Dress Hunting at Yours

July is going to be a very busy month for us, and also a very expensive one! We have one of my closest friend's wedding and two christenings, including one for our to youngest. So I've started looking for dresses, much to the dismay of my husband, and my bank account. Hubby suggested I just buy one new dress and wear it for all three events.... I don't think so! But I do want to keep my spending as low as I can, but still look nice.

So the hunt is on! First up, what I found at Yours.

Black and Peach Floral Skater Dress

Mono and Red Polka Dot Floral Bardot Dress

AX Paris Floral Bardot Dress

Black and Red Poppy Dress

February Wishlist

January is finally over. It always feels like such a long month for many reasons - the end of Christmas/New Year celebrations, the return to the school routine, having no money and realising that another year has flown by and we are all just getting older! So what next...... well February of course! We are nearly 2 weeks into the shortest month of the year already, and that's crazy! But I'm now starting to think about new clothes I want to buy for the spring and intrigues to see what trends are going to come around this year.

So after some internet window shopping, I've made my February wishlist.

Taking centre stage in my wishlist this month is a lovely red body piece from Yours to celebrate Valentines Day. It's got a plunging neckline, lots of gorgeous lace and a cut out on the back to give it all you need to look and feel sexy. Also from Yours is this lovely bird print dress. Skater dresses are still my favourite style of dress for my body shape, and this could easily look lovely dressed up or down. 
Boots are great in any season, and I loved the look of these Chelsea boots with buckle detail. They would go nicely with dress but I love wearing my boots with skinny jeans or leggings also. Having the jeans/jeggings taper down to the ankle and then a nice chunky boot is my favourite look, and these berry jeggings from Evans are one of my favourite colours. I love the combination of burgundy and black together. 
Out of my comfort zone is the floral print sweatshirt from Simply Be, but it is something that I think I would grown to love. Again, team it with a nice pair of skinny jeans and some boots, or even the pink trainers from Evans, and I think it's something casual but with a little something extra. 
I'm trying to expand the pattern content in my wardrobe as I have noticed that most things are either black or just very plain. Even the little zip pocket detail on this top from Dorothy Perkins is a nice little touch to dress up a plain black shirt.

I'm back!

Hello!

I'm back after what seems like forever! 2016 went by in the blink of an eye, finding out and announcing our pregnancy, summer, getting ready for baby and then the safe but long arrival of our beautiful baby girl Lucy Rose (labour post coming up). Then between 1st November til now has been both kids birthdays, christmas and just getting back into a routine with all 3 kids and hubby.

I'm finally in a position to feel like I can write a post again, and make some time for me to do the things I enjoy. I really liked blogging, but lost my motivation for it when I was pregnant. I was living in leggings and spending most time either sleeping or working, so didn't have much to blog about. I wasn't buying new clothes or had any time to contemplate buying clothes, so didn't feel I had much to offer.

I'm still getting back into the swing of 'normal' life, but I know that I do want blogging to be part of it, and it's up to me to make that happen. First off, decking what I want it to be about, and at the moment that's going to be Lucy, food and crafting. But maybe fashion, TV and sport too. I just want the blog to reflect me and my life, and that's a mixture of everything, so expect the unexpected!

And Happy New Year ☺

Busy Times

My life is currently in the fast lane. My car is full of work, kids, being pregnant, running a PTA and just being a human, and I CANNOT wait for these next two weeks to be over and for a rest. The kids are off for a holiday with their mum, and Mike and I are heading down to Devon in my parents caravan for 10 days with Lulu. We haven't had a holiday to ourselves since summer 2010 and this is going to be our last chance to have one before the baby arrives and we have 3 kids with us! 

We have been up to North Yorkshire for the last two years to the same campsite, but this year we fancied a change and to head down south instead. Mike used to go to Dartmoor with his family every year when he was younger, so he wanted to take me down there and show me the sites. We have a list of places that we want to visit and things we want to do whilst down there, all dog friendly luckily! We spent Sunday with my parents and making sure the caravan is ok, gas working, changing water filter and giving it a bit of a clean, and just stepping into it made me excited. We used the caravan for our summer holiday last year and we really enjoyed ourselves and couldn't wait to book up this years trip. The campsite we have picked is just off an A road, so no little track roads to try and get through, and then only a 10 minute journey to the nearest town and supermarkets. As the caravan only has a small fridge, it's handy to have somewhere close to top up on supplies when we need to.

I have also made another order from the maternity range from Yours to top up my clothing supply for the holiday, including a couple more of the vest tops and some more of the crop leggings. Everyone in the house (apart from Lulu!) has been shopping for new clothes, especially as the kids are off to Malta and needed new summer bits for the nice weather they will have. So, after this weekend, I'll be focusing on packing all of their bits up and getting the last few bits they need before Friday evening when they go off to their mums. Then I have Saturday and Sunday morning to get all of our bits and bobs ready to head down to my parents on Sunday afternoon. Then we plan to head off by 5:30am on Monday for our time away. It will take about 4 1/2 hours to get to the campsite, but we have planned a stop for breakfast on the way down at a truck stop :) 

Right, I need to go and ice some cupcakes for the Sports Day at school tomorrow!

Maternity Must Haves

Since finding out I was pregnant, I started looking at maternity clothing. My usual daily outfits consist of skinny jeans and a top, but even at the start (6-8 weeks) of my pregnancy, I was finding the skinny jeans uncomfortable as they would push on the middle of my stomach.
I was pleasantly surprised one day on Instagram to see a fellow pregnant blogger who was wearing leggings from Yours Clothing. So, I popped over to their website and had a look through their Bump It Up Maternity range (visit here)

So my first thing to look at was some black leggings, as these would be useful for day to day use, including for work. I came across a few lengths of leggings, but for work, I needed the standard full length ones.

Being just over 6 feet, I was a little concerned these wouldn't be long enough for me, but actually they are pretty perfect. The comfort panel is a great size and they stay up really well, even after 5 hours on my feet at work. I have now bought 3 of these in black and one in the Charcoal Grey colour, just to mix it up a bit. They also have leggings in shorter lengths which I will be buying ready for the summer, just in case we actually get some nice weather! I like that they do each style in a few different colours, including black, navy blue, charcoal grey and a light grey.

Next up, I liked the look of their vest tops, which include secret support and are lovely and long. At the moment they only do them in black and white. Again, I knew that the black would come in handy the most, so bought that one first. I wear one under my work polo shirt just to keep my ever expanding tummy covered! I have now bought 2 more black and a white one too.

The Bump It Up Range seems to be growing each week, and I am sure I will be making more purchases soon!

Catch Up

Well hello! It's been a while..... quite a while infact. This year has started out busily and very excitingly for me and my family, so blogging and other things I enjoy seem to have taken a back seat unfortunately. So I have found myself at home, on a Saturday, children away and hubby doing some work in the garden, so I thought this is a time to get on the blog!

So as I mentioned in my new year post, I have been on Slimming World since January, and in total now, I have lost 2 Stone 4lbs :) I am so happy with how I've done so far, I was a little sceptical about how much it was actually going to work after doing diets in the past, but I was pleasantly surprised. For me, it has taught me how to eat more fresh food, and also cooking meals from scratch, such as Spaghetti Bolognase. In the past, I would just cook some mince and through in a jar of pasta sauce. I've learnt about cooking with fresh ingredients and simple dinners that take not too much longer than my old ways.

Then, on the 1st March, we found out I was pregnant! My goal all along was to lose weight so that hubby and I could try for a baby. We had been trying for a few years without any luck, so I thought a change in lifestyle, and health may play a part in us conceiving. And it looks like it worked! I am now 13 weeks pregnant. Still feels weird saying it! We have been trying for so long, I kind of gave up hoping, which I guess could have also helped us, Not worrying or stressing about getting pregnant.

So, I am now in the process of buying maternity clothes and bits and pieces, so I want to share my views and experiences when I do :) When I did start looking a potential clothes, I couldn't find many stores that did plus size, but I will be bringing some information and hopefully reviews when I get some bits.

So now I am going to get writing some posts and sorting pictures, maybe once I'm looking a little less tired - I am suffering from fatigue during this part of the pregnancy - but hopefully that will be ending soon!

Happy 2016!

I am currently sitting on my sofa with my laptop, listening to Craig David's Live Lounge cover of Justin Bieber's 'Love Yourself' whilst my husband plays GTA 5 with his brother, and I'm loving life. It has been ages since I have blogged, as life has been really hectic over the last few months, not a good excuse I know, but it's the only one I have!

2016 so far has consisted of me starting Slimming World, having a new nephew born and planning my life better! I have gone from being a stay at home, with not much going on, being able to blog more often, even vlog, to now working 3 days a week, being Chair of the PTA at my little one's school, running an after school craft club and still being a mum and wife! It's been a massive change I don't think I dealt with the change very well at the end of last year. So my - get ready for it - New Year's Resolution - is to just be more organised in my day to day life. I also want to make the most of my family and the time we have together.

So after all that resolution making, I want to make sure I make time to blog. I enjoy it and it's something that I can use to relax and talk about whatever I want. I just hope I can keep up with it!

So, on the topic of Slimming World.... A friend of mine from Jack's school had been on Slimming World for about 9 months and had lost over 5 stone, and was starting her own group not too far from where I live. So, I decided to join, stupidly on the 30th December.... but I didn't start the plan until Monday as it was too hard to start before the New Year celebrations! So I had my first weigh in today, 3 days in, and I've lost 3.5lbs! So pleased it's working so far and I plan to keep it up for as long as I need to. I've always been overweight, but I want to be healthier, fitter and one day have a baby, and I don't feel like that is something I want to do in my current health.

So there we go, my plan for this year! Happy New Year to you all :)