Joules

I don't think it's a secret here on the old blog that i am a huge Joules fan. 

I find there country style clothes fun, chic, colourful and practical making them completely wearable.

I've shown my love for Joules by wearing my favourite dresses here, here and again here, in my eyes they can do no wrong with there quintessentially British style.

So when i had the opportunity to review some of their products i hadn't ever purchased before, well i jumped for joy and replied with a big "yes please!!!"

Joules 

Umbrella, 

Mug 

and Ipad Case

The quality of Joules pieces is another reason i return time and time again. I would certainly love to add  one of their lovely Ladies Tweed Jacket to my ever growing blazer collection. Such a timeless piece that never dates yet looks fantastic with age. Great with jeans and over dresses or skirts. Do you own a Tweed blazer? Would you invest in a tweed piece?

How cute is the little fox print Ipad case?! I kinda want to just use it as a really cute clutch!

Cup of Tea anyone?  Why yes, this is my beautiful new mug, i gotta tell ya, it makes a cracking cuppa!

And being the country bumpkin i am, living in Wales in the UK means rain and lots of it which means a definite countryside must have is the classic wax jacket, especially with the unpredictable or predictable as it may seem, april showers that will sure to be showering our little heads soon.

 Do you own any Joules pieces?





linkies:

Back to the Present

 With my head mostly in the past like in my last post, i thought it was time i brought myself to the present and dabbled with a couple of new pieces.

 I have been umm-ing and ahh-ing over some sneaker-wedges for a while now. Are they fugly or fabulous? What will i wear them with? Are they actually comfy? So when some lovely Tesco clubcard vouchers dropped through my door and they just so happened to have these grey sneaker-wedges on the shelves whilst doing my food shopping i decided to take the plunge and give this trend a go...

 And the verdict? Well, i kinda love them. They're comfy and kinda funky and easy to do the running around and chores in. They kinda made me feel a wee bit sporty and want to do star jumps and squats, but i refrained, you know, just in-case i pulled something... :-/
So what do you think of sneaker-wedges? Love or Loathe? (and dont worry i wont be defended if they aren't your cup of tea, i do believe they aren't for everyone)

 I also picked up this rather lovely orange knit, khaki skinnies and yellow bag. It was a good shopping day (not so much on the food front, it'll be beans on toast allll week,haha!) Thanks Tesco, every little does help! I am really in to orange right now, i've just picked up recently a bright orange dress too. Who'd have thought it... orange! I mean it's not a colour i normally gravitate towards (normal being red, navy or mustard!) but its fast becoming a current favourite.

 So i'm trying to think of ways to re mix these bad-boys to make it a worthy investment (£19 is a bargain investment even without vouchers dont you think!). Anyone have any ideas? I already i have a dress lined up for them next but feel i need some sneaker-wedge type inspiration. Anyone tried this or have you pinned any styles? I would love to see!

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: The lovely Tiff Ima

Hey Lovelies,
I have the greatest pleasure to introduce you to my wonderful sponsor Tiff Ima of Style Honestly.
This lovely lady has fantastic style and is a truly great gal, but enough from me, I'll hand the show over!





Tiff Ima the Hat

Okay, so it doesn't have quite the same ring for me, but the name  "Rachel the Hat" intrigued me and brought me to Rachel's page. I fell in love because we have a common obsession: hats. I knew I wanted to work with Rachel and was happy to sponsor her this month. Not to mention that Rachel has been great the whole way, offering advice and help, and taking a general interest in me as a sponsor. Sponsor her if when you get a chance!

So if you didn't know already, my name is Tiff Ima and I run a little blog called Style Honestly. My objective is to just be honest with my style and encourage others to do the same. Women have this crazy tendency to try and bend to the whims of others and change parts of themselves, only to be left empty and lost. This spills over to how we dress too, since our style is a true expression of who we are. It happened to me time and time again and now, I fight it with every fiber of my being. I love who I am and refuse to let anyone change me.

Blogging is a creative outlet for me because my life is otherwise mundane and predictable. I started Style Honestly as a way to share myself with the blogging community and provide my insight on style and be an encouragement to other women.

In addition to providing insight and encouragement, you have to know that I am obsessed with finding deals. For me, I can't justify spending tons of money on clothes, since I don't have much extra money (accursed students loans!). I love to shop thrift stores and clearance racks and take advantage of retail rewards programs. I find great joy in walking out of a store with a $15 pair of Franco Sarto shoes or a $7 dress from H&M  (worn in this post!)

In a nutshell, I'm just a crazy girl who loves clothes. I would love it if you all stopped by to see me!

Shopping destinations- New York

When TravelSupermarket contacted me about the chance to produce my own personal infographic, I jumped at the chance. Not only was the infographic about shopping – which  you all know I love – it combined shopping with travel! I was asked to choose my favourite of all of the shopping destinations around the world, for me there was only one choice, the Big Apple itself!  Having been on a trip to New York before I knew what shops I would head to first – check out the infographic to see if you agree with my must-sees and if this inspires you to visit the city that never sleeps yourself make sure you visit TravelSupermarket for cheap flights to New York.

 

Lucky Ducky

Good day world!! How are you?

 I have to say i am feeling in rather good spirits of late. After nearly a week off from work i feel rested and ready to fight the rat race that is life once again. Even Neo has allowed me a couple of sneaky lay -ins the past few days. 9 am sleep-ins feel good! I have also had lots of reading time and watching some great dvds (i'm obsessed with Call The Midwife, have you ever watched it? The 1950's era amaze me!)

  So i have managed a little retail therapy of late. This is the lovely duck print skirt that was on my wish list a couple of weeks back. I had some vouchers from work and this skirt came to mind straight away, surely every #wardrobezoo needs a ducky print skirt, lololol!

 This weekend i also went to the hairdressers and got a lovely hair cut (not that you can see from these pics). It feels wonderful, she took a lot of the bulk and weight out of it and put some choppy layers in, making a lot easier and lighter for me. I've always been rubbish with hair , mine is just so naturally frizzy and blow drying it makes it even more of a bouffant (and not in a good way). I was thinking back to how i coped with out straighteners in my youth... simply put, i don't think i did, haha! I used to tie it back a lot! I remember the first time i used straighteners at the ripe old age of 16, and my hair life changed forever lol! I was able to wear it down and it not be completely a mess, i always had the bump at the back of the head though, which i obviously couldn't reach, but i didn't mind. it was a vast improvement on the frizz-bob that was!

Its amazing what a little hair cut, a bit of retail therapy and some "you time" can do for a girl. As superficial as  it sounds, my spirits are lifted, i feel positive looking forward and i'm thoroughly looking forward to what our future holds. Sorry folks, evidently there are no wise words of wisdom here today, just happy, girlish, thoughts. 

Skirt: This one: River Island

Chambray, cardi & Boots: Next

Coat: Topshop

Hat, Necklace , socks and tights: Matalan 

 Enough of me babbling on, have you had a lovely weekend?  I hope so.

 Are you partial to a bit of girly stereotype goodness?

oh and ps i may have watched this in all its cheesy-happiness a few dozen times too... hes so lovely... and he can dance. I think my hubby had a certain Joseph Gordon-Levitt look about him when he was younger, what d'ya think? haahaa

ok longest "ps"over...

Bye for now lovelies!!

Linkies: a href="http://watchoutforthewoestmans.blogspot.com" target="_self">

Love is in the air...

Thanks to the lovely people at Interflora who sent me this exquisite example of one of their many stunning Valentines gifts.

 Aren't they Gorgeous?!!

I can't tell you how much they really put a smile on my face!

 I have been using Interflora for years as personally i feel there is nothing nicer than receiving a surprise luxury bunch of flowers through the post. 

My in-laws live 4 hours away and we don't get down as much as we'd like these days, so on any birthdays or special occasions i always go on line and book the nicest flowers/plants/gifts/wine for them and have it delivered on their special day. I think its just a lovely way of showing someone that you are thinking of them.

I'll never forget the excitement in the office when a a delivery man would walk in with a bouquet, us girls would all secretly hold our breathe, cross our fingers and hope that the name he read out on that little pretty card would be ours.

 This year Valentines day may not be top of my agenda but it doesn't stop me from appreciating the romance and the wonderful air of love that surrounds this day. What can i say i am a big softy old romantic at heart!

I know some people don't buy in to it, but the way i see it, if i can dedicate a day to loving my husband and showing him that, then surely it can't be a bad thing! Maybe we should have more Valentines days in a year haha!

Are you treating anyone this valentines?

I just wanted to say a quick thank you too all who commented on my last post, i can not even begin to tell you how your words were so uplifting and the amount of tears i shed reading each and every one. You have all brought such wonderful words in to my life that makes me think that i will get through this. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, if i could send you all a big bunch of flowers i totally would!!!

So, Onwards and up-awards,right? xxxxx

Time for some Honesty...

 I  have been an awful blogger lately. I have had no new outfits to post, i have not been replying to emails or comments and i haven't been swinging by or linking up to any of your wonderful blogs. 

For this i sincerely apologies! I love the blogging community, it feels like a protective wonderfully lovely bubble against the "real" world. 

A few of you may remember i mentioned some genuine stress and anxiety a couple of weeks ago, but didn't say why. So i thought i would unveil the reasons behind my cryptic comments and talk to you all about my current "real life" situation in all its crappiness as i just can't fake enthusiasm today. Life has worn me down.

 For those of you who have been with me from the beginning you may recall (or not, so i shall tell you) that my husband ,Paul and I ran a business together since the beginning 6 and a half years ago, just think of the film Jerry Maguire and that was kind of how we properly got together and started the business but in a less dramatised way,lol!

We have had good time (hitting one million turnover, winning Young Entrepreneur of the year, generally working together) and we've had very bad times (huge debts, people stealing and back stabbing, recession) Its been more tough than good, but we plodded on. 

Then the dreaded recession hit and we struggled on through until we had 3 customers go into liquidation consecutively leaving an outstanding total bill owed to us for over £100,000. 

We tried and tried to recover but we couldn't. 

So this is me telling you that yep, life is pretty shitty right now (please excuse my cuss words but sometimes an expletive in this condition are necessary, in real life i am actually cursing like a trooper)

We are closing down our business which is so hard, for many reasons (practicality, nostalgia, necessity)

and we are having an awful time doing it.

Seeing as I'm being totally honest here i will also say, we may be loosing our house, some belongings and cars.  Its an awful situation to be in.

We have never been a flash couple driving round in expensive cars (i drive a little mazda, which i luff!) or in fancy houses and we don't spend a lot of money on anything, we have not had a holiday in over 3 years and we don't own anything super expensive. I hope you all know that about me, i'm actually quite  a cheapskate!

So our personal lives are amidst the mess that goes hand in hand with the business. We are currently on the roller-coaster and, in all honesty i want to get off. It has been an atrocious week of no luck and things constantly going wrong even when you thought they couldn't possibly.

 I am running off about 3 hours sleep a night and getting up to work harder than i ever knew i could. On one hand i think to myself "Rachel you are made of tough stuff, keep going" on the other hand i am in a mess on the floor crying my eyes out. 

I am super grateful to the lovely ladies i work with in my "new" job (i started it in October and had been running 2 jobs for a while there) for being supportive and flexible and just generally making me laugh when i thought i had forgotten how, and our dear friends Estelle and Dean for giving us so much help and just generally being wonderful friends...salt of the earth, you guys!

I know this isn't really my normal post type but i think i really felt the need to vent and this is my only place i guess. I also wanted to offer up an explanation as to why posts may be sporadic in the next few weeks. I may still manage it all as i actually find it a wonderful distraction from the crappy reality right now, but it may not be on regular days. I have a wonderful Sponsor Spotlight coming up for you soon and a beautiful set of photos my husband took which will be coming tomorrow.

So if you could all bear with me through this tricky time, i am *hoping* to be back in a happy, bubbly, fun place on the blog and in real life, soon.

If you're wondering these photos were actually from a sponsored post i did over at the lovely Marisa's last week. They are from the snowy time we had a couple of weeks ago. I am completely loving polka dots right now. Even in times of stress i still do like a nice polka-dotty number ;-)
Thank you for listening to my stressy rambles, when i get emails /comments /tweets through it really still does make me smile and feels so good to have you all, my extended friends from across the globe.

 Dress: Ebay 

Chambray Shirt: Next

Tights: Matalan

Red Clogs: Lotta From Stockholm

Brooch: Vintage

Jacket: River Island