Sweet Monday 018

01. Here's some photo's of my weekend in Manchester. The masquerade party was great on Saturday night. Everyone wore a mask and really dressed up for the occasion. I wore the dress I wore on New Year in the end, I thought the burnt orange colour went perfectly with the mask.  It was in a lovely marquee with lots of fairy lights and chandeliers, and there was an amazing buffet. Lots of posh food, I wish I'd taken a photo of it..seriously so good! So a big happy 21st to Hannah, a good night had by all :)

02. Before the party we headed to the Trafford Centre where I bought lots of goodies. All tops for Spring/Summer and ready for America in April. 

We ate lunch at Tampopo. It was my first time eating there and I went for a soup dish. It was a really nice atmosphere and lovely decorated venue, but I still think I prefer Wagamama's!

03. I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I don't have a lot else to report on, just that I'm extremely tired and could do with a week to catch up on some sleep! But no such luck, I'm off on a course tomorrow with work in Taunton which is like a 2 hour drive from my house, so I've gotta be up at the crack of dawn!

04. A few to follow this week... Claire, Helen and J

Best of January

1, 2, 3, 4, 

5, 6, 7, 8,

9, 10, 11, 12.

This month has seen a variety of looks on lookbook that have caught my attention. Because of the fact photos are uploaded from all around the world you get to see a real mix of clothing at any time during the year. As you can see some ladies like Maddy are still enjoying some snow and other like Ericke are enjoying warmer weather. 

I tried to catergorise my favourite looks this month. The first four images caught my eye because of the girls trousers in particular. I am in love with wearing trousers at the moment, whether they're chino's or peg legs, or hareems. I never used to be a trouser kind of girl but this season I've really got into wearing them. Most are so comfy, perfect for around the house, or a shopping trip and then can be dressed up for a night out or a nice meal. 

The second line of images I like for their quirkyness. I love the colours of Maddy's gold jumper and the pattern of Lily's one. I love how Claire has teamed knee high socks with spot tights, I really want to try this now! It's been so cold I haven't worn any of my nice tights for ages so this way I could have the best of both worlds. 

And the last few images I think some up my own sense of style, or how I'd like my style to be. I love Morven's leopard cross tee and Kasia's fur gilet in particular. 

Hope you've all had a good weekend and enjoyed these photo's. There's some lovely looks on lookbook at the moment and it's great for inspiration!

I will be blogging my weekly update tomorrow to let you know how my weekend in Manchester went :) x

Ruby Cupcakes

This week I made some cupcakes for my friend Ruby's birthday! Using my butterfly cutter again, I painted them with yellow food colouring this time, and added some sprinkles for fun! 

As far as I know they all went down well :) 

Next week my parents are away on holiday and I'm looking forward to having the kitchen to myself! I've made a long list of foods that I want my mum to pick me up before she goes! haha. So hopefully there will be some more baking going on.

My friend Millie came over last night with a book all about making sweets, including marshmallows, toffee apples and sugar mice to name but a few! It's called Sweet Temptation and looks so good. There's some really easy recipes, I'm looking forward to having a dabble. I really want to try and perfect roses made from fondant icing :)

I'm off to Manchester tomorrow but will hopefully be blogging my January favourites on Sunday. Have a lovely weekend everyone! x

Oh and I've now sorted out my blog feed. Anyone who hasn't seen me in a while probably received an overload of me yesterday! Sorry :)

Heart in a Cage

Cardigan: Dixi

Polka dot tunic: Topshop

Clutch bag: Dorothy Perkins

Shoes: New Look

Necklace: River Island

Ring: Accessorize

I'm sure everyone's seen this tunic at least once before, with ladies including Lily, Michelle and Emma to name but a few wearing it in recent posts. I actually bought it with my Christmas vouchers, when I couldn't decide between this and my tan dress...and then I went for both! :) 

It wasn't until recently that I've actually got around to wearing it. Now I'm working full time, I feel like I never wear normal clothes!

But anyway, I have to say I love the way Michelle teamed it with a black skirt, jazzed it up! I've worn mine dressed up to two meals with friends and work colleagues, but I think it looks great casual as well. Very versatile. 

Anyways I hope everyone's having a good week! I had a rubbish day at work, so now I intend to relax on the sofa all night :)

Oh and the title of this post is due to listening to The Strokes album 'First Impressions of Earth' on repeat the last couple of days!

Sweet Monday 017

01. Well todays weekly round up feels it's going to be a little boring, because my life is at the moment! I haven't done anything exciting particularly, it's hard to remember what I have done. 

I spent this weekend with my boyfriend and we went out yesterday for a big family meal. We went for a carvery at our local pub. Yum! And then they all came back to my parents house for my lovely cupcakes, which went down a treat by the way. 

02. The photo above is of my mask I'm going to be wearing on Saturday. My boyfriend's friend from uni is having a masquerade party for her birthday up in Manchester. I can't wait to have a weekend off work and go on a little trip. I'm bullying Chris into driving us to the Trafford Centre too! I've been so good this month with not shopping...but now I've been paid again! :) But yeah so I bought this mask in the Urban Outfitters sale for only £5! What a bargain. 

03. Last week I went to a harvester with the girls, I haven't been to one since I was little and wasn't sure what to expect from the menu. It wasn't anything to get excited over, I had scampi and chips which I seem to have every time I go to a pub. After saying that, I do love the fact they give you free salad bowls! I got my moneys worth from that. And our waiter took a liking to my friend, so much so he didn't charge us for any pudding, no non alcoholic drinks and he knocked my one friend's meal off entirely as she was vegan and could only have chips! So all in all it was a very cheap night...but then he asked for my friends number and almost lost his tip. Haha! All we seem to do in Gloucestershire is carvery places, and harvesters! They're everywhere.

04. I feel like all I've been taking photo's of/talking about it food this month! 

A few to follow this week: Aniek, Coury and Kate

P.S for some reason stupid blogger has been depriving some of you of my posts :'( Not sure why it's doing this. I did change my url a few months ago, but god knows why it's playing up now. So for all of you who no longer get a feed from my blog my url is http://sweetmondayblog.blogspot.com Maybe try readding it?! Hope it works! x

Tea and Tiffany's

This weekend all of my family are going out for my Nan and Gramp's birthdays so after my previous cupcake endeavours, my Mum has asked me to make another batch for my whole family!

So here they are. Originally I wanted to make blue ones, but then they went this Tiffany colour and I loved it with the lilac flowers.

I bought yet another stamper from Hobbycraft, this flower, it's so easy to use. My friends thought I'd just bought them but it's so much cheaper and easier to just roll out royal icing and stamp these out :)

So fingers crossed my family like them! If they don't I know Chris will eat them all in a second anyway. I doubt I'll get a look in. 

Oh and this time I used some edible glitter that Chris bought me for Christmas as part of a huge cupcake decorating pack he got me. I think I went a little over board though as a practice one that I tried was slightly choking! 

Hope everyone's having a good week. Sadly I have work tomorrow morning so my weekend is yet to begin. But it's only a measly three hours and then I'm free to relax. Roll on midday tomorrow. x

Where Nobody Knows

Dress: Topshop

Wedges: Clothing at Tesco

Necklace: Accessorize

Bag: River Island

Today's outfit is a combination of Christmas and Sales. I got given this lovely necklace from boyfriend for Christmas and I love it. I tend not to wear a lot of jewelry, the odd ring and that's about it but since buying this necklace from Wallpaper Rose, I've been more inclined to go for a necklace, especially with a plain dress or long top. 

This dress was my little splurge. I got given £50 worth of vouchers from work and well I picked a lot of the thing and then just couldn't put this down. I ended up buying it on top of using my vouchers, but hey I got £50 worth of free stuff so spending £40 on this dress didn't seem so bad. You may recognise it from when I wore it at New Year.

I'm really annoying about this bag. I tweeted it about it back in November when I bought it for myself but for my Mum to pay me back and give it to me for Christmas. Haha! But then two days before the big day when stupid River Island put their online sale up, there it was for £15! Half price. I hate it when shops do that. But then £30 isn't exactly a lot of money to spend on a bag so gorgeous. It's made out of lovely rich, textured tapestry and I think it looks a lot more expensive than what it was?!

Any who, hope you're all well and having a nice week. My week so far has been a pain at work but today I had half a day and am going out tonight with the girls for a meal :) So that's a nice break half way through the week! x

Sweet Monday 016

01. So this week I thought I'd use this photo to sum up my weekend! It's a still from the film 'Love and other drugs', which has had very mixed reviews. But I loved it! It's full of raunchy sex scenes...you come this close ___ to seeing Jake Gyllenhaal's mr! Haha. And Anne Hathaway gets her breasts out on oh about a dozen times! If you love either or both of these actors you will love this film! It's got some really hilarious bits and the trailer doesn't let on about the deep, emotional aspects to this film. It's a film for everyone. 

02. The last week has felt a bit of a whirl wind. I'm currently working six days a week so weekends feel like weekdays and the weeks just roll into one huge monstrosity of a working week :( But such is life! I cant believe it's already almost the end of January! Although after saying that, Christmas feels like agggesss ago.

03. Did any of you get up to anything special? Did you go to the cinema at all? There's lots of films due out in the next coming weeks that I want to see. Starting with 'Blue Valentine', just for the beautiful Ryan Gosling. I'm hoping it's going to be a little like the 'Notebook', he really does seem like the perfect man! I love a good romantic film, non cheesy, just something you long to keep watching and can watch over and over.

04. Enough about films, here's a few blogs that have caught my eye Ag, Mei and Spence.

Warm Chocolate Cake

Sorry for a lack of blogging this week! I've been out and about and no where near my lap top to be able to do any posts :(

I saw these delicious chocolate cakes in my book I got for Christmas called 'Easy Cupcakes'. It's from M&S and 'Easy' is the best word for it, perfect for moi! :) The recipe is called 'warm molten centred chocolate cupcakes'. 

They're really easy to make, all you have to do is put half of the cake mixture in the case then a chocolate chunk followed by some more cake mixture on top. I was really worried the chocolate might melt out of the sides as it was baking, and a few did crack but no chocolate spilled out. They're best served warm with ice cream or cream. As they cooled the chocolate went back to hard in the centre but a little whiz in the microwave and they're back to being deliciously indulgent :)

I want to work my way through the whole of this book, and I have another that boyfriend bought me! So expect lots of cupcakes to come. I wish I could send them in the post to you all.

A few of my favourites are Toffee Apple, Rocky Road and Cream Tea...mmm

Butterfly Cupcakes

Following on from my previous cupcakes that I baked, I have been browsing through Milly's blog of her amazing cupcake creations and I spotted some really pretty butterfly ones. So yesterday when I left work I popped to hobbycraft to have a browse in their cake decorating section and came across this butterfly stamp! As soon as I got home I couldn't wait, I had to try it out. 

It's so easy to use, it's a cutter and stamp all in one and it was less than £3! I liked them just in the lilac icing but then wanted to add a little detail so brushed on some blue dye. I did see some amazing metallic sprays you can get which make the butterflies and other shapes look so magical. But it was £7 and I'm meant to be saving money! 

I chose to do bright pink icing to contrast the blue and go for a magical, fairy dust feel.

I hope you all like them! I'm in love with this new wider piping nozzle, it really makes the difference for icing. Maybe one day I could make some as good as Lola's! x

Black Leopard

Top: Topshop

Skirt: River Island

Cardigan: Dixi

Boots: Primark

Necklace: Wallpaper Rose

As you can probably tell these photos were taken just after Christmas when we still had a little of the snow left over. The day after boxing day my boyfriend and I went shopping in Swindon and they've just had a new Topshop open up. I had £50 worth of vouchers for Christmas from work for Arcadia so thought it was fate when I spotted this new shop. I was hoping to find some great sale goodies, but sadly not. Instead I bought this basic black tee along with quite a few other things!! I found the skirt in River Island, and this item was in the sale, only £10, which I didn't think was bad at all. I didn't know what to style it with and then when I bought this top I tried them together and I think it works.

Both the top and skirt will be great items come Spring/Summer too. And I've just noticed that I've seen this skirt before. A firm favourite blogger, Strutt has previously worn it. :)

Anyways I have the afternoon of work so I'm off to make some more cupcakes! 

Sweet Monday 015

01. The photo above is a view near my house of the River Severn. I took it yesterday on a lovely walk through the woods of the Forest of Dean with Chris. I do enjoy walking, well when the weathers nice anyway! And it's the easiest form of exercise!

02. This weekend Chris and I cooked up a storm, starting with a Wagamama's on Saturday, chicken ramen I think it was called, and then my lovely cupcakes yesterday followed by a tasty Nando's! 

03. Hope you all had a good weekend. Thank you for all the lovely comments over the last week. x

A few to follow this week: Ashley, Cintia and Elle

Lilac Dream

Cupcakes: 4oz Self raising flour, 4oz Caster sugar, 4oz Butter and 2 Eggs.

Butter cream: 3oz Butter and 6oz Icing sugar. 

I'm a bit of cupcake phobe but I really want to get involved so last weekend I managed to get my hands on a chunky nozzle for my piping bag. So today I finally had the time to use it and come up with some experimental creations. 

My friend Millie made me some vegan cakes a while a go and did these funky hearts so I thought I'd give it a try. They didn't come out great but hey it was my first attempt! It's easy to do, just melt some chocolate and drizzle it on to a sheet of grease proof paper and hey presto! They peel off easily, although I did have two break on me!

Sadly I got my measurements a little wrong and my icing didn't cover all of my cakes so as you can see the last few were a little random. But I think my faves are actually the drizzled chocolate straight on to icing (second from last pic).

And I love the way the chocolate dribbled down the sides of the cakes in the last pic, they look so cute! I'm cupcake obsessed at the moment. My boyfriend and my Mum both got me two cupcake books and LOTS of decorating bits so expect to see a lot more coming soon when I have the time. 

After I've got my skills up to scratch I really want to buy the Hummingbird Bakery book!

And hopefully one day I'll be as good as Lyzi and Milly at making them :)

Oh and by the way they don't have cases on because they were cooked in silicone ones. x

Nocturnal

Top: H&M

Skirt: Miss Selfridge

Gilet: Dixi

Scarf: Topshop

Necklace: Accessorize

A simple outfit post today. This was taken just after Christmas of a few goodies my boyfriend bought me. I'd asked for this scarf but one of his surprises for me was this necklace, and I love it. I have a thing for owl's at the moment. Whenever I go to say it I always have to say 'A OWL', like they do on that tv program PhoneShop. It's a running joke with me and Chris (my boyfriend)...we're sad I know!

But anyways this was a simple yet warm outfit that could really be worn for any occasion. I always used to buy items that were patterned or had something unusual about them, but recently I keep buying plain items. They're so versatile, especially in Winter when we're layering up! 

Any who, hope you're all having a lovely weekend!

I'm spending mine with Chris cooking our own Wagamama's (in the hope of saving some money) and some cupcakes! I've got a new nozzle for my piping bag so hopefully if they come out nice you'll all get to see them :) x

E.L.F Review

L to R: Black, Chocolate, Dark Red, Rosy Raisin,

Purple Pleaser, Champagne, Mango Madness, Passion Pink

I was introduced to E.L.F (Eyes, Lips & Face) through a friend a while ago, and when I saw the £1.50 price tag I couldn't resist a splurge! Yes that's right almost everything from lipsticks to blusher to nail polish is only £1.50. Now you might think the cheap prices would reflect poor quality...and you'd be sort of right.

The nail polishes come in a range of great colours but definitely need a good two or three coats for an even, dense coverage. In the photo's I have only used one coat. The brushes are also not the best, being quite stiff and one was a really odd shape but I think that was just a one off as the others were fine. After using brands like Models Own and Rimmel, E.L.F definitely isn't as good quality. BUT you can get almost three for the price of one Models Own polish, and they do come in some lovely colours so it's not all bad. 

Have any of you tried these polishes? What were your thoughts?

I also bought a foundation brush which has been great and for £1.50 was a bargain! And I've recently bought a blusher stick which I use every day and is a really nice shade. :) 

So I suppose overall I would say they're not the best quality but they are stupidly cheap and I will definitely be using them. They'll come in handy for nail designs too! 

Beyond Retro

Cardigan: Beyond Retro

Shirt: Dixi

Leggings: Topshop

Boots: Primark

I've always been a fan of Beyond Retro, making their shop in London a regular stop whenever I'm down shopping. But I didn't realise they had a website until I saw this post by Rose. I just had to buy something, and I'd been searching for a chunky cream knitted cardigan for a while and their online store had plenty to choose from! I went with this one with the help of my boyfriend, because I thought it looked a little quirky with the collar and old fashioned wooden buttons. 

It took ages to come sadly because of the dam snow, and I got a little worried, wondering if I'd ever get it :) But it's here and I love it.

And the shirt I'm wearing underneath it is from Dixi, it was only £7 which I thought was a great bargain, but now I have this other cream shirt too, so now I seriously need to stop buying shirts/blouses. I sorted my wardrobe out last week to pack away my Christmas goodies and it is clear to see that I have more blouses than necessary. 

In fact I'm having an altogether stop on shopping at the moment. I don't get chance to wear half of the stuff I own and I now have so many new items that still have the tags on. So if you see me blogging about something I bought rather than got for Christmas...feel free to tell me off! :) x

Sweet Monday 014

01. Happy New Year all! How did you celebrate? I went out in Oxford with my boyfriend and his friends, here's a photo from the evening. They have these cool photobooth things in o2 Academys now. I think it's a real nice touch, and they get shown on the tv screens on the night as they're being taken...can be pretty funny!

02. Last week was a pretty slow one, going back to work :( Wish I could've had longer off for Christmas, it's all gone so fast! But this weekend was nice to chill out again. I have been so lazy! Not looking forward to going back to work again tomorrow, but I am looking forward to getting back into a routine again.

03. Chris and I are going to a masquerade ball at the end of the month. Do any of you know any shops or websites we could find some masks? I've had a little browse but not come across anything I really like yet. I have no idea what kind of dress to wear either! But I'm sooo looking forward to it, I've always wanted to dress up in masquerade!

04. A few to follow this week Jennie, Sarah & Zoe

Just a quickie...

I was featured on the Clothing at Tesco blog this weekend :) There's a lovely write up about me, some very kind words said so a big thank you to all the guys working at the blog. I've been lucky enough to host a Clothing at Tesco competition recently and then win Jen's competition, so all in all I now own a lot of clothes from them. If you haven't already I suggest checking out their website. There's some great items at very affordable prices. 

Hello to all my new followers, hope you all have had a great weekend and start to the year :) x

Twenty Ten

Hope you all had a happy new year! What did you get up to? I spent it in Oxford with my boyfriend and his friends. It was a really good night :) Can't believe that's another year over! Wow, they go by faster and faster.

2010 was full of many highs and a couple of lows. To recap I sadly lost my gran and grandad at the beginning of the year which was a really tough time for myself and my family. However I also met Chris, my boyfriend, and he helped me through it and the year got a hell of a lot better. I turned 22 in April, finished uni in May and then went traveling all over Europe with two of my best friends for the month of July. And then October brought a new job and November saw me graduate. And now I've just spent the festive month of December with family, friends and Chris, and I couldn't have been happier!

And let's not forget 2010 was the year I started this blog. Thanks to each and every follower and reader. It's only been a few months and the support has all been rather overwhelming. :)

I'm looking forward to 2011, I already have a masquerade ball to look forward to at the end of January with Chris, and we're going to Phoenix, Vegas and San Francisco in April :) <3

I've seen a few blogs looking back over 2010 and I've really enjoyed reading them all.

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions, they're always things like 'eat healthier' and 'exercise more', I do to an extent and then they're forgotten. So I haven't made any this year. Are any of you making any? Are you looking forward to 2011?

Here's a montage of photo's from 2010 that show some of the good times I've had with friends...

January. New Year!

February. Apt

March. Curry nights in with the girls

April. My birthday picnic

May. Last day of uni

June :)

 July. Venice

August. Chris' birthday cake

 September. Ibiza

October. Halloween

November <3

December. Presents!

Here's to 2011! 
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