My new LK Bennett Bag

So I am finally getting round to showing you some of my exciting new year sales finds. My favourite item is my new handbag!! :-)

I had been saving for the new year sales this year with the intention that I wanted to purchase a higher end handbag this year. So without further ado ...tah dah....

This is the LK Bennet Annina Bag in Teal.

I actually bought this in the outlet store at Gunwharf Quays outlet centre. It was the only one in the store, as its still current season because it had one stud missing off the bottom. 

I was a bit disappointed by this but it was the reason it was in the store in the first place. However, I mentioned it to the lovely lady behind the counter and she offered me a extra 10% of the price...the outlet price not the retail price!

This bag is currently on sale on their website for £245, I paid £130.50 (it was £145 as the outlet price). Good huh!? The bargain hunter inside of me was popping the champagne hehe!

As an extra plus the lady who sold it to me (who was really nice) found me a dustbag to keep it in, which is unusual as they do not normally sell the bags at outlet stores with dustbags.

I love this bag it fits loads in but is not too big. The leather is gorgeously soft and the hardware is a beautiful silver which is elegantly chunky and sturdy.

What was your favourite new year purchase?

Hope you are all well xx

New Year, Post Number One 2012

So now I am starting to feel recovered from my awful hangover, I have started thinking about my new year's resolutions. Why we feel the need to always start the year feeling awful after a night of drinking I do not know!

I thought about putting in a general NYE picture in but then thought this was fairly apt. I saw this last week and would totally recommend it as a cute movie for a lazy cold evening! Picture from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598822/

Anyhoo, I have decided to take two approaches to new year resolutions and plans. Firstly, I have a very short list of resolutions:

• Reply to my texts when they actually arrive (I'm rubbish at responding to people)
• Be more organised with my time
• Read one book per month on my new Kindle (thanks Mum and Dad)

I have decided not to put "lose weight" on my list because I always do and never have, so instead I have made eating healthy and exercise a continuous thing, not just a new year resolution.

My second approach is naming 12 things to accomplish in the year, one for each month. My boyfriend and I have two lists; one contains 12 things we want to do on our house this year and the other lists 12 random things we want to do this year such as go to the beach, run the equivalent of a marathan in a month or watch a movie from each decade since the 1940s. We haven't managed to come up with 12 yet, its actualy really hard to do so we're gonna fill in the rest later :-)

I'm really excited about new year this year, full of high expectations and dreams of happiness. 2011 was not the best of years and I cannot wait to see what 2012 has in store.

Hope you all had a lovely night last night. What are your new year's resolutions?

Happy New Year Xx

Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'm aware I haven't posted anything in a while so I thought I would just share a few pictures of my Christmas with you guys...

My entry for a charity bake off!

Homemade mincemeat - I "accidently" put too much brandy in but it made the mince pies taste good!

My tree on Christmas morning with our presents ready to go!

Some of my lovely presents, the printed purple in the background is a beautiful scarf my lovely boyfriend gave to me :-)

And finally a quick sneak peak at my sale shopping ... haul post coming soon!

 Hope you all had a lovely christmas and are looking forward to New Year. My boyfriend and I are going to a friend's house to celebrate. What are you doing for New Year?

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2012 everyone! Xx

My Christmassy Day

Quite a picture heavy post today. Last Sunday we had our Christmassy Day and I thought I would share some photos with you.

This is the day, normally in the first weekend of December where we go out and buy our Christmas tree, decorate the flat, cook christmassy treats that need to sit for a few weeks, curl up on the sofa, eat mince pies and write our Christmas cards next to our new tree! It really is the best day ever, so festive and really gets me in the Christmassy spirit.

Lots of Christmassy food ingredients... perhaps I will post some of my recipes

The one month of the year my Boyfriend can't moan about fairy lights! So pretty!

My Harrods Christmas Decorations - if you get the chance you should visit the Harrods Christmas Department its amazing!

I love my Christmas Snowglobe from Harrods, it sits pride of place on my coffee table at Christmas

Ta-dah! Our tree! This year we bought a tree from a Christmas Tree Farm near us. We paid £20 for this 4ft tree, no more than we paid last year at the garden centre, but this tree is sooo much nicer! A lovely dark green colour!

And to top it all off ... a butterfly of course!

I bought our cards at Next this year, some gorgeous options and with 3 for 2 on cards & wrapping paper quite good value!

 How do you prepare for Christmas? What is your favourite thing about the festive season?

Hope you're all having a good weekend and enjoying pre-Christmas fun! Xx

My new boots

I have been searching for a pair of knee high black boots for years. And I actually mean years, probably about ten! I am however, blessed with a good pair of sturdy, walkers legs which includes some quite large calves. I used to claim it was my fabulous calf muscles following years living at the top of a hill but not sure that excuse counts anymore.

If like me, you have some gorgeous chunky calves, you will have also experienced the agony of finding that gorgeous pair of boots, try them on and not be able to pull them above your ankle or get the zip to budge any higher.

I am aware you can buy boots for wider legs online but I'm never too keen on buying shoes online as I relish in the experience of trying on and buying a gorgeous pair of shoes. Yes I'm a shoe girl :-)

Anyhoo, I noticed the other day that Next have a range of boots that are suitable for us wider leg girlies and they look fab. They have black and brown boots ranging from £45 to £90 ish.

I bought the following pair for £45 and I'm mighty glad I did...I Love them!

They have an elasticated band down the back, but I don't find it to be too obvious. They don't have a zip so they are easy to slip on. I have bought them in a size six, which is my usual size, whereas sometimes I have to buy a larger size to fit even ankle boots over my lower leg.

I have worn them over tights with a dress for work and with a denim skirt. I've also worn them over some straight leg jeans proving there is definitely some room in them ...need some proper skinny jeans to wear with them now.

Finally they are super comfortable, no rubbing at all even though I walked to work in them on their first outing. And for the price they are an absolute bargain!

I'm so happy to have found a pair of black boots to fit that look good, feel comfortable and they have ended my 10 year search!

What is your one fashion desire - which item have you been searching for, for years?

Hope you are all well! Xx

Bicester Village Haul

Last weekend my mum and I went for a girls day out up to Bicester village. We used the train from Marlybone Station and bought a ticket which includes a bus from the station to the village, costing about £30. This is quite steep really but thats train tickets in Britain for you! Luckily I have a young persons rail card so I get 1/3 off.

There is something about high end carrier bags...

I bought a few bits and pieces, not a lot this time, sadly but I thought I would still share my little finds with you. I would also note for anyone planning a wedding in the near future ... Jimmy Choo sell their wedding shoes for about £90 (down from £300- £400). Unfortunately their normal shoes are not nearly as discounted but if you are getting married I would definitely make the trip!

In LK Bennett I picked up a lovely purse. I have been looking for a new purse for ages because I wanted one with a lot more credit card pockets. I did see a couple in other shops but I fell in love with this the moment I saw it! The burgundy red is absolutely gorgeous, it has 16 credit card slots, a zipped coin section and plenty of places to put cash. It cost £60 down from £95.

Unfortunately, I picked up the purse in the best condition but the assistant couldn't get the security tag off so she picked up another one. I didn't notice until I got home that it had a black marker pen mark on the back that I can't get off :-( but its just too far to go to exchange it.


I was a bit dispointed with the CCO, as the stock didn't seem to have changed much since the last time I was there. I also find this store quite annoying to shop in as its quite small but obviously very popular so hard to get to the shelves. I did pick up the "Cutie" quad from the Quite Cute collection earlier this year.

I then picked up a couple of christmas presents in Crabtree and Evelyn for my brother's girlfriend and friend. They are great little sets and didn't cost the earth.

The pink bag cost £7.50(originally £15) & the tin £10 (£15).

I kow it sounds weird but I am in love with the Crabtree and Evelyn Bag because the inside print is so gorgeous!! So gorgeous in fact I felt it deserved its own photo:

I know its weird to discuss a carrier bag but I've always been a bag girl, do you like a good designer carrier bag?

So that was it really, my Mum managed to pick up a few gifts from Cath Kidson including some adorable little denim jackets for my baby cousins.

So not the most successful shopping trip but I did have a lovely day. Its always nice to have a girly day out with your mum. We went for lunch at Carluccio's Caffe which was very scrummy.

Do you have girly days out with your mum? I'd love to hear about your best girls days out.

Hope everyone is having a lovely day. Xx

My No1 Beauty Item: Dove Beauty Cream Bars

I was simply washing my face the other morning when it occurred to me how often I come back to using this one product for my facial wash. Its not some expensive massively coveted facial wash or even a designated facial wash to be honest. It is a Dove Beauty Cream Bar, or Dove soap.

http://www.dove.co.uk/products/bar-bodywash/cream-bar/beauty-cream-bar.html

I know this may seem a bit odd, but I have noticed that whatever new or expensive face washes I use, I have never found one that is as good on my skin as a Dove bar. I always end up coming back to this soap and whenever I do I notice a massive difference in my skin within days.

I first started using this soap as my face wash when I was a student, I was low on cash and couldn't afford to buy my normal face wash so I figured I would use the soap in my soap dish, which was a Dove cream bar. It was fantastic!


This little bar of soap cleanses my skin perfectly and clears up any spots I might have in a couple of days. I always find my skin is clearest when I am using this product. It leaves my skin feeling very clean but also suitably moisturised. I still use a moisturiser as part of my daily routine but occasionally I feel the need to skip this step for the day as my skin seems perfectly fine without it.

I don't tend to use this to remove make up, as I always use a make up wipe before I do anything else but I assume it would get off simple day time make up. I guess it might not be great for removing heavy eye make up but I would always use a eye make up remover for this anyway. 

Looking on the Dove website, they seem to have developed some additions to this original soap including an gentle exfoliating bar, I might do some looking into this. I am also considering looking into some of the shower gel type products.

If you are always on the hunt for a new and effective face wash I would definitely give this a go! Its worth trying just for the price. The last time I bought some, I managed to buy 6 bars for £2 in Asda.

A bar on average will last probably a couple of months and that's with my boyfriend using it for his face too. That's another advantage I suppose, more room in the bathroom, as its not fragranced or anything specific or special its fine for both of you to use.

Whats your No1 go to beauty product? Leave a comment below, I'd love to know some of your beauty secrets!

Hope you have an enjoyable Sunday, sitting in the sunshine. Xx