The Camel Coat.

 My second day with Jess was spent helping her buy new things for our night out whilst I window shopped. Frugal February isn't as hard as I thought, but I'm still counting down the days till I can buy something new. My list of saved items on ASOS is ridiculously long.

It was a pretty cold day and most of Nottingham's stores and restaurants require an outdoor walk so I decided I was going to wear my stunning New Look Camel coat. Camel is the 'It' colour at the moment and goes with most skin tones and hair colours. Hooray! I then based the rest of my outfit around the coat. 

I wanted the coat to be the focus point of my outfit and I'm not one for lots of colours anyway, so I decided to go for my new black Topshop boots. They're comfy, flat and keep my feet warm so I thought they would be perfect for a day of walking around town. I then chose to wear my black skinny jeans, and my white, oversized, boyfriend shirt. Again keeping the colours to a minimum.

The style of the coat is smart yet casual so can be dressed up or down. With this particular outfit, which is rather casual, I think the coat adds that needed touch of elegance and sophistication by adding shape to the loose fit top. The colour of the coat also helps to brighten up the outfit.

I accessorised with my black H&M hobo bag and Ralph Lauren sunglasses.

Jeans - Same here, £22.99
Shirt - Similar here, £28
Coat - Similar here, £70
Leather Chelsea Boots - Similar here, £39.99
Bag - Similar here, £30
Sunglasses - Similar here, £118

I was so warm and comfy for shopping and lunch in this outfit whilst still feeling dressed up. We had a lovely day and enjoyed some delicious food at Zizzi. If you've not been before its an Italian restaurant and I highly recommend it. My favourite dishes are the Garlic Bread with Mozzarella, Ravioli Di Capra and the Penne Della Casa. I also hear the Pizzas and Calzones are incredible, unfortunately I am yet to try them.

Are you loving Camel as much as me? I'd love to know!

Dinner Date & Bowling.

 

This weekend my amazing friend Jess came up from Norwich and we made lots of plans. For the first day we decided to go out for lunch at Chiquitos in order to catch up, followed by bowling and arcade games at Ten Pin. We're both really competitive so this was a lot of fun.

For this day out I wanted something comfy, that of course would go with bowling shoes, so here are my Noisy May at Vero Moda loose fit mom jeans. These are so comfy and I love the worn knee detailing. I teamed these jeans with my grey River Island turtle neck top, black Primark blazer, black Topshop loafers and black H&M hobo bag.

To accessorize I added my checked Topman scarf and my Mums belt, brand unknown. I love the chunkiness of this belt and the large silver buckle. It separates the jeans and top perfectly and clinches the waist adding shape to this rather boyish outfit. As for the scarf, it is a focus point and finishes the outfit nicely.

Jeans - Similar here, £44.80

Top - Similar here, £12

Shoes - Same here, £32

Blazer - Similar here, £35

Bag - Similar here, £30

Scarf - Similar here, £14

Belt - Similar here, £15

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If you've never been to Chiquitos and you like Mexican food, you have to go. This restaurant is one of my favourites as the food is amazing, I love how much choice there is and it's not that expensive. Oh and I forgot to mention they also have Mexican hats and free popcorn whilst you order.

My recommended dishes to try are:

The Tostada Sharing Platter - Baked tostadas topped with sweet potato & feta cheese, BBQ pulled pork and their chorizo & sweetcorn medley, topped with cheese and served with cranberry salsa, £10.95.

Chicken and Chorizo Tacos - Two tacos filled with spicy chicken and their chorizo & sweetcorn medley, topped with cheese and served with salad, £10.95.

Santa Fe Hot Baked Wrap - Chicken pieces in their signature tomato sauce mixed with Mexican spiced rice, lettuce, cheese and sour cream. Served with chips and salad, £10.45.

Golden Nugget Cheesecake - A soft creamy cheesecake filled with chocolate & honeycomb pieces and topped with chocolate coated nuggets. Served with fresh strawberries and chocolate flavour sauce, £5.45.

What do you like to do at the weekends?

Champagne & Celebrities.

Last Friday I had the pleasure of accompanying my partners Mum to a Black Tie Charity Auction with a Caribbean theme. We had a wonderful time, dancing, drinking champagne and meeting a few celebrities. It was a fantastic evening that raised both money and awareness for Rainbows Children's Hospice.

Me and William Roache, aka Ken Barlow from Coronation Street.

Me and Andy Abraham who won 2nd place on the X-factor in 2005.

An event like this of course required a new dress, something elegant and formal yet still stylish and fun. Luckily for me as soon as I walked into Lipsy (bag no.3) there it was, the perfect dress; Black with silver running through it, floor length, a split up the side, £65.. I was in love. 

This dress is a stretchy fit so it hugs the figure perfectly and the front wrap hinds any overindulgence. The v-neck is low, but no too low that you can't wear a bra and the side split shows just the right amount of leg. The sleeves were wider when I purchased this dress but as I only have small shoulders it kept slipping down, a few stitches though and this was fixed immediately. As stunning as this dress is I will warn you the back is not lined like the front is, it's not see through but you may see lumps, bumps and panty lines.

I accessorised my dress with plain black peep toe stilettos, Pandora earrings, Pandora ring and Tiffany bracelet. My hair was loosely scraped to one side and held with pins, which I then hid with a sparkly hair comb, and then softly curled with GHD straighteners. My makeup was a similar routine to to the one from my Hollywood Glamour night, except as my hair was down I opted for black khol liner on the bottom lash line, bolder false eyelashes and a darker lip.

Dress - High Neck Version, £65

Shoes - Similar Here, £65

Clutch - Similar Here, £10

Earrings - Same here, £45

Ring - Same here, £145

Bracelet - Same here, £130

Eyelashes - Same here, £5.49

Eyeliner - Similar here, £16.50

Lipstick - Select Cosmo, £15.50

I love getting dressed up for events like this, do you?

Frugal February.

Today I was browsing twitter and came across a post about Frugal February. For those of you who have never heard of it before, the idea behind Frugal February is to try and adopt as many money saving ideas as you can during the month, by eliminating all non-essential spending. It's a fantastic way to recover after Christmas and New Year.

Now, I have a holiday to pay off this month so I immediately knew that this was something I should participate in. However, I have a friend coming up at the weekend and we have of course made lots of plans to go out as we only get to see each other every couple of months. But why should that mean excessive, non-essential spending? I can go without dessert at a restaurant, I can substitute coke for water, I can cook rather than ordering a takeaway and just because she will be buying new clothes and make-up it doesn't mean I have to.

So if you hadn't already guessed, my main issue when it comes to trying to save money is that I just love to shop. If I see something I want, I buy it. It'a as simple as that. But not this month. Instead I've raided my draws, wardrobes and cupboards and pulled out everything with a label still attached and anything that has hardly been worn. There is a lot, but I'm going to make it my mission to wear them. My hard earned cash will not be wasted.

Upon rummaging through my belongings, both old and new, I found things I forgot I even owned. In the top picture are just a few of my favourite forgotton finds - Topshop Ballet Pumps, worn once. Next Heels, worn once. Clarks Shoe Boots, worn twice, Missguided Boots, worn once. Silver Ring, worn twice. Purple Topshop Dress, unworn. Lace Ark Dress, worn once. Dorothy Perkins Clutch, unworn. French Connection Purse, unused. Selection of Perfumes, used rarely.

The one item in particular that got me very excited is the black and red lace dress from Ark. I love the colour, neck line and the fit but no longer like the midi length. My solution? I'm going to take it up to just above the knee. 

Along with shopping, I also spend a lot of money on food. So that is going to be the other big spend I put a halt to this month. Frugal February is definitely going to test my will power, but I think it will be such a good thing for me to do, as well as saving some pounds I may shed a few Christmas pounds along the way.

It's been great to declutter and see that I do sometimes buy things I have enough of, such as perfume, dresses and shoes.

I know this won't be easy, but who's joining me?

Lazy Sunday.

So in bag no.2 were these gorgeous black ankle boots, £15, Topshop Sale. Now this won't be a long post as its quite a simple outfit for my Sunday of visiting family and also because I'm off out again in a moment.

I've teamed these affordable and comfortable boots with my ripped Topshop skinny jeans, which I bet you're all sick of seeing by now and my grey baggy jumper, also Topshop. I chose this outfit because it's super comfy yet still stylish.

Of course I needed to glam up my oufit a bit so I detailed it with my new tassel clutch bag from Next, my Tiffany sunglasses and this gorgeous Etsy engraved initial necklace which my boyfriend got me for Christmas. I always feel plain V-Neck tops require a necklace just to spruce them up a bit.

When I saw these boots I immediately fell in love, a pointed toe is something I just adore, the stitch detailing is so subtly stylish and the small heel is just the right height. Also for the price what's not to love? 

Petite Moto Blue Jamie Jeans, £42, same.

Seam Front V-Neck Jumper, £38, similar.

Leather Chelsea Boots, £39.99, similar.

Clutch Bag, £18, same.

Sunglasses, £194, same.

Necklace, £17.75, same.

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday.