Emily and Fin review.

I have eyed up Emily and Fin for some time now. After discovering them via modcloth I have quietly watched in the shadows wishing I had a fair few of their dresses.

The price tag for is a bit too steep for me, even though on a few occasions the sale prices have tempted me. One reason I always end up hesitating is because I have been unsure what size to aim for. With Modcloth suggesting to size up and the reviews saying that it is a little too roomy in the bust I have been torn between and 12 and a 14. I fell for this Lucy dressin Meandering Polar Bears back before Christmas and I have been keeping an eye on it in the sale since the New Year. When it dropped down to £26 from £65 I really couldn’t say no anymore. I decided to order a 12 and a 14 in case one sold out if it didn’t fit and now I was finally ready to take the plunge I would know for future reference what size to order.

Lucy dress in Meandering Polar Bears 

I have to say the postage is a little high, and with no free returns that always puts me off a little ordering online. I am always much more willing to give things ago if there is free returns, but as the dress was such a good price and look amazing I thought, let’s give it a go!

I ordered them on Friday afternoon and they arrived Tuesday. Because they send their parcels DPD I was able to have it transferred to Halfords as I would have been at work which was a bonus!

I was impressed straight away by the quality of the fabric and print. The fabric was slightly darker than it looked online but I really liked it and it was still really vibrant.

The fabric is a nice weight but still light enough to feel comfortable to wear, I can’t stand heavy materials but this was spot on. The reviews were correct in that the bust came up slightly big on me in the 14 but the waist fitted perfectly. The 12 the waist was too tight and the neckline cut in a little too even though the bust fitted better, so I decided that the 14 was the best fit!

I really adored the little crystal button at the top on the dress to do it up, it was a really lovely touch. As well as that it was fully lined and had pockets HURRAH! How we do all love a good pocket in a dress. The length on me was really comfortable. I prefer shorter dresses but as I am 5ft 8” sometimes they come up just too short! Bum skimming. This is longer than my other dresses but still short enough that it doesn’t give me that frumpy feeling with the added bonus of my bottom staying covered.

Overall this is one of the highest quality dresses that I own and £26 was a great steal of a price. I am also pleased with the fit, it is really complementing and although slightly loose in the bust it isn’t noticeable. I will defiantly be purchasing more in the future!

So this dress gets 2 thumbs up from me! More if I had more thumbs, so much so I am tempted by the Rose Dress in teal falling snowflake!

Rose dress in teal falling snowflake

So I would highly recommend Emily and Fin and I would say the sizing is pretty spot on! I am now gutted I missed out on so many previous sales!

It's getting sooo cool outside!

Well summer has left us! I am hoping it will be back and will grace us with its warmth again for maybe a couple more weeks. ‘Arctic winds will plunge parts of Britain into the coldest spell of August weather for almost a century - just in time for the late summer Bank Holiday.’

It has been a bit of a shock to go from 20°c+ to about 12°c. There is a really bitter cold feeling in the air! I have struggled all week to get out of bed as I have been FREEZING and been wondering around wrapped up in a blanket refusing to get out of it for those few moments where you are all exposed to the world. I suppose I should suck it up because it will just get colder from here on in as August is fast coming to an end, so autumn will soon be on our door steps.

With this sudden chill in the air it got me thinking about some warmer clothes. This summer I have been happy in a t-shirt and a skirt or shorts for my more casual wear. I love my dresses the most but I like to have a selection of casual clothes, not much fun putting on a fancy dress to sit in bed all day, or go to Tesco..and hoodys are the best for evenings at the cinema!

My style over the last year has changed a fair amount. I wanted to wear jumpers and what not this year but to be honest I can’t find any I suit, and not to mention I feel quite uncomfortable in them! :(

So I think this winter I will stick to my new hoody (that fits well rather than a big cover up) and I also invested in some cardigans for chucking over my t-shirts!

I actually came up with a pretty cute school girl look with some cardigans!

I think they are pretty cute little outfits that will look nice before the winter actually comes around. Means I don’t have to put my t-shirts away completely till next summer :)

I am a bit strange with clothes. It’s a bit of a control thing I like to have everything planned and ready to go. I like to know exactly what I am going to wear through summer or winter or whatever season and I also like to have a style kind of and stick to that. Hence why I end up with same clothes in lots of different colours!

But as I said above I do hope we see a few more warmer weeks before autumn comes completely, hopefully a few more shorts and sandals days!

I’m getting excited about heading off to France soon. Just wish I had a better idea of the weather as that would be very helpful as I LOVE TO PACK and plan to pack but at the moment it is hard to plan as I have no idea what the weather will do! I’m hoping for cool dry days maybe 15°c to 20°c that would be spot on thank you very much!

I have also started a birthday list bwahah, currently it involves a coat from my Mum and Dad (yes I have a coat problem, but I SWEAR this will be the only one I get this year and I will sell at least one old one!) and some shoes from my sister. I know it’s a bit early but the shoes were in the sale and I couldn’t afford them as I am saving saving saving and the coat was just sooo lovely I couldn’t leave it behind heh he!

This week is a short week and so is next week as I took Friday off and it is bank holiday Monday too. So two 4 day weeks and a 4 day weekend yay! Let’s hope today goes quickly and it is Thursday evening before I know it!

Body Confidence my thoughts and myths and facts.

Every summer comes and I dread it. It comes and I know I will be battling through the summer sun in too many clothes because GOD FORBID I didn't not cover up. I would wear leggings and skirt and tops. For years I would have a hoody on and give in when it got too hot and wear a short sleeved one when it got too hot. Last year I braved wearing cardigans instead. I never really enjoyed the freedom that I wish I could enjoy in summer.

I thought that’s it next summer I will lose weight and I will be summer ready (took a few summers ahah). I will be bare legged and just in a t-shirt and it will be amazing. To a BIG surprise to me it didn't happen. I may of lost around 50lbs. I’m 2-3 clothes sizes smaller. I have clothes now that I want and more or less everything I want and the styles I like fit me now! But getting my arms and legs out wasn't an easy transaction as I thought it would be.

I decided I would never be ready to go bare legged and instead focused on my top half. I just started with t-shirts. That is a nice in-between I thought, nice and cool without having all the top of my arms out and the added bonus of not getting horrendously sun burnt again. I started off around the house and little trips like to my Grandma’s and to too the super market. It was harder than I thought and now looking back I don’t know what I was so hung up on it!

I eventually realised no one was looking or staring or poking fun at me, actually no one cared and I started to notice people outside in hoody’s in the heat far more than anyone just wearing a damn t-shirt! I had to wonder if they too were insecure.

Then when we went on holiday I longed to have the holiday feeling, not be cramped up in leggings and what not. So on the first day I braved on some skin coloured tights…. I went to Morrions and to my surprise the world didn't end, no one looked or stared and actually maybe I just had regular legs. SO I decided to have skin coloured legs all holiday. Unfortunately my tights ripped that night and could either do ripped tights or just go o’natural. I did however have some biker style shorts from ASOS and I put them on instead. Matt said there was little difference between them and tights so I went with it! I walked along the beach and it felt amazing! Again no one really looked and the world didn't end and I felt less stupid than when I was down at the seaside in my leggings!

Anyway as I was away and ‘free’ on holiday I was fine and I even found myself wishing for smaller legs but correcting myself into wishing for more confidence. I know that is something I can change, why would I focus on something that I cannot. When it came to doing on the way home and going through lakeside I quickly felt very uncomfortable and changed my mind alas. But it was a big step in the right direction!

So the last few weeks I've been debating how much I want to go bare legged for the summer, how much I loved it on holiday. I don’t really like the layered up effect of leggings and I just want to do it so much. The only thing in my way is in my head! But my head is a powerful thing that gets in the way and stops me doing something. I know that I’m not huge and I know that my legs are just legs and to be honest anyone that doesn't like my legs can go stick it! But it’s easier said than done to get over that.

Finally though yesterday I went to the cinema in my new shorts and today I’m at work with just skin coloured tights on. I’m not that fussed about doing it at work because to be honest I don’t really care what I wear but it’s been a big change in my brain. I think I just need to do these things and prove to myself that nothing bad happens and my brain is over reacting.

Rocking out with my legs out! So comfy when it's hot to go to the cinema in!

It is such a free feeling being happy and comfortable and feeling like I fit in with everyone else. I’m so fed up of planning what I wear based on how I can fit leggings and a cardigan into this outfit. Or thinking no I can’t wear that because it wouldn't work with this or that.

Instead I’ve been chucking on a t-shirt and a skirt and at the moment I seem to be sticking to tights they give me that little ‘safety’ feeling that I think I need.

I thought I would just love myself when I lost weight and in actual fact I needed to work on it and I still am but I’m getting there. These hang up I have had for years and just in the back of my mind being miserable because I bought clothes ‘I thought’ I could wear instead of what I wanted to wear is such an amazing feeling. I really am beginning to feel comfortable with myself and I’m just beaming inside! I feel very settled and not like I’m trying to constantly achieve something.

I don’t know if any of this makes sense it’s something that’s hard to express and something I don’t feel like I want to share with everyone as it is something quite personal. It also give me a lot of pride with the weight loss and also the mental changes I am making. It’s also great to not be focused on ‘when I lose weight I will be able to….’ Instead I’m just being me here and now and although I want to lose a little bit more it’s not the main goal and I realise that is not going to bring me the happiness and comfortable feeling that I have been searching for!

SO the myths of weight loss to me were when you do it, IT WILL BRING YOU HAPPINESS. The fact is that actually you need to work on you and how you see yourself! You need to realise that you are amazing and to be honest with you they are just arms and legs and EVERYONE has them! You can be happy you just have to let go of those insecurities! But again that isn’t something that disappears over night! Baby steps seem to be working well for me... one thing at a time. Now it all seems less terrifying. But through all the hard work it is sooo worth it in the end!

Feeling under the weather

Monday morning again, I always seem to start my posts on a Monday. The weekend just gone I feel like I was scammed out of a weekend.

Friday I was EXHUSTED and I went to see Captain America after work. We booked tickets for 11pm so we could try the DBOX seats. I was a little worried this was going to be too late as I was knackered but I had a nap beforehand and the film was so good It kept me awake. Also the fact the seats were moving and vibrating most likely helped hehe!

I really enjoyed the DBOX seats. I don’t think I would regularly pay the extra to sit in them, but they were fun!

We got back about 2:30am and I woke up later Saturday just before lunch time. I had to pop to the opticians and then me and Matt had a fry up. Yes I was meant to be being healthy and no I did not stick to it. It was amazing though! Bacon, chips, egg and fried mushrooms. My stomach is growling for more right now.

I agreed to babysit that evening. The family are lovely and the kids are adorable but I think when I only have 2 days off a week it REALLY sucks into my free time. I’m not sure I would do it again or too often at the weekends. I feel like I need that time to myself or for me and Matt. I was disappointed with my dinner (I took a microwave meal) so we popped to McDonalds when I got back  and forgot the clocks went forward so I technically got in again at 2am.

That night I woke IN AGNOY with stomach cramps and ache. It kept me up during the night. I thought it was eating such awful food so late but I am still feeling under the weather today so I don’t know what it was.

But Sunday morning I was still feeling bloated and horrible and lost my appetite. I haven’t had a bad tummy or been ill but I have just felt about 20 stone and tired and achy. I did however force myself up and into the shower and got ready to take my mum out for mothers day!

Mum and Dad

Sarah, Mum and Me

Sarah and Me

Taking my space dress out for an outing (didn’t feel glamorous in it though alas as I was so bloated.)

The food was lovely and although I wasn’t really feeling it I still goggled down dough balls and a large pizza and it was delicious. I had to pick the goats cheese off my pizza though as I discovered I didn’t like that! I think my Mum really enjoyed it which was cool.

Might try and do the same for Father’s day a my Dad is way too hard to buy for. Haha!

So the finale The Walking Dead and My Mad Fat Diary is on tonight. I CANNOT WAIT FOR TWD! Seriously I have been so tempted to look on Tumblr today but I shan’t! I also have the gym in between both boo hiss!

Also I have got rather into POP FUNKO figures again. I can’t wait for conventions this year to get some more!

I was naughty last week and got Daryl and Daenerys Targaryen. I will be on the hunt for more at MCM and also LFCC.

And I will end on a VERY HAPPY NOTE that made my week tbh. DAVID HEWLETT is going London Film and Comic Con. He is one of the people I would like to meet the most! He plays one of my favourite characters ever! And tbh it will make my summer meeting him WAHEY!

I can't wait for the weather to get nicer and the convention season to start!

First Monday in Spring. Ice cold this morning.!

Monday morning again and Monday blues. I am still pinning for last weekend alas, this weekend was very peaceful and relaxing which I think I really needed as I was SOOO tired last week.

Thursday after work we went for Chinese food with Matt’s Dad and Julie and it was a REALLY REALLY lovely evening! The food was just to die for and I really enjoyed spending time with both of them and Matt.

I wore my fox dress. I got it back in October or November, I saw it on a blog and it was at Very.co.uk for £12.50 reduced from about £25-£30! Fitted like a dream too! I’ve only worn it once though since buying it so I was quite excited to put it on and go out for dinner!

I will make sure I wear it more next autumn as it’s not quite right for the fast (although not fast enough) approaching spring and summer.

On Saturday I didn't do too much but I saw the new Muppet Movie in the evening! I really enjoyed it!! :)

We started Game of Thrones last week, and we literally spent all Sunday lazing in bed watching it. We have gotten through season 1 and half way through 2. I should slow down really as we are going run out soon!

I’m really enjoying it even though I keep getting exceptionally lost. I downloaded a family tree and that is helping a lot.

I’m so gutted though I missed the walking dead cast at LFCC last year. There has been a few programs I have gotten into in the last year and missed their characters at conventions boo hiss! However I know people get excited as its approaching the time of the yeah when its festival time and party time and going on holiday time. I love this time of year because from about May to October it’s Convention time of the year!! MCM soon and then my favourite London Film and Comic Con! Cannot wait! And now they have the ‘winter’ one too although I would say it’s autumn I don’t even have to wait a whole 12 months for the next one!

Changing the subject and something to end this post on. I read the other night about how ModCloth can be a rip of at times. I won’t lie I thought their prices are rather high at times. And the possibility or import charges and the items not fitting have put me off ordering! The cost to send things back just put me off if stuff didn’t fit.

Anyway a while ago I fell in love with a Unicorn dress on there for $80ish and then found it was a English brand Yumi and I found it in the sale for £25. I’ve been eying up a cherry dress on Modcloth now for a few months it is just lovely! After some research I found it on other US stores for about $20-30 less and then I found it in the UK for £22.99 HURRAH! I think it is the same and if not it is so close!

Cherry Dress eBay £22.99

Cherry Dress ModCloth $64.99

So I am HORRIBLY tempted to buy this. I need a little red cardigan first though! New look have just bought out their cropped cardigans for the summer and spring so when I get paid I will be making a trip there!

Hope your week is good and I hope my week improves and the Monday Blues vanish.