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I am fully aware that this is kind of a weird outfit, but today I thought it would be fun to wear all of my current favourite things together and see what happens. It is Sunday after all, and in my books on Sundays you can do whatever you want.

I'm pretty sure most of you who follow me on Twitter and Instagram will know how excited I was when Simply Be released their pink biker jacket and how thrilled I was when it arrived, I literally ordered it as soon as I saw it on the website! It's such a beautiful pale pink and the PU faux leather is so soft and lovely. The quilted detail over the shoulders and arms is great and I love the gun-metal silver rather than bright silver to the zips and buttons - if they had been gold rather than silver I would have been over the moon but they're still fab as they are. As well as the quilting there are a few other traditional biker jacket features that most of the fashion brand versions miss out such as the belt loops and buttoned overlap at the bottom of the zip. I just adore when you take a piece of clothing traditionally associated with outlaws and troublemakers and give it an overtly feminine makeover like this, it's such a fabulous juxtaposition.

As usual I ordered a size down from my usual top size, I always do this as a like a more form fitting look with jackets and it help things look better on my short body. I also don't have a very big bust so I don't need to worry about having room in that area, but if you are blessed with big bosoms then I'd stick with your regular upper body size. If I could have changed anything with this jacket the only thing would be making it short into a more cropped style, but only because that suits me more!


As for the rest of the outfit, the skirt will also be familiar as I've worn it in a post or two before. It's from ASOS Curve and is a great, eye catching item. Most of the time I wear this skirt with plain items to let it get the attention it deserves, but today I wore it with my favourite band shirt which I got at a Clutch show a few years ago. I never usually like the fit of standard t-shirts and often cut them down into a more feminine shape. This one I cut into a v neck and stripped off the sleeves so it's more like a vest, which I find far more comfortable then the standard high ribbed neck of a normal t-shirt.

The shoes were a recent TK Maxx acquisition from a trip to Sheffield last weekend. I never find any shoes in my size at my local TK Maxx stores and was pleasantly surprised to find about three pairs I liked in the Sheffield store - I'll be making sure I head there again soon to see if I can find more pairs of pretty flats to buy! I just love how kitschy and silly these are, the berry pink velour, the embroidery and the diamante on the heels add up to crazy shoe perfection in my eyes!


As for accessories I wore my Crown and Glory medium glitter bow which I actually bought to wear to my SIL's wedding, but I'm not sure if I will any more so decided to give it a test run. The pictures don't do it justice at all, it's the glitziest, glitteriest thing I own and I love it. I'll definitely be buying some more colours, although I think I would prefer it on a headband as it's a little heavier than I'd like on a crocodile style clip so I think I'm going to do a DIY job on this one and stick it to a band.

The beautiful mirrored green necklace I actually won in an Instagram giveaway and is from Sugar and Vice. It's so much more lovely than I imagined it would be and the chain length if perfect, often I have trouble finding necklaces that are long enough not to cover my lil diamond tattoo but this sits in just the right place! My next purchase from them will definitely be the Gin or Death necklace - as I have a gin bottle tattoo I think it would only be right to, and isn't their packaging lovely?!


Clutch Vest Top - Customised t-shirt bought at a concert
Embroidered Slipper Shoes - Dolcis (sold out but these are pretty and vaguely similar)

Happy Sunday everyone!

I know I'm jumping the gun here posting about Summer clothing in March, but I'll let you into a little secret - Pete and I have been together for five years and never gone on holiday outside of the UK. I'm kind of making it my mission to get us out of the country this year to somewhere warm cause that's what my man bear likes - relaxing beach holidays somewhere hot and toasty. That however, is not my kind of holiday, but I lurve him and don't want him to explode from stress so we're gonna go somewhere he can relax on a balcony drinking cocktails and readings books. As long as there's wifi. Ahem.

Now, I like and have always gone on city holidays where I can zip around all day going to museums and restaurants and go shopping, so I don't really have any experience of buying beach holiday clothes. I have therefore made it my mission to find some pretty sunny holiday outfits that I don't feel intensely uncomfortable and unglamorous in, and the wonderful team at Yours Clothing very kindly sent me this lovely outfit to dip my toe into the world of dressing to enjoy the sun.


Naturally I don't want to sacrifice looking glam just cause I'll be in a country with actual weather, and I think this dress fits the bill perfectly - it's not only beautiful and covered with darling painterly flowers but is light, airy and comfortable. The stripes to the waist and skirt bottom are a nice little detail and are accented with a pretty stripe of crochet edging, as is the bust. The back of the body of the dress is gathered and elasticated which I really like - it adds comfort to this non stretch cotton fabric as you aren't restricted when you sit down, I hate the feeling of being squeezed to death by your clothes when you sit down. The pattern reminds me of the beautiful flowers painted on barge boats or gorgeous old gypsy caravans and the black background makes them stand out so wonderfully. I think going with a mainly black outfit was as good way to try my hand at this dressing for heat thing as an entirely pale coloured outfit would have scared me a little I think. I'm still not feeling 100% comfortable having my upper arms on display but I know with a few more wears I'll be cool with it, I just need a little more time to get used to it.

I've always wanted a big floppy summer hat since I was small and saw photos of Brigitte Bardot flouncing around on the sand in one and thought it was the coolest thing ever. I sadly don't think I can pull it off quite as well as the lovely Brigitte but it really helped keep my face and neck protected from the sun even if it was only the now and again flashes we get here in old Blighty. I adore hats and wish they would come back into fashion for every day wear, I think sunny weather is a great excuse to rock a pretty head piece!

The sandals I have on here are definitely going to be a favourite footwear piece for me in the heat - they're so comfortable and I adore the snazzy metallic gold band over the toes! There is a slight wedged heel which is nice as I always find a teensy bit of lift nicer to walk on than a completely flat sole and as they are an EEE width fitting there was no worry that my chubby feets wouldn't get through the straps. They fit absolutely perfectly and because of the straps that cross over the bridge of the foot and wrap around the ankle they don't feel like they're going to slip off if you're walking on uneven ground - there's nothing worse than walking down the street and accidentally leaving a shoe a few steps behind you!


Black and Multi Coloured Floral Crochet Trim Maxi Dress - £35.00

Black and Gold Gladiator Style Low Wedge Sandal In EEE Fit - £22.00

Black Open Weave Paper Straw Floppy Sun Hat With Bow Trim- £8.00

Keep checking back for more posts in my Plus Size Summer Holiday Wear feature!


Neon is a trend that I really really love, although if you're not careful it can be easy to take it over the top and end up in the ever regretted realms of the early noughties raver. To avoid looking like you've fallen out of an Instagram teen queen's most popular photo evaaaaa try teaming your highlighter hues with blacks, charcoals and neutrals for a chic but eye catching look which translates to both day and evening wear. Here are some outfits I have put together from Evans's excellent selection of neon detailed pieces!


As a platinum blonde I have kind of a hard time wearing citrus shades as it brings out the yellow tones in my hair which I fight so hard to keep at bay so these are usually colours I stay away from, but using neon shades as an accent means I can rock this trend and not end up feeling like my roots match my outfit.


This is a really easy way to introduce a key Spring look into your every day office wear. Just one neon detailed clothing piece and a few well chosen accessories thrown in with your standard black pencil skirt and courts can take you from standard smart to formal fashionista.


I love the pewter dot details of this tunic dress, and I'm really not usually a fan of tunics!!! I think this one has a really lovely shape with the relaxed short sleeves and v neck and my lord would these pointy pewter pumps look amazing with it! A sexy messy up do will take this outfit to the next level of awesome casual stylish babelyness.

Have you bought any neon pieces for Spring? I'd love to see what you've found!

So you may remember me being all excited a few weeks ago when I placed my order from the Simply Be winter clearance sale. I ordered a few different pieces but the item I was most excited to receive was this Belted Tweed Cape Coat! I've wanted it for ages but the original full price of £80.00 was a little too much for me as I had already bought my winter coat when it was released and I wasn't sure if it would actually suit me, but as it went down to just £24 I couldn't resist adding it to my cold weather collection!

To be perfectly honest though, this is not something I would wear if it was really cold as it genuinely is a cap with just holes for your arms. If you had a nice snuggly long sleeved jumper on it would probably be ok, but I prefer to have arms on my coats when it's frosty outside!


That said, it is lovely and warm as the tweed fabric is nice and thick and it's fully lined. I was kind of unsure if I liked it the first time I put it on but now I'm pretty sold, it's just a great, classic design that is pretty unusual these days - I think it's a real shame that capes aren't as fashionable any more I just love them! I am seeing some cape dresses around at the moment though so fingers crossed they're creeping back into style!

The belt definitely makes the coat as it is very bulky and unflattering without it, but the belt sinches the waist in nicely and creates pleats in the fabric so it has a peplum like appearance which we all know I'm a big fan of. The collar actually does all the way up but this makes me look a little too Sherlock Holmes so I just folded the collar down. I think I'll pin a nice glitzy vintage brooch on to the collar next time I wear it just to add an extra touch of decadence!


Looking at the back and side views above I actually love it even more as it's very flattering to my shape and does a great job of disguising the dreaded back chub with the belt sinched in nicely. I'm looking forward to trying it with a few dresses and different skirt styles to see what it looks like as I've only tried it with straight or pencil styles so far. I'm wearing it here with my Mat. Fashion Asymmetric Striped Dress and studded ankle boots from Evans.

If you think you'd like to try this classy classic coat then head here to the Simply Be website to snap one up in the sale while you still can, but be quick about it as some sizes are selling out!
Photo by Nicky Rockets

Well it feels like a while since I did a Style Icons post, but I'm back with another and this one's a doozy. I'm positive that this lady will need no introduction for you but just for conventions sake, this is the beautimous, fabulous, wonderful Betty Pamper.

I was lucky enough to meet the lovely Betty last October when I did a photo shoot with her and three other lovely ladies for Simply Be. Naturally I had been reading Betty's blog for a long time prior to this and had seen her at Plus North although been too shy to say hello so it was really lovely to meet her in person. Sometimes I have to stop myself coming across as a creepy creep when I meet fellow bloggers in real life, when you follow someone on Twitter and Bloglovin etc etc you kinda get to know their day to day life somewhat so dropping into conversation that you remember how they ate pancakes last Tuesday from an Instagram pic you remember can make you come across a bit stalker-y. Apologies to anyone who I have scared with my mega memory of things like that... ahem. But anyway, Betty is in person just as fun and lovely and warm as you imagine she will from her writing. I must confess that I look up to her somewhat as she is such a confident and intelligent woman, hopefully one day I too will be that way!

Photo by Nicky Rockets

It isn't hard to see why I feel a bit of a connection with Betty - after all we both like to channel a fun, sexy, pin-up style look and neither of us will leave the house without a bit of slap on although Betty is more hardcore than me wearing false lashes every day! She really is a true glamour puss! We also both have a love for old B movies and pop art and I would just kill for her house, our tastes for interior design are also very similar.

Betty's husband Nicky Rockets is an amazing photographer (he does her blog pics for her too) and also a great artist, he designed her new blog header and the wonderful t-shirt she has on in the first picture which I also own thanks to the generosity of lovely Betty! If me and Pete ever end up tying the knot I know who I'll be going to to be our photographer!

Betty modelling for Yours Clothing

I think the main reason why I love Betty so much is the brave and confident manner in which she writes about issues relating to being a fat person in the age that we live in. Her text is always thought provoking and her way with words is wonderful, reading her post is more like discussing the matter with a friend and she gives us fat ladies a voice and gives me personally the confidence boost I need to be who I am and not give a damn about what other people think about the way I dress. It is very safe to say that this blog would not be here today if Betty hadn't been inspiring me over the last few years and I thank her from the bottom of my heart for being such a wonderful woman, her (incredibly cute) daughter is so very lucky to have such an inspiring mum.

The now infamous metallic leggings! I think Betty rocks them like no other - after seeing this post I decided to try to wear some more above the knee styles, something I have tried to avoid before as I hate my knees! Photo by Nicky Rockets

Here are four of my favourite posts from Betty so far this year...

# F**k Flattering
My Version Of Valentines Day
Plussie Style Steal-Jess From New Girl
It could be worse. I could be fat.

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So, since quitting smoking and creating myself a mini make-up kit for going out on the town I have developed a bit of an obsession for clutch bags. I could never use them before cause I had to cart around too much stuff (as I still do in my normal day to day life) but now I'm a big big fan, and the louder, kitschier and gaudier the better. I don't know about you, but I would be totally willing to tone down my clothing to let a good accessory like a wonderful bag, some sexy shoes, a lovely piece of jewellery or even an awesome hair do or make up job shine - and these are all pieces I would gladly dress plainly to showcase.

ASOS
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If you can hook me up with any more pretty crazy clutches do let me know, I want to start a proper collection!!!

Hello darlings! Well, sadly the weekend is over and we're into another work week but this outfit should at least throw a pop of colour into your morning! I think one really exciting thing that I'm seeing this season from all the plus size stores I shop at is a more brave use of bright, bold colours, and why not! You don't have to be a skinny one to rock something with a loud pattern that's so colourful you need shades on to look at it directly!

This stunner of a dress is by Grazia who I must say have really impressed me with their new collection. I love pretty much every piece in it but this dress is the one that caught my eye from the start, it's just such a beautiful shape and I have always had a love for Japan ever since I was a little girl so the cherry blossom print and thick curved belt reminiscent of the obi belt worn with a kimono called out to me right away. It can be hard to get an orient inspired dress right without it looking like something one would purchase from an incense filled seaside hippy emporium with the standard rope button asymmetric fastening to the neckline which makes me for some reason think of something a creepy old lady at a swingers party might wear (where does that connotation come from?!) but Grazia have hit it bang on the head with this contemporary twist on classic Japanese geisha fashion. You might recognise it as beautiful Betty Pamper also recently reviewed it!


The dress itself is lined with a stretchy material but the outer body is a lovely silky polyester which means it's machine washable - yay! There is a bit of stretch to the main body of the fabric, but not a huge amount - I was ok sitting down but had to keep a good posture for it to still look nice, not a bad thing as you should always have good posture anyway and sometimes I do a naughty slouch!

I really adore the slightly winged sleeves which I find very flattering to my upper arms and the contrast of the purple with the orange is divine and daring and just plain gorgeous. There's a tie to the waist too which I threw into a bow at the back, although you may be able to do something interesting with it at the front if you are a creative lil lady.

Despite the bright colours this isn't very hard to style up because of the black detailing to the print which is present enough for you to be able to wear a little black jacket and shoes and it not look odd, although you could just go all out and throw another colour into the mix like I did with my pink and green hair flower with dangling plastic cherries! I bought it at a vintage fair in Edinburgh last year but I just can't think who it was from sorry...


Red lips and black eyeliner were an obvious must as was an elaborate up do a la beautiful geisha girls but my main inspiration for this outfit came from the gorgeous Micheline Pitt and Doris Mayday as you can see above (sorry Laura for cutting you out of the photo but I wanted to show the dresses and hair flowers!). They are both wearing pieces which I believe are from a new capsule collection coming to Pin Up Girl Clothing this year - I hope some of the pieces are released in plus sizes too as I adore what Doris has on with the pretty purple flowers and adorable bolero jacket! I haven't quite got a flower hair piece as big as theirs yet, but I'm planning to have a go at making some soon so watch this space for a tutorial if I can master it!

I also threw some bright turquoise into the mix here with this new Gelly nail polish from Barry M, the shade is called Guava and is just fabulous. I also have the shade called Prickly Pear and I love that one too. Two coats and you're away with wonderfully shiny bright nails, people always ask where it's from when I wear it and it has really great staying power too!


The Grazia Floral Print Dress is available from Fashion World and is priced at £60, you can buy it here.
*dress was gifted for review*

The giveaway has now ended - congratulations to Claire Jacobs for winning a lovely new dress!

Hello my darlings! Well gosh, I can't really believe it, but this is my 200th post on Sugar Darling! It's snuck up on me pretty darn fast - it seems like only yesterday that I wrote my first post having no idea what wonderful opportunities this blog would bring me or how many wonderful, beautiful, inspiring people I would meet and make friends with along my foray into plus fashion blogging.

I'm still so pleasantly surprised when I get a new follower or are contacted by a company, it means so much to me that people are interested in my ramblings and opinions and seem to enjoy the outfits I put together. Growing up as a bit of an outsider and feeling alienated by my weight and kooky fashion tastes I never thought I would ever come to accept and love my body as it is, chub and rolls and wobbles and all. It is through reading my fellow gorgeous bloggers posts and being inspired every day by their fashion creativity, unfaltering positivity and acceptance of every person no matter how they look that has made me the woman I am today, finally brave enough to wear the clothes I want and strut my stuff with my head held high knowing that I am the only person my appearance needs to please. So thank you to all of you, not just the bloggers who inspire me, but the lovely people who leave me messages and let me know that I have helped them on their journey of body acceptance too, to the wonderful companies producing beautiful clothes for guys and gals of every size and shape, and of course to my wonderful friends and family who love me for me and support me in all my ventures.

My biggest thanks of all go out to my amazing boyfriend Pete who makes me feel beautiful every day, supports and helps me with all of my ventures and is always there to encourage me and calm me down should a bad day come my way. He will always be perfect in my eyes and remains the most handsome, sweet and genuine man I have ever met. I am incredibly lucky to have him in my life and hope that I help him as much as he helps me to get through this crazy life and all it throws at us.

Lots of love to all of you reading this post, I hope you stick around and we'll see what the future brings together!

And on to the giveaway...!

To help celebrate my 200th post, the lovely people at Simply Be have very kindly offered to give a beautiful new dress to one lucky winner!

All you need to do to enter is do as many of the entries on the Rafflecopter below as you like - remember, the more entries you do the bigger chance you have of winning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions
- The competition is open to UK residents only and will run for 7 days.
- The winner will be announced and contacted on  Friday 14th March.
- The dress is to be from Simply Be's own range, NOT a brand such as Anna Scholz, AX Paris, Lovedrobe etc
- The dress is to be from the current season and up to the value of £50.00.
- If you win you will be asked to provide a link to the style you want and the size you require along with your chosen delivery address - your size must be in stock!
- The dress will be sent directly to your chosen address via standard delivery.
- Entries will be checked so please do not be naughty and fake extra entries!
- The dress is very kindly being donated by www.simplybe.co.uk, aren't they lovely?

I don't know what it is, but this week I am one hungry lady. I just can't stop thinking about delicious plates full of salty, slippery udon noodles and pretty dessert bowls piled with meringues and cream and passion fruit pulp. All I want is a grand feast, but sadly I won't be getting one as I'm trying to save my pennies for when Pete goes away for the weekend at the end of the month - I want to be able to treat myself a little while he's away to take my mind off missing him so! As I've been dreaming of gastronomic fantasies I decided to have a peruse online and find some recipes to make soon when my bank balance can afford a giant food shop and these are my top picks...

OK so the first one isn't a dish it's a cocktail, but then again a cocktail is the best way to start off any meal! This is one of my favourites an Aviation, put together wonderfully here by Food52. It combines all my favourite things - gin, crème de violette and maraschino cherry so it's no wonder I love it so much!

Second up is the perfect dessert after that fabulous cocktail, Rhubarb and Gin Sorbet with Rose Cream - a dream come true again from Food52 and again combining lots of my favourite flavours into an amazing sounding sweet treat. Bring on the gin!


This dreamy Salmon Sashimi Rice Bowl caught my eye straight away, that poached egg and smooth pink salmon looks just divine and I adore sticky warm rice, especially if it's cooked the Thai way with coconut milk. It looks like it's been topped with one of my favourite things too - little rice topper packages that you can get from Asian supermarkets that come in different flavours and contain teeny strips of dried seaweed, sesame seeds and ground up dried shrimp or fish or chicken or vegetables. They turn a plain bowl of rice into something much more special and they're super cheap!

Everyone that knows me knows that I'm a sucker for creamy coconut desserts. These Coconut Dream Puffs combine that addiction with crisp little shells of pastry - to quote Ina, how bad can that be?!


I just love aubergines, but sadly Pete isn't a fan so I don't eat them very often so I make take the opportunity while he's away to whip up a tray of this amazing looking Eggplant Parmesan and indulge!

I don't know where I'll ever get it, but I'm determined to hunt down some pine syrup after seeing this recipe for Mountain Pine Ice Cream! Wouldn't it be just perfect for Christmas? Yes, I know I'm crazy and it's only March but it's good to plan ahead. I'm rolling my eyes at myself here...


I guess I must really be wanting some salmon as I've picked another recipe for it here, this time in the form of Glazed Salmon with Vodka Infused Orange Dill Sauce. I've never had salmon with orange before, only ever with lemon, but I know that dill is it's perfect partner so I'd love to give this a try.

Next up are these scrumptious looking Old Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts - just look at that cheeky sweet glaze and crispy edged dough! What more is there to say but YUM!


This Feta Cheese Marinated in Fresh Herbs looks like the most wonderful starter for a dinner party served with little bruschettas and champagne, although I'm not sure it would make it to the table without me taking a big chunk out of it before anyone else got in there!

Last up is this kitsch-tastic Pink Velvet Cake from Cake Whiz covered in silky strawberry frosting and chopped fruit. Serve me up a big slice and sit me in front of a John Waters movie and I will be one happy chica!

The image above accurately sums up how February has felt for me! It's been lots of fun (other than the studying) but oh my lordy have I been a busy bee! Here's a little of what I've been up to...


After the fabulous day I spent in London at the Claire Richards and Anna Scholz events I was back in London again the very next day with my little sis for her 21st birthday! I had booked our train tickets and entry to 'Isabella Blow - Fashion Galore!' as her birthday present and we had a really great time. The exhibition was amazing, I was surprised to be more interested in the Philip Treacy hats than all the McQueen on show but seriously the hats and head pieces were just incredible, I was particularly a fan of the velvet and swarovski studded mesh pieces and the fairy tale castle hat.

The weather was pretty darn horrible but we didn't let that stop us shopping! We headed to Laduree so lil sis could grab some birthday macarons and I treated myself to a palmier which I had for breakfast the next day and was unbelievably tasty. Then we had a wander down Regent Street, popping into Anthropologie where I bought some perfume and then into a few clothes shops like H&M. We stopped off in Carnaby to grab a mega tasty late lunch at The Diner and then enjoyed a little more retail therapy in the Make Up Store and Liberty. Oxford Street was the last call where we headed into Forever 21 (BOO that GIANT store doesn't hold ANY of their plus size range!) and Primark (argh) and then jumped on a tube back to Euston to grab our train home. It was a bit of a whirl wind trip and the weather was just vile so I'm hoping me and the tiny one will manage another trip in the Summer for less of a wet, rushed visit!


I've made a few new make-up purchases this month and have been having fun every now and again playing with them all! I'm particularly enamoured by my Make Up Store powder pigments and MUA lip lacquers which I have done posts on already. Sadly I was really disappointed with the MUA mattifying loose powder which I bought - it was meant to be translucent but was far too orangey for me when I put it on and I was shinier than ever by lunch time, what a shame! 

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I took my Foundation Insurance Test this Friday just gone and thank gawd I passed! I had to pass to get through probation at my new job so it was kind of a big deal and I was so darn nervous - it's a good job I had Pete there to calm me down the night before that's all I can say! It just so happened that after I found out I had passed the exam I got an email from Simply Be about their Winter Clearance sale and thought I deserved a little treat so I ordered the items above.

I've wanted the tweed cape coat for ages but as it was £80 and I already have my winter coat for this year I resister, however when it went down to £24 in the sale my resolve melted away and I ordered it - I've never had a cape coat before and I'm praying that it looks good, I'll be devastated if not as I just adore cape style garments! The red dress was something I've also been eyeing for a while but never needed so I had just left it, but it went down to £13.50 and I think it will be adorable for the summer, as will the stripey jacquard tee which naturally I'll tuck into a nice pencil skirt with I think some red accessories. The sweater is actually for my little sis, she tried it on when we went to the Simply Be store in the Highcross a little while ago but it was over her budget and as it went down to just £10.50 I ordered her one as a little present.


And finally, the reason I was pretty internet absent this last weekend is that I was at my SIL's hen do which I have been organising since last year. I am thrilled to say that it was an amazing weekend, everyone was just lovely and we all had a blast. It was a little boozey as a hen do should be but we also packed in some nice activities like a buffet while everyone got to know each other on the first night, pottery painting on the Saturday before a big tasty dinner at the diner style restaurant and then a busy Sunday of a pancake breakfast, bowling and a swim. I can't wait to see everyone again at the wedding - it's only six weeks away eek!

Keep your eyes peeled on Saturday ladies as I will have a very special giveaway on Friday to celebrate my 200th post!