On Thursday night I attended the fabulous Ladies Night at St David's 2 where lots of lovely bloggers were invited to meet in Pizza Express before the event started. It was lovely to catch up with some familiar faces who I had met at the South Wales Blogger Meet Up. Megan and the Grayling PR team really looked after us and we tucked in to some pizza and wine. I had come straight from work so it was the perfect way to relax and prepare for the busy night of shopping ahead.



The idea of Ladies Night was to have makeovers, pampering and discounts with a  great atmosphere. It was a but like the Student lock in but less manic and open to all ladies. I hope Ladies Night is turned into an annual event because who doesn't love a bit of bubbly while you shop and a party atmosphere?



We all popped into Boux Avenue which is my favourite store in Cardiff, always get lovely service there. I splashed out on some new sets of underwear using my St David's voucher.The last photo is of Charli doing her model walk behind the line of models walking around St David's ha!



No idea why I'm grinning like a loon in that photo... (photo from A Slice of my Life)



I love the changing rooms in Boux Avenue, plenty of room and fun lights to play around with. It was Boux Avenues first birthday so there were lots of treats in store.



John Lewis also had lots going on in store and Charli got her make up done at Bobbi Brown and Joanne and Leanne splashed out at Nars and Chanel.



Just want to say a big thank you to Grayling and St David's and to Leanne, Charli, Joanna, Lowri and
Leanne Marie for a wondeful night!

It's been another week of going out and shopping for me, some things never change!
I feel like I've wasted the sunny days by being inside shopping or listing things on eBay but I managed to enjoy a few cocktails out on Mill Lane in Cardiff this weekend and get out and about meeting a few friends for coffee. It has been manic in the library where I work because lots of people have dissertations due in and are taking books out for the Easter holidays. Can't wait to have a four day weekend next week and head off to Manchester. Beyond excited for my trip, planning what I'm wearing already and where I'm going for an afternoon tea.

Here are a selection of grainy phone photos from my weekend (never seem to have my camera on me when I'm doing something fun!)



Went out for a friends birthday on Saturday and ended up in Metros, which is a slightly dodgy club that has really cheap drinks and plays rock and pop punk. Had a blast! I wore my favourite ASOS navy lace dress and my brooch from Rose Tinted Vintage and Revlon Pink About It lipstick.



I treated myself so some new undies in the very lovely Boux Avenue store in Cardiff this weekend, indulged in some hangover breakfast and have been reading more of A Song of Fire and Ice in my garden.



I've just sold about ten dresses on ebay and most of my clothes don't fit me anymore so I've been on a bit of a spending spree splashing out on lots of dresses.
The first one is from New Look via ebay and only cost £6, it still had the tags on. The stripey jersey one was a bargain at £8 in Primark and the lace one was £15 from there too. The Navy dress with a collar is from Vero Moda. I have more than enough to keep me going but I bought this Republic dress on ebay for £5 too.
I'm thinking it will look nice with my biker jacket and some black tights, all the money I made on ebay has been spent already!

Before making any purchases at the moment I am considering how I would wear an item, how much use would I get from it and will it last me more than a few weeks with my current weigh changes. I'm always on the lookout for something versatile and something that can be nipped in at the waist with a belt. This lovely Awear dress from Zalando fits the bill perfectly, it's suitable for work, the weekend and nights out with friends.




I would pair it with a colourful Bag, a little necklace because of the high neckline and some statement womens shoes. I loved all those huge glittery wedges people were buying at Christmas but would never be able to walk in them so these shoes would be much more suitable with their chunky little heel.  I think this would make a really fun 'night out' look.


For the day/work I have chosen:



Both the shoes and bag are really classic and simple which means I will get a lot of wear from them. The bag is from the Mischa Barton range which I love, I've picked up a few of them in sales before. I would probably pop on some black tights if I was wearing this to work or polka dot ones if I was meeting friends for lunch. The blazer is from New Look and I've been eyeing it up for a while. I think it would also work well with the grey Topshop midi I bought and styled in this post. A black smart jacket will last me for years so I don't feel too bad splashing out on one of those.

Do you weigh up your purchases or are you more of an impulse buyer?

I'm having a clear out and getting rid of a few things on ebay. I really loved the green dress and my biker jacket but they just don't fint anymore. If you want to give them a new home you can find them on my ebay page here.
The clothes range from a size 12 to 22.

Just a bit of a weekly round up today...

I've mostly been cooking lots of things from the Members' Favourites cookbook that the lovely people at Weight Watchers sent me. My favourite recipe was the butternut squash brushed in chilli and rosemary topped with quorn mince, peppers and feta mmm!



I got some lovely things in the post like a postcard from Alice and my huge F21 order. I went a little mad because all the jewellery is about £2-4. I did some last minute shopping for Mothers' Day (sorry Mam, forgot all about it)



I discovered Noodlebox in Cardiff, best noodles ever! I went to see The Maccabees who are one of my all time favourite bands. They have the best songs, they are always so happy to see that so many people have turned up to the gig and it helps that Orlando Weeks is incredibly beautiful. I got the most amazingly wrapped parcel from Rosie, I was so excited when I saw the parcel. It was so thoughtfully put together, thank you :)



I wore my new Monsoon dress to The Maccabees but couldn't get a good photo of it so will do a full outfit post on it soon. So girly and frilly! I've also been wearing my new bargain H&M dress which was about £9.99 and my cheapy £2.99 New Look sunglasses.

I'm much more influenced by women in music like Robyn, the lovely ladies from Those Dancing Days and Paloma Faith. Marina Diamandis (along with Daisy Lowe) has definitely been my stand out style inspiration for the past few years.

I want to say a big thank you to Eloise, Sophie and Claire for organising the whole day, it really was lovely.

I got back to Cardiff that night at about 9.30 and got changed straight away and went to a house party an hour later, bit of a long day! The party had a 90s theme so I did my best impression of Nicky Wire (from the Manic Street Preachers) and went wild on eyeliner, glitter and leopard print.



Love something that Nicky said on twitter recently 'Lets all grow old together-in leopard print and mascara-with eye liner and tiaras-delaying time forever'

I wore my new skirt to meet Gok, I've had my eye on it for ages and it was on sale in Primark for just £5 so I couldn't resist. I paired it with a really old black top from asda and my new Clarks ballet shoes. I even wore my glasses for once because it was a glasses event. I HATE wearing my glasses because they are slim and boring and I want nice big 50's ones. Gok's range actually solves all my glasses problems!



I treated my little brother on Monday evening and took him to see Florence and the Machine in Cardiff. He's a Britney/Madonna kind of guy so Florence was a bit of a change for him but he really enjoyed it. I like passing on my tastes to my brother but it mainly works the other way round as he constantly listens to very camp pop and I now do the same. He wasn't keen on the support act The Horrors (who are one of my all time fave bands) but you can't win them all. I had an emotional moment when The Horrors played Still Life and hearing the whole arena singing Shake It Out was beautiful.

I saw Florence a few years ago when she played to a small crowd and she hasn't lost any of her energy and if anything her voice and style have grown stronger. I only have a few grainy photos from the gig to share with you, don't you hate it when everyone watches the whole gig through their smart phone?! put it down and watch it, stop filming!! Surely a handful of photos is enough for anyone and you will remember the moment without needing to capture the whole gig on film. RANT.



Best Monday I've had for a long time!

After yet another manic weekend (turning into a bit of a party animal) I've had a rather busy week. Work has been busy and I've made an effort to be sociable on my days off. I would love to rest this weekend but I'm going to #ldnlunch and then a 90s fancy dress party. I'm going to do my best Richey/Nicky early 90s Manics impression for the party, donning lots of leopard print and eyeliner.








I treated myself to the Nicki Minaj Viva Glam lipstick, it looks coral but you put it on and it is shocking pink. I love it!

I've been trying to spend some time with my dog Sookie, we all fight for her affection in my house and I've been staying at my mates a lot the past few weeks and I really missed her. (what a loser) She has had loads of treats and hugs and I let her sleep at the bottom of my bed :)

I spent my day off with my friend in The Pot eating some amazing sweet potato, satay and coconut soup and enjoying some lovely loose leaf tea. It really is a cute little place, I highly recommend it! It has a great selection of yummy cakes and veggie/vegan food. We took some cakes back for our friends, I wasn't going to have one... had half then scoffed the other half later, ha!

Listened to Britney, standard daily occurrence.

Celebrated St David's Day with lots of daffodils and a little display in work highlighting our Welsh collection.

This is what I have been wearing to work this week:


Anyway, Happy St David's Day and hopefully see a few of you on the weekend at ldnlunch!