Best of December

In November I finally got around to getting myself a Lookbook account, and since then I've gained inspiration from so many outfits I've seen. It's really good to see a huge range in style, photography and personal taste, and it's so easy to get a hold of. It's like looking through an online magazine of non famous models wearing affordable items (for the most part). A lot of my buys recently have been through seeing them on Lookbook or through outfit posts that a lot of you blog. It's a great way of finding out about clothing and accessories that you may never have found otherwise (my bank balance would probably disagree). So this month I thought I'd end with a 'Best of December'. I may make it a regular thing if I can keep on top of it. 

So here are 15 (14 as the beautiful Charlene appears twice!) ladies that have inspired me, caught my eye and made me green with envy this month...

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

As you can tell peg leg trousers, wedges, chiffon, lace and fur have been what it's all about this month for me. 

What's been your favourite trends or pieces this month?/this Winter? x

Heart of Christmas

Jumper: River Island

Skirt: Miss Selfridge

Necklace: Wallpaper Rose

Following on from my post on Monday, I've been enjoying looking at many of your Christmas posts. It's been great to see what you all got and what you've been buying in the sales :) I received this jumper from my parents, I knew I was getting it for ages but I waited until Christmas. I'm not sure that I'll wear it with this skirt combo again but it's lovely and warm, really thick and cosy. 

I'm not sure if it looks 'Christmassy' or not?! I want to be able to wear it after New Year. Hmm. 

I'd also like to mention in this post a few ladies who have taken inspiration from my festive nails that I did in the run up to Christmas day. It's really lovely to hear that others have liked my nails enough to want to do them for themselves. And it's also nice to know that you do actually view/read my posts :) So thank you to Jen and Emma.

And because I didn't link you all to any blogs to follow on Monday, I'd like to now link you to my best friend Millie's blog. It was only created this week and so only has one post but if you give it a little read you can see what a talented writer she is! Not only that but she's a great artist and craftswoman. If you watch this space I'm sure there's amazing things to come. She likes to write short stories and I really hope one day she gets a book or two published. I don't follow many blogs that are diary/story based so I'm really looking forward to reading this....strawberries and squiggles.

Sweet Monday 013

01. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas! Didn't it go way too fast?! :( I'm back to work on Wednesday, ugh, I wish Christmas would last forever! I'm at my boyfriends til tomorrow but then I'll be sure to catch up on everyones blogs...I wanna see what you all got :)

02. Today I braved the sales and bought a hell of a lot but only one item was a sale item. Haha. Typical! I didn't think too much of the sales to be honest, they seem to be better online but most things I want have sold out. I have ordered these trousers from River Island though, these shoes from New Look and this peter pan collar dress and suedette trousers from ASOS. I suppose I have ordered a fair bit and with what I bought today I should probably give my debit card a rest for a while...hmm!

03. I got a lovely haul of items today, and for Christmas off my boyfriend! I was spoilt rotten by him and his family :) seriously got way more than I expected! So today I treated him to a meal to say thank you :) I'm looking forward to showing you it all! This owl necklace was from him and I haven't taken it off since, I've been talking about owl jewellery to him for so long but I never thought he'd think about it,

04. No 'blogs to follow' this week so feel free to add your blog links in the comments :) x

Merry Christmas

everyone! Hope you all have a lovely weekend :) Eat, drink and be merry!

To end the week off I've finally got around to editing the photo's I took from a wedding I went to on Tuesday. First off I need to mention what a crazy but magical few days it was...
On Monday the snow started coming down with all it's might so I was sent home early from work. The road to my house was blocked so I ended up trying to make my way to my boyfriends. He lives near Oxford and I knew that himself and Cheltenham especially had already had lots of snow. But I still went anyway, avoiding small roads, I thought heading through Cheltenham would be my best bet, stick to the main busy roads...hmm, I couldn't have been more wrong. I ended up sliding my way through Cheltenham which took over 2 hours, compared to a usual half an hour from my house, to then get stuck! Roads were closed and I couldn't get any further so I had to be rescued in a 4x4!! Eventually got back to my boyfriends after a treacherous drive along the A40...you can't believe just how bad some of the major roads in the UK have been until you see them.
With all this snow it looked as though the wedding would be cancelled, but on Tuesday we hopped on the back of a tractor and made our way to the most idillic village, made even more beautiful by all the snow. After the ceremony we had another hair raising drive to the reception which was held in an incredible barn with a huge open fire. It was a breathtaking location and the lovely couple couldn't have done any better.
We tucked in to some amazing horderves (the honey sausages were to die for) and after a few glasses of champagne and many more white/red wine I was feeling rather tipsy but to my rescue the wine was followed by beef, potatoes and vegetables. All done perfectly and then finished off with apple and blackberry crumble and vanilla custard or fresh cream (yes I had both).
It was such a lovely day and I'm so glad the snow didn't get in the way. And now I just hope we don't get anymore. A little bit is lovely to look at and will set Christmas off just fine.

I look forward to hearing about all of your Christmases next week! x

All I Want For Christmas...

is Chanel.

Shirt: Twitch Vintage

Gilet: Dixi

Leggings: Topshop

Shoes: Clothing at Tesco

Necklace: Wallpaper Rose

If you follow me on twitter, you'll know I made it to the wedding yesterday ok :) And have posted lots of lovely photo's on facebook. I'll give them a little tweek and get a post up soon! It really was such a magical day in the snow.

These outfit photos were taken on the weekend when we had hardly anything, now we have a hell of a lot more. It's pretty but it's getting annoying now. It did prove a lovely backdrop for a few photos that I got my friend to take of me, mainly to show off my new fave shirt :D I bought this a while back from Twitch Vintage, through their eBay shop. I bought it for the bargain price of $30 something, which works out at like £20 - £25. Ultimate bargain! I saw them post a photo of it on their blog and knew I had to have it!

Hope everyone is ready for Christmas! Only 3 days to go, ahhh! Sadly I have 2 more days of work but then 4 days off and I intend to enjoy every moment. Do any of you have anything special planned for Christmas? Is the snow putting a stop to things? x

Sweet Monday 012

01. So I suppose the big topic this week has been the weather. I think the Forest of Dean must be the only place not to have had much at all. Which is odd as we're usually snowed in! Frustratingly I need to get to my boyfriends tomorrow (near Oxford) as we're going to a wedding on Tuesday! Fingers crossed I get there...more snow is heading our way tomorrow :( 8 inches apparently! How have you all been effected by the snow?

02. This weekend our plans for a girls christmas night out were in dismay after our taxi cancelled as the snow in Cheltenham is really bad. However we ended up getting the taxi to take us somewhere more local (and rubbish) but at least we managed to get out and see each other! 

03. I'd just like to say a big HI and THANK YOU to all my new followers. It was only about a month ago that I was on less than 200 followers and now I'm almost at 300. It really means so much.

A few to follow this week: Lily, Vicki and Emma

Pastel Pallette

A while a go I painted my nails with this leopard design in pastel shades and totally forgot to blog them. It wasn't until today when I saw Irene's post that it reminded me. They're very similar to a previous design I've done, but this time I used Models Own's Nude instead of Eyeko's Posh Polish. I love the contrast between the Nude and Beths Blue in particular. And this time the nails are busier with a denser pattern.

Models Owns: Nude and Beth's Blue

Beauty uk: Peach

Festive Nails 03

Ok so I need to come up with a new design! But I just can't help trying this effect with all sorts of colours. I'm seriously liking the 'tips' style, and with Juicy Jules by Models Own, it literally looks like you've dipped your fingers in a pot of glitter!

Models Own: Nude & Juicy Jules

On other festive topics, who has snow? All of you?! We've had some, but no where near as much as we usually get. I live in the Forest of Dean and every year we get horrendous snow but this time it seems to keep missing us, it literally went around us hitting Cardiff, Newport, Bristol, Cheltenham.... So weird. I don't really mind as it's enough to look pretty but not too much to hinder my social life. Although my friends and I are meant to be going out tonight and I'm not so sure the taxi company will bother picking us up :( dam you weather!

Festive Nails 02

Models Own: Gold Finger & Purple Grey

Another festive nail treat for you all. The same as my first attempt with glittery tips this time using less festive but still just as sparkly colours. I wasn't sure what would work with gold best but I love it with Models Own's Purple Grey!
I recently got Juicy Jules for free so I think I'm gonna have to try that one out next!
If any of you have done some Christmas inspired nails or any kind of nail design recently please link me :) x

eBay

Ok so I'm having a huge clear out of my wardrobe, there's still so much more to come! Everything has a 99p starting price or less. Lots of Motel dresses, vintage pieces, clothing and accessories. Take a look if you fancy a bargain :) You can find everything on my eBay.

Sweet Monday 011

It's Christmassss!

01. First up the lovely winner of my first blog giveaway is...Maria! Congratulations lovely, your voucher will be on it's way to you asap. And thank you to everyone who entered :)

02. MATT WON XFACTOR! yayyyy. haha. I'm so happy. Although I did love all of them in the final, but Matt had always been my favourite. Who was your favourite to win?

03. Hope everyone's well and truly in the festive mood! I posted up a festive nail treat on saturday and will be doing a few more before the day. 

04. A few to follow this week Bee, Maria and Ruth

Festive Nails 01

finally! My tree is up and presents have been wrapped. And now for some christmassy nails :) I'm going out for my Christmas works meal tonight...YES I'm missing Xfactor!!!! Grr. Will have to catch up on the web, so I will be refraining from twitter all evening. But I thought I'd get more in the festive mood with a little sparkle...

Models Own: Silver Fox

Barry M: Burgundy

I've seen this done in loads of magazines recently so thought I'd give it a go. It's so easy to do. Not sure if I'm completely happy with them but they'll do :) Expect more festive nails coming over the next two weeks! I'm going to be painting them a different colour of glitter! Hopefully the customers at work will appreciate my efforts, seen as though we don't even have a tree up, someone needs to bring some cheer to the work place!

For Old Times Sake

Dress: Yayer

Belt: Vintage

Boots: Primark

Ring: ASOS

Lipstick: Benefit

As you can see these photos were taken at the weekend pre fringe! I bought this dress from Yayer the other week, it's vintage Laura Ashley and I love it. After the dress I'd wanted for ages sold out immediately in their sale I was so disappointed but then found this gem. I love the colour, and look at me and the boy...colour matching! haha.

The photo of the two of us was taken last week on a night out celebrating my graduation! It's so weird to think it's official..I'm an adult! No more student discounts :'( But on the other hand it feels amazing to be earning a reasonable amount of money each month!

Hope you're all well, just wanted to say I've enjoyed reading all of your comments on my new hair style :) Your kind words mean a lot! I really do like it now, and hopefully will be keeping it up for a while.

Also there's been some really good posts about recently, I'm gutted I miss them all through out the day at work but have loved catching up every evening in the last week or so. There's lots of festive cheer out there too which is getting me excited :)

Sweet Monday 010

01. First up, I have a FRINGE! what do you all think? Bit of a rubbish photo sorry, will get a better one up soon. I've been debating to have a fringe for so long now, with a little push from my boyfriend I went for it and I think I like it :) It's a bit of a shock!

02. As you may know, I didn't do a Sweet Monday post last monday because instead I launched my first blog giveaway! It ends on Sunday, so if you haven't already enter here for your chance of winning £50 worth of Clothing at Tesco vouchers :)

03. It's been soooo cold recently, I need to invest in some more Winter knits! Thanks to a post by the lovely Rosedl I've bought a lovely chunky knit cardi from Beyond Retro! Hope you're all feeling christmassy too! I finished my shopping this weekend :) Just need to get the decs up now and wrap all the prezzies. Eeee! I love this time of year.

04. A few to follow this week: Milly, Irene and my bestie Ellie.

Love the Limelight

This week I was contacted by my lovely friend Ellie Woodward to guest on her amazing blog 'Love the Limelight'. Her blog focuses on celebrity gossip, fashion, news and opinions. If you haven't come across it yet, I highly recommend you check it out. It's where I get all my goss from, no idea how she gets her hands on all the juice before anyone else!

She asked me to do a little write up on a celeb or fashion trend I love at the moment, so I chose Peg Leg Trousers :) Take a look here. (I've noticed I say perfect a million times haha)

It's been a while..

From Wednesday of last week I had a lovely relaxing week of work :) Bliss! So I decided to go back to my roots and jazz my nails up a bit! Since working full time, I still paint my nails but sadly nothing crazier than a subtle all over one colour. I've missed being able to practice designs so much. Although it's only leopard and I've done it a million times before I love it with this mushroom shade by Eyeko! It's such a gorgeous colour and goes lovely with the baby pink.

And yes I'm using an eyeliner as I still don't have a black nail pen. I really need to get my hands on one of the Models Own/Wah nails ones. But I'm currently trying to have a Models Own detox after going mad recently :) x

Oh and if you fancy this 'Posh Polish', if you pick it up with a couple of others and enter E12347 at the check out you'll receive a free gift!

Motel ROCKS!

Cosmic Boogie £39, Charlie Dress £45, Dissy Cardi £29, Husky Coat £79

I can't imagine there's a girl left in the country that hasn't heard of Motel. But just incase, I'm the newest recruit on their street team and so I'm here to spread the word. 

Motel is an online store full of gorgeous dresses, vintage pieces and dam right sexy shoes! I discovered the Motel gem way back in 2007 in Bristol where they have a boutique. Since then I have bought countless items from them over the years and they have now spread their wings to shops including Cult, Topshop, House of Fraser and ASOS. With celebrity fans such as Lily Allen, Nicola Roberts and many of the X Factor ladies, you can now buy real celebrity style at affordable prices!

As part of my job of promoting Motel, I have been given the added bonus of a 20% discount code to share with all of my followers. 

From now on, if you buy anything from their online store type 'sweetmonday' at the checkout and you will receive 20% off any order!! :) Open to international buyers as well!

Also a sneaky little tip I have is to keep checking back on the site as sometimes they have great offers on such as £10 discount vouchers and they currently have free p&p. So keep your eyes peeled and most importantly ENJOY :)

I went on a little scavange across the net to seek out some gorgeous ladies you may know wearing the Motel brand. Here are a few of my faves who have rocked their fabulous buys. 

1.2.3.4.5

6.7.8.9.10

p.s if you haven't already, enter my blog competition to be in with the chance of winning £50 worth of vouchers to spend online at Clothing at Tesco. x