What's in my shopping bags??

Hello cinnamon swirls how are you all this Saturday?? I am super happy today, hubby had a late hockey match so I decided to take a little trip to Bluewater shopping centre. I went quite late so it was nice and quiet, and I spent a blissful few hours browsing and purchasing some gorgeous new things!

Can you see that my hair is lighter?? I spent two nights stripping the very dark almost black colour out with Colour B4, before re-dying a chocolatey brown colour. I really like it : )

 What I wore: I wore some of my new Westfield purchases, I really like this sheer dotty Zara shirt, today I wore it tucked into my new skinny Zara jeans. I paired the outfit with some H & M ballet pumps, my Mulberry bag and some simple diamond stud earrings. I have to say I have been really impressed with the Zara jeans, I am not sure I have ever mentioned how much I struggle with buying jeans that fit properly. For years the only ones that have fitted me have been River Island, size 6 skinny jeans. I have dabbled with Topshop, Next and even Victoria Beckham denim, but have ultimately been disappointed as the jeans have all stretched and ended up poor fitting, which I really hate. In the past I have tried on Zara jeans but not purchased them thinking the same would happen, however, I really liked this pair so decided to take a chance. I wore them all day long for the first time today and they stayed snug as a bug in a rug! Love them : )

What's in my bags??!

I had a little wander round Lush and purchased a Phoenix Rising bath bomb (£2.95) for a bit of pampering tomorrow night before work, as well as Mask of Magnaminty face mask (£4.75). I have used this product in the past and really love it, it is so refreshing.

Jumper from Zara £22.95. I have been really wanting to tap into the snakeskin trend and this jumper is perfect! I love the grey and the snakeskin panel down the front, it looks great with jeans, but will also work tucked into a skirt. 

Bargain #1! Kimchi and Blue paperbag waist trousers from Urban Outfitters in wine... £10!  These trousers were originally £48. I really like the peg leg style, I bought lots of these this summer and think they look really good on. I bought a size small and they were still quite big but I liked the look so in the bag they went!

Bargain #2 Pins and Needles ruffle dress from Urban Outfitters £20 (was £68)  This dress looks huge in the picture but is in fact an XS and is very form fitting... I really liked the classic style and think it will work well for work but also at the weekend with a chunky cardi over the top. The polka dot dress is now sold out online but you can still purchase the claret red colour for the same price. (I tried this on also but wasn't a fan of the colour for a dress).

Can you believe the amazing bargains from UO??! Now as I have said before, I am not a very big fan of sales, I find them too messy and my OCD brain cannot handle the lack of organisation. I have never been one for searching out a bargain, I just don't have the drive or desire to do this. Today however, I wandered into UO as usual, completed my usual route around the shop, then started to look at the jewellery. It was then that I saw the polka dots out of the corner of my eye and turned to have a look. I really liked the dress and was even more pleased to see that the dress had been reduced from £68 to £30! I continued then to have a rifle through the various trousers and decided to try on the wine red colour as I thought they were a bit different to any others that I have. When I got to the till, the dress had been reduced further from £30 to £20 so I managed to get both the trousers and dress for £30! So pretty pleased with my bargainous haul : )

Well that's about it for today, hubby and I are chilling with Woody now, listening to fireworks and drinking copious amounts of tea.... good times : ) XOXO

Queen of hearts nails

Hello strawberry cupcakes, how are you all today?? I can't believe it's Thursday already, really where do the weeks go?? Not that I'm complaining, after this week it will only be 6 weeks until the Christmas holidays, seriously cannot wait!!

Today's post is a nail of the day post, one that I created during half term with some new nail bits and pieces. My mum came to visit me and bought with her a little nail kit that she received in Boots when she bought an eye pencil from 17. (Don't mums always bring little bits and pieces with them when they visit?? I always receive a range of products, varying from beauty products, to washing up liquid, packets of crisps/chocolate and tins for my tin cupboard! Love it!) Anyways, this particular kit was of much interest to me, as I have really got into nail art recently, and the colours looked particularly pretty.

Cute little bag that the products came in... I don't know about anyone else but  I'm a sucker for glossy, girly packaging!!

The kit consisted of 2 full size nail polishes, one in a coral pink colour and one in a classic red. It also included a leopard print nail file (handy size for your bag) and some heart nail stickers, some in pink and some larger with leopard print.

Finished result! I painted my nails with a Maybelline base coat, and then added two coats of the red colour. I used a pair of mini tweezers from my Benefit brow kit to apply the little hearts to all of my nails bar the middle one, which had one of the larger hearts. I also added a large heart alongside the little one on the thumb. The stickers were surprisingly easy to use and adhered really well, I made sure they were super secure with a 2 layers of top coat painted over. 

What do you think?? I really liked the look and thought it looked quite different and eye-catching. It lasted 3 days without any chipping, so a pretty good result too. And let's not forget it is a free product, so I think this is even more impressive!

Hope you are all well, roll on Friday...XOXO

Peach Crumble

Hello strawberry shortcakes, how are you all today? I am just lovely, had a busy but fun day at work and have just eaten a delicious spaghetti bolognese cooked by my own fair hands! Today's post is another foodie one; after making my Christmas cookies in half term last week, I was inspired to try another new recipe, peach crumble, and I want to share it with you all today : )

1) Get your ingredients ready, you will need: 6 peaches/nectarines, 1 lemon, cooking butter, salt, caster sugar, cinnamon, light brown sugar, plain flour, baking powder and one egg. Pre- heat the oven to 200 degrees.

2) Peel the nectarines/peaches (I used my vegetable peeler as I find this easier!), and then cut into similar sized slices. Lay across the bottom of the foil tray. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the peaches and a sprinkling of the lemon zest. Mix one quarter of a cup of brown sugar with 3 tablespoons of flour, 1 teaspoon of cinammon and sprinkle over the peaches.

3) Mix one cup of flour with one cup of caster sugar, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, a pinch of salt and one teaspoon of cinnamon. Add the beaten egg to the mix and stir until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. It may be necessary to get your hands into the mix (remember, remove wedding rings first!) as it is really important to make sure the mixture does resemble crumble, without any obvious lumps.

4) Sprinkle the crumble mix evenly over the peaches. Melt half a cup of butter in a pan and drizzle over the top and then cook in the oven for around 30 minutes.

5) Ta-da! The finished product should look lightly browned on top. Serve with custard or ice cream and enjoy!

 A really tasty and comforting dessert in 5 easy steps! I have to confess I had never made a crumble before and was very impressed with the end result. The crumble was delicious and the peaches were soft and tasty. In future, I am going to try apple or pear crumble as hubby prefers those fruits, and perhaps even blackberry and raspberry!

Hope you are all well, more soon XOXO