2013 Snapshot

The year has gone so fast. when I first started my blog this January one of the reasons for doing so was to keep a diary. Although in the past year my blog has changed slightly it's still been amazing to look back on things I forgot about. It sounds a typical thing to say but a picture really does say a 1000 words. Just looking at one simple picture brings back so many fun memories of 2013 what I completely forgot about. I will admit it has been very cringy flicking back through to my first posts and finding too many photos where I've though why the hell have I posted that I look hideous. However although this year has gone far too fast just looking through everything gives me so much motivation for 2014.

Best wishes too you all for 2014.

Sammie

#AccessAllASOS

Good evening y'all. Hope you all had a swell (swell? I might try bring that word back into fashion) Christmas and Santa bought you all lots of amazing gifts. Hopefully they all managed to fit down the chimney as I know my drum kit never did as a child! I'm now back to more regular blogging after the Christmas holidays, although it's only the 27th so I can still feel guilt free about eating left over cheese-cake for brekie. I thought I would start things back up with one exciting little arrival that arrived today.

Today the amazing guys at ASOS kindly waved there fairy god mother wand and granted my wish of becoming in their #AccessAllASOS gang. They also gifted me with a little box of treats. Just when I thought I'd opened all my fabulous gifts I was spoilt a little more with a nail art kit (just in time for new year) and some snuggly socks for lazy hungover Weekends. 

The one thing I love ASOS for is there such an interactive brand. Whenever advise is needed or there's any problems ASOS will always tweet back and engage in a little chit chat with everyone what's amazing for such a big company. The personalised hand written note and fortune cookie in the parcel was super thoughtful and very cute. 

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas

Sammie

Monthly Shoe Wishlist | Christmas edition |

Top left: ALDO: Dwaydien - midnight black £70.00

So as I've previously mentioned by new job in now back in the city centre (hence lack of posting at the moment). This has come with its own problem of too much window shopping. A brief 5 minuet walk through town to work can end up taking a lot longer as you will regularly find me stood gazing at shoes in shop windows. This is when I happened to spot these beautiful shoes in ALDO. As much as these are perfect for a night out I'm also trying to convince myself these would be practical for work to justify buying them, although maybe not? 

Top right: Designer Desirables: Lemonade Shoes Baby Pink Crystal Couture Glitzy High Heel Pumps £250.00 £62.50

The Christmas season is well and truly upon us and no Christmas night out would be complete without the perfect pair of party heels. I'm still shocked by the amazing reduction on these and with a £187.50 saving these would be an amazing treat for myself. Obviously my new job has justified a lot recently, multiple Costa coffees, a nice lunch, new clothes, the pair of shoes mentioned above etc but the saving starts in January right? 

Bottom left:Topshop: Rebel pink mirror heels £48.00 £38.00

Ok so these would defiantly be a wear as off kind of item but these defiantly caught my eye. I'm not sure if I would be able to pull of wearing these, however as much I would be willing to give this a go I think for now this hot pink little pair remain in Topshop. 

Bottom right: River Island: Multi chain strap sandals £70.00

I've always found River Island hit and miss for shoes and clothes although some people love it I'm much more a topshop gal. However since I picked up a pretty nice (and practical believe it or not) pair of boots here recently I thought I'd have a little browse. I adore the chain detail on the shoes and could defiantly see myself wearing these quite a lot.

Whats your favourites?

Sammie

T Shirt Store | Trinity Leeds

Firstly it feels like I have not blogged in so long! It's only been a week but I've kind of missed it. For all of you who don't know on Monday I started a new job so I've been rather busy. 

Since my previous working hours allowed me to roll out of bed around half 9, my new job now means I'm up at 7am like an actual adult. Quite frankly although that's pretty normal time to awake, for me the only time I see 7am is after a pretty god night out! I would say my new job feels like it's going to be very challenging but it's a good step forward. I am also quickly starting to realise the perks of city centre working again, so maybe I should leave my bank card at home. Although I save loads on travel, a Costa coffee here, a nice lunch there, a magazine for the bus and a few irresistible items spotted in shop windows quickly adds up. 

Since Leeds has changed so much over the past year with the launch of the Trinity shopping centre I've had so many new shops to fill my lunch breaks with. Leeds has always been a good place for welcoming independent stores and so I was very excited last week when I received an invite to the new T-Shirt store. The company also kindly sent me a new phone cover as well, I must admit when this arrived I was very confused and my first thought was have I been drunk online shopping again? 

T-shirt store Leeds Trinity

T-shirt store Leeds Trinity

So onto the Tshirt Store. Arriving fashionably late as usually I was greeted to some champers and pizza from the staff and shown around the fabulous collections.  The store has such an amazing range of t shirts and jumpers all designed by independent designers. It was so hard to pick a favourite as all the designs are unique however I would say my favourite was the one pictured below with the video tapes on (It makes me feel a little old now that video tapes are now seen as vintage).  

T-shirt store Leeds Trinity

T-shirt store Leeds Trinity

T-shirt store Leeds Trinit

T-shirt store Leeds Trinit

The T Shirt Store pride themselves on the quality of there t-shirts and they are all made from the highest certified organic, fair-trade cotton. Speaking to the manager of the store the passion for using ethically sourced cotton and finding the best independent designers definitely showed. 

I genuinely loved the T-Shirt store and think the store will be a brilliant edition to Leeds. The store should defiantly go down well with the student population and I would like the thank the guys for the invite.

Sammie

                                          

Sunday supper | Roast & Conch Leeds | restaurant review

A few weeks back I visited the newly opened Roast & Conch restaurant in Leeds, which is a new restaurant as part of Leeds Trinity. The restaurant is from the creators of the delicious little chocolate shop Hotel Chocolate.  The restaurant uses coco beans in all of it's dishes and after my little trip to Bruges I was craving a little chocolate fix. 

Roast & Conch Leeds

Walking into Roast & Conch, you first enter into there adorable little cafe and chocolate shop. After some confusion me and my friend then noticed the sign to the main restaurant upstairs. Walking past the sacks of coco beans displayed at the bottom of the staircase and up the wood chipped rustic panel walls and staircase it feels as though you have emerged from a cargo shipment of coco beans and into a sophisticated restaurant. As you may of also noticed and another adorable feature is amongst the salt and pepper grinders is a chocolate coco bean grinder. How cute?

Roast & Conch Leeds

We was shown to our table and treated a little amuse-bouche of warming pumpkin soup. A unique little talking point for the table is the little bowls of coco beans for you to try. Although they are very bitter and I wouldn't particularly say they taste nice they make a fantastic talking point and are a great ice breaker to start conversation. 

Roast & Conch Leeds

"Not So Scotch" Egg - £6.50

Free-range hen’s egg cloaked in softened pearl barley and penny bun mushrooms, cocoa-nib crumb crust. With roast leeks and garlic. 

This was rather delicious and I was a little shocked at just how much I enjoyed it. When I think "scotch eggs" I think of child hood picnics and those super market pre packed versions. So this was a nice eye opener to how nice the humble scotch egg can be. Although a vegetarian option made with pearl barley the starter was ever so tasty. The crisp crunchy breadcrumb and subtle coco crust was cooked perfectly with a gooey runny yolk centre surrounded by soft pearl barley.  

Roast ‘Yardbird’ For Two - £14.00 Each

Basted with cocoa-nib butter served with dauphinoise potatoes, plantation stuffing, roast garlic and red wine roasting jus.

(‘Yardbird’ - West Indian for chicken)

Me and friend both decided to order the yard bird. I normally don't like ordering sharing courses as I'm a nosey little being and enjoy seeing what food other people order. However my friend was set on ordering the roast yard-bird and so the good friend I am went along with their wish. The chicken is cooked well although I couldn't taste any hint of chocolate in the actual chicken the flavour comes through slightly in the red wine jus. The little treats of stuffing, roast garlic and dauphinoise potatoes are perfect little treats to accompany the main course. 

White chocolate mash - £4.00

Side dish

As soon as I saw this, I has to order it. To many people this may sound sickly but don't knock it until you've tried it. In my opinion this a genius idea and although I thought this would be a simple gimmick it actually tasted really good too. The subtle hint of white chocolate comes through nicely without tasting like your eating a desert. It was the perfect side for my main course and I would return to this restaurant based on this alone. 

Sammie

Roast & Conch

55 Boar Lane

Leeds

LS1 5EL

Wishlist | Christmas list |

So it's now officially December and to be honest I still can't believe it. I hate to be a Grinch but this year I don't feel festive at all. Having a total of 4 work Christmas do's pencilled in the diary (due to starting my new job next Monday), participating in 2 secret Santa's and a whole bunch of shopping to do I still can't quite believe Christmas is coming.

My mum has been asking me for weeks what I want for Christmas and I've barley given it any thought. Although I have asked Santa for a new camera. I think it is a sign of growing up as up until ...so many.. years ago I would be sat circling the entire Argos catalogue greedily picking out presents. Although I still hold grudges about not getting that Mr Frosty and question just why Santa couldn't fit that drum kit down the chimney, Christmas means a lot more now in some ways then it did when I was a child.

I personally love the whole build up to Christmas, the festive nights out, enjoying buying gifts for other people and even the smell of the Christmas tree. Christmas day is now more about enjoying good food, the get together of family and friends and of course the squabbles over board games and quizzes don't go a miss. (To all family members reading this, dad is on my team in any family Christmas board or quiz game) 

In contrast the above statements and "not wanting anything" I've manages to put together a little list of Christmas goodies, that might be able to find there way under my Christmas tree this year. 

Audrey Hepburn DVD Collection: Amazon
Since buying the Marilyn Monroe DVD collection, I've been intrigued by old movies. I'm fascinated watching them. The Audrey Hepburn collection will be a perfect addition to my DVD collection. 

Chase Marmalade Vodka: Harvey Nichols
Not the typical Christmas drink but for me this drink reminds me of Christmas. I've no idea why. I love unique drinks and since I discovered this a few years back it's been my Christmas drink of choice. 

Snow Fairy Shower Gel - Lush
No Christmas wishlist would be complete without a little treat from lush.  

Wonderland Dusty Pink & Gold Watch - Olivia Burton
Ever since I treated myself to my Daniel Wellington watch earlier this year, I've been lusting over more watches ever since. I never used to wear watches but I'm since converted. This Olivia Burton watch is girly yet elegant and classic and is very affordable in comparison to other good quality watches. 

Best Of Benefit - Benefit
I normally always end up buying the benefit gift sets for my mum or my sister. Each year the Christmas range seems to get more adorable and this year is no exception. 

Dior Addict Eau De Parfum - Dior
Christmas wouldn't be complete with some perfume. Although my fragrance of choice this year isn't a cheap one it's always nice to have your favourite fragrance for special occasions.  

What's on your Christmas list?

Sammie

Sunday supper | Rare (Lamberts Yard Leeds) restaurant review |

This week I was very fortunate to be invited down to the press launch of the newly opened RARE, bar and restaurant in Leeds.The restaurant which promises "uncommon excellence" and offers quality food, would rival any fine dining restaurant. However Rare offers larger portion and uses meat from rare breed stock which yields a higher fat content so the restaurant uses traditional techniques like brining, braising and slow cooking that although takes longer, produces a fantastic unique melt in the mouth taste. Going against traditional fine dining concepts diners can except spacious seating, excellent table service and no dress code. So whether you put on your Conserve or your Louboutin's, want a intimate meal for 2 or a place to catch up with friends, rare can "meat" your fine dining expectations, without the fine dining price tag.

 Here's just why I love Rare:

Arriving at Rare, you first enter the upstairs bar area. The seating is spacious and with the dim lighting, comfortable seating it could be the perfect setting for day drinks after a hard days shopping or quiet drinks on a date. Taking our seats we was quickly brought over a drinks menu. The simple clip board menus (what I think is genius) fit the simple "uncommon excellence" theme of the restaurant. I was very quick to spot the Hiver Honey Beer, this proved a very good choice as I was told Rare is the only bar/restaurant in Leeds to currently stock this. 

Our table was soon ready and we was lead down the candle lit staircase into the main dining room. Although the taxidermi longhorn cow takes centre stage in the dining area, the dining area feels sophisticated and cosy more like your entering into a friends dining room (a friend with very good taste in décor) then a busy city centre restaurant. 

So enough of me rambling on, obviously you all want to know about the food: 

Rare (Lamberts Yard Leeds)

Rare (Lamberts Yard Leeds)

We was seated and handed a menu each. The menu is small but for me I prefer small menus, it shows the restaurant has selected fewer dishes to showcase only the best cooking. We was also given a little bowl of Tamworth pork cocktail sausages to tuck into whilst we decided what to order. This was such an amusing yet thoughtful touch what also made me very hungry as it instantly gives high expectations as they are delicious.  

The starters:

Potted smoked duck £6.00 

Served with grilled sour dough toast and a date, fig and apple chutney.

The duck was excellent and the presentation was beautiful. The pâté was smooth and flavoursome and the tangy date, fig and apple chutney was perfect accompaniment. This starter I felt actually had a little festive theme and in some ways represented excellent home style cooking at it's finest, presented in the sealed little jar it looked every bit home made. My only criticism here is the portion is rather large so I quickly ran out of the crisp sour dough toast so I was unable to finish all the delicious potted smoked duck. 

Spicy Tamworth pork belly ribs £7.50

Served with red cabbage and beetroot pickle.

My friend ordered the Tamworth pork belly and  must say I was a little jealous. However as I had "work" to do I obviously has to try some. The pork broke away easily with the side of the fork and was moist, juicy and super delicious. The accompaniments of red cabbage and pickled beetroon worked well with the pork and made this one very morish starter.  

Rare (Lamberts Yard Leeds)s

Rare (Lamberts Yard Leeds)

Browsing the main courses on the menu everything looked so delicious. Split into the categories, cow, pig, chicken, lamb, game and veggie even with the short menu I felt spoilt for choice. The one thing I did notice is the chicken (aimed at been a sharing main course) Is described as plenty for 2 enough for 3 what again is a thoughtful touch and promotes the friendly welcoming theme of the restaurant, also making the dining experience very affordable. 

The main course:

10oz Longhorn beef burger £13.50

Minced in house and served with baby gem lettuce, heritage tomatoes, dill pickle, red onion rings, Swaledale cheese, beetroot and horseradish relish, triple cooked chips, wholegrain mustard and celeriac coleslaw. 

Lets just take a minuet to ogle the burger. Mmm. I never order burgers in restaurants (this is what my friend choose) it feels like I'm wasting the opportunity to try something new. I did however how to eat some humble pie  when this arrived. We've all eaten burgers but I've never seen a burger look as delicious or thick as this. Although my friend struggled to finish it all, this was more because it was so meaty and filling. With the traditional burger toppings of onion, tomato, pickle, lettuce and cheese even all these ingredients had been carefully selected to ensure the best in taste. 

1/2kg Tamworth pork belly £13.00

Served on sliced pickled cox English apples, wholegrain mustard and cider sauce and finished with pork crackling. 

This seemed to be a very popular choice amongst diners and there is clearly good reason for this. Firstly the portion is more then enough, in fact it could probably be shared.The meat falls away from the bones, if your like me and bones in your food is a scary thought, you need not worry your little self. The meat is moist and flavoursome and again shows just what the restaurant stands for with there uncommon labour intensive cooking methods. Sitting on top of thinly sliced English cox apples and surrounded by the cider and mustard sauce the meal is simple perfection.

Rare (Lamberts Yard Leeds)

The cocktails:

Now as if I was going to end this post without taking about my favourite topic of all, cocktails!

Although the restaurant offers a unique wine and beer list, if there's one thing I love it's cocktails. The cocktails are made with just as much care and love as the food. Served in chilled frozen glasses with weird and wonderful garnishes reflects the effort put into creating these delicious drinks. I despise any bar that charges high prices for cocktails when the bar staff can barley create a Black Russian yet my fuss pot self was very impressed. The cocktails cost around £7.00 - £8.00 and are worth every penny. I did have to double take at the menu when I read the word pancetta in their gin cocktail. I can assure you the gin cocktail tastes like fruity sherbet sweets and the pancetta is a garnish. It's like a free bar snack in your drink and nothing to fear.  

Overall I was very impressed and can't wait to return to Rare. The food shows delicious simple cooking at it's best, using only the freshest locally scoured ingredient. The staff are friendly and the atmosphere is welcoming. The prices are more than reasonable and the restaurant is excellent value for money. 

For me the restaurant defiantly delivered "uncommon excellence"

Sammie

@LilBlondeSammie

RARE

Lamberts Yard

163 Lower Briggate 

Leeds

LS1 6LY

Follow on twittter: @eatdrinkrare

*Meal provided free of charge*

November Beauty Favourites

Neal's Yard Remedies - Aromatic Foaming Bath

(Included in the herbal organic bathing collection) £13.00 *

So as you may be aware from my last post, I was recently introduced to the brand Neal's Yard Remedies. Although I've heard of this brand for a long time I had never tried there products. Since I don't have a bath (just a shower, I miss my bath) I have been using the Aromatic Foaming Bath product to soak my feet. I never thought this would work but I've found it so relaxing. The smell is also incredible and soothing. I'm not normally a fan of herbal smelling products but I've found it very relaxing (obviously a glass of wine in hand helps too)

The Body Shop - Vitamin C Skin revive 30ml £13.00

The body shop is a brand I'm much more familiar with. I often forger to look in the body shop for good quality affordable make up and skin care, yet upon my little visit there last week to pick up a secret Santa present for a girl at work I noticed the skin revive cream/primer what I had tried a while back at there make up master class. I'm not sure whether to refer to this as a cream or a serum as it's texture is a little more unusual compared to other face creams. The reviver gives an instant radiance boost to skin and contains light reflecting practicals so it can be worn on its own or as a primer. I have noticed it makes my skin instantly more radiant and you can almost see the sparkling shimmer-esk effect (in a good way, it won't leave you with a shiny face). In addition I've found it helps my make up glide on so much easier. 

Rimmel London - Scandaleyes shadow stick, tempting turquoise £4.49

I've only worn this product a handful of times so far (it's not exactly day wear make up) yet every time I've had amazing compliments. Everyone seems to instantly assure with the bright blue colour its Urban Decay and are shocked when I tell them it's Rimmel. The colour is very easy to apply considering the pencil is chunky. The colour is very pigmented and is very easy to apply. The colour lasts well, in fact it lasts so well its a little hard to remove. Considering that's my only complaint the products an absolute bargain. Since I'm so impressed I can't wait to treat myself to a few more shades, the bad girl bronze looks pretty festive. 

Maybelline - Super stay 10hour tint gloss, timeless plum 380 £6.99

The product gives a nice tint and although the colour isn't as vibrant as other long wear lip glosses and lip tints the colour is good for both day and night wear. The shape of the brush is a little too round what makes it a little difficult to apply but this is just a small criticism. The price is very reasonable and one of the cheapest on the market for long wear lip tints. 

Show Beauty - Treatment oil  60ml £50.00

I've been raving to anyone and everyone about this products, looking a little weird asking my friends to feel my hair. For me this is my ultimate hair care product at the moment.

See my full review here.

What are your beauty favourites?

Sammie

An introduction to Neals Yard Remedies

I was recently invited down to Neal Yards Remedies for a spot of pampering although surprisingly I never knew they did spa type treatments. To me Neals Yard Remedies was the shop with the funny blue coloured bottles what I often walked past after work peering in curiously. Kind of like a child in a Christmas film wishing Santa will bring them a puppy as they look lovingly into a pet store. 

Why are all the bottles blue? The bottles are all a rather striking recognisable shade of blue, as this protects the products from direct sunlight. 

So I will admit despite walking past the shop on many occasions Neal Yards Remedies is a brand that I'm unfamiliar with and have not tried at all. As much as I was very content indulging myself in the free champers,cheese board and nibbles that were kindly laid out for the evening, I really wanted to learn more about the brand and why it's so unique.

I put my little blogger head on and got chatting and started asking a few questions. The one question I think that comes to mind when learning about a new beauty brand is quite obviously; what's your best selling product. Yet with the brand been an organic brand I simply was curious about what goes into the products.  

I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the brand regularly changes the ingredients to ensure all the ingredients used are sustainable and ethically sourced. Yet without compromising on quality.  

During all my pleasant little chit chats with the staff I started to notice not once was anyone trying to push a sale on me. A pretty rare thing at beauty events. All the staff I spoke to seemed interested in what I had to say. A wonderful little example of this was when I mentioned I suffer from dry hands in the winter, a few minuets late the advisor had popped behind the counter and whipped me up a little sample of cream personally for me. In addition to this when I began moaning how much I miss having just a shower and not a bath instead of trying to sell me a shower gel not a bubble bath, It was suggest I just soak my feet on an evening instead. I'm still genuinely shocked how good a tip this is. I have since been soaking my tired little tootsies on an evening with the geranium & Orange bath soak. It's so relaxing and perfect before bed time.

To top of my wonderful little evening I was introduced to the treatments that the store has to offer. Little did I know this is a gem of a place for spa type therapy treatments including Indian head message, facials, hot stone massages and reflexology.

I tried the reflexology. This again is something that's new to me and although some people get a nervous about people touching there feet, I actually rather enjoy it. I was in good hands with their therapist Judy Hall (who actually has a few celeb clients) who made me feel very relaxed. Reflexology as I found out stimulated heeling points through the body using pressure points in the feet. I don't want to sound too cliché here but I actually seemed to notice over the next few day I felt a lot more relaxed. This isn't something I've ever had before but I would defiantly go back.  

Have you been to Neals Yard Remedies?

Full list of treatments

Sammie

Halo hair extensions (The Halo) blonde hair guide.

I have always wanted the perfect thick flowing Barbie locks we so often see in magazines. I think we have all become so used to seeing girls with thick natural looking glossy hair that we no longer even questions if their hair is extensions or if their just a distant relative of Repunzel. I was recently introduce to Halo Hair Extensions and I have to say I am fully converted. I never thought hair extensions would be so easy to apply or the fact that they would ever excite me. 

I'm really finding it a little difficult to write this as I've always been against wearing hair extensions. Firstly I've always thought they are costly, damaging to hair, would require 1000 clips in my head what would most likely fall out after too many tequilas. Not to mention the price of good extensions. However I was recently introduced to The Halo by Halo hair extensions, what doesn't use any glue, clips or tapes but in fact used a "miracle wire" to secure the 100% human hair extensions in place. 

So quite obviously the pictures of cupcakes, sweeties and goody bags suggest I recently attended an event for Halo Hair extensions. This event came at a perfect time for myself. Not because of the Christmas party's and wanting to look my best with glamorous hair but because recently I've been madly researching hair extensions and have found the reviews (been somewhat of a hair extension newby) very confusing. I have no idea the difference between pre-bonded and micro rings and I'm pretty sure I can't be the only girl who feels that she would be only one who can't clip in her own clip in hair extensions. Plus been a blonde I really don't want to add any more damage to my own hair. 

Now I did tell a small white lie back then as when I say I'm a hair extension newby, I was in fact lying. I have hair extensions in a few years backs (Almost 3 years ago now, my my where does time go) I paid £500 for individual bonded hair extensions to be professionally applied. Now when first applied they looked fantastic I can't lie. I loved them, some girls hate the barbie-esk type hair but I love it, especially when it's well maintained. However I will still call myself a newby as after paying all that money I only kept the hair extensions in for a few months, I found having bleach blonde hair having hair extensions comes with it's own additional problems is time consuming and costly to maintain. 

I never really choose to have extensions again for a number of reasons. It wasn't my experience was bad but the money I spend didn't give the long lasting results I aimed to achieve. This was for a number of reasons.

I have my hair bleached. If you have seen my other photos and posts you will notice my hair is very white blonde. I really didn't notice just how light my hair is until it came to matching the extensions (the ones pictured are a little of my own colour in the lighting). So my first problem with permanent extensions was, bleaching my hair. Although it is advisable you can bleach your hair with permanent extensions. For me the possible knotting and tangling of the hair when bleaching with permanent extensions in seemed far too risky. For anyone whos had there hair bleached, the bleach requires a lot of shampooing to make sure its all removed and can feel gritty. So the thought of bleaching my hair with extensions in screams matted hair for me. Once I had the permanent extensions in I didn't bleach my hair, I ended up with hideous roots., it wasn't worth the money I had paid. When after around 6 weeks I wanted them out to have my hair bleached. 

Secondly the damage permanent extensions can cause. Ok so I'm sure there are many girls out there who wear extensions all the time and will swear to you they aren't damaging. Yet for me the whole process of having them glued in then having the glue more or less pulled back out of your hair (although not as painful as I just made it sound) is not good for any hair type. Been blonde my hair is especially prone to breaking and snapping and at the moment I've been doing all I can to prevent breaking. Let's face it anyone wanting to invest in hair extensions surly should be looking to keep there own hair as long and as healthy as possible. 

So why am I suddenly converted to Halo.

The Halo is non-permanent, doesn't require clips tugging at your hair and doesn't require permanent bonds. The Halo simply sit's comfortable upon your little head. Then blends in with your own hair. Ok a bad description there, so watch this video. As the extensions are also 100% remy human hair, they can also be dyed and toned to blend perfectly with your own hair colour. Although there are a good range of colours available and if your unsure simply email a picture to the experts and they are always happy to advise you. I love how easy they are to apply, seriously if I can do this anyone can. Finally it's affordable luxury, I know a trip to the salon is always nice but I love thae these can be applied to easily at home for those big nights out and how easy it can be removed. 

Hope you found this post useful.

Sammie

Dressing in the dark

  Jacket - ASOS (old)

Jersey top - Primark (£4)

Bag - River Island (old)

Leggings - Topshop (old)

Boots - New look (£39.99)

A little weird to post an outfit photo when my first reaction to these photos was did I get dressed in the dark? However I always love the photos Yuna takes regardless of what random outfit I have on. These outfit snapped were after the Neal Yard Remedies event last night, more to come on that tomorrow. 

As usual since I'm never prepared or punctual I was running late to this event. Having had to stay late at work this meant a quick touch up of make up, then to dash out in my work clothes. I'm really not sure what I was thinking with the tartan jacket (It's actually a rather cute jacket just not in the photos) and then a striped jersey top. It's one of the few long sleeve tops I own and in my rush to get to work that's what ended up hastily getting thrown on, I really need to buy more long sleeve tops for the winter. 

To add more clashes to the outfit I then picked up the bag I've currently been using what happens to be be a leopard print style satchel. If I'm totally honest although this entire accidental miss match looks a little ridiculous It's starting to grow on me in some ways. 

The boots are a current favourite and I've lived in them since I bought them on pay day (a whole 5 days ago). I previously featured them on a wish list at the start of the month here.

Also since the eye-make up caused a little stir at the blogger event, If anyone is wondering its the Rimmel Scandaleyes shadow stick in tempting turquoise. I'll be reviewing this in my monthly beauty favourites next week. 

Sammie

Mini cruise to Bruges

So this weekend me and my good friend Keeley headed of on a mini cruise to Bruge. Having never been on a mini cruise before I really didn't know what to expect or even the slightest idea where to begin packing. I was really unaware of what the ferry would be like on board or what to expect but I did expect it was going to be a tiring day travelling. I also will warn you know this is a long post so go put the kettle on...milk no sugar please. 

We began the journey on the train from Leeds to Hull and then boarded the ferry. We arrived a good few hours early to board the ship. Clearly because I'm so punctual, not because I had booked everything in the wrong name and I needed to correct this! The taxi from the train station cost £7 (I'll try update you all with prices etc in case anyone is thinking of booking and wants an idea) although there is a shuttle bus running once a day I believe.

The ferry soon departed and I waved goodbye to England...and possibility took a few iconic Titanic style poses on the deck of the ship (I won't share these). I then went back inside to have a brief panic we was now actually at sea there was no getting of and took a few sea sickness tablets. I have no idea why as I don't suffer with sea sickness at all but after the announcement regarding the location of life-jackets and that I should dress warm in the unlikely event of an emergency I felt I should try put myself at ease. Although I later found Grolsch and Baileys does a far better job. 

This also brings me on to my outfit. Of course since the ship sails at 5:30 and sails over night its best to dress warm and comfortable. As much as I would love to of been sailing on 5* cruise liner, this was cheep and cheerful P&O ferries, imagine Butlins at sea! I had chosen a simple jersey long sleeve top, a pair of black leggings, my trusty leather jacket and my new favourite tartan scarf. I pondered my choice of footwear long and hard after some people at work convinced me if the sea gets rough the toilets split out and drench the toilets floor and I didn't want any soggy socks...obviously this does not happen!

The cabins on-board are shall we say compact. We was both a little shocked at this but other than sleeping you really don't spend any time here at all. I bagged the top bunk first as quite obviously sleeping on the bottom bunk comes with the fear of having the top bunk collapsing onto me. Although falling of the top bunk is a  much more realistic fear I took my chances! 

After we dropped of the bags in the room we toured the ferry which had 2 large bars both with some entertainment (one man playing a piano, another woman killing classic karaoke songs) a casino (1 roulette table) a small cinema, 2 restaurants, duty free shops and a cafe. The bar was reasonably priced with 4 bottles of Grolsch or house wine for £12. (gaining extra value for money with the entrainment of opening the swing tops on the bottles). After a late night at the cheesy entrainment, too many beers and living life on the edge on my top bunk, we arrived in Bruges. 

My only idea on what Bruges was going to be like was all taken from the film In Bruges. So quite clearly I expected this place to be like a fairytale. I really wasn't disappointed.  

We headed to the main market square for breakfast. Sitting out under a canopy on the main square amongst the cobbled streets and exquisite buildings I really did have to pinch myself slightly at where I was. We sat and ate our delicious breakfasts as the chiming bells from the Belfry tower rang above the skyline, echoed by the sound of the clicking of the horses hoofs amongst the pavements.  

After a much needed breakfast we headed of to explore the magnificent city. We first came across the canal trips. The canal trips are a must for a quick way to see the city. Although I mainly focused on the worlds fittest tour guide, the short half hour trips offer a nice insight to the city with lots to see. Legend has it in 1488 when emperor Maximilian was imprisoned in the city and his councillor was beheaded, the councillors coat of arms featured a swan. When the emperor was released he ordered that swans be kept on the canals of Bruges for all eternity. 

We then followed the lingering smell of chocolate as we walked through the streets to the cutest chocolate shop. There's so much to take in with the most adorable boutique shops and restaurants around every corner. The chocolate shops are a must and although I'm not a chocolate lover if you don't enjoy the mouth watering chocolates here you never will. We also visited the chocolate museum what I wouldn't recommend.

The finally of the day was to climb the 366 stairs to the top of the Belfry tower. Trust me in the film there is no way they are running up and down those stairs. This is a rather hellish walk with narrow twisting stair cases what almost turns into a one foot ladder near the top. However the view from the top is worthwhile with stunning views across the city.

After all that hard work there was just enough time left to treat myself to one of the foods Bruges is most famous for...fries! 

Have you been to Bruges?

Sammie