Outfit of the Day

Hello fruit crackers (!) hope you are all fine and dandy! I feel I've been away from the blogging world for a while again, although it's only been about a week! I went back to work after half term this Monday, but literally only lasted the day as I got sick again Monday night : ( Back to work on Friday though which was great. Normally I get bored at home when I'm sick, although this time, I had very strong painkillers, so pretty much slept through the day.

So, feeling better this weekend, I spent yesterday at Bluewater with my best friend, and today at Lakeside with hubby! We also visited Ikea and purchased a very nice new shoe cabinet, quite excited about that, I do love Ikea! Watching him assemble it as I type, so glad he is good at putting up furniture, I am a typical girl, pretty useless!

Today's post then is just a quick OOTD : )

I wore my dark blue Zara jeans, Red Herring chelsea boots, Hollister blue and white striped shirt and a new cream jacket that I purchased yesterday in H & M. Love the classic style, it's perfect now the weather is heating up a bit! Finished the outfit off with my trusty Mulberry : )

I also wore my new MAC lipstick in Ruby Woo, love the shocking red colour. I diluted it down a little with some lip balm to make it suitable for day wear. I matched with red nails in Victoria and Albert by Nails Inc.

Well that's everything for now, I will blog soon with my new purchases and a few other bits and pieces : ) XOXO

Valentines in London

Happy belated Valentines day one and all! I know Valentines has come and passed, but its such a special day and deserves due care and attention in my opinion!

Valentines day is never a sedate occasion in the Bradley household, every year we go to town and use the day to show each other how much in love we still are, 8 years on... cheesy but true! Cards are purchased or sometimes made, meals are planned, gifts are prepared and wrapped, and a day or evening out pencilled into our calendar.

This year, we decided to book tickets to the new west end production of Singin' in the rain. A classic film that we both love, we were extremely excited about the stage version. So, tickets were booked for 15th February, hubby booked the day off work, and I set about planning a fantastic day in London!

For those of you who read my blog regularly, you will know how organised I am, and how I like to plan occasions to the smallest detail. So, a few days before the show, I dug out our London map, propped the iPad on my knee and set about planning a special day for the two of us. I decided that we would have a little wander around Covent garden (little being the operative word, hubby is not such a fan of shopping as I!), a short walk into Soho to lunch at Banana Tree, an Indochinese restaurant that we previously visited in another area of London and loved, and then a short walk back to the National Gallery for an afternoon of culture. Lastly, a pitstop at a coffee shop for tea and cakes before making our way to the Palace theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue for the show.

Covent garden + giant creme egg = heaven! For our trip to London I wore my new Topshop chain print skirt, a grey Primark vest top, my new navy blue H & M cardi (tucked into the skirt) with a tan brown belt from Forever 21, my black Armani exchange coat and my Mullbery.

We saw the show on the 15th February which was the official opening and press night! Barbara Windsor, Christopher Biggins and Lenny Henry (amongst other famous sorts) attended too.

Hubby and I also had a wander around the National Gallery. 

Love my hubby : )

Although we didn't do very much shopping, I did of course visit Laduree in Covent garden, as well as H & M to pick up a grey cardigan. Hubby purchased my Valentines present in Pandora too : )

For anyone who has never tried Macaroons from Laduree I urge you to do so! I first tried them in Paris and have been hooked ever since! This time I purchased 8 (6 shown, 2 already eaten!) for £10.90. My favourite flavours include chocolate, vanilla and raspberry. Yum : )

Hubby purchased me the heart charm at the very front of the bracelet. Gorgeous, and very fitting for Valentines!

Grey H & M cardi £9.99. I love the navy cardi I bought the other day so thought a grey one would be useful to have!

Hope everyone else had a fab day, more soon elves XOXO

Saturday bake day

Happy Saturday strawberry bon bons! Hope you are all well and happy : ) I am uber happy, even more so than usual, as it is half term! I have made some great plans for next week, all will be revealed soon!

Today has been more laid back than usual for me as hubby is ill with flu so I have been in full on wife mode! I stopped off at Waitrose for some get well soon bits for hubby and then spent the afternoon making home made vegetable soup and chocolate brownies! Today's post shows the delicious results! ; )

My favourite cook books! Today I used the book second from the left with the flowery spine, a  birthday gift from hubby's Grandma.

1) Break 225g of good quality plain chocolate (at least 60% cocoa solids) into pieces and place in a heat proof bowl. Add 175g of butter to the chocolate. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering hot water but make sure they do not come into contact at all. Set the timer for 10 minutes and allow the chocolate and butter to melt slowly.

2) In the meantime, whisk together 100g caster sugar with 3 large eggs.

3) In a large bowl, add all the ingredients together; the melted butter and chocolate, the sugar and eggs, and 175g of self raising flour. Mix together until all the ingredients are combined.

4) Add 100g white chocolate chips and 50g of milk chocolate chips to the mixture and stir in fully.

5) Pour the brownie mixture in a 25cm non-stick baking tin and smooth over.

6) Ta-da! 30 minutes at 180 degrees and the brownie should be cooked. Leave to cool before removing from the tin and cutting into squares.

7) The brownies cut into squares and stacked onto a cake stand.

I served the brownie with Haagen-Daz's chocolate, praline and caramel ice cream for hubby, perfect get well soon dessert! : )

More soon dear readers, enjoy the rest of the weekend : ) XOXO

And then the snow came

Hello snow angels, how is everyone today?? Well the snow finally fell here, I was sooo excited last night and couldn't stop looking out the window! Today hubby and I wrapped up warm and braved the cold! We walked to the lake near our house and fed the ducks, I was very concerned that they might not be able to get much food in this weather! Bless them xx 

Wrapped up for the snow!

The lake near our house was almost completely frozen over!

Ducks!

I don't know about anyone else but I love walking in the snow... find it very peaceful and restorative. On a different note now, I have a few new H & M purchases to share from my shop yesterday!

H & M dress £24.99. Hubby called this my 'green goddess' dress when he saw it yesterday! I love the classic style which is great for work but also any smart occasion. really. I really like having dresses like this in my wardrobe as they are so versatile. Love the emerald green too!

H & M dress £14.99. Love the ditzy floral print, perfect for Spring/Summer and so easy to wear. I plan to wear this while it's still cold with a cardigan and tights.

H & M navy cardigan £9.99. Just a little basic, I plan to pair this with the dress above.

Well that's about everything for today, I plan to spend the rest of my evening with my new stack of magazines, plenty of tea and some good TV! Bliss : ) XOXO

Outfit of the Day

Hello dolls, hope you are all well and successfully avoiding the snow and cold! We haven't actually had any snow yet but apparently it's imminent, so I'm waiting with bated breath! The cupboards are stocked, the house is warm, come on snow, do your worst!!

I had an amazingly long lay in this morning, followed by a little jaunt around town and a little shopping with hubby. I bought a few bits and pieces in H & M which had sooo much new season stuff in, I was slightly excited to say the least!

Later today, hubby took me to Chiquito, one of our favourite restaurants.Today's post is therefore a little outfit of the day post : )

I wore my Mango black dress with leather detail collar and cuffs, a grey Topshop jumper over the top, black floral print tights from Primark, my new black Faith wedge boots, a Forever 21 horn necklace and my Mulberry bag. I wore my hair in a ballerina style bun which is a bit different for me, but hey, like to mix things up sometimes ; )

That's everything for now dear readers, keep warm and pray for snow! : )