Christmas Reiss Haul

Reiss has fast been becoming my favourite website to lust after gorgeous casual wear with a unique edge to it or a glamourous dress for a night out.  Alot of the items on the website have a classical feel to them so you know that even though you are paying a bit extra, you are investing in something that will last for ages.  I got money as a present for Christmas to spend in the Christmas Sales so the first place I went to was my beloved Reiss online store because recently, they have had alot of amazing sales on.  I have been really impressed with the quality of all the other Reiss items I have bought in the past and I have found that their sizing system is alot better than most stores.  Their sizes really are true to what they should be...I hate it when stores makes the sizes really small, you know you haven't put any weight on but it doesn't do anything for your self esteem to have to go a size up!  Granted the prices at Reiss at hefty but that's why I swoop in like a vulture when their sales are on!

I love floaty blouses that can be teamed with skinny jeans, jeggings or even tucked into high waisted skirts for a really feminine edge.  They have a wide selection of sheer blouses but this cream and toffee faint leopard print one with little gold buttons really stood out for me.  It gives a nod to the western style shirts and blouses that have been around this season without looking too 'novelty'.  The buttons feel really high quality and they are stitched on really well.  I sometimes find that alot of cheaper brands don't pay much attention to that and the buttons start falling off after a few washes.  This lovely blouse was originally £89, which frankly I wouldn't pay for a sheer blouse, but since it was marked down to £40 in their winter sale I snapped it up.  It's 100% cotton which means it's a breathable fabric and won't feel itchy next to your skin.  This will be especially advantageous in the summer.  This blouse is quite long and sits about a couple of inches below my hips but that's how I like my tops since I have a short waist and wouldn't want to accentuate that!

The next thing I got was this longline beige vest top embellished with tiny studs and crystals, which was reduced from £49 to £20.  These tops are the softest cotton jersey and they just feel really luxurious on your skin.  The studs and crystals feel really sturdy so I doubt they will come off in the wash, that's what you pay extra for...sturdiness!  I love layering up tops like this in the Winter and then breaking them out in summer when the weather becomes milder (it does happen in Scotland...I promise!).

I love long line tops because you can wear them with legging and jeggings...I'm the type of person who would NEVER expose my lower torso in either of these skin-tight pieces of clothing because if I'm being honest, it just doesn't look pretty!  Some people can JUST about get away with it but I have seen some shockers as well so I air on the safe side and wear longer tops.  No one wants to see 'camel toe'!

This is another longline vest top, but this time it's cream with an absolutely gorgeous studded design on the front.  I fell in love with this super soft cotton jersey top as soon as I saw it.  I love anything with studs, beads and sequins...maybe I was a magpie in a precious life!?

This top was reduced from £49 to £24 and I just know I will wear this to death.  It's the perfect top for when you want to be casual but it still has some interest to it.  Just because you're going casual, it doesn't mean you have to look bland!  They didn't hold back with the studs on this top and that's what makes it look that bit more expensive.

I could have spent a fortune on this website and there were a couple of dresses which caught my eye but since I had bought THREE dresses in the sales, I thought I had better restrain myself a little.  I am still waiting for some things from French Connection, Rise and Next so I will update you as they arrive!

I have been listening to alot of Adele's stuff recently and on the recommendation of Pinkalishy, I checked out her song 'Someone Like You' which she performed on Later With Jools Holland in November of this year.  I absolutely love this song and especially the story behind it.  Everyone can identify with that situation where you still have feelings for your ex, then you see him all settled with his new love.  Her voice really communicates the pain and longing people feel when that happens.  I could listen to her all day long!

I won't be posting anything now until after New Year so I will take this opportunity to wish you guys an amazing New Year's Eve! I am excited to be starting another fresh year, I love the way it reminds you to re-asses things in your life, try new things and mend old broken bonds.

Have a wonderful time and I'll see you all in 2011!

Good Times/Bad Times

1) Thank goodness I did the majority of my Christmas Sales shopping online this year! The shops would have been a total nightmare and as much as I love clothes, I'm not prepared to get up at 4am and wait for hours queuing outside the stores.  Online shopping is, in my opinion, the best way to pick up what you want.  You never get a chance to try on clothes in a store sale anyway because the changing rooms are always packed so online bargain hunting is the future! That way, I could browse any website I wanted from the comfort of the livingroom, studying each item to decided if I really wanted/needed it.  Too often in the past, I got aggravated, stressed and would panic buy something in the store just in case someone swooped in and took it from my clutches. 

2) Chris is coming home from offshore tonight and I can hardly contain myself.  It was horrible spending Christmas without him since it was our first one as a married couple.  He emailed me earlier today to say he was taking me out to dinner so that will be lovely to have a romantic night together.  Whenever he goes away, it reminds me how much he means to me and the fact that he really is my best friend.  I have a massive pile of Christmas presents for him to open from me and the family so I'm sure he'll have fun with that.

3) The snow is finally starting to melt...hurrah! It's about time too! At least now I can wear high heels on New Year's Eve instead of trudging around in boots like the last couple of weeks.  The snow is lovely at Christmas but it does stop you from doing so many different things.

1) I got back to my place yesterday after spending Christmas at my parent's place, as you know.  Myself and my mum wanted to have a quick look in a couple of shops so I rushed in, put Wolverine's cage back together and quickly left.  Only problem being, I forgot to put one of the parts on the cage so when we returned, Wolverine had escaped.  All the doors in the flat were open so he could have been in ANY room in the flat.   We spent ages looking for him and I started to get really upset because I always have a fear of him getting into a small place that I can't get him out of.  We stopped and listened, heard scratching and realised that Wolverine was under the bath! He had squeezed into a tiny crack in the bath panel! I was freaking out because it would be impossible to get him out.  I realised he had made his way through the wall to the kitchen and under the kitchen cupboards.  At this point we started to realise that we would only get him out by waiting for him to come out himself!  I decided to make us both a cup of tea at this point because we had been looking for him for ages.  I went back into the kitchen andhe just appeared at my feet from nowhere...I don't know WHERE he came from but I was so happy to see him safe and well.  I would feel dreadful if he couldn't get out and died.  So that was my drama for yesterday!

2) Even though I avoided the stress of shopping in the stores, I didn't manage to get all the stuff that was on my wishlist.  Those Next chiffon shoes were absolutely amazing and I wanted them SO badly.  As I said in a previous post, my mum had a VIP slot to preview/buy items on the Next website before the sale started in store.  BUT mum got the day wrong and we ended up going onto the website the day after...you can imagine my face when I realised the shoes were sold out.  Mum was in the doghouse at first but in the spirit of Christmas, I forgave her!  Although there were alot of jokes about getting old and getting forgetful.ha ha. 

3) Usually I plan in advance what I will be doing for New Year's Eve but this year we haven't organised anything at all.  All our friends seem to be away so if all else fails, we will just go out for a nice meal and some wine.  Who better to bring in the New Year with than my lovely hubby! I often find that New Year's Eve is an anti-climax, probably because there's so much pressure for it to be the best night of the year.  All that pressure just means you feel forced into having a good time.  The truth is, the unplanned spontaneous nights out are always the most fun!  What are you guys doing for New Year's Eve?

eye candy..

JEM'S GOT HER COVER SHOOT .. yew !

say no to tan lines ..

the boat for when u need to get your james bond on ...

++ THE END ++

My Christmas (pic heavy!)

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas!

As I said in a previous post, I headed home for Christmas last Wednesday and despite the awful weather, I managed to make it back in one piece.  I thought you guys might like to see some photos of what my Christmas was like and also of a couple of the presents I got.  Just in case you are interested, this is what my room looks like at home...

I love going home and spending time with my mum, dad and brother.  It's a very relaxed household and there's little to no arguing so it's the perfect place for some R & R.  I was woken up on Christmas morning at 7:30am by my mum singing 'Jingle Bells' at full pelt.  It's weird how you're not QUITE as enthusiastic about getting up at the crack of dawn when you're a grown up!  It's almost like you swap roles with your parents and they're now the ones singing with excitement and forcing you to get up in the wee hours to open presents!  I went through to my mum and dad's bedroom and it became immediately apparent that our dogs, Hamish and Findlay, seem to think they rule the roost! 

They are spoilt boys! They were taking up most of the bed and my mum was forced to curl up in the fetal position to avoid being pushed off the bed completely.ha ha.  I went downstairs to start making the breakfast for everyone whish was toasted, sliced Croissants with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs...it was lovely!  I opened the back door to let the dogs out and as you can see, we definitely had a white Christmas!

I saw the dogs snuffling around in the snow and I couldn't work out what they were doing.  Then I realised they were eating the bits of bread my mum had scattered for the birds which were actually frozen.  Those dogs will eat anything!  You'd swear we never fed them!

I loved all the little sparkly things my mum used to decorate the fire place...

The usual Santa was perched on the mantlepiece...

I also love those candle jewels...

Mum had lots of cute little lights and decorations for the tree...

These angel lights were particularly cute!

We couldn't find our wreathes this year, they seem to have gone missing but mum bought one for the livingroom wall...

I'm also loving the pearlised berry garland on the hall mirror.  It actually used to be a plain gold mirror but my dad painted it cream and then used sandpaper to distress it.  I think it turned out really well... 

Dad made his own filo pastry mince pies which tasted amazing! SO much nicer than the usual shortcrust pastry version!  I don't actually like mince pies but I make an exception for these because they are so tasty with a little bit of creme fraiche on the side.  He used a Jamie Oliver recipe for this so if you want to know how to make them, click here.

I decided to wear a bright lip for Christmas Day so I donned my YSL Rouge Volupte in Frivilous Pink.  I really like this shade, it's very cool toned and it really suits my complexion.  I just used my Jemma Kidd Shimmer Shadow in Brulee on the lid with Mac Smoke & Diamonds in the crease.  My dad even complimented me on my bright lipstick...he's not used to seeing me wearing something so vivid!

Hamish and Findlay always get a big teddy bear each for Christmas and they get REALLY excited (and possessive) over them.

Hamish especially loved to cuddle his teddies and he does this weird thing where he 'sooks' on it like a baby does with their dummy or blanket! He makes these high pitched whimpering sounds as he does it...it always makes me laugh because he's like a big baby!

I won't post loads about my Christmas presents because the majority of them were very practical and some were personal.  I did order alot of stuff online with money I got for Christmas so I will just post on those items as I receive them.

I'm always travelling around so my mum and dad thought it would be a good idea to get me a big bag with loads of room to use as hand luggage.  This will come in VERY handy in the future...

 Mum and Dad also got me this OPI Show Stoppers set....

I am SO happy with this because ever since I saw OPI Let Me Entertain You on Tali's blog (click here to read her post), I have been lusting after this shade.  It's so me! I love hot pink shades on my toe nails and this polish with purply pink shimmer is just gorgeous!

The set contains three nail polishes:

 Let Me Entertain You (fuschia glimmer)

Bling It On (Gold Glitter)

Tease-y Does It (Chocolate Burgundy Shimmer) 

The set also contains Original Nail Envy, which strengthens nails and makes a great base and top coat.  You also get Avoplex High Intensity Hand and Nail Cream, a crystal nail file and a mini glitter cuticle stick.

I got quite a few presents to make our flat/apartment even cosier.  Mum and Dad gave us two SUPER soft throws for the couches, one is beige and one is cream.  I've never felt material so soft and they will be perfect for pulling over us when we are cosying up to watch a film together.  I love having a really comfortable, welcoming home and these will certainly add to that feeling.

They also got us a gold coloured silk throw for our bed which was from Next.

It has tiny random crystals on it and also a pleated design with silver discs on each end of the throw.  It really finishes off our bedroom beautifully and gives the room a more luxurious feel.  I remember when I first moved in with Chris he said "no candles, no 'girly' colours and definitely NO sparkly stuff!".  Mwahahahahahah....I have slowly but surely introduced all three of the 'banned' items. 

My brother and his girlfriend gave us £75 of John Lewis vouchers so I decided to make use of them in the Christmas sale today.  I picked up a Mango Wood Vase, a Grass Bundle, these sparkling brown beaded artificial plants and some gorgeous dragonfly fairy lights to wrap throughout the display.... 

I love the unique fairy lights and the whole thing just finishes off that corner of the room and makes the place look more cosy.

I ordered alot of clothes and accessories online using money I was given as a present so I will do post on all of those things when I receive them in the post.  I think this post has been long enough as it is!

So tell me, what was your favourite Christmas present you received this year?  Do your dogs go mad for teddy bears? Do your parents act like kids at Christmas?