A (Bank Holi)Day In Photos

Several of you said you liked this kind of post the last time I did one, so with a bank holiday to myself I set about recording this past Monday in photos.



It started with a cup of tea (actually, several cups of tea truth be told). And yes, my mug does match my tea cosy.




These mugs were both presents – anyone would think that I like shoes and shopping...




I was given this make up palette for my birthday and I absolutely love it! There will be a blog post on it at some point in the next few weeks.




#ootd




I curled my hair with my Babyliss curling wand – I find this clamp-less style of wand much easier to use than the traditional curling tongs.




It was actually a sunny day, so sunglasses were a must! (Amazon.co.uk)




I headed into Leeds to see what was happening. Millennium Square was pretty quiet but doesn’t the Civic Hall look lovely in the sunshine?




The Merrion Centre was 50 years old on Monday. There was a supposed to be a party going on but when I was there it was just a girl singing to a few passers-by.




I did get a free bun though, which is always a bonus!




The Merrion Centre freaks me out because behind that innocuous looking row of cash machines is the entrance to an abandoned cinema.




In a nice twist to the tale of the cinema, they have turned on of the vacant units into a mini cinema for the next month. They had just opened the door when I took this picture and there was no line so I probably could have gone in, but Mary Poppins is kind of long and it was the only nice day this week so I gave it a miss.




Apparently we’re getting a Byron Burger – does anyone know what that is?




I went into Waterstones and spent a little time browsing the books.




I walked back to my car past the new Leeds Arena. Dolly Parton is playing there next month and I’m very excited to be going to see her!




I got home and made myself some scrambled eggs and toasted bagels for lunch...




...followed by a cookie that I baked on Saturday.




I caught up with my favourite You Tubers over lunch (Tati)




Then it was time to catch up on some reading.




I did some ironing. I KNOW. So rock and roll.




I scheduled some blog posts.




Sausage, chips, baked beans and gravy for tea!




I rounded off the day by watching Made In Chelsea.

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T.M. Lewin Autumn/Winter 2014

If I said TM Lewin to you, what would spring to mind? Shirts? Perhaps ties? But definitely menswear, right? Wrong. T.M. Lewin now has a range of gorgeous womenswear as well as the men’s collection of shirts, ties and suits.

The collection comprises smart knits, tailored dresses and sassy jackets. And a couple of weeks ago T.M. Lewin contacted me and kindly offered to send me a couple of pieces from the new autumn/winter collection which is now available on their website. You can check out the whole collection here – there’s a video to watch too.

I chose the Iris Striped top (which doesn’t appear to be available online right now) and I wore it on Friday. I love how the stripes taper in at the waist creating a slimming optical illusion. I also like how it’s different from most other striped tops in that the stripes are only on the front and shoulders. It just sets it apart from other striped tops I think. The fabric is a lovely soft knit cotton blend and is the perfect weight for cooler spring/summer days and will transition well into the autumn.

I also chose the Shani Coral Jacket, which you will find here.  I styled this with the sleeves cuffed to show off the striped lining (I do love me some stripes). The jacket doesn’t button which makes it easy to wear casually or to the office – buttoned jackets can sometimes be restrictive, don’t you think? The bright orangey coral colour is a great one for the summer, and a jacket is always a good layering piece when the cooler weather arrives.

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Outfit: Shoeper Challenge 2013/14 Save 74 | Bank Holiday Monday

I saved a pair of shoes! These are definitely a pair I would deem ‘summer shoes’ as they’re white and therefore don’t really work in any season other than summer. I took the opportunity of a sunny bank holiday Monday to save them. They are from Priceless Shoes and were cheap (about £9 I think) and only purchased because the ladies’ chorus in that year’s shoe needed white heeled shoes. Pretty much all the female cast ended up with the same shoes as they were such a bargain, but despite the cheap price they are actually pretty comfortable: my friend went back for the red and green versions as she liked them so much.

I am down to just 11 more pairs to save in the shoe challenge now, and I think I have until the beginning of September to do it, so I should be OK.

The rest of the day’s outfit was smart/casual – the lovely orange jacket (kindly sent to me by the lovely people at T.M. Lewin) smartened up my distressed jeans, and I don’t think you can go wrong with stripes of any colour.

Orange jacket – c/o T.M. Lewin
Green and white stripe top – Forever 21
Jeans – H&M (gifted)
White shoes – Priceless Shoes
Whitby Jet cross – gifted
Silver hoops – gifted
Silver cuff – M&S (free on 3 for 2)
Black and silver bracelets – gifted
Black leather belt – Pieces (c/o Spartoo)

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Outfit: Rainy Sunday

Saturday was so wet in the UK and Sunday, although a little better, was still prone to heavy downpours. You could totally tell it was a bank holiday weekend! It didn’t really matter to me though as I went to church in the morning to do my Sunday school duty. I just wore jeans and a sweater (it may be the end of May, but the temperatures have dipped again in the Frozen North) and added some black and cream accessories to dress it up a little.

Mint sweater – Long Tall Sally (sale)
Jeans – Long Tall Sally
Cream and black heels – Matalan
Cream and black polka dot scarf – Dorothy Perkins (sale)
Silver hoops – gifted
Black and silver bracelets – gifted

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Reveiw: Treseme 7 Day Keratin Smooth

So, remember last week I mentioned that had discovered a miracle hair product that kept my hair smooth and straight for days at a time? Well ladies, that product is the Treseme 7 Day Smooth Keratin Treatment. The range includes a shampoo, conditioner and blow dry treatment. I have the shampoo and the blow dry treatment and have been using them for the past couple of weeks. The blow dry treatment works fine on its own, but they say that using the products together produces the best results. But don’t they always say that to make you buy the full set? I only have the shampoo as it was on offer and I got it for free with the blow dry treatment. I’m not sure I would bother to purchase that again.

However, I can definitely recommend the blow dry treatment. It claims to last through up to four washes and I tried that out this past weekend, washing my hair Friday night with my regular shampoo and conditioners. I just did a blow dry and it was maybe a little smoother than my hair would otherwise have been, but I odn't think it made that much of a difference.  I think that if I wanted my hair really smooth I would tend to use the Treseme product each time I blow dry. However, I have been caught in the rain a couple of times in the last week and it seems to stop my hair curling up the way it usually would when it got wet.

You wash your hair and use 8-10 pumps of the treatment on towel dried hair. Then you blow dry and straighten (the heat of the straigteners activates the product) for a super sleek and smooth look. I thought this would perhaps work to keep curls in my hair too, and it does to a point. It doesn’t hold my curls fully, but second day curly hair with this is beachy waves rather than the frizzy mess it would be without it.

You can buy Treseme 7 Day Smooth Keratin Treatment at Boots and it is currently included in the 3 for 2 hair care promotion.

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Review: Mr Nutcase Cell Phone Case

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a company called Mr Nutcase and offered the chance to create a new case for my mobile phone. The site allows you to choose from a range of preset designs, or you can create a custom iphone case, adding your own text or photos.

I chose a preset polka dot design and then added my own text. I used one of my favourite quotes from one of my favourite actresses:

“Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world.” – Bette Midler

The case is the typical plastic clip on variety and there are cases available for a wide range of mobile phones. They also offer a leather flip style case and a premium full wrap around case. I thought the colour on the back of the case would be a bit brighter judging by the image on screen when I ordered, so this is something to bear in mind when choosing your colour scheme and layout. Other than that though the service was excellent and the site is easy to use. My order was shipped the day after I placed it and arrived the day after that.

Delivery is free worldwide and if you want to try out the service for yourself, Mr Nutcase are offering my blog readers a 10% discount with the code: “Thanku10”.

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This Week...

Over the past few weeks I have been adding some black eye liner to my everyday make up look.  I have never got on with liquid eye liners - I always end up with a smudgy mess - so a pencil was definitely the way forward for me.  I have long been a fan of the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On pencils but I never really used the black one (the shade is officially called Zero).  I don't think I would even have the black one had I not been given a set of five mini pencils a couple of Christmases ago.  However, having had problems with liquid eye liners dragging across my lids it occurred to me to use my Urban Decay pencil that I know glides on smoothly - just as the name suggests.  All this is a very roundabout way of saying that I have been enjoying black eye liner this week, particularly one that is easily applied.

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Outfit: New Stripes and Cobalt Blue

Happy Friday everyone! It’s a bit wet and rainy in the UK today, which I suppose is to be expected as we’re heading into a(nother) bank holiday weekend. I have all of next week off work too, so I’m looking forward to that immensely.

I wore a new top today that was kindly sent to me by the lovely people at TM Lewin. It’s part of their Autumn/Winter 2014 range and I’ll be doing a full post on it next week, but I had to mention it today as I love this top so much. For a non-tall item the sleeve length is pretty good, and although I have many, many striped tops I like this one as it’s a little different – you can see how the stripes are only in the front and across the shoulders – the back and sleeves are plain white.

I added my bright blue faux leather jacket today: partly because it is waterproof (being made of plastic has its uses!) and partly because I absolutely love it. I bought this back in about 2009 I think and five years on it’s still a favourite.

Have a great long weekend everyone (I believe it is Memorial Day in the US on Monday too)!

Black and white stripe top – c/o TM Lewin
Jeans – Long Tall Sally
Blue patent shoes – New Look (sale)
Blue jacket – H&M
Silver hoops – gifted
Beads – Scope
Black leather belt – Pieces (c/o Spartoo)
Black beaded braclets – gifted
Black, white and silver bangles – Scope

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Outfit: Dress, Shoes, Done

I love warm weather dressing when I can just throw on a dress and some shoes and call it a day. It’s so easy and quick and there’s no faffing with tights. Though it’s actually been more like: dress, shoes, statement necklace, done the past few days. I added my denim jacket when I left the house as there’s still a bit of a morning chill even if the day is forecast to be warm, as yesterday was.

My hair is looking super straight thanks to a miracle product that I will be reviewing at some point soon. Would you believe that I straightened it Tuesday night, slept on it, then just brushed it out Wednesday morning?

Anyway, this dress is old – it was bought back in about 2007. The shoes are equally old – around 2007 or 2008 I think. Considering they were just a fiver in the sale I don’t think they’ve done too badly really.

Black and blue dress – Dorothy Perkins Tall
Blue top – Dorothy Perkins
Blue shoes – New Look (sale)
Silver necklace – New Look (sale)
Silver hoops – gifted
Silver cuff – M&S (free on 3 for 2)

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