivia Candice dress.

Jessica Lowndes

The 90210 star rocked the classic summer combo of flirty florals and ankle boots; an oldie but a (gorgeous) goodie.

Rita Ora

Rita rocked it for the Brits in Jeremy Scott  popping neons and her signature red lips.

Sophia Bush

True Blue, Sophia we love you and your pretty and printed pyjama pants.

 

 

 

Yes, we are an excitable bunch at JOY HQ, it takes little more than the mention of chocolate digestives to spark our intrigue. That said, nothing is comparable to our frenzied anticipation of next month’s release of The Great Gatsby.

The latest epic from celebrated Australian director Baz Luhrmann, this 2013 adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s twisted tale of wealth and obsession in the roaring twenties is set to be a visual spectacular of the most decadent proportions.

In 1996 Luhrmann won both our angst and our adoration with his explosive portrayal of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and left us ravenous for a new literary endeavour. Taking another twisted and tragic love story and once again putting Leonardo DiCaprio as his captivating leading man, we can’t help but think Baz is on to a winner.

The casting of LDC as Gatsby and our favourite ingénue, Carey Mulligan as Daisy, the object of Gatsby’s obsession already had us hooked, but wait, there’s more!

The diligent director, who is known for taking a contemporary approach to his scores (Radiohead in Romeo and Juliet is a fine example and BTW the soundtrack to Romeo and Juliet remains on our playlist to this day), enlisted the help of Jay Z to give the music for The Great Gatsby an unexpected twist. A title track from Lana Del Rey and additions from Florence Welch, Beyoncé and the XX are sure to bring the excessive glitz and glamour of the twenties banging into 2013.

Oh and did we mention a luxe vintage-meets-modern wardrobe conceptualised by Baz Luhrmann’s wife Catherine Martin and the one and only Miuccia Prada, yes PRADA. If we haven’t got you excited yet (our pulses are seriously racing) then perhaps our edit of Gatsby-esque frocks will get you in the mood. Think Deco deluxe with all the trimmings!

 

Get the Gatsby Look

Look 1
Bechet dress:  http://bit.ly/15Drnod, Flower studs:   http://bit.ly/XSTefe

Look 2
Zelda dress:  http://bit.ly/Y1abqf, Swan studs:  http://bit.ly/11gA3em

Look 3
Panama dress:  http://bit.ly/10ZDmGE, Fan earrings:   http://bit.ly/ZM3Au8

Look 4
Julie dress:  http://bit.ly/17UeLs6, Blue studs: http://bit.ly/17MhQro

Look 5
Suncoo dress:  http://bit.ly/YJnXZq, Swirl earrings:  http://bit.ly/13TmAPi
Egyptian necklace:  http://bit.ly/10zElxH

This week at JOY we decided (as a greedy collective) that is was high time we indulged in a really great tea party! With so many terrific tea-sets, biscuit jars and cake tins arriving at HQ and the sun finally shining it seemed the perfect opportunity to go tea-total and eat a sweet treat, or two (or maybe a dozen, really who’s counting?).
A special shoot was organised to showcase all our wonderful new wares and of course we needed the cakes and biscuits to accompany them. I cooked up some truly special strawberry and cream cupcakes for exactly that purpose. These easy bake cakes are a summer party winner; perfectly pretty and delicious too!

The recipe for these cute cakes come from the talented folk at The Hummingbird Bakery, I used the classic vanilla cupcake recipe and decorated with fresh strawberries, grated white chocolate and white chocolate buttons. You can buy the beautiful HB recipe books at JOY stores and the new title Home Sweet Home is coming to www.joythestore.com very soon.

After a rather long stint away carrying out top secret PR girl activities, I’m finally back at JOY HQ and, perhaps more importantly, back on the blog.

For me, there’s no better welcome back into the office than a killer playlist of feel-good tunes.

We’re an eclectic bunch here in the Press Office and our musical taste covers everything from current chart-toppers to old school classics; bound by a shared love of 90’s cheese and a particular penchant for all things pop and hip-hop.

In an attempt to share our unique music mix with JOY fans everywhere, I (with a little help from the rest of the Press Office) have put together our perfect “anytime, anywhere” playlist.

You. Are. Welcome.

DESTINY’S CHILD – SAY MY NAME

ALUNAGEORGE – ATTRACTING FLIES

SPILLER – GROOVEJET

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE – MIRRORS

ELTON JOHN – BENNIE AND THE JETS

ALL SAINTS – NEVER EVER

IGGY AZALEA – WORK

MAROON 5 – SUNDAY MORNING

EVE & GWEN STEFANI – LET ME BLOW YA MIND

TAYLOR SWIFT – I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE

JESSIE WARE – WILDEST MOMENTS

BLACKSTREET & DR. DRE – NO DIGGITY

SPICE GIRLS – SAY YOU’LL BE THERE

MARVIN GAYE – HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE

ACE OF BASE – ALL THAT SHE WANTS

Don’t be slack this season, get on board with the latest trouser trend and go super-wide! Following on from last summer’s love affair with the printed pyjama pant, this summer’s patterned protagonist is the palazzo. An effortlessly elegant day-to-night option printed palazzos epitomise poolside glamour; think silky cami-top, wide brimmed hat and shades. When night comes, swap your flats for heels, ditch the hat and add a statement necklace and you’re ready for cocktail-hour.

We’ve spotted a host of celebs looking pin-perfect in the trend-topping bottoms, with style icons from Queen Victoria Beckham to Lauren Conrad going wonderfully wide. Our fave interpretation of the look so far came from Victoria’s Secret Angel, Rosie Huntington Whiteley who donned a pretty paisley pair on a trip to the hair-salon last month. She teamed up her pink and purple slacks with a white peasant top, luxe outsized sunnies and classic tan sandals; so freaking chic we are literally turning green.

If you, like us do not have a budget a la Rosie, JOY (as ever) is here to help! In crisp porcelain blue and white the Flaxx super-trews from Louche are flared to perfection and boast a paisley print with as much panache as Rosie’s well picked pair. We’ve even found a lookalike top, shades and jewellery to complete the model look.

Aware that it’s beginning to look like all we do at JOY is eat, I was wary of blogging about yet another brunching best, but this cafe is just too good to be kept on the low-down, so here goes *picks up doughnut and continues typing*.

You may remember JOY PR Girl waxing lyrical about The Deptford Project in last month’s edition of Dispatches from the Press Office; after she branded it the perfect Sunday brunch spot, I felt it my duty (as a greedy pig) to check the place out.

Going rogue and heading to the south-eastern eatery mid-week, I managed to pick the first sunny day of 2013 for my jaunt. Having been to visit JOY Greenwich earlier that morning I decided to go by foot, in anticipation of the many calories I was about to consume.

Upon hearing the full review from the press team, I spent the duration of my journey feeling equally excited about the venue’s unique appearance and mouth-watering home-made menu. Set in a 1960’s commuter train carriage, installed on Deptford High Street in 2008 as part of a collaborative arts project, it’s pretty easy to find.

Sounding every inch the hipster hotspot, I didn’t want to like DP as much as I did (or be the girl taking photos of her full English to put on Instagram later) but of course I did fall head over heels with its achingly cool boho-come-urban design and happening hangout vibe. I couldn’t help but opt for a table with a window seat, literally the stool was marked ‘window seat’ in heavy black stencilled font.

Selecting the traditional cooked brekkie from a charmingly marked chalkboard, (who can say no to the full monty at £5.60) I placed my order at a counter temptingly laced with home-baked cakes and pie (yes I did take one away for later). Whilst waiting for my feast, I took in my surrounds; the carriage animated with colour and conversation, an Amstrad record/cassette player, mismatched bottles refreshingly filled with water and fresh mint – yes I would be coming back here.

When the breakfast came, I wasn’t disappointed; forget garnish and grace this is the sort of breakfast your mum/dad would make you, hearty and frankly delicious. I did ask for my eggs to be scrambled, and was informed to my disappointment that ‘they only come fried’; this was quickly forgotten as they were the best fried eggs I’ve ever eaten.

After eating and talking for far longer than I should have been welcome, I spotted the outdoor toilet and contemplated just how much I needed to go. I decided to chance the facilities and I was so glad I did, on discovery of what is arguably South London’s only toilet-shrine to ‘the King’ of rock and roll himself (let us know if you’ve spotted another). Wallpapered with fan imagery and discs, the Elvis Presley Super Loo has a sense of humour becoming of its service. I love it!

If you’re out and about in South London this weekend, I thoroughly recommend a visit!

 

Need some delicious munch for brunch? Yep, us too! Good job we’ve got master Shef’ chef Lydia on hand to help and share her scummy bagel making knowledge. You can put your faith, as well as your flour, in this recipe ‘cause our Lydia can really bake, we’d suggest she went into the bagel business but JOY Sheffield would miss her too much.

 

Over to the chef…

I might not be able to sing, dance or even draw (trust me, stick men are even a challenge) but goodness me, I make a mean bagel. This weekend I set my sights on a new speciality, olive and garlic bagels, here’s what I did.

 

 

What I used

• 7g sachet dried yeast
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 450g bread flour
• Olives (any variety)
• Garlic cloves, or if you’re lazy like me, garlic oil.

 

Tip the yeast and 1 tbsp of sugar in a large bowl pour over 100ml of warm water (hotter rather than colder), I give it a quick mix though I don’t know if you’re meant to. Leave for 10 minutes for it to become frothy.

Next, pour 200ml of warm water into the bowl and add the salt and half the flour. Give it a stir and keep adding the remaining flour a bit at a time. You may not need all the flour; you may need a little more. Once the dough is soft but not sticky it’s ready to be kneaded. This bit can be a little boring, but great if you’ve had a bad day as you can just beat the hell out of it!

Once the dough feels smooth and elastic it is ready to rest. At this point I add the olives; I don’t like to add them before as the kneading will squish them too much. Cover the dough loosely with cling film in a lightly oiled bowl, and leave in a warm place for about an hour. I leave mine on a shelf in the boiler room, it works a treat.

Preheat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7 and go grab your dough which should have doubled by this point. On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 10 pieces, each about 85g. I do this by guess work, and then I can pretend they are all the same but nab the bigger ones for me. Shape each piece into a flattish ball, then take a wooden spoon and use the handle to make a hole in the middle of each ball; about 3cm wide.

Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil and tip in the remaining sugar. This is the bit that always shocks people, but yes, you need to boil bagels. Slip the bagels into the boiling water – no more than four at a time, but who actually has a pan big enough to fit 4 bagels in at a time?!  Cook for 1-2 mins, turning over in the water until the bagels have puffed slightly and a skin has formed. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain away any excess water. You can now add any topping you would like, this is when I brush on garlic oil, or you can use crushed garlic if you don’t have oil. Pop on a baking tray, covered with parchment paper, OR if you’re like me and didn’t bother buying any, foil that is lightly oiled will work fine too.

Bake in the oven for 25 mins until browned and crisp – the bases should sound hollow when tapped. Leave to cool on a wire rack, and then serve with your favourite filling, which is quite obviously peanut butter – we go crunchy!