Birthday haul #2 - gifts I can wear

Following on from my 'gifts I can gaze at' post, this next instalment of my mini birthday haul series focuses on gifts I can wear.

Firstly, let's focus on one of my biggest loves... jewellery! I received some really lovely jewellery for my birthday and I've worn every item quite a few times already. I had three exciting bags to open on my birthday morning...

The beautiful Tiffany & Co bracelet is from Neil's parents and came all the way from New York. They bought me the matching 'Tiffany Blue' necklace a few years ago so this is a great addition to my collection. I love the elegance and simplicity of this bracelet and took great pride in wearing it all day on my birthday. 

The surprise in the Clogau bag was a very thoughtful gift from Neil. I bought a forget-me-not necklace from Clogau a few weeks ago in memory of my grandmother who passed away in February, and Neil bought me the matching ring for my birthday. It's very dainty and detailed... I'm now saving up for the matching earrings as it's such a pretty collection! 

The Pandora charm pictured above is a pretty four-leaf clover from my Irish colleague, Edwina. It's so sparkly and fits in perfectly with the springtime charms on my Pandora bangle. Staying with the Pandora theme, my parents gave me money for my birthday which I spent on the beautiful 2016 Pandora Club charm. You can see the four-leaf clover on my bangle below, as well as the intricate heart-shaped Club charm. It has '2016' engraved on it so I thought it was the perfect thing to buy with my birthday money. 

When I went home to celebrate my birthday with friends and family last week, I received another Pandora charm from Nicola - this one will also fit in perfectly with the charms on my bangle! 

In addition to my jewellery gifts, I also received a pink Fiorelli bag from Neil. I fell in love with it when I saw it on a recent trip to Clarks Village but, as I'd also fallen in love with a yellow bag, Neil said he'd buy the pink one for my birthday so that I could have both. This is my fifth Fiorelli bag... I just can't help it, they're so pretty and come in such beautiful colours! 

And, of course, no birthday would be complete without some Disney pyjamas. As my birthday is at the beginning of the summer, it's the perfect chance to stock up on new summer pyjamas. I had the Jungle Book pyjamas from my parents and the Little Mermaid pyjamas from Neil. I can confirm that both pairs are very comfortable!

So, to sum up, I love receiving gifts I can wear. Check back soon to read my last blog post on my birthday presents - gifts I can use! 

New thing every week in 2015 #1

I decided to unashamedly copy Liz at the beginning of last year by doing one new thing every week during 2015 (read Liz's first post here). There were admittedly times when I forgot to record something new for weeks on end which meant I had to rely on my Instagram updates to figure out what new things I did... this is why there are so many food entries!

I've split last year's 'new thing every week' posts into five instalments as I seem to be a big fan of splitting up my posts at the moment.

Here are the new things I did between 1 January and 11 March 2015... enjoy!

Week 1 (1-7 January) - Changed my name on my passport due to getting married in 2014.

Week 2 (8-14 January) - Fake Christmas with university friends in Milton Keynes for the first time.

Week 3 (15-21 January) - Started this challenge!

Week 4 (22-28 January) - Had a wisdom tooth out, hopefully for the first and last time. 

Week 5 (29 January - 4 February) - Bought a red bag (and a yellow purse). 

Week 6 (5-11 February) - Ate churros in this country during a visit to Chimichanga - I've only had them in Florida previously. 

Week 7 (12-18 February) - A bird did its business on my head... I didn't have much choice in this one, and I definitely haven't got a photo!

Week 8 (19-25 February) - Went to Wahaca.

Week 9 (26 February - 4 March) - Went to Llanerch Vineyard as a surprise for Neil's birthday. 

Week 10 (5-11 March) - Went to an engagement party.

So, as you can see, I ate a lot during the first quarter of 2015. The next ten weeks will follow in a few days! 

Twelve posts of Christmas #7 - My Christmas party dresses

I can't believe it's already 29th December... why do good times go so quickly? As you'll have read in my Christmas Plans blog post, the last week has been packed full of lovely experiences with family and friends. It's also been packed with an insane amount of food, but that's another story (and another blog post).

I thought I'd focus my seventh post of Christmas on the dresses I've worn this month for various festive occasions. Everyone loves an occasion to wear/buy a new dress, right? Also, after all the aforementioned food, I might not be fitting back into these dresses for a while so it's probably best to make the most of them...

I wore this dress to Neil's work Christmas party at the beginning of December. Although they're not very clear in the picture, the dress is covered with glitzy black sequins and has a pretty lace overlay. The belt brings the dress in nicely at the waist which is the exact shape I like. It's from New Look (just like everything else I ever wear) and I bought it from last year's Christmas party range.

I wore this dress to my own work Christmas party as I wanted a change of colour - I ALWAYS wear black dresses on special occasions. It's lacy, it's a fit and flare shape, it has pretty sleeves... everything I like in a dress! I bought this dress in a New Look discount event before Christmas, and it's now discounted even further.

And lastly, I wore this dress on Christmas Day... another one from New Look. Although I look slightly deranged in this photo and the lighting is a bit odd, I absolutely love this dress. The subtle pleats ensure that it's a very full skirt and the monochrome element makes it look more striking than your average black dress. 

I also love the accessories I wore to all my Christmas occasions - again, all from New Look! The black accessories were bought last year and the silver bag is now out of stock, but you can find the sparkly shoes here. 

What dresses did you wear over the festive period? Let me know if you've blogged about them, I love reading about other people's outfit choices!

Outfit of the Day - Christmas sales!

I haven't written an 'Outfit of the Day' post since May 2014... I thought it was about time I rectified this!

Like everyone else in the UK, I've been scouring the Christmas sales for the last week or so and have snapped up some lovely bargains. I wore two of my favourite finds to the cinema last week...

Leather jacket - New Look
Skirt - Debenhams

Snood and gloves - Next (out of stock)

Boots - New Look
Bag - Venice!

I've had my eye on this leather jacket from New Look for months. However, it was previously £64.99 which I just couldn't justify. When I noticed that it had been reduced to £33, I just couldn't say no. In fact, I actually bought it on my phone at 5:30am as I was so eager to buy it before it sold out. It's real leather unlike most of New Look's other jackets, so it was an absolute bargain. I love the peplum detail and it's a very slimming jacket. Lovely fit!

As for the skirt, I bought it from the Debenhams half price sale. I've been looking for a tartan skirt for a while and thought this one was a lovely colour and a different style to any of the other skirts I own. I paid £14 for this skirt instead of £28... another bargain. 

I treated myself to the snood and gloves from Next a few months ago... I love winter purely because I get to wear all my scarves and gloves (and sneakily buy a few more). The black boots from New Look were also a post honeymoon purchase and they're ridiculously comfortable, as well as being a perfect match for the jacket.

As for the beautiful bag, I bought it from the Guess store in Venice while we were on honeymoon. I had to save very hard to gather enough spending money to take on honeymoon so I thought I'd treat myself while I was there. I'm a bit obsessed with big handbags at the moment and this one goes with absolutely everything. My favourite bag in the world!

What were your favourite sale purchases? Send me your links! 

Outfit of the Day: Little Black Dress, Cricieth style!

Everyone loves a little black dress, yes?

I've been a bit obsessed with New Look lately and have treated myself to a few things from there ready for my honeymoon. I decided to take one of my new New Look outfits away with me to Cricieth as I wanted to wear something new and the weather forecast was promising. I also wanted to practice wearing my rather lovely new heels!

Dress - New Look

Bag - New Look (out of stock)

Shoes - New Look 

I'd be grateful if you could ignore my pasty white legs!

The dress is very simple and is in my beloved skater style. I genuinely don't think skater dresses look bad on anyone. It has a delicate daisy trim around the neckline and is just the right length for my extremely short legs. The accompanying floral bag is just beautiful and is the perfect size for going out in the evening. I could comfortably fit my phone, camera, keys and evening purse into the little bag. As for the shoes... I love these shoes! The heel is around 2.5 inches tall so they're not too high (even for me), and the slingback design means they can't fall off my feet. This is a problem I frequently experience while wearing heels, so the little strap at the back helps a lot and makes me feel a lot more confident that I won't fall over and break my ankle in an embarrassing manner. 

I teamed the dress with a black short sleeved bolero cardigan for our walk into town as it was a bit chilly. The cardigan is from Amazon and was only £4... I've also bought it in stone, white and cerise ready for our honeymoon! I couldn't resist getting some other colours at that bargain price. The crochet detail is really pretty and the 8/10 size is a perfect fit. 

What's your favourite little black dress?

Outfit of the Day... trip to Cardiff Bay!

As promised in my latest Easter in photos blog post, I thought I'd elaborate on what I got up to over the Easter weekend. One of my favourite outings was our walk to Cardiff Bay on Saturday, so I thought I'd start with a post on that. I'm also conveniently combining it with an Outfit of the Day post as I haven't done one of those for a while!

Dress - New Look (out of stock)

Shoes - Red Herring at Debenhams (last year)

Bag - Guess, from Florida

I really love this new dress from New Look so I thought I'd wear it on our stroll to Cardiff Bay last Saturday. It was actually pretty cold in the morning/early afternoon, so I unfortunately had to wear a coat over it. I also bought these pretty shoes from Debenhams last year which went perfectly with the dress. They're black with green and red flowers so I haven't worn them much as I don't wear green or red very often. This dress therefore gave me the perfect opportunity to wear these shoes! My bag is yet another Guess purchase from Florida... this one was actually a present from Neil the last time we visited Orlando. Simple outfit, but I like it!

Once we got to Cardiff Bay, we had a little wander around the main shopping area then popped in to Fabulous Welshcakes and bought a blueberry welshcake and a chocolate chip welshcake each. You might think people shouldn't mess with the traditional welshcake flavour, but I can guarantee that you'd change your mind if you tasted these. I'm already so excited that Fabulous Welshcakes are providing the favours for our wedding day!

We then walked over to the Red Dragon Centre and had a hot chocolate in The Coffee House, run by Cadwaladers (a Welsh ice cream chain). Yes, I know I drink too much hot chocolate. In my defence, I always ask for skimmed milk. I don't like tea or coffee... what else is there for me to drink in a coffee establishment?

There were a few market stalls near the Mermaid Quay area so we had a look at those before heading back to my flat. There were stalls selling slate goods, jewellery, cupcakes, welshcakes, photo prints, curry powder, cheese, fudge and lots more! You can't beat a cluster of Welsh market stalls. I bought these lovely earrings for £3 from a craft stall... they conveniently go with my new green dress. 

The Bay is a really pretty place and I always love walking around there, even if it was a bit cold on Saturday. There isn't actually much to do in the Bay unless you want to eat and drink all day, but it's always a nice place to visit for a couple of hours. 

Have you been to Cardiff Bay recently? Did you also give in to the temptation of Fabulous Welshcakes?

Outfit of the Day... summer dress and Ugg boots!

I thought I'd do a quick 'Outfit of the Day' post in honour of last weekend's sunny weather! Just like my first Outfit of the Day post, I'm wearing a few items from Florida...

Dress - Dorothy Perkins

Ugg boots - Journey (Florida)
Bag - Guess (Florida)

I love the kind of weather we experienced last weekend. Not quite cold enough to put away my beloved Ugg boots, but pleasant enough to wear a light summery dress. My pasty legs are a slight concern (I wore skin coloured tights), but they won't be getting brown any time soon so I should probably just accept them!

This outfit features my favourite bag in the world. I bought this bag in the Guess store in Florida's Mall at Millennia last year as a treat to myself. I would never usually spend that much money on a bag! In my defence, Guess bags are much cheaper in Florida and there happened to be 25% off all bags on the day I bought this one. It's the perfect size and the neutral colours mean I can wear it with almost all the clothes I own. I love it!

This dress was a recent purchase from Dorothy Perkins... it also had 25% off when I bought it. You should have noticed by now that I'm very rarely willing to pay full price for anything. I thought the dress would be perfect for my honeymoon, but I ended up wearing it last weekend as it's much too pretty to stay in my wardrobe until September. 

What did you get up to last weekend? Do you love the Ugg boots/summer dress combination too?

Outfit of the Day... just because I love my new bag!

Drum roll... this is my very first Outfit of the Day post. The outfit isn't even that special, but I really love my new bag so wanted to include it in a blog post. I find myself wanting to blog about everything I ever see/buy/do/eat... if only there were more hours in the day!

Scarf - Camden Market, London (ancient)

Leather jacket - Oasis (last year)

T-shirt - Universal Studios, Florida

Jeans - Gap 

Ugg boots - Journey, Florida

Beautiful pink bag - Dorothy Perkins

I've been looking for a big pink bag in this kind of style for months so I was rather pleased when I saw this beauty in Dorothy Perkins last weekend. I hadn't bought myself a bag for a while so I thought I'd do something nice for myself. I love bags and I love pink things... it had to be done. The bag is very spacious and conveniently has a long shoulder strap as well as two little handles. It has a zip closure which is perfect for a paranoid android like me, and it looks and feels like a really high quality bag for a high street price. I love it! 

The rest of the outfit isn't particularly spectacular, but I do love my Ugg boots and it was nice to be able to wear my leather jacket rather than my hooded waterproof coat for a change. Spring appears to be just around the corner!

The bag isn't on Dorothy Perkins' website yet for some reason, but you should be able to find it in your local store. Has anyone else bought this beautiful bag?

What's in my bag?

I've read lots of 'What's in my bag?' posts lately and thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. First of all, one thing you need to realise is that I love bags, so I always use a different one depending on what I'm wearing, how much I need to carry, or which mood I'm in. This means I have some essential items which I transfer from bag to bag on a regular basis. The contents of my bag aren't particularly girly if I'm honest, the items are more geared towards organisation than beauty. This won't surprise you too much, as I LOVE ORGANISATION. 

My essentials

Purse: I never leave the house without my purse, whether it's got money in it or not (it usually hasn't). I bought this purse from a Guess outlet in Florida at a very reasonable price, and I absolutely adore it.

Phone: My phone is one of my favourite things in the world, ever. Whenever I forget it or the battery dies while I'm out, I genuinely feel as if part of me is missing. Got to love the digital age.

Keys: Obviously I never leave the house without these, or I wouldn't be able to get back in. I love my little pink Converse keying!

Diary: I'd be totally lost without my diary. I write all my work meetings, appointments, college sessions, social occasions, holidays, birthdays and addresses in it, and genuinely enjoy keeping it up to date.

Book of lists: Yes, I have a notebook specifically for lists which goes everywhere with me. This book contains my monthly budgets, to do lists, shopping lists, lists of what to pack when I go away, and any other lists you can think of.

iPod: My boyfriend bought me an iPod Nano for Christmas, and it's definitely a handbag essential. I can plug it in to the tape deck in my car while I'm driving (yes, my car is old enough to have a tape deck), I listen to it in the gym, and also when I go for walks. And it's pink!

Soap and Glory Hand Food: The best hand cream ever. No really, it is. It's essential for keeping my hands moisturised when I'm out and about, and it smells amazing too!

Mirror: I always carry my little pink mirror around just to make sure my hair hasn't done a wobbly and to make sure I haven't got food on my face. Usually, people won't actually tell you if your hair is messy or you've got food on your face, then you feel like an idiot when you see yourself in the mirror after talking to them for an hour.

Paracetamol: You just never know when you might get a headache.

Pens: An obvious essential... My diary and book of lists wouldn't be very useful without one of these. And it doesn't hurt to carry a few spares!


What's in your bag?