Shake It Off

Blouse - Urban Outfitters / Shorts - American Apparel / Socks - Topshop / Shoes - JuJu Jellies / Necklace - Urban Outfitters / Watch - Michael Kors / Bracelet - Alexander McQueen* / Backpack - LYDC*

Anyone else unashamedly obsessed with Taylor Swift's new song? I haven't been able to stop singing it all day long! If only I looked as cute as she does in the video. I wore this outfit yesterday as the weather was finally warm enough for shorts again. I bought these high-waisted ones from American Apparel last month. Their shorts always seem to fit me a lot better than ones from other stores. They're really expensive for what they are but luckily I had a 30% discount code. I also got their watermelon shorts as I just couldn't resist! I paired them with this lovely lace collar blouse from Cooperative at Urban Outfitters. Cooperative are probably my favourite UO exclusive brand, I basically want everything they make! I'm trying to make the most of my JuJu Jellies before I inevitably have to retire them for the coming seasons. It doesn't matter how many Jesus sandals comments I get, I still love how they look with frilly socks.





I think this would be a really sweet back to school look, especially with this amazing Holland Park backpack from LYDC. I've wanted one like this for ages! It reminds me of the ones that Japanese school kids wear, I've always thought they looked much better than the slouchy kind. It's such a great size, I've been using mine to carry about all my camera equipment. Everything fits in there easily & feels very secure. I'm also absolutely loving this gorgeous Alexander McQueen leather wrap bracelet from Harvey Nichols. I can't get enough of gold hardware & this is such a cool piece of jewellery. It encompasses McQueen's rebellious attitude & adds a tough-luxe accent to my outfit. I normally go for black & gold together so the white leather makes a nice change for me.

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Polka Dot Angel

Dress - The Whitepepper / Shoes - IKRUSH* / Socks - American Apparel
Necklace - Your Fashion Jewellery* / Bracelet - Black Tied / Rings - ASOS

After a quick break I'm back with an outfit post! The school Summer holidays are finally here which is why I've been a bit absent from the Internet lately. Blogging becomes a bit trickier with a four year old to entertain all day long! Andy also had the last few weeks off from work so we've all been spending time together as a family. We've been doing up the house a bit & going on lots of adventures including our yearly trip to York Maze which is always an awesome time. I've really been enjoying the weather this year as well. I'm normally a bit of a vampire during the Summer because I hate getting even the faintest hint of tan. I've just gone overboard with the sun protection, finally got my hands on a decent sun hat & now I'm happy to spend all day basking in the sun. And good weather means I can splurge on new pairs of cute high waisted shorts & plenty of pretty dresses.

Words cannot express how much I love The Whitepepper. They're pretty much the only independent clothing brand that I constantly check out & buy from. I would quite happily have an entire wardrobe comprised solely of their clothes if only they weren't quite so expensive. This is my fourth of their Angel smock dresses as I can't get enough of their cute & slouchy style. The material of this navy polka dot dress is lightweight, silky & floaty - perfect for Summertime. The Angel dresses are really oversized so I always buy them in size XS or S, the shape is more flattering that way. Dresses with pockets get a big thumbs up from me too. You can wear them to hide a multitude of sins including flabby arms & food babies. Now that's my kinda dress! My obsession with jelly shoes lives on with these silver glitter flatform sandals from IKRUSH. Jelly flatforms have to be the comfiest heels ever! I personally think they look best worn with a pair of frilly socks like these cute ones from American Apparel. I was recently sent this lovely multi-chain silver cross necklace from Your Fashion Jewellery & I think it's a great statement piece. The obsession I have with cross jewellery doesn't seem to be dying down anytime soon either!

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Fashionable Fitness

Vest - H&M / Sports Bra - M&S / Leggings - Zaggora* / Hoodie - American Apparel / Trainers - SportsShoes*

Yesterday I went to the gym for the first time in three whole years! I'm definitely feeling it today. Since I had Chloe I've had literally no time to myself and now that she's finally started preschool one of my main goals is to lose weight and get fit again. I can tell I've put on some weight over the past few months. I no longer have any willpower when it comes to cake, chocolate & biscuits. All my clothes feel tighter and it's really getting me down. So this is the perfect opportunity to sort myself out and stop feeling so crap about everything. Going to the gym isn't a particularly glamourous affair. I like to work hard at the gym so I tend to look like a sweaty ugly mess by the time I'm done. It's hard to look nice with your hair scraped back and no makeup on. If I do wear any makeup it's just a bit of mascara, undereye concealer & lip balm so I look a little less zombie-like. Instead I think it's important to invest in some cool gym clothes. Personally I think the main things to get right are a good sports bra and the right kind of trainers. I swear by my M&S sports bra, it offers fantastic support & didn't cost too much either. I normally wear plain black leggings and a colourful vest. I like the ones from H&M. They're fairly cheap but look awesome. I wore this neon orange one yesterday which was only £5.99.





When I used to go to the gym I wore a pair of MBTs which are amazing at toning up your legs & bum! But their wobbly sole made it harder to lift weights and participate in exercise classes. I've heard so many people going on about Nike Frees lately so I decided to get a pair of them instead. I got mine from SportsShoes.com who have them at the lowest price I could find. These are the Nike Free TR Fit 3 so they're perfect for working out in the gym. They enhance natural flexibility and help to strengthen your foot muscles too. I cannot tell you how enamoured I am with them! They look incredible and feel really comfy. They've definitely helped to spur me on a bit. I couldn't resist a bit of neon pink but they come in so many amazing colour ways, I kinda want more haha! I'm used to barefoot technology from my MBTs so I haven't had any problems with them but apparently you need to get used to them gradually. I'm normally a size 5 in every shoe shop but after trying on a 5 and a 6 I decided to go for a size 5.5 which is perfect for me. If you want some trainers especially for the gym then I can't recommend these enough.



To go with my new neon trainers, I picked up some sports socks from Primark. They're tacky but colourful and entirely fit for their purpose. For only £2 you can't go wrong!



On top of trying to eat healthily and exercise more, I've decided to take up the Zaggora two week challenge. I was sent a pair of their HotPants 2.0 Capri leggings to try out and I think they're a great choice for workouts. They look stylish and feature a special fabric technology to help you burn more calories. When I first tried them I couldn't get over the swishing sound they make but as soon as I went outside in them I didn't really notice it anymore. They definitely make you sweat! My legs were drenched with sweat when I took them off. Make sure you bring some spare underwear if you wear these to the gym (TMI? Yes...). Anyway the challenge is the wear them for 30 minutes a day for two weeks and then measure any difference in your hips, tummy and thighs. My hips are a major problem area so I really hope they work! You can wear them anywhere, even if you're just doing housework and they'll help you burn more calories. I might even wear them to bed considering how cold it's gotten lately.



Something I never used when I previously went to the gym is protein powder. I think it's something that's become more widely accepted as a way of toning up rather than just something that hardcore bodybuilders use. I'm roughly following the Tone It Up diet as a fitness guide and they have some great recipes for protein pancakes, coffee, muffins etc. They also produce their own protein powder called Perfect Fit. It's a brown rice based protein so it's a lot easier on the stomach than whey protein and is sweetened with stevia. I think it works better in food so I'm gonna get a flavoured protein to mix with water too. For this I bought a Blender Bottle. I had one of those Maxitone protein shakers with the mesh but this uses a ball shaped whisk inside the bottle which makes protein shakes so much smoother. The Tone It Up girls sell them online but I found this in Boots a couple of weeks ago. I'm also using my Fitbit Ultra to track my steps & calories for the day. Mine is actually a bit smashed up now and refuses to sync properly so I think I'm gonna invest in a Polar FT4 watch instead. Fitbits are great if you just want an estimate of calories burned but a heart rate monitor is gonna be more accurate and more helpful for proper gym training. So yeah that's my fitness plan, I just hope I can actually stick to it this time. I'm fed up of my flab and it's time to shape up. Wish me luck!

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In Flux

Blouse - Poppy Lux* / Jeans - American Apparel / Bag - Zara / Boots - Topshop / Socks - Topshop
Bracelet - H&M / Watch - Watchco* / Rings - ASOS

Yay I have pink hair again! I had my hair done on Friday and decided to go for the same colour as last time. I also had an awesome blow dry with lots of volume & curls, much love to the girls at Cutting Room Creative. I totally forgot to buy some pink Directions last time I had my hair done so it faded immediately but I've got a new tub to top up with now. It's so nice to be re-pinkified :) I wore this outfit the other day for a meeting. My top is from a new fashion brand called Poppy Lux. They have some amazing clothes and everything on the website is under £45! I'm a huge fan of their dresses and cute prints. I tried to photograph how cool the back of this top is but not sure the pictures do it justice really. It has a sunburst cutout design and of course I love anything with stud detailing. I paired it with my American Apparel Easy jeans and Topshop Allegra boots.




I also have a new watch! I was kindly sent this by Watchco. I love huge chronographs and I couldn't resist this one from Diesel. I think it was the large '02 03 04' that drew me to this design. It's a nice change from my plain gold Michael Kors one for when I want something that looks a little less flashy. White fluff seems to be very attracted to the black band but otherwise I can't fault it. The box it came in looks pretty cool too.

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Dancing On My Own

Blouse - Topshop / Vest - American Apparel / Skirt - So In Fashion* / Shoes - Barratts*
Necklace - Me & Zena / Bracelet - The Bohemian Collective

I've had a pretty nice weekend of relaxation after a fairly stressful week. I spent most of yesterday sitting around drinking iced tea and playing outside with Chloe. I've been enjoying the sun a bit too much as my shoulders are still incredibly sunburnt! I always wear SPF50+ on my face but I tend to neglect my body a bit. This top probably wasn't the best choice to protect my shoulders but it was far too hot to wear anything with sleeves. I got it from Topshop a couple of months ago and it's one of my favourite pieces to wear at the minute. The floral embroidery is too cute. I actually bought it when I got my black corduroy pinafore as I saw one of the mannequins wearing this shirt with it. I felt a bit weird copying a whole outfit off a mannequin but I just liked the combo so much haha.

I really love my new denim skater skirt from So In Fashion. I have a few of the American Apparel circle skirts as they're just amazing but of course being from AA, they were pretty expensive. This skirt is almost exactly the same as their denim circle skirt but at less than half the price! At first I wasn't convinced by all these American Apparel dupes that have been brought out by other brands recently (disco pants anyone?) but the cheaper copies are just too good to resist. The skirt is a bit on the short side though so if you're any taller than me you might want to stick to wearing it with tights! I think it's perfect for wearing on these precious few sunny days.

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Mother's Day

Jacket - H&M / Jumper - H&M / Shirt - American Apparel / Skirt - Missguided* / Tights - Missguided*
Boots - Topshop / Bag - Zara / Bolo Tie - Topshop / Bracelet - H&M / Watch - Michael Kors / Chloe's Dress - H&M

I know that probably only a small percentage of my readers are mothers themselves but I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day yesterday. I sent my mum some pretty cards and photos from me & Chloe. Its a shame I couldn't actually spend the day with her but I saw her earlier in the week anyway. As a newly single mum I wasn't really expecting to get anything considering Chloe isn't even three yet and spends pretty much every waking minute with me. So I was very lucky to be treated to some new clothes by Missguided especially for Mother's Day! A couple of the things I picked out were this neon pink skirt & these heart print tights. I'm only 24 and despite being a mum I don't necessarily feel the need to dress 'mumsy'. I think its more important to dress how you want to dress so you don't lose your identity once you become a parent. I'm loving everything neon at the minute and anything with hearts on is a winner for me. I like that I kinda match with Chloe's neon pink fox & heart dress from H&M haha. Lets just take a minute to appreciate how cute these tights are. Think I might need to order the kitty ones next!

I wore this on Sunday for a trip to Meadowhall as we wanted to find Chloe some presents for her birthday next month but the only thing we came out with is the Daisy Duck toy you can see her clinging on to. Ah well I've got like six Disney princess outfits in my Amazon shopping basket for her so she'll still get spoiled! I wore the same thing on Saturday for the FABB bloggers event in Leeds. Its always lovely to catch up with the girls I've met in the past as well as meeting a few new faces. Loved chatting with Elizabeth who is an absolute sweetheart & she wears some gorgeous dresses on her blog so go check it out if you haven't already! I really enjoyed the presentations from Best British Bloggers & Ark Clothing. Pretty sure I need to buy everything that Hearts & Bows have in stock, especially this beaut of a skirt! Can't wait for the next event :)

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Dreaming Of Another World

Vest - Primark / Top - Warehouse / Disco Pants - American Apparel / Jacket - H&M / Scarf - eBay
Necklace - Urban Outfitters / Ring - Regal Rose / Bracelet - H&M / Watch - Michael Kors

Today I wore this outfit for a quick trip to the post office & a mooch round the shops after Rhyme Time at the library. I got this lovely peter pan collar lace top from Warehouse about five years ago and its something I've never wanted to part with. Its so pretty & jazzes up any otherwise plain outfit. I probably shouldn't wear tight high waisted trousers as they just accentuate my huge hips but I still wear my Disco Pants all the time. I bought this little denim biker jacket from H&M last week. I just thought it was cute and makes a nice change from my leather jackets.

If I look a bit moody in these pictures its because my camera was refusing to focus today. All of the functions are controlled via touch screen rather than buttons so I think some settings got changed by accident! I've not really been up to much lately either. I spent pretty much all of last week packing up and posting the forty items I sold on eBay. I ended up making over £300 by selling my old camera, clothes & shoes so I think it was worth all the hours of hell. I did get worried about making a profit after spending over £130 just on postage but luckily it all paid off. Its a pain listing everything rather than putting stuff up on a blogsale but at least you can be sure that things will sell right away, even if its only for 99p. The rest of the time I've been marathoning every season of Rupaul's Drag Race. I am so obsessed with it. I wish I could be as half as fabulous as these fierce fishy queens. I kinda fancy trying out a drag makeup look, is that weird? I have so much respect for their extreme contouring skills. I even got up early today so I could watch the episode shown in America last night. Does anyone else watch it? I'm backing Jinkx Monsoon to win this season. She was brilliant as Little Edie!

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Hats Off To Madeline!

Blouse - Mina* / Skirt - American Apparel / Hat - Topshop / Necklace - Le Chou Chou Bijoux*

We love our bread, we love our butter, but most of all we love each other. Haha I really like my outfit today even if it looks a bit like I'm channeling everyone's favourite French school girl. I was sent this gorgeous navy blouse by Mina. As always, I love anything with a nice collar & the slight bell sleeves are so flattering on my arms. Its now been reduced to just £19 in their sale which is full of loads of other goodies and is well worth a look at! My skirt is one of the circle ones from American Apparel. I love this style as its like a structured denim skater skirt and therefore also very flattering. I just whacked on my coat & gloves when I went out earlier and this outfit kept me surprisingly warm. I'm officially fed up of snow. Had a slightly traumatic moment last night when I dropped my house keys and they got buried in the snow for 10 minutes. Plus it'd be nice to actually be able to do a proper food shop! The snow is so thick outside my door that I couldn't even push Chloe's pram & walking with a toddler in the snow is rather stressful to say the least. My mums trekking up from London tomorrow so hopefully the trains won't be too messed up and she'll bring us something nice to eat (Nandos plz!).




I was also sent this lovely little teacup necklace by Annapaola, the owner of Le Chou Chou Bijoux. Hot cinnamon tea has totally been my saviour this week so I decided to pay tribute to it via my jewellery. Its just so adorable, I love the tiny lace doily! I think it looks fab just inbetween a shirt collar. All of her pieces are so elegant yet cute at the same time. Delivery was quick despite coming from Italy & it was packaged very securely. I think all the food themed jewellery she makes is amazing but check out these darling little rabbit pieces, awww!

Everything Is Embarrassing

Top - Lovestruck* / Skirt - American Apparel / Dress - Topshop / Headband - Crown & Glory
Necklace - Urban Outfitters / Bracelet - Black Tied / Rings - The Bohemian Collective

On Friday my mum & sister came up to York for the day so Chloe & I decided to tag along for their visit. I'd only ever been to York once before & that was for my epic failure of a 21st birthday where my friends took me to the National Railway Museum because there was nothing else to do on a Sunday! So it was nice to come again when there was more exciting things going on. We went on a long walk around all the shops & festive fayre before chowing down on a huge meal at Wagamama. I taught Chloe how to use chopsticks & she actually managed to pick up her gyoza & individual grains of rice with them! After the meal she even had a little babyccino, so cute!

I wore this outfit but underneath a million different layers of course. I swear this seems like the coldest Winter ever, I used to walk to school everyday without tights at this time of year but now I freeze the instant I step outside. I was sent this gorgeous top by Lovestruck. Isn't the pearl collar detailing just the cutest? I paired it with this baby pink corduroy skirt from American Apparel. Its ridiculously short so I wore a Topshop skater dress underneath. I actually really like the kinda two layer skirt effect, it definitely kept me a lot warmer too. One of my favourite hair accessories is my cream Whole Lotta Rosie floral headband from Crown & Glory. I decided I also needed the black version after seeing how awesome it looked on Robyn. So jel of her long hair too! Thats the one of the bad things about bleaching your hair to death, as soon as it grows you have to get it cut again. I'm really tempted to order a wig from Lockshop. It'd be pretty cool to have long brown hair again after all this time. I wanted to dye my hair mint green but I'm having trouble figuring out which dyes to dilute to get the colour I want, a minty wig could be the easy way out. I'm a bit worried they'd look completely fake though!

Glamorous Giveaway!

Shirt - Glamorous* / Skirt - American Apparel / Shoes - Topshop / Necklace - Claire's Accessories
Bracelet - Black Tied / Rings - ASOS

Today I've been wearing this lovely shirt that I was sent by one of my favourite clothing brands, Glamorous. The collar is just amazing. Like pretty much everyone else in the world, I'm completely obsessed with spikes & studs at the minute. I paired it with one of my favourite skirts, lots of silver jewellery, some Topshop Vectras and finished off the look with a swipe of red lippie. This lipstick is one of the new Kate Moss matte lipsticks in 110. Its such a gorgeous bright coral red and I think its a great way to inject some colour into any outfit.

Well I've had a random weekend. Had my hair done on Saturday, complete with a new centre parting and then ended up going to Wagamamas with my ex yesterday (just as friends!). Still going through a lot of stress at the moment especially in regards to where we're gonna end up living. You've all been so lovely & supportive though and I really appreciate it. I was really surprised that there was such a positive response to my first YouTube video too. To say thank you to my amazing readers I've teamed up with Glamorous again to offer you the chance to win one item of clothing. Theres a sample list of 30 items for you to chose from if you win. Very exciting indeed! Check out the terms & conditions below to find out how to enter.

Terms & Conditions:
- The giveaway will end midnight Monday 29th October
- You must like the Glamorous Facebook page and the e-tailwebstores Facebook page.
- You must follow this blog via GFC or Bloglovin'
- The winner will be given a sample list of around 30 items from Glamorous’ to choose their prize from
- Please comment on this post with your name & email address

Good luck!