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Monday, 23 September 2013

Mulberry Treats*

I do like to imagine what I would spend an imagined lottery win on. What I would treat myself to if I was to coming into an imagined windfall. 

I am starting to think now, as I'm approaching 30, that I need to think about growing up. About saving up. About paying more into my pension. About looking more like the career woman I am. 

So these two came together (the treats and the respectable 29 year old worrying about turning 30), when I was browsing the John Lewis website. I was looking for inspiration, swooning over fashion I couldn't fit into, and dreaming of interior decor I may own someday. 

Then I saw this:


I mean, THE COLOUR!

And I was distracted into looking at the Mulberry collection at John Lewis. I've never classed myself as an IT Bag type of gal - I classed my satchel as an investment piece! - but the muted tones, coupled with the versatility of the bags themselves had me studying the range with an renewed interest.

Ooooh, the earth tones and the simple but recognisable logo! This purse meets all of my Grown Up needs, according to the website:


  • Popper closure
  • 6 business or credit card slots
  • 2 internal compartments
  • 1 internal zipped compartment


But I have to say, I am a tactile girl when it comes to my leather goods. I like to touch, to smell the leather (if I was to have a favourite smell, it would probably be the smell of GOOD leather). I like to open the items, see just how much space I would have to play with!

So if I ever was to make this level of investment purchase, it would be instore. And after careful consideration!

However, it wouldn't stop me from perving on - sorry, perusing - the website and imagining my luck was in and my lottery numbers were the lucky ones!

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

* Sponsored Post

Sunday, 15 September 2013

Plus North - The Good Stuff Part 2

Not only did I have the pleasure of modelling during the day, I was asked by the lovely team at Scarlett & Jo to model in their evening catwalk. 

Whereas the day time catwalk was about our own hair and makeup (although if we wanted to, there was a team of MUA to help us out), the evening show had the theme of Hollywood glamour, and a team of 3 MUA to work their magic. 

MrsBeBe looking effortlessly glamorous, oozing sex appeal.

There was a lot of waiting around, either for there to be a slot free with the MUAs, or waiting for our hair to set, or just waiting. This was a bless though, as it meant I got to spend quality time with the beauties that were my fellow models:


Now, any normal social situation, that involved me sitting there with no make up on, and surrounded by ladies I've admired for a great while, would have had me retreat into a bubble - but this bunch of beauties? Well:


When my dress for the evening wasn't enough to contain my boobs, I tried a little improvisation to sort out the problem:


Using an ear stud - but this wasn't enough for the chief designer, so a quick tacking and it was all fixed!

Now, Hollywood glamour, to me, means soft waves, or pin up style rolls, not really much they can do with my short hair:


Ooooh, I was wrong! I felt very Chicago-esque with my sleeked down hair and red lips. I was set!!

My 'twin' Rachel, my vision Elena, and fiery redhead Kaye

I loved meeting the gorgeous Kim, and spending some time with Emma, as well as a chance to chat properly with Betty, from Pamper and Curves. I first met her at the main event, but as I was begging her for a favour, I wanted to make a better 2nd impression!

Rachel and I opened the show, as we were both in versions of the same dress:



My fellow models made this a joyous experience, where we supported and encouraged each other throughout the whole event:


I would like to thank the team at Scarlett & Jo for this complete one-off opportunity. I can't ever imagine having this empowering, sexy and confidence-boosting experience again. 

Unless of course, I wear one of these powerfit dresses in the office, and treat every trip to the canteen as my own personal catwalk that is!

Much love my lovelies, 

K x


Friday, 13 September 2013

Phone Cases

I have recently been in a position to upgrade my phone, and so, along with all the normal considerations, I also had to think about how I would dress my phone. 

Yes, you read that right, I was concerned that as my previous phone had a selection of cases to wear, I didn't want these to no longer have a function, especially as one of them had been over the £20 mark. 

Why?

Well, as my phone spends as much time on my desk, in my hand, or on the arm of the chair, as it does anywhere else, I like my phone to be protected, but also look pretty!

I prefer the hard cases, to protect my phone should I drop it (which I do do. A LOT!), and as I like the smooth finish and feel of it in my hand, to the bendy rubber outer shells. 

When I was offered a phone case to review, I was keen to make sure it was a hard shell with an interesting print - I wasn't disappointed!

They eagle eyed amongst you may have spotted it at Plus North, or  noticed it on my #ootd which I post daily on Instagram.



I managed to get a China Blue case from here, which made me dream of owning a dress to match it:

ASOS Curve dress in Blue Floral
Simply Be China Blue Skater Dress

It arrived in rather snazzy packaging:


And within seconds it had slipped effortlessly onto my phone:


My lovely white phone sits rather happily in this china blue case, and it is a secure and sturdy method of protecting the lifeline that is my phone!!

It is a wonderful addition to my wardrobe of phone cases, and I am rather taken with the dotty ones available in the Uncommon range, available from Three - especially the turquoise polka dot one!!

It is still quite happy on my phone, and has been for the past week - and to prove it, my #ootd this morning:


So head over to : http://store.apple.com/uk/product/HA094ZM/A/uncommon-deflector-case-for-iphone-4s?fnode=47&p=1 to see if any of their styles fit your phone cover needs.

Much love my lovely, 

K x

This item was sent to me to review by the lovely team at THREE, but my opinions are my own x

Tuesday, 10 September 2013

Plus North - The Good Stuff! Part 1

I'm not going to dwell any more on this post here. It said what I needed to say. Thank you everyone for your lovely and kind words, it is greatly appreciated, more than you'll know. 

Now, THE GOOD STUFF!

Plus North last year was amazing, and I was expecting more of the same with this year. It surpassed that. It was immense. These are big words for a big occasion, and it was a wonderfully positive and safe space for all.

I got to Manchester earlier than expected, given the rain, and so had time to settle into my room, before a wonderful message at 4ish arrived from Elena saying she and Toni were downstairs. The first of many booby, squishy GOOD hugs were given out, and it was like I'd known Elena forever.

After stealing Becky away from a big meeting, and doling out more hugs, a catch up was called for! This happened during the unpacking of cars, nail painting, sticking of stickers, viewings of venues, playing with mannequins, comparing underwear, and generally EVERYTHING!

We quickly realised we were running a little late for our 9pm dinner date with 25 other rad fatties over at an all you can eat place. You can't make this stuff up, it is all true! 

The food paled in comparison with the company. I got to squeal so many times when I saw faces I 'knew' and loved and got to hug so so many beautiful bodies. It was amazing. I can't believe I finally got to meet Beth, Becky, Steph, Dani, Naomi, Nikki, Emma and Chris, as well so so many more wonderful women. 

I was sad that I'd missed the beautiful Chloe, but I knew I would see her the following day. 

Miss this lady lots already - Elena x
After an light nights sleep (too excited to get much sleeping done!), I bounced up and out the door pretty much!

The shower was heavenly, but I had no time to dally - I wanted to slip into this lovely Koko London number. I picked it up from New Look (now £18!)


I had a little flap that the collar and the necklace was a little too fussy:


But then I thought, STUFF IT! I loved it!

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day - and when you start it with Toni and Elena (who ROCKED shorts!), it really is important to your self worth!

By 9am, I was playing with helium, chatting with Emma & Chris (Meet the Millards), and generally loving life! When Chloe rocked up, I sprinted over to give her the biggest of squishiest hugs - it was like a reunion in a RomCom! Chloe also managed to snap this pic of my love of the PacMan effect detail in the pillar:


Fast forward an hour, and Elena and I wandered into the meeting room for the Best British Bloggers chat. I want to call it a workshop, but it was very much a two way discussion about the service they offer, as well as the people behind the account. 

I had a massive SQUEEEE over meeting @EmGlobetrotter, looking HAWT in her jumpsuit (or jumpsuit effect!) outfit. THOSE SHOES! 

@Amy__Liz looked adorable in her swan print dress and bowler hat. And @Chloe_Rushworth looked so put together in her monochrome shirt. So much fashion love in that room!

Sadly we had to leave before the talk ended - us models were very much in demand - but I did manage a cheeky catch up before suggesting they watched the ROCKING Simply Be catwalk. I'm persuasive, I know!

When standing around in the models room, with gorgeous dresses in my hands, I just stripped off. I didn't think twice about it. We were all given a bra from the Panache range. I was lucky to be given the Andorra in Pearl to wear, with the matching shorts, which I'd collected the evening before from Toni. 

Rather quickly, the whole room was getting changed, trying on their new bras, and getting a fitting from the Panache fitter. A few ladies were looking a little apprehensive with their items, or with the fit, and I tried my upmost to put them at ease. 

The whole modelling thing, is more about the model, than the clothes, in my eyes. It is about us feeling comfortable, confident and OWNING IT on the catwalk. I'm brash and loud, but the Mother Hen came out and I started clucking around the ladies around me to praise and swoon over their outfits. This was out of genuine love for the ladies and whilst some of the clothes were out of comfort zones, they still looked awesome. 

Once my 4 outfits were planned, I snuck out of the room to leave the ladies to it, and was met by Alyssa, over at Twisted Siren, and the posse of pretties who were milling about the stall of shiny handmade wonder. And yes, I did pick out a few treats while I was there!

At some point I also managed to get Chloe to make me this:


as part of her #travellingbadgemaker enterprise!

In between being the receptionist for the MUA for the models, I met with the ravishing Rachel @Catsuitcity, who was having a little model related anxiety. After frog marching her over to Charlotte at Simply Be, who brought a sense of calm to the situation, the perfect outfit was found:

Photo taken by Janie
The Simply Be catwalk rolled round, and we were ushered to our seats. 

Photo taken by Janie

See? So much fun was had! I WHOOPED! Boy did I whoop! I was under the impression my camera on my phone would do for the event, and most of my pictures are rather blurry. For the rest of the shows, I added clapping to my WHOOOOOOPING! 

The ladies exuded confidence and class. Just thinking about it has me out in goosebumps!

The Yours Clothing catwalk was just the same - full of gorgeous women being gorgeous in a range of autumn and winter clothing. 

When trying on our outfits, I did think to myself that Excite clearly know me very well, opting for this:


And this:


The models were gorgeous, both inside and out, supporting each other and keeping the nerves at bay:


For the Curvissa catwalk (which I only have the one image of), I was wearing this jersey cut out sleeve dress:




As will all the catwalk shows on ANTM I've seen, we then did the clapping recap on the catwalk together:

Photo taken by Janie

Look at us all! All happy and clappy and so AWESOME! 

The rest of the day was spent running about and not really having much time to talk to many people. By the time 5pm arrived, I was asked to model for Scarlett & Jo, which will come in part 2!

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

Disclaimer - I am not actually sure which came first, Excite or Curvissa. So I may have my order a little jumbled up! xx

Monday, 9 September 2013

Plus North Musings

Having just got back from the amazing and empowering weekend that was Plus North 2013, I am still buzzing. 

I'm outspoken, loud and giddy at the best of times. Add the buzz of this event, and I'm talking AT everyone I can about this wonderful event. 

I have a but though. (Not talking about my bum. Makes a change).

Last year was small, and mainly bloggers. This was lovely. 

This year was (to my memory) 5 times the size. And included other wonderful inspiring women (and their partners). 

The 'but' is this: not all of us were positive, or even neutral. There was a negative voice I kept hearing. 

This voice made me doubt myself greatly. 

This wasn't an inner voice, but actual voice belonging to an actual person. 

What am I wittering on about? When catwalking, and standing with the amazing ladies I got to share the experience with, a voice said 'It's not all about you, you know'. 

My heart sank, my paranoia set in, and I panicked. Had the people I had spoken to, in my loud and brash manner, taken what I had said, what I had done (whoooooping and cheering and generally being the Pep-Talking Mother Hen), as making the event about me?

This panic was abated by the lovely Elena(not Eleanor. No. Don't call her that!!) and Rachel, who were amazing. Dani V was like my very own body guard. And Em made me sing with joy at an un-solicited joyous comment. Lyndsey also gave me an adorable drunken pep-talk of my own. 

But see? See the effort needed to erase this off-hand, 'probably didn't mean it' comment? 

There will be a whole host of posts saying how amazing the event was, and it really really really was. Please don't take this as anything other than that. But think before you speak please my dearies. Please. 

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

Saturday, 7 September 2013

Magnificent 7th does Animal Print

This is one of those fancy pants scheduled post things. I'm currently at Plus North (no doubt to be the subject of many more posts to come!), but this is the 7th September, and so, time for the Magnificent 7th. 

The theme is Animal Print, but I am rather lacking in this print. I don't know why, it just has worked out that way. 

I have one dress which fits perfectly into this range, which I had blogged about previously, here:


My Domino Dollhouse flared dress with leopard print sheer sleeves and neckline. 


And yes, those are my bra straps. No, I don't really care!! 

The dress, the fit, the pockets, the sexy-but-covered-up feeling about it makes me feel like this:




In other words: GIDDY!

It also ties into Plus North, as it is a firm contender for our evening event - although it is subject to change of course!!

Don't forget my dears, to check out the other lovely team of Magnificent 7th, posting today, on the 7th of the month, using items already from our wardrobe!


Much love my lovelies, 

K x