YAAAY for Sugarhill Boutique

I wanted to write about Sugarhill boutique today as I acquired another one of their beautiful dresses and had an exception customer experience with them.

Their dresses are so beautiful but in all honesty are usually a little out of my price range so I often have them as gifts or wait for a good old sale. Last year however they realised the 'Folk Bear Dress' and I fell in love with it I bought it (if I remember correctly I had some birthday money) in October last year! I wore it a few times in the autumn/winter you can see here. I loved it and it looked really stunning on.

In the New Year I noticed however there was slight damage to the dress and the material had gone funny. I emailed Sugarhill not expecting much and they sent me a replacement! I was so happy, and we I got it back I popped it in my wardrobe ready for next winter. 

The other day I bought some read tights (thought I would give coloured tights a go) and was trying on autumn dresses, I thought I better try on the bear dress to see if it still fits. It however was a little large but a belt would fix that, however then I noticed one of the sleeves hadn't been finished. There was no button or button hole. I was gutted, it really ruined the dress, and as I had said previously it was an expensive dress for me to buy. 

Knowing it had been 9 months since I got there placement, although brand new and unworn I had taken the tags out and nearly a year since I originally bought it I assumed there was nothing that could be done. But I emailed Sugarhill regardless, and I am so happy I did. They got back within a day, the offered me a full refund as they can't replace it as it is sold out and asked me to donate my faulty dress to charity! 

The email was so friendly and kind and I really felt like that cared what I thought and they were generally sorry that it had been faulty! All I have to say is Sugarhill Boutique your customer service has been faultless and you are an shining example of customer care! They have definitely got themselves a loyal life long customer from me now!

So much so I went and invested in another dress haha! Didn't even wait 48 hours I don't think. I also managed to replace my bear dress with a smaller size too. The evening I found it broken I went to eBay to see if anyone was selling one, and someone was in the smaller size. I felt like it was fate, surely it must be! I won it (paid rather a lot more than I had planned but hey ho) and it left me with enough money to pick up another beautiful dress.

I saw this dress back in the spring summer, but with all the moving and saving I couldn't afford it. It is stunning and covered in elephants and it is now in the sale so I just had to give it ago. I ordered a 12 and a 14 and although both fitted the 14 had more length in the body and overall length too so I went with that one! I tried it with a navy blue cardigan and shoes, but I think the Navy blue cardi and blue tights will look amazing too when it is cooler. 

 FESTIVAL BUNTING PRINT SMOCK DRESS

My replacement eBay dress arrived today and fits BEAUTIFULLY! I'm really glad I sized down! I think it now really compliments me and I seriously cannot love the neckline anymore. With this one too I noticed a few faults with the fabric, I guess it is just a problem with that dress in particular as all the other Sugarhill dresses seem lovely quality! But it is worth it have this dress in my wardrobe, I just fricking love it and I cannot wait to get it out when it is a bit cooler! It is just the perfect autumn winter dress!

I'm so glad I have one with functioning sleeves and that fits much better. I will be taking my old dress to Oxfam at the weekend, I have been taking my charity stuff to Oxfam as I want to do what I can to help the migrant crisis!

I think Sugarhill Boutique deserve a massive shout out for their customer service, and their clothes are beautiful and cute too! I am actually getting another one of their dresses for my birthday next week haha! So look out for an outfit post with that dress!

Happy shopping peeps!

Little Benefit package of joy!

Feel Unique

I got a lovely package this week with some Benefit treats in them! Feel Unique had an offer on of 15% off so I thought I would take advantage and order some treats! I needed to replace my foundation soon anyway and my small Lolli Tint ran out months ago.

I really like Benefit, I find this foundation is light weight and comfortable to wear everyday and is the only one I have tried where I haven't broken out in spots and blemishes.

I also tried the Lolli Tint and Bene Tint in a set I got for Christmas. Bene Tint is a little red for my face I prefer pink tones and colours so the Lolli Tint looks really nice and natural too, I love it for every day wear.

I'm not really a make up kind of person I have my basics and my regulars but thats about it! However getting a little package like this is definitely exciting! Benefit do amazing quality make up and the fact their packaging is just so DAMN cute it makes it even more irresistible.

Also to sweeten the deal there were two freebies that came with them too! There was an adorable luggage tag, which is also really nice quality and the colours are beautiful! Makes me wish I was going on holiday even more now! and the second was a smaller tester bottle of sun screen which I might save and try when the weather is a little brighter!

I can't wait to wear the Lolli Tint on our trips out next week! Hurrah!

Homely joys and pottering Sundays.

The last two weekends I have really made the most of a quiet peaceful weekend, and this Sunday I finally sat back and thought, ‘yes!! This is what I have been dreaming about for years!’

Matt and I have been in our new flat for over 3 months now, but there are some things that are only just setting into my brain now! On Sunday I was making a coffee in-between watching back to back shows, the candle was flickering and a sweet smell of summer scoop had filled the flat. I was feeling peaceful and relaxed and realised how happy I was to have this space to call my own. I then went and scooted under the blanket with my coffee and carried of watching lots of lovely TV shows.

I keep thinking back to when I would imagine getting up in the morning and having a living room to go and sit and make my breakfast. Having a sofa to snuggle up on and when I am tired I can go back to bed instead of living all in one room. It is now a reality and I am enjoying quiet days, days where I can just potter and not worry but be entertained without this ‘I MUST GET OUT THIS GODDAMN ROOM’ feeling. I was tempted to go to Brighton yesterday, the cool autumn air and warm sunshine were tempting me, but I reminded myself that it wasn’t worth the money and I have SO MUCH planned for October. I enjoyed the quiet Sunday instead.

I stop sometimes and just have to take in that fact that this was all a dream for years and what feels like in the blink of an eye it became real and I just love having my own space and my own life. There were lots of worries, such as organizing, keep up with cleaning and would we be ok for money when we moved. Slowly over the last 3 months they have all come into place and just sort of 'clicked'. I am feeling very comfortable and happy at the moment... and almost time to have my first Birthday there woohoo!

Another fantastic Autumnal thing I love is TV. Its starts again! I caught up on ‘This is England 90’ (amazing by the way!!) and ‘Dr Who’ started again, I very much enjoyed that too, I am so excited about this series I think it will really take off (and Clara will be leaving soon HURRAH, I dislike her character so so much). ‘The Walking Dead’ will also be back soon and with the weather getting crappier re-runs are always awesome to watch on a stormy afternoon!

I saw my Mum and Dad for a bit on Saturday, and then spent the afternoon watching Maze Runner in preparation to see ‘The Scorch Trials’ at the cinema that evening. We had dinner and then headed off to the Cinema about 8pm. (It was a really good film, much better than the first)

Sunday I caught up with my house work, and sat down for lunch just after midday. One of the nice things about our flat is its location, we are minutes away from the town center on foot but the road is up a little hill so it feels very secluded and quiet and so far we haven’t experienced any negatives only positives from the location. I wanted new trousers for my pilates class and we needed boring things such as milk and bread. The weather was beautiful so it really breaks up the afternoon living this close to the town, you can go for a stroll and have a good look around for free. 

I also had a rummage through the charity shops. I LOVED HARRY POTTER when I was a kid and being a dyslexic kid reading was tough for me and I hated it. But Harry Potter was the first book I remember choosing to read and loving it. I have fond memories of laying in bed with Mum as she read to us and I remember the excitement when I went to get the next book. 

Unfortunately I got older and the books got longer and longer I never finished reading them. I have re-embraced my Harry Potter love recently; we are off to the Studio Tour in 2 weeks time and are currently re watching all the films. I have also decided it is time to FINALLY READ ALL the books. 

There was a big problem with that plan when I couldn't find my copies…. I have come to the conclusion we probably threw them in the move (a lot of stuff was binned due to the mold infestation, some items were un-saveable) alas. I did look at buying a new copy but realising that the new books have different artwork I turned to the charity shops to find the same books I had as a kid.

I was in Luck! In the first charity shop for £4.99 they had the first 4 books in a set and they look brand new. I really don’t think they have been read and the spines are perfect! I started re-reading 'The Philosopher's Stone' last night and I plan in reading them during lunch breaks and my commute! 

I cannot wait to get reading past where I have gotten in the past (I'm not actually sure what books i have read!!) and I am SO EXCITED to go back to the Studio Tour in just over two weeks time and spend all my birthday monies there!

Have a lovely week fellow Muggles!

Wind, rain and chills litter London.

I feel like autumn has snuck up on us this year quickly and swiftly. I still feel like summer never really arrived and then cold wet mornings came exceptionally quickly. The weather news were claiming for an Indian summer, but now they have turned to forecasts predicting the coldest most bitter winter in the last 50 years. Looking ahead a month I was feeling hopefully that half way through September going into October it was predicting 20+ and sun, now its saying it will be  sunnier than it has been but highs of 14-18 which would be considerably cooler than 20+.

 Last year I remember it cooling down at the end of August but in September and October we had quite a lot of warm sunny weather. I guess it can all change still, but I am hoping for dry sunny weather for my week off. I don’t care if its freezing as long as it is dry and sunny!

I do love autumn though it is my favourite time of the year. I do love summer fashion (little dresses, denim jackets etc) but autumn fashion is amazing too. I get to wear rich colours, snuggly clothes and I like to try and layer up a bit, although I’m not that great at that but I might try it more this year. Then there are all the beautiful jumpers! My heart just swells when I see piles of jumpers.

At this rate though we will be sailing to work rather than walking! I'm hoping it will dry up before the end of the week. 

On a more summer related note, there were two swimsuits this summer I was eyeing up but didn't have a reason to buy one, until the first one was SLASHED to £11 from £38. While browsing online yesterday I noticed the other one was also slashed in price down to £16.49..... so I ordered it.

Hell Bunny sea sparkle swimsuit - Soho's

I knew if I didn't at least give it a go and it sold out I would highly regret it! I ordered a medium and a large as I know Hell Bunny come up quite large (my bust is now to small for a large dress). If this fits I will have 2 swimsuits so if do get to vacation somewhere I will be set! Wahey!

I do welcome Autumn this year though (although I wish it were drier), I cannot wait to get the coat out and the scarfs, and as I keep rattling on about I have so many autumnal plans!

I hope you keep dry and have a fab week!

Hello Autumn, hello chills.

So GOOD NEWS I got my Mumford and Son’s tickets. Woohoo! It was a tense half an hour, they went on sale at 9am but I believe the website must have gone down and it wasn’t until around 9:30am that I actually got in and got 2 standing tickets for the 9th December. I am so excited and I have booked the day off to go and queue early on, I think it will be amazing I am hoping to get to the front! Sarah has offered to pay for the parking which means we could take a blanket and supplies and queue and there are loads of places to eat so there will be lots of chance to get foods. I am really excited. When we hit October I have so much planned and to look forward to I cannot wait.

The weekend just gone was pretty dull, I am pretty sure this is what I will day at the beginning of post so perhaps unless it was eventful we can just assume it was dull haha!

Friday we put everything in the flat away, we had been airing it out all week. My Grandma amazingly washed so much stuff for me and I filled bin bag with charity shop clothes too! I believe the dehumidifier is working well as there is none or very little moisture on the window in the mornings. I have also done some research and feel more confident in keeping the damp away. All is back in its place now, and I believe I can get the washing finished this weekend so no more bags of stuff laying around. At least I know where to check in the rooms to see if there is a problem starting.

 It does mean that I need to invest in a dehumidifier though, that is a fair chunk of money so that kind of sucks but it is a small price to pay if it means I won’t get mold and damp. I am going to test my mum’s one for a few weeks and see how it goes, if no sign of it coming back then I know it will be worth it, I also need tyres for the car. Life is one big list of paying out money, crikey!

So this week is flying by again. I am glad as I have 2 weeks and 2 days to go before my week break. I am so excited for some time off I keep writing about it and going on about it, but I really feel like I need it!

 

I can really feel autumn setting in and so early this year. I even got gloves out this morning to keep the chill of my fragile hands. I’ve been wearing jackets and scarfs for a good 2 weeks now, I still feel like our summer never really came but I am now looking forward to all the things that come with autumn! Snuggly clothes, scarfs, hot drinks and lots of warm colours, and OF COURSE my winter/autumn dresses!

Including this one!

Sugarhill Boutique dress

I am having this for my Birthday it is a Sugarhill Boutique dress. So far I don’t have much on my wish list. My love for Harry Potter has exploded recently so I may just get money and get lots of Harry Potter stuff at the studio tour! I actually ordered another dress with that one (toucan dress) but it fitted really badly and the straps sat so strangely on me and just looked awkward so alas that went back (I was gutted as the fabric was stunning) I thought the above dress was a great all year round piece! The colour is bright enough for wearing in the summer but the style and cut means it can be worn when it's cooler too.

With the joys of lovely autumnal clothes coming in the shops I also picked up some new shoes. I have a little haul of shoes really, woops!

I wore some new pumps yesterday I got in the sale from Office a few weeks ago and they TORE my feet apart. My feet are covered in sores and blisters today, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get home in them so I popped/hobbled to Primark to get a plain pair to get home in. I however got carried away and left with 5 pairs in total (the black pair not pictured below were just their £4 plain black ones they always do)

I know 5 is quite a lot, but £34 for the lot I was pleased. I have been living off of 1 pair of grey pumps Laura bought be almost 2 years ago for about a year now, but the sole is falling off now. I also get fed up with putting together a lovely dress or outfit and not having any shoes to choose from and sometimes grey just doesn’t look great.

I loved all of these for the autumnal colours and I can’t wait to start pairing them with outfits and the brown pair are lovely and soft and actually practical! As much as I have tried to buy more practical shoes I still love my crappy little pumps. I think they look cute and I am most comfortable in them! I just REALLY want navy blue pair; which are always sold out in my size! Hopefully I will be able to get my hands on a pair soon!

In the spirit of autumn coming I have actually done a new design too and I am pretty happy with it! I am pretty sure its almost finished and I hope to complete it this weekend! I wanted to get brooches printed and made but money is a little tight and I bought 5 pairs of shoes instead ahah :p

 I hope everyone else is enjoying the chill in the air (although the sun is out in full force this afternoon!) and looking forward to autumn fun!

Bank Holiday weekend.

In true British fashion we waved goodbye to the last Bank Holiday weekend before Christmas and the New Year with lots and lots of rain. Bucket loads in to exact!

To be honest with you I’ve had much better weekends. This one ended up being quite stressful and has left me in a slump. Just to sum it all up, Matt’s old rooms suffered terribly from damp, and the year just gone with no heating it has spread like CRAZY, and lots of our things ended up being binned or ruined with mold. We cleaned everything when we bought it over to the new flat. However accidently while looking for a bag I found out that in actual fact the mold has come with us and come in clothes, particularly ones that lived in the wardrobe. I am really feeling quite down and exhausted now. I thought I had left this entire mold problem behind. I plan on now washing ALL the clothes in the coat cupboard and wardrobe. The items in my draws seem to be unaffected, it is a huge task though and I have to take it to family to help otherwise it will take me weeks to do.

ANYWAY moving on POSITIVE MIND…. On Saturday I went to see Lisa and had a good old catch up in the pub, it was so nice to see her as I haven’t seen her in a month! Then me and Matt went and did some window shopping in Bluewater.

Sunday was spent cleaning and that’s when I found my issue ugh! However Monday was better even though it tipped it down ALL DAY! I went to a Donkey Derby in the afternoon with my sister and in the evening Matt and I had a date night!

In the last two weeks I think I said in a previous post I won 2 gift cards (one for a dress shop and one for Frankie and Benny’s) so we went off out for dinner. With the discount from our Cineworld cards and the voucher we got out whole meal for £4.18! I had a chicken wrap and it was LOVELY! Really really nice and afterwards we headed to see the film No Escape. That was surprisingly really good too, I was expecting that much from it, but it was a real thrill ride of a film!

So as you can see my Bank holiday was ok… but not great alas… one good thing though is Mumford and Sons announced their UK tour so I will be trying to get tickets on their presale link tomorrow morning! I am SO EXCITED, and Matt and I have also decided to start saving again.

We have been a little lost since moving and haven’t really had a goal, which is strange after years of wanting to move out on our own! We have decided together to go and do a big BLOW OUT HOLIDAY in Florida and I am SO EXCITED. We are going to save as much as we can and if we have a good amount by February 2016 we will go ahead and book our holiday! It is nice having a new goal and the idea of going away for 2 weeks for fun and sun and ORLANDO AND DISNEY just is freaking amazing!

So fingers crossed the week improves and fingers crossed I get my tickets tomorrow :D