@SimplyBe outfit - What I Wore January 27th

I had a meeting with a client today - which is a posh way of saying I met up with a friend that I'm doing some work with. We went to a lovely bar in Sheffield called Bungalows and Bears which used to be a fire station, it's a lovely building. I had a yummy chorizo and halloumi burger and a good old chat with my friend.

I got this tunic in a two pack from Simply Be in the sale. The other one is dark grey and I liked both colours. This is a definite tunic - it doesn't cover my bum so I wouldn't wear it by itself! So I decided to pair it with my Simply Be jeans which I tucked into my Simply Be boots! Definitely all Simply Be-ed out today! I think it all works well together though. 

Birthday Outfit #2

Sunday 19th was my actual birthday even though we had the party on the Saturday. My mum kindly had open house at hers with sandwiches and cake, and I opened my presents and so on. I wore this dress:

I got it from New Look in the sale, it was a Samya one and was £18 but I loved the pattern so much that I had to keep it. It is a pinafore type so here I'm wearing it with a black t-shirt, also from New Look. 

My birthday party!

As I mentioned before, I was 30 on 19th January. I had been thinking about it for ages and decided I wanted a party with a curry buffet and with a couple of bands playing. I hired a room at Sandal Rugby Club in Wakefield (recommended) and we decorated it with balloons and had a great time watching two of Lee's bands play. I didn't get chance to speak to people properly but I had such a lovely time. Also the curry was delicious! 

This is my outfit. As I said I bought the dress from Yours in Doncaster; it was £23 in the sale. I liked it because it had sleeves (they're sheer) and was knee length so I actually wore it bare-legged. I loved the bold colour and the embellishment on the waist sash. 

This is my amazing cake. It was made by my sister-in-law's mum and I asked for pink, purple, and Hello Kitty and she definitely did that! It was so nice to have such a personalised cake. It tastes amazing!

This is my mum (left), me, and my auntie Caroline (my mum's sister). You can tell we're related! Also we've all got alcohol in our hands which is nothing out of the ordinary. 

Me and some friends. In the back are Ellen, Ellie and Von who came from London for the party. The girl with turquoise hair is Lucinda. On my left, the last two on the photo, are my BFFs Jacqui and Sam. I adore all these people, but those two especially. I met ALL of these lovely people on the internet! 

Gillian (left), me and Amy were at 6th form college together. There's 5 of us who are still friends who meet up every Christmas and sometimes during the year. The other two couldn't make it unfortunately but I was glad these two came. 

Me and Amy again. There's a picture of us at my 18th birthday party posing very similarly to this so we decided to recreate it now we're twelve years older and wiser!

This was the curry buffet all laid out. It was delicious!

This was the first of Lee's band - Lee is on guitar in the top photo and Miff is singing in the bottom one. This band is anarcho-punk and was extremely LOUD.

This was late on in the evening, we were dancing to Irish punk music, and even Lee danced with me :)

All in all it was a fabulous night and I just want to say thank you to the people who came - some from a long distance - and celebrated with me, and those who helped set up and clear up and so on!

Big Boogie Prom

Last year while I was on holiday I had the idea to put on a plus size prom. I was thinking about how when I was at school they didn't exist, and if they had I would have found it difficult to find something that I felt comfortable in and I would have felt out of place. I know fat fashion has come on leaps and bounds in recent years but I bet there's still fat teenagers who struggle to feel as beautiful as their thin counterparts. So I felt like a prom was needed.

When I got back, I started looking at venues and sorting out dates. The prom will take place on 29th March 2014. I have chosen Cedar Court Hotel in Wakefield which is just off Junction 39 of the M1. There are other hotels nearby and Wakefield Westgate is a short taxi ride away. 

When I was talking to a friend we talked about how people other than fat women may have had issues with proms and such, and therefore we've extended the remit to have a queer slant to it, and want to extend the invitation to queer people, trans people, older people, and so on. Basically everyone is welcome!

The ticket price is £25 and you can find links here on the website. The ticket price includes a welcome drink, a buffet, and a disco. There will be other things available as money permits. You will have to buy drinks other than the first one, though.

There's a Twitter @bigboogieprom where I can answer any questions but here's a few that I've already been asked:

- There is no "minimum fatness" requirement! This prom is for anyone.

- There is no dress code. Yes, some people will be in fancy dresses and suits. But if that isn't your thing or within your budget, there will be no shame in your turning up in a t-shirt and jeans.

- I am actively looking for sponsorship if you are in a position to offer help, contacts, or if you own a shop and can offer a discount for our goodie bags!

Please do consider coming and making it a night to remember! 

What I Wore January 7th

I work at my job in Leeds every Tuesday and I posted before how I wore this outfit and didn't feel like myself, or the myself that I have become over the past couple of years.. However, this skirt is ideal for work, so I teamed it today with a t-shirt from New Look that I absolutely love. I'd had my eye on it for ages and when it went into the sale I snapped it up. It has a duckling on it!

I asked my colleague Alexis to take these photos and then linked her to this blog, so thanks Alexis if you're reading!

Skirt - Yours

T-shirt - New Look

These boots were my main present from my mum for Christmas. Simply Be has a range of calf sizes, these are the biggest but to be honest they're a bit too big on me, which NEVER happens! I love them with long skirts and with short dresses, and probably with my jeans too! 

This photo is very steampunk don't you think?

I bought this jumper in Doncaster at the rad fat shopping trip. I'd seen it online but the cream one was out of stock, so when I saw it in store I had to have it. It's so soft, it's funky, and it has 3/4 length sleeves. Those are my jumper requirements! 

Rad Fat Doncaster Trip #3

We've had a few trips to Doncaster now as it's great for fat shopping. There's a Simply Be, a Yours, a New Look Inspire, all kinds of other things. You can read about the previous trips here. We went in January hoping to hit the sales and I'm pretty sure we did! There were ten of us in all which is the most we've had - so thank you SO much if you came!

This is Lolly, Abi and me in the lift on the way home, thoroughly exhausted!

As you can see I'm wearing my trusty old New Look stripy dress and pink cardigan. I love this dress because it makes me feel amazing, and it's a great length for walking around all day. 

Okay so on to the shopping!

I turn 30 in a couple of weeks (in fact, by the time you'll read this) so I wanted a new dress and some sparkly shoes to wear for my party. In Simply Be I tried on a couple of dresses but didn't like either on me. I did however pick up this jumper in cream, half price at £15! I also picked up some knickers, 3 for £5. 

My penpal Mariska who lives in Holland happened to be over in Yorkshire so I invited her shopping too. She wanted to look at books, so we popped into Waterstone's and recommended some books to each other. I got two on buy one get one half price. 

I bought my birthday dress in Yours, but I'm keeping it a secret until after my party! I promise you'll see it, though. The Yours sale wasn't bad, they have it organised by size so it's easy to find what will fit you. 

I wasn't impressed with the sale stuff in New Look. When we went in October there was loads of sale bargains, and we each took about 15 items into the changing rooms! But this time there was nothing that grabbed me, sadly. I looked for sparkly shoes, too, but couldn't find any. Boo, New Look. I did however get shoes very similar to these for only £10. 

We went for something to eat and for cocktails, I had something called a Sweet Shop which was delicious! I enjoyed it. We went back to the shopping centre and people said their goodbyes and split up. I still needed sparkly shoes so Lolly, Abi and I went into Debenhams where I acted like a proper diva and the two of them brought every sparkly shoe in the entire shop! I finally chose a pair of gold low wedges which I will also show you later. 

Thank you to everyone who came, you make the rad fat gang amazing and the shopping trips fun! 

What I Wore on New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is always quite quiet for us - nothing fills me with horror more than the thought of going to a busy club to be honest! So we usually stay in with my mum and stepdad. This year my aunt and uncle were visiting so we went to my grandma's with my step-aunt's family too - there were 14 of us ranging from 11 years old to 87 years old! We had curry and lemon cheesecake and it was good fun!

This dress was a gift from my mum at Christmas. I tried it on in the Yours store in Manchester when we were there, and loved it. I added what is for me a LOT of make up and I think it paid off because it was a very sultry look!

You can only see the top of the dress but the bottom is just plain black and there's a sash around the middle. 

Lee is in a black t-shirt and jeans, as usual! 

Secret Santa Post #2

As I said the other day, I joined two Secret Santa swaps this Christmas. This was my second one, the swap was organised by Ingrid from See the Colts. Ingrid is a penpal of mine and one of the sweetest people I know.

My Santa was Christina. I love Terry's Chocolate Orange and this was the only ones I got! I also got a very cute notecard set and pen (very useful for penpalling) and two adorable washi tapes. 

Secret Santa Post #1

I love Christmas so much and always like to join in Secret Santa swaps. This year I did two and thought I'd share photos.

This swap was organise by Janet from Words That Can Only Be Your Own, hers is a blog that I've read for years and I love it. She's got a really stylish blog and her taste in music and books is very close to mine. I was lucky enough that she was my Santa. I got some lovely presents!

I got: a little book of Yorkshire Christmas, a teacup candle, a book called The Song of Achilles that Janet says is one of her favourites, a Books Are My Bag bag, an R with a map of Barnsley on it, a pencil, and some mulled wine spices. 

This is all so perfect for me! I must make some teacup candles myself one time, I love book recommendations, and I love things with my initial on. I always need more tote bags as I carry too much stuff around, and mulled wine is definitely my thing! Janet couldn't have chosen better :)

What I Wore December 24th

This was my Christmas Eve outfit. I'd been saving this dress and it was lovely to wear at Christmas. The picture is taken in my mum's kitchen.

Dress, Asos

Cream top, Yours Clothing

Leggings, Evans

Socks, New Look

What I Wore December 26th

It's Boxing Day here in the UK and I've got a new dress from Asos to wear! I bought this a couple of months ago and saved it for today.

This pinafore style smock dress is from Asos, and has pockets! 

The cream top is from Yours

The knee high boots are from Simply Be and were my Christmas present from my mum. I'll do a better review later!

What I Wore December 17th

I went to Leeds to see my friends Leanne and Laura. We went to the Roast and Conch which is the restaurant above the Hotel Chocolat shop in Leeds. Everything is chocolate themed and very yummy! I had the veggie Scotch egg, the chicken roti (both highly recommended) and the chocolate brownie. I washed it down with a mini bottle of Prosecco which was also delicious!

This dress came from Simply Be in a sale over the summer. I've only worn it a couple of times. I like the pattern on it. 

What I Wore December 12th

I was invited to the Christmas party of one of my workplaces. We went to Little Tokyo in Leeds and I had a yummy bento box. This is what I wore.

This dress was from New Look last year and has been seen before. I love it; it's one of those pieces of clothing that makes me feel gorgeous. 

The cardigan is from Sainsburys and is one of my go-to cardigans.

I must show you these boots. I bought them a couple of years ago from Simply Be in the sale. They're fake suede and are really comfortable. And they're PURPLE. Win win in my book!