08.02 more colour and an award

Good morning, Happy Monday; hope you survived the weekend! What are your plans for this week? Anything exciting on the horizon?

We're expecting another "big freeze" later this week, so I'm making the most of the currently tolerable temperatures and embracing colour again.
Not that our big freezes are anything like those in the USA (and other countries) and this time I doubt it'll be more than a slight flurry of snow!





This top is a Primark find, and the last thing left unworn from my shopping trip a couple of weeks ago. I'm clearly taken with the nude colour trend for spring, and added pastel tights that I had forgotten I owned.

Starting afresh with my tag and award resolution, Florrie has awarded me with this



So I have to tell you all ten things about me and then pass the award on to ten other bloggers.

1) I used to be quite a party animal and always the first to pass out drunk. Now I prefer quiet nights in and never touch alcohol. Does that make me boring? Perhaps so, but I am much more content.
2) I have a thing against vowels and even numbers, they make me feel uncomfortable for some reason.
3) I am a total bookworm and a fast reader.
4) Although I'm very girly now, a few years ago I was more in to Judo, Kayaking and all kinds of outdoors adventure things. I'd still do it now if I had the chance.
6) I'm shy, especially around new people, but once I warm to you, you'll have trouble shutting me up.
7) I am addicted to butternut squash.
8) I find Topshop hideously expensive and way out of my budget, so I pretend I don't like the shop so I don't get too sad about never being able to afford anything!
9) I have an awful short term memory but can remember the most insignificant little details about past events.
10) I get utterly random and insatiable food cravings from time to time. Past oddities have included bananas with dairylea "cheese", and pineapple chunks dipped in ketchup. A great source of amusement to my friends.

Now, I'm meant to tag 10 bloggers but truly, I cannot narrow it down. So, if you want to do this, then consider yourself loved and awarded! I look forward to reading your answers.

Haircut tomorrow. I have NO idea what I'm going to end up with!

xxx

07.02 a winner, an apology and a bracelet

Hello! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and taking life easy. Just a short post today due to being too tired to be wearing anything decent, haa.

Thank you to everyone who took part in my Topshop Voucher Giveaway in association with www.discountcoder.com
The winner of a £25 Topshop voucher IS....(thanks to random.org)

Caroline, congratulations! I'll be in touch shortly.

I'm hoping to hold another giveaway soon.


Secondly I would like to apologise to everyone who has tagged me, or given me an award over the past few days/weeks. Because I am lame I have totally lost track of who has given what and where, so I'm going to do one big THANK YOU, I really appreciate it <3
I promise to be more on top of things in the future!


And finally, I'd like to offer up this charm bracelet for sale



The price is £10 UK/£12 overseas including postage, due to the cost of making it. If you are interested leave a comment, or e-mail me directly :)
*gone*

And that's it for today. I'll have an outfit post tomorrow I hope.

xxx

05.02 colour

Woke up this morning to the sun shining for what feels like the first time in ages, so I decided it was about time I injected a little more colour in to my outfit and dug out the brightest tights I could find.







I also decided to make the most of the ground being dry and ditched the boots in favour of something a bit more girly and delicate.

Roll on spring!

I also have three necklaces up for sale, at the price of £4 for UK people, and £5 for overseas.
Leave a comment with your e-mail address, or e-mail me directly if you would like one, and watch this space for some new stuff soon!
(I accept paypal, or trades)


Silver plated Ark pendant (opens up) on 17 inch silver plated chain.
*taken*


Toadstool and enamel rose on 16 inch silver plated chain.
*taken*


Sail boat and baby glass whale on 17 inch chain.

The price includes shipping.

Enjoy the last day of the week! What are your weekend plans? xxx

03.02 softly

Mid-week, what is on your agenda? For me it's studying for my course, I'm quite enjoying it so it isn't too much of a chore.

Today I am wearing another of last weeks purchases, this nude dress from Zara. It is so insanely comfortable, much like my grey one and will be wearable throughout spring and summer (if they ever arrive)







Thank you for the wonderfully sweet comments and for the vast amount of awards and tags that have been passed my way, I'm very behind with those at the moment but will hopefully catch up and spread the love soon!

UK people, don't forget the topshop giveaway (2 posts down), open until Noon on Sunday!

xxx

01.02 outfit

Wow, February so soon! Congratulations to us all for making it through the most depressing month of the year!

Today I'm wearing a dress I picked up on my shopping trip last week. It's from Primark and is one of the softest, most comfortable items of clothing I own!







I still have a couple more things from my trip to show, it hasn't really been the right weather for wearing them, so bitterly cold! Fingers crossed things will start to warm up soon!

Thanks to those who have already entered my topshop giveaway. UK readers you have until next Sunday to take part.

xxx

31.01 Giveaway and Recipe

I'm really excited to announce that I've teamed up with fab discount code site www.DiscountCoder.com to giveaway a £25 Topshop voucher to one lucky winner.

The rules are simple:

1. Giveaway is open to UK readers only (sorry my international loves, I'll be running more giveaways soon!)

2. To be entered just leave a comment on this post, with a way for me to get in touch with you if you win (e-mail address or blog link)

3. The giveaway will close in one week, at midday, Sunday 7th February. The winner will be picked using a random number generator.

Good luck!
Be sure to check out DiscountCoder for money off your online shopping at stores like La Senza, Wallis and Very.co.uk to name just a few.

~ ~ ~

And, as requested here is a treat for everyone...the recipe for the Lemon Madeira Cake (which has proved to be a huge hit here)
If you don't want to eat the entire cake at once, please note it can be kept in the freezer for up to three months and thawed as required.

150 g (5 oz) butter or margarine
150 g (5 oz) caster sugar
3 medium eggs, lightly whisked
225 g (8 oz) Be-Ro Self Raising Flour (any self raising flour is fine)
few drops lemon essence (I subbed this for the zest of one large lemon)
thin slices citron peel (optional)

1 Heat oven to 180ºC, 350ºF, Gas Mark 4. Grease an 18 cm (7 inch) cake tin.
2 Cream fat and sugar, beat in lightly whisked eggs with a little flour.
3 Add essence, then fold in the remaining flour.
4 Bake for about 1¼ hours. Place peel on top after half an hour in the oven if using this.

I found because I baked mine in a shallow tray, it only took 35 mins to be cooked to perfection, so please be aware of this when attempting this!
The cupcakes took around 15 minutes, but depending on size could take anything from 10 minutes upwards.

Have fun and enjoy

xxx

29.01 finally

This week has dragged by at a snails pace, always the way when times are tougher. Still, I made it through and for that I am thankful.

Today's outfit consists of a forgotten about pair of tights and a combination of two of my favourite colours for spring. It's too cold for wearing outside of the house, but I'm going nowhere, so it doesn't really matter!





I also got round to baking a Lemon Madeira cake, requested by my Mum, it may not be the prettiest cake I've ever made the even the scent of it that's currently working it's way around the house is more than making up for that!



When it is fully cool I will trim the edges to make it neater I think.
There was enough mixture left over to trying out my silicon cupcake cases. I love these and need more! I only have four right now.





The recipe came from our oldest cook book, which is one of my favourites! I expect lots of UK people have one of these lurking somewhere in their house.



Let me know if you want the recipe!

27.01 keeping busy

Ok, I think I'm with it enough to resume blogging and commenting properly now. Thank you so much for the continued support and kind words. I appreciate each and every one.

I'm finding that I'm mostly okay if I'm busy, so I haven't spent too much time at home lazing around like I normally would. Monday I finally caught up with a friend for coffee and yesterday Mum and I hit Bristol for some retail therapy.

We pretty much took shopping till we dropped seriously and were exhausted by the time we limped back home. Despite missing the bulk of the sales there were still a lot of bargains around, though I bought new season stock only, clothes wise...pieces that can be worn now and in to Spring/Summer when they arrive.

Today I am wearing a dress from Next that Mum decided she was treating me to. Next is somewhere I often overlook, but was suprised yesterday when I found myself coveting much of their s/s range.







Also, a little while ago I wrote a post about www.wickedeliclingerie.co.uk and mentioned that they sent me a couple of pairs to review from their sexy hosiery selection.
I posted an outfit with the first pair last week, and today I am sporting the second, which means it is time for my thoughts.

I have found tights to be hit or miss in terms of quality, not always related to the amount I have paid for them. As you know I have quite a vast collection [in the region of 30 pairs at last count] with prices varying from 50p-£10.
Both pairs of tights from wickedelic rate up at the top quality wise, making them, in my opinion, worth the price on the website [£7 for the floral side pair and £10 for the back seam pair].
Often, with low denier tights I find they ladder almost as soon as I put them on, regardless of how careful I am. These didn’t, and are well made enough to make me think that they won’t any time soon.

The service from the website was excellent. The tights were with me within 48 hours of me making my choice and arrived well packaged in a discreet padded envelope.
Standard delivery costs £4, but is free when you spend £35 or more [which is easily done with me, where tights are involved].

It is quite hard to review something like tights, compared to makeup, food or drink so apologies if this doesn’t flow particularly well. I would like to thank Nick at wickedelic for giving me this opportunity and would urge you all to check out the website if you haven’t already done so…I’ve spied some new styles on there that are on my lust list.


Anyway,
I hope everyone is well, I promise to catch up with your blogs over the course of today and tomorrow, it's the perfect form of escapism for everything that is going on in my head.

There will also be another giveaway posted soon, so stay tuned for that.

xxx

25.01 Winner

First of all, a heartfelt and sincere thank you for the kind words and thoughts left behind on yesterday's post. I was moved to tears by everyones kindness and understanding.

Secondly, thank you to everyone who entered and supported my giveaway! Sadly there can only be on winner, and that winner is:

MJ ... congratulations girl, I'll be in touch shortly!

Stay tuned for another giveaway starting tomorrow.

I'm hoping that by Wednesday I'll feel a bit more like getting dressed and wearing something more blogworthy.
Since Saturday I've donned a uniform of shorts and a jumper.







It feels a little strange to be posting photos so soon, and yet I know life cannot go on hold.
I've done a lot of thinking and re-evaluating of my own situation and know that things must change.
And they will.

Hopefully this week, perhaps today I'll finally get enrolled on the media law course. I need to stop holding myself back.

Thank you again for the support and well wishes. You are all wonderful people who deserve nothing but the very best from life xxx

24.01

If my comments and blogging are scarce for a few days, forgive me. Yesterday I found out about the passing of a very brave and beautiful girl who I was honoured in knowing and having her presence, albeit not physical in my life.
Needing to work through the numbness and process the fact this IS real, and that none of us are immune/immortal (especially where eating disorders are concerned) has knocked me sideways. I mean, you know it, but sometimes it takes something like this for reality to hit home.

Hopefully by tomorrow things will have sunk in enough to resume normal posting; although in some ways that feels a bit shallow, she, Karen-Ann would not have wanted any of us to put our lives on hold.

Rest in Peace Sweet girl,
free from this hell.


On a lighter note,

Happy Birthday to my Beloved Grandad.

Stay safe everyone <3