Girl In The Pretty Dress

So as it's the season of office parties - I mean Christmas - I've been digging through the archives for things to wear, and I remembered taking pictures of this little gem of a dress, which I bought at the end of the summer. I love the unusual shape at the front of this dress, though I'll probably take it a step further and dress it up with a bit of festive sparkle or a long slinky gold necklace when I next wear it. Dress: Mango | Sunglasses: Accessorize

Technically , Stir-Up Sunday was last weekend - the 24th November - but as my laptop has gone to the great scrapyard in the sky *sob* this is the first chance I've had to borrow one and start posting again… For those of you who haven't heard of 'Stir Up Sunday' before, it's an old English tradition (and one we follow religiously in our family.) It basically refers to the Sunday that falls a month before Christmas. The idea is that you put aside this day to complete all your pre-christmas baking - thereby allowing a month for your cake and puddings to 'mature'. On this day everyone who's present can 'stir' the mixture and make a wish… This year will be the first time the responsibility of the cake has fallen to me, and sticking with tradition, I'm following our family recipe… Tools of the trade: Mixing Bowl (x2)  Cake Tin (20.5cm Square - though anything about that size will do) Baking Parchment Wooden spoon/spatula Ingredients: 400g ...

  There is a whole website dedicated to Pinterest projects gone wrong, but I hope someone creates one for Pinterest successes -because this pin would be first on my list!   I made this double-crunch chicken with a honey garlic sauce a couple of weeks ago. I'd invited one of my best friends round to see my house and rather than stick to my usual recipe books I thought I'd try something new. (And prove that my shiney new kitchen was worth all the work that went into it!) It was so tasty and the chicken was perfect and tender. I've never been a fan of rice so I served it with home-made chips and a crunchy salad.   The full recipe can be found  here but I adapted the quantities a little to serve just 2 people.   I also found this site really helpful for adapting the quantities to grams. (I've never been able to figure out how much to add when it says '2 cups'.)   Bon appetit!

Morning Folks - just had to share this with you all. It's a really gorgeous little film (by Bon Duke) showing off Chloé's latest collection. Janie Taylor for Chloé on Nowness.com Note to self: Take up ballet again.

I meant to post this in August but, with one thing and another, I'm only just getting around to it. I love a good playsuit in Summer and this one fits perfectly. Sadly I had to cancel my summer hols when I fell ill earlier this month, so I've not been able to wear it this year... I tried making it work for winter by paring it with tights but the design and texture of the fabric didn't really work for winter layering. It's definitely a summer staple for next year. Playsuit: Glamorous Ring: ASOS

I said a while ago that I'd forgotten what it felt like to be cold... and boy, do I wish that was still the case. I am definitely suited to warmer climes. But the good news is I get to break into my Winter clothes now (I like to pack away some of my warmer clothes over Summer - it creates more space in the wardrobe and means you get a nice surprise in the Autumn!) I wore this outfit for a trip into Manchester this weekend to buy a few bits and pieces for my new house.  Jeans: Topshop Tall , Boots: Faith (via Debenhams) The cardigan is from Marks and Spencer (similar here ) and the belt is from Oliver Bonas . As it's not-quite-arctic yet I was warm enough wandering around without a jacket too.

Exciting news! I've just done my first ever interview with the lovely folks at The Fashion Network . I've not been blogging for long so I was really flattered to be asked - you can read the full article here .   I also wanted to say sorry for being a bit lax on the blogging front recently. To cut a long story short: I've not been very well. But the good news is I am on the mend and I've started putting together lots of lovely new posts... stay tuned!