Tuesday tip: Staying safe on holiday!

Hola Senors y Senoritas!! ♥

Am having a lovely time here in Madrid. We've come back to the hotel for a Siesta, or in my case, a quick blogging sesh!

It's really lovely here, and hot hot hot! My first proper tan since I was a teen is coming along slowly but surely. My face isn't playing ball at all, though, and I'm very much channelling Rudolphio dos Rednose Reindeeros as they say here in Spain (Well, I just made that up, but it actually sounds quite plausible!) We've had quite a touristy day today. We did the open top bus tour and saw lots of gorgeous buildings and gardens (and a few Lidl's too, which made me feel at home!) There's another route on the bus tour we're going to do this evening. I've always thought bus tours looked super cheesy, but if you're in a new city, it's a great way to see the sights without wearing yourself out or getting lost. You can just sit on your bum, enjoy the breeze, get a lovely tan and learn about the city!

So, it's a bit of an ad hoc Tues tip, but today I'm sharing some tips we've been implementing here to keep safe in unknown territory.

1) Keep your cash and valuables in a cross-body bag or bumbag

Here's what I wore today, with my money and cam in a titchy bag, and all the other pointless crap I haul around in a tote bag. This is a pretty obvious tip to keep your important belongings un-snatchable, but worth remembering.



1b) An extra tip for the boyfriend owners

I forgot to get a picture of this one, but for extra security, hold your boyfriend's hand with your junk-bag in between the two of you. That way you are much more snatch-proof, as your belongings are harder to reach!

2) Don't look at maps in public places.

Or at least be discreet about it. Wandering around with your face in a map lets the baddies know you're not local, and are therefore more vulnerable to whatever wrongdoing they've got up their sleeves. Don't make yourself an easy target!

3) Look a bit angry.

Alex & I have had great success with this one. If we're walking past some dodgy looking people, we'll look a bit angry and unapproachable. Our 'don't eff with us' vibes seem to work!

3b) This can also be adapted for avoiding charity workers in your local high street. If you're walking along with a friend or boyf and don't want to be badgered, pretend to be having a row and they leave you alone. Alex introduced me to this one, and it really works wonders!

I'm off for a little snooze now, so Adios Amigos!

♥

BRB - The Madrid/Paris Edition

Yo doodz!

I finally have a small window of time to post a blog, before setting off on our adventure! We are getting the Eurostar tomorrow at 11am, but are leaving Canterbury today at lunchtime to take Roxy to my mum's etc.

Soooo quick update, Wednesday's trip to London was fun. Disappointing on the purchase front though. I had a collective £105 worth of vouchers for Debenhams and Urban Outfitters and couldn't find anything I really liked in either! Gutting! So I ended up buying some bits in Primark and that as about it! The Debenhams Christmas Press Day was okay, not an awful lot to report. I'm not going to spam you with pictures of Christmas gifts on the eve of my Summer Holiday. It just doesn't feel right! I saw an insanely glittery set of Nails Inc festive polishes, so I may have to invest in them this Winter. Probably a lot less messy than my nail glitter Tues tip!

As for the holiday packing scenario, it's actually been okay. I bought quite a few new things for the holiday, as I have no idea what to expect! Paris is forecast as hot and a bit rainy, Madrid is forecast as roasting hot but stormy... Anyway, all of your advice on
Monday's post about how to keep cool in hot weather was so helpful. I haven't had time to respond to comments lately (I HATE when bloggers say that, but it really is true in this case. I want time to enjoy all of your posts, not rush through it and spam you with some half-assed 'lolz, love dat!' comment afterwards!) but I did read and enjoy each of them and add many of your suggestions to my shopping list. (Noteably my first ever Trilby hat!)

Here's a no-frills account of some of the stuff I've packed:

Casual daywear (boobtubes and vests with cycling shorts/denim shorts mainly) Oh, I found the trilby for £3 in the men's section of Primark. They only had Fuschia pink ones in the women's bit. It was a tough decision!



Slightly more interesting daywear!





Coverups - Stuff I can wear if it's a bit cooler or if I'm sunburnt and don't want to make it worse!



Some evening outfits... I realised I don't really have any 'nice' going-out-to-dinner clothes. Will just have to jazz up some of these outfits with heels or fake lashes!





Layering - None of night time weather is forecast at lower than 19 degrees, so I'm just packing light cardi's and a denim jacket. Might whack a waterproof in there if I remember!



Accessories - Some new sunnies from H&M and some cheapy new pendants from the Topshop sale (the 2 on the left).



Have also packed jeans, leopard leggings, normal leggings, some scarves, SPF30 suncream, my Topshop trainer heels for comfort, a few pairs of sandals and flats, books... and that's about it!



BTW, Sainsvbury's is HANDS DOWN the best value for suncream. Their own brand of spray suncream is only £3, compared to about £10 for Boots' and Superdrug's own stuff!

We're taking the mac on holiday, so providing the internet connection is all good, I will be able to blog from Madrid! So this isn't goodbye, it's more of a BBS! Although I've pretty much shown you my outfit posts for the week just now. Oops!

Au Revoir! ♥

Tuesday tip: A trip down mammary lane!

Ha! Sorry about the title... I couldn't help myself.

FIRSTLY: Do check out the fun interview I did for Lauren of Glossary Zine, here!

Secondly: I also did one for the lovely Fritha Louise of The Fish Tank the other day, here!

Apologies for the delay of today's tip. I came down really headachey at about lunchtime and haven't been able to focus properly. I think I might need to get my eyes tested because I am getting constant headaches at the moment.

Anyway. Alex was the adjudicator of today's tip. I showed him it this morning and he agreed it definitely worked, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to convey in photographs... So I'll post it anyway for you to try IRL, if you think it's useful.

This tip is mainly for the boobalicious lady. It may be common knowledge to some of you, but I only really noticed the difference a couple of months ago. Basically, the longer your necklace, the less prominent your boobs look. I find a pendant necklace seems to make everything look more in proportion, whereas a short necklace only emphasises the gap between it and the boobs, creating a slightly saggy optical illusion and making the boobs the main focus, as they look rather shelf-like!

I don't think the difference is too obvious in these pictures. And due to the slightly different angle, my boobs actually look saggier in the second pic! FML! But I guess with the second picture the boobs aren't so 'HIYA'! And that is the whole point!



It's not the strongest Tues tip I've shown you, but I tried my very breast under the circumstances. Ha! And don't go thinking I've hit a wall, I've got PLENTY of awesome tips lined up, but I just wasn't up to it today.

♥ Whilst we're on the topic of all things boobular, next time you're bra shopping, DO ask the advice of one of the bra specialists! I was in Debenhams the other week, and thought I was in complete control of my bra needs. I merely asked a lady to check the stock room for the next size up in this bra, and she quite literally hijacked my breasts. I felt a bit uncomfortable at the time, and kind of wanted her to bugger off because I knew my size etc, but I'm glad she didn't.

She took over and brought me some new bras to try on. They looked about the size of my head , but I thought I'd try them on and humour her. I could always buy them and return them the next day to save her feelings...But sure enough, I put one on and after some strap adjusting I was hoiked in and ready to go! I couldn't believe how perfectly the bra fit me, considering it looked like some sort of cutting edge siamese-twin headgear design! It really taught me not to judge a bra by its [gigantic] cover. I'm not sure whether it's TMI to discuss which sizes we're talking here, but let's just say I when I entered the store I was Drastically Delusional, and when I left I was Flabbergasted..!

I bought a couple of bras and have never felt so supported in my life! It's really put a spring in my step knowing I can walk at a pace and not be putting on a tantalising jiggle-show for the pervy Ladz of Canterbury. The lady was telling me that if we don't support our boobs while we're young, you will see sagging while you're still in your twenties!!! So this tip is a MUST! A must for your bust!!

I've clearly gone insane, which tells me it's bed time! Off to London tomorrow, and will be back with pictures of purchases (and anything interesting from the Debenhams press show) tomorrow night!

Bon soir! ♥

The calm before the storm!

Hey!

I hope you had a nice weekend. I had a very uneventful one. I worked Fri, Sat and Sun and spent the nights just chilling with Alex, watching films and reading. It's all go this week, though, as we're off to Madrid on Sunday!

I haven't mentioned my holiday on here much for some reason! I guess it's just crept up on me. We're catching a sleeper train to Madrid (Alex hates flying), and stopping off for a couple of nights in Paris on the way back. Amazing! Shopping recommendations for either city would be much appreciated!

So anyway, this week is a busy one. Tomorrow I'm going strapless bra shopping, as I am aiming to wear nothing but strapless tops in Madrid as I don't want strap lines. It's my first 'hot holiday' since I was about 13, and therefore pretty much my first tanning opportunity since then, so I don't want straps to spoil it. On Wednesday, Alex & I are hitting London for some holiday shopping. I'm going to get most of my holiday gear in Primark, as I am an endless pauper. I can also finally spend my £55 Urban Outfitters voucher from the uni girls, which will be awesome! We're also nipping to the Debenhams Christmas press show.

Thursday night I'm going for drinks with work friends, and I've told them all I'll paint their nails leopard print is they each buy me a drink. A good way to save money! God help the last person whose nails I paint, after all the 'free' drinks! They'll probably have entire leopard print (ish) hands. Friday and Saturday I'm working, and then it's off to Madrid on Sunday! I also need to pack at some point. Dread.

Here's today's outfit (Unfortunately I look like my face is frozen by botox - I can assure you this isn't the case!):


(Dress - a £7.99 h&m bargain! Sandals - Tesco, Jacket & Brooch - Topshop)

Here's a floaty leopard print dress I bought in Dorothy Perkins for a tenner (with discount), which I will probably hang onto unless I find a similar one for 0.05 pence in Primark.


(My fave sunnies, £4.99 from h&m)

Any ideas for what I can wear to stay cool in Madrid's sky-high temperatures? Like I said, it's my first hot holiday in ages, so I am clueless! I'm guessing a hat will have to be involved... Hopefully I'll find a cool straw hat in Primark. Luckily I have a long fringe now... Last time I tried on a hat, I looked like a bald man because it covered up all my hair and fringe. It was embarrassing for all involved.

Gimme tips on how to stay cool, please!! And perhaps how to be cool? I'm stuffed when it comes to either!

Friday faves

After having my last few days marred by grotesque headaches, things are finally looking up and after a nice Curry lovingly cooked (well, film lid lovingly pierced, if we're being picky!) by Alex, I'm finally feeling myself again. Woo!

So in the spirit of all things awesome, here are the things that have made me smile through my painful few days...

Painting my friend Jen's nails mix 'n' match when we had a little sleepover the other night! (Design inspired by various Wah manicures!)



Finding this ADORABLE little cool bag for £2.50 in The Merchant Chandler. I thought it was just a Canterbury based shop, but they do have a site if anyone's interested. The prices do include VAT online though. Might have to pick up a few more of these bags for a future giveaway. Too nice (and cheap!) not to share!



New books in my life! I bought my little sister the whole Georgia Nicolson book series for her birthday in April and I'm now borrowing them and slowly picking up from where I left off when I was about 16! Ha! Also found The Thrift Book in the Waterstone's Sale today. Have had a quick flick, but the tips are all a bit obvious to me and I don't think I like the tone... I think a Tuesday Tips book would be better for the thrifty among us! Hmm...



Painting my own nails mixy matchy. I don't like some of these designs but I was just having a play and trying out some new things. Loving the gold glitter and clouds (borrowed from Wah!), but I smudged my lightning cloud in my sleep so it looks a bit of a mess!



Outfit repeater alert! Yes, am wearing my leopard leggings again, but oh well! If it ain't broke... I decided to dress up nice today (aka. wear heels) for our mooch into town to do my refunds in a bid to help my head feel a bit better. I'd taken some of Alex's Migraine tablets before hand so I definitely wasn't in pain but was incredibly drowsy. I actually fell asleep in Waterstone's!



And finally... Our Breathless t-shirts! Here's the boy and I in totally matching get up! They do say couples dress the same, hey? Alex bought some Desert boots like mine the other day, so we decided to model our beautiful new tees (which he found on eBay) and matchy boots together! Aren't we sad?


[We didn't actually leave the house like this, btw!]

Hope you're having a fabulous Friday and have lots of lovely weekend plans. Work all weekend for me, as ever! Boo!

♥

#TV taught me how to feel, now real life has no appeal!

Sorry for the late post, but this blog is looking rather naked to me and I can't go to sleep leaving it in this vulnerable state!

Alex got back from his mini holiday to the seaside with his buddies, so we've been having a lovely night but he's dozing off now, so I'm blogging live from bed!

I don't talk about music much on here, if ever, because I'd never tell anyone what they should be listening to or anything like that. But I do have a music-related fixation lately and purely for style value, I'm going to spam you with some pretty Marina Diamandis videos and pics! She fronts the band Marina and the Diamonds, and although her music and style aren't my usual 'thing', there's just something so fun about it that I can't help but love.

I kind of think of Marina as Britain's answer to Katy Perry (♥). Fun music, batshit crazy fashion sense and let's face it, great boobs!

[Pics from TFS]

Here's Marina and the Diamonds' video for their new single I can't get out of my head, as well as a previous one that I think is just lovely.




Sleep time now!! Back tomorrow :)

Tuesday Tip: DIY Ribbon Bow Watch!

Today's tip was a bit of a disaster. I tried Plan A (which involved Duct Tape) but after 2 attempts that didn't go to plan, I gave up and moved onto Plan B. A race around the charity shops to look for a watch ensued, and I couldn't find a decent one anywhere. But I explained my plight to a nice man in the Indoor Market and he found me the perfect watch for this tutorial. Because it was broken inside, he gave me it for free! What a babe!

SO, this tip is about having a customisable watch for any outfit or occasion. You need an old watch with a strap you can cut with scissors (so metal watches are no good for this). These can usually be found easily in charity shops or car boot sales, but obviously the gods weren't smiling on me today! Then all you need is various bits of ribbon from a craft shop for however you want your strap to look. Once you've located a watch, this tutorial is incredibly simple and is something you can use forever. Essentially this is a tip for the skint and lazy like myself!

I got the idea from seeing a Liberty scarf watch in a magazine, but obvz my idea is better because it's unique, interchangeable and cheap cheap cheap! (My 3m of ribbon came to £2!)

Obviously, seeing as the boyf is away I couldn't tie the ribbon straps to my wrist alone, so have had to model them on my hand for you (I tried my ankle but quite frankly it just looked bizarre!)








Hope you liked this week's tip :) Feel free to comment or email me any suggestions for future tips!
My friend Jen is on her way over for a sleepover while Alex is away, so I'd better go and put some clothes on! I'm going to wear my leopard leggings again, seeing as your feedback on them was so good in my last post! Thank you :) Back tomorrow!
♥

Legs are the new Nails

I gave into my Leopard lust and bought the leggings from Topshop yesterday. I was kinda freaking out about how I'd wear them, but after tonight's epic dress up session, I am feeling much more inspired!

I wore the first outfit to work today. It was the first time I'd ever done the controversial leggings-as-trousers thing. I found it strangely liberating, and luckily my worries about the crotch scenario were unfounded. (I won't be needing any of these!) I do find the print makes my legs look quite chubsville, and for the first time in my life I look like a pear shape rather than the usual 'top heavy', but I don't really mind that. I think curves are cool.

So here are some of the looks I came up with, some good, some not so good:

'Rocky Ibiza' as this look was described by a co-worker earlier today! Kinda bland, but fine for racing around Topshop all day.


[Vest - Topshop, Sandals - Tesco]

A kind of Vintagey Geeky look.


[Top, brogues, headscarf -Vintage]

Rock-ish. Don't like this look much. A bit of a bore. On a brighter note, these are the comfiest heels I've ever owned.


[Top - My Tuesday Tipped charity shop tee, Topshop heels]

Clashy. I really like this little look and the top matches my toe nails which is always a nice touch! I rolled the leggings up to give them a cropped look.



[Top - £6 in the New Look sale, Necklace - h&m, Clogs - Moheda via Sarenza]

I need to go jersey shopping and find some cool baggy tees to wear with them, but I'm glad I've got a few ideas flowing until then! The leggings work out at about £16 with my discount, and I think that's quite bargainous as I'm sure I'll get a lot of wear out of them.

Can you think of any other ways to style these leggings? And what do you make of the trousers-as-leggings thing? Am I a walking faux pas?

♥

Shop 'til you drop (this is an order).

Seeing as the look I'm going for lately evokes the words 'sweaty' 'maternity-wear' and 'oaf', I'm holding off on the outfit photos, for your own safety. I'm actually getting really annoyed with having to wear very minimal and floaty clothing because of the heat and am really wondering how I'll cope in Madrid (2 weeks until my holiday! Don't think I've mentioned it on here yet?)

This kind of leads me to my next point. Here are many of the items available in my blog shop at the moment. As my financial situation is so hairy, I have barely any money to fund a new cool holiday wardrobe (nearly 40 degrees in Madrid at the mo!), let alone pay my bills! So if you see anything you like here, please do leave a comment (or leave one on the shop blog itself) because your help would be so greatly appreciated!




[All prices range from 5-15 pounds, click here to see the gory details of each item in the shop!]

Hope you've had a lovely weekend. I've worked all weekend, but we had friends round to watch The 4th Kind last night (SO creepy!), and Alex cooked me a lovely Spag Bol tonight so it's not been all bad. Alex is going away tomorrow with his friends to his family's flat by the sea on the South coast, so I will be a spinster until Thursday. Kinda looking forward to watching Escape to the Country hassle free, though! Might even let Roxy sneak into bed for a hug! (Good god, I hope Alex isn't reading this. I will literally be dead meat!)

I'll be back tomorrow with an outfit post (hopefully)!

♥

Leopard Lust

The trouble with working at Topshop is that every shift is a potential shopping spree. I've been ruling my finances with an iron fist lately because, erm, I'm totally skint. But we have some awesome new leopard print items in that are taunting me to invade the overdraft! The thing with leopard print is that it's quite timeless, I think. I could justify buying these things in my time of financial strife, because the cost:wear ratio would be worth it!

I foolishly found a few other leopard print beauties on my internet travels this evening, so here is my finalised leopard lustlist:



[Skinnies - Topshop, Pendant - Asos, Junmpsuit - Topshop, Leggings - Topshop, Creepers - TUK, Body (with removeable straps - that's why I want it!) - Topshop, Bra - Tesco, Socks - Miss Selfridge]

My priorities are the leggings and socks, as I think I'd get the most wear out of them. And they're cheapest! I'm sure if I sold one or two more things on my shop I might be able to treat myself! Hint intended! ;)

Sorry to be a repetitive and self-indulgent idiot, but do check out my sidebar to vote for me in the Sarenza competition and Cosmo blog awards if you fancy. You can vote in the Sarenza one every day, depending on how much you want me to win a weekend in Paris and bring back cute Parisian goodies for an amazing giveaway. Again, hint intended!

Hope you've had a lovely week so far. My weekend will be filled with working at Topshop, so, if you're in the UK, please get a nice tan on my behalf!

OMG, PS - Remember my noisy neighbours? Communications literally broke down last night when they woke me from sleep at 1.30am singing loudly outside our flat. I saw the red mist and fired F words out the window (eg. 'are you really that effing selfish?!' and 'people are trying to sleep so go inside and shut the eff up'). I wouldn't have gone so crazy if we hadn't already told them politely last week that they keep us awake at night when they dick around outside their flat. But did they listen? No. Please don't think badly of me! Getting rudely awoken by selfish twits just pushes my buttons. I'm a nice girl really! Plus, the bloke who lives there retaliated by calling me a whore (?!) and a C-word, so I don't regret verbally obliterating them at all.

xo

Duck Hunt

[Remember that awesome Nintendo game Duck Hunt? SO good!]

I am trying to type but Roxy has decided to take up residence on my lap. Like so:



EDIT: I have just evicted her because it's impossible to babble at length with her on my lap! Bad luck, guys! :)

Here's a couple of pictures from Mine and Alex's walk to the river yesterday. We were on a mission to find the ducklings, which we eventually did! I have such a baby animal obsession. Is this weird? When Roxy had kittens it was THE most exciting time of my whole life. And I've done some pretty exciting things in my 23 years!






[Can you see the little duckbaby on the right eating the bit of bread someone had just chucked in at that second? So cute!]

Also, besides our stripping ho (scroll down in this post) of a neighbour, we now have a house full of rowdy students opposite us that like to stand out in the street being noisy all the time - especially at night when you have your window open because it's so hot. They have kept us awake about 6 nights in the last 10. They also park their car on the street even though it's double yellow lines. Essentially, we hate them. So when their friends parked outside our house on Monday night, literally obstructing our gate, it was the last straw for me.

I left this little beauty on their windscreen:



I know I'm a bit of a busybody, but I can't help myself. I just believe in the old fashioned values of respect! I actually believe I am a granny trapped in a young[ish] body. I have been known to note down the car license plate number of erratic drivers on the roads and report them to the local police. I KNOW this is completely lame, but I just get so mad at dangerous drivers. And noisy neighbours.

On this highly strung note, my neighbours will be pleased to know I started trying Bach Rescue Remedy Pastilles today, because life is stressing me out so much, and I'm pleased to say I've had a really nice day! I'm not in a state of constant anxiety. So this is good! I'm hoping they will help me relax on holiday too. Whenever I'm in another country I am convinced that anyone that looks at me will mug me and that our hotel will set on fire while we're sleeping. It's ridiculous! Well, that was the old me, hopefully with my herbal helpers I can quite literally take a chill pill!

xo

Tuesday tip - A bunch of cheap Nail ideas!

Hi gang!

Loving all your entries for the Tesco competition, you are going to make it very difficult for me to choose a winner!

For this week's Tuesday tip, I wanted to share three new dirt cheap nail ideas I've come across lately. Here's my hand after today's experimentation:




First up, a slightly messy but fun glitter nails tutorial! You'll need any old glitter and a cheap topcoat (or one you don't mind potentially getting bits of glitter in!)

[EDIT: The glitter is a bit of a bitch to remove, but it's worth it for the bling!]



For purely glitter nails:

Do a base coat, shake lots of glitter on your nail. Gently squish it down so it sticks to the base coat and tap off the excess glitter. Tidy the edges up with a cotton bud as the glitter sticks to your skin a bit (especially if you put hand cream on before hand, as I learned!) Pop some topcoat on and leave to dry!




For coloured glitter nails, repeat above but instead of a basecoat, do a base of the coloured nail varnish you fancy. Put a topcoat on that once it's dry, and add the glitter and another topcoat to seal it in.




Fimo Fruit Nails

OMG. Fruity nails!! I was stunned when I found out about Fimo 'nail slices' when Selina of Flying Saucer posted about the awesome Tumblr, Fuck Yeah Pretty Nails. Basically, they come from clay canes which are a bit like sticks of rock, with a pattern running all the way through, and you can either buy them like that and cut off your own slices, or buy them pre-sliced like I did.






Wah nails use them (see here and here!) and I was amazed to find 500 slices on eBay (buy them here!) for less than £3 including P&P! Even though they came all the way from HK, they arrived within a week and they'd thrown in a pack of 100 cute character slices too (rabbits/cats etc). I definitely recommend getting some because they make you feel super happy. Plus, if your diet is anything like mine, it's good to feel like you're doing something to get your 5-a-day!

To apply them, you literally just stick them onto your base nail colour or plain basecoat and then do a topcoat over the top.

Stripey nails

I have been wanting to try stripey nails lately, and bought a set of cheap nail art pens on eBay seeing as they're like £4.99 each in Sally's. Most nail art pens can be used either like an actual pen for detail by taking the cap off, or for striping effects by unscrewing the top of the pen. I got 12 pens for about £6.50 inc p&p but they were 60% crap (the brushes kept falling out) so the seller (here, FYI) refunded me but I got to keep them anyway! I have since ordered some better quality 'Nail Star' ones (about £7.50 for 12) which should arrive very soon! Will update!




So, with the nail pens that did work, it was incredibly easy to create striped nails - on both hands! A really quick and easy (and not too expensive) way to jazz up your nails. Here's a nail I did earlier!



And that wraps up my latest nail forays, and probably the last nail-related Tuesday tip in a while because I have lots of cool other ideas in the pipeline, and don't want to seem like a one trick pony!

Off to Tesco for snacks for Big Brother now! :D

xx