Saturday 12 November 2011

House dramas and stocking fillers

Holy smokes what a fortnight... dramas, dramas, dramas. I'm finally taking some time-out to settle into my sofa and write on here - alright peeps, it's been a while.

I'm moving out of my house next weekend, so currently the place looks like a bomb has hit it as I'm packing like a great big packing machine. My other half is out tonight with the lads so that gives me ample girl time to do the following:

  • Go through my entire wardrobe having a clear out - so far I've found quite a few things that I forgot I had previously purchased, it's like having a shopping trip for FREE!
  • Order in pizza and shove it in my face in a manner most unfitting for a lady
  • Play a bit of Batman, before I have to pack away the Xbox
  • Paint my nails and slob around in my Iron Man pjs (oh yes, I really am that cool)
  • Grab a massive bowl of Butterkist, turn off the lights and watch Monty Python under a blanket

I can't believe we're finally on the move, it seems like ages since I posted saying that we had found a house to move into. Unfortunately the build is behind schedule, so while I'm moving out of rented accomodation next weekend, I won't actually be moving into the new house until Jan... so that sucks, but on the flip-side, I get to spend a whole heap of time with my best friend as I'll be moving in with her for the next few weeks, and also, Christmas is on the way - double-fun! :D

Because of the move, I've really had to get my Xmas brain in gear as I am running out of time and pay days to sort out everyone I know before December looms up. With that in mind, my post this week is mainly based around pressie ideas... stocking fillers for the ladies, to be precise... enjoy:


A few cool gift ideas for filling up stockings with... I particularly love the wooden camera brooch, it's fun.

1.  Paul’s Boutique Slippers - £25
2.  Lazy Oaf Card List Card - £2.75
3.  Boygirlparty Owl Graph Memo Pad - £5
4.  Polli Wooden Camera Brooch - $39.95
5.  Paper Plane Coin Purse - £10.99
6.  Tea & Ceremony Happy Badge Party Pack - £12
7.  Suzanne Smith Mixed Bead Bangle - £7
8.  Accessorize Bobble Hat - £12
9.  2x Cupcake Nail Files - £3.75

I hope that's given you some good ideas.

TTFN
x

Thursday 27 October 2011

Winter warmers

I am really not firing on all cylinders today, this is evident by the fact that I just tried to take cheese straws out of the oven without the use of oven gloves... no I have not recently developed super powers to withstand oven temperatures... if I did that would be completely brilliant (I'd be called Flame Girl or Asbestos Woman), I'm just having one of those Bye Bye Brain Days. Oh well, it's nearly the weekend so I only have to deal with one more day in the office!

So, on a different topic - blimey it's all a bit chilly isn't it?! Cripes, I was standing at the station this morning dancing on the spot to keep warm... I am in need of a new coat soon, oh yes! In the meantime I will power on with my current jacket and just warm myself up with a few new purchases. Those purchases will be the main reason that we all abide the Winter months, yes, it's the Winter Trifecta - hats, scarves and gloves! :D

There are so many gloriously bright delights in the shops at the moment, which make me shout 'Hurrah' when I go shopping. I've cobbled together a few of my favourites along with a few other Winter essentials... check out these beauties...


1.  Asos Pieces Huon Knit Mittens - £12
2.  Joules Luxury Scarf - £29.95
3.  Jaeger Hastings Bowling Bag - £299
4.  Louche Striped Snood - £15
5.  Lazy Oaf Burger Hat - £18
6.  Mod Cloth Clip Us Up Scottie Dogs - $7.99
7.  Fat Face Heat Pack - £3
8.  Coloud Star Wars R2-D2 Headphones - £45

Check out that burger hat - it's brilliant. Oh well done Lazy Oaf... well done.

Also, if like me sometimes you want to listen to your music on the move, but it's cold and you want to wear a hat... you can have the best of both worlds by buying those Coloud headphones which completely cover your ears so keep you nice and toasty while chuggin' along to your music - they also look wicked too, which is always a handy addition. :)

Whatever your Winter plans, keep toasty and bundle up, no-one wants to sit next to a Mr/Mrs Sniffles on the train, also if you sneeze on me... I will be forced to have an altercation with you!

Does anyone else like the word snood? Snoooooooooooood! Hahaha... oh good grief... I'm going now. Bye.

x

Monday 17 October 2011

Miss Sammie Designs

Yikes, another weekend gone, still... on the bright side, my moving date is getting closer and closer... and then it's CHRISTMAS! Mwahaha!

*ahem*

In other news I went to see The Tempest at the weekend with the Viking. It really was fantastic and I would highly recommend it if you're a fan of Shakespeare's plays - Ralph Fiennes really was mesmerising and Nicholas Lyndhurst was very entertaining. It's in it's final weeks at the Theatre Royal Haymarket so if you want to catch it you need to act fast my friends.

Soooo, to my post for today... it's a bit of pimpage for... Miss Sammie Designs.

Miss Sammie Designs is a fantastic website full of delightfully whimsical cards and home decor bits and bobs. I particularly like the 'Don't Forget' selection of greetings cards, they're vibrant but have a vintage feel about them and are a bit of a bargain at £3 each.


1. Don’t Forget Typewriter Card - £3
2. Don’t Forget Telephone Card - £3
3. Don’t Forget Post Box Card - £3
4. Don’t Forget Envelope Card - £3

You can buy Miss Sammie Designs at notonthehighstreet.com.

So there we have it, gorgeous cards for the gorgeous people in your life.

x

Thursday 13 October 2011

Mustard madness

Ooooh it's so close to the weekend, I can nearly touch it! This weeks been really tough, especially seeing as it's my first week back at work after my holiday... I wish I was near a pool... waaah!

Anyhoo, as I'm in a bit of a bad mood I'm cooking bolognaise bake - proper comfort food to put a smile back on my face. I've also been hunting the interwebs for a glorious dress for my dancing night out next Friday. I did have a lovely dress in mind that I'd found on Miss Selfridge before I went on holiday, but it's only gone and sold out... crud. Now I'm on the hunt for something else with a little... sunshine. I've decided to go for yellow as it's such a cheery colour.

While on the search on yellow-related joy, I decided to make it the theme for my post today... introducing all things mustard madness...


Yay, there's so much sunshine up there, it's certainly made me a happy bunny again.

1.   Jolie Moi Tassel Dress - £45
2.   The Contemporary Home Great British Teapot - £65
3.   John Lewis Ice Cream Cushion - £28
4.   Louche Skinny Bonded Leather Belt - £12
5.   Louche Twist Front Headband - £9
6.   Oasis Turnlock Satchel Bag - £22
7.   Joules Vintage Beads - £34.95
8.   Mustard Flower Corsage - £8.50
9.   Breo Spectrum Watch - £12.95
10. Molton Brown Tempest Scented Candle - £36

Now, back to dress hunting...

x

Monday 10 October 2011

Holiday snaps

*sigh* first day back at work after 10 days off... it was h-a-r-d! This time last week I was sunning myself on a beach in the gorgeous sunshine, now I'm looking at my tan wondering how long it's going to hang around for... booo!

Anyhoo, to try and put a positive spin on things me and my viking have organised exciting things for the next few weekends to combat the holiday blues - we're going to see The Tempest this Saturday, I'm out with the girls the following weekend on a dancing/drinking session and then it's off to see Matilda the Musical (which I am ridiculously excited about) at the end of the month - Things aren't so bad I suppose. :)

Seeing as I've had a few comments that I don't post photos I've decided to ping up a few of my holiday snaps... you only get to enjoy the back of my head for now, but at some point I'll actually work out how to use my expensive camera and do some time delay shots of outfits and stuff like that - just to keep my followers-a-following.


Ah there you go, oh and I lied, you can also see a picture of me twirling in my twirling skirt... I'm pretty sure that's it's purpose. So there we go - holiday snaps from yours truly... can you tell that I got carried away using Picasa 3 and Picnik? 

Right, I'm off to eat my weight in oranges and catch up on some of the crap telly I've recorded while I've been away - Tough Love here I come! :)

x

Saturday 8 October 2011

Sock it to me baby

Yikes, things have been a bit quiet here recently, apologies for that... well... not really, I've been on my holidays sunning myself in Portugal and eating vast amounts of piri-piri chicken... so I'm not all that sorry really! Hehe

Anyhoo, I'm back and bloody hell it's cold, I'm thinking that I need to layer it up a bit so I'm starting that layering in the sock department... which I think you'll agree is a fairly snappy place to start...



1. Asos Stripe and Spot Over the Sock - £5
2. Asos Overthe Knee Stripe Metallic Socks - £6
3. Asos Stripe Over the Knee Socks - £5
4. House of Holland for Pretty Polly Green Stripe Socks - £8
5. Falke Colour Block Knee High Socks - £11
6. Asos Bright Argyll Socks - £5

Yay for colourful socks, sadly they'll cover my tanned legs but meh, you can't have it all! :)

I hope you've all been well while I've been away.

x

Monday 26 September 2011

Coach please

Wowzer, what a great weekend. I had such a brilliant time with my sister on Saturday, running around London buying precious things and generally stuffing my face like a monster. I pranced around in my tartan dress and received no less than 8 nice comments about it, which made me feel highly fancy I don't mind telling you. I drank plenty of champagne and suffered for it on Sunday, hence the radio silence... but I'm here now and I'm alive and kicking and ready to post about my weekend find - Coach.

Coach have been going for 70 years and are a bloomin' massive supplier of beautiful handbags and stunning accessories. I've been out of the loop and not realised their existence until Saturday when we visited their sparkling new store on New Bond Street. I tell you what, I have never had a more enjoyable shopping experience in my life - the staff were friendly, knowledgeable and helpful, they knew when you leave you to your own devices and when to step in without you feeling like a sales pitch was looming. I brought a gorgeous purple scarf to go with my Lulu Guinness purple romilly bag and generally swanned around feeling like a queen.

If you happen to be hanging around New Bond Street any time soon, I would highly recommend a visit, my little Londonites. There is also a store in the Westfield in Shepherds Bush, if you're more into your department store shopping. If you're reading this in America - you've got plenty of stores to visit and I am highly jealous of this! Haha

I've picked a few bits and bobs off the Coach website which I think best show off what they have to offer, check 'em out:


Ooooh it's all so fab, I want it all! Mwahaha I've already planned another trip to the store after next months pay day for jewellery - hehe dangerous I know!

Anyhoo, I hope you're all well and I hope your working weeks zip along quickly so we can all get to Friday again and have great weekends.

x

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Time to sparkle...

Middle... of... the... week... I'd managed to convince myself today was Thursday, then had a tiny breakdown when I realised it was, in fact, Wednesday... boooo! This week is really d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g, going out last night to watch Arsenal play Shrewsbury Town didn't really help... at least the gooners won though! :)

Anyhoo, I am very excited about this weekend, mainly because I get to go shopping all day with my gorgeous sister, have lunch at Fortnum's and then champagne in the evening somewhere fancy - yah. I have ordered a stunning tartan dress from Asos to wear on Saturday and I'm in the process of breaking in my red suede wedges... they pinch man, they pinch! :S

Seeing as I'm in need of some sparkle to get me through the rest of the working week I decided to make that the theme of my post and find as many blingin' things as possible to cram together in a collection... shield your eyes from the spangle...


Ooooh it's all so glitzy! I especially love those Miu Miu shoes, they're so pretty and girly.


x

Monday 19 September 2011

Fossil finds

*Yawn* what a loooonnnng day it's been, I'm knackered and it's only Monday! :S

I've been spending all of my time at the moment looking for a great present for my sister's 30th birthday which is coming up soon. I've been looking all over for something lovely and I've basically decided on Fossil stuff. They have a gorgeous selection of jewellery and bags and I can't stop browsing their website.

Check out these beautiful bags... oh they're all so nice...




I particularly love the leopard print tech case! :)

x

Saturday 17 September 2011

Childhood nostalgia and stationary

I had a brilliant time last night with my best friend - we decided to have an 80's/90's childhood nostalgia night so we watched dodgy 80's/90's films, wore our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles PJs and ate turkey dinosaurs and lots of sweets - there is no real explanation for this other than we're strange and out of money! Haha

Now I'm sitting on my sofa watching Saturday Kitchen and waiting the return of the other half from his 'Boys Night'. While he's not here I'm having a crafty time, doodling and wishing I had things to stamp... I suppose that would go some way to explaining my picks for today...




1. Rosalind Howard Bespoke Stationary Pack of 8 Thank You Notelets - £5.25
2. Skull & Cross Buns Pair of Mini Moustache Rubber Stamps - £5.50
3. Skull & Cross Buns Yarn & Needles Rubber Stamps - £6.50
4. Gooseberrymoon Pack of Four Russian Doll Notecards - £5

All of these lovely bits are from notonthehighstreet.com and are wicked...
...especially the moustache stamp... I want it! :)

x

Thursday 15 September 2011

Cheese on toast

I'm having one of those days where I've just got food on the brain. I mainly blame the large mocha frappuccino I had about an hour ago, it's made me a tad wired, and when I'm wired I want FOOD!

Seriously this is insane, I'm sitting here flicking through the pages of the new In Style magazine, not bothering to read any of the articles, I'm just skipping the pages thinking about pies. Sod London Fashion Week I want cheese on toast.


Yum.

x

Tuesday 13 September 2011

grey day

left work today feeling like a black cloud was following me... then I looked up and realised that one was. I managed to get all the way home without getting rained on and then the second I shut my front door the heavens opened - result. It's most unusual for me to miss getting rained on, especially when my umbrella has decided to eat itself, I must be very lucky indeed.

So, as it's a grey day I've found my post theme - grey babah.


1.  Gilly Hicks Sleep Shorts - £12 These shorts are so cute, I would wear them all the time!
2.  Waldo Pancake 1970s Style Laptop Notebook - £7.50 Gotta love Waldo Pancake
3.  Joy Pompom Scarf - £12.00 £3.60 Can't believe this scarf is in the sale - pompoms!
4.  Topshop Khol in Slate - £4 I'm quite the fan of Topshops make up range
5.  Topshop Spiky Leaf Stretch Bracelet - £14 I must have this bracelet, it's so different
6.  Jane Hornsby Hugs & Kisses Cushion - £65 I love this and I'm not a cushion person
7.  Solitaire Vintage Plate Place Mat - £6.50 These would be so sweet on a dinner table
8.  Accessorize Panda Boot Cuffs - £10 Ahhhhh pandas, what more can I say!

Oooh it's all so lovely. See even grey clouds have silver linings! :)

x

Saturday 10 September 2011

Hollister for menfolk

Hurrah it's Saturday, it's 1.00pm and I'm still in my pjs - have you guessed that I'm having a lazy day.

Last weekend one of my friends was talking to me about my blog... well... he was telling me off about my blog and I was listening intently while consuming alcohol and burgers. His issue was that I post nice things, but haven't posted anything which would interest manly men so this post is basically to shut him up... hold onto your hats, it's menfolk time!

One of my favourite brands at the moment is Hollister. Not only do they make really high quality beach bum-style items, but their prices are really competitive and they have a massive collection to search through. I've brought my hubby a few bits and bobs from them recently and he is now a really big fan too... see endorsed by menfolk.

Here are a few of my favourite pieces from the Hollister website:



So there we go... stuff... for men. Nik, I'll make this a regular occurrence - happy now! :)

x

Wednesday 7 September 2011

Bits and bobs

Hazah, middle of the week! I'm in on my own tonight catching up on Snog, Marry, Avoid (which is a proper guilty pleasure of mine) and waiting for my mac and cheese bake to be ready from the oven - yum.

So, I've been looking around the web for lovely things and have found quite a few. There didn't seem to be much of a theme emerging so I basically plonked my findings under the title of 'bits and bobs', it's suitably vague and covers all of the following stuff...



Oooh I really do lovely everything above, but if I had to pick a favourite... hmmm... I'd probably go for the dress, it's so pretty and girly and the colour is just perfect.

5.   Scotch Nail Polish - £13.50
8.   Miss KG Sophie Shoes - £55

Now you know you want to go and buy one of those macaroon rings! :)

x

Monday 5 September 2011

Nancy & Betty studio

Urgh, I'm back at work after a week off... makes you wonder what it must be like to be a lady of leisure... it's a pretty freakin' sweet deal if you ask me.

So, it's pimpin' Monday, and I'm pimpin' Nancy & Betty Studio.

Nancy & Betty Studio is an amazing website jam-packed with fun and quirky stationary. All of their fab-a-roo items are covered in bright and bold graphics including polaroid cameras, typewriters and other lovely retro goodies.

Not only do they do funky cards, but they also have a brilliant collection of badges, notebooks, postcards, wrapping papers and gift tags - they really have thought of everything.

Have a butchers...



1. Red Phone Box Card - £2.55

They really are bitchin' designs and I suggest that you check 'em out.

x

Friday 2 September 2011

Orla Kiely new items

Yikes my hands smell of lime! :S I've been cooking up a storm today in preparation for my BBQ that I'm having tomorrow at my house. I've made a chili lime rice dish, a spicy BBQ bacon pasta dish, a spinach and pesto pasta dish and I've marinaded soooo much chicken it's loco... I am suitably excited! :)

Now I'm chilling out on my sofa after a busy evening and I've been doing what I do best... Googling. I got an email from Orla Kiely letting me know that they have new stock... and boy, it's purdy... I have fallen in love with a coat 'it will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine'...



Check out that beautiful coat... oh I really must have it in my life and have already started a savings fund. :)


Have you been looking at Orla Kiely's new items as well, do you have any favourites?

x

Wednesday 31 August 2011

House brights

Well hello there. Long time no blog. Apologies for the radio silence, I've been on my holidays and haven't had a laptop within clicking distance!

So, back back back and I've been searching for house bits and bobs again - I exchanged contracts last week so I'm all exciting about houses and moving and home-wares and crap again hehe. With all that jazz in mind I've cobbled together a nice collection of bright, brights that would fill your house with colourful joy...



Where does all this nice stuff come from... well here silly...

1.  John Lewis Cafe Chair - £99 each
2.  Bodum Ice Coffee Maker 51 oz Purple - £40
3.  DCi Products Cut the Cheese Knives Set
4.  LSA Hula Rocking Glass Tumblers x 4 - £18.50
5.  Herdy Peep Coasters - £2.99 each
6.  Joseph Joseph Elevate  Utensils – From £8.50
7.  ‘That’s all Folks’ Bookend - £18.95
8.  Bugatti Uma Electronic Kitchen Scale and Timer - £99

Aww precious things. I particularly like the bookend and the Herdy coasters, they're so sweet!

x

Monday 22 August 2011

Biscuiteers

You all know how I love a good pimpin' post, well consider this my ultimate pimpin' post. Once you've found out about this website, gifts will never be the same again... *ahem* introducing - Biscuiteers.

I always have something to celebrate - I have a fantastic family and gorgeous group of friends, they're all amazing people. Because I've made a point of keeping only those close to me that are truly terrific I feel that they all deserve a treat every now and then, just to say 'hey you know what, you're pretty great'. I used to send flowers or retro sweets... but now... now I have a new favourite gift - BISCUITS!

Now I know what you're thinking... biscuits, like tea and biscuits!? Booor-ing... but no my friends they're not just biscuits, they're AMAZING BISCUITS!

Check out these bad boys...


1.   Cooks Tin - £37.50
2.   Sewing Kit Tin - £38.50
3.   Tea for Two Tin - £37.50

Ahhhh they're so lovely. I know you might be looking at the price and thinking 'cowabunga' that's a bit pricey, but you really are getting a lot for your money - 16 nommy biscuits (in the bigger tins), painstakingly decorated to within an inch of their lives and with literally 100s of themes and options you can get a gift for any occasion. Also I've mainly highlighted the more expensive tins but they do fab little 'biscuit cards' as well which are a bargain and the perfect way to say a quick thanks, but in a fun and different way. But I've still not mentioned the best bit... they are bloody tasty. I've brought about 4 different batches for people now and everyone has said the exact same thing 'these are the best biscuits I have ever eaten' - boom-babah! :)

Really when you think about it they're no more expensive than a bunch of flowers and remember, flowers die man, whereas you may shove all these biscuits in your face within a day, but the gorgeous tin that they come in will last forever! 

So there we go, stuck for an idea for a mates birthday, want to say congrats to someone that's just aced their exams, want to feed up a friend who's just popped out a baby... go forth... become a Biscuiteer!

Also please tell me if you do happen to order any, I'd be interested to know what you think! :)

x

Thursday 18 August 2011

The things i love

Woo, the weekend is so close I can nearly touch it!

My other half is disappearing on his charity cycling mission this weekend so I've been plotting my plans. I'm on a drunken night out tomorrow, followed by a drunken night in on Saturday with dodgy 80's movies and pizza, then Sunday consists of a trip to the cinema to see The Inbetweeners Movie, then probably RIBS! To say I am excited would be a MASSIVE understatement! :D

Sooo yeah. While on the subject of nice things and stuff I like, I figured I'd do another doodle post as they seem to  be going down well. :)

This is basically a list of things that I love - quite a few will be obvious as I've mentioned them on here many times before e.g. my love of nautical stuff, but there might be some newbies in there that you didn't know about...


Yay, my favourite, favourites are probably my husband (who I lovingly refer to as The Viking) and my parents dogs, Frank and Lottie - they really are top dogs (hehe did you see what I did there). 

Hurrah for lovely things.

What are your favourite things in the whole wide world, tell me, tell me.

x

Monday 15 August 2011

Pie bird press

Soooo... it's Monday and I'm pimpin'... what am I pimpin' I hear you cry? Read on people, read on...

I was Googling around and found this brilliant little website called Pie Bird Press. Basically they make gorgeous cards, notebooks and other lovely bits and bobs all through the power of an antique letterpress - oh yes. Their cards have a beautiful vintage feel about them and I quote from the website 'our mission is to spread a feeling of nostalgia and cheer to everyone who receives our cards'... now that's the sort of mission statement I can get behind! :)

I've cobbled together a little collection of my favourite card designs, check it out...


Awww I really do love the rubber duck and the chattering teeth, they're just really cute pictures.

If you get a chance, really do have a look at the Pie Bird Press website, or have a butchers at their shop on Felt & Wire.

x

Saturday 13 August 2011

Retro home

What a start to my weekend - a massive snooze in bed, enough toast to sink a battleship, still in my pjs and full control of the remote... Scuzz music channel, Rage Against the Machine... yes please.

Apologies for being a tad quiet this week with my posts, given all the stupidity that has been going on in London and up and down the country, I haven't really felt in a good enough mood to say anything, also I fear that if I did post it would have been a massive ranting mess so I figured best to just leave things until everything calmed down a bit.

I hope you're all well and to anyone reading this in the UK I hope all your friends and family are safe and weren't caught up in the riots.

So, to nice things.

I have been back on the home-wares search recently as it's getting closer to the completion date for my house, so I figure it's a good time for me to start stock-piling precious things... any excuse to shop! Haha

Here are a few of my favourite finds which all have a bit of a retro feel, with a modern twist...



Ooooh I love that Fight Club poster and will certainly be picking it up for my new house, along with the new Orla Kiely Evoke Radio... it's just too bloomin' cute not to buy it! :)

1.  Orla Kiely EVOKE Mia Radio - £150
2.  I Love Retro Fight Club  Art Print - £24.95
3.  Made Odin x 2 Chairs - £99
4.  LSA Lucie Wine Glass Range - £10.50
5.  Wild & Wolf Cream Princess Telephone - £37.95
6.  Cotswold Wall Clock, Aqua - £40
7.  Diptyque Scented Candles - £38

I hope you all have super weekends whatever you get up to! 

x