Girl In The Pretty Dress

Truth be told, I'm not the richest of girls, and those of us who know what it's like to count the pennies know that sometimes the real deal isn't necessary - imitation will do just fine. For that reason I own very little in the way of precious metals or stones. Almost all of my jewellery is costume jewellery. There are 3 brands I absolutely adore for their unique items and I thought I'd share them with you today. The first is Orelia - a brand I discovered in Topshop stores, but which is also stocked by ASOS . (I'm a bit obesessed with it as you can probably tell from the many photos below.) Their pieces tend to be dainty and delicate, there's something very lady-like about them. The second is Handmade by Emma . I met Emma at the Castlefield Market last Summer and she made me the silver diamond-shaped necklace below in the space of about 5 minutes. What I love about her designs is that they are all designed to work as single pieces or can be combined in ...

It's finally here. The weekend chocaholics dream off all year... Well, since Christmas anyway! I'm talking of course about Easter. Ever since I was little I've made Easter nests. They're one of the first things you learn how to make in school, and a super fun activity for kids (my favourite bit was licking the bowl!) For those who haven't made them before, simply melt chocolate, stir in cornflakes, put into paper cases and leave to set in the fridge. Yum. But now that I'm a "grown up" I've started experimenting a bit... and today I'm sharing some twists on an Easter classic. Change up your Chocolate Easter nests are traditionally a milk chocolate affair, but as we all know Dark Chocolate is healthier so why not change it up a bit? Or melt two batches and go half and half - the best of both worlds! Get Fruity I love Chocolate Raisins - they're my snack of choice on road trips. Try mizing them in with your cornflakes, the mixture ...

I am a self confessed bargain-hunter. I like nothing better than shopping the sales - so when Long Tall Sally took an extra 20% off their sale stock a couple of weeks ago, I was helpless to resist! It may well have been the first day of Spring recently, but Winter hasn't shaken it's grip on my part of the world just yet. I have a feeling I'll be getting a lot of wear out of these pieces over the next few weeks. The wool wrap jacket is exceptionally cosy with the perfect sleeve length. The fairisle print jumper may look a little out of season elsewhere in the world but with this lovely English weather behaving the way it is, it didn't feel it. The black jeggings are an old faithful pair (if a little faded now) also from Long Tall Sally - in fact I think they were my first ever purchase from the original LTS Manchester store (you can read my review of the new store here ). The boots are another sale bargain - from F&F . Sadly these exact ones are no longer in...

If you've been following Long Tall Sally's Instagram lately you'll know they recently launched a new store in Manchester (my hometown) with a brand new design. What you probably don't know is that they sent customers in the area a 10% off voucher to celebrate the opening. A new store and a new summer wardrobe at 10% off? How could a girl refuse?! I took 'Mum in the Pretty Dress' along to explore with me and we were both impressed. The space did feel a little smaller than in the previous store but the layout made everything much more accessible. The most noticeable improvement though has to be the changing rooms - they are so much more secluded and private than they previously were with a lovely plush carpet under foot. Finally there was a very thoughtful inclusion of in-store seating. Initially I thought this was for trying on shoes but there were a fair few men folk using them during our visit while their other halves took advantage of those lovely changing r...

As some of you may have noticed, my blog posts have been few and far between over the past few months. I've hinted about the reasons for this once or twice on Instagram , but I thought it was about time I shared the whole story. Brace yourselves for extreme cuteness. Back in October I brought home a tiny little bundle of joy. And I named her Cali. I knew owning a puppy would be difficult, especially for someone who is in their mid-twenties and has a full time job. So before I committed to the idea I did a lot of research and made a lot of plans. Most of these went out of the window on the first night... It was a week before I could get more than a couple of hours sleep at a time, toilet training was a nightmare and there are teeth marks on pretty much everything I own. But I wouldn't trade her for the world. By far her best feature is her enthusiasm for life. It doesn't matter what kind of day it's been - she always acts like I've made hers just by showing u...

Last month we had a short family trip up to Scotland - back to my favourite area on the west coast. We'd decided to travel with 3 dogs in tow so were limited on options for where to stay but struck it lucky with a beautiful rented cottage on the Ardmaddy Estate . We weren't quite so lucky with the weather (having arrived in the lead up to 'Storm Desmond') but we made the most of the few moments that the sunshine managed to break through the clouds. The Ardmaddy estate is only a few miles from the Isle of Seil - which gave us the perfect opportunity to explore this ruggedly beautiful island.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to preview the F&F Spring/Summer collection in London. If you're a fairly frequent visitor to this blog you'll know that I'm a big fan of the F&F brand and have featured a fair few of their pieces in the past - so I was naturally curious about their latest collection. On a chilly, rainy November day in London, the collection was a breath of fresh air and has already got me thinking about my summer hols next year. The collection as a whole was heavily influenced by the idea of travel. The lookbook collection underpinned this by featuring linens and a nautical theme, interspersed with some corals, while the other collections all took inspiration from a different part of the globe (my favourite of which was 'Latin Rose'). Delicate fabrics with intricate florals and watercolour inspired designs were interspersed with slightly heavier fabrics which leant themselves to the ongoing trend for 70s nostalgia. The ...