pick of the best: sandals

Welcome to this week's very late (so so sorry!) pick of the best! The gorgeous summer weather we've been having over the weekend got me thinking about footwear, specifically my lack of summer shoes, which is why I have decided to take a look at some of the sandals in the shops at the moment.

As I pretty much live in my DM's, or a pair of boring black Topshop boots, the thought of exposing my feet to the world when the warm weather hits is pretty terrifying, but this lovely selection makes the scary prospect that tiny bit easier!

Hawk Feather T-Bar Sandals, £30, Topshop



Navaho Sandal, £65, Office



FRAN Suede Tassle Sandals, £40, ASOS



Plaited Beaded Sandals, £29.99, New Look



Brown Print Gladiator Sandals, £44.99, River Island



Kalahari Sandals, £55, Carvela (Kurt Geiger)

 I think my favourites have to be the leopard print sandals from River Island as I really like the chunky straps and buckles; I am definitely not one for a dainty sandal that will expose my whole foot! I can imagine wearing them with a lovely black maxi dress on a long summer evening.

I should be back to my regular blogging next week. I started a new part-time job at a bank on friday (I definitely need to get some shopping funds while I pursue my writing career!), and I've been suffering with an ear infection so I've been a bit down. Once I've settled into the job, and visited the doctor, I should be back on track though!

Hope you're all enjoying the lovely weather!

birthday treats

Last week I introduced a new item to the blog, Pick of the Best, which I feel was quite well received by you all and I intend to keep it as a regular feature!

However, today is my little sister's 11th birthday so I have been a bit busy sorting birthday-related things out for her; she is having a Mexican themed party after school so I have been making a pineapple shaped pinata...and a lovely Victoria sponge (not at all Mexican related, I agree, but delicious nonetheless!)

I will be back tomorrow with my pick of the best for this week! Plus, news on a crafty blog shop I'm considering opening!

x

style focus: wallpaper rose

Hi everyone! Firstly, apologies for a slight lack of posting during the latter half of last week. I've been pretty busy writing job applications and contacting companies for work experience, so I promise to update more regularly this week!

Right, on to this week's Style Focus. I give you...

http://www.wallpaperrose.bigcartel.com/

Wallpaper Rose is an online jewellery company that stocks beautiful vintage inspired necklaces, brooches and other gorgeous pieces. The style of the jewellery is exactly what I look for when buying accessories; pieces that look unique and pre-loved, even if they are brand spanking new! The company also stocks a selection of tees with lovely lace peter pan collars, which I can't wait to get my hands on! Unfortunately, most of the available colours are currently sold out but a little birdie has informed me that the next set is being worked on at the moment!

Here is a selection of some of my favourite items from the shop;

Eugenie necklace, £20

Eleanor brooch, £8 (on sale)

Rosamund tea necklace, £12

Lily brooch, £8 (on sale)

Rosie necklace, £15

Jen Tee - Burgundy Marl, £11

(All images taken from Wallpaper Rose)



I will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for when the beautiful Jen tees get re-stocked! I think the lace collars are so lovely; the perfect way of making a normal t-shirt a real statement piece. I also love the Eugenie necklace, as the sea diving helmet is just such a unique charm!

I reccommend that you check out the website asap, if you want to get your hands on any of the sale items featured (and there are a few more sale gems on the site), as I'm sure they won't be around for long! You can also follow Wallpaper Rose on twitter, to be kept up-to-date with all their latest products!



pick of the best: fringing

Welcome to a new item for the blog; pick of the best! Each week I will choose a key trend, or a style that I'm particularly admiring at the moment, and share some of my favourite items with you.

Everybody knows that this summer the 1970's are making a huge comeback; this means bright colours, denim flares and festival chic - which leads me, of course, to fringing! The high street is already going mad for this trend, with plenty of fringed bags, tassled loafers and distressed tees having hit the stores in time for Spring, so here are some of the items I'm currently lusting over.



Leather Fringe Backpac, £60 (Sales), Urban Outfitters



Coral Lace Fringed Crop Vest, £26, Topshop



Sand Fringed Side Denim Shorts by Unique, £70, Topshop



Brown Fringed Flat Loafer Shoes, £39.99, River Island



House of Holland Dress with Fringe Strap, £485, ASOS




Eleven Paris Fringed T-Shirt, £65, ASOS



Okay, the House of Holland dress is slightly expensive but I love it so much that I just had to include it! It's nice to dream anyway.

What do you all think about the fringed trend? Is it the ultimate addition for boho chic, or too try-hard festival fashionista? 

style focus: joy the baker

I though that I had this week's Style Focus all planned after I came across a lovely online jewellery shop run by a fashion blogger (more in next week's Style Focus!), but that was before I discovered Joy the Baker and fell head-over-heels in love with her site. Okay so it is a food blog, rather than a fashion based site, but Joy certainly knows how to make cooking stylish! The photography is absolutely stunning, like something out of a professionally published cookbook, and the recipes are charming; they read as if you're talking to one of your friends about something they whipped up in the kitchen last week.

I admit I am not exactly what you would call an accomplished cook; I generally prefer to read recipes and admire the pictures than actually get in the kitchen and make anything! But, I feel genuinely inspired by this blog and have been scribbling down recipes that I want to attempt from the site all week. I'm thinking that Mother's Day on Sunday could be the perfect opportunity to test something out?

Anyway, here are some links to a few of my favourite recipes on the website (although there are so many that I have yet to sift through them all!). I'm particularly keen on trying to bake my own Pop Tarts, which I used to love eating for a breakfast treat as a child but can now only find in Cybercandy for nearly five quid a box!

Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles

Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup with not so vegan herb bread

Hot Fudge Sundae Cupcakes

Spicy Vegetarian Chilli

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts with maple glaze

(All images from www.joythebaker.com)

Happy cooking everyone!

lady luck

I had planned to post about the Country Living Spring Fair this weekend but, rather stupidly, I forgot my camera so I only have a few pics that I took on my phone!



Photos taken via Hipstamatic for iPhone

 
It was a really lovely day though, and my Mum and I really enjoyed browsing all the stalls. I picked up a cute horse print greetings card from Petra Boase; it was only £1 and is now sitting rather proudly on my dressing table like a piece of art! I also got some colourful bird-print fabric from Beyond Fabrics which I'm going to attempt to make a cushion with! For those of you that live in London; definitely check out their website as they have a great shop on Columbia Road where they stock heaps of lovely fabrics, and even run fun sewing workshops!

I also picked up this absolutely stunning tortoise ring from one of the stalls. I'm not sure if it's a one-off piece or not, but I had to add it to my collection of hugely over the top rings! I absolutely love it.

(You can kind of make out the card I bought in the background - will try and post a clearer photo soon.)

How is everyone else's weekends going? I went out for a scrummy Mexican dinner last night with a friend, and one too many mojitos, and popped to the local market this morning where I managed to pick up plenty of new reading material...and all for under a fiver!

Looks like I'll be spending the rest of my weekend curled up on the sofa reading, and attempting to bake Peanut Butter Pecan Biscotti (yum!), from the lovely elliand blog.

en provence

Last night I enjoyed a lovely evening at the L'Occitane boutique in Islington, courtesy of L'Occitane and YOU magazine. For those of you who aren't aware of the brand, L'Occitane is a French company who use lots of naturally sourced ingredients to create beatifully fragranced and luxurious feeling products. I have had a few bits and pieces in the past, for Christmas and birthdays, and absolutely love everything I've tried in the range.

(Image taken from uk.loccitane.com)

The evening began at 6.30 where we were greeted with champagne and lots of lovely edible goodies, before being offered mini hand massages. The beauty therapist cleansed my hands first, using a lavender hand gel which I made sure to purchase later in the evening, before massaging them using the 20% shea butter hand cream for dry skin. My hands felt amazingly soft afterwards so I would highly reccommend the hand cream! I think the full sized product is quite expensive but you can pick up a handbag sized tube for about £7.

We were then left to wander around the store and try out all the gorgeous products. The staff were incredibly helpful, without being pushy, and had plenty of advice and testers for everybody to try. Although there were heaps of things I wanted to buy, I eventually settled on the lavender fragranced 'Clean Hands Gel', and the 'Rose 4 Reines' eau de toilette; which has a very similar scent to the new Chloe Rose fragrance but with a slightly cheaper price tag.



The products from our lovely free goody bag!

 As we left the store we were all handed a bag packed full of lovely freebies to enjoy! The free products, shown in the picture above, included; Rose 4 Reines Body Milk, Verbena Shower Gel, Very Precious Cream, Verbena Extra-Gentle Soap, 5 Essential Oils Shampoo, 5 Essential Oils Conditioner, Almond Shower Oil, Shea Butter Hand Cream and Shea Butter Foot Cream.

I can't wait to test them all out!

I also treated myself today, although I really shouldn't have been spending anymore money after last night, to a few products from the Topshop make-up range. I have been debating over whether to purcahse the skin tint for a while now, but after doing a bit of research and my friend giving it a rave review I decided to go for it! I have yet to test any of the products out properly, apart from the  pretty useless back-of-the-hand test whilst in Topshop, but will let you all know how I get on!




Images from http://www.topshop.com/

I purchased; Skin Tint in Fair (£10), Lip Stick in Coy (£7) and Blush in Nutmeg (£6). I particularly love the coral colour of the lip stick which will look lovely in this sunny weather we have been having! I just hope that the creamy consistency transfers well to lips.

I'm off to the Country Living Show tomorrow so fingers crossed I should have some lovely snaps to share with you all later in the week!