Instagram lovelies

Instagram lovelies

28/04/2012

1 comment

So this is just a little instagram round up from the past few days. Since coming back from London, our first day away from Arthur together, we have spent pretty much the rest of the time with him...taking him swimming, learning to draw (and make a lot of mess) and building big dens... although I normal take him to the park everyday or have some quality outside time but due to the weather it's been a bit limited, so we found that McArthur Glen in Bridgend is quite useful as it provides some great undercover shopping with a large play area full of slides and games as well as pushcarts...which he loved. They also have a Vans outlet store and we managed to pick up some super cute Van's slip on's for the little man.

Arthur not looking too impressed

John rocking his new Ralph Lauren Jacket

A frugal purchase from the Vans outlet store

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Spring into a New Look

Spring into a New Look

25/04/2012

8 comments

I know it's raining but that doesn't stop me having spring in my heart. I love re-using and reinventing outfits and especially since having Arthur the clothes budget has disappeared very quickly as I suddenly have to dress and clothe another person. So it's pretty important when buying a new outfit to take in consideration quality, price and style. I like things to last a fairly longtime but also have to work on a smaller budget so I thought I would look at New Looks spring/summer collection, as over the years I feel the brand and has improved in terms of design and quality and have also started working with and stocking other brands such as Ravel, Dune, Firetrap, Iron fist, Moda in Pelle, Wonderbra and Steve Madden to name a few. So with a £30 budget I wanted to see if I could get a pair of summer sandals and a vintage inspired dressed (was I asking for too much?). When I came across this cute little sleeveless polka dot dress I thought it would make a great summer staple and I love the sandals I managed to pick up to go with the outfit and all on budget. They look and feel great...just hope they last the whole of summer, i'm sure they will. I paired up the outfit with my H&M hat I bought a few summers ago and my Radley bag that John so  kindly bought me for my birthday last year. My views are my own..as always.

Dress - New Look, Sandals - New Look, Belt - New Look, Hat - H&M, Bag - Radley

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London, Champagne, Canapes and Watches

London, Champagne, Canapes and Watches

23/04/2012

7 comments

John and I were lucky enough to be invited to the Global Blogger Search for Guess watches in London, to view their new spring/summer collection over champagne and canapes. We decided to make a day of as we haven't been to London together for a very long time as one of us has always had to stay at home with Arthur so it was a great for both of us to have a little bit of us time together. On the way there we had a cheeky upgrade to first class on the train from Cardiff to London...the seats are sooo comfortable I wish all the train carriages were like that.

Once we got into Paddington we took the underground to Oxford St to visit the Albam store just off Carnaby St, unfortunately not long after that we got caught in torrential rain and decided to take refuge in one of my favourite traditional pubs on Wardour St - The Ship were we had a much welcomed Pear Cider and Pint of Guinness. We then had a stroll around Soho and picked up some very yummy crepes. The rest of the afternoon was spent in Covent Garden and then at The House of Barnabas, the location of the launch.

The House of Barnabas was such a beautiful location, with high ceilings and all the luxury finishes you would expect with a brand like Guess. The canapes went down a treat, especially with John who tried them all...we loved the Mediterranean veg crostini and mini burgers and who would say no to a glass of champagne. The turn out was very good with some very stylish bloggers coming to view the new line of watches, jewellery and accessories. I loved the bold colours of the mini watches and the double straps as well as a tortoise shell watch that caught my eye. We also got to learn more about the Guess One to Watch campaign that will be starting on facebook on the 1st May, it's a global search for stylish bloggers and individuals around the world to become the official voice of the Guess Access blog. More info soon to follow...otherwise here are some photos from our fab day out.

The Kooples store Carnaby St and I heart Soho

Mmmm yummy Crepes

John wearing Folk, Raybans and Quoddy Shoes

John wearing folk vest, Norse Projects shirt, Albam jeans and Quoddy shoes

Rocking the colours and ray ban tortoise shell glasses

Wearing a Love Dress by Topshop, Dents studded bag, Gifted jacket

Love by Topshop dress, Dents studded jacket, Laura Ashley necklace, Dozzy and Dee brogues.

Womens and Mens big Guess watches...ohh yeah

Launch party mingle.

One up Mannequin

blinged

Colourful Mini watches.

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Guess Watches Spring/Summer love

Guess Watches Spring/Summer love

19/04/2012

1 comment

Retro...fresh....eye-catching are all words that describe the new spring/summer Guess watch collection. The campaign was shot at a motel in LA and has a real vintage feel to it married with the modern and pop colour watches. Paul Marciano, the creative director of Guess described this best - "The spring 2012 campaign reminds every Guess Girl and Guy of what it means to represent the beauty of the past in a way that glorifies the present. I'm really impressed with there fearless approach to things and Guess has always been a brand not afraid to try new things with these bold new colours. John and I are going to London this week to attend the Guess One to Watch Global blogger search and will have a chance to see the rest of the collection and can't wait...up dates very soon.

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Art Car Bootique

Art Car Bootique

17/04/2012

3 comments

If you live in Cardiff at some point I am sure you have been to Chapter Art's and for those who don't live in Cardiff, Chapter is like a one stop shop for the indie film and art lover. Showing independent films every night with an amazing cafe/bar, art gallery and theatre this is one of our favourite places and on Sunday that held there annual Art Car Bootique.

I had been excited all week about it, as it's been a bit up and down the past few weeks and after going swimming with Arthur in the morning, John and I had a rare free afternoon together and it was a day filled of arts, crafts, installations, performance, music and food. The place was packed, which was great except at one point you just couldn't move. There were so many campervans and lovely vintage cars that I wanted! Northcote lane had a mini vintage market and a lot of local art movements such as Project 10, Sho Gallery and G39 where there. We loved the cardboard ice-cream van man - what an amazing feat as well as the Milgi bar travelling cafe...which out us in the mood so much for Milgi's wonderful food that we went there after the car bootique.

Good times...good music...great food...wonderful company....a lovely way to spend a sunday.

I want!

I love this cardboard car!

Car boot quiz

This ginger beer at Milgi Bar was soo good

Me relaxing on the couch at Milgi

John in his Folk jacket

Good music....good food...good times

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Tasty Instagrams

Tasty Instagrams

14/04/2012

3 comments

I hope everyone out there has had a great easter....I'm still finishing off the last of the Chocolate. We spent most of the time with the family and at home as the Car needed to go into the garage and also Arthur was feeling under the weather for most of the week. Although yesterday Arthur and I took the train into town for a little adventure and to say Hi to John on his lunch break and tried out the new healthy hot spot that is Taste.

I love fast , fresh and healthy food and Taste hits all those. The chicken salad John had is apparently very good and the falafel salad I always opt for is also divine and filing and only £3! There is nowhere that I know of in Cardiff with such reasonable prices in such a clean and chic environment so this has become on of my favourites. They do very well over the business lunchtime trade as they are right in the centre, even so they are very accommodating towards young children and have excellent changing facilities. We will be back!

Three little instgrams that sums up the past 2 weeks

We love interesting bottles of wine...this Art deco design did it for me

A much happier little boy after feeling under the weather.

If anyone is around Cardiff this weekend....you should check out the Chapter Art Car Bootique this sunday - we are going and can't wait. We haven't been before and we are looking forward to it as it should be a day filled with creativity/fashion/performance/vintage/food and music with over 50 stalls including The Milgi bar travelling cafe. Chapter Arts 11am-6pm be there.

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Sphere of Life Giveaway

Sphere of Life Giveaway

10/04/2012

4 comments

Yey so it's that time again for a lovely giveaway to one of my readers!

Our beautiful necklace giveaway comes from the lovely people at My Sphere of Life

The necklace is called "Over the Moon" and is part of their cute collection and is made out of silver and comes in a beautiful little sphere.

I also have a special code for any readers who want to purchase a gift from My Sphere of Life - it's £10 off a £20 spend - all you need to do is type in SIDEST12 at the checkout


All you have to do to enter is either follow the blog (if your already following you get an automatic entry) or follow on Twitter, Pinterest and/or Facebook - the more you do the more entries you get...simple as...and it's open to everyone around the world....good luck :)

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Easter love

Easter love

09/04/2012

3 comments

I had such big plans for Easter and then Mr A was ill the week running up to it and everything had to take a back seat and I didn't get to make all the crafty lovely things I had planned but we still had an amazing day. First of all I don't think giving an 18month old loads of chocolate is a good idea, in fact Mr A has up until this point had very very little chocolate (I can count on one hand) and on the occasions he has had a taste, it's simply been a taste. But saying that I still wanted him to have a easter egg hunt, so I have been keeping the eggs I have used for omelettes over the past week and stuck them back together with craft clue and tissue paper and painted them - this way he could still go into the garden and collect them. I also put Johns eggs out in the garden so Mr A could pick up these and he was of course allowed a small Lindt bunny which totally blew his mind.

After the Easter Egg hunt we had some of my homemade healthy Spelt Apricot and Banana muffins which are very low in added sugar but naturally sweet from the fruit and very very yummy.

We also decided this year that less is definitely more so I only got John three small cream eggs and one large egg and I was soooo happy when I saw mine was a Marc De Champagne Egg - I love Champagne truffles soo much!

Mr A made so much mess with his little egg and it really was a real treat for him we just let him go for it, although it did end up with him having a mid-morning bath :)

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