Living outta cardboard box!

Who knew I had so much crap! Saturday, Sunday and most of Monday saw me partake in the big move of 2011. It took one van, two separate loads, 17 hours, eight pairs of hands, 12 cups of tea, two bottles of wine and around 300 miles, but we're in - and mostly unpacked now. WoooHooo!

The flat is already feeling like home but there's still a stack to do - like setting up the broadband!!! Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it), we're just a hop skip and a jump away from my favourite coffee shop (Boston Tea Party) complete with free wifi so I can try and get on with life as normal until we're up and running. Great coffee, friendly staff, walkable in heels and free wifi - what more can a girl ask for??

On to less domestic things (and much more fashionable) - In between all the packing, unpacking and making home I have managed to track down one of my fav magazines - Women'sHealth.

It's American so not that easily available everywhere here, so when I manage to get my hands on a copy I like to make a coffee and give it my undivided attention. You can imagine my joy when I opened this month's copy to find a fashion shoot with Cat Deeley (one of my fav fashion follows) - how amazing does she look. I have to share it with you. The leather jacket and jersey skirt has already provided inspo for my outfit today. I'll try and get some pics later. In the meantime check out the images below.

Apart from the amazing fashion spreads, it also has loads of really healthy tips for exercise and food which really does fit into your lifestyle. It's been my little secret read for a while, but i'm in a sharing mood!!

All  pics courtesy of www.womenshealthmag.com

Moving day

Picked up the keys to mine and Mr M's new home today. Yiiipppppeeeeee!!!

So exciting but super busy. Haven't stopped all day and now must hit the hay. Early start tomorrow so time for snoozeville.

Night night possums and sweet dreams,

xoxo

Paws for thought - Leopard print nails

What do we think of these bad boys?! The jury is out for the time being, but they are kinda fun and didn't take very long to do either. Can't wait to see the hubby's face when he get's in..... not sure they're his kind of thing!

Nails Inc 'Candy', H&M Nail Polish 'Check Me Out', Leighton Denny 'Supermodel' (possibly my favourite polish of ALL time) and Barry M 'Black'

One of those days

Having a REALLY frustrating day..... I'm putting a plea out into cyber space. If anyone knows how to put a twitter feed within a blog, please please get in touch :(

I used to have one and it worked fine - then all of a sudden it has disappeared and I can't remember how to get it back. Deep breath.......... Cup of tea.

Anyway, I've continued clearing out today, mostly through my make-up draws. Can't believe how many lipsticks I have. I don't even wear lipstick! Most upsettingly, they all appear to be the same (ish) colour... Error!! Don't even get me started on the lip glosses!!!

Right - having successfully wasted most of the day messing around with twitter/my blog with no success, I’m dragging my coldified butt off to do some work.

It's so hard to say goodbye

I've just returned from the dump :(

Before we move later this week, I decided to take the opportunity to go through all my clothes and shoes with a ruthless attitude...... I'm now less 14 pairs of shoes and five bags of clothes. Makes me feel nauseous just thinking about it!

RIP shoe shoes!

Does that make me Crazy?

It never rains but it pours! Following on from my last post, things have not slowed down.

Mr M and I have found a new home which we move into on Thursday. I'm so excited and can't wait to start doing it up and my scrap book is already full of ideas for what we can do with it - I'm loving the below

 However, it is tinged slightly because three days after putting a deposit down, I decided to quit my job. EeeeeK!!!

This is completely uncharacteristic for me. I am not a 'fly by the seat of your pants' kinda girl and it feels like a completely crazy thing to have done. But it just felt like it was time for a change. So having worked out my months notice and left on a massive high note (V Festival Louder Lounge), it brings me to today - day three of unemployment......

I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little apprehensive, but I'm really excited too and have everything crossed for some very exciting ventures that I've been putting off for way to long. It also means I can spend a bit more time getting my head around the blummin wire frame for this blog! Surely it can't be that difficult (famous last words).

I'm also going to take the opportunity to upload some of my favourite bits of 'fashpiration'..... Whilst clearing through loads of stuff on my laptop I found some of my old 'inspo' folders. It's clear to see whose style I really admire by the number of times certain famous faces pop up! I've also selected the ones that seem most fitting for this unseasonably autumnal day!

Can't remember where I sourced them all from, but I'm guessing they are mostly from InStyle.com and Olsen Anonymous (http://olsensanonymous.blogspot.com/) - one of my fav blogs for 'fashpiration'. 

The Day I Said I Do

I mentioned in my last post that LOTS had been going on with me lately, hence the sporadic posts and I wasn't kidding - I GOT MARRIED!!

The big 'I Do' was on April 30th 2011 and it really was the best day of my life. I still can't believe that I'm a 'Mrs' - It's literally the weirdest thing in the world. I'm not sure when saying 'my husband' will stop feeling strange. Hopefully soon.

Here's just a few of the early stages, as captured by our lovely and amazing photographers Penny and Cam McKinley-Rodgers. I honestly can't recommend them enough. Not only are they both genuinely lovely people, they have an incredible talent to capture those special moments when no one else is looking and put everyone around them instantly at ease. I simply can't wait for our album.

New found Blog

There's so much to catch up on since my last blog.... Including my new name!

But for the time being I thought I would start with this. It's a new blog I've been reading and I think her style is very cool. Her name is Angelica Blick and she's from Linköping in Sweden. Strangely, most of the bloggers that I'm loving at the moment are.

A dress fit for a McQueen. Is Sarah Burton the woman for the job?

How exciting! The Sunday Times announced that Alexander McQueen is to design Kate's dress for her big day - front page news.

Sarah Burton, McQueen's successor, has apparently been tasked with the job. However, we'll have to wait until the day to find out for definite because she's denied it all.

Needless to say that whatever Kate wears she's going to look amazing. I'm very excited to be sharing my wedding weekend with them and can't wait to watch it all unfold the day before I say 'I do' too..... wonder what it will be like?!

Megan Fox's new ad

She clearly did well in the genetic lottery....

Today's Inspo

images courtesy of instyle.com

Girl Crush

images courtesy of instyle.com

I love Diane Kruger's style. Is there anything this girl can not wear?

Miss Dior

Two things..... How amazing does Natalie Portman look in the new advert for the perfume, Miss Dior Cherie?! Very Audrey Hepburn - beautiful.

Secondly - Does this mean everyone will be rushing out to buy it...... It's my chosen wedding smell. Noooooooooooo.

Anyhoo, I am back in the land of the living (well I'm back at work) but feeling a bit groggy after much migraine medication. Also wearing the most boring outfit in the world today which is going to make anyone feel sad :-(. Note to self. Must try harder and make an appointment for a spray tan! Life is better with a tan.

Cx

Ick!

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Woke up this morning feeling awful :-( Was looking forward to test driving my new woolly tights too.... Alas it will have to wait. Cx

Beauty Buys

Having received some very generous donations to the bank of Claire for my birthday last week, I thought it was high time that I stock up on some beauty bits. A trip to Space NK is calling too……. So exciting. Love that place, and now that I have my new N dulge card I can see I’ll be there even more.

Am an avid fan of Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat but the H&M varnishes and lip-gloss are new ventures for me - I'll let you know how I get on.

Have eventually picked a new perfume after much deliberation - Smells are so hard to buy! Just nice to have a bit of a change sometimes - eh?!

The DVD is a tip that I picked up from one of my fav bridal blogs http://www.rockmywedding.co.uk/. It received rave reviews and I'm hoping it's going to transform my life (and my ass!). Please not that it will not be in its cellophane tomorrow.......

The whitening paste is..... well it’s a follow on from my whitening trays in the hope it will keep my nashers pearly white ahead of the big day (66 days left, but who's counting?!).

Anyhoo - so tired so hitting the hay. Am manically busy at work and it's already 12.09am..... How did that happen!

Night night Cx

Ada Zanditon - sneaky peak!

The girls at Ecover have kindly sent me a sneaky peak of Ada Zanditon's show, which is happening this Friday.

You're probably wondering what's Ecover got to do with LFW, but it's very straight forward... Ada Zanditon is an eco-fashion designer and Ecover is an ecological cleaning brand. They partnered up sometime last year to show consumers that there is more to eco-fashion than choosing the right fabric and designer, it is also how you care for your clothes that matters. They're also my preferred choice when caring for my clothes. I love their non-bio laundry liquid.

This is just a little taster but I'm proud to be one of the first to show you all.

The Rules!

Last Thursday I had my review in work which is always a little nerve wracking - pleased to say there was nothing horrific - phew!

On the back of this I have been really considering how I can 'grow' and this morning my AD in work sent me something really interesting which I though I would share. New week resolutions anyone?!

10 Spartan Rules
In 1951 President Yoshida wrote 10 principles to guide behavior at Dentsu in Japan:

1. Create work for yourself; don’t wait for work to be assigned to you.
2. Take an active role in all your endeavours, not a passive one.
3. Seek out large and complex jobs. Trivial tasks debase you.
4. Welcome difficult assignments. Choose them. Progress lies in accomplishing difficult work.
5. Once you begin a task, complete it. Never give up.
6. Lead your fellow workers. Be an example for them to follow.
7. Set goals for yourself to ensure a constant sense of purpose. This will give you perseverance and hope for the future.
8. Move with confidence. Confidence gives your work force, focus and substance.
9. Find new solutions. This is the way we ensure satisfactory service.
10. When conflict is necessary don’t shy away from it or be afraid. Conflict is the mother of progress and the source of aggressive enterprise. If you fear conflict, you will become timid and servile.

Fashion A La Radio

Source nylonmag.com, Photo Credit NYLON Magazine Melodie McDaniel

Perusing the weekend papers I noticed some chat about the idea of Radio 3 doing fashion essays...... Up until now I didn't even know about this show - sounds pretty interesting too.

It's a series of 15min programmes debating and exploring arts and cultural topics, running Monday to Friday. Last week it was all about the scholar Michel de Montaigne. They also have quite interesting people reading them out - last Monday it was Alain de Botton whose weekly book reviews in the Independent on Sunday used to be one of my favourite reads when I was in school - I always thought his style of writing was amazing.

Anyhoo, I would defiantly be keen to listen in to any fashion essays - fingers crossed it happens now.

On a completely separate note - here's some inspiration for the day. The fringe is amazing xCx

Nailed!

Today has been domestic bliss. Mr M and I stayed in bed forever - totally needed after last week. We then ventured out of the house for some errands (Baby Bottom Cream all sold out as suspected - Doh!) and then back home for further hibernation and sausage and mash.

I've also managed to do all my washing, drying and ironing as well as change my bed sheets (is there anything better than a clean fluffy bed?!), catch up on all my favourite blogs and experiment with my nails.

As I've mentioned in the past, I'm quite the Barry M nail varnish fan. However I often find their colours a bit too light - requiring many layers and I just don't have that kind of patience! Not anymore though. Since purchasing their black nail varnish I've been using it under their vivid purple and navy blue to make them deeper - and to great affect it has worked. Today I've also done the same with their grey varnish (not the best photo but you get the idea). Clearly grey is not a new trend, but I've been pretty unsure about it. When you're naturally pale I think that you have to tred carefully with pale varnishes. Don't ask me why, I just think you do.... It's like nail varnish on long nails - just not right. Don't know why - it's just the way I feel! Anyhoo, I've decided to give it a chance and will be keeping it for at least 24hours to conduct a fair trial. I shall report back. Over and out. xCx

Let your hair down

(source: Disney, Tangled) perhaps this is a little too long!

Since getting engaged I've been on a mission to grow my hair. It's already pretty long but I'd like it about four" longer....... with less than four months to go I may be in need of a miracle though. If all else fails there may be some hair pieces on the day... Hmmm not sure about that though - if only I had Rapunzel's hair (can't wait to see the movie). xCx