Easter Pastels

I am so behind with my posts at the moment. These photos are from the Easter weekend, when I decided to paint my nails all different colours a la Pixie Lott. As spring is in the air, these are the colours I put together, from left to right: Eyeko Vintage Green, Barry M Bright Pink, Rimmel Twinkle, Barry M Flamingo Pink, Barry M Baby Blue, Eyeko Nude, Eyeko Lilac.

I picked my favourite five to do my finger nails and did the right hand matching.

This is my Easter Sunday outfit when we had the best weather - Miss Selfridge lace vest and cropped top, they didn't come together but I thought that the colours matched perfectly. Topshop necklace, Accessorize bangle.

River Island grey cropped combats and nude bow sandals.

I love these sandals. I did my toes in all the pastel nail paints, well I did have four days off work relaxing!

This was Easter Monday, when the weather went rubbish. Topshop stripey tunic and tan waist belt.

Accessorize pearl necklace.

Cute buttoned sleeve.

I also wore black leggings and, as it was so disappointingly unsummery, Ugg boots. I had a lovely Easter weekend though, lots of cider, Easter roast and chocolate bunnies!

This was yesterday, another nice warm day. I actually went jogging really early and again this morning. We indulge so much on weekends I have felt so sluggish lately. It feels refreshing to go outside and just run when there is no one else around. Anyway, at a more normal hour when the sun had come out me and the bf went to the park and ate strawberries. I wore this River Island nude jacket...

...

Miss Selfridge quilted bag, with Accessorize rose bag charm,

My River Island green tapered trousers again and some Office sandals from last summer. This weekend has gone so quick but at least it will be easier to go to work if the weather is nice. I got a letter from a college about a second interview for the Early Years course I applied to so I am feeling a bit better about the teaching thing now. I will have to do a presentation (aaargh) but I have plenty of time to prepare it. I have sorted out a load of things to sell to save money for when I am studying, this time next month I might have a place confirmed, it's v exciting :)

Outfits, Outfits, Outfits!

I haven't done a post in aaaages as I've had loads on, and not in a good way unfortunately. I had to go to a funeral on wednesday and I've had two course interviews since I last blogged. One of them was good but the other was a complete waste of time. I wanted to go into teaching and thought there would be no problem with that as I have a good degree and I did a bit of work experience at a local school. But last week I was told I had no chance whatsoever as I was competing against people who have been volunteering or even working in schools for several years. The person who interviewed me actually said it was "impossible to get onto a PGCE English course". I read that teaching applications have gone up by 35% this year and so it's really competitive now. I had another interview for another uni before Xmas and I got a complete grilling from course tutor, if I wanted to beg and plead and prove how much I want it I would go on the X-factor!

Anyway I was rejected from both of those and have applied for a postgraduate Early Years course instead. That interview was a lot more promising and the work sounded really interesting and I really hope I get in because I can't wait to leave the completely rubbish job I do at the moment!

After that rant, these are the best outfits I have worn at weekends recently. This is a grey Topshop tunic with a lace insert.

The lace goes all the way down the back and it's really comfy. The necklace is Topshop as well.

River Island leather look leggings...

And Primark patent buckle boots, background is a pub carpet, nice! I wore this when I went for drinks and to the cinema the weekend before last. We went to see Shutter Island, its a thriller but not too graphic, Leonardo DiCaprio is a detective in it and it was honestly the best film I have ever seen at the cinema. Leo is very good in it and the story is so clever, it has a completely unpredictable twist at the end, definitely go and see it!

This was me last Saturday, Topshop pale denim jacket and purple and silver ASOS scarf...

Topshop heart badge...

Miss Selfridge feather earrings

Miss Selfridge bracelet set, love the white studded one!

Zara fridged top...

River Island khaki trousers, these have a nice light silky feel and are gathered at the ankle - would be great with high heeled sandals in summer.

Ri sparkly pumps, had these ages.

And finally last Sunday, Topshop sequinned peacock oversized t-shirt, as seen in my profile pic!

Primark black lace insert leggings, loads of people said they would buy these after seeing them on me as they are such a bargain!

With Miss Selfridge taupe shoe boots, these, the Miss Self jewellery and the khaki trousers are the only brand new items I have featured.

The shoes from another angle, I wore them to work yesterday as well.

Hope everyone is having a nice bank holiday, I am just going to have a lovely long rest, chill out at home and start a new book :)

Amazing A-wear

I don't know how many fashion bloggers are familiar with A-wear but it's an Irish clothes store similar to Topshop. There is a lot less to choose from on their website but the prices are noticabley lower! There are no stores in England but you can order from the website and get it delivered for three ninety five - more reasonable than most stores based in England. I have seen A-wear items featured in fashion magazines loads of times and finally decided to check it out. I looked at everything and ended up buying the two things I had seen in a magazine this week. You might have noticed I am a fan of pinks and nudes so first I chose this pastel tea dress, also available in purple and coral.

Secondly I just had to have this ballerina skirt, you can also get it in khaki or navy. My order arrived in five working days and although there is a size guide on the site I was eager to check the fit. The dress was perfect but the skirt was a lot bigger than I had imagined, probably because I was supposing it would be fitted but the waistband was actually very stretchy and slid down to sit on my hips. This made the hem of the skirt over the knee length, which was quite nice and prom style but the layers of net did seem a bit too sticky outy. Judging by the picture of the model in the skirt, it was obviously intended to sit higher up and be shorter.

So I asked the bf his opinion. I say: Do you like this skirt?

He says: I think its a bit too fancy for the daytime.

I say: I know, I'm not wearing it out now, I'm just trying it on. I already know I love it I just want to know whether the size looks ok or whether it looks too big and I should exchange it for a smaller size.

He says: If I was a woman I wouldn't wear it because I wouldn't be a fluffy type of woman.

So... I eventually decide to exchange it because after lengthy discussion we conclude that a smaller size would have a smaller waist band and therefore the ruffles would be less wide and wouldn't look so "panto", as he put it.

I assumed this would be a simple case of filling the form in and sending it back but on closer inspection the delivery note doesn't have an option to exchange. I then consult the website and it turns out they don't do exchanges, just refunds. By now I am convinced that I need the skirt so I place another order and re-package the skirt I got to send it back. A bit annoying but the skirt is so pretty in real life, it even has little pink beads around the zip at the back.

This is me in the dress...

Close up of the square gold buttons on the sleeves..

The cream heart shaped earrings I wore with it...

More of a full length shot but it's shorter in real life.

This is a bargain coat I got from Primark, with a cross body bag from Miss Selfridge years ago. It's been a gorgeous day today, I even had to take my coat off because it was so warm and the dress felt nice and chiffony fluttering in the breeze - its so Spring! :)

Heart to Resist

Although Valentine's Day has been and gone, I found it "Heart to Resist" this Opi nail polish. I got it cheap on ebay and it arrived straight away, I was really pleased. The polish is clear with a slight glitter tinge to it and a smattering of tiny red hearts.

At first it was pretty tricky to actually get the hearts onto my nails as they were quite large and the brush kept coming back out with just the clear polish on it, which was quite nice on its own really. But after trial and error I managed to keep fishing the hearts out and sticking them on. I did feel a bit Alice in Wonderland-esque as they reminded me a bit of hearts on a playing card. We went to the cinema yesterday to see The Lovely Bones, it was a bit weird. Alice was fully booked and the bf didn't think it looked manly enough for him...

Also I have a few scrapbook pages to show you. 96 glue dots was so not enough, I will have to buy some more. I particularly love the shoes on the girl on the top left, and the handbag with stars on next to it. At a price of several hundred pounds though, I will just stick to looking at a picture of it!

Gotta love feathers and studs - I have the clutch at the top in black.

Fringing is another one of my favourite styles, and I love the bangles on the bottom right.

Which is more stylish, a scarf or a statement necklace? I just can't decide.

Weekend Haul

I went out for a payday shopping trip on Saturday and debuted a denim shirt I have been meaning to wear. It was eighteen pounds from New Look, worn with a pale pink Topshop vest underneath and a brown leather Topshop waist belt over the top.

I wore black short shorts underneath and leggings as it was a tiny bit too short for leggings on their own.

And onto the haul, a very tiny one for me but I was trying to be good and discerning :) Two pairs of River Island earrings...

Zara black top with fringed shoulders...

and a pale pink cropped tee with stud and rivet detail, also from Zara.

On the scrapbook front I picked up a nice cheap one from WHSmith with a pink cover and black pages. I started it on Sunday, I went through a huge pile of magazines cutting out the prettiest pics and looking at them all together it gives me a better idea of what my style is. I am going to do a few more pages and then post some pics...

Belated Valentine's Post

On a boring mid-week day, I thought I would share a few heart-felt photos from the weekend. First of all, a cute cupcake I bought from Greggs...

My Saturday outfit - all Topshop...

This is the first time I have worn this Parisian tee...

A couple of Accessorize bangles and the ring that decorated my cupcake.

My lovely bf created a bistro-inspired setting for my surprise Valentine's meal.

We had pasta bolognase in our own apartment - more romantic I think than a packed restaurant. He also made me a card and chose 2 poems to go in it - the old softie.

I was bad and broke my spending ban, but I felt it was justified as I had an embarrassing falling over incedent and bruised and took the skin off both my knees :( I needed cheering up and so I popped into Topshop and got a bit of pretty lace...

in the form of this vest top, in my favourite pinky lilac. The tiny thing in the centre of the pic is...

cupcakes again! I LOVE these, and am proud of myself for waiting so long to get them as I saw an assistant in Topman wearing them two weeks previously, but held out as I had just decided to give my purse a rest. I think I am coming down with yet another cold, can't wait for the weekend already...