I'm going to be heading to the Clothes Show Live with Echo Falls again this year which I'm pretty excited about after having such a lovely time last year. If you want to join me and some other lovely bloggers at the Clothes Show Live then you're in luck because Echo Falls have given me two tickets to the Clothes Show Live to giveaway. The show runs from the 6th to the 10th of December at the NEC in Birmingham and you can choose which one of the days you wish to attend. I'm going up on the Sunday along with Sarah and a few other ladies and you will catch us hanging around at the Echo Falls wine bar. The Echo Falls wine bar will be a hub of activity over the duration of the Clothes Show live. You can stop by and enjoy some wine whilst getting a manicure, fashion tips and much more.

To celebrate being at the Clothes Show Live Echo Falls have challenged me and some other bloggers to create a Clothes Show inspired outfit for under £75 with items coming from the High Street. This is what I came up with:






The dress is eye-catching and festive in this lovely deep red and a lace dress is a bit of a staple in my wardrobe.

I had to get the necklace to finish the outfit off because it was just so kitsch and fun. It's only £13 from Punky Pins and I know I will be wearing this a lot over the Christmas period.



The prize for the giveaway is a pair of tickets to the Clothes Show Live on any day you chose (travel is not included) and to enter you just need to fill in the form below.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Are you heading to the Clothes Show Live this year?

It's been pretty non stop recently and I've just not had the time to post about all the things I've been up to so this is going to be a bit of a round up post with highlights from the past few weeks.

First up are some snaps from the Christmas shopping night at St David’s. There were loads of great offers in store with up to 25% off and little treat stations where you could pick up some Pimms and churros throughout the night. I was invited along before the event kicked off to meet up with some other local bloggers and find out about what would be happening that night.

I know it's not December yet but it's pretty close and I'm excited about Christmas. 32 days until Christmas everyone!! The day were you can sit in your PJs and watch The Muppet Christmas Carol whilst polishing off a selection box with no guilt. I've been trying to make a lot of my Christmas presents this year, I've bought all my Secret Santa gifts and I've only got a few things to tick of my list for the family so I think it's time to treat myself to a few festive gifts.

I've got quite the list of things I want to get on pay but I narrowed it down a bit:




I'm on the hunt for a Christmas day dress and this one from Ark (who also sell things like Criminal Damage Womenswear) fits the bill. Demure enough to wear when the family visit but still fun with the lace detail.

The cute necklace is from Punky Pins. I've already got a cute deer necklace and snow man earrings on the way from them but I'm tempted to get this necklace too. They also sell lots of personalised gifts which would make great stocking fillers.

I've wanted a Crown and Glory bow for a long time, I love these cute little ones but hey, it's Christmas so I may as well get a giant green one to go with my red dress.


I can't believe I've never read A Christmas Carol, I watch so many Dickens adaptations but I've never really taken the time to read this. I've got a kindle so I can get a copy for free from Project Gutenberg but I do love this clothbound classic version which is available from Penguin. I might make a start on reading this on the coach to London and back tomorrow.

How adorable is this Christmas pudding purse?! I don't need it but it's so darn cute and it's perfect to pop in a clutch bag for a party rather than taking your huge purse with all the receipts and loyalty cards in.

We don't have any children in the family so the decorations at my house are a little subdued now. Long gone are the days of garlands hanging from the ceiling and tinsel everywhere. I still want to get into the Christmas spirit and spruce my house up a bit but my mum wont let me get any decorations that aren't cream or gold so I'm going to get make some Christmas paper chains like these ones from John Lewis  for my room.

Well today has been a bit of a write off. I forgot my railcard and make up bag so had to go back home to fetch them and missed my train to work. I got drenched in a downpour and I've just managed to shut my fingers in the door. Can someone just come and pick me up from work and take me home? Such a walking disaster. I'm a total mess today but I'm wearing my current favourite dress and boots so I suppose  it's not entirely bad.

I thought I would get a little dressed up today because I'm going out straight after work for food with friends and this outfit fits the bill. Smart enough for work but also OK for an informal meal.









Clarks are currently running an Instagram competition where you can win £100 Mr & Mrs vouchers and a free pair of shoes. To enter all you need to do is upload a photo of yourself wearing some Clarks shoes and use the #ClarksStyle hashtag. Nice and simple. 

I've enjoyed a weekend at the German Market in Birmingham and a lazy day today watching Monsters University in my PJs and rustling up some paprika wedges. Pretty much a perfect weekend. These photos are from earlier this week when I wore this to go and watch the RSC cinema live link of Richard II starring David Tennant.

I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year as it's the first year that our new house has been totally renovated. We have carpet in, the front room will be finished in time for Christmas which means we can have a Christmas tree for the first time in a couple of years and it really feels like home now.Woooo!

Christmas dinner the previous two years has been pretty basic because my kitchen lacked any kind of mod cons. We didn't even have a fridge freezer for the first few weeks in the new house until the new one was delivered and had our washer dryer in the garage running from an extension cable. We rushed to install the cooker and cooker hood and base units in the kitchen last year so we could make a traditional roast. You can see some snaps of what my house used to look like in this old post. As you can imagine I'm happy to have a normal home again and hope my family don't decide it would be a good idea to totally gut a house ever again!


Now that I've got a lovely kitchen and nice clean work surfaces I'm going to try and give everyone a handmade gift along with their main present this year. I did a trial run of the edible gifts last night and have shared the results.

Peppermint bark

You will need:

200g White chocolate
200g Dark or milk chocolate
Candy canes

Method

1. Melt milk chocolate/dark chocolate and white chocolate in separate bowls in the microwave for a couple of minutes.
2. Pour the melted brown chocolate on a tray covered in non stick baking paper. Let it cool for an hour and then pour the white chocolate on top.
3. When the white chocolate becomes tacky, sprinkle pieces of crushed candy canes on top. Cool in the fridge over night and break into pieces the next day.

I bought my candy canes from Poundland and they came individually wrapped which made them easy to break in the bag with the back of a spoon without candy cane flying everywhere. You could marble the chocolate or add a different toppings.

Gingerbread Men

You will need:

350g/12oz plain flour, plus extra for rolling out

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

125g/4½oz butter

175g/6oz light soft brown sugar

1 free-range egg

4 tbsp golden syrup

cake decorations
writing icing

Looking at these photos is making me very sad indeed. It's been over a week since I returned from my jaunt to Dorset and the company I booked my trip with just sent me a brochure for 2014 to rub it in even more that I'm not near the coast in the lovely barn, sigh. I posted about the first two days of my trip on the weekend but here are the photos from the final day when we visited Lyme Regis.


Anyone want to come and be a library assistant in Cardiff for a few days so I can head back to Dorset? No? That's a shame...

I had a rather lovely and calm weekend after all my recent travels around the UK. It was great to be at home, do some cooking, make all my lunches for the week ahead and spend some time with my Labrador Sookie. I didn't spend the whole weekend lounging around in my PJs though, I went to the Oxjam event in Cardiff on Sunday to see my boyfriend's band play and to see a friends set. This is what I wore:





If you've not heard of Great Plains before they are owned by the same people and French Connection and have some great basics and items in fun prints. They have stylish and casual pieces which are all very understated, well worth checking out. I have a lovely bike print skirt from them which I posted about here. 

I wouldn't stop talking about my trip to Dorset in the weeks building up to it and moaned for a week after because I was so sad to be back home. I'm going to stop sulking about not being in Dorset to bore you with loads of photos from my trip.

I stayed in a newly converted barn near Bridport which I booked through this site, I would highly recommend a stay at here because it was really idyllic. I will definitely be returning in the new year for a longer trip. I spent the weekend with my boyfriend (thanks for driving all weekend Martyn) and we explored as much of the Jurassic coast as we could during our short time there.

The past couple of weeks have been very hectic and I have to admit I'm looking forward to a lie in this week and a few Christmas blogging events close to home. I've been to London, Birmingham and Dorset in the space of two weeks, phew! I'm going to bore you with photos from my weekend in Dorset over the weekend but for now I'm sharing a few snaps from my trip to London and Birmingham.

I was originally going to pop to London just for an evening to attend the AX Party but I thought I would make a full day of it so headed to London early in the morning to make the most of my time there. I headed straight for Bond Street to do some shopping in Forever 21 and Selfridges where I treated myself to a few accessories and went a bit mad at the MAC makeup counter.

I spent most of my day at the wonderful Wallace Collection which Alex recommended to me. For those not in the know (like me before my visit) The Wallace Collection is a national museum which displays works of art collected in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the first four Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, the son of the 4th Marquess. It was bequeathed to the British nation by Sir Richard's widow, Lady Wallace, in 1897. It's set in a lovely town house really close to Bond Street station and Selfridges so you could pop in for an hour or so when you're in London doing some Christmas shopping.

I'm so glad I took the time to visit because the house was breathtaking:




I was really excited to see three portraits of one of my favourite historical figures, the poet and actress Mary Robinson (Perdita). She was a family friend of the 2nd Marquess of Hertford and the Prince of Wales gave the family one of the portraits. She was quite the trendsetter in London, introducing a loose, flowing muslin style of gown based upon Greek statues that became known as the Perdita. She was the mistress of the Prince of Wales and in addition to poems, she wrote eight novels, three plays, feminist treatises, and an autobiographical manuscript. Very accomplished! I recommend reading Perdita by Mary Byrne if you want to find out more.


After hitting Patty & Bun for a tasty burger lunch with some London based friends I headed to the AX Party to see the wonderful AX Paris party dress collection and hangout with some of my favourite blogging ladies.





I was a little nervous about seeing Suede. They are one of my favourite bands along with the Manic Street Preachers. I was far too young to watch them back in the early 90s at the height of their fame and wondered if it would be best to never see them play live and not ruin the notions I had about them. They released a brilliant album called Bloodsports this year which I fell in love with so I decided to get tickets. Seeing them play new material made it feel like I wasn't wallowing in nostalgia and it was my favourite gig of the year so far. New songs like It Starts and Ends With You felt like classics and I enjoyed singing along to old favourites like Trash and So Young. Brett is really charismatic and it was nice to be at a gig where I wasn't surrounded by teenagers filming the whole thing on their phone.


You can see lots more photos from my trips to London and Birmingham over on my flickr account.