Outfit Of The Day

 

The last days of summer are upon us and to be honest we have been lucky to have held onto the sun for this long, I certainly can't remember a summer as good in my life time. 

The legs where out yet again and for possibly the last glimpse of sunlight this year before the return of the doom and gloom weather of which England has plenty to offer us. 

I've been in love with these Levi's shorts since the day I cut them free from there previous form as a pair of jeans. I found the Levi's in jean form in a local charity shop and thought I'd give it a go to save some cash after seeing the price Urban Outfitters where charging for them, I couldn't go wrong and could have them taylor fit to how I wanted them.  

Pairing this beautiful crochet style top with the Levi's shorts brings a pop of colour to the outfit and a cute beachy look.

For shoes I went for the white Converse which have been a staple item in my wardrobe for the past year as they are so comfy and versatile and go with so many outfits I honestly don't no what I would have done without them this year and think I may need to repurchase because I've worn the life out of them, they are on the brink of falling apart but definitely worth buying a pair if your thinking about it. 

Top - TK Maxx
Shorts - Charity shop
Converse - Schuh

Beth x 

My First Car - Skoda Citigo Sport

I've recently become the owner of my first car in co ownership with my boyfriend as I was learning to drive in his car which drastically fell apart on the way back from our trip to Scotland forcing us into looking at a new car or another second hand car. Weighing up the options, such as problems that could arise with another secondhand car and the extremely good deal on a new car we opted for the latter.

Being a learner driver I needed a car with a low insurance group, cheap to run and nothing too big whereas my boyfriend wanted a fun car and nothing boring to drive. In the end I had three choices which I progressed to the to test drive stage, Citroen DS3, Skoda Fabia and the Skoda Citigo Sport. When going to the dealerships the offers you see aren't always as good as they seem, the Citroen DS3 was a lovely car but not the right deal for us, they enticed us in with zero percent finance but this turned out to be pretty much impossible to get. We then looked at the Fabia, which we both liked but found the deals and engine combinations unattractive. Then, like the three bears porridge story we found the one that was just right! The Citigo Sport, a fabulously fun and cheeky little car, perfect finance options and we got £1500 worth of extras for FREE, including leather  steering wheel with red stitching, gear stick surround, handbrake, touchscreen infotainment device, limited edition alloys, privacy glass and above all else the go faster stripe. 

There were three choices of colour when buying the Citigo Sport which are white, red or black (an extra £500 in black) we decided on red as white would show the dirt too often and we weren't going to pay an extra £500 for black. However, there was only only red one around, currently in the docks! We had to wait... Three weeks later we got to to pick up our first car together and ever since we have been extremely happy with it.

It suits both our needs and desires perfectly, for me it's small, easy to park and very cheap on insurance. For my other half it is responsive, engaging and fun. Also, it's 3 cylinder petrol engine manages to average around 55mpg and costs us precisely £0 to tax! A more complete package is hard to imagine.

I have also now booked my driving test which is on the morning of Halloween! Wish me luck.

Beth x

Clean Eating, Gluten / Lactose Free What I Ate Wednesday 1.

So today I thought I'd do a quick blog on what I ate today. I like to think I'm quiet healthy and in some ways my allergies to gluten and lactose help make me a healthier person in the way I can't go eat cake, biscuits, ice cream or chocolate when I feel like it although I do break the rules and have a sneaky piece. 

BREAKFAST

I think a really good way to start off the day is with a healthy, nutritious and tasty breakfast, as long as your enjoying your food and it doesnt feel like a chore to eat healthy your going to keep it up, so adding and changing up your favourite fresh / dried fruits, seeds, nuts and spices is a really good way to keep it interesting.

 My favourite breakfast at the moment is soya yoghurt with blue berries, dried mango, flax seed and a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

LUNCH

Throughout the weekdays of the week I always eat organic homemade food. African sweet potato casserole is my all time favourite lunch time meal, I like to have my heaviest meal at lunch as it keeps me full until my next meal and I burn it off throughout the day.

DINNER

A nice light meal to finish the day with and i don't usually fancy anything too heavy after an evening gym session although I do get major munchies and try not to spoil the work I've just done at the gym. This meal is quite a simple salad of spinach, lettuce, celery, red peppers, tomato humus and seasoned quorn chicken.

The past 2 months I have only just started really looking at what I eat in more detail to try trim and tone up a little. I've ate good healthy food since I met my boyfriend 6 years ago as he was into fitness and from a big foodie family, since then my diet just seems to be getting better especial now I am keen and interested to make more of a change to my body.

Hope these meals help to inspire you to eat more healthy and I think I may do more of these 'what i ate Wednesdays' in the future.

Beth x

Casual Summer Outfit Of The Day - Melon Theme

V neck t shirt - GAP

Shorts - New look

Shoes - Topshop

Ring - Gift Shop

Waking up on a morning and opening my blind is like revealing my mood for the day, not literally but when it's sunny I think we tend to be happier within ourselves, this morning I woke up to blue sky and the sun beaming through the trees.

An important aspect of getting dressed for me is wether or not the weather is going to stay how its predicted to, who likes to be weighed down by a unneeded jumper, umbrella and many other things in their handbag, not me. So taking a gander around my garden or if I'm in a rush sticking my head out the window, I like to feel the temperature and how windy it is whilst calculating if the sun will be beaten by the clouds. Something I've become quite good at predicting myself this summer (raises eyebrows).

I decided it was a great day to wear my much worn and loved melon print shoes, sticking with the melon theme and the fact it was hot weather I decided to put together a casual and cool outfit for the day, with a bright pastel pink top and green shorts to compliment each other. I really love how the block colours work so well together and it was an outfit I didn't really have to think about. I tend to be quite a casual dressed person because of my job during in the week as I need to be cool, comfortable and free moving.

Since the beginning of summer all I seem to have worn is shorts and now fall is on the horizon I'm holding on to every sunny day we have left by wearing them.

Beth x

Otley Summer Wedding Outfit

Recently attending my boyfriends brothers wedding gave me an excuse to splash some cash on a fancy frock and accessories. Nothing much had caught my eye in the months leading up to the wedding and I began to wonder if I would ever find the perfect dress for the occasion.

One night whilst browsing through various fashion pages on Instagram I found THE one, the hunt was on to find the whereabouts of this dress and after many Google searches I found it. Ready to order the dress that my heart was set on, I found the website was down. However, a quick email over to the Australian company and all was sorted and my dress was on its way to me in England.

The next part of my outfit was a beautiful linen  60's style dress coat I had seen in Zara 2 weeks before which I had decided to hold back from buying until I had decided on a dress, 2 weeks too late and it had sold out. To my advantage the exact same cut of coat came out in a pastel orange which I fell in love with even more and would be able to pair this piece with multipul outfits once the wedding was over. It must have meant to be as online it was sold out but with hope in my heart I visited a store 1 hour from where I live and there it was the last one left in my size and half price. Later that day we where about to leave the shopping outlet when I wanted to pop into Phase Eight, I'd never noticed shoes in this small store before but on a sale wrack stood 4 pairs of shoes one being the perfect shade of orange to go with my outfit and yet again in my size with an awesome price reduction from £120 - £18 for real suede, this really was my day.

The day before the wedding we all traveled down to Otley, by all I mean 7 women, 2 men and a dog along with 9 cakes as the mother of the groom made them, squished into a mini van and hoping the dog wasn't hungry for cake. Arriving there safely we checked into Otley Country Chevin where the wedding was taking place in beautiful woodern cabins. The wedding day came and I had the honour of doing the make up and hair for the bridesmaids who don't usually wear makeup and so I didn't want to overwhelm them or make them uncomfortable on a big day so I did a very natural look for them. After fiddling around with hair and makeup I had 30 minutes to get myself ready and get to the reception. A lovely service, speeches, food and a great band with a night full of dancing the day was over with and I was definitely ready for the outdoor hot tub the next day.

Dress - Xenia Boutique

Coat - ZARA

Shoes - Phase Eight

I have recently got Staircase To Style a Facebook page and Instagram make sure to check them out and follow.

Beth x

Charity Shop Floral Collection

So after a trip or two around my local charity shops I seem to have gathered a few items I couldn't leave behind, I'm such a sucker for anything with a floral theme as you may have guessed and I often have to reason with myself as to what I may do with such items and often ask myself "do I really need this & where am I going to put it" usually siding with the devil on my shoulder who says just get it, it will go somewhere! This has lead to quite a collection which was bordering on an obsession, though recently I have been 5 weeks clean of entering a single charity shop (round of applause). Lets be honest a lot of us have been sucked in to the chic, vintage, mend and up do look which Cath Kidson hit the nail on the head with and we've gone crazy for the English coastal and country home look, which in my opinion isn't a bad look if you do it right.

What I love the most about these bone china plates is the attention to detail,design and the colouring of each individual plate , there's something quite comforting which reminds me of playing tea party's at my grandmas when I was young and that perhaps is another reason for why I cant help myself from buying these treasures, especially when such things come in at the price £1.49 for all three as the top and bottom ones pictured where to be thrown away because of minor chips I got them for FREE!

 These are the most recent ones as the rest are in storage until I move out.

Let me know in the comments what's your best charity / thrift shop steal is.

Beth x

1st Post

Well hello there, firstly thank you for taking the time to read my first blog post which I must say has been a long time coming. I've been wanting to create a blog for a while now as I've been inspired by others to share my love for beauty, fashion, food and fitness, so here I am finally writing the first of many more posts to come. You're possibly wondering why haven't I started my blog until now and the reason for that is my undecisive nature and the few options for blog names, as a perfectionist this wasn't going to happen until I found a name I was happy with, I've also recently volunteered for a year and a half, taking up much spare time. Throughout my future posts you can expect me to be blogging about such things as product reviews, outfits of the day, meal diaries, hauls, travelling, tips and tricks, around with me, and whatever my fancy at the time is.

Please bare with the simple layout I'm still learning!

Hope you can join me on my journey.

Beth x