Birthday Wish List

 

Red Bag //Phone Case // Jeans // Lamp // Lipstick // Cook Book // Water Bottle // Mac // Bowl //

Door Matt //Camera Bag // Blue Bag

Did you know that it's my Birthday in 13 days time! My birthday and I have a funny old relationship. Obviously I love the day as it's a day all about me, and I can behave like the princess that I think I am for the day, however at the same time I get anxious about it. Ever since I woke up on my 20th birthday and cried because I was no longer a teenager the feeling that I was growing old and time is flying by too quickly looms around on my birthday.

This year I will be 24 years old and to me that is a proper adult age! I remember when I was a little girl and I imagined my life as a 24 year old and it doesn't look much like it does at the moment. I imagined that I would be living in my own swish apartment in a city some where, working hard all day in my fancy office then partying all night in cocktails bars. I imaged that I was well into my career, had a fancy car and dreamy man.

When I was 10 these dreams were realistic as 24 was a million miles away. However 24 is now just around the corner and although I am not where I dreamt I would be when I was a little girl I am very thankful and happy where I currently am on my life's path. The only thing I have that I imaged I would have is my dreamy man and I am the luckiest girl in the world to have him for what he puts up with from me! Even though I am just starting out in my career, I work hard, am gaining results for the company I work for, have a lot of responsibility, am appreciated and enjoy it. I don't yet own a swish apartment but the one I am renting is pretty damn gorgeous and even though it's not in the city it has the most gorgeous views which are a lot nicer than the rooftops I would probably look out over in a city!

I have to keep telling myself that 24 is not old!That I am still young and there is time to do the things I want to. Life does not have to pan out the way I imagined it would, as long as I grab the opportunities that come my way with both hands then I will be happy. I should never settle and should always be planning my next adventure.

I plan on spending my birthday with the biggest love in my life and will be celebrating with plenty of champagne at the weekend with my closest friends. I haven't asked for much, as I am quite picky and hard to buy for (apparently) but above is a selection of a few of the things I am hoping for or will be spending my birthday money on. Most is stuff I need; new house stuff, clothes that actually fit me, cute workout gear. The bags and lipstick are merely things I love!

They say that time flies when you are having fun, which must mean that my life is everything it should be and more, but am I the only weird one who worries that time goes by too quickly? How you you feel about growing another year older? 

Don’t forget to check out my blogger of the week Vicki and her amazing lifestyle blog A Life Of Geekery, full of food, crafts, beauty and life. Her photos are truly gorgeous and I love her recipes!

Spanish Sun| Holiday outfits

*Outfit 1- Dress- New Look, Blazer- Pull and Bear, Sandals- Stylist Pick*

*Outfit 2- Dress- River Island, Belt- Primark, Sandals- Stylist Pick, Bag- Ebay*

*Outfit 3- Dress- Dorothy Perkins, Sandals- Stylist Pick, Bag- Ebay*

*Outfit 4- Shorts- Primark, T-shirt- H&M, Sandals- Stylist Pick, Bag- Ebay*

As you may of read I was lucky enough recently to have been on a little holiday with my boyfriend and his parents, to their apartment in Eastern Spain. While we spent a good deal of time relaxing by the pool, sunbathing on the sun terrace, and having lazy boozy lunches, we still crammed in some culture and visited Valencia for a couple of days. I have not previously been before but have been eager to go as heard the old town was beautiful; which it was. However there is a great mix of old and new architecture around the city, so it was very picturesque and interesting. For those not into architecture and history, there was plenty of shopping and bars to keep yourself busy with.

The biggest challenge with this holiday was that I was only allowed to take hand luggage with me, as we did not pay for hold luggage, so cramming two weeks of clothes into the tinniest suitcase was a big ask. As you can see from the pictures above it did severely restrict my collection of shoes and bags, so much so I only took one handbag, and 3 pairs of shoes. The rest of my luggage consisted of 6 dresses, 1 playsuit, 2 t-shirts, 1 pair of shorts, and 3 bikinis, not forgetting my workout gear… yes I was good and still went running while on holiday! When I was on holiday I felt quite restricted to my outfit choices, however I have previously travelled Europe for a month with only a small backpack, so I should be used to it by now.

Outfits 1 to 3 are from when I was off out for dinner and drinks, so they are some of my dressed up looks while on holiday. Outfit 4 was my tourist outfit for wandering around the streets of Valencia… not much style just something cool and comfortable. I very rarely get dressed up on holiday and never really wear heels, I much prefer to keep it more casual, and with so many pretty sandals and wedges around I don’t feel the need to take my party heels with me. During the day as I mentioned I choose comfort over style... is that a crime for us bloggers? Especially if I am going to be wandering around a city for hours on end in 40c heat I would much prefer to be comfortable than sweating it out in a pretty ensemble.

So my question for you is, do you keep it stylish on holiday? Or do your take a break and keep it comfortable?

Graduation OOTD and FOTD

Dress- Next

Bag- Ebay

Shoes-Christian Louboutin

I thought I would share a picture of my outfit from graduation day, seems it took for what seems like months to find a dress I was happy with. I don’t know about you, but as it was such a big day, and a day I knew would be remembered in pictures for the rest of my life I actually felt some pressure to make sure I had an outfit that was obviously stylish, but also timeless, formal and ladylike. I wanted a dress that was of colour, as opposed to just black, as I wanted it to pop from beneath my graduation gown, but I didn’t want anything too bright. I decided upon a cream colour, but then this white one from from Next was the winner for me, out all the dresses I tired on. It had built in underdress, so smoothed out any lumps and bumps, and was a perfect length for me. Looking back at it know, I think it makes me look a little top heavy, but that something I often suffer from due to my body shape.

For my shoes I originally planned to wear a bright blue pair from New Look, but once I received my gift from my Mum and her partner I was obviously going to wear the Louboutins. I am totally in love with them, and am ever so grateful. I think they go great with the outfit as they make it more fun than if they shoes were a more conservative nude or black pair.

I chose a brown bag as knew it was going to be difficult to find a bag to perfectly match the colour of my originally planned shoes. In hindsight I recommend to anyone who is graduating , wear a clutch bag as opposed to a shoulder bag, as it was difficult to wear it over my robe when wandering around, and ended up giving it to my boyfriend to carry.

What did you wear for your graduation day? Something formal or something fun?

Zara and Ebay loves

My frustration, stress and upset ceased today when my two deliveries, which I have been waiting on for 6 weeks and 2 weeks finally landed on my doorstep. Missing deliveries over and over again is one of the biggest pains in my life; first world problems I know! Anyways when I finally received my order items the wait was worth it.

The first bag pictured is from Ebay, and lusted after it after seeing another blogger talking about it in her video. It cost me £12.99 and is inspired by the Yves Saint Laurent clutch bag, hence the ‘Y’. It is a large clutch bag that can fit easily a A4 note book, or even slimmer laptops. I love that it has detachable straps as it means I can sport it in the evening as a clutch, or during the day for work with the strap.

The second bag is the now notorious Zara messenger bag with rose gold detailing, priced at only £19.99. I was surprised at the size, as thought it would be smaller, but this does not mean I don’t love it, the bigger the better with my bags, as I seem to carry everything around with me. The external material is very soft, and the inside is very roomy. I think this is the bag I’m going to use when I go to Finland in 3 weeks, but sure I’ll be using it before then.

Overall they are two perfect and welcomed additions to my wardrobe. However I must now stop spending my money, as even though I’m going to look amazing with my new wardrobe in Finland, I won’t have any spending money if I continue!

Birthday Day

Dress- Dorothy Perkins

Blazer-Ebay

Shoes- Ebay

I am currently writing this post at my parents house in the Lakes. We arrived yesterday, and it has not stopped raining since, quite typical, but not great for my hair! We visited Matalan today, and to be honest was quite disappointed with their summer range, couldn’t find anything of interest, and left empty handed. If anyone has bought anything of interest from here recently let me know.. I may of not been looking hard enough!

From the previous post, you will now know that Tuesday was my birthday… 23! Oh My life I’m getting old! I dressed quite smartly for the day, as I enjoy dressing up for special occasions, so chose something that was confortable but still a little special. This was actually the first time I had worn my new bargain tweed jacket. I love it now; it is a little tight along the back, but that will be solved once I lose my dissertation weight ( library plus deadlines, equals poor diet and no exercise). I bought it for £15, and it came within 3 days, so I am very happy with this purchase.

I chose to sport a tweed jacket with this tan coloured dress, which is really comfortable. It is a chiffon type material, a little heavier, so doesn’t blow up in the wind… good for us girls in the North-East, and can be dressed up or down. I wear it quite often.  The belt is nothing special, I just wanted a plain band around my waist, as the tweed material is the focus, so didn’t want to back the look too fussy. The heels worn are another Ebay bargain… told you I’m obsessed! They are from Dorothy Perkins, so probably cost at least £30 new… I got them for £8.

How you you dress for your birthday? Something special, or dressed down and comfy?

Giant Clothes Haul

*Playsuit- New Look* *Printed Dress- New Look* *Maxi Dress- New Look* *Black Dress- Asda* *Tan Blazer- New Look* *Tweed Blazer- EBay* *Bird Print Dress* *Blue and Green Dress- Next*

It seems over the past few weeks I have spent quite a significant amount of my hard earned wages on clothes, some necessary, some not. However I claim it is all necessary as its a new season, therefore I need new clothes. So pretty printed dresses and playsuits are a must! 

As you will see a lot of my clothes were from New Look, but thankfully I had a voucher left from Christmas, so these clothes were technically were free… yeah! The bad thing is there are so many other things in many stores that I am lusting after… I already see next months wages disappearing quickly… not what I need. There are so many pretty blazers in H&M, River Island and Primark that I seem to want in every colour… a bit obsessed about blazers seems I’ve already bought two this month!

I have already worn a lot of these clothes already. As you will see that the Bird Print Dress I wore the other night to the Drake gig. I wear the tan blazer all the time, it seems to have replaced my grey blazer for day-to-day wear. The only dress I haven’t worn yet is the maxi dress, as it is very summery and it has done nothing but rain since I bought it, so I think I will be waiting a while till I am sporting that number, unfortunately.

What are you lusting after this month? Or season ?

Ebay Obsessed

As I have mentioned in earlier posts. I have become a little bit obsessed with selling my belongings on Ebay. I have always bought many bargains from the sight, however have been a selling virgin until the past month or so.

It stemmed from me successfully selling my old business books that I now longer needed, and making a tidy little sum of money. Although not reclaiming the hundreds I have spent on books it certainly helps my student income… which is limited!

After seeing a few of you lovely ladies successfully selling old makeup items, clothing items and accessories on Ebay, I thought to myself… rather than throw the stuff away.. which I do sometimes…I know, I know I should give it to charity.. I decided to give it a go myself. So far I have made £100 from old bags, and clothing items that I never use. I, like many others, find myself buying items to use them once, then never again. So they have no faults  or wear or tear; they just end up clogging up my wardrobe.

I now have the Ebay bug! Everytime I sell an item I do a little dance, I get so excited! I take great pride in packing the item up and posting it off, and I love knowing that someone out there will gain joy from an item that was previously sat in my wardrobe never seeing the light of day. I have even dedicated my spare room into my Ebay production line.

The downside is that I now find myself wanting to sell all my belongings and my boyfriend’s… I’m a girl obsessed.

I currently have six dresses, two tops, two bags and two skirts up for sale if anyone is interested. My shop is just Here.

What do you all think of Ebay? A great tool for finding bargains? Or is it just filled with everyone’s junk? Am I the only girl who is obsessed?

Celebratory dinner| OOTD

Dress- Newlook

Blazer- Primark

Belt- H&M

Bag-Stylist Pick

As many of you know, for the past few months my life has been pretty much none existent due to me having to write and finalise my dissertation. Thankfully, I handed said dissertation in on Monday, so since then I have had a new found social life, celebrating my new found freedom from the library!

I had a celebratory lunch with my friend at Revolution in Newcastle where we also treated  ourselves to a bottle of bubbly. We then wandered over to Jalou, a fairly new bar in Newcastle where they have happy hour 5-8 which means you get 2 for 1 mojitos during this time; so we took advantage of this obviously. My boy also treated me to dinner last night in Jesmond, which is where my OOTD comes from. We took a lovely walk through Jesmond Dene and went to the Italian, Scalini’s, and had many glasses of wine at Osbournes to finish. Overall I’ve had a lovely relaxing few days, which I think has been well deserved.

I have also been spending and making a significant amount of money over the past week. The spending isn’t so great, seems my wage is disappearing quite quickly, thanks to all the lovely spring and summer ranges the stores have. However I don’t feel too awful seems I’ve made a bit of money on Ebay recently selling clothes I never wear. I currently have few dresses, skirts and tops, if anyone is interested, just click Here. I’m planning on using said money for my planned travels around Finland and Lapland over the summer, and every little helps.

I hope you have all had a lovely week, and have some exciting plans for Easter. I’m hopefully off home to visit my family.