(OOTD) College Breaks, Tesco Haul and a couple of little finds!

The torture is over!! Yes, my literature review is finished. I did stay up until 7:15 this morning to get the majority done, then had a quick power nap and then finally got to hand in at around 3pm. So pleased it's over, but technically this is just the start, got the rest of the bloody dissertation to write next!

But in the mean time I am going to enjoy my break, get some other creative work done for my business, and get some proper blogging done! I have several article ideas, so keep your eye out :)

But firstly for the OOTD, and my new hair :D...

Slobbing today, as already mentioned I went to bed at 7:15, got back up and carried on working, and celebrated with a bath, so I just went for comfort and something I could leave the house in...

Panda Jumper- I think this was from Fashion Union or some online fashion store, I think it was around £8, I have had it quite a while.

Leggings- French Connection Outlet Store, £5 in the sale a couple of years back. I really like these because they are very long, so they don't fall down. These are one of the only pairs of leggings I own that I don't always have to wear shorts over.

And that's it really, had a black vest under the jumper for warmth, it's a bit chilly out!

Anyway, what with the up-coming Harrods interview, I decided a change of hair was in order. So the lovely Rosie stripped the vibrant red out of my hair, and then dyed it for me, and gave. I am so pleased with it...

(I had no make-up on, so not a chance of seeing my face!)

Let me know what you think!

Anyway, on the way back from college I happened to fall into Tesco, where, once again I stumbled on several bargains. 

The first of which is a make-up treat. I have never of Vivo before, but the £1.50 price tag and the vivid colour had me intrigued, the photos do not do it justice. This is one of their Pearl Eye Shadows- Electric Purple, Shade 8. 

I like this colour as both an intense and a light shade. I love shimmery eye shadows and I am excited to add this to my collection.

I should point out at this point that my flat is cold and I was sat in my Betty Boop Snuggy whilst taking the photos for this post!

A further treat for me was the re-investment in the Hello Hydration Deep Conditioner, I love the stuff and at £2 it's a steal. After Rosie recommended the Beautiful Ends conditioner I went back for some, but they had none left! So I thought I would take a chance on the leave in version, I will let you know how this goes!

So now to the MAJOR bargains!!! First, a present for my little cousin's birthday, (I am enjoying being organised and taking advantage of the sales that post-christmas stock brings!). This little Mator squishy toy was a single pound, yes £1. I have been ordered to go back and get one for Rosie.

The next thing was so nice, I bought 2, one for me and one as a thank you gift for a friend. For this reason I will not go into the price, but trust me, it was a steal. I have not heard of Naked before, but they produce organic products, and they smell DEVINE, well the Coco de Mer does anyway! I am so pleased I bought one for myself. I had to take a picture of the back of the bottle, as I found the literature amusing- promoting the concept of sharing naked bath experiences. They also make reference to famous animals in their testing section, in particular Bambi, Lassie and Skippy! (I have just realised you can't see that on this picture, go buy some... now, you won't regret it). I also love the environment conscious packaging, and the organic body poof that comes in the set.

Finally, I did buy this one as a gift, and then realised:

1. I had no one to give it to.

2. I really liked the pink silky shower cap, it matches my bath pillow!

So... I have decided to keep it!

I have not heard of this brand either, Bathing Bombshell. I love the look of the packaging, but I find the amount of that ridiculously sticky glue used very irritating, and it's still stuck all over the bottles. The products in this set have quite a pleasant yet generic girly toiletry smell. The shimmer included is very subtle, actually, virtually non-existent, but, I did put it on several hours ago and I can still smell it, so that is impressive. This box was originally £9, and is now being sold for £2.25! I mean, how is that possible?!?

So there we have it, so much for popping in for some Bonjela and ready meals! (which I did get too, Tesco Finest Food is awesome and a great treat for finishing my work!)

Well the bf is just popping to the shop for some milk to make hot chocolates, and then I am going to attempt to stay awake to watch the new Spartacus, and THEN it will be bed time!

Major lie-in tomorrow...

(OOTD) Sneaky Sneaky Blog Posts!

Ok, so I really shouldn't be blogging now as I should be writing my literature review (the amount of times I have said those words, I probably murmur them in my sleep!.

But...

I thought I would just do a quick OOTD for you. I am totally dressed down today, well not totally, that would be trackies, and because I do have to make an appearance at the dentist today (boooo!) I thought I better wear something I can leave the house in.

So we have:

Red Long Sleeved Shirt- Primark, about £3, I was so impressed with these I bought them in every colour. They are really light-weight, I don't like long sleeved tops with lots of Nylon in because I find them too clingy on the tops of my arms.

Denim Dress- New Look sale last year or year before I think, was only cheap. It's so soft and so easy to wear layered up or with something over. As I don't believe in "seasons" as such, (I tend to just wear my summer things layered up in winter... Long Live Sumemr!), I find this dress easy to wear all year round.

Leggings- My staple Select leggings! I have 3 black pairs, just so you don't think I live in the same pair all the time!

No shoes as I will be sat writing most of the day, but when I go out it will be the VW Wellies <3

Only one accessory today, my Vivienne Westwood necklace. Rosie bought me this for my birthday and I LOVE it, it's quite big but it makes such a statement, and I do believe that more is definitely more :)

So there we have it for today. I should go and get on now but I will leave you with a question:

Where do you buy comfy heeled black work shoes from? 

(sensible heel, I can't walk in anything over about 6 cm due to hip surgery, I do feel I need to train myself up!)

I need a pair for my Harrods interview, and also for if by some sort of miracle I get the job! I find shoes so hard to buy and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions...

Now I really must be off :) 

(OOTD) Quick Blog, then exciting revision...

Hello!

Well I am back from my weekend in London. I would do a full blog about it but I am supposed to be revising now so this is going to be brief, then I hope to to a full blog next week! BUT...

I must mention that I have made it through to the assessment day at HARRODS!!! So I may be working in this pretty from September...

So that is very nerve racking! Add that to the exam tomorrow and the literature review due on Monday and you would be right to assume I am a bit of an anxious wreck!

So anyway to my outfit today. I am at work again today and have decided to wear one of my lovely dresses that I have bought from here, so let's get to it...

So we'll go top to toe:

Dress- Bill Baber Knitwear, around £49 in the sale (I should include that these garments are one offs and are hand made!)

Turtle Neck- Primark, £4

Thin Gold Jumper- Select £8 (I think)

Leggings- Select, two for £8 (they look a bit black here but they are brown)

And finally my Vivienne Westwood Wellie Boots :)

Just a close up of the thin jumper over my turtle neck. I love a bit of glitz and this goes really well with a lot of different colours!

As for accessories we have my cute little heart box necklace, I think this was around £2 from New Look in the sale. I love it because I could actually store something in it, not that I have anything to put in there, but it's still cute! A little bit heavy though!

Flower in my hair :) was an Xmas present from my mum, I love the animal print in it!

Finally eyes... today I have used Body Shop Shimmer Cubes (again!). I have two colours that blend in the centre, not sure how easy it is to see. I have a more bronze colour on the outside with a chocolate brown on the inside. I have used a gold/cream base all over my eye.

So there we have it for today! I really have to go get on with my revision now... exam tomorrow and then back to the parents house in the evening, where I will spend the next few days working my socks off on my literature review...

Wish me luck!

(I might be silent now until after Monday, I have so much to do that I shouldn't really be sat posting, however, if I decide to take a break you may hear something from me!)

(OOTD) No sleep 'til bedtime!

Morning all!

I am so tired this morning, really shouldn't have stayed up to watch the programme about shoplifting on channel 4 last night. Did anyone else see it? It was actually quite hilarious!

Anyway, finally got around to another OOTD (I have learnt since the last post that this is the short way of saying 'Outfit of the Day' getting into this blogging lark much?), but the photos might not be great because I am at work today and have just taken them pretty quick so passers by didn't see me posing in the shop mirrors. I mean, I know people can be vain but that might just be a step too far!

So here we go!

It is f-f-f-freeeezing at work today, and I knew it would be, so I decided to layer up! So what you can't see here is that I have a black turtle neck on, from Primark, I think it was about £4 and they are so useful, (I have it in brown too!)

Then I have another long sleeved t-shirt from Primark on, I think this was about £2. I thought the mustard yellow would compliment the parrot on the top layer, which is a long t-shirt / tunic from Oasis, I think I got it in the sale for about £8. I don't wear it often but I love it!

Bottom half I have my jeggings from Internacionale on. These are unusual in the fact that they have pockets, belt loops, a fly and a button, but are jegging material. I think they are great! I can't remember how much they were, I have had them for quite a while.

More on my shoes later...

Just thought I would share my accessories with you too, random bangle selection....

Long tortoise necklace, xmas present from Primark

Teapot and Teacup necklace, £1.50, Primark, last summer I think...

Also you can see my layering technique here!

Finally, my pride and joys! My Vivienne Westwood ankle welly boots! I love these bad boys and there hasn't been many days since New Year that I haven't worn them! I had to send the original xmas present ones back because they were too small. These are a 7. Must say the customer service from Toad Footwear (bought through Amazon) have fantastic service. We sent the first pair back 2 days after Xmas, the new pair arrived New Years Eve, I was thrilled and wore them round the house all day! Something about wellies makes you want to be 6 again...

On another note, I don't just wear them when it rains. I personally think you can get away with them as patent boots, therefore I can wear them all the time!

Also thought I would share my eye make up with you today. I don't really focus on anything else but eyes, I LOVE eye shadows and pigment and I really can't be bothered getting lipstick right. So my art piece has always been my eyes.

So today, just being a standard day I have used my Body Shop Shimmer Cubes. When I do my post about my make up bag you will get the hint that I love them a lot! I have three colours on today, silver as a base, a turquoise blue on the outside of my eye and a more royal blue on the inside. They are blended quite well so it is a bit hard to see. I didn't want something dramatic as I am only at work and I think some people don't take you seriously if your overly 'done-up'.

 So there we have it for today, I have already managed to kill an hour at work. As I work in a boutique its usually quite quiet and my client, (used to be boss, but self-employed-ness makes people your clients woo woo!), doesn't mind me getting on with work while I am here. I am pretty lucky really!

But what I really should be doing is reading more journals for my literature review!

Until next time...(might steal boyfriends iPad and blog on train tomorrow... did someone say London! If not, see you Monday!)

Cath Kidston Haul!

Apologies for no outfits in the last two days, yesterday was a trackies and hoodie day as it was so damn cold, and today is a pyjama day, it is too cold to get out of bed, hence staying in bed to work today!

But before I start the laborious task of continuing with my literature review (cries!) I thought I would share my Cath Kidston excitement with you! Firstly, you should know that I did get more than what I am about to show you, it's just that a lot of the stuff is for birthday and xmas presents (how organised am I??) so I don't want people seeing what they have got!

I should also mention that I accidentally did a H&M haul yesterday, I sort of just 'fell in'. But I am not going to go through that because you should see a lot of it after my London trip!

Anyway, let's get started, I have to show you the packaging it arrived in, I was so excited!

I know that it is still the Xmas packaging, but I did shop from the sale so I don't care, and besides it is beautiful!

So the first thing I treated myself to was this organiser for the back of my bathroom door, I think it cost me the princely sum of £5 down from about £15, so I am very happy!

I also bought the Xmas baubles in the sale, I couldn't resist and if Rosie is living with me next year I know she will be giddy for these on our tree, £6 down from £20... bargain!

Another little treat for me was a phone case! I lost my favourite phone sock ages ago and my phone has been a bit naked since! I love this, it fits my phone really snuggly and has ones of those cords you pull to slide the phone out! (I wish I had figured this out before I broke my phone charm!) I had to take a picture of it in the box because the packaging is gorgeous! I think this was around £6 down from £15 (I am probably getting this all wrong but I really don't want to move from my bed!).

Finally my last little treat for myself was some Cath Kidston cotton fabric. I plan to create myself a headboard, well, I say create, I really mean buy and old cheap one and tart it up a bit! Anyway, this fabric was £6 a metre down from £20 so to me that was a steal! And it came packaged so nicely! As you can tell I have already had it open but the plastic was folded into an envelope shape and was very cute indeed! I just need to find a headboard now...

So there we have it, as people's birthdays come and go I might show you the other parts of my haul, I did get rather a lot but I know that the people I have bought for are going to be happy :)

May I also say that customer service at Cath Kidston is brilliant. I had to ring them to find out where one bit of my order was (it was originally two bits, but it turned out I was sat on one...) and they were very polite and helpful. The last piece is coming soon, and I am so pleased because I know this particular person will LOVE what I have got her!

Anyway, I really should go and get on with note-taking and things. I started this post with the hope it would wake me up and get my brain into writing gear, but if I am honest, I can't even remember how I started this post. Today is going to be productive I can tell! If I have time later I might shock you with another post about my essential make-up bag, to make up for the lack of posting yesterday (and the fact that there will be a lack over the weekend as I will be in London...yey!)

Must get on now...must not sleep...

Nails, Clothes and Bargain Holdalls!

Hello! (so far this is going very well!)

So let's get straight too it! Rosie asked me to do outfit of the day, so here it is, (apologies for the crap picture!)

- T-shirt: Matalan(bought a while ago)

- Skirt: Select (£4 in sale, 2 weeks ago)

- Leggings: Select (2 pairs for £8, my favourite leggings, will travel back to Bridlington for these, great quality and they do them in loads of colours!

- Cardigan: Internationale (bought a while ago)

- Vivienne Westwood Necklace and New Look 2 chain necklace 

- Blue Rose Bracelet (Not sure where from)

- Blue Flower Headband (again not sure)

Now for Nails, I copied Rosie's nail effect, but used a lilac base instead. Take a gander at my fairy nails!

The Kit: Ever Since Nail Buff, Cuticle Oil and Crystal File. Collection 2000 clear varnish, Barry M nail paints. Nail Dry Spray

The Result!

Love the Fairy Nail Result!

So yeah, really pleased with them, but because I have stupid nails, they are chipping already. I do feel like a fairy though :)

More on the subject of nails, I managed to pick these up in Tesco today for a mere 99p each. I will give one a whirl in a couple of days and let you know what they are like. If they are good then they are a steal at that! I also got some Hello Hydration from Herbal Essences, currently £2 a pot, there's some pretty good deals on Herbal Essences at the moment!

BUT, my absolute BARGAIN of the day has to be my new holdall that I am going to use for London this weekend, the princely sum of £3 for this beauty (they were just putting them out and I happened to be walking passed)

It was a God send on the way back from College too! I have just taken out 10 books to start my literature review, speaking of which...

I really should go an get on now...

No New News... But Here's some Booties :)

Today has been very relaxing :) Chilling with the BF on our 5 year anniversary. Think junk food, movies and blankets and you sort of get the idea!

But I thought I would share one of my favourite projects with you, (I know I should have done it sooner), the baby Ugg Boots I knitted for a couple of peoples little ones. I decided to be brave and finally follow a pattern, anyway, here are the results:

First attempt

Second attempt

I am really pleased with how they turned out, the pattern can be found here. I also found a teen conversion (which I used to create an Ugg Boot Xmas stocking for my sister!). That can be found here. So happy knitting! Can't wait until February when I can get some more knitting done. I will try and get some photos of the Xmas gifts I made this year so I can share the patterns and results with you!

Now back to Ace Ventura on Channel 5, and to finish my assignment. Need to start my literature review tomorrow, oh joy!

BUT tomorrow will also be the start of 'Outfit of the Day' (by popular demand of my sister! Check her out at Rosie Apple) 

So watch this space....

Cupcake Success!

Hello!

This would appear that so far I am sticking to my plan of posting regularly!

I just thought I would share my cupcakes with you :)

This is the first time I have ever made frosting and done any piping. I will also add I don't have a bun tray so I had to improvise. 

So here we go, I made these for my boyfriend, we have been together 5 years tomorrow, I made a 3 course dinner, but more on that after the pics (I was going to take pics but I ate it!)

So yeah I understand that my cupcakes are not uniform in size or shape, so we'll just say they have a home-made charm. The point is they taste good, and that is an achievement for me!

I said I would also talk about my other 2 courses. Well for a starter I made Marmite shredded beef with chinese pancakes, and for the main I did a chicken in red wine casserole. I picked a main that I could bam in during the morning, and let it get on with cooking. I just made some dumplings last minute. I am really pleased it all tasted pretty good and the boyfriend was impressed, so that's all that matters :)

Anyway, enough for now, off to finish my glass of red and then clean my rats out. Felt like a house wife all day, and it seems it's going to be that way until bed time! 

Looking forward to a day of chilling with DVDs and ice cream tomorrow :)

New Year, New Start.... (like you haven't heard that one before!)

Ok, so I am making a New Years Resolution... 10 days late!

I am going to blog more.

And this time I really do mean it, at least once a week. I just better hope I find interesting things to babble on about!

So firstly, last week I had a telephone interview for Harrods!! (*contains giddy dance*)I doubt I'll get on their Retail Graduate Scheme, let alone to the assessment centre, (the next stage of the application), but the fact I even got an interview makes me smile, they had 150,000 applicants last year...

College is as busy as ever! Just handed one assignment in, have another 2 and an exam before the end of January! Then 3 weeks off in February, talk about a storm before the calm!

Alongside getting a mountain of work done I have a trip to London and a trip to Manchester coming up. I am hoping to go to China Town in London, so will hopefully have some pretty pictures to share!

Currently I am covering at Bolsita on Micklegate, York. I love this shop, it's like an Aladdin's cave of bags, scarves, waistcoats and all things pretty! I can't wait to go into the material store later and pick out some fabrics for my tailor-made waistcoat! I will definitely be posting a picture of that!

If you haven't noticed already, my sister is now blogging, and doing a much better job than me so go check out Rosie when you've done here, (it's likely more people read hers anyway, it's more interesting! I am going to try harder...)

So stay tuned to see if I actually stick to it this time! And if anyone has any suggestions about what they would like to see from this blog, leave me a comment. Thanks muchly

Until next time... 

(ideally in less than 7 days...)

Appalling Really

So I haven't posted in forever, and that is really bad!

College is busy and is taking up a lot of my time! I have assignments coming out of my ears!

I have a telephone interview for Harrods on Thursday and I am mad nervous!

Xmas was awesome! Hello Vivienne Westwood ankle wellies :D

The business is going well but I need more days, will have to get some networking done. 

I don't want to bore you with a load of drivel. I will do my best to post more and babble less. For now back to enjoying my box of matchmakers, I quite enjoy this 'flat to myself while the bf is at home' lark :D