OCD

I have a ritual I do before I start to write.  I place my hands gently over the keyboard and smooth them over the keys in a "Daniel son, wax on/wax off" style.  I don't know why but I do.  I think I have a lot of little weird habits or OCD's like that. Like the one that means if I am busy cooking, cleaning or unloading the dishwasher etc. and I find myself needing a wee, I don't go until I have finished.  Even If I am busting!  Weird.  Or the one where I don't leave the house without earrings, and if I do I feel positively naked. Or the one that keeps allowing me to buy the same kind of shape dresses, or always bottoms and never tops and then I have nothing to go with them, so I shop looking for tops and end up with more bottoms!  AAArrgggh. Annoying.  I am sure I am not the only one with weird hang ups or routines, am I?

My purchases over the last few months, whilst my computer has been down and I have been unable to report the loveliness of my acquisitions, have involved coloured mascara (turquoise from Barry M)

I have been experimenting with that one a lot....the kids like it, always saying "Why do you have blue eyelashes, can't they be pink?"  I do have pink mascara,  but I prefer the blue with my brown eyes.  In this second picture I look like I have parrot feathers on my eyelashes!  I'm wearing Barry M lime green dazzle dust with the blue mascara.  Tropical, just like me!

Nail varnish, loving the fun I have been having with this!

Nail varnish is fun! I love being able to wear my favourite colours all at once and just having fun with it and not being too serious with it all.  I tried to paint a heart on my right hand but I ended up with a blob because my left-handed art skills are not that good! 

A pair of feather earrings, of which I have many, but my two favourite pairs of feather earrings and several other pairs got ruined.  My nail varnish leaked in my wash bag on second trip back from Portugal. :-(  So I bought these turquoise and gold ones.

Speaking of Portugal, I had a wonderful second trip, which only cemented how much I love Lisbon.  I dinned, shopped, sunbathed and met some great people.  Including a wonderful woman named Sofia Novais de Paula, who I now count as a great friend.  She has a face book group called Diario de um Baton, which translates as Lipstick Diaries.  Her page is in Portuguese, but she does the same thing as me and has been doing it for much longer then I have and is very successful.  We got on like a house on fire, there was no air left in the restaurant by the time we finished talking!  We realised how much we had in common, even down to the same clothes we bought from H&M, and we both have huge smiles!

Say Cheese!

(My top is from H&M, my jacket is from Topshop that I got about 10 years ago that I can fit into again!)

Lisbon was great. I visited a beautiful Moorish Castle in a place called Sintra just up the coast from Lisbon. 

(I am wearing a cute halter neck sun dress that I got from Joy and leggings from River Island.)

I digress, my other recent purchases have been from River Island and H&M. A Pair of distressed denim shorts from RI, love love love these.  Been wearing them so much they stay in the shape of my bum, even when I'm not wearing them! This top is also new from H&M, I got it because of the pink flowers as I just dyed my hair pink too.

There was an orange mini skirt, a black lacy vest, a crop long sleeve top that says "4 ever is a long time", a t-shirt with a print of a leopard on, a dress covered in a lip kiss print (super cute, and super short! Can only wear this with leggings unless I'm planning on flashing everybody).  

 

I think I am all caught up on my new purchases, but if I'm not I'll drop you a line!  Anyway enough for now.  Sometimes I don't know when to stop talking, writing and generally flapping my gums!  Another one of my OCD's, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I hope you all enjoyed checking out my new stuff. See you soon. 

Happy shopping!

Samara x

Hello dollies!

Helloooooo, have you missed me? I have missed writing to you!  I had the biggest catastrophe, well one of the kids, not me, decided that my lap top needed to leap off the sofa.  With that action, it was the beginning of the end of my computer screen.  Within a few weeks the screen was completely black!! So no more blogging for me. The last few weeks (well nearly two months) have been emotional, interesting, educational, slightly alcohol fuelled and fun packed.  There has been, (all for my kids) birthdays, parties and trips out and about. The first to the Butterfly Exhibition at the Natural History Museum, and swimming for the boy! There was also Easter and all the bank holidays, a royal wedding and some more drinking.  All of which has left me, it's fair to say broke.  There has been many nights out, another trip to Portugal, and I dare to say a bit more shopping, most of which was funded by my TDHS.  There was even a promise of a trip to the Big Apple! A big thank you to TDHS, you know who you are and what for!

After all of that I have been left feeling kind of all used up, like a faded T-shirt or a hole in a worn pair of jeans.  Something had to change, so I got out the rut and gave my self a kick up the arse and got my computer fixed.  £150 later and I am back!  Worth every penny. I am sure it's going to cost me a lot more than that, as not being on-line has meant my shopping capacity has been seriously compromised. Although not completely impossible, as I have and android phone which connects to the internet!

In the time that I have been shopping on my phone I have managed to buy a bum bag £18,

dress £32,

earrings £6

and a ring £12.50

 (plus another ring which I have lent to a friend and can't photograph it!) all from Miss Selfridge. A scooter from Micro scooter, for my son's, and several other birthday presents bought from Amazon.  Not bad for a first time android phone shopper!  

I haven't really shopped at Miss Selfridge in a very long time and I am a little disappointed in the quality of the the items I bought.  The frog ring has broken already, it just snapped off the ring post within a hour of wearing it, I still have to exchange it.  The dress is lovely but the fabric is quite sheer, and the bum bag, which I love, the brown faux leather part is made with PVU and is quite sticky when you thread it through the buckle loop, a bit annoying but I love bum bags because they rock!

Anyway glad to be back and sharing with you all. Must dash as the school run is imminent, but I shall be back shortly still got a lot to tell......wink wink. I hope you are all still shopping and loving everything you buy.

Happy shopping!

Samara x

Don't ever shop to make your hangover better...

It doesn't work. Well, not entirely. This is what I discovered last Friday whilst I was trying to recover from a night out with friends mid week.  I met a friend the next day and we went into Brixton to run some errands and have lunch.  We ended up in Speedy Noodle having some speedy noodles! My food was delicious. I was starving, as it was well after 1pm and I hadn't managed to eat anything as yet.  So after stuffing my face and feeling better for about 15 minutes, the nausea was starting to creep back in.  You know that feeling I'm talking about. That feeling that makes you promise to yourself that you'll never drink again.  Well I know because I've made that promise to myself many times!

So after leaving Speedy Noodle feeling slightly queasy (not because of the food, just the hangover!) I spotted H&M across the road.,  ah the joy of shopping to take your mind off things, and I did still have over an hour until I had to pick up the kids.  I bid farewell to my friend and headed into H&M Brixton with an renewed feeling of good health and a spring in my step.  (I was listening to the radio today, they were talking about new research that proves that retail therapy extends life expectancy.  I knew it!!!!!!).  Anyway, I started off looking for a dress that would be practical, not too short, pockets etc...but the shopping quickly escalated into a frenzy of oooohs and aaahs and "oh I saw something like that in a fashion magazine somewhere...."  I do talk to myself sometimes! 


One thing I did find frustrating is that now stores do not have stock rooms anymore so everything is on the shop floor.  I kept looking at dresses that there seemed to be a lot of, but the sizes were either 6's and 8's  or 14's and 16's.  Very disappointing indeed, and so when you ask if they are getting more in, they always know when their delivery is, but never what is going to be in it.  So you have to spend your time popping in and checking for what you want.  Or you give up on the thing you want all together.  It seems to me that this is a sure way of losing business.  There is no service to order anything, which would  make sense, as you spend your money and they make a profit. Rant over! I then had a pang of shopping guilt and went to the children's section and had a look for something for my daughter.  I did pick her up a T-shirt, but only after I found one for myself in the older kids section (9 to 14 years)!

So, loaded down with no less than 14 items, I made my way to the changing rooms and waited patiently in the queue, which I must say is my favourite part of shopping.....not!  On reaching the front of the queue the fitting room assistant proceeded to get into a full blown  conversation with a customer who was a friend.  Whilst this was happening the fitting rooms were emptying and the weight of the clothes I was carrying was getting heavier and heavier.  Not forgetting the hangover, at this point was in a rotten mood, but of course being stoically British I huffed and puffed but said nothing and waited until she "saw" me.

I finally got into the changing rooms and tried on all the items I picked up and decided on the yes's and the no's.  Anyway long story short, I left H&M with three dresses, a  T-shirt  and a three pack of socks! (For me and some bits for the birthday girl to be.)  I know that I bought two dresses that are the same but the summer potential for practicality are great.  The dress has huge pockets, can be worn with a T-shirt over or under, (even one of my crop T-shirts already purchased) and a cardigan. It can easily be dressed up or down and is also quite smart with the right shoes (not trainers!). It came in another colour way but I had to stop myself from buying three dresses exactly the same. The fabric is also really good as the skirt part of the dress is quite structured hiding "bits"!  So here they are.
The three dresses.

T-shirt from kids department!

 Socks!

 Happy shopping, just don't do it with a really big hang over!

Samara

Splurge.....

I really should not ever be allowed in a shop again! If anyone sees me heading towards the doors a a store that pulls me in like a tractor beam, please stop me, cast a line, hook me and reel me in. Save me from my addiction!!!!  Well OK it 's not always that drastic, but last week I was walking past Diverse on Atlantic road in Brixton when I spotted the sale, hard not to spot, as sign in the middle of the pavement!  I went straight to the clothes that they have down stairs.  That part of the store is run by a lovely woman Lorna Jane, her label is Uma Jane www.umajane.co.uk (named after her grandmother) anyway, I love her stuff down there.  It is different from the high street normality and u know if you buy something from there you are not going to see half of oxford street or wherever wearing the same thing!

I think in the end I spent at least and hour and a half in there!  Lorna and I got talking, to put it mildly!  We spoke about kids and lack of sleep and body shape and family, mothers, daughters, exes, lovers and of course fashion.  I ended up trying on about 10 or 12 items as Lorna asked me to try things on for her to see how they looked!   She also said I have a nice decolletage!  Always good to hear a compliment.  Lorna did her job well, I left £55 of my hard earned pounds lighter, but with three dresses one of which she threw in for free! (A LBD with a bit of hot pink running through it, very cute.  To be worn abroad, well in the sunshine.... like Lisbon?!)

The first dress I chose is a maxi halter dress with some kind of animal print (i forget which!) in black and coral, so of course I love it, because of the colour, I imagined a warm summer evening having drinks with my girls (meant in slang way, not my children, and also as I have one of each!) or my TDHS, either would be fine as long as the night is warm and the conversation and drinks flow freely.  Which if I'm out with my Yummy Mummies the last two would definitely happen, not sure about the warm summer evening, but after a few glasses of rose wine it will feel like summer anyway.

The second dress I ummm and ahhhed about, because although it is a glorious colour, but it is a bit sheer.  Lorna managed to pursued me to buy it, and I have visions of myself in NYC or Manhattan, doing a Carrie Bradshaw, in a fabulous dress with bright bra straps on display!  I mean really, should a mother of two be indulging herself this much?   I think the answer is yes.  I can't remember the last time I imagined myself anywhere else but here with the children or on a family holiday (and the holiday was my most indulgent fantasies,) let alone having visions of myself looking cute and sexy in New York!  The pictures show how I would wear it if I was New York bound, orange leggings and vest and white polka dot peep toes. LUSH!

The last dress I was eyeing up was in the sale basket.  I had tried on a hundred items already and I was now fully dressed and had no intention of taking my clothes off again, because I couldn't be bothered! I held the front of it up against my chest to get a rough idea if it would fit, and decided that it would be too small.  The ever loving Lorna, when I went to pay, offered it to me for free!  So of course I took it.  The zip was broken, so it needed work, but when I tired it on at home, it was actually too big!  The picture shows the side of the dress without the broken zip!  This dress needs to go dancing as it has a really full skirt and it flares out when I spin, I love it!

No more shopping for me!  I have got the children's birthdays coming up and birthday lists as long as my arms! So remember if you see me heading into a shop and it's not a children's store, save me from myself! Also if you are floating around in Brixton or in need of a fab dress for a glamorous night out check out Uma Jane, it's worth a look.

As always, happy shopping.

Samara.

Lisbon Loving

Hello my lovelies, did you miss me?  I was just deciding how to tell you about my wonderful short break to Portugal, but I cannot find the words to describe exactly the feeling.  It has been a long time since I have spent 3 nights away from my children.  A long, long time.  I don't have the words for the overwhelming emotions I had whilst I was away and since I have been back.  I felt guilty about enjoying myself and silly for missing my children, although missing the didn't start until the 3rd day! The time away for me was healing.  Allowing me to reconnect with the part of me I had pushed away and tidied into a box a long time ago.  The part that through my past relationship I had only allowed to show its face when I was on the verge of losing the plot. It was liberating, allowing myself to enjoy just being me and not feeling guilty (all the time) for not being there for every waking moment of my children's life.  The time away also allowed me to miss the children enough to not think about how much hard work it is being with them, like the fact that my daughter DOES NOT listen (she is creative and is just in another world!) or my son who wakes up at the dawn of time, every single day! So by the time I was on my way home I was positively excited about seeing my children (although some what torn, to leave TDHS!).  My love for them was much more tangible, rather than buried under the sleep deprivation, frustration and monotony that is part of having young children. It's been two weeks since I have been back, WHEN IS MY NEXT WEEKEND AWAY?!

I did have the most amazing time! Packed all the wrong things for the beautiful weather they had in Lisbon that weekend and was forced to go shopping to buy summer dresses, a bikini, (really!), sandals and a T-shirt!! The shops in Lisbon are great! They have the most enormous shopping center's all over Lisbon that stay open until Midnight!!!!  So I could spend the day in the sun, on the beach, sightseeing and eating alfresco in lovely restaurants then spend all evening in the SHOPS!!!!!! OMG amazing.  Seriously, Lisbon is beautiful, full of history and architecture, old and new. It has a river that runs through it to the sea and elements that remind me of the South bank, in London and then it has the most stunning beaches that stretch for miles and miles both north and south of the city.

So let me tell you about the shopping!  I actually ended up in the same shops that I shop in when I'm at home!  The difference being the stores are more spacious and the sales staff were always keen to help.  For example the sales assistant in Zara was very helpful in locating a pair of silver leather sandals that I wanted in my size.  (She was asked by TDHS, so this may have been a factor in her prompt service, but for me, no worries as I got the shoes I wanted and TDHS said they made my feet look sexy!) There is a small picture of them below.  I shopped in H&M one evening and picked up two dresses the same in different colours.  I needed summer dresses for the fantastic weather! The dresses are empire/baby doll style.  They cover the tummy but don't make you look pregnant, which is good.

Dress in blue and cream....looking good Samara....(Professional Photo for a change).

Silver Sandals from Zara

Bikini from H&M (This is as much skin you will see of mine, I'm comfortable with you seeing my back as all the fat is on my front!!!)

Orange T-shirt from Zara, layered with a short sleeved sweat shirt from Joy, and grey cotton trousers from Uni Qlo.  The T-shirt is quiet long so covers bottoms if you wanted to wear it with leggings. 

Anyway I have no complaints about my shopping experiences in Lisbon, but then I have no complaints about my trip there.  It was a perfect few days.  So if you ever get the chance to take a short break I highly recommend Lisbon. 

Until next time people.  Happy shopping.

Samara.

Rollercoaster living....

My life is like a rollercoaster, my children can have me up and down, with their unreasonable demands and comedy moments.  It was only the other day that my son told me he had a broken heart.....he is 3.  I had a panic that it was something he'd heard me saying, but after asking him to explain, and  hearing his explanation of a picnic with Daddy and how he gave him hard pasta that was drunk (YES! Drunk! When I asked what drunk meant, he said it was like wood..) and that's what broke his heart.  I realised then he had no idea what he was talking about and it had nothing to do with me! Phew, still a good Mum!

Everything seems to be looking up at the moment, my friends are great, my family amazing and I'm finally starting to feel like my old self, but in a new way that has more life experience, becoming a mother has everything to do with that. I know that my levels of expectation are higher, and that in all aspects of my life I am not willing to compromise because I spent so long not getting what I want.  Now that reflects in my shopping experiences because now more than ever I can say when something is not right or acceptable.

Last weekend I was very fortunate to be taken shopping by a tall dark and handsome stranger (not really a stranger, but it does make it sound much more interesting).  We started in Selfridge's of all places.  The only time I have ever been there was when I worked there as a style advisor well over 7 years ago.  I just don't shop there, but me being me I came out of the food hall and into the high street departments that I felt comfortable with like, Miss Sixty, Miss Selfridges, Warehouse,  American Apparell, Topshop, Deisel, and Lipsy.

So I ended up in Warehaosue where I saw this beautiful maxi dress ( £50), afer looking at the sizes on the rail (8's and 14' and 16's), I asked one of the Warehouse staff if they had any ten's in the stockroom.  She told me no, that this was a popular dress. That in itself made me want to stop liking it! I still wanted it though!  I asked if I could have the dress off the mannequin because  I know that is always a size ten.  Basically she asked me to wait for her manager to get back, to see if she could get it off the mannequin. Twenty five minutes later she asked if I wanted her to find it in another store (we didn't wait around all that time, but when she saw us again this was what she suggested, good initiative!) She then dissappeared to her stock room.  Twenty minutes later she arrived with the much sort after dress, (manager had been holding the dress for a customer that didn't appear in a size 10.) lucky me....!  An example of good customer service.

I love this dress, the feather print make it look a bit Native American and I love the different colours in all the feathers, lush for the up coming summer. I also picked up a pair of lovely earrings, £8.

We then wondered down Oxford street, and ended up in Aldo,  SHOE HEAVEN!!! I tried a lovely pair of tan leather wedges, which my handsome stranger, when looking at me in them, came over all faint! He is not used to looking at my legs in high heels!  I'm a Hot mama apparently!  Anyway the lovely shoes just pinched my toes a little too much, (I have wide feet).  Now I don't know if any of you out there have been to Aldo on Oxford street recently, but the store is filled with not only shoes, but hand bags and accessories, namely earrings!!  These are my weakness!  So there I was with my face stuffed into their rows and rows of earrings when out of the corner of my eye I spotted this lovely tan hand bag!  When I felt it and smelt it I knew I had to have it. So soft to touch and the smell was, and still is divine! (For those of you who love the smell of leather, you know what I mean!) 

I love the bag, but lets face it I do actually love ehop and verything that I buy! The bag cost £36 which I think is a bargain, when you think of the price of a good leather bag say, in Topshop (around £50 to £100).  So we meandered further along Oxford street (well as much as you can meander, on a Saturday afternoon, peak shopping hour!).  I also must say at this point that my tall handsome stranger is very good and patient at shopping under these circumstances....again lucky me!  We passed many shops along the way, but we didn't pass River Island.  It is my favourite! So we went in, I did show a lot of self control in there, as there was one dress that I loved once I tried it on, and took a picture to show tall dark handsome stranger.  By the time I found him to show him we had already left but I might pick it up another day if I go anyway where lovely to where something like this,  or maybe I'll get it anyway (£39.99) because it is gorgeous!

I did manage to leave with one top which I love, £16.99, my favourite colour at moment, peach/ coral, and it happens to be in trend at the moment too! The words are so sweet, and I actually mean them.....I live in hope that one day this happens! The fabric is very soft and slightly sheer, it drapes nicely and hides mummy tummy!  ( I know my babies were a long time ago now, nearly 4 years, but it does have a tendency to hang around!)

My last purchase on this amazing day, can you guess, was a pair of shoes!  From Office called Brogue Baby for £60 in tan leather.  They have quite study heels and are in the mid heel category but they are high for me,and guess what.. I love them!  They are they same colour as the new handbag and go very well together.  Actually tan goes with a lot of other colours, and are a good colour shoe staple to have other than black.

                                                                                                                                                                                                          My overall experience that day in the shops was good.  Everybody was polite and helpful and I didn't get stressed with anyone, well expect one guy who was obviously a new recruit in RI. He was painfully slow but polite and trying to be chatty which was also painful and cringy, but that didn't reflect on the service.


I hope that you liked my purchases.  I will be back soon, maybe with an international shopping experience! (I'm going to Lisbon, Portugal for a couple of days.)   I will try and squeeze some shopping time in, whilst I do lots of relaxing and resting, as it is a child free break!

As always friends.....Happy shopping!

Samara

Spring is definitely playing hide and seek

I can't believe that this weather is still as cold as it is. I'm finding it shocking that I still have to wear layer upon layer of winter woollies to keep warm. All I really want to be doing is wearing all my lovely summer clothes and sandals, enjoying the warm summer days, and being out and about in a park or even a beer garden!  So, even though I did buy some winter jumpers for the winter that is about to end, (tongue in cheek, the season that lasts most of the year) my summer wadrobe is ever expanding for the three months that it is warm...and in some more preparation for the summer (and hopefully my trip abroad), I shopped a little more on-line, last week. Tesco Direct and New Look, just in the sale department mind you, 50% of both.  The Tesco's website was much easier to shop on than New Look but New Look has paypal,

This was my Tesco purchase. The shorts were £12 reduced to £6 and are a size 10 and fit really well, not too low on the waist.  They also had a cargo style mini skirt in the same print for the same price, which I really liked but decided not to do the over kill, like I usually do, (one in every colour, or print!). The T-shirt was £7 reduced to £3.50, it is aged 13 to 14 from the children's department! I really liked the horse print on the front, but not too sure about the tassels on the shoulders but I can always cut them off, I did buy a couple of T-shirts for my daughter, that's why I ended up in the children's department!

Anyway, the skirt is from New look and is £5, bargain! (More than 50% off). Topshop have a similar one at the moment that is longer, knee length, in cream and navy and raspberry and navy, both lovely but a tad more expensive! (£32) and lets face it you and I both know that I am a shopaholic and need to make saving wherever I can!

This dress/top is £6 from New Look. I have some navy leggings to wear this with and the scarf I picked up at a Children's play group!  A woman was selling them for £2 and I got it because it can be worn two ways, half of the scarf is blue on cream, the other cream on blue. Two looks for the price of one, sweet!  It is a really simple top but worn with a pair of heels (I wore it with tan boots) it can look really sexy, well that's how I felt....it may have been the heels or the handsome stranger who told me how beautiful I looked....or maybe because the sun was shining.....or a combination of all three is more likely!

This sweet little cardigan was £9.99 from New Look, I'm not sure I have anything to go with it but I love the colour. It comes in black and red too. It has cropped sleeves, it is 100% cotton, and feels really soft. Those are all my on-line purchases that arrived this week.













I decided to have a bit of a spring clean, partly because I said I would show you my shoes, and I then followed through that thought by taking all the shoes out from the bottom of my wardrobe and hoovering out an inch layer of dust from the shoe area! Gross! So I began the task of deciding how to photograph my shoes.  I was going to  place them side by side along the walls of the hall way and then as I placed them out I came across a little problem.......

I think you can see what my problem is....85 pairs of shoes, gulp.  Does anyone else have this many pair of shoes?  I know 24 pairs of them are flip flops and sandals, but there are 61 pairs of shoes shoes', double gulp!   As I was getting them all out of the bottom of my wardrobe I was thinking wow, that is a huge pile of shoes...I had no idea I had so many pairs in such a small space. Most of the shoes were either Topshop, New Look, Nike, Irregular Choice, Havaianas, Reebok, Schuh, Office and Baby Cham.  It seems quite obscene really, but I know it won't stop me buying more shoes especially now I'm looking for black boots with a lowish heel that are comfortable to wear all day for my days out with my handsome stranger!  I love shoes, (almost as much as I love my kids!) they will always be essential in my wardrobe and life.  A great pair of shoes will always brighten your day, when you have a moment look down and smile!

Anyway best fly, I have some more photos to take of some items that I bought last weekend......but that's another story for next time.

Happy shopping.

Samara

I maybe a shopaholic....

This is a statement that I'm sure those of you that have read this blog agree with.  I am starting to realise this could be a possibility.   I do not have 17 credits cards all maximised out, thank god! I do question whether I should be buying that "must have" item on a regular basis.  Also the times that I am strapped for cash, like now,  I just avoid Brixton and any high street.

The trouble is that I am still connected to the internet, which is a nightmare!  The only saving grace of shopping on line is that by the time I've shopped, added all my items to my basket and got to the check out, I then see the total (gulp), in actual figures, black and white.  This is usually enough for me to go back and re-evaluate what I've placed in my "basket", and it that's not enough of a shake up by the the time I've imputed all my bank details for the payment I press cancel instead of proceed!  Phew! Saved myself from the call of the lovely stuff on-line, for now anyway, and the guilt that I some times experience when shopping, when I know should be saving for other stuff, like fixing my car! (You can not wear a car though, unless it is a really great one, which mine is not!).  It is a big emotional process for me shopping and not shopping, but I guess that's my distraction for now.

So in an attempt not to spend money on the only credit card I have (for mega emergencies only!)  I've decided to focus on what I do have in my wardrobe.

This is a dress that I got a while ago, by Louche from Joy.  It's their house brand.  I love the cut of the dress and the stripes seem to be heading all the right directions to hide a multitude of sins.  It also gives you great cleavage.  It is a tulip cut dress so it hides hips and tummy, love it, love it, love it.  I wore it out last Wednesday on a trip to my favourite hang out in Brixton, Satay, with my Mum. They serve great food and even better cocktails. It was a lovely evening and we sat propping up the bar that's why this is not a full length shot!  The evening was interesting as a gentleman approached us, and during the conversation he asked my Mum if she was a fashion designer!  I think she likes to take some credit for my great style and eye for fashion, and I love to give it to her.  (Although I'm pretty sure she became much more stylish when I started working at Topshop in 2002!!! Love you Mum x)

So what have I got at home to talk about!  Lets start where I usually start, accessories! 

   

                      
I do have a lot of bits! I like to be organised so I have a box of bracelets, a basket of hair accessories, a basket of belts and I have used a coat hook rack to hang my necklaces, it stops them tangling and I can see them all.  My earrings are on an old picture frame strung with ribbon and on two jewellery stands.  I try to keep as much as possible on display so that I don't forget what I have, but it does happen!  My family seem to think that I have so many accessories that I wouldn't notice when things get "borrowed", but I do! Everyone likes to think of it as an extension to their wardrobes and I'm always happy to lend.

I can honestly say that I base my outfits around a new pair of earrings or leg warmers or shoes and then work back, which is not the most conventional way of dressing, or maybe it is I'm not sure about that, what do you do?  

So lovelies it time to get back to the finer things in life such as house work and children, but I'll see you soon and next time I'll show you my shoes!

Happy Shopping.

Samara