Frills and Floral

For my birthday party, I wanted a special outfit. It was held in a function room in a pub, but as it was my 30th, I felt I needed an outfit fitting of the occasion!

I was walking around Lakeside Shopping Mall and I often avoid Topshop. I find the majority of Topshop's clothes best suit taller people, and I often feel my curves prevent most of their garments fitting me correctly.

I saw this jumpsuit as soon as I approached the Petites section, and I LOVED it! It's so pretty, and I willed it to fit!

I only shop in the Petites section of shops, as the taller "normal" section are always wayyy too long! I'm 5 foot 1 inch tall.

Jumpsuit Topshop Petites https://m.topshop.com/en/tsuk/product/petite-floral-print-jumpsuit-6865199

Black suede courts "Firstbase" Kurt Geiger Nine West (I got mine from House of Fraser)

Cutting the cake

Saved By The Belle

Essie's new Autumn colours are now out!

I chose this gorgeous, soft and feminine pink shade as no matter how many nail varnishes I have (over 45 bottles), I never feel like I have the perfect shade of pink! Some are too pale, others are too bright.

So, when I came across Essie's new Fall collection and Saved By The Belle; it had to be mine!

You can view Essie's newest colours here http://www.essie.co.uk/latest-collections.aspx and I got mine from Boots on a 2 for 1 offer along with another shade I recently blogged about here http://kerridiary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/change-of-season-calls-for-new.html?m=1

Painting The Town (Nails) Plum

I am loving the deep purple shades out at the moment. Burgundy is clearly in fashion this season; it's such an autumnal colour. I always tend to turn to these kind of colours at this time of year.

Described as "a warm, rich, creamy deep plum" on Essie's website http://www.essie.com/colors/plums/bahama-mama.aspx I'd have to agree this is a perfect description; this colour is purple but very deep and with a lovely shine to it.

I use two coats of Bahama Mama varnish, following a coat of Essie Primer varnish and then finishing with Essie Shiny Top Coat.

These pictures were all taken after two coats of Bahama Mama but before applying my Top Coat; to show you the level of shine this lovely plum shade is.

I get all my Essie nail varnishes from Boots as I like to look at them all in person! You can browse their selection and shop here http://www.boots.com/essie

I will be known as The Lady In The Red Dress

I was in H&M looking for work clothes, and came across this soft, finely pleated dress. Now, I know I'm not going to wear it to work but as soon as I tried it on, I began twirling this way and that in the mirror! I could just picture myself wearing this coming up to Christmas season - red is the colour to wear in December.

It's a loose fit - perfect for extra mince pies, large roasts and Celebrations! The material is soft and flexible, with small vertical pleats. I usually only shop in the Petite section of shops but as H&M unfortunately don't have this, I debated about the length of this dress and its arms. Petite usually fits me perfectly everywhere, whereas non-Petite have extra long arms as well as the obvious longer hemline.

I twirled out of the changing room to get a second opinion. It was so comfortable and I loved it, but was worried about the size. My husband gave it the thumbs up - so it has now twirled its way into my wardrobe ready for the festive period!

Change of season calls for new...

As the leaves begin to change colour and fall to the floor, the nights draw in earlier and the occasional sunshine is accompanied by a cool breeze; the change of season calls for some changes in fashion...

As most of you who have followed my blog for a while will know, I don't like the cold and the winter months. I much prefer sunshine, longer days and warmth. Therefore, most seasons changes, I feel the need to mark with some new purchases; I suppose it cheers me up!

After suffering our second miscarriage, I feel the need to spoil myself. I went into Boots and Essie were doing the deal of 3 for 2; so I couldn't resist!

To begin my autumn spree, which was very modest today as we didn't have long at the shopping centre; I took advantage of the deal and bought 3 different shades. I'm sure I'll post the other shades soon, once I've tried them.

The first new varnish I wanted to try today is called "Clothing Optional" which I thought was a funny and quirky name! I love the Essie names of nail varnishes.

"Clothing Optional" is from the 2017 "Wild Nudes" Essie collection. It is a taupe shade, like a pale chocolate, as in the pictures below. 

The coverage is perfect with two coats. It is so smooth and even when painted onto the nails. I always use an Essie Top Coat, so the shine is always there; I love a shiny finish on nails! I found that "Clothing Optional" dries pretty much the colour as you would expect from the colour you can see through the bottle.

I feel this shade is perfect for wrapping chilly hands around a warming mug of hot chocolate!

Weekend in Windsor

The first weekend in July, we went up to Windsor for the weekend.

On Saturday morning, we travelled down and checked into the Christopher Wren Hotel, Thames Street. Our room was very modern, my mum in law's was old-fashioned with wooden beams; complete opposites. We were all more than happy with our rooms. As some were not ready yet (it was before midday) we got changed in our room and so did my mum in law and her partner.

Once we were all dolled up in our pretty dresses, matching clutches and heels, and dainty fascinators; we were good to go!

We stopped off in a pub at the end of the street called the Bel and The Dragon. Soon, it was time to get the boat across the river to the races.

We had booked the same restaurant in the racecourse as last year. This year, neither myself and my husband were very impressed with the food; it wasn't very nice. We went to a burger hut and each got a burger instead!

I managed to win a couple of races but the odds were not good so the wins were not high enough to cover the losses!

Once the final race had finished, we settled our bill and moved over to the field where Vernon Kay was playing his set on stage. We danced around our bags as a large group in the brilliant sunshine until it was time to catch the last boat back across. Everyone was in such high spirits.

On the boat on the way back, there was lots of singing and dancing! It was so much fun.

The night was not over; after a quick outfit change, hubs and I were ready to join the rest of the group for our evening meal.

We ate at a lovely restaurant called Meimo in the town centre. Meimo is a Moroccan cuisine restaurant, and had a vast choice of different dishes.

Full up and content, after our meal, we wandered back to the hotel. Our bed was so comfortable!

Sunday morning, I woke up feeling fresh and ready to go! I decided to have a quick workout session in the hotel's gym - Wren Club. 

Breakfast was included in our room package. I enjoyed a delicious meal of fruit, hot food and mini pastries washed down with tea and fresh juice. There was always a wide choice of cereals and yoghurt on offer.

The weather was beautiful, and the town of Windsor is simply stunning. We walked around taking in the sights and just enjoying spending some quality time with some of the people we love and with each other. It made me feel even closer to my husband. With all the renovation work we are doing in our house, my frequent gym visits and the speed the evenings and weekends zoom by at; we really appreciated this weekend away.

None of us had had a roast for a while so we found a pub and each had a large roast before heading back home to be reunited with our gorgeous pup.

What an amazing weekend.

Below are some of the photos I took on our weekend away...

Christopher Wren Hotel

Comfortable bed 

Outfit for the races 

Outfit of the evening 

Meimo desserts

Gym Sunday morning 

I love this one of us two 💜

Beautiful Windsor 

Fresh n Minty Nails

As promised, the other pastel Essie shade I bought along with Excuse Me, Sur.

I wasn't sure what second varnish to go for (but wanted to take advantage of the Buy One Get One Half Price).

My husband loved this one and kept pointing it out as I looked. I was unconvinced at first, as I usually prefer 'warm' colours, like pinks, peaches corals & reds.

I googled what it looks like on actual nails (the bottles never give a true reflection) and was sold!

Shade: Mint Candy Apple 🍏💅🏼

 

  

Excuse Me, Sur 💅🏼

Spring time is here! Fluffy white clouds, longer days, and denim jacket season is upon us (mostly 🙄)...

And with that comes new nail shades. Out with the deep purples and darker shades, in with the pastels.

I'm loving Essie nail varnishes at the minute. They go on smoothly, only need two coats and don't tend to chip as much as some other high-street varnishes.

I picked up a couple of new ones in the Boot's Buy 1 Get 1 Half Price deal {I will blog the other shade later}.

 

This one, as the title of this post indicates, is called 'Excuse Me, Sur'. It lives up to the Essie expectation. This shade, I feel, looks different every time I look at it! I bought it as a pale peach/pink - a colour I actually didn't already own! I have pinks, corals and peaches but none this pale. I adore how versatile this shade is. I put a red dress on yesterday, and noticed how striking it looked with this nail varnish - now, pinky shades shouldn't typically work with red!

 

 

Springing into Spring in style

Spring seems to have sprung!

With the longer days, and sunnier afternoons, our thoughts are naturally drawn to thoughts of spring & summer...

BBQs, sunglasses, having the car roof down, staying out late in the evening sunshine, beer gardens, sunbathing, summer jackets, salads, ice cream and of course open-toe shoes 😍

I couldn't decide which to go for with these sandals - I knew I wanted a really comfortable pair of flat sandals (I will live in them the whole season!) but a girl can also never have too many open-toe wedges either 💁🏻

 

There were several different colours for both the espadrilles and the wedges; the rose gold wedges are currently on sale online http://www.office.co.uk/view/search?search=maiden

The flats online come in quite a few different colours, browse here http://www.office.co.uk/view/search?search=hallie+cross+strap+espadrilles

I tried on both styles and found the flat espadrilles are so, so comfortable - better than slippers! Perfect for those summer days into nights sessions - comfort and style.

 

I couldn't decide what to buy, so I bought both!

 

I fell in love with the gold colour immediately.

I know black is a staple; a girl can never have too many black shoes, a wise man once said to me (my now husband) yes ladies, if you meet a man who has pearls of wisdom such as this - marry him!!

Anyway, I digress... a black pair were a must-purchase. The gold - that was love at first sight for me 😍

So the decision was... Which colour in which style?!

As I prefer flats when walking (I have a problem with my right foot that makes most heels uncomfortable especially when walking longer distances) I decided to have the staple colour in the flats, and the statement colour in the wedges, perfect for blinging up a spring/summer outfit.