Columbia Road Flower Market

Last weekend I was looking for something to do on Sunday and came across the Columbia Road flower market online. The reviews were good so it looked worth the journey.

We arrived at 10.30 and it had been open since 8 so it was already packed. The stalls were beautiful however and we walked up and down the market several times taking it all in.

There was everything from cut flowers to shrubs to exotic palms and the prices were surprisingly reasonable. 

I couldn't resist a beautiful box of 30 autumnal coloured gerberas which were just £5 and I was tempted by a bougainvillea tree so we went and had a cup of tea in a quaint cafe on the road before I went back to buy it. Handily most stores accept card payments which saved me a trip to an ATM. 

The gerberas brightened up the fireplace and gave it a cosy Autumn feel.

I would like to go back again, perhaps nearer to Christmas when the Christmas trees and wreaths are for sale, but I'd aim to get there earlier to try and avoid the crowds.

New Boots from Bicester Village

Last week my mum and I had a girls' shopping trip to Bicester Village. I had been hoping to find a new pair of boots ready for Autumn for months after my favourite pair broke earlier this year and I couldn't believe my eyes when I found a pair in Ralph Lauren almost identical to my last pair that I had loved AND they were on sale! 

The RRP was £245 and they were on sale for £39.99. As if this wasn't already a bargain, I had also been emailed a 30% off voucher which I was able to use, meaning the boots were only £27.99! 

To get discount vouchers you just need to provide your email address when you shop in the outlet and then you get sent vouchers and offers.

Lush Sale 2017

This year my mum and I decided to go to a nearby city for some retail therapy on Boxing Day. Overall the sales were quite disappointing; most years we spend Christmas money and vouchers we received as gifts, but this year I only came away with a few things from Lush.

I spotted a queue outside lush at 9.55 and naively hoped the store would be opening at 10, but unfortunately it wasn't open until 10.30 so I waited in the cold for half an hour, trying to decide what I wanted to look for. I mostly buy bath products from lush but I still have enough bubble bars for now, so I decided to look for a few bath bombs and bath melts. 

When the store eventually opened the whole queue, which was by now snaked around the block, was let into the store and although I had reached the bath section, so many people were in the tiny store that it was impossible to move. I had picked up a couple of bath bombs and found the Christmas tree bath melts I wanted to buy and decided to just pay and leave the overcrowded store as the atmosphere was quite unpleasant.

In the end I only spent around £11, but I was pleased as although the Christmas items were all half price, I still think they are a luxury which will be used up in just one bath so I didn't want to get caught up in the hype and spend a lot, I prefer to use them as a treat.

I purchased a Christmas sweater bath bomb, a thundersnow bath bomb and three tree-D bath melts. For Christmas I also received another thundersnow bath bomb, a shoot for the stars bath bomb and a bath melt, so I am looking forward to trying them out.

December London weekend and Brussels Christmas Market trip

I don't know where December has gone, it has passed by so quickly much like the rest of the year. That said, we did have a couple of festive days out and a quick trip to Brussels for the Christmas Markets. 

On the first weekend in December my mum and I went to a local castle that was holding a Christmas fair. We went last year too and the place is decked out with greenery and lights so it looks very pretty. We did a little Christmas shopping but our favourite part is stopping for a mulled wine and mince pies in the cafe - they have the best mince pies! 

The following day my mum and I met my dad in London. Whilst he was working my mum and I did a little Christmas shopping on Kensington high street and we discovered Whole Foods! Whilst we were in there my mum entered a competition at a soup tasting and a few days later received a case of fresh soups! That evening we met my dad and went to pizza express for dinner. I indulged in my favourite dessert, their snowball dough balls. 

The following day I met my boyfriend bright and early at St Pancras for our trip to the Brussels Christmas Markets. We grabbed a coffee and croissant before boarding our train and a couple of hours later we arrived. 

As we arrived at lunch time and it was freezing cold, our first stop was a Belgian frites shop for authentic and tasty frites! Once we were full and warm we were on our way and first stop was a beautiful arcade mainly full of chocolate shops. We spent some time browsing the lovely displays and picking some nice chocolates to take home. 

One of the chocolate shops had a moving 'ski lift' display which was fun.

Next we went to the main square which had beautiful architecture and a lovely Christmas tree which we stopped to take a few pictures by, before picking up a hot chocolate from another chocolate shop to keep us warm. 

After a little more walking we reached the Christmas markets. We browsed the stalls which were mostly clothing or food related and after a while we stopped for gluhwein. We found a stall selling intricate laser cut cards and picked up our Christmas cards. 

The afternoon flew by so after a little more browsing we heading back to catch our train, stopping en route for waffles (we ate a lot that day!).

On our way back we had standard premier tickets as they were only £10 more than standard class, so we had a light dinner on the train and snoozed for much of the journey back.

We arrived back in to St Pancras station around 8pm and had both enjoyed our day in Brussels.

I've heard the Christmas markets in Germany are very good so I would like to visit those too. 

August Bank Holiday Weekend in London

Last weekend we went to London for the bank holiday weekend. We stayed at the holiday inn in Kensington which I quite like as it is close to all of the museums and some good shopping spots.

We travelled up to London on Sunday and went shopping in the afternoon, ending up in Harrods. I love going in Harrods, especially at Christmas when it is all festive, but this time I was really keen to visit the Godiva chocolate cafe. There were lots of sweet treats on the menu, crepes, cakes and shakes included, but as we were going out for dinner I opted just for a classic hot chocolate. It was so good!

We also found Christmas World in Harrods! I'm not sure if this is up all year round or if it had just opened but it looked so pretty!

Later that evening we went to St Catherine's dock for dinner. There is a nice ambience with lots of restaurants all around the dock  and the lights add a sweet glow to the night sky.

After dinner we went for a walk along the Thames and then drove back across London to our hotel.

On Sunday morning we went for a lovely breakfast at a cafe around the corner from our hotel. It had good reviews on trip advisor and the hotel breakfast was expensive so went to find it. We had vegetarian breakfasts with fresh orange juice for £6 which we thought was great value for money and all hot drinks came with a free croissant so we were so full by the time we finished!

After breakfast we went to the Victoria and Albert museum which was just one stop away on the tube. We had a look round the exhibitions and then sat out in the garden with fresh lemonade, enjoying the sunshine. It's such a lovey spot to sit down and relax for a little while.

We ended up doing a little window shopping in the afternoon before returning home.

Boots 70% sale haul

Last Wednesday marked the annual boots 70% sale. I was determined not to buy too much this year as I'm on a mission to use up my stash of toiletries and I think I succeeded. Unfortunately the atmosphere was not very nice this year, a lot of pushing and shoving so we didn't hang about and were done in twenty minutes. Here's what I got:

Sanctuary hat box - £13.50 from £45

Sanctuary little bag of joy - £3.00 from £10

Glass vase - £3.60 from £12

Glass candle - £2.40 from £8

Champneys bear - £4.50 from £15

No7 glamour cracker - £2.40 from £8

Sanctuary facial box - £6 from £20

Mary Berry cake forks - £4.20 from £14

Cadbury snow bites £0.30 from £1 (these didn't last long enough to feature in the photo!)

Mulberry sale treats

I had been waiting for the mulberry Boxing Day sale since I saw a preview of all the lovely goodies on offer on their American site, where the sale starts a couple of weeks before Christmas.

In my haste to get up and go out to the Next and Boots sale, I completely forgot that the Mulberry sale started early on Boxing Day and by the time I got home mid-morning, the three items I wanted I had sold out online.

However, the Mulberry customer service have a great stock tracker system and if you ring them up and tell them the item you are looking for, they can check the stores to see which ones still have the item in stock. The customer service assistant was very helpful and quickly tracked down the items I wanted - a purse, cardholder and keyring in the Manchester and Glasgow stores. 

I telephoned the Manchester store first and unfortunately they had sold out of purse I was after earlier that morning but the key ring was still in stock, so I purchased that and the cardholder from the Glasgow store over the phone. 

The parcels arrived four days later and upon opening them I was presented with a gorgeous grey mulberry bag sealed shut with a beautiful big blue bow, it looked luxurious! 

This is an 8 slot card wallet and it is super soft. It was half price reduced to £62 from £124 and I was really pleased with this as I have been looking for a card wallet for ages to house all of my loyalty cards!

I had my eye on this cute little keyring for quite a while. It came in it's own little dustbag pouch which is handy too. It was reduced from £70 to £49 and it was an indulgent purchase, but I am hoping to get a new car this year so I will be saving this to go on my keys.

I am pleased with my little haul but I think I'm addicted now, I keep checking the website and umming and ahhing over the make up bags and all the pretty things in the rose petal pink colour, but so far I have resisted further temptation! 

 

Christmas 2015 and Boxing Day sales

We had a lovely Christmas Day, which started off with opening presents around the tree followed by Buck's Fizz and salmon and cream cheese blinis for breakfast (breaking from tradition of our usual chocolate feast!) 

For Christmas I had some lovely goodies which I will probably post about later and among them were some lush products so I had an indulgent bath after breakfast and used my shooting star bath bomb and christmas edition fun.

We had our big feast early afternoon and, as usual, it was delicious! This was following by Yule log and cheesecake in front of christmas classic Home Alone, I'm not sure how we had room for this but somehow at Christmas I find I can eat on my competitive level, maybe it's because the food is all so yummy! 

We finished off the day with a ruthless game of Monopoly and a film, and in the blink of an eye the day was over.

The next morning I got up bright and early to hit the Boxing Day sales. I spent a little more than I meant to but I did pick up some presents for birthdays coming up next month and I had a couple of gift cards to use up too.

Here's what I picked up:

NEXT

I had a £20 gift card for next and I went fairly early to the sale but this year I wasn't all that inspired by what was on offer. Perhaps it's because we didn't go super early this year as we weren't up for joining the queue before it opened, but the clothes were just a bit boring really and even though we went after the opening time and before the 8am shoppers hit town it was still overcrowded and there were a lot of pushy people which didn't make for a fun experience. 

That said I did find a dress to spend my gift card on, reduced from £26 to £12. It will be great for spring/summer with tan shoes and a satchel.

MARKS & SPENCER

M&S was also a bit uninspiring which was a slight disappointment as I had a gift card to use from switching banks earlier this year. However I did pick up a nice festive bedcover which was reduced from £49 to £25. The print is really sweet (it kind of reminds me of the John Lewis bear & hare christmas advert!) I've been looking for a festive duvet cover for months but couldn't find one that I really liked so I was pretty pleased to find this.

I also bought some pretty notecards as I have almost used up my last box from Accessorize.

BOOTS

I stocked up on my favourite toiletries in the boots sale, picking up an umberto gianini mini hair are set which I thought would be great for on holiday and a couple of sanctuary tins. The small tin contains three mini body washes in different fragrances and a rose shaped body polisher (this was reduced to £4 from £8) and the large one contains a trio of body wash, scrub and moisturiser (this was £7 down from £14). I also bought a new make-up brush set as I like to get a nice new brush set every year and for my mum I bought the floral mugs and the Toni and guy gift set.

I also picked up some cute pieces for the house including a vintage style make-up tidy and a cute set of drawers as well as a Laura Ashley muffin tray.

MONSOON

I had my eye on the Taryn dress since it went on sale and when I saw it in Westfields before Christmas it looked even prettier in real life. It has gorgeous sparkly beading which catches the light and a flattering scallop hem. I bought this online in Monsoon's Christmas preview sale for £84.50 down from £169.

I also bought a delicate beaded chain necklace from accessorize that I had been looking at before Christmas but it doesn't photograph that well and I can't find a photo of it online, but I would recommend a look in there as they have some really pretty jewellery at the moment in their half price sale.

Lastly I had a bit of an unexpected splurge on Mulberry with cash I received for Christmas, but I made my purchases over the phone and they don't appear to have been despatched yet so I will wait to see if they arrive before I post about them!

I am pretty pleased with my Boxing Day haul but other than a couple of birthday presents I need to get now I think it's time for a shopping ban :)

NEXT AW15

There are so many pretty pieces in NEXT at the moment I haven't been able to resist a couple of new additions to my wardrobe. My favourite is this:

This dress is so versatile, it is great with little black heels or tights and boots and it is super comfy. It is £28 and I was so pleased with it that I ordered the other colour too as they are easy dresses to just throw on but you still feel presentable.

Home Bargains baking essentials

With a new series of the Great British Bake Off just around the corner, I've been inspired to flick through my baking books and make notes of the next recipes I want to test. Unfortunately it's been ages since I last had both the time and energy to get weighing, mixing and decorating, but I've made up for it by stockpiling pretty cupcake cases and cake toppers, so when I do finally get round to it my cakes will be the best dressed around! 

Home bargains has always had pretty bake-ware and accessories but recently I've noticed they have a large range of Wilton products for unbelievable prices. I haven't previously bought much from the Wilton range as I've found it a bit expensive, but i know it is popular with bakers and I've had my eye on some flower shaped cupcake cases for a while. My luck was in last week when I called in to my local store on my way home from work and I picked up a few things from both the Wilton and home bargains ranges which I thought I'd share. 

The tulip baking cups were a bargain at 49p. There are 24 cases in the pack and they are good quality cases which should keep your cupcakes perfectly formed as they bake, unlike those thin white ones you get in cake mix boxes which fold all over the place as soon as you put the mixture in them, leaving you with some oddly shaped creations. 

The food writers were 59p and look like they will be easy to use and quicker than icing pens for when you're running short on time. As they are festive colours I won't be using these until Christmas time, but I will look them up online and see if they have good reviews. 

The other cupcake cases were from home bargains own range and I think they were 39p. The last thing I need is more cupcake cases (I'm on the verge of becoming a "collector" of them!) but with such cute prints I couldn't resist.

The red bags were 59p I think, or maybe 79p, I can't remember exactly. They are paper bags which are perfect for packaging up your homemade sweet treats to take to work or on picnics or to give as a gift. They also come with stickers to seal them.

The vintage dream cupcake sets were 99p each. I have a few similar sets from Poundland but these are far prettier so I just had to get them. Plus the ones from Poundland are all holiday-themed, which means this purchase was okay as these can be used YEAR ROUND. If that isn't reason alone to buy them I don't know what is...at least that's what I keep telling myself!

Has anyone else found any baking bargains recently?

P.s. Lakeland have their summer sale on at the moment and there are some reductions on gorgeous bake-ware, including a 3d carousal mold. I'm consequently trying to avoid the website....for now!

NEXT summer sale goodies

Last Saturday marked the biannual 5am feeding frenzy that is the NEXT sale. I have to admit to quite enjoying the early morning trawl around next - but don't get me wrong you won't find me queuing the night before, even I won't prioritise securing a front of the queue spot over at least a few hours of sleep beforehand!

I had arranged to meet my boyfriend just before 5am at the store (it was his first experience of the madness and I had already shown him the things I wanted to pick up!) unfortunately I forgot to set my alarm that night and didn't wake up until 6.30 am when I noticed I'd missed two phonecalls from him - I had inadvertently stood him up, oops! (I felt awful but luckily he had seen the funny side of it and had even picked up everything I had pointed out to him a few days earlier, I was very impressed!) by the time I got to the store it was nearly 7am and the crowds had left so I had a leisurely browse without being nudged or getting in someone's way which i preferred (I just need to convince the bf to do the early shift next time too haha). I haven't actually got round to photographing the clothes I bought, but here are some of the other things I picked up:

The printed bed sheet is so pretty, it's a pale lilac colour with a rose print and comes with a matching pillow case. I think it will look fresh with a white quilt cover on top and makes a change from boring plain sheets. This was reduced to £5 from £10.

I also bought two candles, one was fragranced in 'just pink' which is NEXT's signature scent which is floral and feminine and was just £2 down from £5. I can't remember the name of the second candle but it was white and again smelt lovely. That one was reduced to £3 from £9.  

The l'eau Rose gift set seemed like a bargain at £4 from £10. It contains a 30ml edp spray, a roller ball and a solid fragrance. The scent is floral but also quite fruity which I didn't expect. The lightness of the fragrance makes it a great scent for summer. I also bought a 30ml boxed edp for £3 which will make a nice gift. My only complaint is that the scent seems to fade quickly but. At. That price you can afford to reapply it throughout the day.

I needed some new black heels for work and these were only £16 from £32. I had tried them on before the sale and they looked nice on so I was pretty pleased to spot them in my size on sale.

I also wanted some new navy loafers as I wore my last pair out. These are so comfy. They were £20 from £40. 

I also bought a bird feeder for just £3 but I've already put this I'm the garden.

I didn't buy a lot from the clothes department but did get a nice navy suit for work and a t-shirt. I did pick up some other things but unfortunately had to return them as they didn't fit...too many sweet treats at work I think! Nonetheless I was pleased with my little haul and look forward to seeing the new autumn collection filter in (and not just so I can start planning what I went to get in the next sale haha).

Primark Haul

I'm not sure where the past six weeks have gone. Work has been incredibly busy and by the time it gets to the weekend I just want to rest, but I can't help but feel I'm not making the most if the weekends. I'm hoping to get a holiday booked this week though so that is exciting and after that I can look at booking some weekends away. I'd like to spend a weekend in London in June or July, there is always lots to do and I would like to get tickets for ZSL's Zoo Lates event this year. 

I did go to Birmingham for the day a few weeks ago, mainly to use up some free tickets for the Sea Life Centre which were about to expire, but I also managed to fit in a quick Primark visit! Here is the haul I came away with: 

I love the pattern on this dress and it will be perfect for taking on holiday. It looks a bit shapeless in the picture but it's actually a skater style which goes in at the waist and then flares out, so it is quite fa flattering fit. This was £15. 

The rest of my haul was pretty much from the home ware department, except for this large wash bag which I'm currently using as a make up bag as it fits my mirror and moisturiser in too so it's great for travelling. I think this was £3.

Behind the wash bag you will see my new laundry hamper! I think this was £3 or £4.

I also brought a bath towel with the same rose print as this laundry bag, which was £6. 

And a sweet floral print tea towel which was £1. I think this is too pretty to use as a tea towel so I might make it into a cushion like I did with the blue floral tea towel last year.

And lastly I picked up this candle. I don't often buy candles but this smelt lovely, the tag was missing so I can't remember the scent but I think it contains jasmine. The glass jar is pretty and matches a trinket holder on my dressing table. This was £3. 

I also saw some cute garden lights but I had ran out of time. I'll be in London for work next week though so I will see is I can fit in a cheeky primark trip then!

Boots 70% Sale Haul including Sanctuary, Soap & Glory, No7 and Champneys

Last Wednesday I headed out bright and early before work to take part in the legendary boots 70% sale where all of their unsold Christmas gifts get discounted! I've been every year for about 6 years and manage to stay stocked up of my favourite beauty products at a fraction of their usual retail price. In previous years the sale was 75% off but still who can pass up 70 % off Brands like soap & glory and sanctuary which never have more than 1/3 off! Clearly It wasn't just me who thought this as by the time I arrived at the store shortly after it opened there were already crowds of people with huge ikea-sized bags full of gift sets! I was lucky that there was at least one of each product I'd wanted following my trip in my lunch break the day before and was done with my little haul in 20 minutes. My mum had also headed out early and between us we got quite a stash! 

The products above are just my part of the haul and two gifts! I've been told by my boyfriend, who had the day off work and was asked to accompany my mum, that he'd never seen her move so fast as she dashed around the store haha! I don't think we bought an excessive amount though I would imagine it should last us a year or so (until the next sale!) and many of the items I would buy full price if I had to anyway, so it makes sense to take advantage of such a bargain! 

So, here are some of my favourite things a bit closer up:

This sanctuary Mande Lular set was reduced from £18 to £5.40 and contains a 500ml bath Creme, travel sized body polish, body soufflé and a body brush. The bath Creme alone retails at £10 and I love sanctuary products, they're not tested on animals and are paraben free. 

This No7 set contains treats for pretty hands and toes! This was reduced from £20 to £6. It was definitely the glitter varnish that drew me to this set, I'm a magpie for glitter varnishes and sequinned cardis! ( I have three grey sequinned cardis that are all very similar....how many becomes too many?!) The colours in this set are great for winter so I might put this set up until then, but the sensible part of me thinks I should return it as I have glitter nail varnish, hand cream and foot cream aplenty....

I've needed a new blusher for a while and although I've seen some gorgeous palettes in the new ss14 make up collections they're all pretty expensive, perhaps one for a birthday wish list. The soap & glory powder trio was reduced from £20 to £6 and each powder retails for £10 or £11 each so that's a huge saving. My only complaint is that they are fixed in the palette so you can't pop it in your make up bag (perhaps the perfect excuse to indulge in one of those aforementioned palettes?!) my other s & g purchase was the face time set which contains a range of skin-care products. This was £7.50 from £25 but I think I might return it as I'm not sure I really need it. 

I probably don't need more nail varnishes but the colours in this Champneys set caught my eye. The sparkly grey is great for evenings and the blue and pink match the colours in all the shops so I think they'll be very en-trend for spring. They were reduced from £12 to £3.60 so at 60 p a varnish you can't go wrong! The little pink box is full of travel sized miniatures which are ideal for taking on holiday. This was also reduced from £12 to £3.60.

I was initially a little sceptical about this bronzer as I don't usually have the right complexion for it, but it's actually very subtle and gives more of a warm glow than a bronzed look, and it's so pretty which may have swayed my decision a bit! This was reduced from £16 to £4.80.

My mum picked up these miniature perfumes for me for £4.50 from £15 and they're handy to pop in your handbag.

I forgot to add these two goodies to my haul above too. The cupcake book is by Rosie's Pantry and has some delicious recipes including banoffee cupcakes and rose water cupcakes. This was reduced from £6.50 to £1.95. The cocoa butter set I originally glanced over, it sounded nice but I knew my mum had already got me the sanctuary treats so I resisted! That evening by chance I came across a beauty blog which raved about this exact kit, so back I trundled the next day in my lunch break in the hope of finding some left. I was in luck and picked up two sets and I can't wait to try it out. I like cocoa butter and sugar scrubs so I have high hopes for this. It was a bargain at £3 from £10.

And finally, I bought the above Champneys bag for my mum. I forgot to add it to the main photo above but it contains three full sized products and three travel sized ones. This was reduced from £50 to £15. And that's all from my mammoth boots haul, phew!