New Look meets Disney World

I've recently been to Florida's Walt Disney World... you'll already know this if you follow me on any of my social networking channels. You'll also know that I'm mildly obsessed with New Look and buy most of my clothes there these days. I did most of my holiday shopping in New Look as a result with some excellent bargains along the way, so I thought I'd post photos of some of my favourite New Look outfits. It's also a great chance to share some holiday photos on my blog seeing as I haven't had time to blog about the holiday yet!

So here goes... I should really be on commission for this post, I'd earn a fortune.

I stocked up on vests and shorts from New Look before going away,
and bought these cute white trainers for £5 in the sale!

This beautiful maxi dress was £7 in the summer sale.

Also a sale purchase... it's difficult to tell in this photo but this dress
has got little white polka dots all over it. Such a lovely colour!

Possibly my favourite pre-holiday purchase. LOVE this dress!

Another pair of shorts and a vest... Neil and I didn't
colour coordinate on purpose on this particular day!

And yet another New Look vest and pair of shorts. Reasonably
priced and so comfortable.

I bought this dress a few months ago - definitely one of my favourites.

A sale purchase from last year which I hadn't had an opportunity to wear yet!

Our last evening in Walt Disney World and another
new dress from New Look...

Another sale purchase from last year which I hadn't worn yet.
One of my favourite holiday outfits!

Can you tell that I really loved the colours of New Look's shorts this year?

And more New Look shorts...

I bought this dress last year - always a holiday favourite.

New Look must rub its metaphorical hands in glee whenever I have a holiday coming up! Where's your go-to place for holiday shopping?

My August in Instagram squares

August was a super busy month, as you can tell from my lack of blog posts (again). How is it September already?! However, all is not lost. As my Instagram feed has been kept faithfully up to date, I thought I'd write another monthly update using my Instagram photos as it's such a good way of summarising in squares. It turns out that I did (and ate) quite a lot in August... 

1. We went to Bar 44 in Penarth for the first time. As we went on a Sunday, we decided to go for the Sunday roast sharing platter. It was spectacular, as was my Nutty Brazilian cocktail and my cheesecake. It most definitely needs to become one of our regular haunts.  

2. I went away to North Wales to work at the Eisteddfod for six days. I was surrounded by beautiful views! It unfortunately rained nearly every afternoon while I was there, but the evenings were gloriously sunny. 

3. We did lots of painting in our house... we now have four freshly painted rooms. I love my pink living room wall the most!

4. I went for a lovely walk on one of my days off when we had a rare day of sunshine. I took about 40 photos but I think this one is my favourite...

5. I finished off my holiday shopping in trusty New Look and Primark. So many bargains in this photograph!

6. We visited Clarks Village for the first time and I loved it. I saved £54 on the goodies below which was actually more than I spent, so I definitely can't argue with that.

7. We went for a meal at my favourite curry house... Balti Cuisine! They love us there because we just keep coming back... and back... and back.

8. We went for a long walk to a very cloudy Cardiff Bay Beach... it was pretty cold and my short dress and flip flops certainly weren't appropriate for the occasion. 

9. We spent a less cloudy day in Cardiff city centre and I bought myself a new Pandora charm! It's becoming an expensive obsession and probably deserves its very own blog post at some point.

10. I went home to my parents' house for a few days. I spent hours chatting and laughing with my parents,  spent time in their beautiful garden, and met up with my best friend from school and her handsome little boy.

11. I went out for my friend from work's leaving do... I was driving so had lots of fruity (and sugary) mocktails! I used the occasion to wear one of my favourite dresses.

12. Neil and I had a little treat in Costa... sometimes I just can't say no to their tiffin.

13. I had a lovely date night with Sarah which consisted of food, an epic catch up, and Trainwreck at the cinema. We go to Bellini's every time!

14. Neil and I went to Nando's for the first time since our wedding. It's more expensive there than we remembered, or perhaps we're just more tight these days. A mortgage will do that to you.

15. I went to London for the day to visit Ice Bar and to see the Alice's Adventures Underground show. I absolutely loved every minute of it (apart from the tedious bus journey there and back), and I won a £40 gift voucher from Ice Bar as a result of my photos and enthusiastic captions! 

16. We hosted our first ever dinner party at our house which meant I got to use my beautiful heart shaped dipping bowls. They're possibly the most Instagrammable pieces of crockery I own.

17. We finished off our freshly painted bathroom with this pretty set of canvases. Very calming and bathroom-y!

18. Lastly, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary at the end of August... that deserves a post all to itself so I'll blog about it when we get back from holiday at the end of September (if I ever have some free time!). 

What did everyone else get up to in August? Did you also write a blog post which summarised your month into Instagram squares? Send me your links if so :) 

My top ten Disney songs of all time

I've been listening to my 'Now that's what I call Disney' CD in my car for the last few weeks as it really is one of my favourite CDs in the world. It brings back childhood memories of watching some of my most dearly loved films and also reminds me of our three (and counting) lovely Disney holidays.

I thought I'd try to compile a list of my top ten favourite Disney songs, then realised that this was a much more difficult task than I first thought. There are a LOT of excellent Disney songs. In order to make the task more manageable, I've narrowed the list down to just songs from Disney's Animated Classics (which means I can't choose any songs from Pixar films), and I'm also not allowed to choose more than one song from the same film. I had to implement this rule or most of my top ten would have been from The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. As you can tell, I'm taking this whole thing very seriously.

Drum roll please.... here's the unveiling of my top ten classic Disney songs of all time!


I see the light - Tangled

I absolutely love this song, particularly as we chose it as the song for our first dance at our wedding last year. I get goosebumps every time I hear it.

Beauty and the Beast - Beauty and the Beast (obviously)

This has been one of my favourite films for as long as I can remember, and this has to be my favourite song from its amazing soundtrack. I'll never get bored of listening to it!

Circle of Life - The Lion King

I think everyone must have a song from The Lion King in their top ten... I love so many songs from this film but Circle of Life has to be my all-time favourite. It's just so epic!

Part of your world - The Little Mermaid

Although The Little Mermaid isn't one of my favourite Disney films, I absolutely love this song. Yet another Disney song which I could listen to over and over again (and have been known to do so at top volume in my car).

A whole new world - Aladdin

Surely this song is in everyone's Disney top ten? Such a beautiful song. When did you last let your heart decide?

Go the distance - Hercules

I always forget about Hercules' amazing soundtrack until I watch the film again. Although most of the songs from this film are featured on my Disney CD, they left out the best song of all!

I wanna be like you - The Jungle Book

Another one of my favourite childhood films. I'll always have fond memories of this song as my mother used to sing it to herself all the time when I was younger. She still loves it to this day!

Reflection - Mulan

Mulan isn't a film I'd watch again and again like some of the others on this list, but I really love this song and its thought-provoking lyrics.

Colours of the wind - Pocahontas

Yet another Disney film with a beautiful soundtrack! However, Colours of the Wind is by far my favourite. 'You think the only people who are people, are the people who look and think like you'... very indicative of today's society.

Heigh Ho - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Not one of my favourite Disney films, but I've always loved this song and the seven dwarfs. I love it when it randomly pops up when I'm on my way to work!

Do you agree with my song choices? Have I made any glaring omissions, in your opinion? Let me know what you think! 

An Instagram summary of the last month...

I've had a crazy few weeks which has resulted in no blog posts whatsoever. Most of my recent blog posts seem to start with a similar apologetic sentence, so I really want to get back into blogging regularly.

I thought I'd kick off my return to the blogging world by summarising the last month using my Instagram photos. It turns out that I've managed to fit in quite a lot! On that note, you'll ALWAYS know what I've been up to if you follow me on Instagram as I insist on updating it daily.

So here goes... feast your eyes on these photographs!


1. Four weekends ago, we walked to Cardiff Bay on a sunny day and had a lovely meal and cocktail in Signor Valentino. I love living so close to such pretty places!

2. I got promoted... I'm now a Communications Manager! It was a stressful few weeks leading up to the interview and official confirmation but I'm so excited about this opportunity. As you can see, Stitch was VERY excited for me.

3. I went for a work night out and had some tasty cocktails in Las Iguanas on a sunny Friday evening. Perfect end to a busy week.

4. I went to see my parents to celebrate my father's 70th birthday. I had a tour of his beautiful garden then we went to one of his all time favourite places... the Harvester!

5. We had a lovely evening at our friends' new house with lots of food and drinks. Sophie made me an amazing (and very aesthetically pleasing) glass of Pimm's!

6. We ventured into Cardiff city centre a few times during the last month. It's looking so beautiful at the moment with lots of pretty flowers and trees in full bloom.

7. We've done lots of work on the house over the last few weeks which has taken up a fair amount of time. Two of my very important contributions were buying this stunning orchid for the living room and re-arranging our bedroom.

8. I went to Southampton to celebrate my youngest nephew's first birthday. Both my nephews are so handsome!

9. I bought the most beautiful new Fiorelli bag... yes, that is important news in my world and definitely warrants an Instagram post (or two).

10. I went to the Smoke Haus and ate (most of) this beauty. Messiest burger I've ever eaten. I had to eat the entire thing with a knife and fork!

11. I enjoyed a relaxing sunny evening in the garden with a cocktail, some light refreshments and my Kindle.

12. I had my first ever personal training session at the gym! It left me ever so slightly exhausted but I'll definitely be continuing the programme over the next six weeks. Operation 'tone up for Florida' is ON.

13. We went to see Inside Out at the cinema (and bought a new Yankee Candle for the living room). Amazing film! You all just have to see it.

These photos pretty much sum up everything exciting I've been up to over the last few weeks. Posts like this make me realise how lucky I am to have so many things to enjoy and to look back on with fond memories. I might start writing a similar post every month as a reminder of what I've got up to... watch this space!