Another year older, another year wiser but still just a Muggle

So I am now 27, EEEP crikey. It is terrifying to think I am really REALLY an adult and 30 is now only 3 years away! It only feels like a year ago that I was turning 21, I have been promised that my 30’s will be amazing so we will wait and see I guess. Until this I will enjoy being in my 20’s still.

If you saw my previous post you may have seen that my week off didn’t start quite according to plan alas. But Wednesday rolled around and I had a nice relaxing afternoon and saw my Aunt for a little bit. I then headed to bed for 11:30pm. This is a big thing for me as I am usually very impatient and I open my presents at midnight! I decided to wait till the morning which I am glad I did.

We got up about 7:30am, which is crazy early for a day off I’d say! But I wanted to make the most of my day. I had to sit outside the living room eagerly waiting for Matt to ‘finish’ a surprise for me. When he let me in I was so excited. He has dressed all the Poes in little hats, and he had, had them printed on a cake too and there were candles light and a hand drawn Happy Birthday sign. It really meant a lot to me especially as it was the first celebration in our flat together that he decorated it up a bit!

 I unwrapped my gifts and I was really surprised Matt got me the time turner I had been pining after. It is beautiful and is the real silver and gold one I wanted! I am terrified I might lose it so I may buy a safety chain to clip on it! I also got some Harry Potter Pop Funkos, and got a beautiful dress and shirt! I also spent my gift card the lovely ladies at work got me on Friday on a penguin jumper which you can see below too!

 I then got ready and I picked my new elephant dress. I bought some navy tights to go with it and paired that with a navy cardi and a backpack as I wanted to be hands free all day! We then headed to The Harvester to have breakfast. I had planned on a simple crumpet and fruit type breakfast as my tummy still wasn’t feeling 100%. However when we got there I was actually quite hungry and pretty unhappy about missing out on a fry up on my birthday so I caved and got one! I did however give some to Matt as I couldn’t manage it all! It was well worth it as it was DELICOUS!

The motor way was insanely clear and we arrived around 11:45am. Our tour started at 12:30pm so we had a fair bit of time to wait. We looked round the gift shop and I excitedly started make a mental list of how I was planning on spending my birthday money, and then we sat outside for a while as the sun was shining gloriously and it was the first beautifully sunny warm day that week!

We queued up just before 12:30 and headed in! We did the first part with the cinema and little talk and I got to push the doors open to the great hall as it was my birthday woo! I was so excited and I got Matt to snap as many photos of me with my favourite props and sets as possible and I took WAY too many photos myself… It is hard to pick just a handful out of the hundreds but here they are!

The sets are all beautiful 

I did the broom stick thing this time! That was loads of fun, I didn’t do it last time because of the queues and the fact that I really hated photos or videos of myself (shame really!) this time however the queues were only around 10-15 minutes long and I really wanted a photo!

I love this picture and I got to pick Gryffindor robes

After looking at all the beautiful sets, we headed into the next part which was the main reason for my visit THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS! It was really awesome and you got to go up inside it too which I hadn’t realised you could do! It was stunning and exactly how I imagined it would have been!

I tried so hard to get through to platform 9 3/4 but it didn't work

When you come off you can have your photo in a booth to look like you are on the train (which we did and bought!) and then you get to have a few snaps and play around in another booth with a video that plays in the window! I really enjoyed that part!

So happy I got a snap of Matt to keep!

We got through into the middle bit, and I was ready for a sit down! We both got butter beers (I got the fancy one with the mug you get to keep and Matt ended up getting 2 disposable ones) It was warm enough you could sit outside which was GREAT! It meant we got to do all the outside stuff properly and sit down and really enjoyed our butter beers (last time we went it was SO COLD outside we spend a minimum amount of time outside and rushed through it!)

I wish I could drink butter beer all day long

Couldn't resist getting a snap on all the things outside

The next bit was all the inside information, the how they did it and the artwork and what not. I love this bit too as it is so fascinating and interesting the amount of work that goes into making films.

Then you head up Diagon Alley. I remember it being longer and I kind of wished it was but it was really awesome regardless! I love peering into all the shop windows.

My favourite shop

Then the last bit which is defiantly a favourite of mine was the Hogwarts model. It is just stunning and the atmosphere in there is perfect. It just makes you wish SO HARD that it was all real and you could really go there. I won’t stop hoping that maybe one day I will get my letter ha! You just have to sit back and take it all in!

The Hogwarts model... so stunning

You then go through the wand shop bit with the names of all the people that worked on the films on wand boxes, again this is really atmospheric and pretty impressive.

And then you end up back in the gift shop! I was pleased I looked at the beginning as I was pretty tired (it was about 5pm by this point and I was starving) I picked out a few bits. I got myself a beautiful T-Shirt, chocolate frog, Muraders map mug and a souvenir guide. I really wanted a wand too, but I decided against it as it was quite pricey and I wanted to save some of my pennies for other things.

My mini haul

While we were paying I also got a ‘It’s my birthday’ badge! I was pretty pleased with that!

And with that we headed home. It was NOT a clear drive home, actually it took about double the time but I guess the M25 at rush hour you wouldn’t expect anything else. We then got a pizza and garlic bread from Morrisons on the way home and I really enjoyed that and ate while watching so Star trek next gen. The evening was spent being lazy in our pj’s just watching TV and playing on the internet.

It was one of those days that I just DIDN’T want to end, and I didn’t want to go home either. It went so quickly and I enjoyed every moment of it. I then popped into the shower and Matt relight the candles on my cake and sung Happy Birthday too me which was the perfect end to the perfect day!

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!

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!

Weekend exploring new places!

I am always so confused when Monday arrives. I swear only a few hours ago we were excited for the arrival of Friday, yet here we are trudging to the train to start a whole week of work. Especially when I am so desperate for time off and a break, alas only 8 more weeks and I will get my week off darn it!

Anyway this weekend was exceptionally pleasant. Saturday I woke up had breakfast did a bit of washing and hula hooping (yeah I’m getting pretty good at that now!) and while eating lunch looking out the window at the beautiful sunny day I decided it was a waste to spend in doors. I was glad I decided this as it was GLORIOUS outside, I wasn’t aware it was as hot as it was. I picked out my new Sugarhill Boutique dress from a few weekends ago and my new denim jacket and headed to Guilford on the train.

I’ve only been there to go to the cathedral, so I was excited to see what the town was like and I wasn’t at all disappointed.  The train was only £12 for us both with my saver card and less than half an hour, once we got there it was a simple walk to the shops, over a beautiful bridge overlooking the canal, the shops were up a large hill and the streets were cobbled. Although a Saturday afternoon, it was peaceful and enjoyable. Most of the shopping was outside so we enjoyed the sunshine, although my jacket spent all afternoon wrapped round my waist as it was far too hot to wear.

Guildford is a stunning town, it really is! I thoroughly enjoyed it, the atmosphere is lovely and everything is more peaceful and old worldly! Traveling through the countryside on the train to get there and the little cobbled streets and traditional buildings. I was dying to have a good look around the canal and I thought I saw a garden at the end of the street which I wanted to explore.

We did lots of shopping, alas I fell in love with a Cath Kidston skirt and a lovely ring in a small shop but neither had my size. There were more unusual shops compared to any old shopping centre, including Cath Kidston and I just really enjoyed my time there. I wish I had taken some photos.

Matt however started to overheat a little bit and we stopped off at Creams for an Ice Cream. I had 2 scoops - Snickers and Ferrero Rocher. It was far too big but I loved it! Matt was still not feeling 100% so we didn’t look around the canal and gardens instead we headed home. I will defiantly be back though to explore more that is for sure and next time I will make sure to take my camera!

That evening we just went to the cinema and relaxed at home!

Sunday I had to catch up on house stuff and also start some freelance work I had been meaning to do for way too long! I also had to pop to town to run a few errands the main one was to buy bread. I did buy bread and some other important things, but I also accidentally came back with these beauties’! 

 New Look £10

I saw them in New Look reduced to £10 and I’ve been trying to find some new shoes that are more supportive and better for walking in than my Primark ballet pumps. I kind of pulled a face but thought well let me see and I tried them on. I was shocked when I thought how lovely they looked on and I started to walk home and had to turn around and go back to pick them up they were too much of a bargain to miss!

I thought they would be great in the summer if the weather is a little off, and a good way to start to introduce myself into wearing my Dr Martins in the autumn! 

So that is one thing that is cheering me up on this Monday, my shiny new shoes!

I hope your Monday is well, and I hope the next weekend comes around even quicker than the last!