Friday 28 November 2014

Black Friday

Black Friday is not something that has previously been big in the UK, but it is slowly picking up momentum here and everyone seems to be jumping on the band wagon.

I wanted to share some of my favourite deals with you, these are the ones I am keeping a close eye on today.

Dorothy Perkins


Dorothy Perkins have 30% off site wide HERE

On top of this every 3 hours they are bring a selection which you can take an extra 30% off with code YGF84 (only the selected lines) the 9-12 selection can be found HERE
A couple of my favourite items are

Treggings
Blazer

Tesco 

Tesco have 25% off site wide on their clothing HERE

Party Dress
only up to a size 20

Jersey Dress
Tesco Direct also have some great offers if you can get online, it automatically retry for you which is great so I got on eventually. 
Go HERE

Amazon

Amazon have lightening deals happening this Black Friday with limited stock keep and eye out HERE and set alarms if you see something coming up later you want to check the deal on.

Linda Bop

Linda Bop have taken 15% of loads of there dresses head over to the site and take a peek HERE

I have this on its way to me.

Audrey

Evans 

Evans have some amazing deals on HERE including all their jeans for only £10 a pair and 50% off coats and boots!!

A few other places to check out include:

Debenhams 

Rocket Dog

Lakeland

BHS


There are plenty of amazing deals in there for christmas presents and treats, if I come across any amazing deals today I will update here.

Mhairi 



Wednesday 26 November 2014

Impressed By Tesco

For the last few years Tesco has been getting better and better as an on-line store but in store has been another story, clothing sections have been getting smaller and smaller and plus size ranges have mostly disappeared.

I am very luck to live very close to some very large Tesco stores and used to live 10 minutes from their head office store which to be honest has a shockingly small clothing section for the size of the store.

On Monday my fabulous friend Andrew visited me and we went for a drive to Bar Hill Tesco, which is a huge store just off the A14 in Cambridgeshire. When I say the store is huge think French Supermarche, I hate doing my food shop there as instead of 30-40 minutes I am in there for 3 hours and come out spending way more than I meant. It has always had a large mezzanine floor which used to be split between electrical's and clothing but it has been a couple of years since I last visited.

The whole store has had an uplift and the change is fantastic! the mezzanine floor now has a Cafe which is lovely and the the entire rest of the floor is taken up by clothing, I was in heaven! it is huge, it felt modern, and could have easily been a high street fashion retailer, with excellent posters and mannequins well displayed stands no over crowding and fantastic bright lighting.

This style of store could easily work in a shopping centre as a stand alone clothing shop not just in the supermarkets. The selection was immense.

I snapped a few photos which are a bit rubbish as I only had my phone with you but you can get the idea.

Beautiful Displays of Party Wear

A Nice large section for Lingerie and Nightwear.

They even have a Sports Wear section which is beautifully set out and has a really good selection of trainers.

Just me trying to run out of Andrews photo.

I loved this skirt and Crop top 

Great online order system if you cant find our size in store.

Plenty of brands

I liked the advertising points


Excellent Childrenswear section

To give you an idea of the size, women's wear is all behind me and that is the length down towards menswear.

I think my only dissapointment is that yet again no plus sizes that I could see, I may be wrong as we were not being very methodical so could have missed it but I doubt it. 

Please Tesco sort this out and the store will be perfect!!


Mhairi 
xxx

Sunday 21 September 2014

Looking fabulous in Firmoo

Hello to my lovely readers, so sorry for such a long delay in coming back life has been kind of crazy recently. Things are finally coming together and I will tell you all about it in a few post very soon.

Even though things have been crazy and this post is very very overdue I have at least looked fabulous during it all thanks to the lovely team at Firmoo who let me choose a gorgeous pair of glasses to review in my prescription.

There is so much to choose from it was a really tough decision but it was well worth it as I love my glasses and live in them. Sadly in the time it has taken to get organised the pair I chose are no longer on the site that I can find but I will show you how cute they are and the others that I really loved and still want to order.

I have to apologise or the picture quality, I have some gorgeous photos on my camera but my cable for getting them off has vanished so to stop any more delays I have used the ones off my phone for now and will add my camera ones as soon as I have access to a cable again.





I am honestly madly in love with these frames I love the reds and the shape suits me, I don't feel overpowered in them.

Firmoo offer so many frames and it is difficult not to just add the entire catalogue to this post but I will try to whittle it down a bit.
I love the shape and colour of these frames.

I love these so much they are green which makes them perfect and they are tortoise shell which is another bonus.

I tend to gravitate towards rectangular frames as they work well with my face shape, these are very cute I love the brighter tones within the tortoise shell pattern.

Firmoo prices are excellent and they offer many different options for the lenses to be thinned and for coatings all that you would expect from an opticians these add to the overall cost of the frames, you need your full prescription from you recent eye test and also your pupillary distance which you can ask your optician to give you I called and requested mine and picked it up the same day.

There is a flash sale on right now but I am not sure how long it lasts or what the terms and conditions are so take a look HERE if it is still going. 

Mhairi
xxx

*These glasses were provided for this review free of charge but all views and opinions are my own.

Friday 29 August 2014

Almost Lost It!


Wow, Life has been really quite hectic recently and I am so sorry it has been a while since I last posted.

Everything has been very exciting and incredibly stressful the last few weeks as we have moved house, we found out on Wednesday 13th that we would be moving house on the 16th and had so much to do, to be ready to go. It was a nightmare but we made it! unfortunately we ended up being without internet until yesterday due to a mess up with our installation date, this has meant a longer than expected hiatus from the blog.

I did also have a near disaster, I almost lost my blog address as without internet connection I didn't realise my payment hadn't renewed although I am planing on a slight name change I still want to keep this address as so many people have it and I can still redirect people from it to mine. managed to renew it today so it is all safe now!

I am back though and my planned update for the blog is underway I also have a few gorgeous review pieces to show you which I will get up this coming week there and Glasses, LBD's and an amazing skirt to show you which are going to be my staple outfit pieces this coming autumn.

My blog also sneaked past its 3rd anniversary while all the craziness was going on so I am hoping to celebrate that as soon as I get the new layout all sorted. 

I hope your all well, those who are still reading thank you for staying with me, I promise to be better now I am in a happy place and have a decent internet connection again. 

Everyone at Plus North this weekend have an amazing time, I am so sad I couldn't make it again this year, moving became the financial priority but I am coming next year even if it kills me! 


Mhairi
xxx

Wednesday 6 August 2014

Saving students money with BT

Summer is here and it is lovely to have a break but soon enough I will be back being a student again. When I found out about the new services offered by BT for students, I wanted to share them with you.

I now study and live at home so I have to pay for my bills all year round, many students however spans around 3 months a year back at home for the holidays and end up paying for phone and broadband services for the whole 12 months. BT have now introduced a 9 month plan perfect for students which launched on July 30th.

There are 3 options available.

BT Broadband
  • Save £96 versus the standard price for Unlimited BT broadband (unlimited download usage) with Unlimited Weekend Calls due to BT’s, exclusive to students, 9-month contract for just £16 per month (plus £15.99 a month line rental) 1

BT Infinity
  • Save £138 versus the standard price for BT Infinity 1 Extra broadband with a 40GB download limit and Unlimited Weekend Calls due to BT’s, exclusive to students, 9 month contract for just £14 per month(plus £15.99 a month line rental) 2

  • Save £222 versus the standard price for Unlimited Infinity 1 broadband with unlimited download usage and Unlimited Weekend Calls due to BT’s, exclusive to students, 9-month contract for just £19 per month(plus £15.99 a month line rental) 3
All packages come with unlimited access to BT Wi-fi, free BT Sport online and the BT SmartTalk app.

I have BT infinity at home and love the amazing speeds I get, so if you are in an area capable of receiving it, I have no problem recommending BT fibre optic services. I have had my broadband from other suppliers and just haven't found the service and reliability to be as good. I also love that I have unlimited downloads, my husband and step-son are both gamers online and I dabble in it myself, as well as using a number of streaming services for films and music so we get through a fair amount of data.

Other services such as access to 12 million public BT Wifi hotspots, access to BT sports and the BT smart talk app all make these packages perfect for student houses, splitting the costs amongst your friends also makes it even more affordable and great value for money.
Being a student is hard enough financially so making savings like this is a huge bonus and not being tied into and annual contract is great.

For more information about the Student packages available head HERE

Small Print
1  £96 savings claim based on Unlimited Broadband monthly price on an 18-month standard contract (£8 a month for 6 months, then £16 per month) compared to a 9-month student contract (£16 a month).  

2 £138 savings claim based on Infinity 1 Extra monthly price on an 18-month standard contract (£8 a month for 3 months, then £16 per month) compared to a 9-month student contract (£14 a month).  

3 £222 savings claim based on Unlimited Infinity 1 monthly price on an 18-month standard contract (£16 a month for 3 months, then £23 per month) compared to a 9-month student contract (£19 a month).  

Please share this with your friends and family who may be going off to uni or maybe have kids heading off.

I hope this information is useful to some of you, I personally thought it was a great service.

Mhairi
xxx

*I have asked to post this information on behalf of BT but all opinions are my own. The services listed and savings calculations were provided to me.





Tuesday 29 July 2014

The Evolution of Festival Fashion with Newlook

NL
Festival Fashion Timeline by New Look

New look have put together the above Evolution of Festival fashion and I remember many of the styles myself. I have b=never been to any of the big music festivals but I do hope I get to do it one day.
I do however tend to go to events like the Strawberry fair and County shows and festival fashion has its place at these events too.

This got me thinking about what type of festival fashion I would be likely to wear. I am a very practical person if I am honest and like to think of every eventuality. Festivals to me bring to mind, Spilt drinks, porta-loos and mud!

So what does that mean for my choices? well it totally excludes the idea of playsuits which seem to be the festival goers staple this year. There is no worse thought for me than struggling to undo and slink out of a playsuit while trying not to drop it on the gross floor (see I think far too much). This means I am likely to choose separates or dresses which can be lifted up out of the way easily or taken off quickly.  Spilt drinks are likely with hundreds of dancing and possibly drunk partying people so there is no way I want to be wearing my most expensive clothing. The chances of your feet being stood on are also high so for me there is no chance that I am going to be wearing my gorgeous sandals while dancing in a large crowd!

So with that in mind I have put together my choices.

All items can be found at Newlook (suncream is Tescos own)
For those hot and sunny days I have gone for the above outfit choices Shorts which are light weight, comfortable and easy to take on and off. They are also fabulous as I can dance and not flash my knickers! Asimple vest that can be worn tucked in or out a cover-up for when it gets a bit chilly or later in the evening.  Comfy shoes are my biggest tip, and these cute canvas ones are fab at protecting you from rouge stomping dancing feet. Don't forget the suncream and sunglasses very important!

My second outfit is for the cooler or wetter festival days.

Lightweigh trousers which are quick to dry and comfortable are my saviour for days out, team them with a vest or tshirt and have a cover-up handy for if you get chilly. a waterproof is also a great item to pack. Comfy shoes again or a pair of wells if it looks like it is going to be a rainy day, the ones I have chosen would also work for a hot rainy day outfit too!

I actually have a couple of pieces on there way out to me, which I am going to wear in my own little festival inspired outfit.



I Think I am going to team them with a pair of cuffed trousers or a midi skirt for a relaxed casual outfit.

So you remember some oh the festival styles from years gone by? Do you have an festival essentials?

Friday 18 July 2014

Blisters No More

Summer is here and as some of you who follow me on twitter may know so are my dreaded blisters! I have the most ridiculously sensitive skin on my feet, even in shoes that seem as soft as melting butter my feet end up covered in blisters. This year I am yet again on the hunt for a pair of shoes that are comfortable and do not rub half my skin off!

I recently came across Spartoo in the Blogosphere and I have been searching for that elusive perfect pair. While I might be dreaming about shoes that look like this


My poor back and feet are screaming No at me and demanding I be sensible. In a bid to not end up in a Weird Al Yankovic parody for wearing socks and sandals! it is possibly time for me to make some more sensible summer choices without compromising on my style.

I am thinking maybe a pair of awesome Vans, it has been a while since I have had a pair and they were always so comfy!

I want a pair that will loo good with both jeans and dresses, something like these ones maybe?




Cute, functional and I can wear socks!

Also loving sandals but they need to be super comfy!



I will keep dreaming about ones like this!


Do you have any recommendations for a perfect pair of summer shoes?

Mhairi
xxx







Friday 4 July 2014

Lust List!

I am on a spending ban, not through choice but because there are some big changes afoot in the Lilybobomb household and we need to be extra careful with our money this month. This means that I am obsessively scouring the online shops for all the things I want but can't buy! I like to punish myself.


Yours clothing has quite a few bits I am lusting after this week

I know kimonos are everywhere and they do seem to be having a marmite moment amongst fashion bloggers but I love them, I like how light they are and they do look great with so many things. The colours of this one from yours are beautiful!

I can't believe how much my feelings towards trousers are changing, and I love the simplicity of these cuffed harem trousers, I think these would be amazing throughout summer and great for transitioning into the autumn months.

Dorothy Perkins is on my radar too again, it has been a while since I really loved anything, but there are always a few pieces I love.

I need more skirts in my life, I have become quite safe over the last few years and stuck with dresses, which while gorgeous become a bit boring after a while I am craving some separates! This gingham skirt is great,  I would love a gingham circle skirt but this is more practical for every day wear.

Junarose is a little obsession of mine at the moment, and I will one ay soon be adding some of their gorgeous items to my wardrobe!

I love the simplicity of this jumpsuit it looks easy to wear and it looks like it would sit in the right position on my waist! LOVE!

Evans and Scarlett and Jo are killing my will power this week!
First the made me obsess over the stunning prom dresses and now they are making me even more obsessed with the prom skirts! I love that they would look just as gorgeous in the day as in the evening for a night out. Perfection!

Simply be are always a go to brand for me and I have been loving their spring summer offerings.

I have been on the look out for a simple jersey maxi for a while one I can fling on with canvas shoes and head out shopping without a huge amount of gaffing around. This one fits the bill perfectly!

Have you got your eye on anything at the moment, share you finds in the comments if you fancy it, I love to window shop. 

Mhairi 
xxx

Tuesday 1 July 2014

The frustrations of my Glasses

Why do I find picking new glasses so frustrating and anxiety inducing. The eye test part is ok, but the picking the glasses part I get stressed and worked up, I am not even sure why I took me over and hour today to choose one pair it was ridiculous, luckily Marc came after work to help me make a final decision or I might have just walked out!

I went to sSpecsavers who have quite a big selection but I have quite a wide head and so many just don't fit me. In the end I found 3 candidates for my glasses, I will show you the two I didn't go for.

I really liked these but I always go for red frames so faced a change.

These frames are black and I really like them but felt a little bit big on my face.

The service at Specsavers Hertford was fabulous as always, as usual it was just my pickiness that took so long but they just let me look around and try on pretty much every frame they have. I will show you the ones I finally chose from tuesday next week when they start appearing in my outfit posts, I also chose a fabulous pair of sunglasses which I can't wait to wear out, no more squinting from me!

Am I the only person who dreads picking new glasses?

Mhairi 
xxx




Monday 30 June 2014

Monday Movie Night - Odd Thomas

I am starting a new weekly post in a bid to get me writing more, I hit a bit of a road block a while back and it has been a hard slog getting back to here, I feel ready to introduce something new.
my aim is to review a different film each week, they will be a mixture of new and old film and as a few world cinema films. We use two paid online movie services so lots will be from them and I warn you the majority will be horror as I honestly can't get enough of it! a vast amount of my spare time is spent reading and watching horror. Don't expect a fabulous film 2014 style review it will be my views and what I loved or loathed about it, I will try not to reveal any important plot information.

The first film I am going to talk about is Odd Thomas, I love the book series by Dean Koontz they are one of my favourite reads as the characters are really easy to connect with and love.



The film stars Anton Yelchin, Addison Timlin and Wilem Dafoe in what I think of as the lead roles. Filming was complete in 2013 but seemed to take an age to reach DVD and the film sites, the reasons for this are online if you fancy finding out more but my main focus is the film itself.
The story centres around the life of Odd, who really does live up to his name, it follows the story from the book fairly well but a few bits are missing that I think would have been fun, there really needed to be more elvis. The special effects are brilliant but I did sometimes thing they were used in strange ways that weren't needed and tended to distract more than draw me in.

Anton Yelchin was a brilliant choice for Odd, he comes across well and makes you believe in odds carefree, kind soul, I adored him as Chekov in Star Trek and he was enjoyable in Fright Night too. This film isn't about blood and gore, the story is meant to be gripping and a little bit surreal which is how the book made me feel, Yelchin does a good job of making you believe in Odd Thomas and his strange and quirky life. Timlin Plays Stormy, Odds Love interest and although I adore her, she is not quite stormy for me , I think she will grow on me, but stormy in the books has a real presence about her you understand why Odd is drawn to her and her him, she was a little bit middle of the road for me in that area, not awful but not perfect either. I plan on watching it again to see if she browns on me as I think she will.

One thing the film did really well for me, were the emotional scenes, they had me sobbing which to be fair is not difficult but it hit me just like the book did. I cried on a very busy tube when I first read this book.

If you fancy a bit of fun with a supernatural slightly Odd film give this a go, it isn't high brow or intelligent but it is fun, has a couple of jumpy bits and quite honest it was perfect for a relaxed film nigt for me! I am off to find my book now to give the story another read, I think it will be number four this time around.

The Verdict

3.5 out of 5 stars

Animal Pattern Phone Case Review


Have you noticed that when your phone has a case you hardly drop it but the second I remove the case it violently and repeatedly launches itself from your hand or even flat surfaces at high velocity? Maybe it is just me, but since I managed to break my last case my phone seems to have turned into a slippery eel! 

I can be very picky about my cases as I don't like to spend a fortune on them and my tastes change rapidly but I also don't want to go for an ill fitting cheap on that will fall apart on the first impact as well my phone is an important part of my daily schedule. When I was asked if I would like to try out a phone case for my iPhone from Three, I thought why not, I might find something fabulous.
The case I received was the animal patterned case and I have to say the pattern itself is seriously cute!


 The case is a hard plastic case, I have had a few of these and to be honest was a little nervous as a couple have been very ill fitting, and the printed image a bit ropey, I was however pleasantly surprised. The case itself feels sturdy without being overly bulky it doesn't add a huge amount to the phone, it is obviously not a slimline as the phone alone but it is comfortable



You can see in the above picture that the case isn't super thin but it does mean that is doesn't feel like it is going to smash into a thousand pieces if it is dropped on the floor.


The colours a vivid, fun and again seriously cute! I am a little bit of an owl fan. 

Do you have a case preference? plastic, leather, moulded or flip there are so many variations. 


*This is a sponsored post but all words and views are my own.

Thursday 26 June 2014

Surviving Hot Weather

I was stuck in our house all day yesterday, our boiler was having a part repaired which has meant our heating was on and off all day, it was sweltering in here even with the fan on full speed! This has got me thinking about the more serious hot weather we are likely to have this summer and how I am going to cope indoors and out. this isn't meant to be an instruction manual and there are many more ways to cope than the ones I know, this is just my own personal experiences.

Indoors

Indoors for me, is a delicate balance between dressing appropriately and being comfortable. I am step-mum to a 14 year old so hanging about in my knickers and bra isn't really an option, so finding light comfortable clothing that isn't restrictive or to warm is important! on my lazy days when I know I won't be disturbed by visitors pyjamas are my favourite, but lets be honest we don't always want to be caught by a rogue visitor in our scruffs so what is an option.

I am not the biggest fan of skirts of any kind for relaxing in, I find that my skin is hot and sticky and my legs sticking to each other is just not nice so I prefer trousers indoors for lounging in.
I am yet to find a pair of casual tapered trousers I am willing to wear out the fit isn't great on me to be honest and with the surge in popularity of chic cuffed trousers the last two summers it is frustrating.
I am not a fan of jogging bottoms in any form unless worn to the gym, but tailored versions are hitting the shops and sports luxe is fighting for its place in fashion and the shops are filling with silky joggers and harem pants galore.


The above outfit picture is from Yours Clothing, it is perfect for me to wear indoors and while entertaining friends and family and I would even be tempted to wear them out if by some miracle they fit me well, but I won't hold my breath as the odds seem to be stacked against me! This combination works for me, a simple light weight vest and a comfortable pair of trousers is spot on, I would miss out on the heels even though I am slightly obsessed with them! and instead slip on some comfy flats or flip flops!

Home essentials!

On a more practical note, get a fan, either a desk or pedestal fan, you can pick them up cheap in most supermarkets of go crazy and buy a posh one the choices are endless. Having the windows open is great but i find it is either too still and no air moves or it is too breezy and my curtains are flapping and stuff is getting knocked off all the time. I love my fan in the summer!!

Get out and about

But do it in a safe way. Even in the UK where our weather is not as hot as some places, we have such rubbish weather most of the time that the heat often catches us unawares. Sometimes getting up and moving can make things more bearable,  i know that sounds odd as when it is hot we most often want to stop and flop out somewhere and be still but as someone who suffers from depression, being stuck in one room not moving for hours is terrible and to be honest so boring. Getting out of the house is important to me, but I try to avoid being stuck out walking during the hottest hours as heat stroke is a big problem for me.     

Take a drink!

I always keep a bottle of water in my bag, I don't care if it gets warm, sometimes I just need hydration, Super cold water can just end up making me feel sloshy inside and a bit sick when I am over heating, keep yourselves hydrated, I prefer water or juice fizzy never seems to really hit the spot at times like this.

Wear a hat

Heat stroke is not nice, I have suffered from it a few times before and once so badly I passed out in the airport on my way home. I also have family and friends who have had to deal with skin cancer which has made me more aware of protecting myself. I have a freckly face and a mole in my hairline so I am as careful as possible!

I have had a little look around and there are some very cute ones around, I love this one from New Look.

Image Source
You could go full on floppy sun hat!

Image Source
There are so many styles of hat, you could even go for a head scarf that extra protection from the sun is important, especially for me!

Clothing choices

Every year there seems to be big debates on what is the best fabric to wear what styles work and how best to wear them, cotton vs synthetic is a hard fought battle especially amongst sporty types, but I am so not sporty so I can only go by what works for me. I am not a huge fan of cotton clothing, I always seem to rip it get it dirty or because there is zero stretch I end up feeling restricted and become anxious, add to that the creasing and its just a disaster our outfit day for me. Linen while it is lightweight and very cool also isn't my favourite because I always seem to crease it and it goes from looking gorgeous and crisp to terrible very quickly.
I tend to go for light layers a vest or lightweight dress with a very light cardigan over the top, I get far too hot and quickly become sunburnt when I have too much flesh out so I tend to protect myself a bit, but if you tan well then go without the card, I sometimes wish I could but even with factor 50 I burn these days.

There are a few items of clothing I want to give a go this year. First off their is the Skort, I feel a bit like I am slipping back to my teen years and the 90's but they are cute!

Image Source
This pair from New look are fab I could see them dressed up or down quite easily and the look comfortable and relaxed.

The other is the Kimono, I know everyone is wearing them, and it feels a little like a festival bandwagon but I think it will be a fantastic alternative to my usual cardigans as it will be lightweight, and flawy allowing more air flow. which is just win win for me.

I adore this one from ASOS I love the dark base colour and think it would be great for matching with almost any of my dresses.

Image Source

Other than that this summer will be dominated by circle skirts and the odd maxi thrown in for when I am out and about.

The evil of the dreaded chafe!

Only one or two things left to discuss, first for me is he dreaded chafe, it is the bane of many women and mens life and it is not limited to fat, thighs slim people suffer too, unless you have the legs of a flamingo most will experience their thighs rubbing together at some point and it is an evil pain!

So I throw it out to my readers what do you find best, I have had comfort shorts from Evans for years but I am not keen on the tights material and the feeling of the scalping together sets my teeth on edge!

I have heard good things about the Big Bloomers anti chafing shorts but have not personally tried them so can't vouch for them myself. I have also seen people talk about anti chafe sticks that you rub on and it stops it happening but I can't imagine that it last a long time and will need reapplying which also seems to have its own frustrations, so who has tried either of them and what do you recommend?

Suncream

Ladies and gents please wear suncream regardless of skin colour or tanning ability sun damage is a scary thing, from the wrinkles to the risk of skin cancer it isn't good!  I am the person who gets burnt hanging the washing outside, have to love my Scottish skin.

SO that is my list, to remind myself what I need to stock up on to survive this summer, what other recommendations do you have ladies and gents. Any other secrets and survival tips? They are greatly appreciated!