Silly Old Sea Dog

Back in August I believe I enter a competition with Marry Me Ink 'A wedding blog dedicated to the decorated bride' spend at Silly Old Sea Dog. I was SOO EXCITED as I had admired their dresses since seeing the Nutcracker dress on thesoubrettebrunette's blog back in 2014!

I decided to hold off until Christmas to spend it as I had wanted a Christmas dress for a few years now.

They announced the Christmas dresses and I was so excited which one to pick. The prices are quite high at around £100 for a dress. I do completely understand and appreciate why they are higher in price. As someone who has made clothes before I can appreciate the time and energy that goes into making these clothes and also the price of fabric.

Saying that and understanding why they are the price they are; unfortunately still left them slightly outside of my price range (with the new flat and Christmas coming)

So I waited until Black Friday in a hope that I would be able to get a dress and luckily they did do a discount. However I wasn't able to use my gift card and the discount code. I have to say I was a little disappointed with that, as to me a gift card is money not a voucher. As I had won the gift card I didn't say anything else. However had I bought one or had one bought as a gift for me I would be quite disappointed.

Anyhow my patience paid off and a few days before Christmas I managed to nab one in the sale and I was super excited when it arrived on the 23rd December just before Christmas day.

I had misjudged the sizing and went with measurements I had taken some time ago . Sometimes I still find it hard to order smaller sizes as I still have the mindset of 'GOD THAT WILL NEVER FIT ME!' but I misjudged it this time and a 14 was swimming on me.

I contacted Silly Old Sea Dog and they said ship it back and we will send you a new size. So after much remeasuring and checking the size guide (happy to report my waist and bust measurement have gone down since I last measured them!!) I ordered a 12. The 14 was so generous I was a little skeptical if this one too would be a little large also.

BUT then on the 2nd January my lovely packaged arrived and it fitted like a glove!

Firstly both dresses arrived in ADORABLE little polka dot bags and were both wrapped in green paper and ribbon with a little note that made me smile! There is just something about receiving your items like this that makes it all the more personal and special.

And you know what I do look fabulous! The dress is a beautiful material, it feels very durable but still soft and flows nicely. It is well finished and put together very well to a very high standard. 

As you can see the 12 fits perfectly! The sizing is definitely very generous and very true to their size guide so if in doubt I would size down! 

They do such adorable patterns and use really unusual fabrics. The cut of the dress is spot on and is really flattering. It hangs very nicely and I am GUTTED I have to wait 11 months until I can take this baby out for a proper spin! 

I am impressed with Silly Old Sea dog and I would highly recommend them! I really hope that maybe next year I will financially better and be able to pick up a halloween dress and maybe another Christmas one!

All burnt out!

I don’t want to start complaining on here and whining and such (reading back through posts from 2013 it was a little cringy) but I want to just get this off my chest.

I AM SO BURNT OUT. Seriously I need a break and a rest. Last year I had 2 weeks off, one in the summer and I spent it away at the seaside and the second was at the end of September and we went to France. Both times we relaxing, it broke the year up and gave me something to focus on and look forward to. This year has been much different.

It’s been amazing and I have achieved what I wanted to achieve! However thinking back over the last year actually it’s been exceptionally stressful and I think it is catching up on me now. So far this year I have had 1 or 2 days off in March for Matt’s birthday (I can’t remember now), I then had 2 days over bank holiday weekend which added up to 5 days off, and finally a whole week off in June. In March it was nice (although I felt pretty unwell alas) but on the time I had off on the May bank holiday I was in full packing mode. We spent 3 days packing like MAD and then one day up in London which I wrote about here. When we went up to London I was actually exhausted. Every weekend was then spent planning packing and sorting. All my free time was spent preparing and mentally planning everything, fretting about the flat and money. To be honest with you for about 2 months I was a wound up coil ready to burst, my stress levels were through the roof. To bring a downer on our trip out too I hurt my back so that day in London was particularly painful too!

The week off in June was to move and as you can imagine that was stressful, by Tuesday me and Matt cracked and HUGE argument happened. It wasn’t until Friday that I felt calmer and more sorted, but even then we had to finish more things over the weekend.

I honestly don’t feel like I have had time off. I have now worked for almost 9 months this year without feeling like I have had any relaxation time. I honestly feel like I am just burnt out. My work in the office is lacking now as my concentration is just non-existent. I am beginning to feel very low in general too, I can feel myself just dragging my ass to work every day and just wishing for a few days of fun and relaxation. I don't feel like 'me' at the moment, but on the few days we have had out over the summer I feel like 'me' is creeping back in!

However, ON TO SOME EXCITING THINGS THOUGH! I have actually booked a week off in October for my birthday, and I found out that Matt has Christmas off again so that really exciting. I am hoping to do our trip away like last year. I now have things to look forward to and no guilt of money to stop me!

Yesterday I finalised and booked some fun for my week off. On the Friday the plan is to get home shower and eat and jump in the car up to Nottingham for a awesome weekend with Laura and Sammi. I’ve booked Annie’s burger and I hope to do a bit of shopping and just hang out. We will most likely drive home Sunday evening and have a good lay in on Monday. 

Then on Wednesday I have booked tickets to see Les Misérables. I saw the movie on Sunday on the TV and it blew me away I have been listening to the soundtrack all week. I am SO excited to see it and we will go up to London have a good poke around, the performance is at 2:30pm and then we will head to Buffalo for dinner on the way home.

Thursday is my birthday and I plan on getting up early and heading to The Harvester for the breakfast buffet. From here I have booked the 12:30pm slot for the Harry Potter Studio Tour! SO excited for that I have wanted to go and see the Hogwarts express since it opened!

I can't wait to take loads of photos, get dressed up and then blog about them!

No plans for the rest of the week yet but I hope to have lots of little trips out and just really enjoy myself and Matt’s company!

I don’t want to be the one to wish the summer away (even though I’m pretty sure it’s long gone, if it actually ever got here) but I am excited for October, I have loads going on this year! 2015 has been pretty uneventful when it comes to actually having days out so I hope October will be exciting!

• Nottingham
• Les Misérables
• Harry Potter
• Jack off Jill
• Tulleys Farm
• NFL football match

So yeah, it would be lovely to have some more sunny weather, but I’m kind of ok if September just disappears. Lots to look forward to, so I need to relax a little and keep stress level to a minimum.

I will end with 2 more exciting things that will hopefully counteract the complaining above.

I won TWO competitions in the last week.

£50 giftcard to spend at Silly Old Sea Dog from the amazing blog Marry Me Ink that I follow!

and then yesterday I won a £25 voucher from Frankie and Benny's! Yaay :D

Have a fabulous rest of the week!