{Diamonds and Thrills: Glasgow Loves Christmas}

I was invited to a have a special day out in Glasgow city centre as part of Glasgow Loves Christmas. Glasgow is widely known for it's style and shops, and for a stressed, busy mummy I was very excited to be spending my child-free day having a personal shopping trip for a party outfit, followed by a mini-facial and makeover, some afternoon tea (& champagne!) and a browse round the shops on Glasgow's Style Mile!

What better way to start the day... (well, I can think of some things, but a cup of tea will have to suffice!! Haha)

The personal shopping suite at House of Frasers

The personal shopping service at House of Fraser is a free styling service, and can be used to find that one special thing (for me I fancied a new sparkly jumper for the winter season) to a whole new wardrobe (which is what I did previously - here and here!). You can set the budget, and there is no pressure at all to buy anything (honest!). At Glasgow there are now three personal shoppers, each with very different styles, so there will be someone for everyone! And yes, you read that correctly - the service is free... you only pay for what you buy.

New jewelled jumper from Warehouse (as seen in Elle apparently!)

Although, I have just discovered that Warehouse have 25% off all full price items on their website using the code xmasgift. So I've just ordered it from there instead and will return this one to HOF (with standard delivery at £3.50 - I've managed to save £8! You can also pay using PayPal, so it's so easy & straightforward).

I did also buy another sparkly jumper (I just couldn't pick between them), a pencil skirt for work and an amazing dress which I will be wearing on my work Christmas do! I'll keep the dress a secret until then... watch this space!!

Sequins wool jumper from Mango (Again, this jumper is £10 cheaper at the moment if you buy direct from Mango website - free delivery and you can pay with PayPal too! - sorry HOF, but this one is coming back also)

I guess that would be the only downside to personal shopping that I can think of - you may miss out on some bargains that you might find online. I've managed to save £18 by getting two of the items direct from the store online. However, the other two items I bought were part of a special promotion at HOF and I saved 30% and 20% off, which I wouldn't have got if I went direct to the store. If you time your visit well, you could really make the most of the Christmas sales!

For a busy working mum, the personal shopping service is ideal. I don't have time to trawl the shops anymore, so having someone at HOF knows their stock is the perfect solution. I walked in and told Emma-Jo exactly what I was looking for, and within just over an hour I was leaving with not one, but two amazing sparkly jumpers, a party outfit and a pencil skirt. A very productive morning!

After the personal shopping, I headed down to Lancôme for a mini-facial and makeover with Marc, stopping on the way to absorb some of the Christmas atmosphere and enjoy the fairy lights.

As you all know, I'm obsessed with fairy lights... check out all the lights at HOF. I was in heaven!! The store looks amazing and very festive.

All the Lancôme goodies!

My skin is in a bit of a mess right now and so Marc was filling me in on the products that I should be using. I admit that I've never really used Lancôme before, but I have to say I was rather impressed. Marc has assured me that the Visionnaire serum will 'change your life'. A powerful statement, and I will see if it's true! I purchased a Hydra Zen Neutrocalm moisturiser (soothing, anti-stress - just what I need right now!) and it came with a small Visionnaire sample bottle.

Lancôme Vissionaire Recovery Serum - wrinkles appear visibly reduced, pores look minimised and imperfections such as uneven skin tone appear more even.

Marc certainly had me convinced, but the scientist in me wants to try it out to see for sure! I'm not sure I believe all the beauty buzz words from the advertising campaigns.

So, with my make-up done and looking fabulous I headed to Argyll Arcade to meet two of my friends for afternoon tea at The Thrill Room at Rox. The Thrill Room features an exclusive Moët and Chandon champagne bar (don't mind if I do!) and on Sundays there is afternoon tea! We were looked after by the lovely bar staff and Stephanie brought us a selection of fashion jewellery to try on. It was great fun!

Moët and Chandon champagne bar

The Thrill Room at Rox

Champagne & strawberries? Yes please! 

Which was closely followed by tea, tablet & mini mince pies:

We were all loving the gold plated vertebrae bracelet by Shaun Leane

We were also loving the Shaun Leane Hook Talon earrings, which have been seen on X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger:

Shaun Leane Hook Talon earrings

  

The three of us - me, Becky & Lauren (loving the fact that we're all tall!)

I got a little bit carried away (it was the champagne, and Lauren's bad influence!!) and ended up buying myself a beautiful ring... like this one, but in silver:

Alexis Dove Wild Rose Ring (hopefully it will arrive in time for Christmas)

The morning of activities was organised for me, the champagne & afternoon tea were complimentary and as always, opinions are my own!

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{What I Wore - My Best Friend's Wedding}

My very good friend Steph gets married in Inverness right about now (Congratulations sweetie!). I chose a dress to wear for the occasion whilst on my personal shopping trip at House of Fraser. Jeanette, the personal shopper, is uh-mazing!! I doubt I would have even picked this off the rail, but it's such a flattering dress and I love it (it's in the sale at the moment too!).

Karen Millen Tropical Prints On Cugna Dress

I tried pairing it with black tights and black patent court shoes, but it just didn't look right, so I have bought new neutral accessories to match. Here's what I chose:

Caramel patent platform court shoes from M&S

Mimi clutch from Coast

Krizia necklace from Coast

Krizia bracelet from Coast

Krizia earrings from Coast

Keep a watch on my Twitter feed for some pictures of me in the ensemble!!

{Personal Shopping, Take 2}

Back in November last year I went with my sister for a personal shopping trip at House of Fraser. It was such a success that we decided to go again this year.

I thought I'd share with you a couple of the pieces that I bought as one of my Fabulous Finds posts.

There were a couple of items that I needed for my wardrobe, firstly was a new pair of jeans. I hadn't heard of the brand Salsa before, but let me tell you - these are seriously the most comfortable pair of jeans ever. And the shape is very flattering - I think my bum looks pretty good in them, if I do say so myself!

Salsa Secret Bootcut Jean

I also needed a new light weight summer jacket, as my old ones were far too big. I chose this Ted Baker parka:

Ted Baker Sephy Light Weight Parka

I also needed a few more tops that could be worn with skirts to work, but also dressed down with jeans. One of my favourites is this one from Oasis, but it's right pain to get it looking good now that it's been washed. I'm rubbish at ironing!! 

Oasis 2 Collar Frill Shirt

Another staple item that I needed was a cardigan (which I really must start taking to work as I've been freezing lately!). I chose two, both from Mint Velvet. The charcoal grey cardigan has a lace feature across the shoulders and back which makes it a little bit different from your average cardigan. 

Mint Velvet Storm Lace Shoulder Cardigan

Mint Velvet Black Drawstring Cardigan

The black cardigan is also fab and looks great over delicate tops for work, but would equally work well with jeans.

The last item I'm going to share with you is a top that I have already worn to work with my pencil skirt and black cardigan, but equally I'd wear this with jeans at the weekend.

Mint Velvet Black/Nude Lace Shell Top

I perhaps went a bit OTT with the spending (I bought way more than the 6 items here!), but they are all pieces of clothing that will last me a long time and I think I've been relatively careful in what I've chosen. I'm hoping that I've picked more classic items rather than going with the trends. Only time will tell....

{What I Wore Wednesday #8}

I'm linking up again this week with Transatlantic Blonde for her fashion blog hop, What I Wore Wednesday. Click on the picture above to find out more and join in.
So here I am, again another outfit from my personal shopping trip...(please excuse all the mess in my bedroom!!)

Embellished top from Warehouse (the shoulders are beaded...)Pencil skirt from Mint VelvetTights from M&S (100 denier)Glasses by Dior
I wore this outfit with my leopard print ankle boots from Boden:

{What I Wore Wednesday #6}

I'm linking up with Transatlantic Blonde for her 'What I Wore Wednesday' blog hop. I'm uber jealous as she was lucky to win a competition allowing special access to the new Versace range at H&M. You can check out what she bought here.

If you haven't already seen my post, then you can check out my new capsule wardrobe which I recently purchased from House of Fraser on a personal shopping trip. I can't recommend it enough, and it's a free service!!

Here's my outfit from this week:

Dress by French Connection

Jeans from Next

Boots from M&S

Glasses, as usual, are by Dior

{A Productive Week}

Yep, it's that time of the week again already and I'm linking up with Kate for her Grooving Mums blog hop.

One of the challenges from last week was to Embrace the Spirit...

"This will mean different things to different people so respond in a way that makes sense to you. It might involve revisiting a place of worship, taking part in a religious festival, meditating, looking at which goddess you most identify why or whatever makes sense to you."

I'm ashamed to admit that I've not done anything towards this challenge... Will perhaps try and incorporate this into a post somehow over the coming week.

The next challenge was Body Fun...

"Do something to your body that you would not normally do. Paint your toe-nails, wear lipstick, colour your hair, wear make-up to take it off for a day if you usually wear it, play around and experiment."

I had booked myself in for a make-up lesson which I thoroughly enjoyed. I picked up a lot of new techniques and for someone who very rarely wears eyeliner I am now feeling more confident at applying it. What a difference it made to my overall look by having some nice eye make-up done! My mum always swore by the mantra 'look good, feel good' and I do believe in this too. I always feel much better when I've had my hair done or my nails painted. I rarely paint my fingernails (I've had them done at salons a couple of times, but I'm rubbish at applying nail polish myself!). I'm going to make the effort to paint my nails this week as I've got another 'Keeping in Touch' Day at my work this week.

I've had a very busy week... I've been continuing with the decorating at my house (in my painting gear just now actually!) and I'm making good progress. I've done a little bit more Christmas shopping and I think I only have hubby to buy for now. My sister came to visit and we had our make-up lesson and personal shopping trip (more on this in a separate post - it was brilliant!). I've been a bit better with the healthy eating (except for the massive sticky toffee pudding my sister and I consumed!!) and I even went on a run on Sunday morning by myself (5 miles!) as running club was too late for us to make our shopping appointment. I got my wedding & engagement rings cleaned at a local jeweller and I put in some of my mum's jewellery to be cleaned also. I'm going to make more of an effort to accessorise my outfits. My sister and I also did a photo session with my kiddies in the park for this year's Christmas card and I was designing it last night on the computer... I've been very productive!! I can't help but think though that this is a case of 'fake it til you make it' as described by Katie over at Dazed, But Enthused.

Unfortunately, part of my tooth has come out... I had root canal treatment on it a few years ago and I think I might need to get a crown which I'm not looking forward to. Ever since the root canal treatment I've been having sort of panic attacks in the dentist's chair. I've never had an issue with the dentist until now. I have to keep reminding myself to breath and try to focus on other things whilst I'm getting my teeth checked. I've got the dentist tomorrow and I'm already not looking forward to it.

Here are the challenges for this week:

"1. Set your own challenge, something that is meaningful to you. Or even better, include a challenge in your blog post that all grooving mums might want to have a go at.
2. Investigate poetry and share a favourite with us whether poetry is something you indulge in often, sometimes or never.
3. Dance whether at an event, in the privacy of your own home or out on a walk with the children.
4. Take part in the Listography blog hop over at Kate Takes 5. It will help us all get to know each other that little bit better."

I'm going to put my thinking cap on regarding setting my own challenge... it might be something like a new personal best for my running, or to attempt something different with my hair style... not sure yet. Poetry is not my thing, but I will do my best to see what I can come up with. Dancing I love...might need to be in the privacy of my own house but watch this space and see what I get up to! I'm also going to take part in the listography... keep a look out for my post.

Hope you've all had good weeks #groovingmums!

{Personal Shopping}

So, those of you that follow my blog (thank you btw!) will know that I had arranged a personal shopping trip at House of Fraser as a very special treat for reaching and maintaining my weight loss.

My sister and I had an excellent day and I'd highly recommend it - it was a fantastic experience and the personal shopper selected lots of clothes that I wouldn't have necessarily picked out myself. I now have a capsule wardrobe of mix and match items that actually works.

In the private dressing room.

Here are the items that I bought:

Mint Velvet khaki hooded waistcoat

Mint Velvet khaki and stone stripe tee

Mint Velvet khaki long sleeve tee

Mint Velvet check tassel scarf

Mint Velvet black ruched leggings

Mint Velvet mocha lace detail tunic with leggings (also works great with jeans)

Warehouse beaded shoulder slouchy tee (with jeans or leggings)

French Connection Berrie Jersey Frill Dress

Mint Velvet Black Bandage Skirt

Oasis Mono Envelope Neck T-shirt

Oasis Feather Print Envelope Neck Top

Both these Oasis tops look great with my Mint Velvet Bandage Skirt for work or with skinny jeans & boots for smart-casual.

Mango twisted neck blouse (for work with pencil skirt or with jeans for dinner/drinks)

Warehouse Cowl Pussy Bow Blouse (again, works with jeans or pencil skirt)

I didn't manage to get a pair of work shoes whilst at House of Fraser to complete my collection of shoes but I bought these from Boden the day after....They are so comfortable and stylish... 

Boden leopard print ankle boots

Here I am wearing some of the outfits...

Going into work for a 'Keeping in Touch' day wearing

Mango twisted neck blouse with Mint Velvet Black Bandage Skirt and Boden leopard print ankle boots

Mint Velvet khaki and stone stripe tee with Mint Velvet khaki hooded waistcoat and jeans