Primark Statement Necklaces

Every month is the same story... I try to resist the urge to go to Primark before work, during my lunch break and after work...EVERY DAY! To be fair since my office moved a further ten minutes walk up the road it's not as easy but when pay day arrived I thought i'd treat myself and take a wander. I used to spend hundreds of pounds in there and the majority of my clothes were Primark but since the prices have gone up without the quality changing (in my opinion) I've stopped buying many clothes in there other than basics. Instead I go straight to the accessories, footwear and homeware departments. 

I love their statement necklaces and they're a fraction of the price of other stores versions. They instantly liven up an outfit and Primark's ones are so inexpensive. I recently went a little mad and bought four necklaces. I'm not sure if they're truly statement in that they're not that big but they're really pretty and I wanted to show you. I may do a more general Primark haul post soon as I have acquired quite a lot from there during various visits. 

 

Pastel Flower Necklace £3

I love wearing pastels so this pretty flower one will go with most outfits and add a bit of girliness.

Large Bead Necklace £3 

I think this one will look great with a black tshirt or dress and can be dressed up or down.

White and Gold Necklace £3 

This white and gold necklace reminds me of bunting. It looks really nice with a white vest top and was also available in black which I think would work for a night out. 

Flower Necklace £4

 

Saving the best til last I am in love with this white pearl flower necklace. It goes with so many things and instantly livens up an outfit. I couldn't believe it was so inexpensive, you'd look to pay at least four times the amount in any other shop. 

I bought all of these in the Tottenham Court Road branch of Primark and it's by far the best I've been to. I go before work when everything's tidy and I feel like the only person in the shop! Bliss!

Abbie x

Mini Break On a Budget

On Thursday Mitch and I went on a road trip for a few days. He rarely has weekends off and so I booked two days off work during the week so that we could spend some quality time together. We had a lovely few days together exploring the south including the New Forest, Southampton and Winchester and it didn't cost much at all. 

 Lovely drive through the New Forest. Be sure to make a good "Road Trip" playlist!

Here are some top tips for planning a trip away in the UK if you are on a budget. 

Where should you go? 
A map is your best friend.
Decide on a distance that you would be happy to travel for the amount of time you will be away for. Travelling early on the first day and late back the following day will mean you only need one nights accommodation which will save pennies but if you're spending a lot on transport it seems a shame not to make the most of the journey and spend longer there. Google places to visit and look at the UK with a fresh set of eyes. Quite often there are places right on your doorstep that you've never visited but that hold some true gems and many people would travel far and wide to visit. 

 Winchester Cathedral was only an hours drive away yet I had never been

How you travel will greatly effect where you can go. 
If you have a car you could effectively travel anywhere in the UK within reason, if you're restricted to public transport you're a bit more limited and it's worth checking out a train map to figure out where is most easily accessible. 
Also even if you do drive sometimes it can be cheaper and easier to travel by train, especially visiting large cities where parking is hard to come by and expensive. 
Definitely do your research and if you're under 25 and travel regularly by train it may be worth investing in a young persons railcard.

 Driving seemed the best bet until a horse blocked the road!

When you go away can effect the cost...going away in the week will usually be less expensive than at a weekend (and less busy) Also avoiding school holiday times will generally be cheaper and quieter too. 

Reviews are so useful
Trip Advisor is my first port of call when looking for information on an area new to me. You can search for a whole town or city and then look at the top attractions, restaurants and hotels in that area. Reviews are invaluable in making the right choice for you but on a budget you may need to compromise. Cheaper hotels are cheap for a reason but they may just be slightly more basic rather than terrible, reviews will help you figure this out.

We stayed in the beautiful Wayside Cottage in Burley and it's 5 star reviews helped us make our decision

Shop around 
Deal websites such as Groupon, Living Social and KGB deals have great offers on hotels in the UK (and abroad) but be careful to read the small print. Quite often there are restrictions on dates the deal is valid for and if you have a specific date in mind it would be worth calling ahead to check the date is available before commiting to purchasing the deal.

Spontaneous last minute trip?
There are often good deals if you are booking quite soon to the date you want to go. No hotel wants empty rooms so quite often you will find good lasts minute deals. As it's name suggests lastminute.com has good prices, and if you're up for a surprise the top secret hotels are normally a great price. Expedia also have a similar thing. You don't know exactly where you will be staying, just the rough area, but the prices are normally a fraction of the usual listed price.

Getting snap happy at the New Forest Wildlife Park

When you get there
Make the most of being in a new place and go outside. Taking photos is free so get snapping all the glorious sites. Pick up leaflets in the hotel reception or local shops to see what attractions the local area has to offer. These sometimes contain vouchers for money off admission.

We enjoyed some tasty tapas at El Sabio in Winchester

Eating out
Eating out can be the expensive part so you could try to stick to one really nice lunch and one really nice dinner and then save a bit the other times. Lunch can be a few sandwiches from the local supermarket turned into a picnic in the park, or a British classic... fish and chips. Do however try to make the most of being in a new place and pick quirky independent restaurants rather than chains.

Enjoy
A break should be just that, not stressful. Planning is the key, researching the area before you go will save valuable time when you get there. Pin pointing what you definitely don't want to miss when you're there will mean you leave feeling like you can tick that place off your list, although it might be that great that you keep going back.


Abbie x

Making Lemonade [Part 2]

On Saturday my gorgeous friend Jaymie held a charity party for Cancer Research UK. I thought i'd share some of the photos with you (photos taken by the lovely Laura Jane Young..website to follow)

If you haven't read THIS blog post yet have a look to make a bit more sense of this one :)

On what would have been her wedding Jay did an amazing job of "making lemonade" and using her venue and guests to help raise over £2000 for a charity close to all of our hearts. I am so proud and inspired by her and know she will keep fundraising until she hits her £3000 target.

 

 

 

 

 What I wore:

Dress: Lipsy VIP

Shoes: Aldo
Hair clip: Primark

My hair:
I did this myself using curling tongs, lots of clips and LOTS of hairspray!
It's loosely based on THIS tutorial and I put my own spin on it by twisting the front piece round to the side. Surprisingly it didn't take me to long to do and stayed in all night.


Abbie x

Ps. Sorry the blogging schedule has gone out of the window this week, the Easter Weekend was a hectic one and Bank Holiday Monday came and went before I realised it was blog day. I also chucked my phone down the toilet (by accident) which hindered my life slightly! I'm off to the New Forest tomorrow so think this will be the only blog post this week but I should have more for you next week :)

Mess, Motivation and Owls!

(Source)

So working long hours with a three hour round commute I should be forgiven for not having time to keep my room immaculate in the week. However I think this time it got a bit out of hand... 

That's what my bedroom looked like when I got home from work the other day unusually early at half past 7. Do you ever have those moments where a gust of energy motivates you to do something you've been putting off for ages and actually makes you enjoy the task. This is what happened that evening. Armed with a huge rubbish bag, a duster and my dads strong pair of arms we moved my desk further along the wall in the space where a ten year old computer had been living then I ruthlessly threw away old products that I've been keeping "just in case" and recycled last years supply of Glamour magazines. I made a "car boot" pile and set a side a lot of old bits and bobs that I hope to flog when then car boot sales start up again soon. I arranged all of the owl necklaces I have on an accessory hanger to make a nice feature on the wall and de cluttered my bedside table so that my lovely owl lamp was no longer hidden behind a photo frame, a candle and a box of tissues. Once that was done I stood back and admired my handy work (and then hoovered!) Here's some of the favourite things in my (newly organised) bedroom. Can you tell what my favourite animal is? Haha. 

Necklaces hanging on accessory hanger 

 Live, Laugh, Love sign Primark £3.50 

Lamp Dunelm Mill £19.99 

Relax Sign Primark £1 

Owl on stump Debenhams (gift)

Owl jewellery dish Sass and Belle (gift) 

Photo frame Dunelm Mill (gift) 

Postcards Paperchase 

Hanging Shabby Chic Owl Sass & Belle £1.95  

"Owl Always Love You" Hanging Heart Sass & Belle £3.75  

It had got dark by the time id finished so it's a bit grainy but I got a quick snap of the same area in the first photo to show you how good it looked...yes that is past tense...think I need another tidy up!

 

Abbie x

 

A Soap & Glory Story!

Well, not really a story but I liked that it rhymed. Anyway, I was thinking about what might go in my April favourites (thinking ahead!) and realised that I bloody love Soap & Glory products! They have such a good range and I use their products on my face, body, hands, feet and even bum! So here is an entire post dedicated to one of my favourite brands of beauty products with my absolute favourite packaging!

Here's a rundown of what i've been using:

Peaches and Clean 3-in-1 Wash-Off Deep Purifying Cleanser RRP £8

So starting at the top with my face this is Soap and Glory's cleanser. I go through phases of using different cleansers, from Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser to the Tesco own brand one i've tried them all, and I always go back to this one. I think this is my third bottle, and that's pretty good going considering I use it daily, you only need a tiny amount to cover your entire face and neck. I pop this straight on to a dry face in the morning before I hop in the shower. It smells gorgeous and it's always quite cold so feels like it wakes your face up. I haven't had a break out at all whilst using this and love how clean my face feels after my shower when using this.


Hand Food Hand Cream RRP £5/£2.50

You know you love a product when you have it in a miniature size so you can take it everywhere with you. This hand cream is incredible. It's non greasy and sinks in to the skin very quickly and has cleared up some dry patches I seem to have acquired this winter really well. As like all Soap and Glory products this smells lovely and when I put it on during my train journey to work I think the other passengers definitely enjoy it too!
I have discovered they now sell this in a huge pump bottle and I NEED this for my desk at work so a trip to Boots in on the cards soon.


Clean On Me Creamy Clarifying Shower Gel RRP £6

I love this shower gel so much. This huge bottle lasts me ages and I love the pump dispenser, no broken nails trying to prise open the top of a bottle in the shower!


The Righteous Butter RRP £10.50

I used to be obsessed with the Body Shop body butters and although I still love those recently I have migrated to this one. Like the hand cream it sinks in super quick which is great, no one likes hanging around naked waiting for body lotion to sink in when you're in a rush!


The Scrub of Your Life Smoothing Body Scrub RRP £7

I've lost count of how many bottles of this stuff i've got through. It's the best scrub i've tried, not too rough but feels like it really exfoliates and smooths my skin. I use it every other day after washing with Clean On Me and before moisturising with the Righteous Butter and I love it!


Sit Tight Firming and Smoothing Lower Body Serum RRP £16.50

This stuff is my saviour! This is the old packaging which i'm still working my way through. I bought a couple of these before they changed it to the Intense XS version and I still haven't used a whole bottle even though I use it almost every day. Massaging it in to my thighs and bum it leaves a slight tingly warming feeling and as the name suggests works best when you're sat down. I spend 80% of my day sat on a train or at a desk so that helps! I have noticed a change already and will be using this up until my holiday in June hoping it will tighten and firm up the skin in these areas in time for bikini time! They have recently bought out another new version called Super-Intense 4D which I will try once I have used up all the bottles of the Intense XS version I bought when it was on offer. (See THIS post!) Hopefully it just keeps getting better and better because I love this old version!


Heels Genius Foot Cream RRP £5.50

And finally we have a foot cream! Before I discovered this I don't think i'd ever moisturised my feet. Other than painting my toe nails my feet got very little attention, but now they love their life. Every night I smother my feet in this and put some socks on. In the morning the skin on my feet is so soft, can't wait for sandal time!


And there we have it, all of the Soap and Glory products I am loving at the moment. You may think I've just featured any product by them i've ever bought but that's not the case. I wasn't a massive fan of their hair products as they left my hair feeling quite greasy and their eye cream isn't the best I have tried so they aren't in this post. The range is vast though so i'm sure I will be adding more products to my collection and when I find more I swear by I will be sure to do an update :)

Abbie x

H&M: Happy and Monochrome

Working just off Oxford Street I have been known to "pop to the shops" EVERY week day, be it before work (Primark opens at 8am don't you know!), during lunch (I can do the whole of New Look AND find time for a sarnie in a lunch hour), or after work (it's cheaper to travel home after 7 so it kind of makes sense right?!) In the quest to get on the property ladder I have since curbed that habit considerably and only crumble every now and again. Wednesday evening was a crumbly one...

I popped into H&M on said evening; I'd seen some amazing monochrome trousers that I simply needed! I got the trousers...and also two skirts and a top. Oooops! Buuuut it came to a ridiculously small grand total of £34.96 so I don't feel that bad...and I won some money (£12.50) on the Grand National so that almost covers the trousers...anyway...onto the clothes!! 

First up is the infamous trousers..how amazing are these...  

 

View on H&M website 
What's even better is they were only £12.99! I live in tights in the winter (with dresses, not on their own...weird!) and in the summer I'm mostly in dresses without tights but in the spring I like to make the most of the dry pavements and get out of my boots and into "Spring" footwear, and I can't be wearing tights with sandals (doesn't mean you can't! It's just not for me!) so these are what I am calling my "Spring" trousers. (Labelling clothing items by seasons means technically you can have at least four of everything!) So these are going to be worn with sandals/pumps and a cute vest or tshirt...possibly this one... 

View on H&M website 
I nearly bought this in white too but had to resist, especially with the £7.99 price tag. I love wearing plain tshirts with bright/patterned trousers or skirts but it can be a bit boring so the lace on this is the perfect touch. It's even prettier in real life! It can be dressed up or down and is just something I think will stay in my wardrobe for a very long time. I may also team it with this skirt... 

View on H&M website 
I basically gravitated towards this skirt...it's similar to one I saw in Primark and regretted not buying but there was a reason I stopped myself getting that...I must have known this one would be half the price! It was only £5.99! (Anyone else think H&M is beating Primark at cheap fashion pieces at the moment?) I was gutted they didn't have this in my size but the size up fitted just fine. It's long enough to wear up on my waist which is very flattering and has a line of buttons down the front which is a nice touch. I think this would also look lovely in the winter with tights as well as on holiday with flip flops. Roll on summer! 

View similar on H&M website
Lastly we have another skirt. As mentioned above I find skirts really versatile and this is another winter or summer skirt. I am loving monochrome at the moment (can you tell?!) and think this would look great with black, white or even a brightly coloured top. I have to say I can't look at it too long though, makes my eyes go funny! This one was only £7.99 which made me very happy. I always think about how much something would cost in Topshop and that makes me feel a lot better! 


I will try to borrow a willing volunteer to take some snaps of me wearing these with some outfit ideas for you. And I'll try not to go shopping for a little while now! I said try... 

Abbie x

Top 5: Nail Varnishes

Recently I had a mass room clear out (dedicated bedroom clear out post to come!) which involved me opening my nail varnish box and chucking any nail varnishes that I really would never use; from five year old clumpy ones to my favourite ones that I'd used so much the brush could no longer reach the nail varnish, oh and the hideous lime green one I got free from Boots once, yuk! All in the bin! And how many did I have left when I'd finished doing that you ask? Oh only 102!!! So although I can't be totally ruthless and throw away perfectly good nail varnishes that I have collected over the last year or two I had a think about what my 5 favourites are and they live in my more accessible make up box. Here's what I picked... 

Barry M Silk Nail Effects in Meadow (RRP £3.99)
I love the finish of this, it is quite silky as the name suggests. I generally prefer solid coloured nail varnishes as opposed to metallic, shimmery ones but I feel like this one meets somewhere in the middle. I have a lot of clothes in this colour so it's a safe bet that if I paint my nails this colour they will match my outfit.
http://www.barrym.com/products/nails/effects/silk-nail-paint.html 

Essie in Lacquered Up (RRP £7.99)
Every nail varnish collection needs a classic bright red and this Essie one is just perfect. It dries quickly and leaves nails looking super shiny. I love wearing this with a little black dress.
http://www.boots.com/en/Essie-Nail-Polish-Lacquered-up-15ml_1343416/
 

Nail Girls London Colour in Purple #7 Deep Rich Plum (RRP £13.50)
I love this dark, sultry colour, it's perfect for a night out. I have some very similar colour ones in my collection by Nails Inc and Barry M but i've found this one doesn't require as many coats as those to get the perfect colour and it doesn't chip at all!
http://nailgirls.co.uk/?product=purple-7

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Papaya (RRP £3.99)
There has been huge hype in the blogging world about the Gelly Hi-Shine collection from Barry M and rightly so. They leave a lovely finish in just one coat and the colour choice is incredible. I am slowly building up my collection but they seem to add new colours faster than I can buy them! I have my eye on the beautiful light turquoise Sugar Apple colour for my next naughty nail varnish purchase (I say naughty because as my mum would say... "Really, more nail varnishes!?") Of my current collection this coral shade is my favourite, it brightens up any outfit and is perfect for the coming summer months.
http://www.barrym.com/products/nails/effects/gelly-nail-effects.html

MUA in Moody Mink (RRP £1)
I'm saving the best til last. Not only is this dusky lilacy grey colour one of my favourite colours to wear on my nails but it costs just ONE pound! And with the low price you don't have to compromise on quality. Not only do the bottles resemble the Essie ones but the quality is up there with them too. They go on like a dream, dry really quickly and last for ages! SO impressed with these and don't feel as naughty adding these ones to my vast collection!
http://www.muastore.co.uk/nail-polish

So there we have it, if my house was on fire and I had time to root through my room and grab a handful of nail varnishes I would choose these little guys (As if! I would grab the massive box and run!) 

Abbie x

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Making Lemonade...

 

Everyone's heard of this phrase or seen it on a shabby chic styled sign on the wall of a gift shop....
Well recently my boyfriend's sister Jaymie has demonstrated this in the most incredible way and this post is dedicated to her. (Sorry if you thought this post was actually going to show you how to make lemonade...google it?)

 

Jaymie is more than my boyfriend's sister, she is a great friend and I was overjoyed when she asked me to be her bridesmaid when she got engaged on Christmas Day 2012. We scoured Pinterest for inspiration, discussed the important matter of which shade of coral ribbon I would use on the handmade invites and wandered car boot sales looking for vintage picture frames. We reached the five month countdown to the wedding in November and it was really all starting to come together.
Then the unthinkable happened...
Her fiancé left her and their two girls. The wedding was cancelled...

In a time of great heart ache and so close to Christmas Jay could have crumbled.

Instead she made lemonade.

The venue was booked and there was no chance of a refund, the invites had been sent, everyone had saved the date and bought their outfits. How could she break the news that there would be no wedding.

Then she had a brainwave....

What if she turned the wedding in to a charity event. Instead of giving wedding gifts the guests would donate money in return for the chance to win prizes with all proceeds going to Cancer Research UK. The charity is close to all of our hearts but Jay's grandfather is fighting terminal cancer, so it meant the world to her to be able to help raise money for such a good cause.

I set about making something we could share on social media to help spread the word of the event and find donations of raffle prizes. With the ambitious target of £3000 we needed something that would get people's attention. That's when I made the connection with the lemon/lemonade quote. That's exactly what she was doing. Taking the shitty situation she had found herself in and turning it around to something positive. That's the only way to make it through life really, isn't it.

We spread the word using this picture and #letsmakelemonade

Slowly donations started pouring in and the media got in touch. The local newspaper printed THIS lovely article to help us raise awareness of the event.

Now with just over two weeks to go until the big day I can't wait to see what Jay has achieved by putting on her strong head and making lemonade.

She is such an inspiration.

If you think so too please head to www.justgiving.com/jaymie-kennedy as even just a pound or two will put a smile on our faces. I know she won't stop until she's reached her target. There's talk of a skydive if the target isn't reached at the party! Please save her from having to chuck herself out of a plane!

Abbie x

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