Frills 'n' Spills

I seem to be saying this a lot recently but apologies for the rubbish photos! I bought this gorgeous lemon yellow jumper a few days after my birthday and have worn it so often- it is just so darned cosy! The office is always freezing first thing in a Monday morning so a cosy knit is essential. I usually go for deeper jewel colours in the winter but maybe I can make wintry pastels a regular feature in my wardrobe again? The jumper is quite a feature on its own so I decided to keep the rest of my outfit fairly simple. I am guilty of often over-complicating things but hopefully I have managed to pare back my worst tendencies recently!

The jumper is so deliciously cosy and is the perfect accompaniment to my current favourite necklace. As always, I am loving coral toned make-up, I bought a mini Benefit set from Boots which had a mini Coralista blusher and although I go through phases with how much I like the colour, I do wear it a lot. It is pretty subtle and adds a healthy glow to my everyday make-up but I can build it up if I want something more intense. I probably won't shell out for the full size one though, I have my eye on the Majorette blusher instead! I know I have raved about Percy & Reed's Wonder Balm before but it really is such a good product for my hair- fellow curly and wavy haired girls take note!

I was so chuffed when I found these Clarks grey shoeboots when we moved. They are ridiculously comfy to wear thanks to their slim wedge heel. Paired with my Warehouse skinny jeans they make me look much taller too which is never a bad thing! This is probably the closest match to the real colour of the jumper, I will have to take some proper pictures of it at some point!

Are you a fan of pastels?

It's been a shamefully long time since Mark and I last visited Manchester but we headed up at the weekend to catch up with Mark's brother and pay a flying visit to one of  our favourite cities. You can see just how excited we were by these photos, we both really love Manchester and could happily live there, we did see some lovely flats too, I just need to find a job up there! 

Wearing my Seasalt coat (necessary for the rain!), H&M striped top and Mac Impassioned lipstick. 

Manchester Central Library is awesome and I could have spent all day in there, how beautiful are those windows?!

We also made a brief stop in Chinatown to try and find some Chinese figs but to no avail :( I love this archway though, the colours are gorgeous!

Takk Manchester is a super cool Icelandic inspired coffee bar/restaurant in the Northern Quarter where I felt very uncool, this was hipster inspired dining at its best! ;)

This amazing mural was by Nicholas Chaffe (@nickchaffe) and I absolutely love it. There are so many little details in it and I keep noticing new things every time I look at it. Now I just want one of my own! 

OK, so the food and drink at Takk was amazing! I had the avocado, bacon and tomato sandwich on sourdough bread with a flat white (check out the genuine graffiti-covered school desks! ) which was absolutely delicious. Mark had roast potatoes, shallots and pan-fried chorizo with scrambled eggs and sourdough which I was super jealous of! 

This was the first time I had visited the Northern Quarter and I loved it- the rickety fire escapes and quirky shops felt very Brooklyn to me, I may have to pay another visit to keep my New York cravings at bay!

The exhibits on Manchester's textile industry were so interesting, just look how complex this machines look!

I mean wowee! 

This thistledown coat was super cool- a must have for every fashion blogger I think ;)

They also had an exhibition on 3D printing which was brilliant, I loved how brightly coloured these all were!

These are 3D-printed frames of an animation of a bear climbing some stairs, they don't look like much here but quite something 'in action'. 

My little brother was always a fan of Bob the Builder when he was little and these were the original models they used in the show (before they remade it!)

A very cool cine camera, I love the Italian stickers on the case!

The forst all-metal printing press was invented by the Earl of Stanhope, this one was made sometime between 1810 and 1830...

More cool murals...

I love the contrast of the old buildings and the uber modern Beetham Tower, that is one shiny building!

This is an awful picture but it was an amazing pie! We went to Pi in Chorlton for dinner after a long day walking around town and it was the perfect finish. I am now a fully fledged Pieminster pie fan (this was the Shamrock) I just need to get my hands on some more to try...

We went to the North Star deli in Chorlton for brunch before heading back on Sunday morning, the perfect finish to a wonderful weekend! 

Where should I try next in Manchester?

Chilli con carne is a meal that I absolutely love but have never made from scratch before. I don't know why I was so hesitant up till now but once I saw this recipe in the Little Leon: One Pot recipe book (a very lovely birthday present) I decided that I would give it a go! This was the perfect thing to make on a Sunday afternoon and luckily it makes enough that you can have it for dinner on Monday too. We served it with rice but it is also delicious in pitta breads...

Going out is always a tricky thing, I love going out and dancing till my legs are sore but staying up late has always been a problem for me (I am tucked up in bed by half nine most nights!) Recently though I have been to a couple of shindigs (showing my age there!) and this dress is usually the first option on my list. I'm never 100% comfortable in anything too revealing but at the same time I am always far too warm so this sleeveless drapey dress from Whistles is the perfect compromise, It's fitted but not too bodycon and is long enough that I can wave my arms around with wild abandon when dancing without any fear of flashing! The colour is ace, described as airforce grey, it is actually a gunmetal blue (is that even a thing?!) and is a colour that seems to suit everyone. I love the fact that it is equally at home whether it is being worn to a pub, a house party or even a club- this dress truly is something special! 

Luckily it doesn't need much accessorising (if any) and this simple geometric necklace is subtle enough to add interest without being overpowering. My hair had a lot of volume the evening I wore this so rather than trying to fight it, I went with the flow and ended up with some pretty eighties inspired make-up too.  I paired some bronze, gold and navy eyeshadow with my Soap and Glory Solar Power bronzer which I have a love hate relationship with. It looks fairly natural on my pale skin in real life but photographs really badly which is not cool... Paired with my Revlon lip butter in 'Peach Parfait', I was ready to roll. I love a strong lipstick for the evening but it always seems to wear off pretty quickly and I am in no fit state to reapply it precisely so I tend to go for strong eyes instead- the more lived in they look, the better, I think!

I can't be dealing with walking for miles in high heels and as I was going from a house party, into town, I plumped for this M&S pair instead. Again, nothing ground-breaking but still fun to wear (and really comfy too!) You can get a better look at the nipped in waistline and pockets (!!) here too, they are only minor details but make a world of difference to the fit of the dress. I know I am gushing but Whistles really can do no wrong in my eyes recently, especially when they are making such beautiful dresses!

So my new-found love for leopard print has spiralled into a full blown obsession thanks to this beautiful leopard print kilt from Sainsbury's (they really do have some lovely skirts in at the moment!) I spotted it online but my local store didn't have it and I had nearly given up until the lovely Emma managed to track it down and post it to me- thank you internet! I have worn the skirt a few times before with my black cowl neck jumper but I actually prefer it with this thin khaki/taupe knit, it looks much more interesting and plays into my luxe/fun wardrobe split. This is the kind of outfit I will wear all winter long, with a coat and gloves all of my extremities are covered but it has enough thin layers to cope with the heat blazing from all the shops. I know it's a controversial topic but surely an ambient temperature of 20-odd degrees is better than extreme heat and cold? 

Recently we lent our camera to Mark's parents for a wedding so spent a week or so without it. Whilst they had it, I wore an outfit that I really loved and that has definitely been one of my most recent favourites. Originally I was just going to rely on my phone but I remembered that my iPad mini has a camera and I was pretty pleased with the results even though they now look massively blurry on this size screen. Although in itself, stripes, jeans and a snazzy necklace is hardly groundbreaking (!) the fact that I have found one of each that I love, is. Paired with the beautiful camel coat that Mark bought me for my birthday (you can see a glimpse of it here), I felt very French (bien sûr!) and very luxe. It's amazing how some good quality basics can lift your wardrobe! I have been in a bit of a style rut recently, on the one hand I still want to wear fun things but my taste in who makes them has certainly moved more upmarket (I can't be the only one who stalks Whistles dresses on ebay, right?!) whilst my budget has stayed the same. I guess this is an inevitable part of growing up but navigating through these two halves of my wardrobe has caused some headaches of a morning recently! 

I have a real thing for stripes and H&M have the best striped tops on the high street. This style is a shape I really love and although I would never usually go for a light stripes, this one feels and looks very luxe - good job H&M! (They currently have their blue and white one on sale too if you are in the market for a new Breton top) I was lucky enough to get an Accessorize voucher for my birthday this year and I have been on the lookout for a neutral statement necklace (is that even a thing?!) ever since my beloved white floral one broke so was pretty pleased to see this beauty in my local store! It is the perfect length to wear with higher necklines and has received more than a few compliments every time I have worn it, mainly along the lines of 'ooh, so shiny!' ;) I have been straightening my hair a lot more recently and I love how different it makes me look. I prefer the lived in look I get after sleeping on it but would love to be able to do that with products too, any recommendations?

There's few things in life as satisfying as a warm cookie fresh out of the oven and I was able to indulge that impulse this weekend when I baked these delicious chocolate truffle cookies. I took the remainder of these into the office on Monday and I have never seen people so enthusiastic! Plus people were asking for the recipe, which is always a good sign I think! 

WARNING: these taste absolutely delicious and it is impossible to eat just one, however iron your willpower!

These photos were taken all the way back in September but as this is an outfit I wear fairly often, I decided to use these pictures despite the clear change in the weather. I may always be warm but even I can't get away with just short sleeves now! I really love burgundy but I only seem to wear it in Autumn, I guess it just feels too heavy at any other time of year? These photos weren't taken in our usual location but I like the more urban look that our car park gives them (ah how pretentious does that sound?!) This is a pretty standard outfit for me these days, my pretty blouses have been looking too twee when paired with skirts so jeans have been the perfect way to toughen them up. 

I have raved about my beautiful half pint Brit Stitch satchel before but isn't it just beautiful? I love the fact that it matches my top so well too, I was so chuffed when I saw the blue-y grey colour in the pattern!

These jeans are another Gap purchase- am I just particularly short (I wear a 30" leg and the regular length is still too long on me) or are all of Gap's jeans just really long? Turn-ups are a bit of a love/hate thing but anything that draws attention to these awesome shoes can only be a good thing (at least till I can find somewhere to get them tailored)

Moving home is the most stressful thing that Mark and I have done this year. I never knew how much stuff you could cram into a flat until I had to sort through it all! I managed to get rid of about 10 bags of clothes in total and we also managed to declutter all the useful paperwork (a.k.a. Dominos leaflets) that we had accumulated. Our new flat is also a 2 bed flat but it is slightly smaller so we had to be really brutal and use our space more carefully but I'm really pleased by the set up we have now. We have a real mix of furniture and homewares but it really feels like home which I think is the most important thing :) The fact that it is only 10 minutes walk from town and has plenty of room for house parties is just a bonus really! ;)

We had some really lovely cards when we moved in and I didn't want to take them down as they really cheer the place up! This table was in our old lounge but has now been folded down and moved to act as a hall table. I was really pleased to be able to use my shell letter holder too. I picked it up in a charity shop in Stow-on-the-Wold three years ago (!) and I have never really had a home for it until now...

Our living room is one of my favourite rooms, it is so light and bright. It is a really unusual shape as it is on the outside curve of the building but we still managed to fit our furniture in which I am quite impressed by...

I love how bright our footstool and cushions are, they really help to brighten up the magnolia colour scheme! These pictures were a gift to Mark on his 18th birthday and although neither of us have been to New York, we will make it there one of these days...

We are definitely not the minimalist types, every side is filled with knick knacks, photos and far too many owl trinkets- what can I say, I am obsessed! This canvas was a gift from my parents last Christmas as me and my sisters loved the one that they had in their kitchen and so we all got one for Christmas which I love. It also reminds me of all the good times we had in Rome too which is no bad thing...

Buttercup, our cow canvas was a birthday git from my friend Matilda to make up for the fact that we had to leave the cows behind when we moved- isn't she lovely?! My parents have always been fans of Ercol furniture and I have inherited their love of the clean lines and 1960s shapes, even if Mark isn't so keen!

We unwittingly managed to create a turquoise theme throughout our house and even the ironing board matches! Until I sort the spare room out, this is the closest thing I have to a library corner and now we have a footstool over here (ILU Tiger!) I couldn't be happier to curl up with a good book!

Our balcony is probably the best part about our new flat and although the view is slightly less pretty than our old one, the novelty still hasn't worn off! 

Our new kitchen is lovely and we even have a DISHWASHER which is the most exciting news ever. Hooray for snazzy kitchen appliances!

Ahem. We will brush over this room as it is our current dumping ground and graveyard for all of our empty boxes. I will sort it out at some point, I promise...!

Our bedroom is my favourite room in the house- it is absolutely huge and has enough built in wardrobe space to fit all of my clothes in which is a minor miracle! We also have an en suite which I love- I have been properly spoilt with this room!

God bless IKEA and their wonderful storage solutions, I don't know how we would store my shoes otherwise!

How do you make a rented property feel like home?