29.12.15

Winter Wedding Style

Kaleidoscope asked me to style a winter wedding guest outfit and here's the look that I came up with. 

My stand out piece from this outfit has to be the sequin skirt. I have wanted one for a while and this one just ticks all the boxes, it feels glamorous yet comfy and I love the contrast of the sparkly and matt sequins. It's pretty versatile too, I wore it on Christmas day to add some festive sparkle to my outfit, paired with a long length taupe cashmere sweater and some nude heels.


The gorgeous clutch bag is faux snake skin, suede and rose gold. In hindsight I think the outfit would have looked better held in my hand with the chain tucked inside, although it is pretty useful to be able to sling it over your shoulder when you're chasing after toddlers!


I also chose some lovey heels to match.....


These breathtakingly beautiful earrings I won in in a competition on twitter by Duke of York Square, would you believe! They're from a local jeweller called Brilliant Inc who specialise in simulated diamonds and the style is called Kiki. I'm obsessed with anything made from rose gold and of course diamonds!


I paired the outfit with a fluffy white crossover top and a faux fur stole. I think I would have liked the top to be slightly longer but that's a minor point really because I adore the rest of the outfit.


Kaleidoscope have a great wedding boutique on their website which has a fantastic selection to suit almost everyone, there's even a section for mother of the bride outfits. I'm going to wear this outfit to my nephew's christening next month and I can't wait!!


21.12.15

Christmas Games

Nothing says Christmas like a good family trivia game! The lovely people at UKTV have come up with this super fun TV quiz, it's perfect for all those TV addicts out there.


All you have to do is spin the wheel, and a channel will be selected for you. The questions are based on TV shows from various channels such as Dave, Really and Watch.


When the wheel lands on a channel it will select a multiple choice style question for you and then you select the level of difficulty ( the harder the question the higher the points) The player just has to answer the question correctly in order to spin the wheel once again.


You get three chances and here's the link to the game

www.network.uktv.co.uk

Good Luck!!

*Collaboration


Mama Style: Duffle Coats

I've been on the hunt for a new coat, ideally one that has a hood so I don't have to juggle an umbrella along side everything else. I have the practical mac that's good for trips to the park whilst the little ones jump up and down in muddle puddles. Now though, I'm looking for something that a little bit smarter. Something that I can throw on for the school run but that could look smart enough to wear out in the evening. I have seen quite a few yummy mammas out and about in Chelsea wearing these gorgeous fur lined duffle coats. I did a little bit of research and I found a beautiful one from Burberry at an eye-wateringly expensive price.

Then, last week whilst having coffee with mamas from E's school. One lovely lady arrived in a gorgeous swingy duffle coat with the snuffliest and fluffiest fur hood. Of course I had to ask her where she had found what was literally my perfect coat. She informed me that it was from Maje and that it was one of their classic designs that they bring out each year. Excitedly, I hurried home to google it and lo and behold there it was... but only in beige!! Gone are the days when I would laugh in the face of practicality, there is no way that a beige coat would last more than a day without someone smearing chocolate or throwing a Babyccino over me.


Above Left Esprit and right Maje.

Back to the drawing board that is Google & Pinterest and eventually I came across the most perfect little black duffle from Esprit. It's not too fitted, it has a fur hood and the price is looking pretty good too. I think I'm on to a winner!!

What do you think? Have you seen anything similar that I should check out?

16.12.15

#CityCountryLife - Christmas Traditions

Welcome to this week's #CityCountryLife- Christmas Traditions. #CityCountryLife is a series run by myself and my gorgeous friend Lizzie. Living in the heart of London, I write about life with kids in the capital city and Lizzie writes about all the wonderful things that country life has to offer.

For me Christmas has always been about spending time with my family, especially as we're scattered all over the world, so it is always a time for us to get together, even if it's just via Skype. Now I have children, it one of my favourite things about Christmas is starting new family traditions. Activities that we can do together each year in the run up to Christmas day.

With people starting to celebrate Christmas earlier and earlier each year, it's hard not to go overboard too soon. Mr Jones would buy a tree mid November if I let him but I like our decorations to stay up until the 6th January ( the 12th day of Christmas) so if we were to buy a tree to early it would just look awful by the end. Each year we buy our tree, on the first weekend of December, we always get a real tree, I love the smell and it makes the house feel extra christmassy.




Then we go to the Chelsea Gardener at Chelsea Farmers market to pick some decorations for the tree, They have a huge selection of the most beautiful decorations to choose from. When the children were tiny babies I went and chose them a decoration each and now that they are old enough, they choose their own. On each decoration I write their name and the year so that when they are older they will be able to look back at all the decorations that they have chosen over the years. This year E chose a ceramic angel and Rufio chose a little wooden soldier.

The sad thing is that this could be the last year that we'll be able to uphold this tradition. The entire farmers market along with many beautiful and historic buildings in the area, are threatened with closure because TFL is proposing to knock it all down in order to build a Crossrail Station! Locals who love Chelsea, myself included, feel very strongly that this isn't the right location and that a station so hopefully TFL and those who love Chelsea can come to some sort of compromise. It would be such a shame to destroy a vibrant and thriving community!









A new tradition that we started last year is Ice Skating at the Natural History Museum. The back drop is just spectacular and feels like something out of a movie, with the huge tree in the middle of the rink adorned with twinkling Swarovski crystal decorations. This year we went straight after E broke up from school with some of her new friends and their mamas and Rufio stayed at home with Grandma, at 2 I think that he's still a little bit small to give this a go but next year I think he should be fine. After skating, we took the kids for hot chocolate in the cafe overlooking the rink. By that time it was dark and little fairy lights strung from the trees lit up the ice and it was just magical!




What Christmas traditions do you have? We'd love share and link up if your blogs:






9.12.15

#CityCountryLife Christmas Style


Welcome to this week's #CityCountryLife - Christmas Style. #CityCountryLife is a series run by myself and my gorgeous friend Lizzie. Living in the heart of London I write about life in the capital City and Lizzie writes about all the wonderful things that country life has to offer.

#CityCountryLife Christmas Style



Sweater / Warehouse faux fur vest / Black legging / Boots / Clutch / Monica Vinader stud earrings, £310 / Jewellery

London folk are a funny lot when it comes to fashion, it's all about dressing down to dress up here. Make up is expertly applied to look non existent, hair is styled to look un done and the same goes for fashion. I really notice the difference whenever I'm away London and we go out for dinner or for a drink, people seem to dress up a heck of a lot more and I actually end up feeling underdressed!
I think the outfit above embodies my perfect christmas outfit. I'm having a bit of a Mint Velvet moment right now and I adore this jumper with a Star on the back, a subtle nod to Christmas, the tassled suede boots and clutch bags are also from there too. The Baukjen leather leggings and the cosy Warehouse faux fur gilet  give the outfit that extra edge and the rose gold accessories from Monica Vinader lift the look to give it some subtle warmth. OPI nails in Ce-less-tial is More work perfectly with the accessories and add an extra christmassy feel.

Don't forget to link up your gorgeous Christmas style blog posts with us too:





2.12.15

#CityCountryLife Christmas Shopping at The Toystore Oxford Street

One of the best things about city life, is without a doubt the huge array of amazing shops that we have here in London, right on our doorstep. So I'm really excited to share this week's #CityCountryLife with you!!

A few weeks ago, my family ( including Grandma or Gaga as she is fondly known) and I were thrilled invited to be invited to a private tour of the newest toy shop on the block- The Toystore on Oxford Street. The Toystore landed in the UK this summer and is the first of it's kind in Europe although they have a network of stores already across the Middle East. 

The children were super excited to spend an afternoon in the coolest toy store around and it was a great opportunity for me to get some sneaky Christmas shopping done!


There are loads of brilliant toy displays dotted all around the store, showing off the latest and most unique toys sold in store! One of my favourite things about the shop was the staff, they were all just so great with the kids, really engaging and not at all patronising. E is very much a mini me, so our first stop was of course at the nail polish display....

E also tried out some pretty rainbow hair chalks which  you can just about see in the ends of her hair below. They also sell some super cute glitter tattoo, they look amazing but are actually really easy to recreate at home, even Mr Jones couldn't resist and got a glittery peace sign on his hand :)


E is really in to Barbies and My Little Pony at the moment and fortunately the Toystore has huge ranges of both. She also loved the interactive Barbie which she was able to dress and style and also the Bratz section that had loads of fun accessories that you can put on to create the perfect selfie. I actually have no idea how we managed to get her to leave this section!



Gaga, E and I fell in love with the Bonnie & Pearl dolls. They are made in Gagas hometown of Cardiff and are beautifully crafted and built to last years of love and affection. What I loved most about them is that the look like proper old fashioned dolls with realistic facial features and proportions, which reinforces positive body image in little girls.



My girlie girl might be in to ponies and barbies but the little Guy is in to cars in a big way. It's no surprise then that a toy car is top of his wish list this year and how cute do they look driving the toy Bentleys and Range Rovers below! I think Mr Jones would secretly would have liked a go too!!


I caught these two having a little snuggle in the Mr Men section, ahhhhh brotherly/ sisterly love!


The giant race track was just every junior car enthusiast dream.....


.....Grown ups get to relive their childhood.....


......and there's something for Thomas & Friends fans.....


E and Rufio both had in their words 'The best afternoon ever' Thank you so much to Paul the store manager and his fantastic team for taking the time to show us you're amazing new store.







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