Bringing in the New Year

Last year I was round at a friend's house for a house party. It involved curry, champagne and necklace making. 

The year before, I was sat in my parents sitting room feeling very very sorry for myself. 

This year, I am sat in my house (the old cupboard under the stairs to be exact), having planned all along to spend this evening here. 

It is my second NYE as a home owner, but the first spent here. It feels right, sitting here, explaining my plans to you all. 

I'm wearing this dress right now, because, if I had been going out somewhere, it would have been my dress of choice:

The initial trying on photo - with the belt that came with it

And now, as I'm staying in, eating fish and chips, ginger cake and cream, and some Thornton's Chocolates - no belt was the best option!

What is this dress?

It was bought from company called Hello Holiday who I happened across on twitter thanks to Sian, Rachel and Em. The cuteness of their website just screamed at me, and I knew I had to place an order!

Their plus size section (found under the heading "Va-Va-Voom!) is filled with interesting prints, cuts and designs. It is refreshing to see a new website, with different stock! It might just be in the UK, but when you can buy the same clothes in different stores, it becomes very 'samey' very quickly!

As well as this dress:

I picked up this top:

And, sadly, these shoes:

Which I ordered in my US size 10, but their straps came no where close to closing around my ankles, and my feet spilled over the sides. They'll be heading to eBay in a few months time. 

A question I've been asked all day: why am I getting all dressed up though? Because, I want to start 2014, in a great outfit - start as I mean to go on hey!

Tonight, I have this man for company:

 

And this blanket for snuggles:

What more can I ask for?

Have a wonderful New Year's Eve everyone, and I wish you all the very best!

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

This Christmas

Before all the 'Christmas Haul' posts appear, as they are bound to in the coming days, I wanted to share something with you. 

Something that I've been slowly developing over the past year. 

My home.

I have been very lucky to be in a position to buy my own home, and with the help of the Bank of Mam and Dad (and again, I know just how lucky I am to have been able to rely on their support), transform my house from this, to what I have the pleasure of sitting in right now.

I moved out back in August, and only just moved in last week. Pieces of furniture I have owned for over a year were finally put to full use:

And in fact, those Ikea bookshevles had been in the loft since I moved back from Leeds in 2006!!

This chair settee was spotted at my local Briish Heart Foundation furniture store and fits right in:

And the leather suite was kindly donated by Kaye, again over a year ago now, but finally has a home!

Now that my back sitting room is sorted, I'm thinking of calling it my den! My telly is in my sitting room, but the den, well, the place of music, books and my computer. 

What does this have to do with Christmas?

I don't deserve anything else. Or rather, I feel I don't need / deserve anything else. I had my friends round for afternoon tea on Sunday, and it was such a pleasure sharing my home with them. 

So this Christmas, anything else is just amazing and above what I expect. 

I am sharing this with you, as an invite into my home for those who can't visit, and because I want to show just how much hard work and perseverance pays off. 

Merry Christmas you lovelies, 

K xx

Christmas Treats

My biggest treat this festive period has been the fact I've finally been able to move back into my little house. I had to move out in August for building work and damp proofing, and only just got back in.

I've been lucky to be off work this week (pre planned for Christmas preparation) which worked out really well for moving in and getting settled. 

So my instagram feed has been full of the little developments, and once things are finally sorted I will be showing you all the transformation! Until then, I wanted to share with you the treat that was last night!

Sounds enticing, doesn't it!

Firstly, I managed to score a Yankee Candle Advent Calender in the Sale, so have a bit of a stock pile of the various festive scents! Last night was time for the White One (which I think was the Marshmallow One. Or maybe the Snow One. It's hard to tell!)

I had also been lucky to win a gel manicure from the lovely CUTEicles (like her Facebook page here)! 

I've never had gels done before, so I was a little bit of a novice! 

Rachel was lovely, and quickly set to work in my kitchen:

She had the fancy lamp thing, and after the hard task of choosing the nails, she set to work!

I am absolutely bowled over by the end result:

So cute and Christmassy, and not something I would have been able to do myself. It was lovely to be pampered in my own home, and so nice to just natter away. 

This is certainly something I'd think of getting done on a regular basis - and heading into my sitting room afterwards, it was just filled with the sweet smell of White (I really don't know what scent it was - they need some kind of sticker on the bottom!)

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

National Christmas Jumper Day!

Most days, you'll find have been attributed to some object or other. Be it National Sandwich Day, or Ice Cream Week (every week is Ice cream week in my opinion!!) you just can't get away from it. 

And today is no different. 

Today is National Christmas Jumper Day. And the social media teams for companies vaguely related to jumpers or clothes will be spouting out about their's being the perfect jumper for National Christmas Jumper Day.

Except this is slightly different. This is a day with a heart. 

Wear a Christmas Jumper today to work, and you'll probably be asked for £1. Huh? Eat a sandwich on National Sandwich Day and you're not pestered for money! How does this work??

It works because this 'day' is an initiative of Save The Children, and that £1, or whatever you can afford, will go towards making a difference. A quick search on their website tells me:

Reach £95 and you could pay for a midwife’s training to help ensure babies are delivered safely in the poorest parts of the world.

So 95 Christmas Jumpers can make a massive difference. 

At this point in the office, I'd be slumped down in my chair hiding, hoping I don't get asked to join in. But not this year!

The fabulous team at Simply Be have a wide range of jumpers to choose from:

£40 Fairisle Jumper

£35 Kiss Me Jumper

£40 Mitten Jumper

I was smitten with with mitten jumper!

I had visioned wearing it tucked into one of my circle skirts (most likely the red) but when it arrived, I happened to try it with my Peaches Jeans:

And can you tell I'm happy with it? Haha, I love it with the jeans for a more relaxed look, but I'm looking forward to trying it with my red skirt!

Not only a great jumper, but being worn for a great cause!

Much love my lovelies,

K x

This item was gifted to me to review but my views are my own

The Secret Thing

About this time last week I was fretting about a #SecretThing I was working on, and how it would come out in the end!

I then received a lovely apologetic email to explain that I wouldn't be needed, but that I could have the images used so far, and some of the research that had been carried out.

It was to be a dating related feature! I know, I know, I said I was waiting for something to come along naturally, but when offered free advice from a dating 'guru' - I was intrigued!!

"Sounds like Kathryn has it all except the man! I recommend she carries on being herself. She shouldn't worry about people being intimidated by her confidence and bubbly personality. Would she really want a partner that was intimidated by her anyway? She should look out for new opportunities to chat to people and when she likes one, she should show she is interested and try to prolong the conversation. Often girls walk away before they have found the confidence to ask for their number!

I was shocked! I had honestly expected to be told to play down my confidence, or achievements, and to play the docile girl role. I was impressed!

Originally we were going down to London, but due to something called 'Christmas'? our schedules just did not match up. So it was decided that a photographer would come to me. There would also be a hair and makeup artist too. This relaxed me a little, as the thought of one on one with a photographer was a little intimidating! 

Sadly, due to communication breakdowns, she wasn't able to make it - so a comb through my post work hair, and a smearing of red lipstick later, and I was in front of the camera.

I had a blast! I honestly did. Considering I'd just met them, it was a great atmosphere, and rather fun, if not surreal! 

 But, if I'm honest, the fact that it was after these images were sent to their editor that I was told I've been removed from the feature, makes me think that the two are connected. Whether they are or aren't mind, the images are HILARIOUS! 

Sadly, I've been asked to only use them for personal use, not for republication. And if my understanding of blogging and copyright law is correct, this falls into the 'republication' section.

So I can't share them here, unfortunately. Instead, here is the outfit BEFORE I spent the day in work in it:

 Hopefully next time, things come together, and we are able to so the finished article! 

Much love my lovelies, 

K xx