My Summer Faves!

So I've finally (reluctantly) admitted to myself that summer is over, after having to turn the heating on for the first time this week, digging out all my winter clothes and starting to browse the shops for scarves, hats and ear muffs. In doing so, I thought it might be a nice idea to do a post on what have been my 'summer faves', to point out what have been my favourite new purchases, the items I just haven't stopped wearing and my bargain buys of Summer 2010, before they are banished to the back of my wardrobe for winter! On that note, on to business...

My favourite... first!

Now I'm sure this might sound strange to many of you, but before this summer I'd never owned a pair of ballet pumps of any description. I'd just never found a pair that were cute AND comfortable. Well, that was until I discovered these little beauties for £12 in Tesco. I think the combination of bows, leopard print and jewels is so tacky that it just about works! I've worn these shoes so much this summer and am yet to find a second pair of pumps that lives up to them!

My favourite... bargain!

If we're talking on a cost-per-wear basis, my absolute bargain of the summer just has to be this floral dress from the G21 range at Asda :-) It cost £7 and I have worn it soooo many times! The great thing about it is how versatile it is - I've worn it for a job interview, nights out and just chilling in the daytime. It's so easy to transform with different shoes and accessories. It was perfect for those days when I couldn't really think what to wear, as I new I could just put this on, and with the right accessories and shoes it would be prefect for whatever I was doing - I need to get myself a winter equivalent!

My favourite... 'unusual' outfit!

My favourite outfit that I've only ever worn once and am 99.99% sure I'll never wear again is my graduation outfit, which I wore back in July for my graduation ceremony :-) After 4 years hard work (and a lot of fun!) it was a great feeling getting the gown and mortar board on - we had finally done it! I thought I might feel a bit silly wearing it, but I think you really get into the festivities of the day, and are so proud of what you and all your friends have done that it feels like such an accomplishment to finally be wearing it :-)

My favourite... freebie!

Between graduation in July and starting my new job last week I had a lot of lovely spare time over the summer months, and one of the things I busied myself with was entering lots of competitions (random I know!). I was pretty successful anyway, and won a whole plethora of goodies, from make up to vouchers, and hair products to teapots! However, my favourite win just has to be this gorgeous dress from Tesco's couture range which I originally reviewed here. I'm still waiting for the perfect occasion to wear it, but I just can't wait to do so - I think it's so pretty :-)

My favourite.... 'special' purchase!

My absolute favourite purchase of the summer overall has to be the dress I bought back in June for my Graduation Ball. Some of you may have followed my search for the right dress for the occasion, and I just knew when I lay my eyes on this Karen Millen number that it was 'the one'! I LOVED everything about it - the cut, the colour, the detailing - I just thought it was perfect. I felt really good in it, which I think is the most important thing when dressing up for a special occasion as confidence really shines through :-) And it was only £55 which I think for a dress like that is pretty darn reasonable! If you want to see more pics from that night you can look at the post I wrote back in June here.

So there we have it - my favourites of the summer :-) I hope you've liked this post. If you have, maybe I can make this sort of post a more regular thing.

What have been your favourite items from your wardrobe this summer? And what are you most excited about wearing this winter? I need some inspiration, as at the moment I'm pretty depressed at the thought of cold weather!

xx

August? Seriously?!

Evenin all,

Hope you're all good and surviving the cold weather... seriously, it's meant to be August, what's the cold snap all about? We actually had to turn the central heating on tonight... bad times.

Anyway, I've just got a really quick outfit post of what I wore the other night, before it turned chilly. The plan was to head to a friend's house for drinks, before heading into town for a boogie and a bit more drinking! This is what I went for...

This dress has been one of my best recent purchases - it cost just £7 and I've worn it so much. I think it's really versatile, as I can wear it during the day, on a night out, and I even wore it to a recent job interview (see my post here).

Dress - G21 at Asda

Sandals - Tesco

Belt - Primark

Clutch - Dorothy Perkins

Earrings - can't remember...

I had a bit of a hair malfunction before I went out (well, to be honest, it was probably just wasn't doing quite as it was told, but at the time it seemed like an actual disaster - I HATE hair stress before going out!). I tried to curl it but it wasn't really behaving, so in the end I ended up with general messy hair with random ringlets - I was NOT pleased!

Make-up wise I tried out a few new Rimmel products I won in their Twitter competition recently, which I've fallen in love with, so hopefully I'll do a more detailed post on some of those soon.

In the end, after starting of with a few drinks round a friends house, we all said we were pretty much happy to stay there rather than go out, and someone suggested we play some good old fashion games! What old people we are at heart! We got Articulate out at midnight and were still playing at 5.30am!! I have never played it before, but it was sooooo funny - actually had one of the best nights I've had in ages :-D I can highly recommend it. However, walking home at 6.30am wearing the night before's clothes passing random people who were out on their early morning walk, I did feel a bit naughty, like I'd done something wrong :-/ I bet they thought I was a real dirty stop out - little did they know I'd been playing board games, not painting the town red!

What board games do you guys like to play?! After only just discovering Articulate, I feel like there must be loads of other gems out there that I've been missing out on!

xx

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...

Evening all,

Thought I would write a quick little blog with a few cute piccies of my day at the beach at the weekend :-)

On Sunday it was my boyfriend's stepmum's 60th birthday and she wanted all her friends and family (around 40 of us altogether!) to celebrate at one of her favourite places in the whole world... Frinton-on-Sea!! She owns a beach hut there with 4 of her friends so that was the hub of the day's activities. The hut is sooo cute! I really want one, but with a price tag of around £20,000, I think they're a little out of my price range!

We were very lucky with the weather, as it didn't rain at all. Although it was super sunny, there was quite a strong breeze so it was a little chilly (hence why I didn't feel the need to put suncream on, so am now nursing very burnt legs!). Here's what I wore...

I popped on my straw hat from Primark to keep the sun of my face and tied my hair in a messy side plait to try to keep it out of my eyes.

Bag- New Look

Shorts (again!) - Dorothy Perkins

Belt - Primark

Strapless Top- Dorothy Perkins

Cardigan- New Look

I spent the day releasing my inner child; building sandcastles, paddling and playing games. After food, the birthday girl was presented with the most amazing birthday cake...

How adorable is it?! With the beach huts (notice how it's number 60 because it was her 60th), a lilo, crab, the sand, beach ball, and the lady herself asleep on a deckchair, every detail was perfect :-)

What makes it even better is that it was all made by one of her friend's daughters - very talented lady! Her boyfriend even got roped in and helped make the deckchair - he cut lollipop sticks, sanded them down and even drilled holes in them so he could stick them altogether... now that's a lot of effort! It was all worth it though, as she seemed to love it...

Just as we were leaving, the boyfriend, his dad and stepdad felt the need to go for a swim :-/ Now, I know it was a sunny day and we were at the beach 'n all, but let's not forget... THIS IS ENGLAND and the water was still freezing!! Ah well, I guess boys with be boys, whatever their age!

I had a really lovely day at the beach and, most importantly, so did the birthday girl :-) Now, where's the aftersun...

xx