Frills 'n' Spills

Dockers

But the best thing this year? The moment that made it all? Catching this beauty from my favourite King...

 

KOL gig

So as I hinted at in my week in photos post I finally got the chance to go and see Kings of Leon last week at the NIA in Birmingham. And I learnt two very important things. First, my undying love for them and their music is perfectly justified -they were brilliant. Second, you definitely want my sister on side in a fight.

I've been a fan for a long, long time and Aha Shake Heartbreak was my first musical obsession so for me this was a pretty big deal.

 I dragged my sister along with me [I say dragged, but she was almost as excited as me] and we got in there super early and managed to stand three rows from the front. I'll admit, having never had standing tickets for a gig so big [what have I been doing with my life?] I was a little worried about pushing/shoving/death but I think being right at the front meant you could a) actually breathe and b) stand next to some equally keen fans who weren't about to miss a song just for the sake of shoving someone around for a while.

Needless to say it was absolutely incredible. I should've probably written this post when I got back to express my excitement. It was major. In fact, maybe it was best that I didn't because I expect the whole post would've looked a little something like this...

eIOTfhkbafoAFHKJDfsjdcxshubOAWIERUGFSJDSSWUhajfisugaerjtsaew984732uq109erw8dskohrjkdfivuhdsjkyugew

Yeah. Excitement in a nutshell!

The gig was fantastic, I can't fault it. At all. But then again, I love Caleb them so much that I never would.

Oh and I managed to get a few keepsakes too...

A tshirt, my ticket, my wristband and wait....what is that?

A plectrum. Caleb's plectrum. I can't quite believe it either!

This is where the second lesson of the night comes in. My sister, bless her heart, dived for it after it hit me, and fought another girl off for it. Fought here of course being a light prod on the hand, but still. She rocks.

As much as I'd love to ramble on about them forever, I've gotta go and polish that plectrum do some dissertation work, write an essay, and prep myself for another midnight shift.

Adios!

Grey top: Zara, Cardigan: Primark, Shorts: Urban Outfitters Sale, Belt: Charity Shop, Tights: Pretty Polly courtesy of Legs Love, Shoes: Deichmann

Afternoon!

Today is a good day. It's a snow laden, cake-eating, present-giving kind of day as it's my sisters 17th birthday. Though, between you and me I prefer to think of it as her 10th...again. There's no way she can be allowed to drive already. Frankly, I feel OLD.

Nevertheless, where there's a birthday there's cake and for that I have to be grateful [although I'm yet to see any....*plans kitchen search soon*]. 

While my sister was opening her presents earlier this morning, I had a wonderful little package to open myself as the lovely ladies at Legs Love sent me a sample from their site.

They sell a whole range of brands and designs, so I was thrilled to get some Pretty Polly tights as I've heard many a great thing about them, but never tried them out! 

I have to say that reviews scare me somewhat, in that although I'd always say what I think, there is bound to be a sense of guilt in admitting dislike to something that someone's been kind enough to send you. With these however, I needn't have worried. Seriously. The design is awesome - subtle and very wearable, and the tights themselves are such good quality. They put my Primark polka dots to shame.

The only thing that worried me as I pulled them out of the packet was whether they'd be long enough for me. As soon as I read that they fit up to 5"10 my heart sank a little, and even more when I read that they're one size only - I normally go for XXL [or as big as the shop stocks] so that they stretch to fit my legs comfortably. 

The Pretty Polly tights do fit thank goodness, but it did take some complex pulling up moves to get there. You should've seen me desperately trying to pull them on. So attractive. Luckily they look pretty good with shorts, maybe a bit better than with a skirt or dress, so there's no worry of them falling down. Cue sexy pulling up moves again.

So, many thanks to Marianne and Rebecca at Legs Love for sending such a lovely treat! Check out their video here on how to style your outfit with tights this Christmas.

Oh, and just to ruin the blogger illusion, I totally changed into my slippers after taking these photos.

Fetching, no?

P.S. If you're in the mood for some baking, check out my Christmas Morning Muffin recipe here - Santa himself would be proud ;)

Coming home from uni is always a bit of a double-edged sword for me. On one hand you have warmth, food, internet without having to pay for it but you also have parental rules to abide by and having to share a room with your youngest brother and sister- well I do at any rate! The weekend I got back, we went for a family meal with my grandparents who I don't see as often and it was lovely to catch up with them as we hadn't seen them since my birthday. 
I wore my purple pencil skirt and a sparkly top I picked up for next to nothing in my favourite charity shop. You will be pleased to hear that this was before all of the snow and ice AND I actually managed to walk in my heels! Yes, that was a surprise for me too ;) 




Apologies for the blurry photos! My youngest sister was taking them and hadn't quite mastered how to use a camera... I used my rollers to curl my hair and vamped it up a little with some purple lippy... I was really pleased with the way it turned out and I felt raather glamourous in the Beefeater :P 


This snazzy little number was also from the same charity shop and it is originally from H&M. I love the shape of the dress, mainly for the way it flares out into an A-line skirt, but also because of a rather wonderful detail...


Buttons down the back of the dress! I love little details like this and I think they make everyday basics much more interesting :) I paired the dress with my beloved brown shoeboots and another charity shop bargain; a gorgeous tweed-esque blazer...


I look a bit like I am going to a country club in this photo but it is absolutely gorgeous in real life. It is super warm but also manages to smarten up an otherwise casual outfit, plus the pink running through the pattern matched my dress perfectly- I tell you, it's fate ;)




One of the funniest things about this outfit though is the complete disparity in the sizing of the clothes. The dress is an American 12 so a UK 16 (if my calculations are correct? whilst the blazer is a UK size 10. I normally wear size 14 in clothes and yet both of these pieces fit me. I'm not going to open up the debate about vanity sizing, but it does seem strange that a sizing isn't consistent across different shops. I have an hourglass figure and I find that if a product fits my hips, the waist doesn't fit and vice versa. In addition to this, i often don't even consider shops like River Island because I think of them as shops for people who are slimmer than I am.

Yes that IS a burger and chips in front of me ;)

When I am shopping I know 'my size' for a certain store and adapt what I pick up to fit that. Saying that, I almost left this dress on the hanger when I saw that it was a size 16- I always swore that I would die before I wore a size 16! (Saying that, I said the same thing about a 10 and a 12...) Despite this nagging worry, I picked up the dress and took it home to try on, where I promptly fell in love. And without sounding too preachy (I have more than my fair share of off days!) I think I worked it! I have worn it a number of ways since and even my mother (who is probably my harshest critic) liked it.. I guess what I am trying to do this Christmas, is find a happy medium between being healthy and happy and try not to obsess about my weight. Well, at least until I have eaten my fill of Christmas dinner!