All Saints Sunday Style

Hello Cupcakes, hope you are all well today. I am fine, had a good day work wise, but feel rather sick today, not sure why but it sucks, I hate nausea!! Anyway, today's post is a Sunday catch up (I never seem to get round to posting on a Sunday, hubby and I tend to chill with TV and films on a Sunday evening and computers are banned!) Sunday was a fabulous day, weather wise and activity wise. Hubby and I had a nice lazy morning (no change there!) and then decided to drive to a gorgeous little village called Goudhurst,  about half an hour from where we live for a nice country pub lunch. After lunch we had a wander around the village, before deciding to drive back home. On the way home we stopped off in Tenterden to get some bits and pieces in Waitrose, finally popping into Caffe Uno for a tea and a cake! 

What I wore: Skull t-shirt from All Saints, jeans from All Saints, new stripy cardigan from H & M,  heart necklace from Agatha in Paris and chestnut Ugg boots (so glad the weather is here to wear them again!)

My little Woody chilling on Sunday. I am so proud of him for  being picked as a favourite in the family portrait section of the Westfield competition! He is truly gorgeous and has the kindest face : ) xx

Well that's everything for today dolls, I will be nursing my nausea for the rest of the evening, however I have a new magazine so all will soon be right in my world : ) xoxo

Sunday Stripes

Hello ladies, hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! Just a quick outfit post today, the weather was surprisingly warm so I was able to wear a more summery outfit. Hubby and I decided to take a trip to Bluewater shopping centre for a browse and lunch at Pizza Express. I bought a new skirt from H & M that will be perfect for work and weekend alike, plus some new work shoes from Autograph at Marks and Spencer. I needed a shoe with a comfortable heel to wear with some of my new work dress (blogged about here) and found a perfect pair in M & S: black leather, wedge heel (for maximum comfort!) and classic enough for all my work clothes.

Striped shirt from Miss Selfridge, coral skirt from Matalan,  leopard print pumps from H & M,  heart necklace from Agatha in Paris and white gold diamond stud earrings.

Woody snuck into the picture again!

Hope you all had a nice weekend, I am planning a nice relaxing evening now with a film, snacks and plenty of tea!! : ) xoxo

My week in pictures

What I ate: Lots of home made, locally sourced food! Being at home is an excellent excuse to indulge my domestic side, and I have been visiting little organic farm shops for all my fruit and veg. As I blogged about here, I made a lovely chicken Korma that went down very well in my household! Today, I made some cupcakes using a recipe from my new Primrose bakery book. They were a light vanilla sponge topped with a rich vanilla buttercream (which I piped using my new piping set from Lakeland) So yum, perfect afternoon snack!

What made me happy: Lots of different things are making me happy at the moment, and my house bunny Woody is definitely one of them! He is the kindest, tamest, loveliest bunny I have ever met and I just want to squish him with cuddles! He is also a fan of my home grown organic veg, and has today been munching on purple sprouting broccoli and carrots! Only the best for my boy! : ) xx

What I am dreaming of: Right now I am dreaming of a trip to Moscow early next year! One of my best friends Anna will be there for 6 months for her second law placement and has invited me and another best friend to visit. Flights are reasonable but visas look set to be more difficult as you have to have a Russian citizen invite you into the country... there are ways round it but its tricky so I envisage a trip to the Russian embassy in London at some point!! Still, I am already dreaming about the Kremlin and the Red square and hope that we do get to go...

What I have purchased this week: Firstly, I am very excited to have got my hands on the heritage tweed jacket from new season H & M that I blogged about here - in London I was unable to locate a small size, but I managed to find one size 8 in the Maidstone branch! Cashback! I also purchased a few little bits and bobs for my nails this week, a strengthening clear varnish by Sally Hansen, a lovely pink shade by GOSH cosmetics and a gorgeous little pink tube of hand cream that I bought for my handbag! Lastly, I bought some bits and bobs for the house, including a little 'home' sign for my hallway wall : )

What I am listening to: Right now, Radio 2! Great mix of classics and debate about current events have kept me amused in the kitchen all day! I have also been listening to hubbys Metronomy album, and re-living memories of the Big Chill festival : )

What I am looking forward to next week: Firstly, I am looking forward to a leisurely lunch and catch up at Rocket in Canary Wharf, London with 3 very good friends, and then some shopping in the afternoon. I am also looking forw ard to going into school to pick up the kids AS and A Level results... nervous as well but they did their exams such a long time ago, I just need to know!!

Hope you all had a lovely week, it's Friday.... : ) xx

The big birthday weekend!

Hey dolls, so sorry for my lack of posts over the past few days, this Monday was hubby's 26th birthday, and I had a whole 4 days of treats lined up! As I blogged about here , this weekend just gone was the weekend where we had our mini-break in Hereford, and attended the Big Chill Festival! We had a lovely 3 days away, eating out, shopping, visiting some caves in Wales, and of course, spending the whole day at the Festival! The festival itself was everything I hoped it would be and more, there was so much going on and we saw some amazing acts, including our favourite band Metronomy, and our favourite artist Kanye West!! We rounded off hubby's birthday weekend with a trip to the cinema to see the new Transformers film, and then a day in London for shopping, lunch at one of our favourite restaurants Cafe Rouge, and an evening at the BBC proms at the Royal Albert Hall! Phew!

To the festival, I wore some newly purchased items, a blue and white striped shirt from Hollister with a white vest top also from Hollister underneath. My white shorts are also Hollister (I see a pattern emerging!). Accessories-wise, I wore my vintage cowboy boots, an oversized ring from H & M, my Thomas Sabo bracelet, my vintage gold charm necklace and slouchy Jasper Conran bag. Later on, as it started to rain a bit, I bought a really cool official festival hoodie and wore it over the shirt to protect my hair from the rain!

The last picture shows the outfit I wore out to dinner the first night we were there, it was not very warm so I wore some classic dark denim River Island jeans with my Next wedges and a new sleeveless shirt from H & M. I really like the colours and style of the shirt, and I wore it tucked in which seems to be one of my favourite styles at the moment : ) I also wore my gold H & M headband and new green oversized ring from H & M.

Hope you all had lovely weekends, now I am back, posts will be frequent this week! : ) xoxo

Sunday Beach Style

We are currently enjoying some beautiful weather in the UK, which is lucky, as I was starting to worry about when I was going to wear all my new summer clothes, still hanging in the wardrobe with their labels on! Yesterday, the sun was shining and the sky was blue, so after returning home from my friends house, I decided that hubby and I should spend the day on the beach! We packed a bag of stuff (picnic rug, books, magazines, snacks, suncream and shades!) and set off for Littlestone beach in New Romney. We are lucky to live so close to an amazing stretch of coastline, and we always try to visit different beaches rather than the same one.
For our trip I decided to wear my Hollister denim shorts and brown belt from River Island. I matched these with a new colour block yellow and white t-shirt from H & M. I tucked it in a bit at the front and back cos I think that looks cooler : ) I finished off my outfit with the feather H & M necklace I blogged about here, my Thomas Sabo bracelet, Warehouse sandals and my black satchel.

I am super excited for the rest of the week because we are driving up to Hereford on Friday for a 3 day mini-break, and our festival on Saturday! I pretty much have my outfits planned and ready now (and packed!), can't wait to show you all when I get back!! Oh and I have decided against wellie boots - I really do think I will find them too heavy and hot (although I may live to regret this if it rains!!)


Until next time sweeties xoxo

H & M Accessories Haul

I ventured into H & M a couple of days ago for a quick browse and walked out 10 minutes later with some fab new accessories. As I mentioned in this previous post, the new collection in H & M is looking particularly good, which bodes well for A/W 11'! I have now started to buy a few items for the coming season, as in my professional fashion opinion, its always a good idea to stay ahead of the crowd! I am now the proud owner of:

From left to right:

Black and gold/mustard toned scarf - light and sheer patterned fabric, I really like the vintage look of this (although I love vintage I draw the line at scarfs as they always have that 'old' smell that is near impossible to get out. Having said that, I would not say no to a vintage Chanel scarf!)

Off white large printed scarf - really big with different coloured leaf/feathered print and tassels. (Thinking this may be a perfect festival scarf!)

Oversized gold ring with orange stone - gorgeous with this summer's colour blocking trend.

I fell in love with this over the top feather necklace! Feather accessories were all over the catwalk and have now filtered through to the high street. I decided it was time to invest, and this necklace (as well as the print on the scarf) fit the bill perfectly! This necklace will be perfect with simple tops and shift dresses, to add a touch of glamour and style!

Hope you all had fantastic weekends girls xoxo

Lazy Sunday

Today was pretty good in terms of weather again, mostly blue skies with just a smattering of cloud. Hubby and I decided to have a (very) long lie in, late breakfast, and then a little journey into town. The town we live in isn't amazing for shopping, although this has improved since a shopping centre was built. I really like to wander around H & M, River Island and Next on a Sunday as it is so quiet, the shops are big and generally have very good stock. Today proved particularly good, it seems H & M have just had a new delivery as they had a whole load of new stuff that I didn't see a few days ago when I last visited. I bought 3 tops and some jewellery but I will save these items for another post! Today, I decided to wear my favourite Hollister denim cut offs, a new sweater from Zara that is made of a nice light material which is perfect for the weather we are having at the moment. Underneath I wore a new peachy coloured ribbed tank from Armani exchange. I accessorised with a brown belt from River Island, my gorgeous gold fruit charm necklace, my light pink Thomas Sabo bracelet and some simple pearl studs. I also wore my tan sandals from Primark.

I love the little buttons up the back of the sweater - really unusual and a great design feature. My bargain Primark necklace is a favourite too, 3 separate shop assistants asked me where it was from today...

Hope you had amazing weekends too, I am counting down the days now until the summer holidays, 9 days and counting... : ) xoxo

No sale

Sale. One little word that can stop you in your tracks and make your heart beat just a little bit faster. I have to admit, this tiny word, displayed large as life in a shop window, has this effect on me too. But all too often, the feeling fades as quickly as it arrived and I am left feeling disappointed. Over the years. I have come to conclude that I am simply not a sales person. So why do I still get this fluttery, excited feeling when sale time rolls around come summer and Boxing day??

I can only conclude that I feel this way because there is always a chance that there might be an amazing bargain to be had. And the stubborn part of my personality refuses to give in! I have to admit though, I very rarely find anything in the sale worthy of a second glance. All too often, the sale stock is the rubbish that did not sell the first time around. The price is vastly reduced and therefore women grab at items they would not normally consider, convinced they are about to purchase the item of a lifetime. There are exceptions of course, and I am not saying that I have never bought anything in a sale. I find that high end shops and department stores do sales the best. Zara for example tends to put the majority of their stock in the sale so you can easily find something current and stylish. Reiss is another high street chain that does a very good sale. By contrast, I find Topshop, Miss Selfridge, River Island and H & M messy, almost jumble-sale like, with items that look as if they have been kicking around in the stock room for the past 3 years. The messiness alone is enough to turn me off - I am too OCD to contemplate rifling through, and I immediately find myself drawn to the full price section.

Nonetheless, I have had a look at some sale stock this summer and found a few pleasing items from Zara. One of my favourite finds was the dress Pippa Middleton wore to the French open last month:

Full price this dress was a pretty good bargain anyway at £35.99. I was lucky enough to grab the only small left in the shop for £24.99. I love this dress because it is such an easy item to wear to work, as well as on a summers day with wedges like Pippa herself. I have also spotted this amazing bag on the Zara website for a very reasonable £19,99 (down from £39.99):
I am immediately drawn to the lovely bright colour of this bag, and the messenger shape and style is very current and would look amazing with casual weekend looks. I also know that I would buy this bag at full price, not just because it is in the sale, making it a true bargain.

What do you think of sales? I wonder what sales are like in other countries... let me know what you think, I love reading your comments xoxo