New Look has always been my first stop for shoes on a budget and a place where I update my wardrobe with the new trends at the best possible price so I'm very happy to offer one of you the chance to win a £20 New Look gift voucher. All the items below are available for £20 or under so you will be able to treat yourself to something nice if you win the voucher.



To be in with a chance just fill in the rafflecopter form below and I will contact the winner when the giveaway ends an 12am on the 6th of November. Good Luck!

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I'm going to try and do my best to make you come and visit South Wales. It's half term this week so if you've got a week off, want to take your kids somewhere fun or you've got a uni reading week coming up there's plenty to entertain you right here in Cardiff and the surrounding areas.

I've always lived in South Wales and only moved a few miles to Cardiff from the Valleys for university. I absolutely adore it here and really couldn't imagine myself settling down anywhere else when the time comes to buy a house. I'm blessed to be close to a city, the sea and the countryside. With big green spaces that are perfect for walking and mountain biking, the Valleys also have a unique history. We’re the heart and soul of Wales – and we have some cracking museums. For a taste of our industrial heritage, head for Big Pit, a visitor attraction in a real coal mine in World Heritage listed Blaenavon. And in Caerphilly, you can explore the largest castle in Wales. For a more exhaustive list of what to do check out this site but read on to find out my favourite spots to visit in South Wales.

I've been in bed for most of my Sunday so far (the best way to spend a Sunday) watching some of my favourite Halloween/witch themed movies. Hocus Pocus and Bedknobs and Broomsticks have been on so far then I'm hoping to move on to the really scary stuff when it gets dark and we hopefully have the super storm that has been promised tonight. I'm missing out on fancy dress party fun this year because I'm going for a weekend away but it's one of my favourite times of year and I still want to celebrate. I will be indulging in all things spooky and it's a good excuse to get some sweet treats in right?

I've put together a little list of Halloween goodies to get you in the mood:



The kitsch personalised necklace comes from Heidi Seeker who also stock some other cute vampire and skull themed glittery Halloween treats which are a perfect way to subtly celebrate All Hallows' eve.

If you head over to the Original Attire Facebook page you can be in with the chance to win a £100 voucher to spend on the Heart by Nana Judy range which is where the skull jumper above is from.

I will be travelling up to Birmingham on Halloween to watch Suede so I will be getting a copy of Frankenstein for free to read on my Kindle to pass the time on the journey and get into the spirit of things. Many books, especially classics like Frankenstein, are available under public domain licensing and have been converted into e-books for your reading pleasure. Have a look on Project Gutenburg for free titles. You can also buy the rather lovely hard copy in the picture above from the Clothbound Classics range.

If you want to join in with some Halloween fun but aren't a fan of dressing up Zara and Forever 21 have some great bat themed accessories.

We love to decorate the house here at Chez Southgate, we carve pumpkins and my brother gets his impressive Nightmare Before Christmas collection down from the attic. This year we treated ourselves to Witches Brew and Candy Corn Yankee candles.

I love these cute slipper style shoes from ASOS, 16 year old goth me would have been obsessed with them too. Very Beetlejuice.


I hope you have a lovely Halloween, if you went to a party this weekend leave me some links to your fancy dress costumes as I would love to check them out. Loving all the Breaking Bad themed ones this year.

I had the pleasure of sampling the new Winter menu courtesy of Wagamama at the Cardiff Library branch a couple of weeks ago. I'm always pleased to see new additions to the menu as I dine there pretty frequently and like to try new things. The super spicy 'Firecracker' was my favourite addition last time and I was hoping to find a new dish to compete with this. Lots of my favourite local bloggers were there too like Lou, SJ and Kacie.

If you have never been to Wagamama before here's a little background information:The wagamama story began in 1992 when their first restaurant opened in London’s Bloomsbury. inspired by traditional Japanese ramen bars and Asian flavours. today, wagamama is an award-winning series of restaurants, spanning 17 countries with over 99 restaurants in the UK alone. The cook super fresh food and (in my opinion) offer a modern dining experience at an affordable price.

Enough about the company, lets take a look at the food!

I got to sample a mixture of curry, noodle and side dishes along with some drinks and a dessert. First up and my favourite of the evening was:

Grilled Duck Ramen

This dish was my ideal Wagamama dish. I normally opt for the chilli chicken ramen as I like a bit of a kick but the duck was really succulent so I know what I will be eating next time I visit the restaurant. It's noodles in a vegetable soup topped with tender boneless duck leg and pea shoots. Garnished with coriander,
chillies, spring onions and a citrus ponzu sauce. YUM!

Mushroom Ramen

 

This contained noodles in a vegetable soup with thai basil topped with a variety of exotic mushrooms; including oyster, chestnut and shiitake with asparagus. Garnished with silken tofu and a chilli, garlic, sesame and soy sauce. My ramen contained six different types of mushrooms and was very hearty, a great winter warmer. If I hadn't tasted the duck ramen before this I would have liked it more but I missed the chilli from the previous dish.

Me looking a little merry after a few glasses of wine...

Mahi Mahi Curry

I loved this new fish dish which contained grilled mahi mahi (Hawiian/Pacific fish) in a spicy curry sauce with sweet potato, red and green peppers and mushrooms. Served with rice and garnished with coriander cress. I thought all the flavours worked well together and I loved the used of mahi mahi which isn't really used much here in the UK despite being quite delicate and almost sweet.

Wok-fried Greens

This was a simple combination of long steamed broccoli teamed with pak choi, stir fried with plenty of garlic and soy sauce which would make a great side order to any dish.

Another new side dish was the pulled pork gyoza The steamed dumplings are filled with slow cooked pulled pork, served with spiced black vinegar and ginger sauce. My guest for the evening (my boyfriend) loved this dish but for around £5 I would share this side dish to keep costs down.

Kare Lomen

Fans of  Wagamama and the kare lomen will be thrilled with this dish’s return to the wagamama menu. There was a bit of a campaign to get this re-added to the menu after it was removed to make way for new dishes and I can see why. Piled high with either grilled chicken or prawns, the kare lomen is full of flavour. The creamy coconut and lemon grass soup is mixed with a bowlful of ramen noodles, bean sprouts, cucumber and garnished with coriander and lime

There really was sooo much food but I got to sample a few drinks to help wash it down. First up was the Root Juice which contained beetroot, carrot and orange juice. This was a little earthy for my tastes and I would have preferred this with a little more fruit juice or maybe some ginger and lime but if you are a fan of vegetable juices the flavours in this would work well with all the meals I sampled.

Wagamama is also exclusively introducing iki beer to their menu, the only restaurant in the UK to offer this.  The beer is contains a green tea and yuzu mix, I really enjoyed this and it tasted like a refreshing Dutch beer.

Half Moon Pancakes

There's always room for dessert right? I loved the hot pancaked filled with with a date and orange sauce accompanied with a scoop of cinnamon ice-cream which certainly gave it a festive flair.

I had a lovely evening and nearly needed to be wheeled out of the restaurant by the end after sampling so many dishes. I don't think I would make a very good food blogger as I can't pace myself and eating out all the time would spell disaster for my waistline ;)

The new menu is launched across the UK today (22nd October) and if you want to give it a try you can find your nearest restaurant here.

I had seen people posting photos of this dress on instagram for the past few weeks and I knew it had to be mine despite not really being very flattering or fitting very well on the top half (might try and alter it). I love tartan, peter pan collars and bows, if only this dress had a skater style skirt then I would be in heaven.

I wore this dress on Saturday when I headed to Cardiff for a meet up, shopping then a show in the evening. I spent far too much money in the Fred Perry shop, ate out for lunch and treated my mum to a meal before the show. I think I need a big win on online bingo to try and recuperate the money I hemorrhaged on that day. Oh well, I had fun and that's what counts right?

This outfit is probably my favourite thing to wear at the moment. I love my pretty girly shoes and feel like a school girl in them, I had a Clarks pair nearly identical to these as a kid. I lusted after this Zatchels bag for ages and finally took the plunge when they had a sale earlier this year and have used it pretty much every week since getting it.




My new tea pot and tea cup print dress is my ideal dress, I'm so happy with it. It's got sleeves so I don't need to bare my arms or over heat in a cardigan, it's not too short so I can wear it to work and it's has such a fun print. Smitten. I know Sarah has this dress too so if you pop over to her blog you can see how she styled it. It's not very roomy on the bust and waist so if you're blessed in that department you might want to size up.


I've just entered a competition on facebook to win two dresses from the Little Mistress Paper Dolls collection, if you're interested (who wouldn't be?) you can enter here.

I'm currently on the lookout for a dress for my trip to London next week but I'm on a budget, I need something I can wear all day but look fairly glamorous in the evening. Any ideas?

*post written in collaboration with brand

I took a few days off last week to look after my lovely Labrador Sookie and spend some time with my boyfriend while my mum was on holiday. I don't get to spend as much time with her as I would like because I work full time and I'm away a lot on weekends so I really enjoyed my time with her even though she was pining after my mum and being very needy. I suppose it must be difficult for a dog when their owner goes away so I tried my best to lavish her with attention and took her for a walk in my favourite spot close to my house.

Hotter shoes invited me to their Cardiff store a couple of weeks ago to take a look around and get correctly fitted for a pair of shoes. I have to admit I only had a limited knowledge of the store before taking a look around.So if you are in the dark like I was here's a little background information on Hotter Shoes:

The company was set up in 1959 and identified a niche in the market for stylish shoes with comfort built in. The shoes are made here in the UK in their Lancashire factory. Every single pair of shoes are hand polished before they are meticulously wrapped in tissue and then placed in their box. Sounds great, right?

I wore this outfit for my trip to Birmingham last weekend. the jersey dress was perfect for a long train journey because it's comfy and doesn't crease. I had my eye on this dress for a while and treated myself on payday and got this along with a baseball top, beanie hat and a belt... I got a little carried away.

 







I loved my time in Birmingham and it was nice to see some of my favourite faces: Emma and Sarah who joined us for some shopping and burgers in the day and Claire, Rebecca and Maria who stayed up until the early hours dancing to indie tunes in Snobs. I do enjoy dancing to Maximo Park in grotty club, when can I do it again?!

I don't know about you but I always like to try and buy British. The new Marks & Spencer collection celebrates British design, craftsmanship and manufacture so I'm pretty excited about the launch and can't wait to see it in stores. Best of British, has both womenswear and menswear lines, combining a rich heritage of traditionally made fabrics with chic, modern styling.

Here is a preview of some of the items in the range and a Q&A with the Head of Womenswear Design:

Books are personal. You can make notes in the margin, fold the pages, get them signed by the author and then there's that book smell... nothing beats it. I work in a library with books all day, buy records and write letters. I'm pretty traditional and only recently got a smart phone so I wasn't sure if a Kindle was going to be for me.


The Kindle Fire HD has all the right qualities: a bright 7 inch screen, a usb port, it's nice and light at under 400g and has built in speakers and a camera for all your gaming, video and Skype needs.

I'm still not totally sure what all the features are on the Kindle and what apps I should get, do you have any top tips for me?

*This post was written in collaboration with Argos Online

There are loads of student lock-ins at the moment and I'm a little envious because my student ID expired in 2008. Where are my discounts and free goody bags? Well non students (and students) can rejoice because Outfit in Cardiff are having a 1st birthday bash this week and everyone is invited.

Pop along to the store in the Capitol Shopping Park in Leckwith from 7pm for what looks like a very enjoyable evening. There's going to be a nail bar, DJs and most important 10% off all purchases.

Are you going to attend? I've got my eye on a few Topshop tea dresses at the moment and might stock up on a couple of Burton shirts for my brother for Christmas.

Seasalt have been on my radar for a while now. I live in wet Wales and I'm always on the lookout for practical yet stylish coats for the winter and Seasalt really fit the bill. The business started in 1981 in Penzance and all their clothing and coats have a very British seaside feel and are something I could see Rosie wearing when she takes little Bodhi out for a walk but would also work well in the city.

I've been wearing this knee length coat from the Seasalt Rain collection to work for the past week in the sun, showers and heavy rain is it practical for pretty much all weather. I would advise sizing up if you want to wear this in the winter because it's lightweight and you will want to layer some jumpers underneath which might mean a tight squeeze if you get your regular size.


Tin Cloth fabric is unique to Seasalt coats and is their own interpretation of a traditional oil skin. Waterproofs used to be made by coating heavy canvas with linseed oil but Seasalt have gone a little more hi-tec which means the fabric is both waterproof and breathable.

Have you got your winter coat yet?

I ADORE autumn and winter clothing and spend more on clothes in October and November than I do in all of the spring/summer months put together. Pastels and summer dresses just don't do it for me. I love leopard print, leather, lace, glitter and tartan and you get all these things in abundance on the high street at this time of year. I normally rush out and buy loads of party dresses and impractical things like a faux fur coat which end up matted and damp in the winter rain so this year I'm planning ahead.

What do I actually need? Some warm clothing, sensible shoes and something glamorous for a night out or Christmas party. I've come up with a few looks that will last me throughout the winter and chosen the key items to complete them.