Sunday Out in Sheffield

Robin Stevens, one of my favourite authors, was doing a signing at an independent children's bookshop in Sheffield, back in November. I immediately decided Lee and I would go, and then I said we should have something to eat for lunch afterwards. Lee agreed, so it was bright and early on a Sunday morning when we set off to Sheffield.

The bookshop, Rhyme and Reason, is on Eccleshall Road, and it's really lovely. It's absolutely crammed with books and I'll definitely have to go back and have a proper browse. Robin did a little reading then signed her books. I waited until the end because it was just me and then lots of small girls, and I didn't want them to wait for me, that's not fair. Lee and I had a nice chat to Robin - she's very, very lovely. I got all of my books signed (there's ten and I own them all!) and by the time we had finished it was still only half past ten!

It was a little bit early for lunch so we decided to go to Graze Inn, where we went in the summer with Bettie and Jen for brunch. We liked the food before and indeed, I had the same thing, a vegetarian breakfast. Lee had eggs Benedict but without bacon. If you're having brunch then you get free toast and juice which is nice and appreciated.

We got home at about half past twelve, meaning I could relax for the rest of the day, which I really needed as I was coming down with something.

I wore my burgundy Scarlett & Jo Lollidot dress with hearts on, it's one of my favourite dresses and although it's thin cotton it's fine to wear in the winter with a cardigan on.

Robin reading part of her latest book

Look how beautiful the book set up was!

Robin was SO gentle with her young readers, which I really loved

Me and Robin - her dress had tiny macarons on it!

My nail polish was Nails Inc Carlton Gardens. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I think it looks better from afar than it does up close. I like the colour

Breakfast! Poached eggs, garlic mushroom, a veggie sausage, a chargrilled avocado, a potato rosti, and halloumi sticks

I took this when I got home but you get the idea. I was wearing leggings but had taken them off already

I got a bookmark and a badge and the only book that I didn't have, which I bought in the bookshop

What I Wore October 27th

At the end of October we had friends over for lunch, we had brunch which was delicious, and then Tom and Lee played Mario Kart and Gillian and I played with their baby, Lily, who is such a sunny and gorgeous little girl. She was very excited to get into absolutely everything in mine and Lee's living room. It was lovely to see them.

When they'd gone I was feeling a little bit stir crazy; I'd been in the house all week and needed to get out, so Lee and I went to Pot House Hamlet near us for hot chocolate and cake. It was pretty late on, but they don't close until 5pm, so it was fine.

I had pulled out this really old Asos dress to wear, I had forgotten how much I like it and it's really cosy and soft to wear, but looks pretty good too. I put a basic white t-shirt underneath, and wore it with leggings.

I'd also painted my nails for the first time in weeks. This is Nomad by Illamasqua; it's a gorgeous matte ish green colour and it applied like a dream - I only needed two coats for really good coverage! I have a couple of others in this range and I really like them

I love this colour!

I was representing Slytherin (I am not apparently a Slytherin)

Victoria sponge

We both had hot chocolate - there was mini marshmallows underneath

I love this dress and this whole look even though it's a bit of a different look for me. I also hadn't realised just how long my hair had got until this photo!

What I Wore May 26th

I didn't really have any spare cash to buy any new clothes for my mum's birthday weekend, so I wasn't sure what I wanted to wear. I'm glad I waited though because it was hotter than it was forecast to be, so I was glad I could choose a summer outfit to fit in with the weather. On the Friday I remembered this dress which I bought last year in a sale from Yours, but hadn't worn yet. I thought it would be perfect.

The dress is really light and floaty, which is perfect for summer, and it has this pretty lace trim around the neck and the bottom. The top half has sequins on the pale blue flowers which makes it feel like a fancy dress! I wore it with an ancient crocheted top from New Look which is also really cool and summery. I'll definitely take this dress on holiday this summer!

I forgot to take an outfit photo until we got home at nearly midnight, so do excuse my everything

I had also painted my nails this gorgeous pale lilac from Essie, it applied really nicely too.

What I Wore 19th July

I went to work on the 19th of July, to a new client where I had to do payroll for the first time in four years, which took me nearly all day and was tiring and confusing. I had to do pensions for the first time, which is a useful skill set I'm sure. It was just very tiring!

Anyway, since I had talen this top on holiday but not worn it I decided to put it on with my black skirt and my plain black shoes. It's gorgeous quality and I love the stripes. The sleeves aren't 3/4 length as I'd thought, but are longer and tighter than a normal t-shirt. I would like t-shirts like this in every colour and pattern ever, please!

I wore this new lightning bolt necklace that I got on eBay for like £2, such a bargain! I had painted my nails this cheery blue too, I felt like it was a real summer colour. It is Royal Botanical Gardens by Nails Inc, and it had separated badly in the bottle so the application was a bit streaky, but I don't care.

Pink striped t-shirt, Sprinkle of Glitter via Simply Be

Lightning bolt necklace, eBay

Nails Inc nail polish

Nails of the Week - end of June

At the end of June I had a family wedding to go to, so for the first time in ages I painted my nails. I haven't painted them in ages, and I'm not sure why? They've been all different lengths and been breaking, but they all look okay now so I decided to paint them this bright, summery colour.

It's a Ciate polish, called Play Date. It's a coral red colour and I love it, I think I'll definitely use it again! I think it's one of those polishes that looks best on short nails.

Swan Street by Nails Inc

I love nail polish. I'm sure I've mentioned that before! I have around 200 polishes. I love all different kinds of colours, from brights to metallics to duochromes to subtle pale colours. I can't choose a favourite! In the January sales I had a bit of a splurge on some Nails Inc polishes. I think they're one of the best companies in the UK making polish at the moment - they have tons of different kinds, the formula is great and the new brush shape makes the polish really easy to apply.

I bought a couple of their The New White collection, I love the paleness of all these colours, they're all whites but with a hint of colour. White is a hard polish colour to carry off, so adding a tiny bit of colour really helps. Swan Street is the palest mint green. I applied four thin coats; there is still a tiny bit of my nail showing through but I couldn't be bothered to do a fifth coat. I think it looks fine, especially from a distance.

I've had it on now, at time of writing, for four days, and the wear is great. I've got minimal tip wear and no chips. I didn't use a base coat or a top coat (again due to time and energy constraints) so I'd say it's really hard wearing!

Nails of the Week - Barry M

I've recently been painting my nails a lot more. They all broke over the summer and were all different lengths so looked pretty ropey when painted, so I didn't bother. But then they grew again, as I remind myself that they do do when I break one!, so I've been painting them again. You've already seen the green polish I wore in Ireland. A couple of weeks later I broke out this Barry M polish.

It's one of the Aquarium collection, which I really liked. I have three of them I think. This one is called Arabian Nights. It's green with a blue flash. I actually thought it was the blue with the green flash, but not to worry, it's still a gorgeous polish!

This is three coats with no topcoat, it's pretty opaque. There's a few brush streaks which might annoy some people but I don't really mind!

Recent nail polish I've been wearing

I've been trying to get into the habit of painting my nails all the time, and trying not to worry so much about putting a top coat on. I use Seche Vite and while I love it, it takes ages to dry and takes planning to do my nails. To this end, I've recently used a couple of matte polishes as they don't require a top coat.

This is a Zoya polish, it's called Phoebe. It's a gorgeous neon blue matte. I really love Zoya polishes

This is a Japanese brand called BK. I got a whole set all in neon colours. This is a fantastic highlighter pink colour.

Body Shop nail polish

My friend Sarah bought me two Body Shop nail polishes for Christmas, and a couple of weeks ago was the first chance I had to use one. This shade is, I think, 620 Got The Blues and is available along with a whole host of other delicious colours from here.

In the sun this polish is pure blue, but in the shade it's got a lot of lilac in it. I like it either way though!

Festive nails

Here's what my nails looked like over Christmas. I managed to match my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day outfits to my nails, even though that wasn't my intention when I chose the nail polish on Monday 22nd

This is Illamasqua's Viridian which is a gorgeous metallic dark green. Two coats would have been okay but I did three as I miss bits. 

Nail bling

Recently I bought a lucky dip of nail polishes from Nails Inc. They're really good value so I recommend setting up an account with them so you get sent notification of their sales etc. I love Nails Inc for their range of colours and the quality of the polish. 

This is Great Tichfield Street and it's a gorgeous gold with a pink flash. I will definitely use it again. 

Blog Every Day in August - Day 22

Lee and I are away as you read this. It was his birthday on Thursday so I've whisked him away for the weekend. I'll share photos when we're home!

In the meantime I'm going to show you my current nail polish. This is a Zoya polish - Zoya are cruelty free, chemical free, etc. All their polishes are named after women, and this one is called Caitlin. I love the greyness to the purple!

What I Wore March 4th

I went to work and met a friend for lunch, so this is a semi-casual work outfit. The skirt is from Yours, I've worn it here before. The top was from Yours too, about a million years ago. The cardigan was from a clothes swap in Sheffield, it's a size 22 which I am not but I think it looks good with the top button buttoned and the rest not.

Bonus picture of my nails!

Simply Be Paisley Dress

When I was on the way to Doncaster for the shopping recently, my mum texted me to tell me to buy any things for myself as birthday presents if I saw anything. Now I don't need to be told twice, so I bought sale items in Simply Be. They were on 3-for-2, so I got three items for about £40!

I had seen this dress on the website and liked it, and in the shop it was just £10. There were eight of us shopping, and five of us ended up buying it! So today all five of us are going to show you how we would style the dress.

I saw on the Simply Be website here that they had paired this dress with red tights, so I did the same, and also slipped on my black heels that I sometimes wear for work and nights out. I wouldn't have thought of pulling the red out of the dress but I'm glad I did as I think the bright tights set it off really well. 

Here you can see the heels better. They are quite low blocky heels so quite comfortable for me, I hate heels usually. The tights are from The Big Bloomers Company which I wholeheartedly endorse. It's a great site. They have tights and underwear and loungewear and even big hospital gowns which is one of the things the NHS should provide but doesn't. Their All Woman tights are seriously SO roomy. I could get me and someone else inside mine. And even though they're only 20 denier they hold up really well, as do these red ones. 

I've tried to get more of a full body shot here but I don't have a full length mirror - I should invest in one. The dress is a nice length on me - about knee length. I'm 5'5" for reference. It is quite clingy though and I have a visible belly outline which I'm not used to. Wearing this will be somewhat out of my comfort zone so I will wear it accordingly!

This is a close up of the print and shows the colour of my tights. I have the same ones in teal which I'll show you at some point. 

One of the reasons I love this dress though is that because of the mock wrap effect it really highlights my hourglass shape, which I like, and also it sits really nicely across my boobs, separating them so there's no 'monoboob' effect, which often happens to me. 

I also really like the sleeve length as they make the dress winter appropriate and save me from wearing a cardigan. 

Finally I must show you my nail polish! I absolutely love nail polish; I have over 200. This one is Nails Inc Chester Terrace, which is a dark teal/blue. It's also matte, which means it isn't shiny. I like it!