My 2011 on Instagram...

So this will be my last post for 2011... I have had such an amazing blogging year. I recently updated my Press section tab and seeing all my blog's achievements over the past year listed together made me kinda proud. Ive also had a great year in general... I had some amazing holidays over the summer, got a promotion in work and added a new member to our family in the form of Bentley the great dane pup.
Im trying to decide whether to do a break down of my whole year in a post, Tieka did an amazing blog post of her year that really inspired me to do one but it seems like a lot of work...
So for now Ill leave you with a little Instagram sum up. Ive only been an iphone user for a few months so Im still a newbie to Instagram but as Ive mentioned before Im hooked!





Im still working on my new years resolutions... I never usually take them seriously but this year there are certain things I want to achieve, learn and do. Embarrassingly some of them will be carried over from last year but this year Im determind!
Have you got any resolutions? xo

Under my christmas tree...

Im off work for another week which is awesome... I have few plans bar spending time with family and friends which is just the way I like it...
Thought id share some photos of the lovely goodies I got for Christmas.


polaroid printer, hand made tea cup, polaroid notes, bath bombs, alice in wonderland hard back, amsterdam hand made book, bruno mars album, harry potter box set, casio watch, gingerbread jar, tatty devine fox brooch, flip video recorder.





I got loads of other lovely things too,
My dad also booked me, my sister and my mum in for afternoon tea at the Merchant Hotel which should be a little afternoon of luxury!
Well Im off to watch Harry Potter deathly hallows part 2 and drink hot chocolate. :) xo

I am what I am...

What day is it? Im so confused... the Christmas period always passes me in a blur of turkey, movies, board games & falling asleep on the sofa. Yup Oh so glamorous!
I was spoilt rotten this Christmas, me & Dave bought each other freakishly similar presents... I bought him a pin hole camera, he bought me a mini polaroid printer to sync up with my iphone. I bought him a green retro casio watch, he bought me a mini gold casio watch. My parents got me a flat screen tv with freeview which looks so swish instead of my old 16" analogue tv!










Cardigan: Primark, Peter pan top: Laundry Service at Brown Thomas, Skirt c/o Romwe,
Boots: River Island, Hat: H&M, Bag c/o FrankandDoll.

Im still loving shades of festive reds together, so teaming this wine pleated skirt with my pillar box red cardy seemed an obvious combination.
I hope everyone is having a great Christmas break! :) xo

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone! xo
I hope everyone is having a great relaxing day. I love how everyone has their own family traditions and routines on Christmas day. Our day consists of a big fancy breakfast with bucks fizz and chocolate followed by watching a Christmasy movie. We then give all our doggies their xmas presents which I wrap up every year then we dont open our presents until about 1pm (!) Then the usual massive turkey dinner, crackers, wine & more chocolate follow suit...
Then in the evening my next door neighbour & his girlfriend come down & we exchange presents with them..he is kind of like a second brother to me & now lives in Scotland so its always nice to see him on Christmas day!
How do you spend your day? Do you have a Christmas day routine?

Bramble Hollow...

I cant believe its only a couple of days til Christmas!? Time flies eh?
Ive been trying to inject some more festive colours into my wardrobe this week and this red rose dress is perfect! Ive already worn it again to a Christmas house party with lacy floral tights & glitter heels...

Cardigan: Borrowed from Dave, Dress: c/o Motel, Tights: M&S, Boots: River Island, Necklace: Tatty Devine, Bunny Ring: c/o Cutiepie jewellery.

I love the t-shirt lenght sleeves, the full skater style skirt and panelling under the bust. Flattering and comfy equals my kinda dress!
Ill be taking a few days break from blogging now, (Im sure so will everyone else) to enjoy the holidays with my family. Open presents, eat turkey, be merry the whole holiday experience!

Merry Christmas everyone!! xo

Prep school...

Im now off work for Christmas and am spending my days eating tin upon tin of quality street, drinking xmas coffee's, spending time with my family, doing some last minute totally unnecessary shopping and watching every festive film ever made.. even the really bad ones...










Crazy hair photo?! Couldnt resist!
Cardigan: Republic, Denim Shirt: River Island, Chinos: Zara, Socks: H&M, Brogues: M&S.

I actually planned this outfit for the Republic blog as I was their guest blogger for November. They sent me this varsity cardigan to style up, now Im not big on the varsity letterman jacket trend that is popular at the minute. But preppy is something I do, do! So I styled it up with a buttoned up denim shirt, rolled up chinos, spotted socks and brogues.

Sugar and Spice...

Feels like I haven't done a little crush post in weeks...
#01 The prettiest loafers in all the land. from Red Velvet.
#02 Fireplace lust
#03 I want this whole collection! esp the coats!
#04 Chocolate drop stuffed raspberries! idea & image from The Glitter Guide.

Im now officially off work until the new year...A-mazing!!

On the naughty or nice list....

Ive heard other bloggers mention that creating these little Christmas wishlists and gift guides are addictive and I totally agree! Although now most of my family and Dave have finished their Christmas shopping I still couldnt resist sharing a few more things that have caught my eye. The Orla Kiely bag and Pashley bike will probably remain more of a dream than anything else, as their prices are a little too steep for me to justify treating myself to. But I am very tempted by the glitter boots from Urban Outfitters which remind me of the covetable glitter Mui Mui boot out this summer.

Triangle necklace: Urban Outfitters, Orla Kiely bag: Modcloth, Glitter Boots: Urban Outiftters, Chanel Matt nail polish: Boots, Rabbit desk calender: Modcloth, Bicycle: Pashley, Toni & Guy deep barrell waver, Arrow Ring: Asos, Orla Kiely Iphone cover: John Lewis.

If you have featured you own wishlists on your blog be sure to share the link below so I can check out what everyone else is wanting this Christmas! :) xo

Reach for the Stars...

Ive just realised my blog title is also an S Club 7 song, and instead of changing it Im embracing the naffness cos back in the day S Club were pretty awesome.. come on who doesn't know the dance moves for reach for the stars? OK Im rambling yet again, its time for another Take Ten challenge!

This challenge was courtesy of House of Fraser and had a twist, the challenge was dress for a Christmas Party. Now usually with these challenges we work with a brand and all ten of us agree on a piece to style. Not this time! This time we would all wear different dresses and HoF would pick them for us! So we had no idea what dress we were getting until it arrived with the postman.
The dress they picked suits me to a T, I love the aqua colour, the chiffon sheer fabric, the peter pan collar and long sleeve.












Dress: Therapy c/o House of Fraser, Tights and heels: M&S, necklace: Accesorize, Headband c/o Crown & Glory.
I styled my dress with some lacy tights, glitter heels, a glitter head band and nipped in the waist with some black ribbon.


Be sure to check out how the other Take Ten girls and see what dresses HoF picked for them! Jen, Mj, Sabine, Sarah, Sherin Paula, Harriet, Susie unfortunately Ellie had problems with her dress so she will be posting later.

Did you notice I no longer have ombre two tone hair? I had my coloured last week and decided to get it coloured all one shade of rusty orange... I loved the blonde underneath but I found it dried my hair out and it tangled so much more easily. So for now & cos I love to change my hair shades constantly Im gonna stick with just red tones.

Bang Bang...He shot me down...

Gosh, I haven't blogged since Tuesday! Im slightly ashamed.. this time of year seems to fly in and my life becomes consumed with Christmas shopping, Christmas parties, decorating our house making it as festive as possible and meeting up with friends before the xmas break.

Next Friday is my last day of work and I will be off work for a glorious two weeks. My sister comes home from Scotland the same day so we have many plans made... including making festive alcoholic drinks, xmas cupcakes and wrapping all our presents. Last year I wrapped all mine with ribbon and candy canes, this year I have bought small sleigh bells to attach to ribbon for every present. Can you tell I love this time of year!?
Anyways enough rambling.. time for an outfit post!!










Dress c/o Missguided, Coat; Salt & Pepper, Cardigan; Oasis, Gloves: Asos, Necklace c/o Republic, Tights: Asos, Boots: M&S.

When this dress first arrived in the post a few weeks ago I knew I loved it, it ticks so many boxes for me. Rust colour..check. Quirky colourful print..check. Nipped in waist..check. I also love the soft drape fabric that gives it a slight sheen and is also oh so comfy to wear. I teamed it with my rust colour cardy and elbow length gloves as it is pretty much freezing here all the time now!

Dear Santa Claus...

I am nearly finished all my Christmas shopping... just the odd wee thing to buy as stock fillers for my dad. But a lot of my family havent done theirs yet and have pestered me about what I would like...This year there isnt anything major I want but a few things have caught my eye, so yup its time for another xmas wishlist! Doesnt seem that long since I did this on my blog last year! Crazy!


Doctors bag: Topshop, Tatty Devine Fox Brooch, Casio Watch, Asos Laced boots, Lego brick lunch box, Alice in Wonderland hardback, The Lion King on dvd, Bruno Mars Album, Amsterdam made by hand book, Love mae wall stickers, Retro Radio.

I also want a really nice wallet and diary for next year but havent seen any I like yet..
If you are doing a Christmas wishlist on your blog be sure to include the link below as Id love to see what everyone else is asking Santa for! :) xo

Hearts & Zebras...

Dress: Liberty Blue, Wedges: M&S Limited Edition, Belt: Miss Selfridge, trio necklace: River Island.
Dave bought me this dress for my birthday last year and its still one of my favourite dresses... I dunno why I haven't photographed it on my blog before?! I think many attempts failed due to rain, general darkness and bad time management on my part. But here it is in all its glory. I just love the random oversized printed of zebras and hearts... with a slighter longer hem than other dresses and elasticated waist makes it almost as comfortable as pjs & a dress Ive worn for work, dinner dates, and even the zoo.. (thought it was pretty fitting for the zoo actually!)

Ive spent the weekend feeling very festive, attending my first xmas party, writing xmas cards, attending the continental Christmas market and eating an assortment of weird and wonderful foods from around the globe. Note to self... eating ones weight in food and then going on the carousel (which is pretty much just for children) only leads to travel sickness and nausea.
Today we also picked our Christmas tree up from a farm that grows them just a mile from our house, decorated it and chased Pixie my jack russell around the house as she decided to shred the metre of tinsel for the tree.

How'd you spend your weekend? Have you put your tree up yet?xx

All I want for Christmas is...

So instead of doing my usual little crush post today, I thought I would share some Christmas gift ideas for your girlfriends/sisters and your bf's/brothers all for under £20. I dunno about you guys but my list of presents gets longer every year so getting good value for money is key & getting gifts for under £20 gets harder and harder every year! Here are some little gems that may inspire or help you with your shopping this yr!

Alphabet bags: £12, Asos Lemon Clutch: £20, Jane Eyre hardback: £9.79, She&Him Xmas Album: £7.99, Topshop spotted notebook: £4, U.O Moustache Xmas tree bobble; £4 ( why not buy 4 and gift wrap them up as a set!) Urban Outiftters flask: £12, Topshop Snail Brooch: £10, Ring: £7, Topshop collar necklace: £14, Asos Mittens: £6.

Asos fingerless gloves: £8 ( I got these for Dave a month ago so he can take outfit photos for me in the colder weather) Casio Watch: £20, Not on the high st Moustache print: £12, Retro tape phonecover: £18, Urban Outfitters Microwave bear: £15, U.O Gramophone money box: £15, River Island snood: £18, Asos Satchel: £18.50, River Island Tee: £16