Shopping makes me smile!

Hello! I hope that you are all well and the sun shone for you this weekend!

I thought that I'd let you have a peek at some of my recent purchases... btw I really hate the word "haul". Does anybody else find that the word "haul" to describe a shopping spree really makes them cringe?!

I don't splurge that often to be honest, but I think that these beauties are worth the wait!

I'm sorry if you're sick of hearing about this next product, yes I know it's everywhere but it's new to me and I'm excited :)

First, the Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows that I purchased online from Debenhams. I must have timed it just right because it was out of stock when I checked my order status the following day.

I'm a sucker for anything Alice-like at the moment, so I love the teapots, cups and swallows on the packaging! The inner packaging is just as beautiful, with flowers, rabbits and deer ambling round the eyeshadows... yes you guessed it, I'm a sucker for pretty packaging full-stop! **hmmm, must have a Benefit fix soon methinks**

Alice in her Wonderland is revealed when you lift the lid... I think this is soo cute!

I love, love, LOVE this product!!! I'm more of a neutrals kind of girl, and being a bit of a magpie I am not adverse to a bit of glitter, so was really happy with the selection in this palette.

The stronger colours are really beautiful though so I can definitely see myself experimenting with these - it'd be criminal not to!

The colours are all duplicates of shadows released by Urban Decay in earlier palettes and/or the two previous Book of Shadows collections, but they have been suitably chosen and re-named for this launch. Luckily I don't own any other UD shadows, liners or UDPP (I usually use ELF's primer) so this was definitely a win-win purchase for me! I'm really impressed with the quality and pigmentation of these too... I can't believe I'd never tried a UD shadow before!

Next, a few little gems that caught my eye in Accessorize:

Ha, can't you just tell that I was still loving teapots and cups?!
An impulse buy, yes, but all is not lost.
I used to love cross stitching (I credit it for helping me to stop smoking) but haven't picked up a needle for.... ooh... five years I'd guess. I've been thinking about digging out some kits and patterns and giving it a whirl again - and I could make these stickers look lovely on some hand-stitched cards!

Another Alice-themed treasure. I think this is adorable!

I'm going to give it to my Mum as part of her Mother's Day present because I know she'll love it... oops, I hope you're not reading this Mum!

This was my first little treat - how cute! I like that it can be used as a bag charm as well as a keyring.

I almost came out with lots of teacup and watch pendants, but restrained myself and eventually chose this because it made me smile every time I looked at it. Definitely the best reason for a purchase!

However THIS is my absolute favourite Accessorize buy:

This made me laugh when I saw it because it's so me!! I love sweets and puddings...

and look, a teapot and cup! Hehe! This practically leapt into my basket all by itself!

And lastly, here is my beautiful Gizmo cat enjoying a snooze in the sunshine today... he never fails to make me smile!

Have a good week my lovelies! xx

Loving & Loathing... 01.03.10

A couple of weeks ago I tweeted about starting these posts. I love reading other people's "Up & Down" lists so thought I'd finally join the crowd and jot down mine!

Loving...

Gizmo cat.

Call me sad but I love this little fella so much, aww! I'm biased but I think Giz is beautiful. He never used to be a lap-cat at all but he's mellowing in his old age and is now really affectionate, he's so sweet :)

The Urban Decay limited edition "Alice In Wonderland" Book Of Shadows.

Alice In Wonderland was one of my favourite books as a child and when I saw the UD palette with the cute pop-up and Alice-inspired shadow names I knew I had to get one! I ordered mine from the Debenhams website last week and Mr Postman should deliver it tomorrow. I have to admit that I am very excited about it. Also looking forward to the movie... I'm going to see it in 3D!

Lazy Sundays.
I love waking up knowing that the day is mine to spend as I choose, and it doesn't happen too often so I make the most of it when it does.... chilling on the sofa reading a good book with endless cups of tea or watching a good movie snuggled up with Gizmo cat is bliss. Thumbs up for sofa days!

The end of February.
I'm not one to wish my life away but I've always hated February. It's always cold and dark, and spring seems such a long way off... but with March comes the extra summertime hour, yippee!

Loathing...

Emoticons.

:)   :D  :(   ;)   :'(  XD

I use emoticons soooo much and it drives me mad. I didn't jump on the bandwagon for ages (because they annoyed me!) but I can't compose a text these days without automatically popping in a smiley or sad face... must, must, must make a concentrated effort to stop!

Stupid drivers.
Now this is forever THE pet peeve of mine. I am the most placid person you could ever meet but put me behind the wheel of a car and WOAH!!! I turn into the most evil tempered, shouting woman - driving definitely brings out the worst in me! Top driving related hates (in no particular order)

1. Ignorance of speed limits. Although I spend half of my time shouting at other drivers, I consider myself to be a safe driver and I abide by speed limits. I've lost five friends to car accidents so I loathe speeding drivers and people who take stupid selfish risks and overtake into oncoming traffic. Nine times out of ten you catch up with them again so what's the point?!

I also cannot ABIDE those drivers who trundle along doing 40mph on a 60mph road - or even worse - those who do not go above 50mph even though they have modern cars capable of at least twice that. These same drivers then seem to find the accelerator when entering a 30 or 40 mph zone and zoom off doing at least 10mph over the limit!!!

2. People who don't indicate. Especially on roundabouts. Many is the time I've sat there screeching "You ********!!!!!! I could have gone then!!!!"

3. People who hog the middle lane of the Motorway!!!

Mondays.

I still get the Sunday Night Blues! I used to hate Sunday nights when I was at school and still do. Don't get me wrong, I like my job and I'm fine when I get there, but I never want the weekend to end. That's probably why I always seem to update my blog at stupid-o-clock on a Sunday night.... eke the weekend out as much as possible!! Let's not even mention the Monday morning alarm. Urgh.

What are your current loves/hates?

xx