Leopards can change their spots

This is a really...not very me outfit. But I do quite like it. I love this shirt, which I'm sure you know if you saw my Workwear 15 for 15 post last week, and I wanted a way to wear it for the weekend. I never wear leggings. Ever. In fact these ones are fleece lined extra warm ones I bought for Paris and never wore and they were the only ones I could find. I'm just not really a leggings kinda girl. I just don't do that kind of casual, off-duty style very well. That, and I hate my legs. Something I don't hate, however, is this satchel. I've wanted a tan satchel for ages and I was going to invest in a Cambridge Satchel but now I have this one I don't need to! It's perfect for summer (I prefer a brown bag for the warmer months) and I've had loads of compliments on it already! I tend to only have a couple of bags (usually one black and one brown) and I have to have big bags with lots of room, so this one is perfect.

leopard shirt- Very

flats- Matalan

necklace- Topshop

satchel- c/o Accessoryo

Are you enjoying the long weekend so far? It's so nice to have a break! I was hoping for a quiet weekend but it never ends up like that- I always end up getting bored. I've had a really busy week this week though, which has been really lovely. I've done something after work every night! Monday I had my photography class, which I'm really, really enjoying. I'm thinking of taking a City and Guilds Level 2 qualification in September so I will have a photography qualification. Has anyone else done one? Tuesday I went out on a walk with my Dad (and we had a cheeky trip to the pub for dinner on the way!). I made tacos at Shaunagh's house on Wednesday and had dinner at Eve's with her and Jenny on Thursday and last night I went to see The Great Gatsby with my parents. I thought it was a really great film. It did lack a lot of the subtlety and themes of the novel, but I prefer to appreciate it separately from the book, especially as I have studied the book and it's one of my favourites. Today I finally got my workout in (after five days off, whoops!), wrote an article for Duluth Superior Magazine and then popped into Stockport to run some errands. I went to see the lady at the No7 counter because I'm having major problems with my skin at the moment- my cheeks are dry and my foundations ends up patchy, but I have an oily tzone and my foundation always slides off my afternoon. She was great and gave me loads of advice and I've been sorted out with a new foundation, primer and moisturiser that I'm really excited about trying. I spent my afternoon watching Arrested Development (I'm almost done with Series 2 and I am absolutely hooked!) and cooking fajitas for dinner. I also might have chased after an ice cream van in my slippers to have my first 99 of the summer! Tomorrow I'm going to support my awesome best friend Eve at the Manchester 10K and I have a party to go to with my family in the afternoon. I've not even figured out what I'm doing on Monday yet!

Right I'm getting back to watching the Champion's League with my Dad.

Enjoy your weekend!

Charlotte x

For Emily

Yesterday, one of my best friends got on a plane (and then another plane) on her own to New Zealand to go travelling for three months. On her own. Today's post is dedicated to Emily, one of my best friends, former housemate, and one of my favourite people in the world. I am so, so proud of her for going off and doing such an amazing, brave, exciting thing and I know she is going to have the absolute time of her life. So Emily, this is for you. Enjoy every minute of your trip because it will be over in a flash, but the memories will stay with you forever. I am also insanely jealous!

dress- Jones and Jones

leather jacket- H&M

necklace- Topshop

flats- H&M

If there is one thing to know about Emily, it is that her favourite colour is yellow (another thing to know is that she loves elephants!) so this dress was the obvious choice for her leaving party last weekend. I'd been dithering over what to wear the day before and then I suddenly thought "of course, the yellow dress!". I showed this dress to her when she came to visit on my birthday, and when she answered the door at her party she said "you're wearing my dress!". The observant of you will also notice that I haven't edited these photos as I normally do. The reason is that this is the brightest yellow dress in the whole world and a vintage-style filter did not do this dress justice as all! The observant might also notice that yes, this is yet another Jones and Jones Audrey dress. I do in fact have it in four colours now (red, cream, black and yellow). I asked them a few days ago to bring it out in bright pink to complete my collection! This was the first time wearing this dress and I've been used to dressing up my Jones and Jones dresses for evening, but I thought back to how I wore my red one in the summer in New Jersey and decided it was simple enough to dress down so I just added black flats and my beloved leather jacket. Speaking of which, after mentioning I had a rip in the sleeve a few weeks ago you guys had loads of great advice, and this weekend I finally got it sorted- by sticking some black duct tape over the rip! It's barely noticeable at all and feels good as new! I'll have to show you next time I wear it.

So how was your weekend? I had a lovely Saturday with my Mum. For Chistmas I'd bought us a day at a spa with two treatments so we finally got around to doing it on Saturday. I had a massage and a facial and she had a massage and a manicure. Then we had a mooch around Manchester and got a bit excited in MAC (I got a lipstick and she bought a foundation), then we had the most delicious lunch in Walrus in the Northern Quarter. We had some vegetable crisps and a seafood platter which was absolutely to die for. You know when you have a meal that is so good you can't stop talking about it? Yeah.

Anyway, because our spa time was ridiculous o clock, we were home mid afternoon so we spent the rest of the day watching films (we watched Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Taken) and then Sunday I did the usual Sunday stuff (food shopping, cooking dinner etc.) and accidentally spent 2 hours at my auntie and uncle's going through old photos with my cousin. It was lovely though. I had my first meeting on my own on Monday so I spent far too long on Sunday freaking out about it (there may have been tears...) but it actually went really well and I'm really proud of myself for being about to lead a meeting on my own! I've just got back from a lovely walk and a pub dinner with my Dad and I'm looking forward to a busy week. I'm off to Shaunagh's for dinner tomorrow, Eve's for dinner on Thursday and I've just booked our cinema tickets for The Great Gatsby with my parents on Friday. I'm excited!

Hope your day has been lovely.

Charlotte xxx

Workwear 15 for 15: Days 5-9

So I managed the second week of my workwear 15 for 15 (if you missed last week's outfits, go here. If you're wondering what the heck a workwear 15 for 15 is, go here). I'm not sure how I'm going to go one more week! It's definitely been a bit more of a challenge this week but I managed to stick to it, despite having to co-ordinate outfits for meetings, work nights out and the morning after the night before! Here's what I've been wearing this week...

Day 5 (note to self, white balance is your friend) I had a big meeting on Monday afternoon so I decided to go for black and white formal. I went for a polka dot shirt for a bit of interest (and also because I didn't want to commit to my white-shirt-black-trousers-standard-meeting-outfit this early in the challenge!). I actually really like this and think it's much nicer than my standard meeting wear with the polka dots just adding a little something extra.

Day Six We had our end of year night out on Tuesday so I wanted to wear something a little dressy for work. Enter my new favourite dress. I would have preferred a different jacket but that would have meant breaking my self-imposed rules so I went for my long black blazer. I kinda wish I'd gone sans-jacket but I just don't really like my arms! I also ended up switching into my heels later on because Kris was wearing hers!
Day Seven After a late night on Tuesday I did not want to get out of bed on Wednesday morning! I stayed in bed as long as possible before throwing my hair into a messy bun and pulling together this outfit. It's actually one of my favourites of the week. I absolutely love this shirt!
Day Eight I've never worn my maroon skirt and blazer as a suit before (it's not actually a suit, they're just very similar in colour!), but I really like this look, again with my polka dot shirt (honest truth- my white one needed ironing and I hate ironing!). I'm definitely going to be adding this outfit to my workwear rotation.
Day Nine Mmm this outfit is kind of a mish-mash. And seriously, let's not even talk about my hair! I guess I kind of like this. I like the skirt and shirt combo, but I didn't want to wear my maroon skirt and blazer two days in a row so I went for the black jacket. This is definitely a combination I wouldn't have put together before the challenge anyway!
This week has definitely been more of a challenge than the previous week, and I'm a little apprehensive about still having 6 outfits left! But I only have one meeting this week to cater for, and I still have three of my 15 items unworn (beige skirt, mustard skirt and mustard blazer) and loads more outfit ideas up my sleeve! Taking photos before work has been a challenge (and sometimes there are sofas in the way, or jacket hanging over the side of pictures that have to be smudge-tooled out, and sometimes you just have a really really bad hair day- see day 9), but I have done it, which just goes to show I have no excuses!
I'm really enjoying this challenge so far! It's definitely pushing me to be more creative with what I wear to work and to stop falling back on the same outfits.
Hope your weekend has been lovely. Mine has been absolutely wonderful but I'll update you on that in the week!
Charlotte x

Ducks and Boats

On Bank Holiday Monday, my Mum and I went to the Lowry Food Festival. It was an absolutely gorgeous day (remember when it was nice outside?) so it was the perfect day to walk around food stalls and sample delicious cheeses, oils, jams, spirits and much more! There were dozens of stalls and such a variety of different things; pink cheese with port, toffee vodka, spiced popcorn, chutneys, homemade macaroons, flavoured oils and "fuffle"-a mix between fudge and truffle, and this is just a small sample!

So we got there around lunctime (perfect!), sampled on some goodies for a couple of hours and then went to find out about the Paul Hollywood book signing. We found out the book signing would be at 3pm and were told to get there no earlier than about 2.30pm. I'd been to book signings before (ahem, Jeremy Kyle) and knew they sometimes cut the line if there are too many people, but we needed to have lunch. I wanted to just grab a slice of pizza from one of the stands, but my Mum wanted a proper lunch, so we went to Bella Italia. I was panicking a bit when it got to 2.20pm and freaking out even more by 2.40pm when we finally left the restaurant. By the time we got upstairs the queue was huge. We went to join at the back and.... they cut the line. Right in front of us. We moved out of the line and my Mum started to cry. So decided we should wait around the queue area just in case they let any more people in. We got chatting to the security guard and he explained that he obviously couldn't let us in, but he would let us know if the queue was moving more quickly than expected. However, when we turned around we realised people were queuing behind us thinking they were in the proper queue! We thought we were going to get thrown out of the queue but luckily the queue moved quickly and we were allowed to go through! We didn't get very long with Paul but we got a photo and he signed our book!

After we got over the excitement of meeting him, we headed over to his demonstration. It was really fun and interesting- he made a couple of different bread dishes and then did a little Q&A session. It was such a lovely day! Here's what we came home with...

paella seasoning, taco seasoning, herb oil , toffee vodka, chilli oil, aged reduced balsamic

As it was such a gorgeous day I decided it was time to break out the bare legs and boat shoes! I never used to go bare-legged because I hated my pale legs, but I got really into it while living in New Jersey last summer (I did have a ridiculously good tan then though!) and I'm just so over worrying about being pale. I mean seriously, who cares? We're English, most of us are pale! In NJ it was just too hot to not go barelegged (plus I had shorts as part of my lifeguard uniform) that I realised how silly it was to care! Plus these shoes were made for bare legs, a denim jacket and a summery dress.

Let's talk about these shoes. I've never had boat shoes before, but when Chathman Marine asked me to pick a pair from their website I knew they'd be perfect for summer. I was torn between brown and navy, but decided to go for navy as I don't have any nice navy shoes. I also decided to go for the boat-iest pair I could find. Go boaty or go home, right? I love denim jackets and casual shoes for the summer. This outfit is my favourite from last year.

ducky dress- c/o Lavish Alice

boat shoes-c/o Chatham Marine

denim jacket- New Look

necklace- Forever 21

sunglasses- H&M (I think...)

lipstick- Revlon Matte Lipstick in Really Red

I'm off on a spa day tomorrow, so have a lovely weekend! I'll be back with week two of my 15 for 15 on Sunday! 

Charlotte x

edit: Whoops apologies for the red leg splotches! I think I'd had my legs crossed...

Killer Buns and Thighs Review

Killer Buns and Thighs was my fourth Jillian Michaels DVD (I've also done reviews of 30 Day Shred, Ripped in 30 and 6 Week 6 Pack). As 6 week 6 pack was my last DVD, I decided to focus on a different area this time and as I've never been a massive fan of my legs (see this post) I thought I'd give this one a go! 
First off, this is not a DVD for beginners! I would always, always recommend doing the 30 Day Shred first if you are new to Jillian Michaels, but this is a good DVD to follow up with.  It's definitely one of Jillian's toughest workouts!
The format was a little different from the other DVDs I had done of hers. Instead of the 3-2-1 system favoured in 30 day Shred and Ripped in 30, or the two circuits of 20+ moves in 6 week 6 pack, it instead consists of four circuits of five moves, which are repeated. This is hands down my favourite format of Jillian DVDs and it was a great mix of strength and cardio.
Like other Jillian DVDs I had my weights at the ready (I've been working out with 1.5kg weights), but this time I also found I needed to use a mat. There's a lot of work in plank and I found it made my hands really sore on carpet (I know, I'm a wuss). You also need a chair for levels 2 and 3. This was where it got tricky. In level 2 you have to actually stand on a chair, and the only chairs we have are the ones with nice padding on the top, which I didn't want to make a mess of. I settled for pausing the DVD briefly to take off my trainers and socks and using the sofa. This was adequate, but I was concerned that I might break my ankle! Generally though, if you don't have a dining chair, a sofa works.
The DVD is broken into three levels, and as Jillian doesn't give you any advice on how to progress through them, I decided to do each level four times a week for two weeks. This was perfect for me because I am easily bored, and by days 6 or 7 I am definitely ready to move on, especially after 6 week 6 pack which was each level for 3 weeks! I found level one tiring, but the moves were relatively simple. I've been dancing since I was 2 so I'm pretty accustomed to leg work, so the strength circuits weren't too bad. In level 1 at least! Level 2 is incredibly tough. I'm talking one-legged-burpees tough. And level 3 brings with it one legged mountain climbers, squat jacks and rockstar jumps into canon ball jumps. Ouch! Some moves are repeated from previous DVDs (and I kinda felt part of the in-crowd when Jillian made references to other workouts I'd done!) but unlike the Shred and Ripped, some moves are seen in multiple levels. Jillian's argument here is that it makes a different where the move is placed within a circuit. This doesn't really bother me (leg raises aren't fun regardless of where they're placed!) but I know some people don't like this, so you've been warned!
One thing I learned from this DVD? Always follow Jillian's cooldown! I have a habit of doing a quickie cooldown once I know which stretches are done so I can get the hell in the shower, but I experienced some serious delayed muscle soreness with this DVD (I could also barely walk up the stairs one day after my workout!). I normally work out just before bed, but I found while doing this workout that I quite liked doing it as soon as I got home from work (after a quick snack!) so I could relax more in the evening and that's definitely something I'm going to implement for the future.
In terms of results, I actually haven't taken measurements or weighed myself, partially because I didn't really expect dramatic results from this DVD. I mean, I'm naturally pear-shaped. There ain't no chance this workout is going to give me a thigh gap! But I did find the workouts easier from day to day, and I do think my stamina has improved. I just know this time around my workouts also came with a lot of bread and chocolate which might have altered any potential results!
Generally, Killer Buns and Thighs is good, but I'm desperate for a full-body workout now! I'll definitely be doing this DVD again when I start my second rotation of my Jillian DVDs, but I don't think it's quite up there with my favourite, Ripped in 30.
Next on my list (starting tonight) is Extreme Shed and Shred so I'll be back to review that in a few weeks!

Charlotte x

Putting on the brakes

Do you ever feel like you're trying to do too much? That feeling of trying to read a magazine while also talking to a friend on the phone, or eating dinner while watching TV? That horrible agitated lump in your throat. Unable to concentrate on either. That's kind of how I feel this week. I don't feel as though I have really sat down and enjoyed a meal since the weekend. Meals have been thrown down my throat quickly, distractedly, to save time, with no regard for the time they took to prepare or any enjoyment. An unwanted toasted sandwich eaten while rushing to get to my photography class, breakfast before running out of the house, lunch at 4.30pm after a longer-than-anticipated meeting. I don't feel stressed, per say, but I can feel it bubbling under the surface. Like a piece of glass almost at breaking point. I know that one smidgen of extra pressure will open the floodgates. I've talked before about my inability to relax. Even when I opened this tab to start writing my blog, my instant reaction was to also open my Google Reader and Facebook. Trying to do three things at once. I try to think about my day while also trying to do my high intensity workout. I go to bed planning what to make for lunch tomorrow. I feel like I'm never present. I'm always rushing ahead or looking behind. And I know I just need to put the brakes on, calm down, take each thing at a time. But that's easier said than done. I'm scared of not making plans during the week because I worry I'll feel as though as I do is get up, go to work and to go bed. I'm scared of a quiet weekend in case I feel that I wasted my free time. But at the same time, I'm exhausted all the time trying to catch a break. Always adding things to my to-do list. Stressing about the lack of progress in my book (I mean seriously? I'm not at uni anymore. Does it matter if it takes me more than 5 days to read a novel?). Worrying about fitting my workout in when I have plans because I told myself I had to do it four times this week. I don't want to feel like I have a constant lump in my throat. I know that trying to do more than one thing at once results in two shoddy jobs and I should just do one thing at a time. Concentrate on doing each thing well, in that moment. Eating meals slowly. Savouring them, enjoying them, not eating them just because I have to. I know this is going to be a learning curve. When I first started working full-time I couldn't fit anything in for weeks, but then I added my workouts and my photography classes and meals with friends at least once a week, and then my blog and writing commitments slotted in. And before I knew it, it was all too much. I've always been the girl who is always busy, always doing something, always rushing around. But maybe I need a break from that. Maybe I need to find time to relax. To just watch TV without trying to write my blog or read a book or do something else inbetween. Just relax, just take some time out for me, and not just calling my workouts "me-time". I found what appears to be two mouth ulcers today, which can often be a sign of stress, so I think that's a warning to take things more slowly. I'm always incredibly, incredibly hard on myself (both in my working and personal life) but maybe I need to cut myself some slack. Celebrate the little achievements and the great things I've been doing instead of pushing for the next thing. I think back on last summer and how stressed out I got at the waterpark, living with 12 people in a small house, fighting over the bathroom and long 11 hours days sat in the baking New Jersey sun. And yeah, there were tough times, but god, I was working as a lifeguard at a waterpark in New Jersey for a summer. Walking along the boardwalk at night, eating ice cream. Never short of someone to hang out with. Living abroad for the second time. And you know what? It was pretty sweet and it makes me sad that I probably didn't enjoy it all as much as I should have done because I focused on the little niggling negative things. And I don't want to feel like that about this time of my life. Because really, things are pretty good. I have a good job, I work with some great people (we had a great night out last night after work), I'm living at home so I can enjoy having a disposable income, and I have some great friends who want to see me on a regular basis. Things could be much worse, so I want to enjoy this while I can.

dress- Modcloth

shoes- New Look

necklace- c/o That's Pretty

Okay, sorry for the essay. That was a little longer than I expected. Let's talk about the outfit.  I ordered this dress from Modcloth when I ordered my galaxy skirt. I'd been eyeing this dress up for absolutely months, after seeing Elizabeth and Tieka wearing it last season. I'd spent months trying to find something vaguely similar to no avail, and eventually, because I was ordering the galaxy skirt anyway, I bit the bullet. It is one of the most beautiful pieces I own. The only problem is I am terrified of wearing it in case anything happens to it. The belt has already bitten the dust. As the reviews state, the belt is way too small to fit the waist of the dress and I accepted this, but then my Mum decided that the belt would fit and it was just a case of undoing it. I protested, a lot and she proceeded to completely snap the belt. Good job the dress fits, right? Anyway, there aren't really an awful lot of occasions where you can wear a dress like this (it's a little bit much for Sunday shopping in Aldi, don't you think?), but luckily I knew I had a big family meal coming up and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to (incredibly cautiously) wear this dress. It was a lovely day so I didn't need a jacket, so I just paired it with black tights and these nude wedges which I hadn't pulled out since last summer. For accessories I just added this gorgeous necklace which is actually a tiny, fully-printed dictionary! With a magnifying glass! These photos don't really do it justice (I meant to take some of it on its own- I will do next time) but it's absolutely amazing. If you use the magnifying glass you can just about make out the tiny writing! 

Well after all this talk of stress I think I'm in for an early night tonight. We had our end of year meeting yesterday at work and went out for dinner and drinks afterwards, but it ended up being a much later night than we expected! Our boss let us start work at 10am today though and he bought us all breakfast, so it ended up being a pretty alright day, except for the fact that we were all exhausted (though thankfully not hungover!). I've also got a quiet week planned, with the only plans for the weekend being a much-needed spa day with my Mum with a voucher I bought her for Christmas. Maybe I can do this relaxing thing after all.

Oh and if you get a minute, Michelle's post on getting rid of clothes that don't make you feel good is a bit of a revelation. Go check it out!

Have a great evening guys,

Charlotte x

Workwear 15 for 15: Days 1-4

Well the first week of my 15 for 15 workwear challenge is over, and it's been great so far. I've left all my items on the outside of my wardrobe so in the morning it's just as simple as putting two or three things together and running out of the house! Although I have to be honest, because of the items I've chosen I don't have to be too creative with putting outfits together (I kept it simple but a lot of my items went together pretty well!) but there have still been challenges this week. Let's look at this week's outfits...
Day 1 I had a horrible cold on Monday and I still didn't feel 100% on Tuesday so I decided to go for trousers as I didn't feel like being sucked into a pencil skirt! Because I know I have quite a few meetings during my challenge that will need formal black and white outfits, I need to save those outfits for then, so I'm embracing pattern for days in the office! I don't wear this shirt nearly enough but I love the muted floral print for work.
Day 2

This was an outfit I've been excited to wear ever since this blouse arrived. I love a bit of leopard print and this blouse is perfect for work. I initially tried this with a blazer (I tried black and maroon), but I think it looks best on its own.
Day 3

I was supposed to have a meeting on Thursday but I found out it was cancelled the night before so I took another opportunity for a more playful outfit. I absolutely love this dress and it's a perfect way to experiment with the pinafore trend for work. Last time I wore this dress it was just with a white shirt, but the polka dots are fun but also quite subtle.
Day 4

I had a big meeting on Friday so it was a simple black pencil skirt, white shirt and blazer combo for day four. It took me ages to find the "perfect" black pencil skirt but this one from ASOS is great, even if it does restrict my movement a bit!
So that's week one of my challenge over. As I've said, not a massively creative week but I think with the items I've chosen I wanted to play it fairly safe. I've also successfully gone a week without clothes shopping! I hope I don't start getting bored of my items this week!
Have a lovely Sunday!
Charlotte x