See, Dance, Laugh, Buy.

My working week has been fairly meh. We are currently making a small number of redundancies, and working in HR, I get to do all the fun stuff. My boss has it a lot worse, poor mite as she's the one delivering the nasty messages, I'm just the one preparing the paperwork and holding everything else together. Whilst my job is safe (as one of the lowest paid members of the organisation, getting rid of me is hardly going to save them much money), it is still a depressing time, everyone else in the company is aware of what's going on, but they don't know who is involved. But we are not here to talk about work, we're here to talk about nice things. Here's what I've been doing this week.

Slathering: Dr Organic Manuka Honey Handcream (available from Holland and Barrett) all over my mitts. This weather is playing havoc with my skin health, espcecially the ever exposed hands. This hand cream is non-greasy, which means I can slather it on at bedtime and pick up a book without getting the pages all greasy. It smells delightful and feels like it is intensely nourishing my hands, they look instantly better moments after application. I am becoming a bit like my mother, who applies hand cream at every opportunity (i.e. at traffic lights) but I live in fear of grotty old lady hands. I have a small tube of the cream but it's lasting me forever, so it's super good value at £5.69 for 125ml.

Buying: I bought a lovely turquoise jumper in the H&M sale the other day for £10, great for the spring months as it's not too thick, and will be great for work or play, worn with black or blue jeans, or my lovely Next black peplum pencil skirt for office days. I might even try adding a bit of bling with my Talullah Tu necklace and earring combo.

I also picked up another four Wallpaper guides for Antwerp, Athens, Marseille and Warsaw. I can't resist them, especially when they are reduced to 99p in The Book Warehouse in Islington. I totally forgot when I bought them that I had a picture of my collection on my phone, so I ended up with 2 copies of Athens, so one has already been regifted to a charity shop. On Saturday I ended up in another branch on Southampton Row, picking up Prague, Venice and Madrid too!

Laughing: On Tuesday night I went to the Laugh Out London comedy night at the gorgeous Old Queen's Head in Islington, which was brilliant. Comedians included Suzi Ruffell, who we had bought the tickets to see after seeing her perform at the Stand Up To Sexism night at the Harold Pinter Theatre last year. We also go to see Tom Rosenthal (him off Friday Night Dinner), Australian Claudia O'Doherty's hilarious Lighthouse Keeper character, completely mental and random Holly Burn and American comic Rich Fulcher, who were all brilliant, sending us home with sore faces from all the giggling. The comperes kept things going and got the audience involved, with prizes (we got an Easter Egg) and a bizarre school assembly rendition of Lord of the Dance which I've now had in my head for days, but all in all a bargain at £5.50 in advance. The next Laugh Out London night is on April 5th at the Camden Head and is only £3 a ticket! On April 15th is Laugh Out London's second birthday at The Old Queen's Head, with Tony Law and Stuart Lee - it's currently sold out but they are trying to add more seats - Go, See, Guffaw.

Ogling: On Wednesday, my buddy Laurel got tickets for Burn The Floor at the Shaftesbury Theatre and so I accompanied her to that. I wasn't sure what to expect, knowing that it involved Strictly Come Dancing folk Robin Windsor and Kristina Rihanoff, I thought it might be a bit cheesy, in the same set-up as the show which I generally don't watch on TV. It was not. It was a spectacular show, perfectly timed and choreographed dance after dance, seriously sexy and upbeat with amazing costumes. Several times we gasped at the sheer bendiness of the dancers, and left the show vowing to take up dancing again (I did ballet, modern and tap as a kid). Definitely recommended. I'm off to find my legwarmers and get on down to Pineapple Studios...

Making: On the subject of Laurel, she's got herself involved in the White Stuff's Crafternoons, teaching some of their workshops taking place in stores this week. Crafternoons are free to take part in and most materials are provided (you may be asked to supply a needle and thread of your own), so sign up fast before places go, in Brighton, Islignton, Nottingham, Horsham, Belfast, Marlow, Beaconsfield, Newbury, Truro and Wilmslow! You can also check out the White Stuff's tip for hosting your own!

Sniffling: This weekend I've picked up a bad cold, but my mother-in-law-to-be is visiting, so we've been showing her the sights, here's a pretty picture of St Paul's Cathedral for you. Yesterday we went to the Tate Modern, and today, we're off to British Museum....you'll find me by a trail of snotty tissues.

My Week: Hair and Handbags

Watching:

• The Walking Dead. Love it so much. 
• Siro-A's amazing show at Leicester Square Theatre, highly recommended. It's fairly short, but witty and awe-inspiringly well-choreographed. Book here. Sample it here. Click here quickly and you can get free tickets for this afternoon.

Eating:

• At Strada with Tesco vouchers (see post here). 2 mains, 2 desserts, one bottle of wine - £20 vouchers = £30, bargain.
• A very naughty 2am KFC. Haven't done that for months. Was it worth it? I expect not!
• Tonight: The Londoner's fish tacos, if I can just drag myself to the shop sometime in the next 8 hours to get some coriander and limes! Looking forward to it already, the recipe looks straightforward and foolproof.

Winning:

• A few weeks back I got an email telling me I'd won a Redken Smooth Locks Treatment at my local Supercuts. I had to have my hair tested to see if it was strong enough to take the treatment (and not over-processed). Supercuts is a walk-in salon, so I had to take my chances in terms of timing. I needed to stay in to try and get Beyonce tickets online at 9:30 but after they sold out in something like 10 minutes (which is a whole other rant) I hotfooted it down to Holloway Road and luckily the salon wasn't busy. First Wendy washed my hair with the Smooth Locks shampoo then applied the activator which is a very strong smelling substance indeed, not vomit-inducing but not pleasant either. The activator stayed on for 12 minutes before being rinsed out thoroughly (no unpleasant odour remained) and then the smooth sealer was put in before my hair was blowdried to perfection. The treatment is heat activated so blow-drying is an essential part. The results were great, I am blessed with having straight, manageable hair anyway, but it feels deliciously soft and light and looks really healthy, even after a night's sleep. The treatment which costs from £30 should last up to ten washes, longer if used with the Smooth Locks shampoo and conditioner. Here are the results:

• I also picked up a mystery parcel from my local sorting office. Turns out I had won some Talullah Tu jewellery in a competition with Love it Magazine. It'll look great worn like the model with a strapless dress, or will dress up a plain t-shirt and jeans.

Buying:

• I went to the Orla Kiely sample sale in Clapham on Saturday (don't be jealous, I told you about it). I queued for about 25 minutes in the cold but boy was it worth it. I went with a particular bag in mind, which I'd seen in Mitsukoshi. but at £255 couldn't justify it (see my post here). That particular bag wasn't there, but this one was and I snapped it up at a much more palatable £120, it's an early birthday present to myself. It's a larger bag, but I like to have a big handbag anyway for notebooks, cameras etc, and it's a much more classic bag that will last me for years. It will actually probably be a good size for my upcoming one-nighter in Paris. Owning it makes me feel quite excited and nervous! This is the most I've ever spent on a bag and I know it's modest compared to some, but it's worth £345 according to this ebay listing (which has some much better pictures). I am going to take really good care of it, promise, I've already sprayed it with protective spray!

• I also snapped up an Olive and Orange top for just £5. It's a simple top black/grey stripy long sleeved top (I've tried taking a picture but it's coming out all crazy, I can never get thin stripes to photograph well), one that will be great for all purposes, I can dress it up for work or dress it down for cosy weekends. Olive and Orange is Orla Kiely's diffusion brand which seems to have disappeared. The website is down, they haven't posted anything on Facebook or Twitter for a long time, and my online searching isn't bringing up any real results. Can anyone in the know shed any light on this for me?
• While I was queuing to get into the sale, I got chatting to some ladies who'd travelled from Manchester to be there! They said that they'd heard about it through the Orla Kiely mailing list, but that usually the sale was held at Old Truman Brewery and that sometimes they hear about it through the venue before OK's own site, so I'm not taking any chances, I'm signing up for both newsletters and Sample Sales London, just to be on the safe side!

Saturday Bargain Haul at BeautyMart

Today I've taken my new non-smoking self for a bargain hunt in my local area of Holloway, and it's all been rather fruitful! I met my wonderful friend Laurel at Nag's Head with a view to visit all of the local charity shops, and that we did.

In Oxfam, I picked up season one of Grey's Anatomy for £2.99 on DVD. I have never seen Grey's but my friends rave about it, and this September my beau will be moving back to Sheffield to finish university so I'm going to occupy myself with this. As an exciting aside, we've just booked our wedding date for when he graduates next year, so I'll be treating the 8-9 months apart as an extended hen do!

In the Shelter store, I picked up this gorgeous M&S Limited Collection top for £6.75. It's brand new with the tags on, and was originally £25, so I consider this a real bargain! It's a great top to wear for work, or with jeans and a cardi at the weekend as Spring finally approaches.

BeautyMart's sample sale was today (and tomorrow, see below) at their Headquarters on Holloway Road so we tracked down their office just past the Odeon and had a rummage through the shelves and a very welcome cup of tea.

The charming art deco Odeon on Holloway Road

Racks of goodies at Beautymart HQ

I had been meaning to head to BeautyMart at Harvey Nichols for weeks, after a conversation with BeautyMart on Twitter about these DHC Make Off Sheets, so was chuffed to pick up a pack at 20% off (RRP £7). I've had a go with them already. The sheets are smaller than my usual make-up wipes (No7), and have a strong smell of alcohol but they do remove makeup very effectively and quickly. The fact that they come in a plastic tub too means that they will stay moist for longer.The pack contains 50 wipes so is very good value for £7.

In their bargain corner (where BeautyMart are giving proceeds from the to charity) I picked up some Becca tinted moisturiser in Cashmere which is a great match for my skintone, I'm pretty pale so can find it difficult to get a decent, natural match for foundation, so was pretty pleased to pick this up, along wit  Ainhoa Luxe Cellular Complex Hydro-Nutritive Cream, as pictured above. It contains caviar extract and is a lush gel cream that feels amazing on my skin, it smells great too. From the box: "...with light texture ad hydrating and repairing properties that helps to recover the skins tissues thanks to its composition based on Caviar Extract". Perfect for recovering my cigarette-ravaged skin!

There were some Ruby and Millie products there too, I hadn't realised that Millie Kendall co-founded BeautyMart before the event so a perfect opportunity to pick up those now-hard-to-find products. I had a quick look for the makeup bag I spied in Boots 2 years ago and failed to get, but alas, it wasn't meant to be! I was chuffed to have had the chance to attend this sale and that it was so close to home. I spent a princely £10.60 on all 3 products, which is pretty good considering the RRP for the tinted moisturiser seems to be £35! The sale is at Block F, 443-449 Holloway Road, London N7 6LJ and is on tomorrow (Sunday 17th February) too from 10 til 4, open to the public.

Step on my old size nines...

Having size 9 (EUR43) feet has long been the bane of my life. From the age of about 13, my feet were already a size 9 and back in those good old days it was impossible to get nice shoes. My school shoes were flat, clumpy, boys' lace-ups and my leisure shoes were unattractive trainers. As I got older, and more fashion conscious, I'd buy size 8 high heels to fit in with my peers and simply force my feet into them, to hell with the consequences.

Many of us women seem predisposed to be obsessed with shoes, and I always wondered if it was more so in my case, since I just couldn't get them. When I was at University, which was *gulp* 10 years ago, I'd have trouble finding nice shoes in my size. One experience in Next really got to me. I'd seen a pair in store which would have been perfect for our May Ball, and a notice said they were available in my size, so I asked if they could order them in for me to try on. They told me I'd need to pay for them to be ordered in, which I thought was completely unfair, if I was a 'normal' size, I'd be able to waltz into any shoe shop and try every pair on with no intention of buying any, yet I had to pay in advance for the privilege of trying them on? I declined out of sheer stubbornness and bought a pair from Barratts who had a limited Tall and Small range at the time.

Shops like Long Tall Sally always did size 9 shoes, I think they even go up to a size 11, but the assumption was made that if you had big feet, you must be tall, and wouldn't want anything resembling a heel. I am 5'7.3" so although reasonably tall, I still want to be able to wear heels sometimes. And they were far more expensive than the average school girl or university student could afford. N.B, their overall range looks a lot better now but still on the pricer side. Evans also did larger sizes, but only in extra wide fittings, so boots always sagged around my legs. I wanted to be able to buy pumps in every colour of the rainbow in cheaper high street shops, like my peers could.

There's also the "what's a nine" debate. Some stores maintain its a EUR42 which means most of their stock is redundant to me, and usually even brands that make 9s, most of their department store concessions don't carry them. However, I do get the odd sale mega bargain, like these statement shoes from Faith at Debenhams, which I got for less than £15 when they closed their doors.

Things have got much better over the years. Now New Look do a great range of size 9/EUR43 shoes and wide-fit shoes. So do Next although I don't know what their in-store stock is like now,  whether you still have to pay in advance just for trying them on. I am amazed that Marks and Spencer still don't go above an 8 when budget favourite Primark can manage it. Topshop goes up to a 42, but generally I don't find their styles as wearable. Here are some of my current favourites from New Look, who are now doing half sizes too, amazing progress!

Blue Metal Trim Bow Pumps £15.99

Navy Cut Out Peep Toe Heels £19.99

Tan Cut Out Wedge Sandals £29.99

Lastly, Upper Street is a store in North London which makes made-to-measure shoes to your design. I heard about it when my friend, who at the opposite end of the spectrum is a tiny size 2 told me she'd made an appointment there. They make shoes from size 1.5 to 10 (although their 10 is a EUR43 so there seems to be a discrepancy across the board about continental sizing). Their prices are pretty high, starting at £195, but they are making shoes from your design so it's to be expected! I'm thinking of using them for my wedding shoes if there's enough left in the budget. You ca design your own shoes on the website, so go on...have fun!

Bites and Bags

January is finally over. It always feels like the longest month, but now that it's finished, it feels like not long at all until Spring and then best of all, Summer. I hate the winter months, I detest having to wrap up like a sausage roll, with the cold inevitably getting in anyway. I hate that after Christmas, there just feels like there's no damn reason for it to be this cold. I hate being constantly hunched up from trying to keep warm against the bitterness of it all. In summer time I feel much more relaxed, my shoulders are less tense, I don't have to wear so much makeup. Last summer was a bit of a wash-out, but I am looking forward to this year's, I have high hopes for some real heat.

This Saturday my mum came to visit and I showed her the delights of North London. She was raised in South London and has been in Kent for most of her adult life so had never spent any time in the north of the capital. It was her birthday last weekend, so I took her to Ottolenghi for lunch, which was incredible. There was a bit of a queue, we met at about 11 at Angel and headed straight there for lunch as had seen the queue on the way past earlier on. We queued for about 20 minutes before we could be seated, and then were treated to an incredible feast. The lunch special comprised one main item with 2 or 3 salads at about £13 or £16 respectively. We went for the 3 option, so that we could sample as much as possible.I opted for the mushroom quiche with the famous broccoli (which I'd been curious about since I read Stella Newman's mention), Jerusalem artichokes and butternut squash, while mum had the beef with aubergine, maftoul and red cabbage and we each tried each others. Everything was sublime. All of it. We didn't have a drink, or any dessert as the meal was so filling, and surprisingly reasonable at the £16 each mentioned above. You can see the lunch menu here.

I'd advise turning up fairly early, while the queue moved fairly quickly on this occasion it can apparently get really busy later on. They were still serving breakfast alongside lunch, which also looked amazing. It was a lovely dining experience, and I'm popping all of the cookbooks on my wishlist so that one day I can achieve such culinary delights in my own home.

Those famous salads on display

Cake!

We spent the rest of the day mooching around Islington and had a lovely time with only a small drama when I left one of my bags in Costa and had to run halfway along Upper Street to retrieve it. I got this New Look  jumper dress from the Cancer Research UK store for a princely £5.95. I debated whether it was too Christmassy (the Christmas jumper trend got quite ridiculous this year, with people seemingly chosing to spend their hard-earned on the ugliest things they could find), but decided that it was just Christmassy enough and if I had to endure another month or two of this cold, I might as well have a reminder of the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

Mum and I went to M&S, which is a place I rarely shop but recently have been finding more and more appealing. This time, the items that caught my attention were this bag and scarf.

Marks and Spencers

Orla Kiely

Whilst I was running along Upper Street, the strap of my blue leather satchel broke again which will have to be repaired. I love bags thought have managed to be quite disciplined in recent years and keep the stash to a minimum, but at the moment I have two bags that I can only use the hand strap on until I get them repaired, and I really am a shoulder-strap kinda gal. I've decided that if I get a bonus this month (it's the end of our financial year, but it's not been the best year so looks unlikely), I am going to treat myself to this Orla Kiely Caramel Mocha stunner. If I don't get my bonus, I'll settle for repairing my existing ones and console myself with the M&S number!

This week I've had the pleasure of going to a preview of a new comedy phenomenon, The Comedy Store: Raw and Uncut which is basically a series of Comedy Store stand-up shows, recorded and played in cinemas across the country from this month. I particularly enjoyed the performances of Addy Van der Borgh and Louis Ramey (who is a filthy, filthy man!), and will be seeking out more of their work. The whole experience of watching a stand-up show in a cinema was odd but not unpleasant, at times I nearly clapped and cheered alongside the crowd onscreen but managed to stop myself just in time!

I've just got back from seeing Hitchcock at the cinema, another preview screening. I really enjoyed the film, Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren were both fantastic, even Scarlett Johannsson was pretty good as Janet Leigh (but that bloody D&G advert makes me want to stab myself in the ear). It's made me want to watch ALL of Hitchcock's movies and learn a bit more about him and Alma. It's in cinemas nationwide from 8th February. Enjoy!

Pre-sales perving

Here are some bits I am hoping to snap up in the January sales!

I love this Mango dress. I am really attracted to this shade of blue, I love it and am planning to feature it in our wedding. This isn't a bridesmaids dress though, more of a work dress. If I manage to find it in the sale, I might even snap up the black version too!

I also really loved this coat in Zara. I tried it on last week however and found that the L was too small (!? I am a 12-14!) and the XL was slightly too big. If I find it in the sales however I might try it on again. I definitely need a warm coat to bring my wardrobe up-to-date, my H&M number from last year is far too thin and I'm really feeling the chill.

On my web-surfing mission I've also found these wedge boots on the New Look site. I really struggle sometimes to find shoes, as I have size 9 feet. This is a royal pain in the arse, and really restricts where I can buy shoes, but luckily New Look do a really good range of affordable shoes in a 9. The fact that they are on sale now might mean a sneaky trip to New look at lunchtime tomorrow....

In the beginning, there was a careless young lady....

My first on my new blog about how utterly uncool I am. I was telling a couple of male colleagues at our Christmas party last night how little I care about what I look like. They accused me of exaggerating this for their sakes, which may have been the case. I guess the truth is that I do put a little effort into looking passable in everyday life, but perhaps not enough, so this blog was born to help me keep focus on my efforts in taking a little more pride in myself and my wardrobe.

For a while, my shopping motto has been: Don't buy anything unless you love it more than your very favourite item of clothing. Naturally, we all need those staple items like the essential black vest top (H&M is your friend, but I do think this is a good rule to have. I don't stick to this religiously, sometimes it slips, but I think its a bloody good benchmark for making sure you're not Just Buying Tat. At university, I bought new clothes on a daily basis, I was out most nights of the week. I would wear them once then sell them on eBay when I realised my bank balance was about to enter dangerous territory. Now, I really try to think, "Do I need this, do I really want it?" and am pretty strict with myself. This has been helped by the fact that, much of the time, I find high fashion utterly ridiculous and unwearable and dress for comfort.

I've made slight improvements already. In my last job, which was going nowhere fast and had me at my lowest in terms of motivation, I would often wear a plain top and the same pair of trousers all week long. Since moving to the capital, starting a new job that's actually going somewhere, with a great, nurturing boss, I've realised that I have worn skirts and dresses every single day and felt all the better, and more professional for it.

I also pay little heed to how I treat my body and my skin. I am currently a smoker, though this is set to change very soon (again). I frequently go to bed without taking off all my makeup. Since walking a lot my holiday to Japan in September, I haven't done even a tiny bit of exercise. So like many people, I am setting a new resolution to treat myself a little better. 

As the name suggests, this isn't a fashion blog as such. I see this as a diary of the start of a new effort to start treating myself a little better, pay more attention to what my body needs, what I look like and as a result, feel happier and have a more fulfilling life, on a bit of a budget. I am going to talk about products I've started using, the gradual improvement of my wardrobe through the purchase of inexpensive and interesting items, maybe some recipes I've tried, books I've read and the occasional brief film review and suchlike. 

With that in mind, here's my latest purchase!

Essentially, it's a blue jumper. Nothing special, but I realised I didn't really have any knitwear apart from a comical Christmas jumper (45p from a flea market in Tallinn last year!) and a dodgy Pringle style number I bought for a pub golf expedition, and neither are fit for public consumption. This is by Superdry and was RRP £44.99, but I snapped it up at the Seven Dials Christmas shopping event, where everything was 20% off, so this comfortable but presentable piece of knitwear was only £35.99. My boyfriend has cultivated quite a collection of Superdry checked shirts, they are his uniform (he does look really, really good in them) and I've never really considered the ladieswear because I've always been a cheapskate but after he queued to buy the latest addition to his checked shirt collection (orange and grey this time), I thought I'd have a little ganders at the ladieswear. There were two other shades of blue which we were equally tempting but my practical side told me to go with this one, which would ultimately go with more. 

Also this week, I've been to see Pitch Perfect, which I really rated. I scored some free tickets to a preview screening at the Courthouse Hotel, which was a lovely setting, right by Liberty's of London, and managed to drag the Boy along, after I couldn't find a girlfriend that was free at short notice to attend. It was really good, and even he, hater of musicals was impressed. It's not a musical as such, but it is a movie about a capella singing, and these aren't for everyone. I'd say even if you've read the synopsis and think it sounds lame, give it a chance anyway if the opportunity arises. A feel good film, with some hilarious moments (thanks Rebel Wilson), and some really, really good musical numbers. Anna Kendrick can sing? Who knew? 

We also ate at Bi Bim Bap on Greek Street which was pretty darn yummy. I loved Bi Bim Bap when I first tried it in Shanghai in 2008 so when I saw this Korean eatery in Soho I mentally filed it for later. A shared starter of squid, two mains and two beers came to £33 including service, so it's not bank breaking either. Really yummy food, nice cosy laidback little restaurant, no complaints here!