I seem to be on a near constant hunt for the perfect maxi dress to wear for work, so when the new season Very catalogue dropped onto my doormat not long ago and I saw this dress, I knew it was an instant buy.

It's a soft jersey fabric and has a number of really nice details - soft collar and placket buttons, breast pocket, tie belt and 3/4 length sleeves and the soft A line shape isn't too revealing or restrictive for work.

I've worn it a number of times already, accessorising it a little differently each time. At the moment, with decent(ish) weather, I'm keeping it simple with a statement necklace or a skinny belt but as Autumn takes hold I'll be wearing long sleeved t shirts underneath and adding a scarf or two. In Winter thick tights and long boots will be just perfect.


How would you style this dress?

I do not own any orange shorts and I definitely do not own any orange leather shorts. I had thought that any pair of shorts would have to do, I thought about wearing these, worn for an Inspiration Monday last summer, but whilst in town on Saturday I saw this cute skirt and decided that this would be better. It's not orange but it's close enough. This will be my last purchase until September as I'm on a spending ban for the duration of August and have set myself a little challenge to keep me occupied.

I actually wore this on Sunday as I have a 'no thigh' rule for work, but I can be forgiven for that, right?

I mentioned last week that I'd organised a Clothes Swap, I just thought I'd let you know that it went well. We raised just shy of £170 for the charity and a number of people have asked if there will be another one and, you know what, I think there will be.

Thanks to Two Birds for another great inspiration, see the others here, and as I type I'm wondering if Baby Bird was welcomed into the world this weekend?

Hope you all have a fabulous week.
Love

I've decided that August is to be frugal, meaning only essential shopping is allowed (food, that sort of thing). I took part in Frugal February back in, erm, February and found it to be a really positive exercise.

To take my mind off the fact that clothes shopping can't possibly be seen as essential spending, no matter what angle you look at it from, I'm going to be shopping my wardrobe.


Can you sense a challenge coming on? To make it a little more interesting I'm only going to wear items once, a mini Wearing It All challenge, focusing on the less frequently worn items in my wardrobe and starting with the never-been-worn.

I'll try to do a weekly round up post every Wednesday.

Do you fancy joining me? If you do leave me a comment below and if you don't leave me a comment anyway ;o)

Love

At around about the time that my current BB cream (Boots 17) came to an end I heard a buzz about the arrival of Dr Jart's BB creams at Boots, and loving a new product in the way I do, I decided to give it a try.

Boots gave very little product information on their website but it was enough for me to chose which of the four creams was best for me - Dr Jart+ Premium Beauty Balm SPF40. Sadly, it was the line '...particularly suitable for those over 30' that sealed the deal *sigh*. At £24.00, it's the most expensive of the range (typical!) but it's the only one (I believe) that has a pump dispenser, which I rather like and the packaging is really nice.


It gives a light coverage and has a pinky beige pigment, giving the illusion of a light tan but I am very pale so this may not be the case for everyone.

It softens blemishes, covers redness and smoothes skin tone leaving skin feeling really soft. Catching an occassional glimpse of myself as I go about my day, I have to say I'm pleased with what I see. My skin just looks better and I find I wear less make-up as a result.

It creates a 'slightly glossy' finish which gives a lovely dewy look to cheekbones but I found this to be more a case of  'someone pass me a blotting tissue' on my T zone. I normally prefer a matt finish so I decided to use a beauty staple of mine - the Avon MagiX Face Perfector - on my T zone to counteract the shine. I love the result.

I tried and reviewed Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector but I think I must have been the only person on earth that didn't like it. It just didn't work for me. I mentioned the 17 BB Blemish Balm in a post, it was an improvement, but it's Dr Jart+ that has pursuaded me that BB creams are the way to go.

Do you use a BB cream? Which ones have you tried?

Monday rolls around so quickly, especially when the sun has finally started to shine and you want the weekend to last just a little longer...

I had a fabulous weekend. I shopped for the week's groceries (all on the high street), found my second charity shop purchase of the year (could my charity shop luck be changing?) and spent Saturday evening having a long over due catch up with my best friend.

Sunday consisted of lots of relaxing in the sun and some pottering in the garden.

Tomorrow I have a day off work as I have organised a clothes swap for a local charity and want plenty of time to make sure everything is set up and ready. It's the first time I've done anything like this so I'm a little apprehensive. I really want it to be successful, and maybe even become a regular thing. I feel a little like I did as a child in the run up to my birthday party... will anyone come?

Anyway, today's outfit, another fab inspiration from Megan and Nora (aka Two Birds). These jeans have made a number of appearances lately, but the top is new. It's from a website I stumbled upon called Wandering Minds. I received my order within 48hrs, with it came a gift of a hairband and a hand written note. What's more, I didn't take advantage of a 15% discount, so I was emailed by 'Digitial Mechanic' James with a new discount code to use within the next three months. How good is that?! I ordered this top and a basic white t-shirt and I'll be going back for more... I have my eye on this parka - perfect for Autumn, and these tan brogues, cute huh?

See all the inspiration outfits here.

Love

I've really started to love the neon trend, which came as quite a surprise. After living through the 80's I didn't think that neon was something I would ever re-visit. I wore fluffy neon ankle socks - one pink and one yellow, and rubber bangles in huge numbers and had a scrunchie in every neon colour available *cringe*.

And yet, here I am, several years on, being lured once again by the mesmerising glow of neon.

My most recent neon purchase was a necklace found on eBay (whilst searching for 'that' H&M necklace). It had been hand painted, which triggered my inner DIY-er and had me heading off to B&Q for a can of spray paint.

I chose Rust-oleum High Glow Paint in yellow and here is what I did with it…


I chose an old, neglected necklace and asked Tinker nicely to step aside so I could photograph it.


I rather liked the contrast between the colour and texture of the wood with the utterly man made garishness of fluorescent yellow, so I decided to spray just a few of the beads. I used masking tape to mask the first few beads and sealed the rest in a bag.


I built up the colour slowly by spraying a thin coat and letting it dry before applying another. I did two coats a day until I was satisfied with the result.


I really rather like it and am currently eyeing up other potential neon projects - Tinker had better not sit still for too long...

What do you think? Have you embraced neon?
Check back soon to see how I've been wearing it.

Have a great weekend guys!

Love

This is a little different from the challenges I normally set myself.

You may wonder why I would choose to ban myself from such all-under-one-roof convenience but I often grumble about the 'bloody supermarkets' when I see smaller shops close down through lack of trade. I've been known to wax lyrical about how communities should refuse to shop in a new store after they fought to stop it being built. As consumers we have an incredible amount of power - a shop, no matter how big it is, can't survive without customers.

However, in the past year I have purchased numerous non food items from Tesco when I could just as easily have gone to local shops. The contradiction here became to hard for me to ignore.

So, for the whole of July I intend to support the high street and use local shops where ever possible. I want to see if I can survive without Tesco.

Here is how I have been getting on so far...

Day 1
Whilst in B&Q, for reasons of a DIY nature, I picked up some dishwasher gubbins too. I realise that in doing this I am simply swapping one large store for another but bear with me, I started this with no plan in place so I am having to find my way one day at a time.

Day 2
Back at work. I should have been more organised but I'm so used to the convenience of having a Tesco within walking distance of work I didn't think to plan ahead. I'd intended to go to a local butcher, it's combined with a bakery (that had no sandwiches left despite it being just passed noon) and it also had no meat - not a sausage, as they say.

As a result I had to go to Tesco as no butcher would be open on my way home and I'd run out of time to go elsewhere. I spent £4.20 on two jars of Dolmeo in local shop instead of the £3.48 it would have cost me in Tesco. Today has been a bit of a hoo-ha.

Day 3
All I needed for supper tonight was some veg. My greenhouse offers a nice line in radishes and salad leaves but I wanted proper, hearty, green veg. I knew that there was a veg stall on the Square near to where I work, I found out that this is every Tuesday... between 9 and 10.15 am. Not helpful. So, I ventured to Woodbridge to go to the greengrocer there. Guess what? No broccoli or greens, I made do with frozen peas and beans that I had at home. Fail.

Day 4
Needed cat food, so I went to Seapets which is just around the corner from my office. Again, I see the irony that I am still using large, out-of-town stores. But I don't have a problem with these stores as such, what I have a problem with is my reliance on one store above all others. That said, my intention to support local stores remains intact.

Day 5
Back to Woodbridge to the greengrocer, baker, fish monger and I needed single cream so had to pop into Budgens too. This is a small store tucked unobtrusively into the town centre so I felt okay with shopping there. I needed white wine to cook with but I didn't have time to get to an off license so I substituted the wine for water - it tasted just as good!

Day 6
No shopping

Day 7
I visited The Egg Shed this morning, stocked up on eggs, milk, broccoli, bacon and, as OH was with me, a random pot of mustard. I also checked out a butcher and baker and the Saturday market in the town centre (where some friendly banter with a stall holder left me in the finest of moods). I had all the provisions I needed for the next few days.

Or so I thought.

When I returned home I discovered that we were having a BBQ for five friends. With two hours to go and a house to clean, OH went to Tesco.

I was disappointed to default back to Tesco so soon but we needed a number of different things and we wouldn't have been able to get everything from the limited number of smaller shops nearby in the time that we had.

I have found that living in a rural area has hindered this experiment a little. The local farm shop and the only general store both open at 9am and close at 5pm. I drive past at 8am and back again at 5.45pm during the week, so any shopping has to be in my lunch hour and near to work so planning is crucial!


Day 8
No shopping (eating BBQ leftovers and nursing a slight hangover)

Day 9
No shopping (more BBQ leftovers). This is unusual for me, I used to go to Tesco once a day, sometimes twice.

Day 10
I bought my lunch from the sandwich lady (a lovely lady in a van stuffed full of the nicest chicken baguettes known to man). It feels much nicer to support her than to trudge to Tesco for sandwiches everyday.

After 10 days I'm roughly £8 out of pocket. I have found some new places to shop and I feel good about it. Not only am I exploring my local area more, I'm supporting local businesses (which I hope to do more of as I discover more) and I've only been into Tesco twice.

As for the £8, I think I would have spent that on impulse buys in Tesco - I always used to pick up 'extras' every time I went in. Hands up who's gone in for a pint of milk and a loaf of bread and spent £70.00?

Day 11, 12, 13
No shopping.

Day 14
I explored a nearby town. I found a butcher, baker, reptile house, the most fabulous haberdashery, two wool shops... no green grocer though. So, for my veg I went to a farm shop on my way home - I'm slowly discovering more places like this locally - but they, quite rightly, only have seasonal veg. This is going to be a bitter pill to swallow, I cooked a roast dinner but had to forego the parsnips. Roast parsnips are the best.

Do you always head to Tesco or do you use local stores? I'm really interested to hear your thoughts on this.

After seeing Sophie's entry I decided join Florrie's floral festivities to help her celebrate three year blogiversary.

This was a bit of a challenge for me as I don't have many prints in my wardrobe but having recently decided to inject some colour and pattern, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to show off my most recent floral find.

As a result of some eBay trawling I am now the proud owner of this pre-loved Topshop dress. I had to alter the neckline as it didn't sit quite right and with that done, I'm smitten!


I then went on a hunt to find other floral items for my outfit. I have to admit that I was surprised to find as many as I did. The whole process felt wonderfully reminiscent of playing dress-up as a child.


I added two necklaces - both daisies - one a bridesmaid gift from my sister-in-law, the second a Christmas present from my Dad, a leather cuff covered in daisies and three bracelets with flower charms, a brooch (found on etsy, made from recycled materials) and finally some sandals that I had to dust off - I had totally forgotten about them!

See all the paticipants of Florrie's Floral Festivities here.
Love

Orange and pink. I love this combination and, you never know, it may even be bright enough to liven up this dull day?

See the other EBEWers here.

Love

It's been a Monday today. You know, the kind of Monday that you can spend much of Sunday evening dreading? Yep, that.

On a brighter note, it's also Inspiration Monday, which is far less gloomy! Not having an orange top, I added a touch of orange to my nails instead and went for a more casual shoe - as much as I love a wedge, they tend to make a loud stomping noise on the floorboards at work. Luckily, the rain held off so I managed to keep my toes dry all day.

Check out the other inspiratees here (it should be a real word) and thanks to Megan and Nora for another great source of inspiration.


Hope you've had a good start to your working week.

Love

My final instalment of Flying Saucer's May Challenge, albeit rather late! A bit of a long one and lots of pics of me in it (sorry - overload! I tried to keep them to a minimum).

See the others here, here and here.

21st. Something that is your favourite brand
This begs the question what is my favourite brand? Avon has to be up there, or Essie - a new discovery for me - but for sheer longevity alone I'd have to say Olay (60 years old this year and still looking fabulous). I've used their moisturisers for as long as I can remember and recently Really Ree introduced me to Olay's Regenerist Wrinkle Relaxing Complex. It's utterly divine, I'm already on my second pot. Read Ree's review here.

22nd. A piece of clothing or jewellry that was a gift
My Pandora bracelets. All of these charms have been given to me, the cute little giraffe was a gift from my brother after I returned from Kenya with a huge giraffe obsession (if you ever get the chance to visit the Giraffe Centre in Kenya, take it!). My absolute favourite is the little house that OH gave me after we moved into our new home lat year.



23rd. Something from your favourite store
H&M is my go-to store especially for basics, but I also love their scarves. I have a bit of a 'thing' for scarves and the majority of my collection originates from here. This is my latest addition.



24th. The item that brings all the boys to the yard
Haha! I'm really not sure what that even means (showing my age?). OH likes this outfit - does this count?



25th. A totally YOU outfit.
Jeans, bag, big-ish necklace or arm party, slouchy top, scarf or ballet flats...



26th. What's in your bag
You can check this out on What's in My Handbag. Great site - loads of fun and a great way to find new beauty products too! If you'd like to join the site click here.



27th. Inspired by your style icon
I don't think my inspiration needs any introduction here...



28th. Something everyone has now
Stumped. Nobody owns the same thing as everyone else...

29th. Face of the day
This is the kit that I use to create my everyday face. The Benefit Porefessional is a magazine freebie but I'll definitely be purchasing a full size tube in the near future. The eyeshadow palette I have had for ages (I'm a little embarrassed to show it) but I love it, well one of the colours anyway! The Bodyshop compact is for brows - the first one I have found that doesn't make my brows look orange.



30th. Pretty hair
My hair has never felt prettier than on my friend's wedding day, I was her bridesmaid and I wore frangipani in my hair.



31st. The thing you're obsessed with at the moment!
This can change on a daily basis! When I was supposed to write this post I'm certain that it would have been something different but right now I'm in love with these. I found these via A Daisy Chain Dream - thanks Laura! (And just in case anyone is interested, I'm a 5.5 and my birthday is at the end of August).


Hope you have a great weekend
Love

How is it possibly Monday again already!?

I have to admit that I went shopping in search of something for this week's outfit. This skirt was in White Stuff but when I saw the price, I made a sort of 'pfft!' sound and left it in the shop. I then spent the next 24 hours thinking about it. I drove back into town to make it mine and discovered that it was £10.50 cheaper than the ticket price. Result! (Thank you Two Birds, I couldn't have done it without you).

Had the weather been better I doubt that I would have made like Mendes and tied my shirt in a knot, I haven't done that since high school. As it was the weather remained cold and the wind continued to blow so I chose a warmer option.

Check out Two Birds to see how others interpreted the look.

Hope you're having a lovely Monday!