Nail Art

I gave into the pull of the Model's Own promotion and bought myself a few treats. I'm very excited about their arrival as I've already thought about a few designs that I want to try, including the leopard print Wah Wah nail tutorial from Gem Fatale's blog. Here are a few more that I'm rather excited about!

c/o fuck yeah nail art!

c/o makemyday

Reading Rocks

So I wore my Motel t-shirt today that I inherited from Kate. I rarely do round neck t-shirts but I actually really like this.

Jack's at Reading Festival today. He's gone on his own as I couldn't afford a ticket and we would of spent the whole day watching other bands anyway. He's desperate to see Jane's Addiction whereas I would be at the main stage watching The Strokes. We do tend to have very similar taste in music but there is the occassional one that I just can't get into (Deftones being our main disagreement! - guess which one of us likes them?)

I've told a few people that he's off on his own and I've been met with the same reaction - really!? A note to add here is that these reactions are from people who haven't met Jack. He's the friendliest person you could ever hope to meet and can make friends anywhere with anyone! Last time we went to Leeds Festival with friends I barely saw him all weekend. He returned to the tent one night with one shoe and wearing jeans that were shredded to the thigh. We then made our way to see Queen's of the Stoneage and Jack was plastered all over the mega screens, going crazy and chucking beer all over his head. So I think he'll be just fine. He's staying in a hotel in the middle of Reading and then driving back early tomorrow as we have my Step-Nephew's Christening to go to so he hopefully won't get too drunk! I'm watching the coverage of Pulp at the moment and kind of wishing I was there. I feel a bit old for Reading now. The last time I went was 2004 - the year Jack and I met!

I've been lusting over the Model's Own website for most of the day. I painted my nails in Models Own Feeling Blue - it's a lot darker than it appears online so a little misleading if you're after a light blue. I'd go for bloobloo instead. I do absolutely love the colour though, especially contrasted against the red of my t-shirt. I currently have £40 worth of nail varnish sitting in my basket but I haven't actually purchased just yet. The main reason I'm so tempted is because they're running a 50% off promotion until Monday to celebrate reaching 50,000 facebook likes. You just need to enter 'fiftyfifty' at the checkout to claim your discount. To buy or not to buy...?

T-Shirt: Motel Rocks

Nails: Models Own Feeling Blue (3 for £12 at Motel from Monday)

Update: I bought them! oops

Etui

I absolutely adore my Etui handbag. I'd been lusting after them in the Topshop concessions in Oxford Street and Westfield the whole time we lived in London, but I couldn't quite stretch to the £54 they were asking for the smallest bag! So I continued to think about them long after leaving London behind, and since they aren't available to purchase online (if anyone can find where to buy them then please let me know) I just had my memories. However, for my birthday this year my lovely boyfriend took a trip to Oxford Street, when in London for a business trip, and picked up this beauty. I think you'll agree that it's pretty special!

Celebrations

Today has been a day of celebrations.

It was my (not so) little sister, Joanne's, 19th Birthday! I can't believe she's already 19. It doesn't seem so long ago that she was an annoying 7 year old trying to get into my room and gatecrash my sleepovers. But now she's a gorgeous grown up and I'm so very very proud of her!

And another person I'm very proud of is this cheeky chappy. He only went and got a promotion! A long overdue promotion in my opinion.

So here he is... Manager Jack!

When I grow up I want to be...

When I was 15 I wanted to be an interior designer.

I did the work experience and I did the AS but that's where it ended. I didn't really enjoy Art at A-Level and only achieved a D. I enjoyed it in the class room, and everything I produced was pretty good. But as soon as I had to take anything home it always looked like an impatient 5 year old had been let loose - and not in a good way. So I was faced with a choice - continue with the A2 and drop Business, or drop Art and continue with a subject where I was certain I'd get at least a B. And so my path was set and my career as an interior designer ended before it began.

It is one of my life regrets, although I'm very lucky not to have many. And the path I chose has taken me on some amazing adventures that I'm very grateful for. And hey, I'm only 25...

c/o ehomee

Chilli!

Chilli has to be one of my favourite dishes to make. It's so simple and you can take all the credit as it is completely homemade!

Serves 2/3

250g lean steak mince
1 red onion
1 red pepper
1 clove of garlic
1 tin of chilli beans
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
2 heaped tsp gravy granules
1/2 tsp hot chilli powder

Fry the mince in a frying pan until brown and drain off the fat and put in a saucepan. Fry the onion and pepper until soft then add the chopped chilli and garlic for a minute. Add to the cooked mince then add the rest of the ingredients. Leave to simmer, stirring occassionally. Leave for 2 hours if you can but it can be eaten after an hour - the longer you leave it the better it tastes!

Wearing a Hug

I spent the day yesterday working on my new blog design (I hope you like it!). I felt that my previous design was a bit too chintzy and wanted something cleaner and simpler - all in all I'm pretty chuffed with the result!

We were meant to go to Wales yesterday to visit Jack's dad but I got distracted by the blog and Jack by his xbox so we're off this afternoon. Instead at about 4pm we decided to jump in the car and visit a country pub whilst the weather had brightened up and slightly resembled Summer. We finally got to The Bell at Sapperton but it was closed until 6.30pm which was a shame as it looked lovely. We instead found another pub nearby and had a disappointing drink near a busy road and agreed that it had been a bit of a waste of time. So we headed back to Cheltenham and I had a text from our friends Matt & Julie and so we met them at The Strand for a few ciders and some dinner. I worked at The Strand when we first moved back and it is one of my favourite pubs in Cheltenham. The food is amazing quality, and a bit of a bargain. You'd expect to pay double for the same in most of Cheltenham's restaurants. So if you ever happen to be in Cheltenham it's definitely worth a visit.

So here is my second outfit post. Again, sorry for the poor photo quality. I need to invest in a good camera and Photoshop if I'm going to keep doing these. The dress is another from inlovewithfashion (I now have four!). I love the dress but it creases so easily - I had to iron it twice yesterday! It also gapes quite a lot at the neck so I've always got to check that my bra isn't showing. The cardigan is one I bought from Topshop last winter. It's big and warm, and as my friend once described it, like wearing a hug! I love it - I definitely need to invest in more cardigans like this.

Dress: inlovewithfashion

Cardigan: Topshop

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My first Outfit Post

After going for a drink after work last night, Jack and I decided to go home and get changed and head back into town. It's so handy living in the centre of Cheltenham as everything is literally on your doorstep.  Growing up in Cheltenham, I really didn't appreciate how great the town is. The architecture and green spaces in the centre are just stunning, and there are so many great bars and restaurants. 

We headed to Montpellier and heard some Jazz music in the distance so we followed the sound and came across a lovely wine and whisky bar called John Gordons. We wandered in and asked for a wine menu, but instead were asked which colour and taken to a wall of wine. We chose a gorgeous bottle of Malbec and sat outside where a 3 piece jazz band were playing everything from Led Zeppelin to James Brown. I felt like I was in a romantic European city, not in Cheltenham town centre. A lovely hidden gem and we'll definitely be returning.

I'm trying to get used to this whole taking photos of myself. It feels a bit vain and egotistical but I'm just going to go with it! I'm hoping that through this blog I'm going to develop my own sense of style. I've never really felt that confident with clothes abduction always like I was guessing at what looks good. I always see clothes that other people are wearing and get major style envy. This is mainly due to the fact that the whole way through Uni and living in London I couldn't afford to buy clothes and I haven't quite mastered the Charity/Thrift shopping technique that so many others have. I know that I need to start visiting Charity shops as I see so many people and bloggers with beautiful vintage pieces that they've found for bargain prices in the local Charity shop. In the meantime, I've been enjoying having an exposable income for the first time and have been treating myself and my wardobe. I do need to be careful though as I'm meant to be saving as much of it as possible.

I don't think I've explained yet, but the reason we're back in Cheltenham in the first place is because Jack has started working here. Both of our families are from Cheltenham and its actually where we met. I was completely fed up of London and my job, and Jack was only there two days a week so we decided just to move back. It was rubbish having to live apart, as we'd already done it for a year when Jack worked in Milan/Switzerland and was only home at the weekends. We had 5 months of him working in Slough and living at home before he was put on the project in Cheltenham. It basically means that we get to enjoy living together and rediscovering our hometown. It does mean that I should be taking this opportunity to save, but 5 years of desperately wanting to splurge on clothes and not being able to has finally been unleashed and I need to be very cautious that I don't go too crazy!

So here it is, my first outfit post! Sorry for the poor photo quality - this will hopefully improve in time!

Dress: Motel

Belt: Topshop

Handbag: Etui (Topshop Concessions at Oxford Street)

Shoes: New Look

Update; Here is a picture of John Gordon's that I managed to take last weekend (02.09.11)

Motel Rocks

My colleague Kate has been to the Boohoo and Affiliate Window blogger events over the past two days in London and brought back some goodies for us girls left behind in the office. One of my merchants, Motel Rocks, gave away lots of lovely bits and I managed to snap up a canvas bag, a t-shirt and a dress for my little sister. It's her birthday next week so I thought I could add it to the boots I'd already bought her from New Look. If she hates them she can just give them a friend but its always nice getting pressies, even if they were free!

Update: Joanne loved the dress! And I even admitted it was a freebie.

Wild Things

I'm loving Animal jewellery at the moment and have come across these beauties which I thought I'd share with you all!

 Leopard Necklace £19 from Me & Zena

 Encrusted Snake Clamp Bracelet £18.50 from Topshop

Swarvoski Tiger Bangle £32 from Pree Brulee

I absolutely love Me & Zena but am yet to purchase anything from their collection. I may just have to make this Leopard Necklace my first!

Autumn's on its Way

I'm finding it so depressing that the nights are starting to draw in and scarves and coats are arriving in the shops. But look what arrived in the post today to make me excited about Autumn - this gorgeous dress from inlovewithfasion.

I wanted this dress as soon as I saw it on Love's site, but they sold out of my size almost immediately! However, lucky for me it's now back in stock. Love don't mass produce their collection and so their styles sell out very quickly so I was very happy when I managed to snap this up.

And the great thing about Love dresses is that they are so versatile. I plan on dressing this up with black shoe boots and chunky gold jewellery and, when it gets colder with a pair of thick black tights and tan ankle boots.

LOVE Burnt Out Feather Print Sleeveless Dress - £38 from inlovewithfashion