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Hi loves! So on Saturday I had the immense pleasure of modelling for one of the UK's best fashion brands Scarlett and Jo along with some other gorgeous bloggers and vloggers! 

The shoot took place at the marvellous Home House in London where we had a huge suite to run around and shoot in, it was just dreamy. I got to flounce around in some stunning clothes and became even better friends with Betty, Mayah, Hollie, Georgina, Elena and Becky and made some new friends in lovely Gloria and her husband Ali who were both real sweetpeas!

It was a truly amazing day and I'm so so thankful to Scarlett and Jo for asking me to be a part of it. I can't wait to show you the final photos but in the mean time here is a little video diary of the day! I say beautiful too many times, sing most of what I'm saying and generally am over excited so sorry about that... ahem.


x o x o x

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Seriously guys, is there anything better than a fashion bargain? If you can believe it, right now you can get this skirt and jacket set for just £22 from Yours Clothing, which I think is one of the best sale deals I've seen in a long while! 

I really love the concept of having a pencil skirt in a set with a bomber jacket, something so formal with something so casual. The wonderful monochrome print of abstract roses adds another level too and makes it so easy to turn into an outfit with any colour you fancy. The fabric is a nice scuba style with lots of stretch and I think the sizing on both pieces is quite generous, more so on the jacket. I usually wear a 22 top and this jacket is a 20, but to be honest I think an 18 would have been perfect.

The hot pink cami I'm wearing here was £3.00 from Tesco in their in store sale, the shoesies are old season from Dolcis and the necklace is vintage so sadly I can't link to any of them, but we all know it's the co-ord set that takes the cake with this outfit.

If you're looking for more super sale bargains head over to this page of the Yours website - there are lots of lovely pairs of briefs for just £1.00 each so I think I'll be stocking up my undies draw and I must say that this pleated midi skirt has also caught my attention!

Floral Abstract Bomber Jacket - Yours Clothing - £13.00*
Floral Abstract Pencil Skirt - Yours Clothing - £9.00*
Hot Pink Cami - Tesco - £3.00 in store
Pink Slipper Shoes - Dolcis - Old
Necklace - Vintage

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*This post contains items that were gifted for review. For more information head to my disclaimer page.

Has the weather been crazy where you live lately? I'm in little old Loughborough and it's been pretty mad here, last night just as I was going to bed it started snowing so so heavily I was sure that when I woke up my car would be under about 5 inches of snow so I got up early so I had time to de-ice and take a slow and careful drive to work... but when I woke up and looked out the window there was nothing! No sign at all that it as snowed, and then today was bright and sunny. Needless to say when I saw that I didn't need to scrape the snow off my little car I got straight back into bed for another twenty minutes like any sensible person would do!!!

The snow did leave its chill behind though and so I was ever so glad of this gorgeous Longline Coat (£85.00*) that the wonderful Curvissa team sent me to try out. Now I usually go for fitted styles with a belt to emphasise my waist but I've recently been trying to broaden my horizons a little and try more oversized and unfitted styles. This is an oversized style coat with lovely bold shoulders and a folded collar which gives it a bit of an androgynous edge that I love and has been so on trend over the last few months. It's so fabulously easy to wear too with pretty much anything and it's wonderfully warm and soft. Being oversized also makes it very easy to wear over a sweater without it feeling too snug which is always a plus at this time of year. Another thing that I really like about this jacket is that it isn't made of wool. Odd I know as wool coats are great for keeping you warm I'll grant you that, but they're also a pain if they're dirty as that's a job for the dry cleaner. Not with this baby though, you can wash this yourself at home and spend those dry cleaner pennies on a nice little something something for yourself!

Curvissa also asked four other lovely bloggers to review coats for them so why don't you take a look at their posts too?


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*This post contains items that were gifted for review. For more information head to my disclaimer page.
Now Christmas is over the reality has really kicked in that I'm getting married in May, in a little less than four months time! This time last year I was certain I wouldn't be tying the knot until I was about 40 because we'd said we'd buy a house before we got hitched, so I was completely knocked off my feet when Pete proposed in October. To be honest saving for a deposit seems like an insurmountable task in the current climate and it just feels right that this is the next step we take. It's been kind of dramatic planning this wedding (I won't go into detail, but believe me it hasn't been a walk in the park) and I'm so so pleased that now we're heading over to the states with just six other people. Don't get me wrong, planning a wedding in another country isn't a walk in the park but it just feels right, and it means that we get to have our dream honeymoon right after we've got married. I can't believe I'm finally going to the USA, I've wanted to ever since I was little but I never really thought I'd actually be able to and to have that trip to get married to the best man I ever met, well that just makes it extra peachy.

Naturally what clothes I'll be taking is at the front of my mind, luggage weight limits mean I'll have to choose what I take very carefully especially as we'll be starting off in temperatures similar to the UK when it's mild and then going to somewhere really very toasty. Layers will be key and of course I'm determined to still look glam in sweltering hot Florida but I'll need to dress wisely when we hit the theme parks. There's a lot to think about people and I only have 23kg of weight? ARGH! 

Here are some pieces that are high on my wish list to take along on the trip... What do you think should make the cut?
 
Ellipsus Fashion 



Carmakoma


ASOS Curve


Simply Be


I hope you're having a lovely week so far!

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Yep this is another one of those outfits that I kind of just threw together because I couldn't decide whether I wanted to wear the dress or the jacket more, so put them on together to see if it worked and it just about did. I do this a lot, some times it doesn't work and I have to change but a lot of the time I find that pairing things that you would think would look weird on a major scale actually work pretty well together and create a look all of their own.

Now we all know I love anything sparkly so when I spotted this lovely purple beauty from WearAll I knew I had to give it a try. I was concerned that it would be scratchy but it isn't at all, the inside if nice and soft and the glitz is brilliant. It's quite a thin fabric that's very elastic which can be see through if stretched too much so if you have a big bust then I'd go a size up to make sure your bra isn't really visible. That isn't a really big issue though I don't think as you could wear a slip underneath it if you really needed to. I love the length and the 3/4 sleeves which are both bang on my taste and to make it even better this lovely little dress is only £23 which I think is a real bargain, especially for something so party-tastic!

On to the jacket. This baby blue beauty was a mega bargain that I found in my local Primark last weekend. I'm not actually sure what it cost full price but it was only £10 in the sale and so I couldn't resist it. I find jackets like this fit my pear shaped body best if I roll the bottom up which gives the jacket a cropped appearance but it looks really nice left open at its normal length too. The shade of blue is just dreamy and I love the collarless detail, for sure this is my best sale find of 2015 so far!

As for accessories I just can't stop using this gorgeous holographic shopper from French Connection which was another sale buy this time from ASOS. It's a great size with a classic shape but the holographic snake print is just gorgeous, the photos just don't capture how brilliant it is - so shiny and opalescent and pretty! I figured an outfit this sassy deserved a comical last touch and so I added a brooch I bought from Hoolala a few years ago. Unfortunately it seems as though they've changed the design since I bought it, but it's still very lovely and retains all its wonderful bitchiness!!!

Pale Blue Biker Jacket - Primark - £10.00 (on sale in store)
Sole Diva Platform Boots EEE Fit - Simply Be - £24.00 (on sale usually £45.00)
French Connection Jasmine Holographic Shopper Bag - ASOS - £33.00 (on sale usually £55.00)
Darling You're Boring Me Brooch - Hoolala - £5.75 (design has now changed!)


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*This post contains items that were gifted for review. For more information head to my disclaimer page.
Well, the only resolutions I made this year were to work even harder on my blog, to have fun, to not worry so much... and to start posting videos on YouTube! I've done a couple before but not really got into it, so I'm going to try and do more varied posts this year and maybe share some personal stuff too like stuff to do with my wedding and our USA adventure in May. Anyhoo, I figured it would be a good idea to do an intro video to explain a little more about myself to those who haven't read my actual blog before and I thought a good way to do that would be to post a response to the Plus Size Bloggers tag that Lucia set up. So here's my video, it's kinda long as I can waffle when I want to but hopefully you'll still enjoy it! I'd love to hear what you think so please leave me any comments you might have!


 
Have a great Tuesday lovelies!

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 Eeep I love a pretty bra! Now that I know my proper size after being fitted a few months ago I'm working my way through all the brands that cater for larger cup sizes so I was really pleased when I was contact by Bras and Honey, a wonderful company that has been supplying lingerie and swimwear since 2007. They have so many gorgeous bras available that I had a hard time choosing one to try, but in the end I decided to go for the Elodie Underwired Side Support Bra in Magenta by Fantasie (£34.00*).

It was the beautiful design that really sold it for me, the gorgeous bold pinky purple with that sexy lace overlay... it's just dreamy! The other thing that I thought sounded interesting was that this bra had 'side support'. Now I have had trouble with bras from another company where the wire has ended halfway up my boob on either side and so if I didn't sit or stand perfectly upright at all times the wire would jab me in the side of the boob to the point where I got a bruise - not good! I can assure you that does not happy with this lovely piece of lingerie. The wires are generous and support my bust expertly, while the lovely three part cups keep me in place all day without having to re-adjust. The band fitted perfectly as soon as I put it on and the straps are nice and soft and comfortable. A truly wonderful bra that is gorgeous to boot!




Don't forget to check out the other gorgeous pieces Bras and Honey have to offer - I especially love this one, this one and this one!
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*This post contains items that were gifted for review. For more information head to my disclaimer page.
That's right, it's the New Year and I'm posting an eclair recipe. Zero effs given here I'm afraid, I believe a bit of indulgence every now and again never hurt anyone just don't go overboard and nom down a whole batch of these babies, not least because all that dairy will likely make you sick... It would be easy to do though as they're flipping delicious.

My two favourite things to make are pavlovas and choux pastry. I don't know why but I find both so satisfying to make, possibly because a seemingly inexplicably odd method and ingredients creates some of the most heavenly tasting things ever. Then again, they are both smothered in whipped cream and I doubt anything would taste bad given that treatment.

Now in case you don't know dulce de leche is an amazing caramel used a lot in Mexican cookery that is made from sweetened condensed milk that is slowly heated until it caramelises. It's a dream. I bought a big ass jar of it last time we went to Costco but you can also make it yourself or just buy a can of Carnation Caramel which will be in the supermarket with the cans of condensed and evaporated milk. It's the same stuff just in a more sensible size.

I made these babies to take to my grandparents on Saturday and they went down a storm. I think this was my best choux pastry yet as the richness of the pastry shone through past the caramel cream and let me tell you, the drizzle of dark chocolate against the sweet seductiveness of the filling is a perfect match. I'm tooting my own horn here, but they really are that good. And don't be scared as it's a really easy recipe, just read the method a few times through before trying it and you'll see how simple it really is.



Dulce De Leche Eclairs
Makes around twelve 4" long eclairs

Ingredients
65g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon caster sugar
55g butter, cut into pieces
120ml water
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
300ml double cream
4 heaped tablespoons of dulce de leche (or a 397g can of Carnation Caramel)
50g dark chocolate
edible decorations if you wish, I used bronze sugar crystals

2 x baking trays
2 x piping bags with large nozzles, one round and one star shaped (or you can use a spoon)

Choux Pastry Method
Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) and line two flat trays with baking paper. Whisk together the flour and sugar in a bowl and set aside.

Place the butter and water into a saucepan and heat over a medium high heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is boiling. As soon as it's boiling take the pan off the heat and add in the flour mixture mixing well and quickly (with a decent sized wooden or heat proof plastic spoon) until you have a nice paste. Now pop the pan back on the heat and keep mixing until you have a dough that forms a sort of ball shape and comes away from the sides of the pan.

Now place your dough into either the bowl of your stand mixer or into a mixing bowl and give it a good stir for a minute or so until the dough is luke warm in temperature. Now you add the beaten eggs and get stirring - it's much easier with a stand mixer or electric whisk - the mixture will split and look gross but persist and keep mixing, I promise it will go back into a silky more runny dough within a few minutes.

When you have your thick paste like dough (it should fall off the spoon if you tapped it on the side of the bowl) pour it into your piping bag fitted with the large round nozzle. Pipe six lines of the dough onto each of your baking parchment lined trays, each line about 8cm long with at least 6cm between them to allow room for them to puff up when baking. Don't worry if you don't have a piping bag, just spoon the mix out either in lines or in rounds (then you'll have cream puffs rather than eclairs). Now pop them in the oven. After 15 minutes turn the heat down to 180C (350F) and bake for 15 more minutes, then take them out of the oven. Carefully pick up each bun and using a sharp knife poke a whole in either side of each eclair, then pop your trays back in the oven for a further 5-10 minutes until they are browned to your liking and nice and crispy. When done allow the buns to fully cool before filling them.

Caramel Cream Filling Method
Whisk your double cream either by hand or with an electric mixer until it forms soft peaks, then add your dulce de leche and give it another mix until it's all combined.

Now you can either use a knife to split your eclairs like I did or if you're feeling adventurous you can make a hole in either one end or the bottom of each eclair and pipe in the filling being careful not to burst your buns! I just split my eclairs and piped in the filling using an open star tip on my piping bag to give a prettier finish but don't worry if you don't have one of these, just go ahead and spoon the filling in before replacing the top of the eclair.

Now gently melt your dark chocolate either in a bain marie or in the microwave, then take a teaspoon and drizzle the chocolate over the eclairs. You might want to do it more neatly than me but I enjoyed the cocoa chaos. Before the chocolate set I sprinkled over some bronze sugar crystals but feel free to leave this off if you don't want to be as over the top as moi.

Keep your eclairs in an airtight container in the fridge and eat them within two days, if they last that long.

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Oooh boy oh boy do I love this outfit! I spotted this gorgeous metallic midi skirt on Simply Be and immediately new how I wanted to style it up, with a really casual tee, a cute long necklace, black booties and originally I was looking for a sparkly clutch but then I found something better when I was wondering around Accessorize on Saturday - an amazing spangly camera shape bag! Isn't it the cutest? And it was on sale, woohoo!

Now, the skirt. It's really gorgeous and these photos just don't do it justice sorry guys, the close up photo of the bag shows the texture and the colour a little better. It's a really pale gold in a light fabric that hangs really well. It's pretty generously sized I'd say, this was on the cusp of being a little too big but that made it more comfy to sit in which is always a bonus. It's a lovely lovely skirt but... I think the price is a little high. It's £45 which I would think was bang on if it was made from a thicker more structured fabric or if it was lined but it's a single layer of thin fabric and is a basic full skirt with an elasticated waist, not an innovative design. Buuut it is super pretty and I couldn't resist it, so if you wanna treat yourself I say hey go ahead! The t shirt however was pretty reasonable I think at £12 and it's a lovely soft fabric that fits me really well and it will work with so many outfits - a basic that will get a lot of use for sure.

As for my accessories naturally I stuck to gold. The fabulous camera bag we have already spoken about but to give a little more detail it's a hard box bag with a magnetic closure under the lens, only downside is it's a little stiff to open so getting stuff in and out is a pain at the mo but I think with more use that will ease off. The faux gem necklace I absolutely love and was just £2.00 in the New Look sale along with the earrings which were only £1.99 full price. As you can tell these boots are really old, like two or three years old now from Evans, but I love them and I kinda like their beat up look especially contrasting with such a glam skirt. Juxtaposition baby yeah!


Edit Metallic Skirt - Simply Be - £45.00
Slub Jersey T Shirt - Simply Be - £12.00
Cara Camera Bag - Accessorize - £14.50 (currently on sale, was £29.00)
Gold Triangle Shard Necklace - New Look - £2.00 (currently on sale, was £5.99)
Gold Textured Hoop Earrings - New Look - £1.99
Black Ankle Boots - Evans - Old
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It's way too easy for florals to be trashy, but when done properly a good floral print can be the epitome of chic. Forget your 90's daisy prints and folksy ditsy prints, I'm talking delicate blooms, jewel hued petals, detailed text book illustration style flowers and richly coloured romantic roses. Here are some of my favourite chic floral pieces of the moment, I do hope some of them make your wish list too!

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1  -  2  -  3  -  4

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OK so I am really not a fan of the whole 'new year new you' thing but I have to admit the start of a new year is a really good mental full stop and new start, especially after the Christmas period which is both mentally and physically challenging even if you love it like I do. The biggest thing in 2015 I have to look forward to is getting married to Pete in San Francisco in May. I already have my dress and it's just gorgeous, but I had to order it in a size smaller than I'd usually go for as it didn't go up any higher and although it fits me I would like to trim down just a little so it fits me perfectly and my silhouette looks smoother in it. I don't need to lose a lot and I don't plan to as I'm fine with my size, toning and smoothing a bit is my goal and I'll stop when I'm where I want to be. I don't have a goal weight or dress size which might make it a little harder, but I'm going to track my measurements to see how it goes.

It seemed kind of fortuitous then when I was contacted by a company called State of Mind to see if I'd like to give some of their activewear a try! I headed to the site and was a bit overwhelmed by the selection, but so excited to see that there is somewhere us plus size ladies can buy pretty much any sportswear piece we might need! Another great thing is that every piece was designed and manufactured in the UK, not something most companies could boast! So let's go on to what I thought about the actual clothing, here's the pieces I tried...


For me finding trousers for the gym has always been the hardest thing. I always end up with some sort of jogger pant style thing in a thick jersey fabric. I always hate them and find that the stretch isn't firm enough so I have to keep pulling them up. I did not have these problems with these lovely capris. They are made of a soft and stretchy fabric called Supplex which I'd not heard of before, but it feels wonderful and you can tell it will be hard wearing. The stretch is firm and the rolled over waist smooths your tum a little which is always nice with sports wear, I kept it as it was as it helped them fit my pear shaped bod but you could also roll down the band so they were less high waisted if you wished.Oh and there's a little inside pocket too so if you don't want to leave your jewellery in the locker you can keep it safe and on your person, or keep your locker key or drink money in there - fab!

This little baby is just wonderful! I have a few swim dresses now, they are my jam when it comes to swimwear, and although my others are very pretty they just aren't as well designed as this one. It might not look like anything special but seriously the thought that's gone into it is clear when you try it on. There are support cups built into the mesh lining of the bust of the suit with elastic underneath to define your bust line from your body which makes it super comfortable and the double straps, all of which are adjustable not only looks great but means you have optimal control of the fit over your boobs and shoulders. It's a nice length, not too long to look mumsy and the simply but stylish design is great, making it look cute and down to business. You can also buy a reversed colourway so the body is aqua and the trim is black and that's super cute too!
This was the most standard of the items I tried but was still lovely and is a real wardrobe staple. It's a nice plain tank with thick 'straps' and ruched sides which is a nice touch. It's also nice and long so can cover your tum and bum if you'd like or the ruching makes it easy to pull it up and wear it shorter. The thing that makes this such a great quality piece is again the use of the Supplex fabric. It's a well made piece of clothing and will be very useful and often used at the gym.
This was surprisingly my favourite piece that I tried, I never expected it but it feels so great on I love it to bits! The perfect piece for an outdoor work out or for travelling to and from wherever you exercise, the top is super super soft inside and keeps you really warm without being thick and bulky. Again this baby has some great little design features like thumb holes and high visibility detailing to the back so you could stay visible on a night time walk or run. There also a zipped pocket on the lower back to keep your phone/mp3 player/money safe. I think the panelled design is really flattering and the longer back is great too. It also has wicking properties which means is moves moisture away from your body - I'm not sure how it does this, possibly magic but more likely science. It's the softness of the inside that really sold it to me though, it's seriously so comfortable it's a treat!

Last but not least this tunic is a great little piece, definitely the most flattering piece of active wear I've ever owned. The thick straps on the cami style top are great for hiding your sports bra straps and the skirt section is cut really generously so it hangs beautifully. It's available in two lengths 78cm or 84cm - I went for the longer of the two as I have a bit of a long body and wanted it to sit just under my bum. The colour is also gorgeous (I'm a sucker for hot pink) but if you fancy something different it also comes in white with a blue trim. It also has that magical wicking thing that takes moisture away from your body, yay!



So guys, if like me you're looking to get a little more active in 2015 why not head over to State of Mind and grab yourself some exercise clothes, I'm sure that'll help give you a helping boost to get back at it!
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*This post contains items that were gifted for review. For more information head to my disclaimer page.
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