I heart Emma Bridgewater!

Oh, I'd love this table in my garden!

I've been collecting Emma Bridgewater's Polka Dot bits and bobs for a couple of years now after my Mum bought me a couple of pieces (gaaaah! I feel really old having a "china collection"!!!) and although I haven't got much yet considering how big the collection is, I adore it! It's so cheerful and girly, and you can mix and match a few of Emma's collections too to create your own personal shabby-chic/country-kitchen style mix, hurrah!

This is my dotty pottery collection:

 

I forgot to include these tiny candles with my scented candle collection post. You can see how small they are compared to a mug. (The candles' scent is Orange and Geranium with a burn time of 23hrs).

I keep these in my glass display unit in my kitchen, and the warmth from the cabinet lights makes the whole room smell lovely :)

And here are some of my other EB lovelies:

Tinware: Biscuit tin and caddy that I use to store hot chocolate sachets!

I like Owls :)

Starry Skies cup and saucer

I broke the cup's handle whilst washing up (so upset that I did that!)

and I have yet to think of a recycled use for it...

The Ex-Boy broke the handle on this mug (I'm still bitter about it haha!) but all is not lost - I've recycled it as a brush holder:

Here's a little tip for you too, because I'm generous like that ;) To keep your brushes upright and standing (mostly) to attention like mine, just pour some (uncooked!) rice into your holder of choice - around half-filled should do it - fill with your brushes and hey presto... cheap and cheerful and job's a good 'un!

MY JOURNAL!! No, I'm not going to let you peek inside ;) 

I received this as a Christmas gift from my lovely friend Gemma (Hiiiiii Gem!)... she knows that I love EB and writing so this was the perfect present!

Next on the EB wishlist are these beauties:

Square cake tins... enough for lots of cake!

Such a cute little watering can!

Robin 1/2 pint mug - I'd like a couple of these in time for Christmas :)

I adore this photo album! 

Do you like or collect Emma Bridgewater too?

xx

(Watermarked pics belong to me, others are from the Emma Bridgewater website)

This is me, now (June review)

Listening... Muse. I'm obsessed after seeing them (via good old TV!) at Glasto! Paramore. General chart stuff.
Reading... New Moon (still!) and have also dipped my toe into Just Henry by Michelle Magorian - one of my favourite authors.
Watching... EastEnders (as always!), Big Brother. I didn't watch last year but as it's the last one... ;)
Buying... Singstar discs!! Shiny new additions to my collection are Take That, 90's and Rock Ballads. I love Singstar!
Wanting... my back garden to be done now please. My quote came in about £3k over budget (!!!). I wasn't even expecting it to be anywhere close to £3k to begin with :(
Trying... to remain positive about the garden. It now resembles a jungle, it's a disgrace! It's not so bad because the front lawn is fine and passers-by can't see it, but I know it's really overgrown and it's really frustrating :( Hopefully my Aunt and Uncle are going to make it a peaceful haven for me now, fingers crossed!
Loving... SUMMER! Swimming, my blog contest prizes from the amazing Rach over at Rants and Ramblings - she handmade me some beautiful jewellery! Thank you so much hun!! (Blog post soon, I've been completely spoilt!) Also loving the fact that my cousin Mike is, after six weeks, finally HOME from hospital *big happy grin*
Planning... GARDEN..... garden..... garden.... oh, why did I have to grow up and be all responsible about things like gardens?!
Making... plans to decorate house. I have a real urge recently to put my stamp on the place. This could be a verrry long process however as I'm a typical Libran and can never make a decision on anything!
Writing... not enough! Am shockingly behind on my Mass Observation assignments, must must must get scribbling... (hmmm, this hasn't changed from last month. Or the month before that...)
Cooking... not a lot! It's been too hot (ooh I'm a poet but didn't know it!! haha!) so I've just been preparing nice salads etc
Inspired by... Weheartit. I've loved that site for a couple of months and have tons of amazing photos saved on my memory stick, but then my good friend Hel from shedoesotherstuff2 (she's a lovely girl and a great blogger, please do pop along and have a good read!) persuaded me to join and now I'm completely addicted! I'm still desperate to own a DSLR. One day...
 
Want to know what beautiful pics I've hearted? Find my weheartit page here :)
 

*Photo from weheartit*

Twilight Eclipse preview: Thumbs up from me!

 Don't worry - there are no spoilers here to ruin it for you!

Five of us went to see a preview screening of Twilight Eclipse this morning and it was fantastic!!

The friends that I went with are all mahoosive fans but as much as I enjoy the Twlight franchise, I wouldn't really call myself a Twi-hard (apparently a term for Twilight obsessives?!). I loved the first book and movie but I'm still roughly only halfway through reading New Moon, and only watched the NM DVD last night because I didn't want to be completely lost watching Eclipse!

However, I couldn't help but to be swept along in the hysteria sitting in a cinema full of baying Twi-hard women wearing various Team Edward / Team Jacob (delete as apropriate) tees etc. and man, those women love their Twilight!!

I say women (plus around three long-suffering boyfriends/husbands!) because the ratio was around 2:1 in favour of the over 40's, which really surprised me. I thought that was really cool actually... when I get excited about a new Harry Potter movie, my friends and I are usually the oldest there if you don't count those taking their children along!

I'm not going to give anything away because I know many UK fans won't be lucky enough to be able go to a preview (we booked our tickets on 17th June!), and it doesn't officially open here until Friday, 9th July.

What I will tell you is this:

Yes, there was clapping and cheering, yes there were audible appreciative sighs when Jacob Black appeared shirtless for the first time (helloooo Taylor Lautner!), yes I now want a pet wolf and yes my heart still belongs to Rob Pattinson.

Would I see it again / buy the DVD? Oh yes!

Am I still 100% Team Edward? Hmmm... the jury's out.

Mr Pattinson is bloomin' gorgeous though. That is all.

xx

*Pics from google images*

Shopping Spree! First EVER Primark visit! Part 3... Accessories & Beauty

*WARNING! Another looong picture-heavy post!*

Hello again lovelies! I promise that this is the last Primark post (for now hehe!) and I have in my humble opinion saved the best for last.

Jewellery. Handbags. Shoes. Cosmetics.... at this point in the Primark proceedings my funny mesh basket was so heavy that it was dragging on the ground (think Will Smith dragging the alien parachute across the desert in Independence Day and you get the idea) and I was beginning to panic about how much I had spent.

First stop on the final floor was jewellery and I made an immediate bee-line for the pretty pearls.

Earrings £1.00, necklace £2.50, bracelets £1.00

Oh-so-pretty! I'm sure that everyone has Primark pearls by now

so onto the next!

This is one of those two-in-one necklaces (£1.50) and I love it.

All credit goes to my amazing sister Olivia who patiently untangled this one from the others for me xx

Pink scarf £3.00. I love scarves. This one is so summery!

Large sequin floral shopper - £9.00

This is my handbag heaven!! Large enough to lose everything? Check.

Sparkly sequins? Check. Pretty floral pattern? Oh yes. SOLD.

Quilted heart cross-body bag £4.00.

I am loving cross body bags atm, and should have bought two of these.

It's currently my work bag :)

Quilted wide-fit flats £8.00

These look white here, but they are actually cream coloured.

(Excuse horrid carpet, it came with the house but it'll do for now!)

I only purchased one pair of shoes this time. The wide-fit section was miniscule and there were hardly any shoes left in my size! These shoes are so comfortable even during the dreaded first wear - I'm impressed Primark!

I have issues, yes indeed, with shoes, mostly centering on SHOE ENVY. If you've ever had it you'll know the torture.

My wobbly legs (see left sidebar if you're looking puzzled!) mean that I cannot just pick and wear any shoe I want. One basic requirement is that a Jo Shoe needs to have a strap... a mary-jane is ideal. Or in absence of a strap, a Jo Shoe needs to be pretty snug on the old heels so that it behaves and stays on my feet. Oh, and most importantly, a Jo shoe needs to look presentable. A Jo Shoe is not a granny shoe.

Then we can add something else into this mix. Yes, not only do my wobbly legs dictate much of my shoe-buying choices, but I have also inherited my family's wide feet. Oh goody. My friends can pick up any shoe in any style and like Cinderella, it fits perfectly. Granted, I have failed miserably on the Prince Charming front so far but I think you'll agree that denying such a girly-girl the shoe too is very bad form indeed.

So, it's very rare that I can find a shoe that I actually like enough to emit a mini-girly squeal (we've all done it) but these Primark bad boys are perfect. HURRAH!

If any of you lovelies have nice shoes Vs wide feet issues, I can recommend Evans shoes. They are the perfect width for me, and because Evans is a sister store to Topshop the shoes are much, much more fashionable than they used to be and you can find all sorts of gems on the website (and a few granny shoes too if that's your thang!). Evans are also fab if you have problems zipping up skinny minnie boots :)

And now onto the make-up!

To be entirely honest I almost couldn't get close to the (shockingly small) Beauty stand. Remember in Part 1 of my Primark posts when I remarked that the store was pretty empty? Well, it seemed that every female in Cambridge was on the third floor crowded round this stand. Mostly teenagers, but there were mums and grans too and it was just crazy. The stand had been stripped of almost every make-up item!

I really wanted to try Primark's version of Benefit's That Gal but couldn't see any aside from the grotty testers that had been well used and thrown back among a vast array of opened and tested make-up. My friend Lucie recommended the mascara as a perfectly good cheapie but that had sold out. How very annoying!

I saw some girls buying makeup that had obviously been opened and used. Yuck. Grubby makeup is not welcome here unless it's my own mess. (Note to Primark bigwigs: You really need to stock up on makeup and have a decent "tester" display!)

I did manage to get my hands on two interesting items that I had initially found in the mess. Amazingly I found some hidden riiight at the back that were minus grubby fingerprints and best of all still sealed!

I was very excited about this little beauty in particular:

Being a bit of a Benefit fan, I've had "10" on my wishlist for ever.

This is the perfect equivalent if you're on a budget!

(although in Primark's version the pink side is blush not highlight)

It even comes with a little Benefit-esque brush!

"The Happy Couple" duo bronzer & blush £2.50

Bobbi Brown's Shimmerbrick anyone?!

Primark's version, "Little Glow Cheek", costs just £3.00

and I got it in the lighter shade, Sun Blush.

I haven't got round to using these yet, but when I do I'll let you know what I think.

Have you tried these? I'd love to hear your thoughts on Primark's make-up range...  

xx

Shopping Spree: First EVER Primark Visit! Part 2... Clothing

*Warning! Picture-heavy post!*

OK, now that I have my local store review posted here, let's get onto my purchases! (I'm still trying to find a word for Haul. I'm not keen on that word.) I did manage to spend just over £100 so I'll skip over the MANY basic vest tops, tees, leggings etc and skip to my favourite bits and bobs!

Apologies for any creasing etc, these pics were mostly taken straight after they came out of the bags. First up:

Sundress - £7.50. Probably my favourite buy!

I love, love, love the little pearl buttons and Kidston-esque print!

Organic bird print tee - £4.00. How cute! 

I have a thing for long tops that I can wear with leggings and flats :)

This came with a plain grey vest too but I'm wearing it :) Aren't the bows sweet!

Pack of 2 vest tops £2.00

Floral longline top £3.50

Blue-grey studded & sequined vest £4.00  LOVE!

If there's anything sparkly or super-girly then I'm there!

I had to get the oatmeal coloured one too :)

Loose-fit dress/top £8.00

White linen skirt £9.00.

I bought this to wear to work on sunny summer days :)

So there you have it. Shiny new purchases from the latest Primark addict :) Have you found any OMG-I-must-have-that-NOW's in Primark recently?

Ooh, while I'm on the subject of Primark clothing, do any of you girlies find the sizing plain weird, or is it just me? Everyone had told me to go one or two sizes bigger as their clothes are cut small, but when I saw the clothes I just kind of guessed whether they would fit (I hate changing rooms. I should really just get on with it and try stuff on as I never learn!). And yes I know that it is so inexpensive, you get what you pay for, blah, blah, blah, that I maybe shouldn't even make an issue of it, but it has confused me somewhat.

As I'm among friends I'll be brave (heck, you know most of my other secrets by now haha!) and tell you that I am generally a UK size 12 (equivalent to a US size 10 or Medium). In River Island and Topshop I often have to go for a 14 but that's thanks to my huuugeee upper arms (swimming has made them worse!) and my ahem ... boobies :) I'm occasionally a size 10 in places like Next, but usually, yes it's pretty safe to buy a 12.

All of my Primark clothes are a 12 except the floral longline top which I got in a 14 because I wanted it so badly and there were no 12's left. Most of my purchases fitted perfectly but two items came up large on me. Yes, I mean you, white linen skirt which fell straight down! Oo-er!... and oh hello lovely favourite sundress which is so big that the elasticated back doesn't even touch my body! If that isn't strange enough, the size 14 floral top is quite tight on me!

The rest of the vest tops, cami's etc are all ok as they are pretty flexible when it comes to size, but the moral of the story is... changing room for Jo next time!!

I'll be posting Primark Part 3 very soon showing a few of my favourite things to shop for- bags, shoes and beauty items!!

(Sorry lovelies! Only I could stretch 3 blog posts out of one Primarni visit! I haven't been on a massive clothing spree for ages).

xx

First ever Primark visit! (And a blonde moment!)

I've just posted my first ever Primark related post!! But for some reason it's ended up somewhere else in my archive!! I think it's because I hit "publish" by mistake when I first started writing it ages ago! *BLONDE MOMENT*

If you'd like to read it, please click here. More to follow tomorrow!

Thank you :)

xx

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more...

Hello lovelies!! I've had to escape onto good old Blogger for two reasons.
1) because it's the hottest day of the year in England today (31 degrees C) and I can't stand being outside, and
2) because the football is making me sooo angry! We were robbed of our 2nd goal.... and now we're losing badly to Germany :(

Thank you for all of your lovely comments recently btw, especially those concerning the post that I wrote about my cousin Michael. He is still in hospital at the moment but hopefully he will start feeling better very soon.

I have lots of upcoming posts written and ready for you all (ooh, get me!), including a 3-parter on my first Primark visit! Only I could produce a 3-part shopping post! Haha never mind, I enjoyed writing it!

Anyway, I was just checking MetCheck to see how sunny this week will be, when I noticed that it's going to be a wee bit windy in my neck of the woods (the pink boxes):

Gulp.

I hope it's a mistake or I'll be blown away! Does anyone have a storm shelter?!

xx

(Pic from MetCheck.com)