Polka dots, Pinks & Purples

Well Hello lovelies,

That felt like a weird unintentional 4 day absence from blogging. Weather and life kept getting in my way ;)
 So have you all had super nice weekends? Back to the grindstone now is it?

Dress: Dorothy Perkins
Necklace: Old
Shoes: Asda
Cardi: Clothing at Tesco

So i've had this dress about 3-4 weeks and today was it's first outing. I was kinda thinking i'd keep if for a lovely sunny day, and wear it with wedges or converse and a little straw hat. But if i waited for nice weather i could literally wait an eternity! So i've made it fit the weather as best i can. And d'you know what this dress made this girlie rather twirly! it is such a fun, comfy dress i look forward to wearing it many, many times. D'you know my only personal dislike? The attached tie belt. I have a love hate thing for attached tie belts. i can see why they're there but when you tie them up behind you they dig in your back( like when i'm driving!) So i tied it at the front... i attempted a cute bow but apparently i'm incapable of doing cute bows, it just looked sad and pathetic, so i did it round twice and tied a knot. And my second problem is, i like to add my own belt. Like a bright yellow would have been lovely!
But besides that its still in my top ten dresses ;)

This is also my first time with french maid braids on the blog. They're something i've done but never showed on here. For me, if my hair is wet and i have no time, this is the most ideal and practical style! Quick and easy and it gets it out of the way too which i kinda love (you know, when you got kids with sticky hands...!)


Anyway lovelies, i'm off , but have yourselves the best week!

Take care


Lovely linkys:
MONDAY MINGLE

Ditsy flowers & Cherries

Hey lovelies, Hope all's well! I am sooo glad to be over with work for a few days, PHEW its been hard work lately... seriously my lil ol' brain is frazzled (as is my hair it seems!)

I can't concentrate! 

'Cos this lil guy wanted to come out and be in mama's pictures, we had tears and a little red face!

But mama doesnt mind!!

"see daddy i just wanted to be with her"

annndd finish!

Dress: Modcloth

Cardi: Clothing at Tesco

Shoes: Lotta from Stockhom Clogs

Bag: Primark

So these pictures were quickly snapped between stupid heavy showers and at the end of a really long day. Neo was so tired he was stood on the doorstep crying his eyes out, he's a mamas boy that one.  And apparently a grumpy one tonight!

This dress is a beauty, its by Trollied Dolly and is so lovely on. Paul bought it for me for my birthday in December and it was tight, i then put on a few pounds and i could not do the damn thing up! Since i've been healthy eating and watching my calories lately i've managed to comfortably get in to this dress... and i love it. Structured, retro and just plain lovely. I didn't realise until earlier that its actual ditsy flowers and cherries which to me is ridiculously cute!

So technically in my mind it's now the weekend.. do you have any nice plans?  We have Mia's athletics competition, our little runner is about to run her little legs as fast as they can go, we also have my nieces 2nd birthday party and i also plan on trying to visit a local car boot sale, weather permitting! so ye, busy bee's over here! 

Take it easy lovelies and i'll see you real soon 

Stripes & Denim

Hey all, How's your weekend been? Good? Been very rainy here but we have had a nice chilled one anyway, with visits from my sis and nieces and a bit of shopping. Nothing too strenuous.
I don't normally blog on weekends, for the only reason of its normally manic here as we're always a full house, but i miss you guys! So here i am!
I've been feeling really inspired lately, after my White, Red & Blue rut i did a little magazine reading, a lot of blog reading and a lot of dressing up in my own wardrobe. And from then i feel like i have loads and loads of outfits i wanna share with you all. Nothing ground breaking, it's not like i'm re inventing anything over here, but you know when you put outfits together and you feel good, well that's where i am right now... which is nice!! Are you feeling inspired? Do you have any inspiration tips?

Dress: Red Velvet, Elsie and the Beautiful Mess ladies make such great dresses, im a proud owner of 2!
Shirt: Next
Everything else is oldie-old-old!

Can i just say how lovely this dress is from  Elsie and the Beautiful Mess ladies, they make such great dresses, im a proud owner of 2( first one here, which feels like forever ago and now i really wanna remix that one.) This one is called "The Bike Ride Dress" and d'you know what its soo comfy, and if i rode a bike i would totally wear this (but alas i live amidst hills the size of mountains and biking it would be way too strenuous!) But as a mama(and quite a tall gal) it was a great length, i could bend down, pick up my son AND keep my modesty intact! Result! And it is a soft stretchy material... Just fab!
I have a number of ideas to wear this with other items in my wardrobe. I immediately thought red, but thought i'd try this out first for a casual laid back Sunday and i kinda love it, it was so comfy! Red is definitely an option i will be mixing with though and i imagine more colours over the summer with nice sandals (if we ever get a summer boohoo!)
So yes me likey the dress...I seem to be a bit dress crazy lately (again) i just find them so easy and comfy.. i may or may not have purchased a few more recently so sorry in advance for the abundance of dresses coming 'atcha.

Well then lovelies, its been nice having a Sunday chat, hope the rest of your weekend wherever you are is awesome!
Take Care

Ps Thanks so much to Lizzie of Vanity Frills for this:

How lovely!! i'm reknowned for being terrible at passing these on and infact terrible at remembering them(i have serious goldfish span memory) but WILL remember to do this tomorrow!

Links: Monday mingle over at  the lovely Momtrends

From Sun legs to Smurf Legs

Happy Friday lovelies
Wooo am i glad its here. I have a  few nice things to do this weekend, whether they pan out, who knows, but i'm glad i'm work free for a few days at least.
Well weather update... its still cold! And rainy. So as i mentioned i'm trying to accommodate some of my pretty dresses in to weather appropriate wear. Layers are the only way!!

Bird dress: Newlook and originally worn here
Jumper &Boots: Next sale
Charm necklace: old

So this is Smurf legs (or if you follow me on instagram/twitter smug legs.. stupid typo!)  Strangely people starred less at the smurf legs then they did at the yellow legs. I've had these tights a while but this is there first outing. And the boots, well.. they are what i wear alll the time lately. I had seen them for £80 and waited and waited which is unlike me as im so impatient, and then they went in the sale. THAT NEVER HAPPENS TO ME!! my luck is never that good! so at half the price i was buzzing!!
Oh and yes my hair and fringe (bangs) are in desperate need of a cut, split ends galore over here. I'm booked in for tomorrow and she's gunna have to work some magic i tell you as it is dire up there!!
Yes i have absolutely nothing of any interest to say hence the babbling!
I'm off out for a meal and a catch up with my gorgeous friend tonight who i have not seen since december! I cant wait!

Here's to a awesome weekend for all!!
Take care

Ps did you manage to "like" my link? It only takes 20 seconds.
The girls leading have over 400likes but i'm happy that i've gotten this far..
Heres the LINK!
(thank you thank you thank you)

Pink & Green & Floral

Happy Monday folks!

Did you all have super lovely weekends?

The weekend at the in-laws was lovely! I slept like a baby, had my meals cooked for me and read a whole magazine without having to run after a crazy Neo. It was nice! and as i mentioned on Friday, i wore jeans and jumpers all weekend and it was good. I'm ready to jump back on the "attempting to dress myself nicely" saddle. Problem is we have a super busy week and staff on holidays so attempting to take photos of the aforementioned may prove to be tricky but hey ho, i'll give it ago!

This outfit was actually from a couple of weeks ago and was something i threw together last minute just before we popped out, and looking at these pics now i realise i actually quite like the outfit!

Dress & Shoes: Next (the dress was on sales last summer and this is the first time i've worn it!)

Cardi:Clothing at Tesco

Belt: Dorothy perkins

Girly twirly flowery dress... yes please! You now me i cant resist.

I'm also attempting to remix some of my dresses like the one in this post, i want to get some more wear out of them and sometimes, for me, remixing options on such obvious dresses is difficult. I will let you know how that goes. Plus spring seems to have left us again. 8 degrees! i swear it was warmer most of the winter! so i'm having to layer up as i refuse to take all my woolies out of storage again. Anyone else struggling with  non spring type weather and dressing for it?

I see all the lovely spring/summer wear in the shops and think  to myself, my goodness i'd freeze my boobies off wearing that! 

And on that note i will love you and leave you!  :-)

Have cracking weeks and i will see you shortly. I'm off to conquer the mountain that is the washing that occurs after trips away!

Ps linking with the lovely Monday Mingle ladies over at Glamamom

Break away

Happy Friday Folks.

This week has been such a toughie! Firstly Neo having gastroenteritis, then i had a 2 day Sage accountancy course and exam which left my brain completely and utterly frazzled!!  I came out of it yesterday and i was completely spaced out. I've had a week of very little sleep ( i do not exam well, i stress i worry and generally work myself up!) So i am happy to see the weekend of this very stressful week.

I'm just in the middle of packing up again to go to the in-laws in London again (we were supposed to go last week but Neo being poorly obviously put those plans on hold) So this weekend i am having a complete break. I am taking no hair products, very little make up, one pair of jeans and 2 jumpers.. that is all!! I'm gunna have a break from outfits and just slum it! Do you ever feel like doing that? No thinking involved, just throwing on jeans and a jumper?

My hair will have a rest from products and my face can breathe freely. I gotta say, i'm looking forward to it. And i'm also looking forward to coming back Next week with lots and lots of fun outfits totally refreshed and re-inspired. I've just received a lovely Cath kidston Skirt and if we're friends on Instagram/ twitter (im Rachelthehat on instagram, which i now love!! let me know your's too so i can follow, or twitter @rachelthehat) then you will see i also just added a beautiful pair of Irregular Choice shoes to the collection.. Can't wait to show you those! I've made over £85 on ebay lately selling stuff from my clear out, so i've been happily doing a bit of guilt free online shopping.. Oh yes!! Its amazing!!

So i will love you and leave you with some pics from the guest post i did recently for Lauren Ella. It was when we had the beautiful weekend... Oh wouldn't it be nice to have that sun and warmth back!!

Dress, Chelsea girl collection: www.riverisland.co.uk
Shoes: Blowfish
Lace Top underneath: Next


Have lovely weekends all and i can't wait to catch up with all of you on Monday!

EBEW: Preppy Pastels

Hello lovelies.. is the week treating you well so far?

This month Everybody Everywhere chose PASTELS. When pastels first came out in abundance this spring i was not keen. I'm more a brights kinda gal. colour blocking, floral brights. But as the months have gone on pretty hues of pastel pinks and mints and soft blues have grown on me. I kinda like them. Its a step outside of my normal "go to" outfits also so that was quite refreshing!

Coral Jeans and Mint Jumper: Tesco
Shirt: Next
Mint Bag: Modcloth
Pumps: ShoeZone

My regular photographer (hubby) seems to have come down with what Neo has (needless to say my house is FUN at the mo ;) So my lovely mum snapped these quickly for me just before i popped to the pharmacy to pick up some much need medicine for the poorly boys.

Anyway, what do you think of pastels? Are you a fan?
And it looks like my rut may have passed!! not blue, red or white in sight!

Take Care all
Here's a plethora of pastel pretties for you to view!



Ps thank you all as always, for your lovely comments. Neo is a bit better today and seems to be finally on the mend. And also thank you for your lovely words about my blue/red/white issues. You guys are the best!

White, Red and Blue Rut

Hello ladies,

how was your easter? Did you eat your weight in sweet goods? I refrained from over indulging as i'm trying really hard to loose a few pounds before summer. So far so good. I've been getting my sit ups and press ups on too!  I may fall off this wagon again but i'm enjoying it at the moment!

Ok so i have to tell you something i am in a major style rut!! Seriously! i've been laying awake in bed thinking what the hell am i going to wear (and blatantly putting waaayy to much thought in to it!)
Have you ever just stood in front of your wardrobe and gazed blankley in to it thinking "I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!" when obviously the wardrobe is full to bursting point and yet i can still not from a cognitive outfit. All my outfits i put together lately are red, white and blue! i cant get out of those colours.
So after a little thinking and playing dress up in my own clothes i managed to add yellow into the mix. so now i'm obsessed with blue, red, white AND yellow.. i need some intervention and inspiration!

Put for now here's some more red white and blue!

"neo do you like mummy's dress?"

".... yes Mummy but you need your bag too!"

"now lets goooooooo!"

Dress under jumper: old... New look
Jumper: Dorothy Perkins
Shoes: Hush Puppies via Very
Bag: Matalan
Brooch & hairband :  Sunshine & Carousels via Etsy

Poor Neo has been soooo poorly, these pics were taken last week. He seems to have gastroenteritis, so a doc's trip for us tomorrow. I hate seeing him so ill, he's such a healthy kid and this is just knocked the wind out his little sails. I just want to make him better. But needless to say there has been no fabulous outfits here as this mama is on constant poop alert (lol, sorry!)

Anyway, i hope you are all having a nice bank holiday Monday and i will see you all soon!