Feeling Festive| Christmas Party FOTD and OOTD

 

So what does a girl wear to her Christmas party? Never mind that! What does a girl wear to her first Christmas party at a company where she is still trying to impress and make a good opinion? This was my dilemma last week. Usually I would be the first to whack on a tight dress, get my tanned legs out and put on my stiletto heels, but when I work in an office in a very rural location, where my nearest cocktail or champagne bar is at least 70 miles away, I had to second think my attire. I still wanted a look that was glam, but maybe not as sexy as I normally aim for.

I decided to based my outfit around my sparkly shoes from Moda In Pelle which I love with all my heart! Look how amazing they are! They were the pair I wore for my mum’s wedding, and I think they are perfect for the festive season. I paired it with a matching glittery clutch bag from TKMaxx.  After I chose my shoes and bag I was stuck; I have a million dresses in my wardrobe, even more so now I have lost a dress size, but couldn’t decided which one was appropriate. So like you probably all have done, I ended up sat amongst all my clothes after having a hissy fit about how “I don’t have anything to wear!” I know a little black dress would of looked great but I wear black dresses to work everyday, so wanted something with a bit more colour. So after trying on all of my dresses I finally settle on the above lilac one from H&M. at first I thought of it as a more summery dress; more fitting for a wedding. But after trying it with the shoes and bag I thought it was perfect; sophisticated, girly and festive!

My works Christmas Party was a great success. We all went to a local hotel to have an all expenses paid for dinner and drinks, plus a little disco. It was a nice change to see my work colleague outside of the office, and we all had a great night; Sunday was evidence of that! Lets just say I had a few too many glasses of wine!

What did you, or are you wearing to your Christmas Party this year? Anything sparkly like my shoes?

OOTD| FOTD| Pre Wedding Dinner

Outfit Of The Day

Dress- Dorothy Perkins

Shoes- Christian Louboutin

Clutch bag- Tkmaxx

Face Of The Day

Eyes- Urban Decay Naked Palette

Face- Primer- Rimmel/ Foundation- Maybelline Super Stay 24 hours and Revlon Colour Stay 24 hour – Contouring- Sleek Palette- Blush- Rimmel

Lips- Rimmel Kate Moss Nude

I thought I would do a Face and Outfit Of The Day to show you what I wore for the night before my mums wedding this past weekend. I’m frantically trying to think if I could do an actual wedding day Outfit And Face Of The Day however I think I was so busy enjoying the day I didn't even take pictures of what I was wearing or what my makeup looked like… blogger fail!

Anyways back to the Friday. The Friday evening was a smart casual affair, where dinner and drinks were served at the hotel while we all mingled and got to know each other before the big day. I originally planned to wear a dusty pink dress to kick off the pink theme to the wedding and to match my Mum’s dress, however as much as I tried I did not find a dress I was completely happy with. In the end I spotted this teal number in the Dorothy Perkins sale. It is actually the same dress as another I had bought and worn previously (You can see it here) and as I knew it was a flattering fit and comfortable I chose to wear this for the Friday night instead. I paired the dress with my Louboutins which I received as a graduation present; its actually only the second time I have worn them as they are so precious, and my silver clutch and silver jewellery which I also wore on the wedding day.

For my face I decided to go for a dramatic smoky eye and nude lip as on the wedding day I wore a more natural look, so I wanted to create a contrast and dress my face up a little bit more. I created this look using my trusty Naked Palette, the same palette that the makeup artist on the Saturday actually complimented me upon, as she loves it just as much as us bloggers. I am wearing lash inserts in the above picture; I treated myself on the Thursday night as I didn’t want to have to be fiddling with fake eyelashes all weekend. I only got the two week occasional wear ones, but they are still going very strong and I am in love with them! It means getting ready in the morning takes about 10 minutes less as I don’t have to apply endless layers of mascara, and I am much more confident with out makeup as my eyes are very defined. I will be writing a review on them in the next couple of weeks, so keep an eye out for that. I have been attempting to contour my face this past week, and although still a beginner I am enjoying the way it makes my face look.

I had a great night, as did many others judging by some of the sore heads in the morning, my boyfriend being one of them. However everyone had soon recovered come the ceremony, and the Friday evening allowed the wedding day to be more relaxed as the ice had already been broken the night before.

Are you are contouring pro? Could you give me some tips or recommend any products?

Spanish Sun| Holiday outfits

*Outfit 1- Dress- New Look, Blazer- Pull and Bear, Sandals- Stylist Pick*

*Outfit 2- Dress- River Island, Belt- Primark, Sandals- Stylist Pick, Bag- Ebay*

*Outfit 3- Dress- Dorothy Perkins, Sandals- Stylist Pick, Bag- Ebay*

*Outfit 4- Shorts- Primark, T-shirt- H&M, Sandals- Stylist Pick, Bag- Ebay*

As you may of read I was lucky enough recently to have been on a little holiday with my boyfriend and his parents, to their apartment in Eastern Spain. While we spent a good deal of time relaxing by the pool, sunbathing on the sun terrace, and having lazy boozy lunches, we still crammed in some culture and visited Valencia for a couple of days. I have not previously been before but have been eager to go as heard the old town was beautiful; which it was. However there is a great mix of old and new architecture around the city, so it was very picturesque and interesting. For those not into architecture and history, there was plenty of shopping and bars to keep yourself busy with.

The biggest challenge with this holiday was that I was only allowed to take hand luggage with me, as we did not pay for hold luggage, so cramming two weeks of clothes into the tinniest suitcase was a big ask. As you can see from the pictures above it did severely restrict my collection of shoes and bags, so much so I only took one handbag, and 3 pairs of shoes. The rest of my luggage consisted of 6 dresses, 1 playsuit, 2 t-shirts, 1 pair of shorts, and 3 bikinis, not forgetting my workout gear… yes I was good and still went running while on holiday! When I was on holiday I felt quite restricted to my outfit choices, however I have previously travelled Europe for a month with only a small backpack, so I should be used to it by now.

Outfits 1 to 3 are from when I was off out for dinner and drinks, so they are some of my dressed up looks while on holiday. Outfit 4 was my tourist outfit for wandering around the streets of Valencia… not much style just something cool and comfortable. I very rarely get dressed up on holiday and never really wear heels, I much prefer to keep it more casual, and with so many pretty sandals and wedges around I don’t feel the need to take my party heels with me. During the day as I mentioned I choose comfort over style... is that a crime for us bloggers? Especially if I am going to be wandering around a city for hours on end in 40c heat I would much prefer to be comfortable than sweating it out in a pretty ensemble.

So my question for you is, do you keep it stylish on holiday? Or do your take a break and keep it comfortable?

One BBQ, Two Parties in One Night| OOTD

Dress- Dorothy Perkins

Shoes- New Look

Well I have had a busy weekend indeed! I visited Leeds which is the home city of my boyfriend. Normally we have a relaxing few days and catch up with his family and friends. However this was not the case this time, as we found ourselves being double booked. We had his Mum’s birthday BBQ and party, as well as his friends birthday night out; both on the Saturday night! So we had a bit of shuffling around to do… literally. We ended up spending the afternoon at his parents BBQ then going out to the bars in town in the evening with his friends, and then went back to his parents to finish off the partying. So at the end of it we were both very tried, and very drunk! It seems when you have two parties you end up drinking twice as much… my body was not thankful the next day!

I had a great weekend, regardless, but was very tired come Sunday night! I did also treat myself this weekend to a new iPhone! I have been due an upgrade for some time now, but being a busy student then worker I never got round to it, however now I have had it for 5 days I wouldn’t know what to do without it… I am in love with it! I am also completely addicted to Instagram now, as you can see from the Widget on the right hand side.

Anyways onto my outfit! I wore my new dress from Dorothy Perkins after I finally treated myself to a few sale items. The dress cost me only £10, down from around £32, and I think the cut is flattering and the colour screams summer, a great little bargain! I wore it with my blue New Look heels which I was originally going to wear at my graduation before I got my Louboutins. Again I love my shoes, they only cost £17 and have a very chunky heel. I wore them from 6 in the evening till about 3 in the morning, without any Party Feet and had no pressure or pain on the balls of my feet at all, so they are very comfortable.

What did you get up to this weekend? Did you have a relaxing one or a wild one?

P.S. Don’t forget, if you enjoy my blog, vote for me in the Cosmopolitan Magazine Blog Awards as Best Newcomer. It takes 30 seconds and a tick of a box but would mean the world to me…. Thanks!

Just click here- Vote OutsideBeautyInsideHealth

A Glimmer of Sunshine| OOTD

Dress- H&M

Shirt- Primark

Bag-Zara

Shoes- Stylist Pick

Well as many of my fellow bloggers are talking and twittering none stop about the wonderful sunny days they are having, I am sat very sourly in the rainy and cloudy Lake District where we have only had one day of sun this week, and that was last Saturday. So firstly, it you would like to send the sun up here, then please do so. Secondly my post is from that one sunny day, when I actually managed to sport my new wedges which were bought six weeks ago and not been worn since!

So last Saturday was spent in Newcastle, and it was my last day in my last ever student house! End of an era! I spent the weekend moving my boyfriends stuff to his new house and cleaning our old flat. So obviously wasn’t sporting anything special during the day, more like sweats and rubber gloves. However in the evening we went to go see Batman at the MetroCentre (best film ever) and went for burgers afterwards, and I wore the above outfit.

The dress you will have seen recently from my holiday pictures from Finland, as I wore it often then as its very versatile, however it creases really easily, which is quite annoying. The shirt I wear as a cardigan, it doesn’t actually provide any warmth but I think it adds something extra to an outfit. I paired it all with my new wedges from Stylist Pick, which are very high, but surprisingly comfortable, and my once trusty Zara bag. I say once trusty as it is now falling apart. I am hugely disappointed as the straps on my Zara bag are now snapping slowly but surely, but I suppose after spending only £20 on a bag I can’t expect it to last. Has anyone else had this problem with theirs? As know at the time there was an abundance of bloggers purchasing this bag. 

I hope you have enjoyed the sunshine where ever you are, and for however little it has stuck around. Did anyone else go see Batman over this past week?

Graduation OOTD and FOTD

Dress- Next

Bag- Ebay

Shoes-Christian Louboutin

I thought I would share a picture of my outfit from graduation day, seems it took for what seems like months to find a dress I was happy with. I don’t know about you, but as it was such a big day, and a day I knew would be remembered in pictures for the rest of my life I actually felt some pressure to make sure I had an outfit that was obviously stylish, but also timeless, formal and ladylike. I wanted a dress that was of colour, as opposed to just black, as I wanted it to pop from beneath my graduation gown, but I didn’t want anything too bright. I decided upon a cream colour, but then this white one from from Next was the winner for me, out all the dresses I tired on. It had built in underdress, so smoothed out any lumps and bumps, and was a perfect length for me. Looking back at it know, I think it makes me look a little top heavy, but that something I often suffer from due to my body shape.

For my shoes I originally planned to wear a bright blue pair from New Look, but once I received my gift from my Mum and her partner I was obviously going to wear the Louboutins. I am totally in love with them, and am ever so grateful. I think they go great with the outfit as they make it more fun than if they shoes were a more conservative nude or black pair.

I chose a brown bag as knew it was going to be difficult to find a bag to perfectly match the colour of my originally planned shoes. In hindsight I recommend to anyone who is graduating , wear a clutch bag as opposed to a shoulder bag, as it was difficult to wear it over my robe when wandering around, and ended up giving it to my boyfriend to carry.

What did you wear for your graduation day? Something formal or something fun?

A Day in the rain| OOTD

Playsuit- NewLook

Cardigan- H&M

Belt-H&M

I’ve had a very busy weekend of moving my belongings back to the nest. Yes I have moved back in with my mum, as I start my new job on Monday, which is conveniently located 3 miles away. Thankfully I’m a lucky girl and my lovely mum had completely cleaned out my brothers old room and had reorganised and redecorated for my arrival. So what was once a smelly pit inhabited by a teenage boy, is now my cute and cosy bedroom. 

Since I now live at my mothers, I am now located in the country and the beautiful Lake District, I’m about 5 miles away from Lake Windermere. So seems its my first of many lazy weekends with my boy we decided to go for lunch at Bowness-on-Windermere. Little did we know it would be completely chucking it down! Thankfully I was wearing my boots, so didn’t get too wet. The boyfriend however decided a hoodie and canvas pumps were suitable attire; so he did get wet.

We went to a little country pub, and had ice-cream at the lakeside for dessert, as its tradition in our family to get English Lakes Ice-cream whenever we are at Bowness-on-Windermere, come rain or shine! Due to all the rain the Lake was looking very full and there is a lot of flooding in Cumbria, thankfully I live on a hill so won’t be affected.

I chose a playsuit to wear as know it goes well with my boots. I bought it from NewLook to be worn on sunnier days as it is backless, but I have been wearing it with a vest underneath and a cardigan over the top seems the weather hasn’t been the best.

I have also received a lot of new followers recently, so hi to you all; old and new. I hope everyone has a lovely weekend despite the rain. I plan on spending the rest of it relaxing and blogging.

A walk in the park| OOTD

Dress- Asda

Cardigan- Tesco

Belt- H&M

Shoes- Primark

Bag-Zara

Long time no see! I have had a busy few weeks trying to organise my life. As many of you know who follow my Twitter (Follow Here) I have landed myself my first grown up, real, career starting job, no more waiting tables for me! I am becoming a marketing assistant but have the responsibility of setting up an in-house marketing department with the help of the director and manager of the company, along with the creation and implementation of the marketing strategies; big responsibility, but I’ve got many ideas and can’t wait to get started. I am obviously over the moon, however it is located back home in the Lake District, so I am having to move away from my boyfriend and the life I have built in Newcastle and back in with my Mum in rural Cumbria; its going to be a big change. I am also off travelling Finland and Lapland next week, so am trying to squeeze everything in my backpack for then, which is always a struggle as I am not a girl who packs lightly.

Amongst all this excitement I have had the chance to spend some quality time with my boy. One of the evenings being the one featured in this post. We decided to go for dinner at an Italian in Jesmond in Newcastle, and as it was a gorgeous evening took a long walk in the park on the way there. To say people were making the most of the weather was an understatement, the park was full of people, but its great seeing families and friends spending time together.]

For the evening I chose to throw on this quite smart dress, which is from Asda. I have worn it previously for presentations at university, as it is formal yet quite fashion forward with it being midi length, yet it is still very comfortable. I decided to dress it down by wearing canvas ballerina pumps, a cardigan and my trusty Zara bag.

I hope you have been keeping well while I have been absent from my blog.

Dressed Up Birthday Girl

Dress- Closet from Dorothy Perkins

Shoes- Ebay

Bag- Primark

Well if you haven’t noticed already, it was my birthday last week. (If you didn’t notice… where have you been?) This is the final birthday related post I promise! This is what I wore for my birthday cocktails and dinner with the boy. I bought the dress with a birthday voucher and it was an absolute steal! I have had my eye on it for a while as I thought it would be a flattering cut, due to the colour blocking. I think the original price was £35, however it was in the sale at £15, but student discount made it about £12.50! The dress is very fitting, but has a give in it, so was comfortable to wear, even after a large dinner and many glasses of fizz.

The Closet range can be bought in a variety of shops, such as Dorothy Perkins, AWear and House of Fraser. It is actually one of my favourites at the moment, they do a range of fitted, flattering, smart dresses, that I think are quite glamourous. They are great for occasions such as birthdays, weddings or even a reasonable priced graduation dress. I think they resemble some of the tailored designs that Victoria Beckham famously uses, which is probably why I love them so much. Below is my pick of their current range, prices range from £12 to £48;

What do you think of this range? Which dress is your favourite?

Birthday Day

Dress- Dorothy Perkins

Blazer-Ebay

Shoes- Ebay

I am currently writing this post at my parents house in the Lakes. We arrived yesterday, and it has not stopped raining since, quite typical, but not great for my hair! We visited Matalan today, and to be honest was quite disappointed with their summer range, couldn’t find anything of interest, and left empty handed. If anyone has bought anything of interest from here recently let me know.. I may of not been looking hard enough!

From the previous post, you will now know that Tuesday was my birthday… 23! Oh My life I’m getting old! I dressed quite smartly for the day, as I enjoy dressing up for special occasions, so chose something that was confortable but still a little special. This was actually the first time I had worn my new bargain tweed jacket. I love it now; it is a little tight along the back, but that will be solved once I lose my dissertation weight ( library plus deadlines, equals poor diet and no exercise). I bought it for £15, and it came within 3 days, so I am very happy with this purchase.

I chose to sport a tweed jacket with this tan coloured dress, which is really comfortable. It is a chiffon type material, a little heavier, so doesn’t blow up in the wind… good for us girls in the North-East, and can be dressed up or down. I wear it quite often.  The belt is nothing special, I just wanted a plain band around my waist, as the tweed material is the focus, so didn’t want to back the look too fussy. The heels worn are another Ebay bargain… told you I’m obsessed! They are from Dorothy Perkins, so probably cost at least £30 new… I got them for £8.

How you you dress for your birthday? Something special, or dressed down and comfy?

Drizzy Drake- OOTD

Dress- NewLook

Shoes-Ebay

Balzer-New Look

Belt-H&M

Rings- Primark and H&M

For those of you who follow me on twitter, you will have seen me raving on about going to Drake’s gig in Newcastle last night. Now I’m not normally a girl who frequents concert halls, arena and gigs, but every now and again an artist comes along who I will go an see. Yet I am not the kind who gets involved in the action, you will find me propping up the bar at the back of the arena, not being squashed and sweated on at the front. So I seem to be quite dressed up in these photos, and I thought I was going to be overdressed, as I chose my outfit based on the notion that my friends and I were attending the after party, meaning I dressed for a night out. However I was actually rather under dressed and was showing a hell of a lot less skin than about eighty per cent of the other girls at the gig. Good grief there was some skimpy outfits… I sound like my nana… obviously showing my old age!

The gig itself was great, he sang all the songs I would of wanted him to, and put on a good show. The after party however was ridiculous! We went there straight after the gig, as although we had tickets, the club released more tickets than capacity, so I didn’t want to be disappointed. However the club became so busy, meaning it was not enjoyable, despite the good music being played.

So I want to know what others dress like at gigs? I made the mistake of wearing heels, so my feet gave up on me quite quickly, and there are still quite painful now… never again! Are flats a must? What are your wardrobe staples for gig going?

Celebratory dinner| OOTD

Dress- Newlook

Blazer- Primark

Belt- H&M

Bag-Stylist Pick

As many of you know, for the past few months my life has been pretty much none existent due to me having to write and finalise my dissertation. Thankfully, I handed said dissertation in on Monday, so since then I have had a new found social life, celebrating my new found freedom from the library!

I had a celebratory lunch with my friend at Revolution in Newcastle where we also treated  ourselves to a bottle of bubbly. We then wandered over to Jalou, a fairly new bar in Newcastle where they have happy hour 5-8 which means you get 2 for 1 mojitos during this time; so we took advantage of this obviously. My boy also treated me to dinner last night in Jesmond, which is where my OOTD comes from. We took a lovely walk through Jesmond Dene and went to the Italian, Scalini’s, and had many glasses of wine at Osbournes to finish. Overall I’ve had a lovely relaxing few days, which I think has been well deserved.

I have also been spending and making a significant amount of money over the past week. The spending isn’t so great, seems my wage is disappearing quite quickly, thanks to all the lovely spring and summer ranges the stores have. However I don’t feel too awful seems I’ve made a bit of money on Ebay recently selling clothes I never wear. I currently have few dresses, skirts and tops, if anyone is interested, just click Here. I’m planning on using said money for my planned travels around Finland and Lapland over the summer, and every little helps.

I hope you have all had a lovely week, and have some exciting plans for Easter. I’m hopefully off home to visit my family.