A little bit of everything

Hey all,

It's been a busy few days for me and it's been tricky to find time to do proper blog entries...so lots to catch up on!

As I mention before, I had a lovely lunch date with an old friend from work followed by a spot of shopping.  She needed to pick up various bits and pieces for V Festival and I couldn't help but get sucked in on the spending spree!  Having said that, the only thing I can remember purchasing was this blazer....

Every year when blazer season comes around again I'm always on the lookout for a blazer which just "works" for me.  I'm an odd shape; with a narrow waist, tiny shoulders, big boobs and big hips, so the blazer trend never seems to look right  on me.  This blazer seems to work though and was on sale for £8 in Primark.  I had my eye on it before when it was full price but always talked myself out of it so when I spotted it on the sale rail I thought I had to give it a go.  The love affair with my leather hoody is still going strong though so I'm yet to don my blazer for an outing!

On Friday I popped out again with another friend for lunch (don't you just love time off work?) and bought some of those lovely chunky wooden letters.  Apologies for the lack of picture, but I'm hoping you all know what I mean....white wooden letters?  A friend bought me one in my initial and since I've been on the hunt for items when I move out I thought it'd be a nice touch for me and Mr B to have one each.  He wasn't quite as enthusiastic as me, but oh well!  I also picked up a nice italic wall plaque which says "Dream" in the same style.  I'm planning to have a shabby chic boudoir/dressing room/library when we move and it'll look perfect in there.

As I mentioned in my last post, yesterday me, Mum and my younger sister headed down to Southampton to hit the shops there.  It was all really in aid of the Hollister store for my sister, and I have to admit I spent most of the journey winding her up about it.  The clothes she's bought from there are ok, but nothing fashion-forward and I find them all really overpriced.  That said, when we got there I backtracked slightly and ending up exiting the store with a Hollister paper bag adorning my arm....

I'm not really a joggers sort of girl but these are so soft, fit really nicely and weren't all that expensive.  I've also told myself these will be an investment, as on attending the gym on Monday I realised that all of my gym trousers are from my "fat" days and so don't actually stay up when I attempt to exercise.  And I don't know if you can see from the picture, but these were entitled "Awesome Butt Sweatpants".....what girl can say no to that?!  Especially when I am getting increasingly fed up with the amount of comments I get telling me to pull my jeans up as for some reason they just won't stay on around my bottom!

Have any of you been to Hollister before?  It was my first time and it was a bizarre experience.  When Mum said it was pitch black in there I thought she was just exaggerating and expected a shop that wasn't as brightly lit as we all expect.  No.  This is actually a shop in the dark with only one or two dimly lit wall-lights to help you see the mainly extortionate prices.  Perhaps that's how they make their money....

So with my sister spending a ridiculous amount on a shirt which frankly has nothing distinctive about it, we headed to H&M where I made it my mission to show her what she could have bought for the same amount of money.

The shirts don't look spectacular in this pic but they're a nice fit and will be good to throw on for work.  They can also be accessorized to give an outfit that military flair which is sticking around for AW this year.  The vest top looks huge but is actually a size 8 in that smocky style, hence the addition of a belt.  The body of the vest is a thin knitted material but it has lovely sheer panels down each side which add a nice bit of detailing.  I figured the belt would also help me avoid the "pull your trousers up" comments that I've been hearing so much of lately.
 
We were then 'Ladies Wot Lunch' in Nandos and I feel compelled to share this with you because of the bizarre attitude of the management there.  All of the vinegar bottles were lined up without lids, when I asked if there were any with lids I was informed that there weren't...."because people keep nicking them".  Ladies, are you with me in thinking this is the last thing I expected to be told?  You're Nandos - buy some more lids!  Or take the vinegar off the shelf?!

(Are you still with me on this huuuuuge post?  This is what happens when I don't blog properly for 6 days!)

After lunch we decided to do some general accessories shopping and I picked up these gems below.

It's the ring from Primark which I'm sure you've seen on many a blog, along with some white and gold aviators reduced from £16.99 to £4.80 in Accessorize.  The eye lash curlers are by Ruby & Millie and were only £3.50 with the Boots £5 voucher offer which is running at the moment. 

And finally, how could we leave Southampton without hitting Ikea?  As well as picking up lots of inspiration for when I move out, I also spotted these:

They're the perfect size for organizing and storing my make up, and were only £2.99 for two.  I also thought with the white theme they'll go quite nicely in the aforementioned boudoir!  Although Mr B did come home and ask me why I put all of my make up in "little bins".  Hmph....boys!

So that's me done ladies, although I did sneak online and order more goodies from The Body Shop when I got home yesterday.  Buy 2 make up items and get an £8 eyeliner free, plus 25% off was an offer I couldn't miss!

What do you think of my purchases?  Have any of you been shopping lately?  What bargains did you snap up?

T x