The Weekender

So, I'm currently sitting in my pjs having had a long old bath and soup for dinner, and am awaiting some mulled wine. Feeling wintery much? I'm also about to have a frozen muller light yoghurt (so good, try it) just to, you know, balance things out a bit.

I know I haven't been around here much...I have literally been just working and sleeping. I fell asleep at 8.30pm last night (FRIDAY night may I add). Brings a whole new meaning to 'gotta get down on Fridayyyy'. I also had a little nap today. My life is just too exciting, are you jealous?

However, I DID go on one of my pick-me-up weekend walks today. We are not too far from little spots of 'countryside' just outside London, so we usually walk to places like Hampy Heath, Totteridge, Mill Hill etc, but today the bf decided to take us on a new route which resulted in us ending up walking along a motorway like thing for 1/2 hour! Luckily I have a sense of humour and enjoyed the sights ;) We did end up having a lovely walk which made my wellies nice and muddy.

Here's a few ootds from this week:

Gotta love a good Christmassy Primark cardi.

Keeping it simple in my Asos wrap dress and boots.

I bought a blender today and made my very first smoothie! I was a bit low on ingredients though, so my first wasn't all that exciting, consisting of a banana, the remains of my soya milk and a dash of honey. Bit thick, but twas ok I guess. I want to get experimenting soon though.

Anyway, enough ramblings for tonight. I have a few posts planned as I have done rather a lot of shopping lately....

And CHRISTMAS SOON. Eek. I love this time of year, the build up more than anything. And being allowed to drink mulled wine and hot chocolate pretty much every day :)

Back Again? Update and Awkward Times...

Howdy :) I've been wanting to blog for a while, and after a pretty immense period of procrastinating about it (but once I start, I'll 'need' to do it everyday, and I won't have the time, yada yada. Bit OCD about consistency and things...) and then when I went to blog, it wouldn't let me upload photos without posting. And posts without photos are like crackers without cheese...well, unless you can write well. So maybe more the icing on the cake. I just like photos, ok, and it makes the writing process a bit easier. So let's see if they work this time!

Last weekend, this happened:

I went ice-skating at Somerset House (London). SUCH a stunning setting, and the big old tree made me feel all gooey inside. I do love Christmas. It was a tad wet, but S and I were prepared, being the hillwalkers that we are (were...we met in a hillwalking club at uni, but I don't think I could cope with hills nowadays), and wore many layers of clothing, including a waterproof coat and waterproof trousers. Kept us nice and toasty.

We also saw this lovely on our travels. Oh London, I do love you.

Today we went for a bracing walk on Hampstead Heath. Let me tell you, it was pretty darn cold, but as usual, the moment I stepped foot on the Heath I felt calm and peaceful, as twee as that sounds. And the dog watching was pretty entertaining too. Today, a particularly enthusiastic mut ran up to a tree, lauched itself into the air and latched onto a branch with its jaws. It wasn't heavy enough to pull the branch down, so it swung on it for a bit, before trying the whole thing over again. Independent dog, trying to find its own stick to play with, I like.

Oh, and look who I casually bumped into last week ;)

 

 It's only Mel.C from the Spice Girls! (erm, she prefers her grown up name Melanie now, but I can't help it...forever a Spice Girls fan!) She was actually really nervous and pretty shy. My cousin interviewed her (she's a journalist) and I sat there in silence, until my silly mouth had to pipe up. She was asked which actress she would like to play her in a SG film, and she couldn't think of someone, so I cleverly piped up 'Victoria Pendleton' because she is sporty and...you know, and Mel said 'Well, she's not an actress, but never mind' and I waved my hand in a camp manner and said 'of course, doesn't matter'. Was embarrassing. I should be banned from social situations. Doesn't sound that bad? When she asked if I would like a photo taken with her I said 'might as well', even though I was secretly thrilled. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!

O.k, so there's a brief update, hopefully I will be back on a more regular basis now :) I've missed this scene! 

Time to get to work, which I've been avoiding all weekend. Then some bloggie and crappy channel 4 documentary time...lovely Sunday. 

Hope some of you are still around...

OOTD-Sort of celebrating the Jubilee?

So in an unconscious show of patriotism, I pulled out my little solider tee to show my support for the Queen. Or something like that.

My favuorite spring/English summer coat. You know, for when it's too hot to wear a normagiant coat, but too cold to wear just a cardi. I got this coat a few years ago from H&M kids. A bargain it was.

I also think I overblushed here! I put on a bit toooo much of Illamasqua's Cream Pigment in Androgen, which is a gorgeous coral/peachy colour. Do you know what, I think I quite liked the overblushed look in the end!

And here's the very pigment I'm speaking of. One of my fave summer blushes.

Leighton Denny Nail Polish-'Supermodel'

I am in love with my new Leighton Denny nail polish that I got free with this month's Harper's Bazaar. I would go as far as saying that it is my new faviourite shade.

Packaging

I love the simple, sophisticated packaging of this polish. It's practical, allowing you to see the colour of the product perfectly (which is pretty much identical to how it appears on the nails) whilst being stylish. There is also something pretty funky about the transparent lid covering the silver tip. I haven't fiddled around with it enough to work out if this serves a function or is simply for aesthetic purposes. If you have, let me know!

It's also a pretty sizable product, containing 12 ml of polish...hang on, is that the normal amount? Am I being tricked by the extra bit of glass at the bottom...let me check! 

Ok, so Topshop polishes are 8ml, Barry M 10ml and OPI 15ml. So on the larger side! Not at all bad for a freebie! 

Shade 

As  I said at the top of this post, I am in LOVE with this shade. It is a beige/brown shade, which to me works well in summer, spring, winter..basically all year long. It's an everyday shade, and would go with most clothing. For me, nail polishes evoke situations and outfits. For me, this shade is a girl frolicking in the countryside, maybe playing on a tyre swing, wearing a long, flowing white dress and brown sandals. 

Something like this image I found on the interwebz perhaps...

Do you make associations like this, or is it just me? 

Anyway, it's a lovely, solid nail polish that I am happy to now own. Thanks Harpers Bazaar!

New Ikea Make Up Storage!

The bf and I went on a little trip to Ikea yesterday a) for a day out (of all the things in London, I know...) and b) to get some new storage for my make up/general beauty stuff which was slowly colonising our little apartment.

I had a BRILLIANT day. It's pretty sad how happy Ikea makes me, but I walked around with a permanent smile on my face. I also wanted to buy everything in sight, especially the 'ready made apartments'. Too cool.

We made a day of it and stopped off for some (bottomless!) Cola Light and cake. The Union Jack tray was something that I purchased. I swear, by the end of the Jubilee weekend my house is going to be full of Queenie memorabilia. I am seriously tempted to buy a teatowel with the Queen's face on it.

 One of the down sides to not owning a car. Mini pack horse.

When we finaaalllllly got home, the bf started putting together the furniture for me (I'd be useless at that sort of thing) and then I spent the evening sorting. I forgot just how much I love sorting things, especially the end process where everything is neatly in its place (though my desk wouldn't know it.)

Anyway, here are the products!

 

1. Little cupboard thing with new mirror and candle (and my teddy bear, Ted. Don't judge me, I've had him since forever!)

2. wooden boxes hidden inside cupboard (let's face it, they're not that pretty!) 

3. The lips and eyeshadow boxes. 

 4. Making use of the old Glossybox boxes

The Union Jack tray that is stored on the little cupboard thing (should stop calling it that) is for my everyday makeup that I will be switching up each week to try and make use of everything I have (shopping the stash as it's called).

So yes. Now I am pretty happy with my little storage situation, and it makes getting ready in the morning a bit more exciting. An organised room makes for an organised mind...now need to organise the rest of the apartment before I go back to work. 

Oh, we also bought some cushions, which are very London Transport circa 1995. 

What do you think? 

I love seeing other people's make up storage (cos I'm nosy like that) so if you have posted on this before, you can pop the link below if you like :) Enjoy the rest of the rather soggy Jubilee weekend xx

My eyes like the sunlight...

My eyes seem to change colour all the time. They reflect my mood (so thinks I) and the weather. When it's sunny, my eyes are big and bright, when I'm feeling low, my eyes go a pale shade of grey/dark stone...it can happen, right?! My bf (ever the scientist) says that my pupils change size depending on how bright the room is (very light= smaller pupils) which is true, but I think I prefer my theory...

 Eyes on a happy/bright day

Then...eyes on a dull/sad day.

 

See into the darkness of my soooul?

After that somewhat random post, I wanted to let you know that I'll be around more often now that I have a bit of time off work. I've been super zonked everyday, and fell asleep on the settee at 8pm last night. Definitely time for some time off and blogging fun.

I'm off to Ikea now (funtimes!) but when I get back I'll catch up on all your lovely blogs xx

Weekend sun and a few little purchases...

I'll start with something typically British by saying 'HOW GLORIOUS IS THE WEATHER AT THE MOMENT?!' Ok, I didn't need to use shouty caps, but it's just so lovely.

Taking advantage of this weathery turn, the bf and I went on one of our weekend walks yesterday, and so here are a few more photos of London (as if there weren't enough already!) and some outfittery snaps.

In front of some Jubilee bunting at the tip of Regent's Street. And a bin, just to add a bit of glamour.

I wore my beloved Anne Greenable floral dress from Topshop. I got this one in the sale, but I loved it so much that I purchased it in blue too, but with a crossover strap instead of strapless, for the full price, which I think was £48. Expensive, I know, but I'll wear it a lot. In fact, I am wearing it as I type, with a blue matching cardi, because I am the queen of cardigans (read: I hate my arms!)

Some more flags and an old police telephone (you open and dial to call the police) which I thought was pretty cool. I opened it and there wasn't a phone, sadly, just an McDonald's packet. Nice.

 Of course the hot day led to getting a frappuccino fix. I got my usual coffee frappuccino light, which was yumalicious, even more yum because it was half price (3-5pm, half price frapps at Starbucks..at least in the uk, and at least for a few more days!)

I also popped into Debenhams and Selfridges and purchased a few goodies.

Firstly, I bought a little wash bag, which I am going to use as a travel make up bag when I go to Naples in the summer (squeee!)  This was around £5 from Debenhams, cheaper than their usual price because of the 25% off sale.

Secondly, I went to Selfridges and headed straight to the Bobbi Brown counter. I was intending to buy the corrector and potentially concealor. I told this to the MUA who hastily swooped on me as soon as I approached the counter (I HATE that. I'd rather look around, thanks). Anyway, she led me off and proceeded to try the whole shebang on me, eye cream, eye makeup remover, correcter, concealor, some other stuff I don't remember. The finished result I was quite please with, but when she told me the combined price of the corrector and concealor, I winced. £40.50. Er, no thanks. I was considering just buying the corrector, but maybe I will do that another time, without an angry MUA telling me what to buy. Sorry about that rant, I just find the process a bit stressful!

Anyway, the point is that in the end I headed over to Mac and purchased this (comparatively) cheap and cheerful concealor (£13.50) in NC15. So far I am happy with it too! Joy :)

I'm off to a First Holy Communion now (family stuff) but will comment when I get back. Hope you're all enjoying ze sun xxx