Frills 'n' Spills

 I love a good prom dress, especially if it has a swooshy tulle skirt and this spotty little number from Tesco looks really fancy but isn't the slightest bit uncomfortable - a winning combination in my eyes! The best part though was that although it looks pretty expensive, it only cost £25 from Tesco. I would be more than happy to pay that for a dress this pretty but I was lucky enough to win the lovely Sarah's giveaway a few months ago and this was one of the things I picked up with my voucher. I wore it for my third (and final) day of Christmas and it was perfect; the layers of tulle managed to hide my food baby and I felt really happy in it. I have resolved to really focus on my health this year and as I plan to (eventually) run a 5k with my boo Claire I have started my running up again. It is slow work but I hope that I will feel even more confident this year once my health improves even more!

I never know how to style my hair with a high neckline, a bun just looked strange and my usual side sweep of curls was far too busy looking so I decided to experiment with my hot brush and ended up with a bouncy cheerleader ponytail. Paired with winged eyeliner and a bright lipstick, I looked as chirpy as I felt. I think you can see from these photos how much I loved this outfit, now I just need Tesco to make a version of this dress in every colour!

What are your goals for 2014?

Picking a Christmas outfit is always tricky, you have to be able to eat insane amounts of food (I can't be the only one to have eaten 10 tons of cheese over the past few days, right?!) but still look (relatively) dressy. My family have always dressed up for Christmas and Boxing Day but Mark's family are always slightly less OTT so this year I had to tread the line between smart and casual which I always find really difficult. I had been planning on either wearing this dress or this dress but when Mark and I were in town on 23rd, I spotted this lacy beauty in one of the charity shops in Tewkesbury (yes I may have a bit of a thing for lace dresses!)

I was originally a little unsure of the colour as pastels can make me look really washed out but with the black belt and strong make-up, I think I managed to pull this blush pink/ lilac colour off. I really love the lace overlay and it was an outfit I felt really comfortable in, even after eating my own body weight in mince pies.

The dress was originally from the Debut range at Debenhams and I think it shows in the cut and fit of it, this was clearly designed for a special occasion and it made me feel really elegant when I was wearing it- a very strange feeling for someone as clumsy as me!

I imagine this would look really lovely with nude tights or bare legs come the warmer weather but the single digit temperatures convinced me to wear my trusty black opaques instead. These cosy tights were a Tesco bargain and I have been wearing them non-stop. 40 deniers just don't cut it in this weather but unless I am outside for a prolonged period of time, the Primark fleece lined tights are just too warm for a radiator like me so these 60 deniers are perfect!

Mark and I have concluded that it is pretty much impossible to get a picture where we both look nice- I'm not sure what is happening with my face here! 

Me and my two sisters- can you tell that we are related?! 

The decorations are a mix of cute wooden decorations from parents and garish shiny baubles from Primark...

Mark and I said that we would slowly amass decorations of our own and we thought this was a fitting start to out collection. My favourite decoration has to be this wooden heart decoration, carved from the finest English oak, which we bought at Ludlow medieval fair a few weekends ago...

...or this cute little gingerbread man from Wilkinsons, I can't decide! 

And just because everyone loves a gif, right?

When do you put up your Christmas tree? Are you in the festive spirit yet?