Outfit: Shoeper Challenge #71 and Happy Halloween!

It’s Halloween and we dressed up in aid of charity at work today. We all made a donation to the Salvation Army and some people made quite a lot of effort with their costumes. Not wanting to buy anything I worked with what I had (the witches hat was 50p in Tesco about 4 years ago) and paired striped socks and the hat with a black dress to quite a convincing effect. It also meant that I could remove the hat at lunchtime and look relatively sane when I went for a walk.

Last night I went to step class and burnt off a load of calories (I hope – it earned me 7 activity points at any rate), then watched Mythbusters and drank tea.

These boots were bought many, many years ago from the Next Directory. It must be pre-2002 as I was still living at home. They were £54.99 I seem to recall and they’re still going strong after all this time.

Black knitted dress – Long Tall Sally
Purple and black stripe socks – market stall
Purple belt – Ethel Austin
Hobnail black boots – Next
Purple and silver necklace – gifted
Silver earrings – gifted
Black and silver bracelets – gifted
Witches hat – Tesco

Total Est. Cost £113

Ecco Shoes

I always like to find new brands of shoes and recently I came across Ecco shoes. I always knew they were out there but didn’t really know much about them. I’ve always associated them with being comfortable shoes, but not terribly exciting. However, having taken a closer look at the brand I’ve actually found that they have some pretty good designs.

Ecco Shoes were founded back in 1963 by designer Karl Toosbuy in Bredebro, Denmark and they may be known for comfort but check out these fabulous aubergine platform ankle boots! I would definitely wear these and if they are as super-comfy as the brand purports then that’s an added bonus.

I also really like this tall boot with the sheepskin lining. I’m a sucker for boots anyway but put a sheepskin lining in them and I’m definitely sold. These look like they would be so cosy for the winter.

If you don’t want the sheepskin though, how about this classic riding boot style? The dark brown is gorgeous but it also comes in black.

A wide range of ladies’, men’s and children’s Ecco shoes is available with free UK delivery and a 365 day returns policy at Meeks Shoes.

Outfit: Brown and Teal and Denim

It’s cold outside. The snowflake light was on in my car as soon as I turned the engine on this morning, and I had to scrape the windscreen. So tall boots were a good choice. I was going to put brown tights with this outfit but as I was looking for a thick brown pair last night I saw this teal pair in the box and thought they would brighten the outfit up a bit.

Last night we went to a Chinese buffet restaurant for my mom’s birthday. It’s not far from my sister’s house so we picked her and my brother in law up on the way. I resisted the buffet and had a starter and main from the menu, but everyone else went for the buffet which looked delicious. I had a chicken chow mein which was delicious but very filling. Just as well it’s step class tonight to burn some of it off!

Brown polo neck sweater – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Denim skirt – Jasper Conran (Debenhams)
Teal tights – H&M
Brown leather wedge boots – M Par M (c/o Sarenza)
Silver earrings – gifted
Teal beads – Claire’s

Total Est. Cost £58

Outfit: Red and Brown Monday

It was getting light as I got up this morning. And it was almost light when I left for work. I know it’s going to get darker again over the next few weeks, but it’s nice to have a reprieve from the dark mornings even for a few days. I’m not happy about it being dark just after 5pm mind.

Tonight we are going to a Chinese buffet restaurant as it’s my mom’s birthday. Happy birthday Mom!

Red and white stripe top – Kew 159 (John Lewis)
Brown cord trousers – Long Tall Sally
Red top – Next Tall (eBay)
Red shoes – c/o NOW Discount Shoes
Brown and silver scarf – mall market stall
Silver earrings – gifted
Silver and diamante necklace – gifted

Total Est. Cost £90

Weekend Recap

Did you all have a lovely weekend? I did. It was busy given that I had nothing planned up to Friday night, but not too busy that I don’t feel like I’ve had a rest.

Friday afternoon the young man texted to say would I pick him up in the city on my way home from work? Driving through the city on a Friday afternoon was just about the last thing I wanted to do, but I said I would and the traffic turned out to not be as bad as I thought it would be. On the way home we decided we’d go to our local pub for tea. We both had the steak pie which was delicious, and we were home by 7.30pm.

Saturday morning I got up and did some chores around the house, then walked to the village to get some beef from the butcher. We had an earlyish lunch then went out for a walk as it was a gloriously sunny day (even though it was freezing cold!) and we wanted to make the most of the last long afternoon before the clocks changed that night. We must have walked about 8 miles and we stopped off at a couple of pubs en route. We got home and decided to order pizza for tea. I can’t remember the last time I ate pizza so I really enjoyed it.

Sunday we got up to rain so decided to have a day around the house. The young man pottered in his garage, I made the beef into a stew to go in the slow cooker for tea and made some leek and potato soup for lunch. My sister phoned to see whether we were in and could she, her husband and their daughter come over to see us in the afternoon to show off their new car. As we had no plans I said this was fine and they came over. The lads went for a spin in the new car and we chatted and drank tea and ate pumpkin buns. So all in all it was a good weekend.

Saturday’s outfit:
Purple polo neck – Long Tall Sally
Purple, black and white check shirt – Dorothy Perkins Tall
Jeans – Vila (I Am..... boutique)
Grey boots – Mustang Shoes (c/o Sarenza)

Total Est. Cost £84

Outfits: Shoeper Challenge 2012 #70 and We’re Dressed The Same

My colleague and I were both dressed the same today. It had to happen eventually: it’s been years since I worked in an office with so many women but our numbers have been steadily increasing over the past year and we’re all around the same age so it I guess it was inevitable. She was in a grey top and burgundy pants too, so not exactly alike, but enough for us to get some comments when we stood side by side.

I really like wearing a shirt under a polo neck like this. It not only adds another layer, but it adds a layer you can see. Not like just putting a long sleeve t underneath your sweater. It adds a bit of interest.

Remember how I said yesterday that the temperature was set to nose dive today? Well nosedive it did and it was just 4°C when I left home this morning, 3°C when I got to work. The little snowflake symbol came on in my car for the second ever time since I’ve had it!

Last night I tried out a new recipe and made toad in the hole for tea. It’s a recipe from the fabulous Food, Fork and Good blog and has onions baked into the batter of the Yorkshire pudding. I added some apple too which was a nice addition and all it needed was a bit of gravy to accompany it. I did replace ¼ of the flour with oatbran and used Quorn sausages for myself to make it a bit healthier but it was still delicious. After tea I did the Tesco shop then had a cuppa and watched Mythbusters. I read some more of my Shania Twain book and then it was time for bed.

These boots were bought from Priceless Shoes around 4 or 5 years ago. They are faux suede (of course, being from Priceless and all) and I usually wear them turned up so they’re over the knee, but I decided to wear them turned down today for a change. I’m sure they’ll get many more outings at their full height before the winter is out.

Grey polo neck – Long Tall Sally
Chambray shirt – H&M
Burgundy jeans – Dorothy Perkins Tall
Grey boots – Priceless Shoes
Silver earrings – gifted
Silver bling ring – River Island
Silver cuff – M&S (free on 3 for 2 offer)

Total Est. Cost £97

Outfit: Black, Brown and Leopard

I always say that the easiest way to mix black and brown is to add something leopard print as that tends to combine the colours anyway. There is no need to do that, there’s nothing wrong with wearing the two shades together, but if you’re worried about mixing black and brown then leopard always helps to make it look like you did it on purpose. Plus it adds some interest in the form of a print to an otherwise dark shaded outfit. I wore my faux-leather jacket over instead of a coat. The temperature is set to nose dive tomorrow and there will only be so many more days when a faux-leather jacket will be warm enough.

Last night I baked some more pumpkin buns when I got home. My awesome little sister had managed to find some canned pumpkin at Waitrose which made the whole process much easier. I played around with my quantities a bit as I had some cake mix left over from last time, and I added some water as the batter was too thick (due to the extra dry ingredient and the canned pumpkin having much less liquid in it than homemade puree), but got 48 small buns out of it so they’re still just 1 WW point each! After tea I made some leek and potato soup, some of which I had for my lunch today.

Then I watched Mythbusters and played around on the internet, looking at the various tributes to Ceefax (BBC) and Teletext (ITV & Channel 4) that were around yesterday due to the final analogue signal (and therefore teletext service) being switched off. Back in the days before the internet and digital TV guides, teletext was the quickest way to find out what was on TV (we used the Now/Next page at home all the time), as well as to check the news, weather and Top 40 singles chart. Channel 4 ran a daily quiz called Bamboozle which had multiple choice questions that you answered using the four coloured ‘fast text’ buttons on your remote control. It was cutting edge technology back then, I tell you!

Black polo neck – Long Tall Sally
Brown cord trousers – Long Tall Sally
Leopard print scarf – H&M
Black and tan shoes – LK Bennett (c/o Sarenza)
Cream and silver bead cluster – New Look
Silver earrings – gifted

Total Est. Cost £82

Outfit: Cords and Stripes

I wore my navy LTS cords today and they are so comfy and cosy. I say this every year: there’s no real reason why cords should feel so cosy – they’re just cotton trousers – but they totally do. It must be the soft ribbing on the outside. I think I need a belt with these – they’re a bit big around the waist but they’re a comfy fit everywhere else so I’ll take that. I added my coral wedges for pop of colour and I think the effect is more spring than fall, but not to worry.

Last night I had to attend Safeguarding training at church, as part of my role as a Junior Church leader. I did some training on this before at my old church so I didn’t really learn anything, but I got a certificate to say I attended so that’s something.

Navy and cream top – Forever 21
Navy cords – Long Tall Sally
Coral/orange patent wedges – LK Bennett (c/o Sarenza)
Navy heart necklace – Scope
Navy ring – charity shop
Earrings – Dorothy Perkins

Total Est. Cost £66

Prom Dresses Galore

Well, it’s that time of year again ladies. The holidays are approaching and that means parties! Be it at the home of a friend or a formal event for New Year’s Eve we all want to look our best. And oftentimes that means a new dress! If you are looking for prom dresses for that end of term event then Misses Dressy are here to help. They have many styles including cocktail dresses and more formal, full length evening dresses.  I love the deep red dress with matching jacket above.

If you’re looking for a dress for that special holiday party, or even planning your wedding and want bridesmaid dresses, then Misses Dressy has something for you. There are over 100 designers to choose from, sizes from US 00 to 24 and prices start at $70. Shipping within the US is free and international shipping is free on orders over $200.

Outfit: Chambray and Leopard

It was another grey, drizzly morning this morning. And I had chosen to wear a pair of what I usually deem to be summer shoes. They have cut outs over the toes and no sides: in my book that makes them summer shoes. They didn’t last long. I had a few work errands to run so on went the cowboy boots that live by my desk and on they stayed.

Last night I went to HardCORE abs class and then Zumba at the gym. I ate my tea then we watched Mythbusters and I took a shower and read some more of Shania Twain’s autobiography.

Brown cardi – F+F at Tesco (eBay)
Chambray shirt – H&M
Leopard print pencil skirt – River Island
Brown tights – New Look
Brown shoes – Roberto Vianni (Debenhams)
Brown wood heart necklace – Scope
Silver earrings – gifted
Tan Obi belt – ASOS

Total Est. Cost £76