Meet Jessie the Corgi!

We're now the proud owners of a Pembroke Welsh Corgi! Jessie is sixteen weeks old and she's been in our lives for six days so far.

I've gone from never having a pet (apart from lots of goldfish) to not being able to imagine life without this energetic ball of fur. She makes me smile every day, however mischievous she's been, and I love that warm fuzzy feeling I get when she curls up on my lap to go to sleep. Even when I've frantically been shouting 'Jessie, no!' for the last hour and a half, it's all worth it when she settles down with me for a cwtch.

We obviously had to have a Disney name for our puppy, and we eventually decided on Jessie (Toy Story 2/3). They've both got red hair, after all. We bought an adorable Minnie Mouse collar when we were in Walt Disney World a couple of months ago, just to cement the Disney theme, and I'm completely in love with the way it looks on her.

I also bought some puppy milestone cards from Kessey Crafts ready for Jessie's arrival and I've managed to use a couple of them to document her journey so far. There's just one problem... I can't put the cards too close to her while she's awake because she tries to eat them!

Jessie loves to chew EVERYTHING and she's never happier than when she's galloping around outside, either in the garden or on a walk, and chewing an interesting leaf/flower/stick. She's such a friendly little thing and won't let anyone walk by without making a fuss of her, but she might try to chew their bag or their walking stick if they're not careful! Although she has her wild half hours, she actually sleeps a lot more than I expected. She's found some unexpected places to curl up, including on our fireplace and on the shelf underneath our coffee table.

We bought a few toys for Jessie before she arrived and she's also been lucky enough to receive lots of toys from our friends and family. She's very clever and quickly finds the squeaker in her toys, much to our delight!

I was determined that I wouldn't be one of those people who sets up a separate Instagram account for their dogs, but by her second day with us I'd done a U-turn on that because she was completely taking over my own account. You can follow Jessie on Instagram here - don't forget to watch her Instagram stories as well as checking out her photos.

Has anyone else blogged about their new puppies? Do you have any tips for me? Let me know! 

Twelve posts of Christmas #8 - Christmas presents: gifts I can wear

Now that the dust has settled over Christmas Day (sob) and we're at the beginning of 2016, I've been busy finding homes for all my lovely presents from family and friends. I'm so grateful for all the thoughtful gifts I've received, and I've decided to blog about them as I love reading other people's 'What I had for Christmas' posts. I've split my posts into three instalments - gifts I can wear, gifts I can eat/drink, and gifts I can use.

That's right, I'm creating a mini series within my 'Twelve posts of Christmas' series... I'm nothing if not organised.

So, to kick off the first Christmas Presents instalment, here are the wearable gifts I had for Christmas!

Beautiful rose gold Fossil watch from Neil. I'm already obsessed with it and never
want to take it off.

A new winter coat from my parents.

It's so warm, elegant and cosy!

An Animal dress from my parents, perfect for

chilly winter days. 

Golden snitch charm from my work Secret Santa, and a suitcase Pandora charm

from Neil's family's pets!

Pretty rose gold necklace from Neil - I mentioned before Christmas that I wanted

to start wearing rose gold jewellery and he's got me off to a good start.

Winnie the Pooh pyjamas from Neil. Such a pretty colour!

Minnie Mouse pyjamas from my parents... I'm wearing these as I blog and

I can confirm that they're extremely comfortable. 

Eeyore pyjamas from my parents in law - everyone seems to know that

I love Disney pyjamas.

Minnie Mouse dressing gown from my parents in law. I'm snuggled up in it

as I write this post!

Super cosy slippers from my parents in law (which I'm also

wearing as I write this post), and fluffy socks from Nicola and from

my parents.

I've already worn all these presents several times and I'm really looking forward to using them more throughout the year ahead. Which items of clothing did you have for Christmas? Were any of yours Disney themed? Let me know! 

Outfit of the Day - brisk walk!

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll probably know that I recently had a wisdom tooth taken out. I consequently felt sorry for myself for a few days, mostly because I couldn't eat properly which is really quite catastrophic in my world. We decided to go for a walk the day after the traumatising event just to get out of the house for some fresh air. It was bitterly cold so I wrapped up in a cosy outfit...

Gilet - Tesco (last year)

Hoodie - Animal (last year)

Skirt - New Look (last year)

Boots - Fat Face (last year)

Scarf - Debenhams (this year, but out of stock!)

As you can see, I've had all these clothes for a while (apart from the scarf). I like digging out my old clothes and wearing them season after season as I feel as if I've got my money's worth out of them, and I can't bear to get rid of clothes that I really love just because they're not brand new. 

The gilet was an absolute bargain at £8 in last year's Tesco winter sale... I love gilets and I love pink, so this is the perfect combination. The denim skirt was a sale item last summer from New Look (also £8, I believe), as was the Animal hoodie... I rarely pay full price for anything, as you've probably gathered by now. Continuing in the same vein, the pink scarf is from Red Herring at Debenhams and I bought it a few weeks ago for £4.80. It was supposed to be £16 so I was very pleased with that particular bargain. 

The boots are probably my favourite part of this outfit and they were a Christmas present from my parents in 2013. They're lined with thick fur and I love the little buttons on the sides. These are ideal for cold walks, as long as it's dry! They're very comfortable too so can be worn for long periods of time without making my feet ache. 

In case you're interested, here's a photo from our walk... such a beautiful day. 

What's your favourite 'brisk walk' outfit? Send me links to your cosy Outfit of the Day posts (please)! 

What I bought with my Christmas money...

I received lots of Christmas money thanks to the generosity of my family and Neil's family, so I couldn't wait to hit the January sales. I don't treat myself very often as I'm obsessed with saving money, particularly at the moment as we're getting married and buying a house this year, so it was nice to have some money to spend on myself. 2014 is going to be a very expensive year so this might be my only chance to treat myself!

I needed to buy a few new dresses as a lot of my existing dresses are too big, so I decided to raid New Look. I used to absolutely love New Look in my teens and early twenties, but there was a period a few years ago when I couldn't find anything I liked in there because everything was either too expensive or too chavtastic for me. However, they've really improved in the last year or so and I now constantly have a few New Look dresses on my wish list.

I needed a new 'dressy' dress and this one was just what I had in mind. It fits perfectly, it's the exact shape I like and it's very pretty! The lace detail is beautiful. The belt came with the dress and it was in the sale, so I was really pleased with this purchase. This black dress is now sold out, but you can still buy it in burgundy. 

This daisy dress cost £10 from £22.99. It's perfect for work or for an evening out as it can be dressed up or down depending on which accessories or shoes I decide to wear, and I really love the pattern. This dress has now sold out. 

I've also had my eye on this beautiful ditzy dress from Animal for months, but it's always been too expensive for me to buy until the price was dropped in their Christmas sale. Look how pretty it is! Please ignore my pasty legs. This will be great for work and for holidays, and I'm already looking forward to wearing it on our honeymoon to Italy. I actually bought this dress from Extreme Pie's website as it was a few pounds cheaper on there. In case you hadn't already guessed, I love flowery clothing.

I've needed a new little black bag for ages and I absolutely fell in love with this black lace bag from New look as soon as I saw it. It was a bargain at £9.99! The strap can either be worn over the shoulder or tucked in and carried as a clutch bag. I also desperately need to learn to walk in heels so I couldn't resist buying these beautiful black lacy shoes. I can't actually walk in them yet... hopefully practice makes perfect. Both the bag and shoes conveniently go perfectly with the new lacy dress shown above!

I also thought I'd buy some nice patterned tops to wear to work or for other more casual occasions, and I found these two at very reasonable prices in Debenhams and New Look. I love the bird images on the first Red Herring top from Debenhams. I wouldn't usually buy white tops but I thought this one was really cute. As for the second top from New Look, I never thought peplum tops would be very flattering for my shape but I've now discovered that they actually look quite nice and they're very different to the tops I usually wear. More flowers!

I also took the opportunity to buy a new Yankee Candle as mine has nearly run out. £8 in Asda for a medium sized candle... bargain! I can't get enough of the Rainwashed Berry scent.

Lastly, I bought Ratatouille and the Bon Jovi Greatest Hits album as they've both been on my wish list for years. They happened to be very low in price on Amazon after Christmas so I snapped them up while I had the funds to do so. Ratatouille is a lovely film (all Disney films are lovely), and everyone loves listening to a bit of Bon Jovi. It's my liiiiiiiiiife!

I'm really pleased with all these bargains and feel as if I made my Christmas money stretch very far indeed. I bought lots of different things for various occasions and have now had my shopping fix for the year!

What did you buy in the January sales?

Idyllic Images #18

Beautiful little Homer... he looks like a model in this photo!

Idyllic Images #15

The cat just didn't want us to throw anything away...

Idyllic Images #14

Tara's happy 'outdoors' face!

March's shopping haul

January and February were very tight months due to the financial hangover from Christmas and having to pay for my annual car insurance, so I decided to treat myself to a few things after March's pay day. My haul isn't very big compared to other similar posts I've read, but I'm not very good at spending money and far too good at saving it. Most of these items were either reduced or on offer too... I'm always on the look out for a bargain.

The summery items are in preparation for my holiday to Florida in September. I'm well aware that I probably won't get the chance to wear them in this country if this weather carries on!

So here's what I've bought lately:

Roxy and Animal flip flops - £5.75 each from Play. 

These would have been £16 each at full price!

Black shorts from Asda, £6

Vest from Asda, £6

Wrap over top from New Look, £12.99

Tshirt from Superdry, £19.99. I know it seems like a lot to pay for a 

tshirt, but they're very flattering and comfortable!

Rimmel powder and Barry M nail varnish, 

£8.98 for the lot due to a 3 for 2 offer in Boots

£1.99 each from Tesco for big 400ml bottles... 

I love Herbal Essences but I've never tried this one before!

So there's my haul... the only extravagant purchase by my standards is the Superdry tshirt, but I'm in love with their tshirts after my boyfriend's parents bought me one for Christmas. The make up, shampoo and conditioner are essentials, and I do need some more summer clothes so those purchases are justified too. This is what I do when I spend money... I have to justify every single little thing. I should rename this blog 'Little Miss Sensible'. 

Has anyone else been shopping in March? Feel free to leave me some links to your haul posts!