London Calling

I spent the day with my boyfriend on the Southbank yesterday visiting the Festival of Britain. Despite regularly taking the 25 minute train journey into the city, I had never really spent much time south of the river. My granddad is a back cabbie and being the staunch Eastender that he is (born in Shoreditch) he refuses to cross the river to go down "sarf". He states that they are not quite right. Obviously I don't share the same opinion :)

001. Basking in the sunshine! Unfortunately the seem on my lovely trousers split and I had to take them back to Next after work today :( As they were in the sale I just had to get my money back. The hunt on eBay starts!

002. We ventured to the Clink museum in the afternoon. It was really interesting but we were in and out within 20 minutes as it was tiny! The Clink used to be an old medieval prison and they have various torture devices on display. Ouch!

003. I never tire of seeing the sites in London.

004. We refuelled at Pizza Express for lunch. Not bad for 40p eh? I love vouchercodes!

005. I cannot for the life of me remember what this art sculpture was called but I particularly liked this poem. It was a selection of poems from immigrants all spoken aloud.

006. The House of Parliament and Mr Ben :)

007. I wanted to take this ice cream van home with me!

008. Welcome to the giants house!

009. I never even knew this existed! We wandered off to find a toilet and stumbled across this little gem of random shops and cafes. That is the one thing I adore about London, you never know where you might end up and there are so many treasures just waiting to be found.

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Bootsale booty

A Theo Miles brown tweed blazer - £2
A yellow paper sun parasol - £1
A small Vogue mirror - 50p

I did yet another bootsale yesterday and managed to raise another £25. So that is £50 in our holiday spending money fund. I quite enjoy this bootsale lark!

I managed to have a little hunt around for myself and came away with some goodies! All for the pricely sum of £3.50. If anyone has any history on any of these items, please let me know!

I have no use whatsoever for the parasol as my dad very kindly pointed out when I showed him my "junk" but it looks fab in my bedroom and if we ever hit a heatwave I am well prepared!

I had seen the vogue mirrors on various blogs and did a little inward dance when I spotted this on the stall behind mine. When the lady said 50p I couldn't open my purse quick enough. The frame needs a rub down and banging together. I am going to bribe my dad with chocolate. Any idea of the date of this? I would love it if it is a good few years old!

The tweed jacket sold me with the elbow patches. I am going to wear it with jeans and roll the sleeves up. I've not have the chnace to google Theo Miles so am not sure on the brand as of yet.

One pet hate of the bootsale is, why do people come with wads of £20 notes? No I do not have change for that. Ugh.

Anyone else hit any bootsales over the weekend?

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He walks away, the sun goes down

Outfit:
Black blazer: New Looks
Black rouched sleeved top: Topshop
Black and cream pleated skirt: Primark
Round toed court shoes: Topshop
Multi strand faux pearl necklace: Mothers bedroom

What is this? An outfit post? It is indeed my lovelys! Christmas in July means that I have been getting into work, eating dinner and going straight to bed. But as of next week I am getting home at an reasonably hour so will have more outfit posts for you if you want? I have quite a few new things, from Primark of course!

My mum treated me to this bargain skirt (only £5) today and I just knew I had to wear it tomorrow to work. Still not entirely sure that it is flattering, I think it makes my legs looks stumpy (still trying to lose weight, am stuck at 3 pounds). But I love it enough to wear it anyway. It is just so ladylike and seems perfect for working in the city. I want to walk along the platform swishing away. The rest if the outfit is old old and more old. I have had these shoes for about 3-4 years and had only worn then a few times. But these last few months I have worn them to death. It would seem they are the perfect work shoe!

I am off out for dinner tomorrow, meeting my friends at the classy establishment that is Wetherspoons. I think I might have a cheeky vodka and cranberry juice. You know, push the boat out.

How has your week been so far? Anything exciting happen?
Big hello to new followers, talk to me on twitter. I promise I won't bite :)

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A snapshot #1

I always love reading about these. So here you have a snapshot of my week via my iPhone

001. This last month I have gone to so many Christmas in July at work press shows I have lost count. I already have my Christmas list sorted. This Alexander McQueen Union Jack clutch is top of my wishlist. Can the lottery gods make sure my boyfriend wins the jackpot?

002. Excuse the overexposed photo and the extremely cheesy grin. My best friend came and met me after work on Friday for a half price Pizza Express and two for one cocktails in the Slug and Lettuce. Winning combination.

003. I did a carboot on Saturday which I do not recommend is the best thing to do when you are hungover. However needs must. My boyfriend as you can see had a whale of a time. We made £25 after we took the £11 back we paid for the car. Not a mind-blowing amount but it is all going in our holiday spending money pot. We are clearing out Connors house, his dad has kindly let us keep the money and my Uncle is moving house so he has kindly let us keep the money for his junk too. We have enough goodies for at least 3 more bootsales so if we make £25 at each one we will have £100 for our holiday. Not bad.

004. Some holiday reading. This was all I brought at the bootsale for a £1 each. To be honest it was all I could afford. I saw some beautiful china cups and saucers. But I don't have a house and cannot afford to move out until about 964891279128 years. I also still owe £120 on my holiday plus spending money so cannot be spending money willy nilly. It did not help that they were the stall behind us and I was staring longingly at them.

005. Itunes Festival. Connor won some itunes tickets to see Mogwai and the support act errors? It is not really my sort of music, I should imagine you need to be off your head to enjoy it. No offence to anyone, I just like a bit of guitar. We went along anyway to Camden and had a nandos thanks to Oliva's suggestion. We ended up leaving after the support act but it was still a nice random day out. We walked along the lock and did a bit of people watching. It felt strange being in Camden after the Amy Winehouse news broke. RIP Amy. No matter what people say I think you should remember that she was someone's daughter and the pain that her family is going through right now. I think people should have a heart.

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Fearne Cotton for Very

Spot cape shift dress - £65

Fearne Cotton Pansy Print dress - £55

Printed Vintage Dress - £59

How beautiful are these dresses? I love long sleeved mini dresses as I think they look elegant with a little hint of naughtiness. I love the 60's feel that the dresses have and think that Fearne looks stunning.

I always lusted over the Fearne Cotton range whenever a new collection comes. I do think that they are a little overpriced for what they are. I have never been able to afford anything.

But now I can as I have some amazing news. If you follow me on twitter you may have heard. At my internship I have been offered a two month short term contact paid. Yes you heard right I will be getting a wage for being a journalist! You have no idea how much this means to me after slogging away for three years on various publications doing endless weeks of work experience. I was beginning to think that I just was not good enough for a paying job.

I am unbelievably happy, I didn't want to leave and I feel like I have settled in so well. I have really come to terms with the role and would be sad to leave and let someone else take my place. Thankfully they have decided to keep me on until October.

When I get my first wage packet the first spotted dress will be mine. I am slightly worried at spending £65 on a dress when the most expensive thing I have brought all year is £25. But I have worked so hard and deserve a little treat; I might have to have a special night out just to wear it too ;)

Has anyone brought anything from this range before? Any idea on the sizing? I am usually a size 10 but sometimes get a 12 for the length. I am 5ft8 and prefer not to flash my bum in dresses. Just need to know if there is much difference between the 10 and the 12 :) Thanks guys!

Images taken from Very
This is not a sponsored post I genuinely love these dresses!

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WareStyleTreats

Warehouse are doing random acts of kindness throughout the month and choosing a follower on twitter or a fan on Facebook to send a goodie bag. I had complained on Twitter that I was having a bad hair day and on my way to an interview. I then got a tweet telling me that to make sure bad hair days never happen Warehouse were going to send me a goodie bag of hair products by Label M. I gave my address in lightening speed in case they changed their mind and within two days these beauties below were mine. All worth a staggering £105. You could say it was my lucky day!
The goodie bag included four shampoos and conditioners. The orange blossom shampoo smells gorgeous!
A massive tin of hairspray, just as well as mine is running out. I was also gifted some heat protection spray and protein spray (which is not pictured for some reason!)
Mousse and dry shampoo, again products that I was running out of. Does WareStyleTreats have special powers?Thank you so much Warehouse, this has actually made my week!
Have any of you been lucky enough to recieve some WareStyleTreats?

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Upper Street

It was my boyfriend's birthday on Friday, he is now the grand old age of 22. Our friends took the day off work/half a day off work to come meet me after work and go out. It was quite a sight having nine boys meet me after work, I looked liked I was being pimped out haha! Luckily one of friends who lives in London met us for a bit so that I could have little girl company. We went on a little bar crawl and ended up at the O2 Academy for a trusty Indie night.

001. Cocktails! They were delish. We went to a bar called Slim Jims as they had happy hour on cocktails. The sign of an amazing bar in my opinion. Highly recommended if you are ever in the area. Not just because they take bras and knickers as payments for a drink....

002. Fancy some pizza? A few of us ended up going out for dinner to line out stomachs. It is not every day that you get a 4ft pizza!

003. Planking. I spent the entire 10 seconds he was balancing on a phone box scared he was going to fall off and break his neck. Luckily we did not have to dash to the nearest hospital. I guess these things happen when boys egg each other on...

004. Me and my lovely friend! We went to Sixth Form together and she ended up moving to London for uni and never came back home. Not that I blame her but I still miss her crazy amounts. It is always so nice when we meet up! I wore this dress.

005. The birthday boy and I. This is the best of a bad bunch! My hair looks a bit frazzled, I blame the fact I had been up since six!

My greedy boyfriend has had a birthday weekend. My mum did him a birthday breakfast for smocked salmon and scrambled eggs on bagels and he went home with armfuls of presents. Tonight we are going out for a birthday meal to our local Mexican with his family. I think it will be a bit of a come down tomorrow when he doesn't get to do anything.

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You had my heart inside of your hand

Outfit: Snow leopard print blouse - Primark
Tulle midi black skirt - Next
Round toed black court shoes - Topshop

Finally an outfit that is not entirely Primark. I do have some items in my wardrobe from different shops haha! This skirt is what my boyfriend refers to as the "halloween witch" skirt. Despite that I love, I feel like a fairy in it! I have noticed though it is makes my legs look a little stumpy so perhaps I need to wear higher heels. I found this blouse tucked away in the cupboard so that was a nice little surprise. It’s like having news clothes when you find something after months! I am so pale, I am trying to wean myself off the fake tan. I don't know what’s worst. Ghostly pale or radioactive orange...

I had a very eventful weekend! I travelled up to Milton Keynes to see the Foo Fighters who were amazing, Dave Grohl has such stage presence, they were joined on stage by Alice Cooper. A little surreal to say the least! Biffy were immense, I am desperate to see them again! We ended up leaving a little bit early at 11pm in order to beat the rush. Turned out we didn't really have to bother. It took us two hours to get out of the carpark, whose bright idea was it to have six carparks leading into one road? We then managed to get onto the M1 and we hit a major traffic jam. Decided to take a break from the road at about 4am as my friend fell asleep driving whilst we were in a traffic jam. Not good! It took use 45 mins to get back out onto the motorway. Finally strolled in my house at 7am on Sunday morning, a total of 8 hours after I left Milton Keynes. It should have been an hour and 15 minute journey. I was lucky enough to see sunset and sunrise that day (s). I then had the pleasure of having 1.5 hours of sleep before I had to go to work. Needlessly to say I thought I was dying at work and am still recovering after having nearly 11 hours sleep last night. I am off to bed after this is posted for another early night. Still at least it's a story to tell the grandkids!

I managed to get my hands on the Nails Inc freebies from Fabulous magazine, anyone else get lucky? I love both the colours and am going to give them a whirl over the weekend. I think the pink might just be my favourite.

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Madame Butterfly

I have yet another day at the races coming up. This time it is Ladies Day at Newmarket with my mum and her friends. As I didn't have the money to buy a expensive dress, I had to make do with good old Primark, I thought I would treat myself to a new fascinator. I have had my eye on Crown and Glory products for a while but had not had the money to treat myself. Seems to be the story of my life so far. I finally took the plunge and ordered this beautiful butterfly fascinator for only £15. A complete bargain when you see the prices of some in the shops!

It really is such a beautiful piece. Even my mum emailed me when she picked it exclaiming how gorgeous it was! The butterflies are so delicate and the colours look amazing together. It has orange and cream butterflies glued onto a straw circle with a white comb. I can imagine me back combing my hair, like it suggested in the packaging (loved the tips inside!) and having it slightly over my face. I am already looking for the excuse to buy another fascinator and some hair clips!
This is not a sponsored post, I brought it with my own hard earned cash.

This is the outfit I am going to wear next Friday. The hat goes perfectly with all the colours in my dress!I just want to say a huge hello to my new followers, seem to have required quite a few over the last few days. If you ever fancy a chat you can catch me on twitter!

I have also put myself out there on Alyse blog in her feature Girls who Dare to Bare. It is such an amazing idea about how we percieve beauty. I have got one make up free picture and one with my everyday make up. I look ever so pale without make up, in fact my boyfriend commented that I looked dead when he saw it. Charming! Check it out!

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Everbody wants to be famous, nobody wants to be nameless

Outfit:
Navy and cream spotted palazzo trousers: Primark
White vest top: Primark
Navy cardigan: Primark
Navy low court shoes: Primark
Navy and brown trimmed satchal: Primark
Red plastic watch: Toy watch
Silver heart necklace: 21st Birthday gift
Silver charm bracelet: Pandora

The werid legs apart was to show you that they are actually trousers!

Woah there is a whole lot of Primark in that outfit! I did not realise until I listed it! To be honest I think it shows just how on the ball Primark are this season. They have some stunning things at the moment and I am shopping there because I like the clothes rather than because I can't afford anything else. I have had these trousers a good few months and only cut out the labels today. I wanted to lose a bit of weight before wearing them but that's not happening! So I thought I'd be brave and wear them to work. I didn't feel self consious at all which is amazing considering I have a phobia of trousers!

I have some very exciting news! I got my results back for my degree and I have a 2.1 in Journalism!! Well I think I do, I have never go lower than a 2.1 in any of my modules over the past three years and when I calculated an average I got 64% which is a 2.1. So unless I get marked down dramatically (fingers crossed I don't) I will be presented with a 2.1 degree on my graduation. I am so pleased, it feels like all those nights stresses and many tears have finally paid off.

My parents very kindly treated me to a Pandora bracelet as a "well done on graduating" present even though I don't technically graduate until October! I had one on my Christmas list so I am so happy with it. I can't wait to fill it up with lots of pretty charms!

The rents brought me the bracelet, text book charm and graduation hat. My very lovely nan brought me the blue charm as my uni colours will be yellow and blue for my graduation.

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We'll die in the class we were born

Outfit:
White long line shirt: Next
Rust coloured skinny trousers: Primark
Tan skinny belt: Primark
Nude court shoes: Primark
Flower earrings: Topshop
Red plastic watch: Toywatch

I came home from work last week and found a little Primark goodie bag in my room curtesy of my mum. She's a diamond. Among the goodies were these skinny trousers. I was a bit appprehensive at first as trousers are not usually my friend. But as these had an elasticated waist I thought I would give them a whirl. I am still not very confident wearing them with a tucked in top but love them with a long top. So comfortable so perfect for commuting! However I dropped orange nail varnish down this shirt but have passed it over to my nan so fingers crossed she will bleach it and it will be as good as new.

I went to Ascot yesterday and had a blast! Even if it was £24 for a jug of Pimms. I did rubbish on the betting, I only won £5. I have not got a clue about betting so its no surprise I was rubbish! I didn't take that many pictures as I had a bit to do about my camera. I thought I had lost it when it turned out I gave it to my boyfriends best friend for safe keeping! Obviously starting drinking at 9.30 in the morning is not a clever thing to do! As a result I didn't end up taking that many pictures but I am going to wait until they all appear on facebook and then do a post on it!

How has everyone's weekend been? Did anyone else go to Ascot?

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I got so many clothes I keep them in my aunts house

Outfit:
Purple Leopard Print satin dress: Primark
Black 3/4 length cardigan: Primark
Sheer tights: Primark
Black round toed shoes: Topshop
Black beaded bracelet: Thomas Sabo
Red plastic watch: Toywatch

I actually really liked this outfit today. You know when you love what your wearing and it gives you a bit of a spring in your step? Yep I felt like that although the fact that I was listening to Rude Boy by Rihanna as I walked down the platform may have added to the strut! Shockingly I brought this dress a staggering 3 years ago before I started Uni during an insane Primark spree. I only took the tags off today. Yes I hold my head in shame! I have only just had an occasion to wear it! It is perfect for work! I ended up whipping the tights off half way through the day due the sauna like temperatures in London today. I was totally expecting rain when I got dressed this morning.

Not much has really happened so far this week. I have been working which I am still enjoying a lot. I am learning so much about online journalism, never knew it was so so different to print. It is all so interesting! I went for champagne (!!!) after work last Friday and it was lovely to speak to some people that I am working with. You don't chat that much in the office when you sit so far apart. They offered some really valuable tips about the industry!

I am off to Ascot on Saturday, not had the money to buy a new outfit so I am recycling the one that I wore two years ago. I am going with different people so no one will be none the wiser! It is such a beautiful dress, I featured it here, so I don't mind wearing it again. It is the coral and cream one from Monsoon.

I hope everyone has been ok. Sorry for neglecting the old blog, I am starting to manage my time a lot better so hopefully things will get back on track very shortly!

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All aboard

As some of you may or not know I am a brownie leader. I have been in girl-guiding for a staggering 15 years! I started off as a Brownie, then progressed to Guides, did my Duke of Edinburgh as a Ranger, became a young leader at the age of 15 and finally got my leadership qualification at the age of 21. The worrying thing is that I can open a brownie pack anywhere in the country. A thought I think sends fear through every parent haha. I got rewarded my 5 years service award last week, the geek in me was so proud haha.

Anyway this weekend we took 6 brownies and 6 guides all aged between 7 and 12 to sleep over on HMS Belfast. I think the 6 leaders were more excited than the girls, I have been looking to it forward for weeks! HMS Belfast is one of the few main attractions in London that I have never been too. I am going to go back because I didn't get enough time to be a nerd. I think the girls were too young to appreciate the history, they got bored easily.

The pictures below were taken on my Iphone so please bear in mind the quality is not that great.
This was my bed for the night. We slept downstairs in the mess decks on bunkbeds. In war time 920 men squeezed in here on hammocks only 21 inches apart. I can't even begin to think about how cramped that must have been nor how hot with all those bodies.

During our hour long mission to find a Macdonalds (with kids crying that they were hungry and their feet were going to fall off) we passed the Golden Hind. We have decided that this is where we are going to have our next sleepover. They serve Tudor food for dinner!

I didn't manage to get any pictures but we ate our lunch on the green next to the Mayor's office opposite the Tower of London and saw the red arrows zoom past. It was the first time I have seen them in the flesh and they were so impressive! They looked amazing. We also got to witness the 21 gun salut!

In all the time I have visited London (which is a lot since I only live 30 minutes away) I have never been on Tower Bridge when it lifts up. So you can imagine my excitment when I heard the sirens going. I think it ws another thing that I enjoyed more than my brownies haha!

The tube journey into London was the most stressful journey of my life. Give me rush hour anyday. I don't have to worry about losing anyone!

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