Tis the season to don Knitwear

I fricking love Autumn and Winter. They are by far my favourite seasons of the year: cosy knitwear (I think it is just so much easier to throw on with anything and still look normal), getting to use the open fire and just that joy of crunching leaves, feeling the cool breeze, waiting for the first flurry of snow and so on! I must say, the knitwear bit has got to be one of the best parts in my book, I never used to wear jumpers when I was little (they made me claustrophobic :s odd), but since last year especially, I can't wait to get mine out. The summer we have had has meant a couple never even went away, but I haven't really worn them much, opting for a cardi instead, as I think there is something special about those first days there is enough of a nip in the air to pull open the jumper drawer and pick from all your old favourites. I'm a bit weird, I know.

Anyway, I got paid last week and made the mistake of wandering into New Look, to find they were stocking their shelves with this year's winter delights. I can't help but think there is a bigger range than normal out there, as I tend to find a couple I like most years, but this time I wanted to BUY THE WHOLE SHOP!

I cannot justify buying anything this month really, September is the dreaded utility bill month- the quarterly gas and electric bill (not too bad this time fortunately!), the water bill (still waiting for this *hides head in hands*) and my car insurance are all drains on my already meagre finances around this time. Once the water bill comes out though, I have a feeling I will justify spending a portion of what's left on updating my autumnal wardrobe: I don't want to freeze after all.





I couldn't resist buying one basic jumper, because I used to have a blue one exactly like it and wore it til it basically fell apart. It is comfy, warm but not too warm and still gives you some semblance of a figure, whilst being easy to add a coat on top of if needed. At £9.99 I thought it was great as, for me, this is a complete wardrobe staple. I went for red as it is a favourite of mine and they only had that or black (which I wear way too much of) in our branch. Unfortunately, upon looking online to find the picture to share, I now know they also do purple, along with other colours, and will probably be adding them to my already extensive want list.

My mum also happened to be with me and owed me a little money, so I let her buy me a jumper too instead of giving me the cash. Meet my new snuggly amazing jumper, complete with elbow pads! This was £19.99 which I think is reasonable :) It is definitely the most I am prepared to spend on any one item at the minute.

Excuse the ridiculousness of my posing, was trying to show off my elbow pads to a friend! It is the first really baggy jumper I have owned, I actually tried on two sizes and went for the bigger even though they both fit. It is lovely and cosy without being too thick or thin and will look great with slim fit jeans and maybe my beloved winter boots. It is one of those purchases that you can't wait to wear and I had it on as soon as the sun set last night. I hate raving massively about one thing, but I really do love this.

I also have my eye on H&M (the only other shop I dared venture in- they have a fab sale on atm by the way!) and their range of jumpers featuring animals. I really want a plain grey jumper with a big black bat on that I saw in there. No idea why, but I hope it will be mine one day! Bats and owls are animals I am loving at the moment. This year will be a big year for baggy jumpers for me I think. I am just feeling homely and cosy (yes, I know I have overused this word today!) and am a bit heavier this year than last, so could probably benefit from the extra volume too if I'm honest.

If someone handed me £100 right now, I would be seriously tempted to just buy jumpers. The animal jumper trend, and big baggy knits, are both so my style- roll on the next pay day (please!!).

Pie and Ice Cream

I have been having a rubbish time lately, for reasons I shan't go into here, but have to say that I came home today to something that put a smile right on my face!

B, the man in residence, had gone and picked some blackberries with his grandma that day and decided to make me a pie :D I will admit, I am not usually a massive pie fan, or pastry in general, I tend to be the girl who opts for crumble as my hearty fruity desert of choice. But boy, he did good and pulled off a very tasty pudding!

To be honest, even if the pie didn't taste great, the gesture itself was wonderful. Luckily it turned out that he is a master pastry chef in the making (he made some pasties for himself too which also turned out very well- think I will be relegated from the kitchen soon!) and seems to have inherited his grandma's skill.

I don't know the recipe, but he used shortcrust pastry and for the filling boiled some apples in sugar water before blending them into a deliciously apply mush. Then he added whole blackberries and some slices of apple too (as well as a little more sugar) and popped the lid on to bake, brushed with a little egg. It came out golden and melt in the mouth perfect. The little heart on top was very sweet too <3 think he is a keeper!

Floral pinboard

This is the latest addition to my living room, post the freshen up with paint. I had an idea that I wanted to create a board using just the actual wall, simply attaching lots of ribbons crossing over one another, that I could slot stuff between. In the end though it seemed a bit impractical and if I made another pinboard it could be both pretty, in fitting with the room, and reusable. I am not sure if I have ever blogged about making a fabric pinboard before, I know I have meant to for a long time. I shall have a look back and, if not, do a post on how to make one yourself for those who don't know.

For this one I chose a pretty floral fabric that had green in it, like our sofas (inherited with the house unfortunately and not my first choice of colour- I am starting to warm to green lately though, when it used to be one of my least favourites of all time), red, like the nets at our windows and Avengers posters as in the previous post, and a variety of other colours. I chose purple ribbon to match the new walls and green, again to match the sofas. I went to find the biggest board I could and actually found this half price in Ryman's, which was a great buy. I then bought the amount of fabric needed and 5m of each ribbon. The trickiest part was actually attaching the hooks on top- my dad had to help me with a bradle in the end. To attach it to the wall I just plaited some of each ribbon and a little black ribbon I had from another project. I then sewed a little sunflower over each of the hooks, covering them up and tying in with the floral theme a little more. Mainly though, I think I just really wanted to use some of the sunflowers I have had sitting in my sewing box for nearly a year! I also had a little leftover fabric so sewed a giant bow for extra prettiness and just safety pinned it on. Voila, a pinboard with those extra little cute touches which make it a tad more unique.

It has turned out a great addition to the room, adding a splash more colour on one of the cream walls and meaning I can showcase some of the things I like, little drawings, cards I have collected, theatre tickets and so on. It is also great for sticking post in so you know where it is (always wise when you have cats that like to bat stuff around!). I have some nice ladybird drawing pins from Paperchase to help secure stuff on, as well as using colourful striped paperclips.

I really like it and love the extra girly touch to the house :)

Avengers- assemble!

I painted our living room this week, (big eek, didn't realise how much it needed a freshen up until I started!) and we decided that we would spend a little money on nice stuff for it as well to celebrate. We knew we wanted some better storage, so decided on a TV cabinet that would store some of our DVDs/ books etc as well as hold the TV in a much better style than the old silver plastic stand it used to be on. A great investment for when we can afford our own place and a great deal of fun to assemble. It is only a fairly cheap, £50, Ikea number (MAVAS Entertainment Unit), but adds a whole lot to the room. It turned out to be one of those things that is almost more trouble than it is worth to actually get hold of. We saw it but it was too big for our car, so came back in a different one the next day to buy it, only to find it was out of stock even thought there were at least 6 in the day before. After 2 weeks of waiting for it to be restocked we gave up, as wanted the living room finished asap, and found Birmingham had some in, so bribed my dad, with a promise of Ikea ice cream, to take me to get it.

The main thing we wanted though was something for the walls. We had some pictures up before, but mainly canvases that came with the house, so wanted something our own. Then we stumbled upon posterexplosion on Etsy. We are both quite geeky and love the Avengers movies, so when we found these great sepia, black and red themed prints (our favourite colours), we had to get them. £30 for 6 wasn't bad value at all we thought, as they were so us, and so we sat excitedly waiting for them to arrive, which happened in very good time- I can definitely recommend them and their service. Picking up some cheap Ikea frames (at least our first trip wasn't a complete waste!) we put the completely black and sepia ones in red frames, and the black, red and sepia ones in black frames and hung them in two sets of three.

Iron Man is above the TV, as he is my OH's favourite so he gets to see it a lot, flanked by Black Widow and Hawkeye. Then above the sofa and arm chair, slightly wider spaced and central across the wall, are Captain America, Hulk and Thor. Thor, being my favourite, is above my chair :) I think they look great and are definitely very 'us', so great for our house. The red even looks ok against the purple paint, which I was dubious about at first. Framed poster prints are something I definitely recommend as they are fun but quite stylish as well, depending what you get, so could fit into many different types of house and decor. I desperately want the Monsters Inc film poster the seller does as well now, the blue colour of it would fit perfectly in the spare room as well... something for the Christmas list I think.

Dresses Everywhere!

At the minute I am suffering serious envy with all the pretty dresses everywhere, especially on my new lust after site, Modcloth. My parents have decided that they are going to buy me a new dress due to my dissertation result being announced last week, so I am having an excuse to browse the shops at the moment and am making myself sad with longing for some.

I am someone who loves to wear dresses. To me they just feel natural and comfy and make you feel nice and dressed up, like you have made a bit of an effort, even if it is a supremely comfortable and casual little number.

My dress collection doesn't fit in my wardrobe alongside my tops and already takes up two drawers here (I had to cut it down to one for day dresses (think floatier floral ones) and one for evening/ smart dresses (so tailored ones or ones a little more fancy), and I have the overspill at my parent's house. Deciding which ones got to stay here with me was definitely a challenge.

I don't even wear dresses massively often, as jeans and a jumper is just easier to throw on for uni, especially since I take the train. In the summer they are a virtually daily occurrence, but right now they only go on if I am going out for dinner, or to the cinema etc. I just stay in too much (due to lack of funds, the cold and just an abundance of work), so don't get chance.

It is a pretty tough time for me at the minute in the financial sense, so I just don't really bother to look in the shops and am not really buying any magazines with high street fashions at the minute. However, I just can't help peeking at Modcloth now I have come across it properly. I have known of its existence for quite a while, but have never really taken the time to surf it. I knew it was my kind of site though the minute I saw that the dress section was not just 'day dresses', 'going out dresses' and so on, but 'floral', 'prints', 'ruffled', 'tiered'. Heaven <3 I have not dared to look in them all yet.

Two I am particularly lusting after, and that somewhat show my taste in dresses I suppose, are:

http://www.modcloth.com/shop/dresses/garden-gorgeous-dress

http://www.modcloth.com/shop/dresses/get-what-you-dessert-dress-in-flowers

I am also loving the vintagey:



On Amazon.

I think I am going to opt for this cheaper, but lovely, Matalan dress from my parents though, as I always like their clothes. They are well made really and last a long time, even though they are at the lower end of the high street prices.





I don't particularly suit yellow, but am hoping this one will look ok (after all, there is meant to be a yellow for everyone). If not there is a blue version which would be good on me, as it is one of the colours that makes up most of my wardrobe (hence why the yellow one would be a nice change), or a plain green one which I find appealing too. It is one that can be worn as it is, or dressed up a little if I want, so a perfect choice for now when I want as much use as possible out of new items.

Modcloth is definitely going to have to wait until I work full time in the summer, but for now I am so excited about getting a new dress for my collection, and maybe inspiration to start wearing my existing ones more again. Let's just hope I don't end up spotting too many I like, or there will be a Sophie's Choice situation going down in the changing rooms on Monday!