Christmas Meal OOTD

Merry Chrimbo!

I hope you all had a great day yesterday, and that you all got what you were hoping for :-)

First of all, apologies for not posting on here for over a week- I know it doesn't seem like long, but usually I would've posted once, if not twice in that time. When the Christmas break first started, I got really stressed and a bit upset over GCSE's and college interviews etc. so I decided to just relax and do nothing until Christmas. Now that the big day has been and gone, I'm back to my usual blogging habits (fingers crossed!).

It's a long story but we've ended up having Christmas dinner on boxing day (today) instead, so after seeing other blog posts about Christmas day/meal outfits, I thought I'd also share with you what I'm wearing!

P.S Please excuse my funny expression- I've got to get better at OOTD's!

Skull Jumper-George | Spray On Skinny Jeans-Topman | Watch-Ben Sherman | Shoes-Dr Martens |

What did you wear/get for Christmas?

Birmingham Christmas Markets

Merry (almost) Christmas everyone!

With only just over a week left 'till the big day, my family and I decided to take a trip to Birmingham for the Christmas markets.

We first visited the market (s) last year, and it was one of the most wonderful times I can remember. The weather was perfect, I had no exam, coursework or college stresses, and overall it was just a good, family day out :) (Which is something that's been hard to get nowadays with how busy life has gotten for all of us). This year we were all eager to go back and so on Sunday, we made the lengthy trip (due to traffic, weather and road works- what a horrible combination) to the city.

It was exactly like it was last year (plus a big wheel and an ice-skating rink). The little hut things that all the stall owners are in and sell their products from were the same, and even the memorable and tantalizing smell of ostrich burgers drifted through the streets once again. The official title is Frankfurt Christmas Market, and I think it is supposed to be German themed.

If you follow me on Instagram (you definitely should), then you'll have probably seen the photo I posted whilst there of an enormous hot dog type thing my Mum, Dad and I had for lunch (I can't remember the name of it sorry!), but as well as selling a phenomenal and incredibly varied amount of food (including ostrich, reindeer and buffalo burgers) (yep, people were eating Rudolf), there was also a vast array of other products (too many to list- honestly!), which made this market in particular ideal for our family of diverse interests. The market is surprisingly long as it twists and turns endlessly through the streets, which meant that there was an awful long way to walk, and an awful lot to see.

As much as I love the market (s) itself, I have to say that the best part has got to be walking there and back from the car. We walk through the most picturesque area I've ever scene which perfectly depicts a harmonious balance and combination of urban, city lifestyle, and a rural lifestyle of country pubs and long winding rivers. Here's a few photo's of the area I'm in love with (it's right next to the sea life centre!)

My family and I explored the Christmas markets for nearly 5 hours, and after devouring one of these extremely large hot dog type things each (or a pot of noodles that my brother wanted instead), a toffee apple (something I've been craving for years), and a few mouth watering coconut macaroons, we were ready to head home. Our decision to head home however was also influenced by the torrential rain that began as we reached the end of the stalls (somewhat lucky in timing I suppose), as well as the brisk wind and crammed streets which left you unable to move without injuring either yourself or another person.

Lookin' Hipster

With the day that I go to the Clothes Show Live fast approaching (I wrote this a few weeks back), I've finally given the outfit that I plan on wearing a bit of thought.

This is my first time going to the Clothes Show Live and I'm beyond excited! It's a fantastic opportunity to gain some insight into the fashion and beauty industry, as well as a chance to have a great time with friends. With the stresses of exams + coursework, a bit of retail therapy is more than welcome right now.

Not long ago, I was mortified to discover that I had been walking around Sainsbury's with an enormous rip in my dark skinny jeans. Afterwards, I spent copious amounts of time browsing many a shop until finally Topman came to the rescue. Like always, their sale was full of gorgeous pieces, and I finally decided on a similar pair of dark skinny jeans (as a replacement for the old ones), as well as these eye-catching grape/wine red/purple coloured spray on skinny jeans.

When it came to ordering them a couple of days later, I was disheartened to discover that the replacement pair of dark skinny jeans were out of stock. Although, another similar pair were chosen at the last moment and all that was left to do was wait. When they did arrive, these purple ones fitted perfectly. By that I mean that these literally mould to your leg. Boy their tight! The other black pair of jeans were excruciatingly skinny and after spending a good chunk of time doing my best to force them on, they were placed back in the delivery bag and put near the door ready for returning to our local Topman store (sad face).

Supermarket Clothes Shopping + Haul

These past few weeks I've officially found a new fashion favourite...supermarket shopping. Not the grocery kind of shopping, the clothes kind of shopping ;)

As a teen with no income, my budget tends to be pretty tight when it comes to shopping. In terms of high street, my favourite shops to go to include stores like Primark, H&M and TK Maxx. This is always because of the great prices and great clothes. Sadly though, where I live doesn't have stores like Primark and H&M so I have to wait for a nearby city shopping trip with friends to satisfy my fashion hunger.

However, in the past few weeks I've found myself aimlessly wondering off towards the clothing section of supermarkets like Sainsbury's and George Clothing at ASDA whenever I'm out food shopping with my family. I know there's quite a variety of views and opinions on shopping for clothing at supermarkets but I think it's fantastic!

Photo from here

High street stores nowadays seem to only be raising their prices more and more. Lots of brands are trying to appear as competitively priced, but really they're still pretty expensive. There are stores on the high street today that regularly charge £30 a shirt which for me is just not worth it. The upside is that these stores are fashion forward, meaning their focus is clothing and accessories. Recently however, supermarkets do seem to have stepped up their game.

Many 'big name' supermarkets tend to have their own clothing lines. For Sainsbury's (who have teamed up with fashion stars like Gok Wan) it's TU, for Tesco's its F&F and for ASDA it's George. My family nearly always goes to Sainsbury's for food shopping, and it's become a habit to go straight to the clothing section. I must admit I haven't got much experience with Tesco's clothing line but both George and TU are favourites of mine.

Photo from here

Throughout the past month or so, my wardrobe has been slowly filling up with clothes from these shops and I thought it would be great to share with you what I've been buying. Also, if you're someone who hasn't got much experience with supermarket clothes shopping, I hope this post will give you a little insight and maybe tempt you to have a look yourself? I couldn't believe how good these clothing lines are and I've found that Sainsbury's is great for the fashion basics such as jumpers, coats and t-shirts, whilst George is fab for more fashion forward clothing (they have a huge range for both Men & Women).

Haul

(Apologies for the bad quality photos- My house doesn't really have anywhere good for taking photos of clothes)

Letters From Paris...

Last month I posted on Instagram a picture of some new bedding I got whilst out shopping. I know that's such a random and odd start to a post but I promised I'd publish a few snaps of the bedding once it was 'in use'.

Near to where I live, a large B&M store has just opened up. Even though it was directly behind the Sainsbury's we shop at, I had no idea it was there! I didn't actually hear about the new store until I went to get my hair cut and the hairstylist told me about it. My Mum loves the whole 'bargain hunting' thing and I've gradually been getting into it a lot more myself recently.

For those of you who don't know, B&M is basically a chain of stores throughout the UK that sell loads of products from food to furniture at really cheap prices. It's kinda' like Poundland and Woolworths (okay I don't think it's much like Woolworths) (Oh how I miss Woolworths).

As soon as we arrived, my Mum and I dove straight in with filling up the baskets. We only went in to have a look and ended up getting to the checkout with three baskets of purchases haha. My Mum always has this 'strategy' when in shops which usually includes the way she travels around the shop. So after slowly but surely scanning each shelf, we arrived in the home interior aisles!!!!! I love interior design and so does my Mum. Meaning we were both at each end of the aisle with big grins on our faces, waving a collection of cushion designs at each other ranging from neon fluff to neutral knit.