i hope the wind'll blow you back into my life..

life really does take you round and round in circles sometimes, or so i've begun to believe..i've been having a rough few days emtionally, and haven't much felt like posting anything, until i sorted my head out a little better anyway..i thought i had been through all this and come out the other side, but now i feel like i'm back where i started a few months back, as though no progress has been made at all..grrrrrr :(

as i haven't yet put together my nautical wardrobe, i will just catch up on a few recent outfits..i've been in a serious irreguar choice mood recently, have worn nothing but them for the last few days, which always cheers me up a little..

the weekend before last, my dad bought me a present as a bonus for doing well at work..the beautiful black and red handbag, which i saw in a shop window and totally fell for..hence the outfit worked around it for last friday - the black and white floral print dress is a classic h&m style which i have in various colours, teamed with a red and white tshirty cardi from topshop, which i'd forgotten about until my forage for nautical-inspired pieces..with these i wore my lovely irregular choice underwear print heels, which i so love, that and the new bag assured that i had a good friday :)

monday - still loving the bargainous cream sequin jacket from last post (tesco, £6!) i couldn't wait to wear it, so teamed it with a plain brown dress from h&m (told you i had it in different colours!) and river island floral tights, with some taupe shoes from asos with cute criss cross straps..at first the sequins felt a little dressy for day to day wear, but coffee before work with a friend meant a 7.30 start, so i needed something to cheer me up, and received several compliments throughout the day..

tuesday - having sat in pride of place on my windowsill for the last week or so since i unearthed them from the mess under the bed at the weekend, i was desperate to wear my irregular choice gold spatz ankle boots again, so decided to add to them a simple leopard print shift dress, again from tesco, and simple black tights / shrug to draw attention to the shoes..

wednesday - when i first saw it in warehouse, i just had to have this dress! it is cut so well that it always seems to flatter, whatever i wear it with, and i think it may be the only thing i have ever paid full price for in warehouse..today i settled for it to go with my blue can can shoe boots with the pink bows and swans on, as the colours are picked out in the floral detail in the dress..not liking my awful hair the last few days, i think it needs a styling, and the terrible tights which were not as opaque as i'd hoped this morning :S

oh and i was rather proud of the cherry cupcakes i made at the weekend, although they haven't yet been eaten, as i am still suffering from the evil sotmach pains..but trying to avoid the dr as long as possible, perhaps unwisely..

you know the stripes of a tiger are so hard to change..

..back to my cosy flat, I'm feeling nicely relaxed after a few days away having spent my time with one of my best friends, shopping, lunching and just catching up on each other's news..today my outfit was dressed to do a fair amount of walking so I wore the flat grey boots with berry tights and a h&m strapless rose print dress (which I also have in blue as it's such a versatile dress!)..I've noticed that i definitely seem to have moved away from boring black leggings recently, where the once used to be my standard addition to every outfit, I've taken to tights since the weather has got colder, and seem to have accumulated a fair range of colours..I like the way a bright pair of tights seem to be able to add a quirky edge to a smart outfit for work or whatever..
I also wore my fabulous panda hat yet again, which I do seriously love, along with a grey lace draped cardigan, which I was so pleased to find in primark following there being one in black in dotty p's which I had coveted for so long, I then found that i liked the grey version better..
upon my return I headed to tesco for a quick food shop, and came back with this beautiful sequin jacket which definitely was not on the list, but at £6 was a total steal, so I was glad at the self scan checkout when my shopping had gone through and my budget would still allow for it!! thers just something about a clothes sale that makes me want to rummage through all that is on offer..however, what we did notice on our various trawls around the shops over the last few days is how similar the new season stock seemed to be in every store..I've never before noticed so many similar items in all the high sreet stores, I mean I know there is usually the same trend across the board, but there seemed to be almost identical items in every store, to suit every price range..in addition, I think I may be bored of the nautical trend, which has boomeranged back into the windows every spring for the last few yrs..I couldn't find one thing from the new season range in any of the shops that I'll be back to purchase next week on payday, which is unbelievably unlike me!! I have decided to try and find as many pieces already in my wardrobe which will fit with the trend for my next post..

..why..if we can make the plans, then we just can't find the time..

ugh..feeling so disorganised recently..haven't posted anything for a week which isn't great, although mainly because I've been really busy at work and not had the time..and also leant my camera out to my friend for a while so no chance to take outfit pics either..am currently getting to grips with my new phone with exciting Internet capabilities although not sure of this will work yet..
as part of my new year's resolutions, I have decided that I need to make more of a concerted effort to keep in touch with my friends and do more with them, as I realise it's all to easy to make excuses not to do things and that it's easy to lose touch with people you love..
as part of this, have used a little of my holiday allowance this yr for a change and am currently visiting a friend for a few fun-filled days..so far we have been to see George clooney's new movie, which was rather amusing, and today spent the day ice skating and shopping/afternoon tea-ing in peterborough..my outfit of the day was a nod towards the new parisienne/nautical trend with a navy blue sundress with white stars (which I have in several different colours from Primark) with a polka dot cardi, blue and white stripy gloves and my panda hat (both Xmas presents) and a cute navy silky Eiffel tower print scarf from Miss Selfridge..

my day's bargains included: a pair of purple snakeskin gladiator sandals with rosette flowers on (£12) and a lemon yellow rectangular clutch bag (£7) from Dorothy Perkins (bought with vouchers I saved up from surveys), a dark blue beret (£3) and some cute enamel clock earrings (£2.50) from Accessorize so quite pleased with my handful of bargains for very little spend..

L-O-V-E's just another word i never learned to pronounce..

sometimes i just get the feeling that the other housework can wait, it's time to bake a cake..or some cookies, or something lovely and yummy to cheer up my best friend at work the next day (as he's usually more miserable than me)..so, inspired by a blog swap on the swap-bot site i signed up to last week, i have decided to post a few of my baking-related escapades..

the cookie monster cupcakes were inspired by a picture i found when searching for something totally unrelated..but my sister and i were so taken with them that we had to give them a go..think they turned out rather well, they went down a storm at work, just normal sponge cupcakes with blue coconut butter icing, and choc buttons / pieces of cookie for the tops..

the robot was a birthday cake for my best friend, i just made a basic sponge in a rectangular roasting tin, and then carved him up and reassembled to create a basic robot shape, which i then iced and decorated with various sweets and licquorice laces for the wires.worked rather well as an idea from my head..i also made my friend a miniature felt version of the little fella as a present to go with the cake..

sunday night was my most recent cupcake experiment, as for christmas i received a book of 1001 cupcake recipes from a friend, which has all sorts of goodness in..i decided to try out these pineapple ones, which were just basic sponge with pieces of pineapple in the middle, which i loved..i only made a small batch as a trial, and they didn't make it thru a whole day at work, everyone seemed to like them, but i think they look a bit dull, so if i did them again i would put a piece of pineapple on the top of the icing too..

outfitwise, just a couple to add today, one from last week, where i went to a friend's house for a catch-up, having not seen her in a couple of months..due to the weather, i decided layers were a good idea, although i wanted a bit of a dressed-up feel, so wore a strapless sequin prom dress, new look limited ed. a couple of years ago, over tights and the long boots from peacocks..i then added a floral print tshirt from zara, and my chunky miss selfridge cardi..to go out i also added coat, scarf and gloves, as well as the panda hat i recieved from my mum for christmas which i totally love..

yesterday i found a primark skirt with a nice paint-effect pattern in purples and greys, which i'd forgotten about in the midst of all the lovely things that are crammed into the overflow storage boxes under my bed..i added a plain teal tshirt, and a long silver cardi, with purple tights and my grey boots..the purple coat was an absolute bargain at the matalan sale, £8.50 down from £35 and it's such a lovely bright colour..also wore a pair of teal leather gloves, which i picked up in the primark sale this time last year, and was so glad i wore yday, as the reason for my slightly dishevalled appearance here is the impromptu snowball attack my guides group decided to launch on me..those gloves are now drying out on my radiator, after being the perfect thing for making snowballs!

if you're a dream then come true..

i'm aware i'm probably in the minority here, but i am thoroughly enjoying the snowy weather we have been experiencing recently..i know this has a lot to do with the fact that my area has not been all that badly affected, we have snow on the ground, but there's no chance of being snowed in, and i also drive a 4x4, so no worries of getting stuck anywhere..that i'm sure is why, but it's still fun, and i'm hoping it stays at least until tomorrow so sis and i can hopefully do some sledging..

last night's entertainment was a trip to the pantomime as we were given tickets, so little sis and i enjoyed trudging through the snow to find the theatre and watching cinderella, of course joining in with all the shouting, which was great fun!

couple of outfit posts to catch up with, the first being a work one from wed, then altered slightly for a trip to the cinema with a friend as i went straight from work..the dress is one of the most simple items in my wardrobe, but i have worn it so much for bar jobs, and work that it has paid for itself so many times over! (was only from primark in the first place)..to which i added a long teal cardi, £3 matalan sale, and teal lace tights, also £3 matalan last week, and my bargainous phase eight heels (which i am annoyed to discover are a little too big, but i love them so much i will find some inserts or something so that they fit better)..for the evening, i changed the shoes to the orange sueed heels i picked up in primark the other day, and (hopefully) pulled it altogether with the accessorize pompom scarf i have been longing for for ages (thank u sis!)

yesterday's outfit was a chance to wear a dress i have been keeping an eye on in laura ashley for ages, and was rather tempted to snap up before xmas, when it was reduced to £48, but decided to wait a little longer, and picked the last one up in my size for £29 on saturday, yay!! i put it with some grey tights, a silver primark cardi and a pair of grey and pink irregualr choice heels for work / panto in the evening..

it's better to have lost love then, to paint a smile and pretend..

right..enough miserable moods for a while, i have decided that whilst i don't have any specific resolutions, i am going to make 2010 a year for doing all those things that get pushed down to the bottom of the to-do and want-to-do-but-havn't-yet-got-round-to lists..i think the first one of those is sewing..i love finding fabrics and patterns, and have a whole heap of partially-started projects, but i am definitely going to make a concerted effort to do more, as it's something i love to do when i sit down and have the time to..in the pic are a couple of bits i handmade from felt over the xmas break..a reindeer for the tree, some party rings to go on the front of a card for a friend, and a name plate for my friend's daughter's bedroom door as part of an xmas present..

i cannot sleep, i cannot dream tonight..

ugh, this is driving me mad, i haven't had an entire night's sleep for so long, despite the fact that i have been feeling so much more relaxed and cheerful for the last few weeks..i either can't get to sleep in the first place, or once i have, i wake up either too warm (yes, i know it is -5 outside, but i have been sleeping with the window open) or scared by another nightmare..bad times :(

anyway, onto more cheerful things, at least it gives me more time to do some of the things i spend so long meaning to but never getting around to..like the heap of unfinished dress pieces, all of which need sewing together..

today's outfit for work is one of the tops my dad treated me to last week, from a lovely boutique he discovered with my mum whilst away..was really drawn to the simple nature of the top, embellished with the black beads..i've gone for a simple black skirt, in order to draw attention to top and shoes - irregular choice riff raff heels with spiders on..

on the subject of shoes, am rather excited about the number of pairs i have acquired over xmas, both as presents or sale purchases..yellow gingham irregular choice heels, with bananas on the fronts, which were via ebay, orange suede heels, £13 from primark on friday, blue striped sandals with red hearts, which i love for the nautical cuteness, office, but via ebay..the turquoise irregular choice kitten heels were a present from my sister, i have them in another colour, and really love the kitschy fork and knife charms on the front..the ones next to that i must admit i snapped up from schuh the other day at full price, but they are so cute, with teddy print and big bows at the front, and it's a style i've had before and know i can wear comfortably..the stars of the show, however, are the black heels i found in the phase eight sale..not a shop i venture into othat often, but these were the last pair, in my size, and down to £25 from £85, and i have been looking for a pair of simple but pretty heels in plain black..i totally fell for the beads on the front, but they are still formal enough to wear for smart occasions, which is why i think they were the best bargain of all!

don't tell me that its time for going solo..you need to knock some sense into your ego..

happy new year to everyone, and i hope you all enjoyed a lovely christmas break..my couple of weeks off work have been spent relaxing with family and friends, as well as bargain-hunting (rather successfully, as the next few posts will no doubt show)..but it is nice to be back to the familiar routine..

the first outfit to catch up on is my xmas eve one, half a day at work and then to my parents' house for a few days..the tartan dress was £5 from primark a couple of years ago now, and every year it seems to just shout 'Xmas' at me, i love the bow and the ruffled rara effect!! I teamed it with boring black tee and tights, based on the fact i was mainly dressing the rest around my fabulous new grey boots from peacocks of all places (i saw some similar ones in faith and wasn't convinced, but liked these more)..i didn't think i was a fan of knee-high boots..but i think these flat ones look great, hopefully not too trashy..

christmas day was lovely, the morning spent with my parents and sisters opening presents around the tree, and then lunch out with the grandparents as well at a hotel in town, which was very nice..i love to dress up at christmas, even if i just end up having dinner at home, so was glad for the opportunity to wear a pretty dress out for once!! for xmas lunch outfit, i wore a lovely berry coloured monsoon prom dress, bought for next to nothing last year from one of my favourite ebay sellers and has been sat in the wardrobe mournfully ever since so thought it was about time to wear it..i added to it grey tights and longline cardi, along with a gorgeous gold carousel charm necklace (made for me by lovely laura of adaisychaindream) and one of my stocking presents - gold bow bangle from accessorize..i therefore chose some gold shoes, £12 a year or so ago in matalan..