Best of March

1, 2, 3, 4

5, 6, 7, 8

9, 10, 11, 12

This month, for me, it's been all about shorts and maxi everything, whether it's dresses, skirts or trousers! Two polar opposites, but both equally hot! Some stand out ladies stole the show for me on Lookbook this month, especially Natalie with her amazing trousers. And they look like they've been teamed with some clogs, similar to mine, which I happened to team with some wide leg, flared trousers for a recent photo shoot. I bought them from Primark but they're extremely similar to the ones in River Island (but half the price!). 

How hot does Luanna look in those super short shorts. A very simple outfit but it looks so good. To be honest it was her striking red hair that drew me in first, it makes me miss mine!

Not shorts or maxi, but block colours have also caught my eye. Angela caught my attention straight away in those vibrant orange trousers, and teamed with the pink shoes is incredible. A look I would never choose to do myself, or think I could pull off but it works so well. I've seen a few girls rocking the block colour look of late, a bandwagon I may have to jump on soon!

Hope you enjoyed these lovely looks :) 

Are there any trends or things you're particularly loving right now? x

Price Tag

Cardigan: Miss Selfridge

Top: Topshop

Shorts: YAYER

Two tone tights: New Look

Wedges: Forever 21

Bag: Vintage

Ring: Forever 21

HURRAH! An outfit post at long last! It's been so long since I last posted an outfit, in fact I've only posted one this month, because of my stupid camera being broken. I've bought so many new items recently which I can't wait to blog about! These photo's were taken with my iPhone 4 and I'm actually pretty impressed with how they came out :)

Maybe I don't need my Sony cybershot after all!

These are THE shoes I bought from Forever 21 that I was on about! I just fell in love with them on first site, and they were a guilt free buy at only £22!

I didn't find Forever 21 all that great, as I've previously said, these boots were the only thing I really found. I did also buy this ring and I did love a lot of their jewellery, so I'd probably only bother to shop their for that. As Lily commented, I think they might be America's answer to Primark.

Also this outfit is the showcase of my amazing YAYER shorts! I recently entered their blog competition but hadn't taken any photo's of me in the shorts at that stage. So here they are! I've got to say, I love them, it's all about the fringing for me!

Anyway I hope you all like this outfit and are having a good week :) I love how light it is in the evenings, it's getting me so excited for Summer! It's not very warm now but the sunshine is still making me want to be sat in a beer garden with a lovely pear cider! x

Sweet Monday 026

L to R: New Look, STboutique, Accessorize, Vintage, Forever 21, 

New Look, New Look, llymlrs, ASOS, H&W

01. The image of todays weekly catch up is of my ever growing ring collection. This is not my collection, this is just the rings I've bought or been given over the last month or so. It's getting a little out of hand. I don't have the time to wear them all but every time I go shopping I head straight for the ring collection. My newest edition is Stolen Thunder's cute 'Pardon my French' that I received this weekend :) And I bought the black/silver one from Forever 21 on Saturday!

02. Speaking of Forever 21, I went to Birmingham this weekend shopping with my boyfriend, and this was the first time I'd been since F21 opened up late last year. I've gotta say I wasn't all that impressed. The clothing was great value but a little more Primark than Topshop. There wasn't a lot that I thought was on trend with the rest of the highstreet and nothing really caught my eye. Except a pair of leopard wedged boots which I will be blogging about this week <3 They are to die for! So just for that reason...all is forgiven F21!

03. I really had such a good weekend with my boyfriend :) It's been so long since we've spent the whole weekend together and I didn't want it to end. Mondays suck! Going back to work sucks! Knowing I have 5 more days of it sucks! Haha. BUT it's only 27 days until we jet off to Phoenix :D Speaking of which I'm looking to buy an SLR to take with us, I really want some good quality photos. But I am pretty much clueless. I have no idea which to go for. I'm looking to spend £300 to £400. A friend of mine is selling a Nikon D60 for £300?! Does anybody think that's worth it and I should go for it? Or do you have better suggestions...please help me!

A few to follow this week: Becka, Julie and Katie

Oh AND what are we going to do without Jersey Shore?!! :( I hate these breaks. Bring back GG, OTH & 90210 asap!

Fuzzy peach

Models Own: Fuzzy Peach

Models Own: Juicy Jules

Models Own nail art pen: Black

I did these nails for the weekend and got a very odd comment from a sales assistant in Birmingham. His exact words were 'your nails tell me you must have a wild side to you'. Ew! Total cringe and I quickly made my exit. 

I've not tried incorporating the glitter polish with the leopard print design before but I like it! Think it worked well. IRL the fuzzy peach is a lot brighter, much more orange than these photos show.

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

I've had a great weekend off work :) shame it's back to it tomorrow! ugh!

And finally this week I will actually be posting an outfit post! Shock horror. It's been a while now that I haven't had my camera so I've resulted to using my iPhone 4 and they actually came out just as good as my digital camera :) stay tuned! x

YAYER

If you've been a follower of my blog for a while you will of heard me shout about YAYER! Well now the lovely ladies at YAYER have teamed up with the beautiful Audrey Leighton (of Frassy) to hold a blog competition where you can win £300 of clothing from www.yayer.co.uk and a chance to help assist at their upcoming Summer lookbook photo shoot! Wow, what a prize, as soon as I heard about it, I knew I needed to enter! If you haven't already and you fancy entering you have until March 30th :) 

In my previous posts I have raved about YAYER's eclectic mix of vintage and modern pieces of clothing and of course I have treated myself to some of their items! Every girl loves to come across a new online boutique, and YAYER holds something for everyone! But be warned, if you like something be quick!! They often only have one in stock of each piece, and there items sell out extremely quickly. Hopefully you can see why from the following pieces that I've picked out of their current collection. 

A few of these pieces have already sold out sadly, but I couldn't resist putting the images on here, because it's not just about the one garment but also it's about the way they style their outfits. It's great to see more worked into the outfit than just the item on offer so that you can get a flavour for how to style the pieces yourself! It's great for inspiration and for myself, it's helped me be a little more daring with my outfits. Their lookbook is also a great place for inspiration! You can find more images from their previous lookbooks on their facebook page. 

Out of the outfits above, I've actually nabbed myself a pair of the fringed Levi shorts :D I was going to do a post on them to enter this competition but sadly my camera has broken, but to be honest I think their gorgeous model Sarah shows them off in all their potential :) Another great thing, YAYER are bang on trend with their vintage and modern items. I absolutely love the dress in the first image, and it's a perfect example of their items selling out! Annoyingly it sold out in about 2 seconds of being put up, so if the lucky owner is reading this and would like to re sell please get in touch ;)

If you like what you see, I'd recommend following their facebook page as you get to find out first about new collections and they update their statuses whilst updating their store so you can get in there before any one else :)

A lot of other ladies, including the beautiful Michelle have entered this competition, and although I'd do anything to win, I just had to mention her entry as it was so dam good! But I hope you all liked mine too! :) 

Keeping everything crossed! x 

Shop YAYER

Follow YAYER on Facebook and Twitter

Goodies!

 llymlrs jwlry

This morning I received a cute little package in the post, forgetting that I'd ordered these two piece from llymlrs! So that was a pleasant surprise to wake up to :)

The ring is my fave, it's absolutely gorgeous and fits perfectly! Can't wait to wear both of them, so thank you Lily for selling such unique finds!

Also all of my groupon goodies have arrived now. My first installment from ASOS came last week and then my bronzer turned up on monday :) Happy Kim! If you haven't used Groupon before, be sure to keep checking it. Sometimes they do such good deals, like this one for ASOS where you paid £9 for £20 to spend on ASOS.com. So technically I got these goodies for £27 when they would normally cost £50! Bargain! I promised myself I wouldn't buy any more Benefit items until after I was back from San Francisco incase it's cheaper out there, but I couldn't resist this voucher.

Sweet Monday 025

01. Hello love readers, I hope you all had a good weekend?! Mine was rather forgetful. I went out Saturday night for a friends birthday and I can remember very little. I do however remember a lot of pre drinking and that's about it. Haha oops!

But from what I've heard it was a really good night :) and I only spent £8! There's a bonus to being a lightweight!

02. In other exciting news, I've finally got my hands on an iphone 4 :D My lovely friend Lucyna (looking sexy in leopard) rang the lovely people of o2 and got me a rather good deal. I've only had to pay £98 for the handset and they're going to give me £120 for my old 3gs! Not bad at all. 

03. Looking back on these photos myself and Lucyna are repping Motel! They have some lovely dresses on their website at the moment. If you fancy treating yourself to anything enter SWEETMONDAY at the check out and you'll bag 20% off anything :D They also do free delivery!

04. A few to follow this week: Lauren, Phoebe and Popsy

Here today, gone tomorrow

Cardigan: Dixi

Top: H&M

Turban: ASOS

This outfit was taken a while ago but I never posted it, and I am now without a camera :( So I decided to post it today so that I don't disappear from my blog completely!

I asked for this turban for Christmas after seeing Jazzabelle wearing it, it looked so good, but I don't think it suits me at all. So I've actually sold it on eBay last week! Oops. 

But apart from that I do like this outfit, I'm really into the plain items at the moment in my wardrobe, they're so easy to wear and mix & match. 

Hope you're all having a good weekend! This weather is gorgeous :) Finally some sunshine!

Toffee Apple Cupcakes

(makes 16)

2 apples

1 tbsp lemon juice

250g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

70g muscovado sugar

55g butter

100ml milk

100ml apple juice

1 egg

For the toffee topping:

2 tbsp single cream

40g light muscovado sugar

15g unsalted butter

I made these scrumptious cupcakes the other weekend but have only just got around to blogging about them. Excuse the awful photo's, my poor camera is off being fixed so I am cameraless at the moment :( This is my Dad's but the quality is so bad! Expect not too many posts from me until I get it back!

These cupcakes are so easy to make and they taste so good. They're a little more stodgy than your average cupcakes because of the ingredients but still taste lovely, they'd be great warm with custard! Yum!

To make: 

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and put 16 cases in the cake trays.

Core and roughly grate one of the apples. Slice the remaining apple into 5mm thick wedges to use on top afterwards. Mix the grated apple with the lemon juice. Sift together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon, then stir in the sugar and grated apple.

Melt the butter and mix with the milk, apple juice and egg. Stir the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients until combined and then spoon the mixture into the cases. Bake for 15-20mins or until risen and golden brown.

For the toffee topping, place all the ingredients in a small pan and heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and boil rapidly for 2 mins or until slightly thickened (syrupy). Cool slightly then drizzle over the cakes and leave to set!

:) please bear in mind these photos were taken before I'd made the toffee topping, so yours will probably look far more delicious.

So hey presto, there you have toffee apple cupcakes! YUM! x

Sweet Monday 024

RINGS! all New Look

01. It seems slightly in appropriate to talk about mindless fashion related qualms today when so much devastation is happening in Japan. It's been on my mind a lot the last two days and I've found myself checking the BBC news site frequently. The mind boggles trying to take in everything we're seeing. It literally feels like I'm watching a movie. Flattened towns and villages look like the victims of WW2. It's incredible to think this was all caused by a natural disaster, and all happened in such a short space of time.

I know there are lots of sites that have been set up to collect money for the Japanese people, but I'm afraid that some aren't 100%. Do any of you know of any I could donate through?

Also I have a feeling that Comic Relief is going to be over shadowed greatly this year. I've already donated to them through Radio 1 thankfully. I know a lot of us don't have a lot, but when you see the images that we've seen this week, it puts everything into perspective! Just giving a little can mean a hell of a lot! :)

02. After saying all of that, I feel very guilty that I went shopping this weekend! Hence why I now want to donate more! But my holiday to America is looming and although my wardrobe is fit to burst, I still went for a shopping trip...tut! If you've bought anything from New Look recently you'll probably have received their vouchers giving you £5 off when you spend £30 or more and £10 off when you spend £40 or more. Well I had £36 worth of stuff in my hands so I just had to spend another £4 to get the £10 deal!! So I opted for yet another ring to add to the ever growing collection. All in all I got three (photographed above) and technically thinking about it they were all free :) That makes me feel better!

03. You may also have seen the groupon voucher last week giving you £20 to spend on ASOS for just £9! I took full advantage of this and bought the maximum of 2. I have spent it all on Benefit make up, even though I promised myself not to buy any more until after I'd been to San Francisco, incase it's cheaper there! Oh well,  I guess you can never have too much?! 

04. A few to follow this week: Emma, Kristie & Marianna

And lastly, I hope all of my readers are safe and well where ever you all are in the World. x

Two Tone

Models Own: Nude & Grace Green

I know it's a really simple design but I've never given myself faux tips before or tried the two colour thing. This was my first attempt and I was chuffed with how easy it was. I love these two colours, very Autumn/Winter.

I can't wait for Spring to properly kick in and we experience some heat so I can use all my bright and pastel shades. And I can't wait for Models Own's new 'Smash-Up' crackle polishes to hit their website next month, they look so good! 

I had a little play with another two of my fave Models Own colours after seeing some great posts by Salla. I love all of the designs she does, can't wait to try my hand at a few others.

Please bear in mind this was my first attempt and so it's no where near as good as Salla's perfect designs! Next on my list to buy is a dotting tool so I can get more perfect dots. 

Models Own: Feeling Blue & Beth's Blue

P.S I was featured on Stolen Thunder's blog today :D and I've just read it and found I'll be receiving a free gift! Woo :) their items are gorgeous if you haven't checked them out yet, do so now! And enter 'SWEET' at the checkout to receive 15% off! (valid until 4th April)

Hope and Winkle

My friend Robyn linked me to a Facebook page called Hope and Winkle last week. Intrigued by it's name I took a look, and I suggest you all do too! 

Hope and Winkle was founded in 2009 by Helen Hope and consists of some beautiful jewellery. Everything from exotic, feather earrings to ornate, timely rings, you're sure to find something that takes your fancy. As did I, after a matter of minutes I was on to Hope and Winkle's ASOS page and my basket was looking rather pricey, so sadly I had to cut a few things out. But I did order this beautiful pair of earrings and this vintage ring. 

I absolutely love peacock feather earrings and H&W do some truly amazing ones...earrings you're unlikely to find on the highstreet! The ones I picked up consist of a tier of two large peacock feathers, perfect for night and day with a simple top/dress :) In fact I'm going to be wearing them out for a friends birthday in a couple of weeks, they'll be a real statement piece!

Please take a look at their ASOS marketplace shop and their Facebook page, where Helen is currently hosting a great competition to win £30 worth of H&W's collection. :) So get tagging all of your friends!

Sweet Monday 023

01. From having nothing planned to my boyfriend randomly deciding to go to London for the day... yesterday turned out to be a pretty busy and tiring day! Before the thought of London I was spending my money wisely... on the bus down I was writing my shopping list :D and then it got much longer (as it does) when we hit the shops. So here's my haul!

I picked up a lot of stuff for Summer/America. So now I just need the next month or so to whizz by. I bought some wide legged floral trousers from Primark for only £12! After seeing a similar pair in River Island for £34.99! Bargain, and they didn't stop their. After months of hunting in Zara for a skirt similar to the ones I've seen Lily wearing, I finally came across some casual ones in this Zara on Oxford Street, only £9.99! I bought black and blue and now really wish I'd got the yellow two! They'll be great with vests in the Summer, mix and match!

And of course my shopping trip wouldn't be complete without some nail varnish buys, and Boots just so happened to have Models Own on 3 for 2! This time I got Fuzzy Peach and Bronze Rage, which I'm hoping to do some funky Scotch tape designs like Gem showed us last week in her Tuesday Tip!

02. Also this weekend I finally saw the Kings Speech! And what a film it was. When it first came out I wasn't that fussed but I'm so glad I've watched it now, I'll definitely be buying it on DVD. If you haven't already seen it I would highly recommend it! 

03. I hope you all had a good weekend :) I'm so so tired today I think I'm rambling quite a bit!

04. A few to follow: Jazzy, Jennie & Rosie.

Stolen Thunder

The lovely ladies at Stolen Thunder have kindly gave me a discount code to share with all of my readers! You can receive 15% off any order just by typing SWEET at the check out :)

If you haven't heard of Stolen Thunder before, they're a shop selling lovingly crafted jewellery, hand made by Alice and Joy. Their items comprise of dainty, unique designs 'inspired by childhood memories'. The items photographed above and many others are made from beautiful cherry and bamboo woods. 

They've recently collaborated with Marina from Marina and the Diamonds, to create a range of iridescent jewellery called 'Rocks'.

If you haven't already, be sure to take a browse of their site http://www.stolenthunderboutique.com/ and remember to add SWEET at the checkout to receive 15% off any order! (The code is valid until 4th April)

:)

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Thunderbolt of Lightning

Model's Own: In the Navy & Champagne

I saw this unique design on Heather's blog. She's amazing at nail art (I'm rather jealous) and I couldn't wait to recreate this design of hers. Sadly I wasn't quite as adventurous and only did one nail instead of all of them ;) But it was really easy so I may try doing them all again next time!

All I did was paint the nail navy and then added a stripe of champagne half way down then start along side it and continue down on the side of the brush trying to create a point. It got a bit wiggly so I drew around it with an eyeliner pen to straighten up the edges!

If you haven't check out Heather's blog before make sure you do, she's a stunner :)

Best of February

1, 2, 3, 4

5, 6, 7, 8

9, 10, 11, 12

Pinch punch first of the month! I know this is a day late, but the last day of Feb fell on a Monday which only means one thing in the land of Sweet Monday :) 

So here they are, better late than never, my February favourites! Last month I hyped a lot of looks on Lookbook, but I picked these to show you all.

Right now I am loving maxi skirts, floppy hats, knee high socks, wedge boots and crop tops! These ladies pull everything off so well. I really need to invest in a good maxi skirt ready for Spring/Summer. I'm so jealous of Zina and Olivia lapping up the rays already!

Hope you like the styles I've picked! I always find it so interesting seeing what fellow bloggers are into right now, what styles they're wearing or talking about it. It's great for inspiration and finding out where certain items are from :) x