Lady Bug Says ... Guess Who Is Back

Long time no speak!

The only explanation I have for my absence is that 24 hours is not enough hours in a day!

Over the past few months I have been up to a fair bit, which I thought I would share with you, to catch you all up and start the new year a fresh!

Firstly back in November I attended a charity hair show put on by DKN Hair, with clothing and make up by students at Somerset College. It was an amazing night all in aid of raising money for the Exeter Stroke Unit.

Later in November I spent the weekend working at the Homebuilding and Renovation Show. By the end of it I couldn't feel my feet and had pretty much lost my voice but I loved getting to talk endlessly about kitchens and things to people who actually wanted to hear about it!

The weekend went really well and I am pretty proud of the fact that I did everything from booking the stand and designing our back unit to organising our show freebies(a flat pack egg box!) to designing the brochures. 

Then in  December it was the Mr's work Xmas party, where we got to stay in a pretty nice room with a fabulous view that managed to even make Torbay look good!

Then came Christmas, 11 wonderful days off work filled with visiting lots of family and friends, eating far too much cheese and giving and receiving some amazing presents!

The Christmas tree on Christmas day at my in laws with somewhat crazy!

Over Christmas we managed to take Daisy on some really nice walks, now she is 8 months old she can handle a good long afternoon out, though she does then enjoy a nice long snooze on the sofa when we get home!

A little outfit of the day in the woods!

Most of the pictures I have taken recently have been of Daisy, she is growing so quickly and I don't want to miss he cute puppy stage!

Look at those paws!

Sleeping with her Christmas collar on!

Christmas day was all a bit too much for her!

Being a floating puppy head :)

I have also been indulging in a lot of yummy food, I am really going to try and cook some more new recipes this year and maybe share them with you all if it is something you would be interested in seeing?!

Smoked haddock and spinach risotto

New Year's Eve scallop pasta dinner, it was delicious if a little bit too rich!

It wouldn't be Christmas without some sparkly nails!

So, all caught up?

This weeks posts are going to include an outfit post, some new year's resolutions and maybe a foody post if I cook something blog worthy!

Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and a brilliant New Year!

Lady Bug Says .. A Little Absense & A Big Smile!

It has been more than a little while since I last blogged, so I thought I would catch you all up on what has been happening in the whirlwind that has been the last few weeks!

Firstly my much awaited for order from the 50% off Models Own sale arrived!

Peach Sherbet, Thunder & Lightening, Indian Ocean, Hed Kandi Ibiza Mix, Concrete Mixer, Utopia, Pinky Brown, Green Flash and White Nail Art Pen.

I couldn't resist a little bit of clinging on to the Summer nail art with some of the pretty pastel colours :)

If you follow me on Twitter I am sure you will probably already know my pretty exciting news, the Mr asked me to marry him after nearly 5 years of being together. I of course said yes and have already started planning our wedding for next year!

It was a complete surprise, to be honest I would have put more money on winning the lottery than being proposed to! But he had planned it perfectly and I have been walking around with the biggest smile on my face ever since, I can't wait to be a Mrs :)

The boy did good when it came to picking a good sparkler too!

I won't share too many details of how he actually popped the question but this photo he made made me smile so much!

The only dampener on our perfect weekend was our poor little pup getting stung by something and having an allergic reaction, resulting in a very expensive trip to the emergency vets on Sunday evening :( She was a million times better after the vet saw her though so it was well worth it!

We had a few engagement drinks with our friends this weekend, one of our friends gave us a bottle of homemade cider champagne, yum!

I promise the Mr isn't actually this short, he just had to squat down a little so I didn't end up spilling champagne all down myself!

All in all a good few weeks! I will try to not bore you all with wedding chatter promise!

Lady Bug Says ... These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things!

Evening :)

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and made the most of the sunshine if you got any! I spent mine relaxing on the beach with friends, having an evening BBQ then camping over in our camper van literally 25 meters from the sea. It was also Daisy's first time at a sandy beach :) I will do a little puppy update soon if anyone is interested? 

Today has inevitably resulted in us being very tired so lots of lounging on the sofa eating bacon sandwiches,  watching YouTube and cuddling up with the dog.

I thought I would share with you all an outfit that I wore last weekend for a meal out with the Mr's family. As the posts title suggests this outfit is made up of pretty much all my favourite things in my wardrobe at the moment.

As soon as I saw this jacket in the Primark AW12 preview I knew I wanted it, I wanted it so much that I actually sent an email to my sister and a few friends saying that if they saw the jacket in store to please please please buy it for me! The pleather detail trousers were actually a suprising summer sale find in Next along with the marl jumper, to me they seem pretty perfect for the upcoming season! The necklace was a holiday purchase that I am pretty pleased with, can't say I have seen anyone else wearing it and don't think I will! It brings a little originality to my otherwise very high street outfit. A favourite things outfit wouldn't be complete without these flatforms, so worn to death I recently bought a back up pair, though I was a little disappointed that the new pair have squared off toes rather than round, but still as comfortable as the originals!

Flatform heels, H&M £20

Pleather stripe trousers, Next £8

Grey marl jumper, Next £12

Pleather sleeved parka, Primark £25

Necklace, French jewellery boutique £20

Knuckle rings, Kukee £1.50 each

Nails, Barry M 'Pink Flamingo' with LOOK Beauty 'Sequin Effect' top coat

Outfit total - £88

Lady Bug Says ... Not Quite Sure

I said in this post that I loved this top, but wasn't sure of how else to wear it, but I think I may have found another way!

I'm liking the top half of this outfit, but not so convinced about the bottom! Thinking the skirt makes me a look a little bit too bottom heavy and the sandals are kind of not doing a lot for my cankles! My ankles have been really sore and swollen since I started running, think I need to invest in some better trainers!

Flatform sandals, New Look £12

Pleated midi skirt, Next £12

Printed shirt, Dorothy Perkins £12

Necklace, Primark £5

Knuckle ring, Kukee £1.50

Triangle ring, Kukee £2

Nails, Barry M Peach Melba

Outfit total £44.50

Apologies for the short post, words seem to be failing me!

Lady Bug Says ... Working It Out

Evening :)

This is pretty much a more work appropriate version of this weekend outfit, I don't think the short shorts would have gone down well at work! This jumper is already earning its place a new favourite 'go to' item in my wardrobe!

Grey suede flatform shoes, H&M £20

Black skinny jeans, Primark £8

Metallic marl jumper, Next £12

Necklace, Primark £5

I picked up this necklace a few weeks ago in Primark, the jewellery section seems to be going from strength the strength in the last few years! I love a good statement necklace for adding some interest to an otherwise simple outfit.

My nails are painted in my current favourite polish, Barry M NP140, which dries with an interesting semi matte finish. I finished the tips off with 2 coats of LOOK Beauty's sequin effect polish.

Do you have 'go to' items in your wardrobe? 

Lady Bug Says ... Olympic Nails

Evening lovelies.

After seeing all the patriotic nail art being sported at the Olympics, I thought I would create my own. A little bit of red, white and blue & bronze, silver and gold :)

I have become a little obsessed with graduated dots and thought the Olympic colours would work well. 

To create this I used the following:

Eyeko Petit Polish for the base colour.

Nails Inc 'Victoria & Albert', ELF 'White' and MUA 'Shade 9' on my middle fingers.

All About Face 'Fudge', Models Own 'Juicy Jules' and Models Own 'Champagne' on my thumbs and little fingers. I used filed down cocktail sticks to create the dots.

I finished off the tips on the remaining fingers with Juciy Jules, damn that polish is sparkly!

The cotton wool pad, cotton buds and nail polish remover came in handy for cleaning up inevitable messes!

Have you been getting into the Olympic spirit?

Lady Bug Says ... Minty Legs & Chainmail!

Evening lovelies!

According to the guys at work my jumper looks like chain mail and my trousers remind them of toothpaste, got to love men's take on fashion!

This outfit is actually made up of some of my favourite items, old and new. I picked up this metallic knit jumper from the Primark £5 sale rail a few years ago and it has definitely been worn to death since. Whether it looks like chain mail or not though I am personally undecided! Of course I am wearing my much loved H&M flatform shoes, these have become my go to work shoes, that bit of height but oh so comfortable! Finally my new minty turquoise cropped skinny trousers from New Look, I set out looking for pastel skinny jeans but after trying on numerous pairs these made it home with me :)

Black flatforms, H&M £20, Mint skinny trousers, New Look £20, Metallic knit jumper, Primark £5

Nail Polish - Barry M Ltd Edition 030

Ring, Primark £2

Outfit total - £47

Lady Bug Says ... My Summer 2012 Nail Polish Picks

 You all probably know by now that I am a little bit obsessed with nail polish. I don't think you can really go wrong with nail polish, unlike other beauty products!

I thought I would show you my favourite and most used nail polishes for Summer 2012.

Clockwise from top - Barry M - NP140, LOOK Beauty - Shade 24 Sequin Effect, Barry M - Peach Melba, Barry M - Ltd Edition 030, ELF - Coral & Models Own - Jade Green

Barry M - Peach Melba - The prettiest pastel peach colour that only requires 2 coats and dries fairly quickly.

LOOK Beauty - Shade 24 Sequin Effect - So damn hard to photograph but so pretty. A clear polish with holographic flakes in it.

Barry M - NP 140 - No name but a gorgeous bright coral pink that dries with a semi matte finish.

Models Own - Jade Green - A dirty mint green that goes on like a dream, as do nearly all the Models Own polishes I have tried!

The aforementioned Sequin Effect layered over Barry M - NP140, my favourite combination at the moment!

Barry M - Ltd Edition 030 - A bright lavender purple, just beautiful!

ELF - Coral - My all time favourite polish, I am now on bottle number 2. A dreamy pink and gold duo-chrome and my go to pedicure colour.

This post should of contained one more polish, Models Own - Slate Grey, but it took a dive off my dressing table and on to the tiled floor in my bathroom. It will soon be repurchased as it is the most perfect nude!

What are your favourite polishes at the moment?

Lady Bug Says ... Aztec Nails

Evening lovelies!

Hope you have all had a good week, I have been doing my first aid re-qualification the past few days, forgot how knackering doing CPR on those plastic dummy's is!

I thought I would show you a little nail art that I am currently sporting, some pretty Aztec print on my ring fingers.

The base colour is a pretty coral pink polish that I received in my RAK swap parcel, MUA Shade 4. The taupe is my favourite Models Own 'Slate Grey' and the black patterns were done with the Models Own nail art pen. I used some french tip stickers that I bought from Ebay to do the taupe crescents at the nail bed and tip.

I was surprised how easy doing the little zig zags once, I certainly don't have a very steady hand but even when doing them with my left hand they turned out pretty well!

Lady Bug Says ... All The Reds

Another quick nail post tonight. I have seen a few 'ombre' style nail photos floating around on other blogs and thought I would give it a try so I dug out all of my red polishes and had a play.

Nails Inc 'Hampstead Heath', Nails Inc 'Victoria & Albert', Orly 'Ruby', Deborah Lipmann 'Razzle Dazzle' & Nails Inc 'Savile Row'

Apologies for the lack of outfit posts recently, I have been struck down with an evil cough/cold/flu/lurgy combo so have been spending my evenings and weekends wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa feeling sorry for myself. Fingers crossed it is on its way out now!

Lady Bug Says ... Simple Triangle Nails

Evening lovelies :)

A quick nail post from me tonight, I saw a nail art tutorial that Clare over at Rainbows & Fairy Dust posted and knew I had to try it straight away!

I used my 2 current favourite polishes, Models Own 'Champagne' for the base colour and Models Own 'Slate Grey' for the top colour.

Armed with some scotch tape I was ready to go :)

Apply base colour.

To make the scotch tape less sticky I had the squares stuck to my hand whilst I painted on the base coat and wait for it to dry. Then I stuck the not to sticky tap to my nails.

Apply top coat.

Allow to dry then carefully peel off the tape.

I will definitely be trying this again as it didn't really take much longer than a standard manicure and looks a bit more special :)

Lady Bug Says ... Nails Inc Magnetic Polish

Evening Lovelies.

Hope you all had a fab week and have some great plans for the weekend. It is my Dad's birthday tomorrow so I'm looking forward to going out for a yummy meal tomorrow night and celebrating with him and the rest of my family :)

Just a brief post from me today, I recently won a lovely little Twitter giveaway that Zoe over at The London Lipgloss was hosting and received a Nails Inc magnetic polish. I've been wanting to try a magnetic polish for a while now so pretty pleased with it!

The effect is really pretty and does happen instantly, almost like magic! The only downside would be the tip wear, after less than 18 hours (most of which were spent sleeping) there was real noticeable wear.

Lady Bug Says ... Camel, Grey & Burgundy

Sorry for the completely unimaginative post title! It was all my brain could conjure up!

I'm kind of liking the more autumnal weather, means I finally get a chance to wear some of the knits and tights I have been buying. Though with the nights getting darker I am going to have to work out some indoor lightish space to take outfit photos soon!

Also really need to figure out the self timer on my camera so I don't have to keep hassling the Mr to take photos of me! Always end up pulling slightly odd faces when he is behind the camera!

Burgundy snood, Primark £4, Grey jumper, Primark £4, Camel dress, c/o Select, Tights, Primark £1, Steve Madden Boots, TK Maxx £35

Outfit total - £44

Barry M Racing Green & Models Own Champagne

Leather feather earrings, giveaway prize from A Daisy Chain Dream