101 in 1001

Hello folks

Well unfortunately I haven't had chance to get out to the shops this week so there will be no clothes reviews. However, I found this on someone else's blog and though I would do one myself :)

101 in 1001 is a challenge in which you aim to complete 101 goals in 1001 days. The goals can be as big or as small as you like and cover all aspects of your life.

I am beginning mine today on the 5/6/2011 and hope to complete them all by 2/3/2014

Here is my list

FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS

01.    Have mum and dad round for tea 10 times (0/10)

02.   Visit my nanna 6 times with flowers and magazines (0/6)

03.   Go on a girls day out with my mum

04.   Do something special for Tom once a month for a year ( 0/12)

05.   Go and visit Natalie in London

06.   Get engaged

07.   Take my dad up the Hilton Hotel

08.   Buy a house with Tom

09.   Make a new friend

10.    Make sure I text Nat back within 12 hours

11.     Send a letter to Patsi in Australia

12.    Put some pictures up in my house of family and friends

13.    See my sixth form friends throughout the year (not inc weddings!)

14.    To have a cake decorating afternoon with Caz!

15.    Send Christmas cards to all family members

16.    Host regular dinner parties for family and friends

CREATIVE & LEARN

17.    Learn how to make tiaras for mine and Ruths wedding shop

18.    Make some resin jewellery

19.  Go on a silver clay course

20.   make decent buttercream swirls on the top of cupcakes

21.    Learn another language

22.   Nail improvisation properly on my trombone.

23.    Learn how to use watercolours

24.    Make a proper portfolio of my jewellery

25.    Buy a sewing machine and learn to sew!

26.    Read War and Peace

27.    Learn piano chords to play them fluently

28.    Join an amateur dramatics group

29.    Have singing lessons again

ENTERTAINMENT & TRAVEL

30.  Visit 2 new countries (hopefully America!)

31.  Visit Paris and Rome with Tom

32.  Go to Edinburgh and see Greyfriars Bobby

33.  Go see an Opera

34.  See 2 new musicals on the west end (0/2)

35.  Go to the Royal Exchange Theatre

36.  Go see a Shakespeare play

37.  Be in the audience of a TV show

ORGANIZE

38. Organise my bills and finances and keep on top of them

39.  Clear out my wardrobes and make space for a shopping spree!

40. Save all my photographs on a hard drive and update regularly

41. Keep a tidy house

42.  Learn to iron clothes

43. To buy all Christmas presents by 20^th December and have a budget.

44.  Make a photobook of uni/music service day/all the places we have travelled.

45.  Clear out my inbox once a month

FOR MYSELF

46. Pass my driving test!

47. Do a sponsored ‘Channel Swim’

48. Take up ballroom and latin dancing again

49. Stick to a gym regime for 12 weeks (0/12)

50. Have a professional photshoot

51. Make jewellery for ME and not to sell

52. Have a footspa once a week

53.  Learn yoga

54.  Get prescription goggles so I can do front crawl

55. To start playing my trombone again

56.  Complete my creative writing course

57.  Write my blog once a month for 6 months (0/6)

58. Keep a journal and write in it once a day for a month (0/30)

FOR OTHERS

59. Do some regular volunteer work.

60. Spend £10 a month in a charity shop

61. Learn British Sign Language

62. Do a challenge for charity

63. Dogsit for Ruth and Dan for a night so they can have an adventure

64.  Book a holiday for my mum and dad

65. Make personal charm bracelets for all my friends

66. Take Tom for a weekend away

67. Donate blood 3 times a year (0/3)

68. Send flowers and chocolates to someone who needs a ‘pick me up’

69. Make up 3 boxes for Wood Street Mission (0/3) and 2 shoe boxes for abroad (0/2)

.

FUN

70. Read all of Jodi Picoults Books

71. Go to Go Ape and not cry!

72.  Get a pet

73.  Cross stitch the flags of all the countries I have visited

74.  Watch Billy Elliot

75. Go sledging

76. Learn how to make jam

77.  Eat in a new restaurant once a month. (0/12)

78. Try sushi

79. To host a murder mystery party

80. To go for afternoon/high tea at the Hilton/Radisson

81. To get a KFC bucket

82. Watch at least 100 films from the top 250 (49/100)

83. Have a girls night in

84. Cover a cheesy 90’s song and film a music video

85. Have a musical themed fancy dress party

86. Complete the list of BBC’s top 100 books

87. Send this to 5 of my friends via snail mail and hope they post it back!

BUSINESS & CAREER & MONEY

88. Get a Tesco clubcard finally!

89. Put something in my savings account every month, even if it is only a tenner!

90. Change career, goodbye education

91. Set up jewellery making parties

92. Design my own personal website for Oh So Pretty

93.  Hold a job down for more than 10 months!!

94.  Food shop online to save money

95.  Launch a wedding company with Ruth

96.  Develop my skills working with special needs (inc BSL no 61)

97. Use the library instead of buying books for 3 months

98. Decide which MA I am going to do.

99.  Do a craft fair/jewellery party once every 2 months

100. Keep to a weekly budget.

101. Put £10 away a month and have a Fay Day on my half birthday (2^nd April)

In 6 months time I will update my progress and repost! I have a lot of fun things to look forward to on this list, and also a lot of meaningful ones.

Please do one yourself, and I would love it if you shared it with me

Happy list making!!

Fay 

Guess who's back! Maxidresses and nice things in New Look

Hello lovelies!

I am back, but this time with no money. Since I last posted I have now left my job so I have been trying my best to avoid clothes shops and well, just shops in general!

However, it hasn't stopped me trying things on! I have a few weddings in the pipeline so require some nice dresses and outfits. A few weeks ago I was at a wedding in Grange-over-sands and here I am in my maxidress

The dress was from Evans and the week that I bought it, it was on special offer of £25 rather than £35! Bargain :)
As it was strappy, I wore a bolero and customised with some of my hand made jewellery.


So, I'm going to make some new changes to my blog. As I probably wont be showing you my purchases as much. Every week I will visit a different high street store and research and review their plus size range, looking at style, comfort and price ranges.

This week I am looking at New Look.

Having not shopped at New Look for quite some time I was pleasantly surprised to see such a colourful array of ditsy patterns when I walked through the door. I'm all about the floral!

The New Look plus size range is called 'Inspire' and it ranges from size 18 to 26. Its is a fairly small department, some clothes are the same as what feature in the 'mainstream' range, and it also has some exclusive to plus size clothing.

What I like about 'Inspire' is that its clothes are modern styles and well fitted, whereas sometime when I shop at Evans I feel a bit frumpy as the colours can be quite toned down and bland. 'Inspire' has clothing that people of all ages can feel comfortable in

This maxidress (right) is my favourite thing at the moment. The combination of black and pink makes it both flattering and feminine, and the ditsy floral pattern shows it will stay in fashion for years to come. The straps are quite wide which means it will hide any bra straps, and the V neckline will flatter anyone who is blessed with breasts :) The dress is £35.99 which is the average price for a maxi dress at the moment









This kaftan is the websites featured item of the week. Although it is a colour I might not usually wear, I like the pattern and the shape of it. At £22.99, I would probably wait until I see it in the sale, however, it has got sequinned detail which I really like.








Absolutely love these shorts!! I love jeans with pretty detail but they are quite hard to find if you are not in the childrens department! Can't say I've worn shorts for a long time, but I might give them a go! These are £22.99.


So, they are my top 3 pickings from New Look and here is the summary of my findings

Likes

• Starts at Size 18, (Evans, size 14 is not a plus size!!)
• The clothes suit a wide age range and follow the latest high street fashion ranges.
• The clothes are tailored to suit a good range of body shapes, even as awkward as mine!
• The price range is average but affordable   

Dislikes

• Could sell more clothes in the plus size range, especially retro T-shirts!
• Could go up to a size 32, 18-26 is quite limited
• Put inspire manikins in the shop window and not just upstairs next to the 'Inspire' section.

Anyway folks, please let me know your feelings on New Look, and if there is a certain shop you want me to review, tell me! Also you can follow me on twitter @YaffyMac

Until then...

Happy window shopping :)

Fay xxx

The night I thought I was Lauren Conrad!

When I left the house this morning, I thought it would be my usual average Wednesday. But as I walked through Manchester this morning a poster caught my eye. Fashion show!!! So after work, I put my gym plans aside and went to Debenhams.

As I got to the top of the escalator I was welcomed to the show and directed to a seat at the front, right next to the runway. For almost five minutes I believed I was in LA and my name was Lauren Conrad. Pretty chuffed I sat in my proud perch ready to watch the show amongst unknown VIP guests, I was just getting comfy when I started getting papped. Eeek, still in my work clothes and looking a bit like a dogs dinner I quickly decided that I didn't want my debut in OK magazine to be on the 'what was she wearing?' page so I quickly found a more low profile spot to watch and enjoy without the media attention.

Typically, the one day I needed to use my camera phone, the battery had cut out by 10am this morning, so I will try my best to recreate it with google, copy and paste.

The first range was 'colour statements'. Bold colours are big this summer, dresses in orange and lime, but the dress that stood out the most was this Royal Blue frilled maxi dress from Butterfly by Matthew Williamson £40

The next range was 'Neutrals' with whites and pale colours that I would just spill food all over so I will just skip past that one and move onto my favourite range, 'Garden Party' full of florals! Yippee! My wardrobe is full of florals, the more the merrier. I really like this daisy print cardigan from H! by Henry Holland £30

 

The final part of the show was the new collection by Ben de Lisi who has just launched a new principles range exclusive to Debenhams. He was also there to talk about his collection and answer questions. What makes me happiest is that his clothes sizes range from size 8 to 20. It is not often you find designers who go beyond a size 12 so I'm definitely going to be raiding Debenhams on my next pay day.

I really like this Wrap Cardigan £30

After the show I got to meet Ben and get his autograph. Not satisfied that my night of fun was over I went upstairs to the VIP party that I didn't have a ticket for, but managed to haggle my way in anyway. Champagne was poured and trays of canapes were handed round as I rummaged through my goodie bag full of perfumes and creams and other freebies, score! 

I was then ushered over for a makeover by an Urbay Decay artist. Always up for a pamper, she made over my eyes with some purple eyeshadow and then added a glitter on top to make my eyes really stand out and sparkle, perfect for the A list celebrity that I became for 5 minutes this evening!

Who would have thought my Wednesday would become so exciting!

Anyway, this weekend I challenge you all to a freebie hunt, after all, the best things in life are free! See what you can blag, be it food, make up or anything, and let me know!

Happy scavenging,

LC xxx  ;)

(In my dreams! Love y'all, Fay xxx)

I like big boobs and I cannot lie...

I had a clear out this morning and filled a couple of charity shop bags. Which of course means I have more space in my drawers, time to go shopping! As an extra Brucie bonus I checked my emails to find I had a 20% voucher for Evans, get in!

These are my thoughts on Evans...
~ The clothing range appears to be aimed at middle aged people.
~ I like the jeans, they always fit well
~ A lot of the clothes are in bright and gawdy colours, not all 'big' people have 'big' personalities!!
~ Some of the tops have no shape and just hide you rather than show off your figure (Gok should get onto this!)
~They do have some really cute floral prints all year round

but my greatest bugbear of all,
~ It costs a bloody fortune!!!! It is the most overpriced shop in town. What ticks me off even more is that you can go to dotty p's and get the same top for half the price!

But I'm a mug for a bargain and 20% off means I can go and get a top I had my eye on the other day

Bah, thats a dreadful picture of the top, it looks so much better in real life! It is a lot lighter in colour and has a really cute floral pattern on it. And so, being the size 18 queen that I am, that was the size I went for, but I just couldnt squeeze my boobs in no matter how hard I tried . So once again, size 20 it was, fitting comfortable around my chest, but being that little bit too baggy around the waist.

Which makes me wonder, should shirts be sized by chest circumference, or would that be too awkward? What if I lost lots of weight, became a size 12 but my boobs stayed the same? I couldn't buy size 20 still then!

We have petite and tall ranges, why not differentiate for cup size too? This is the way I would do it,

Size 18 A-B, 18 C-D, 18 E-F, 18G+

It would save a lot of embarassing moments, and buttons popping open. Let me know what you think...

Happy shirt shopping!

Fay xxx

Finally, it's pay day!!

I thought this day would never come! But after a month of being super good with my finances to pay off Christmas, along comes the pay slip and I'm hitting the shops!

How exciting, Primark are now selling clothes up to a size 20, so of course really that is size 16. I studied some t shirts, and just from looking at them, I knew that they would still never fit me! Have you ever picked up a size 6 in Primark? It wouldn't fit my cabbage patch kid, never mind a real person! However, I risked it and bought a cute little red t shirt with a quirky print of six girls on it. It's a little tight but will go well under a new denim jacket, which will be my next purchase! I also bought a pile of new scarves and a cute spotty blue bag! (as Primark doesnt have a website I will have to take pictures and upload them, that could take a while!)

Not feeling fully satisfied, I pottered over to Peacocks to look for dresses for the spring. After scouring for sometime, i came to the conclusion, all the dresses have high neckline, not appropriate for my top heavy sillouette (yes, I have been watching a lot of Gok recently!)

Take this lovely floral tea dress for example, fell in love with it, took it to the changing rooms, looked like I had just escaped from the local nursing home in my nightie! Not a good look!

The tea dress quest will continue over the weekend, what is wrong with wanting to get your boobs out?! Say no to prudish clothing!

Until next time,

Happy flashing! xxx

Girl's just wanna have fun: the artwork of Beryl Cook

Well, its going to be a long time until I can buy clothes again as I am still completely skint even though today was payday! Bad times! Even worse times to start a fashion blog! But there will always be time to fill my blog with inspirations :)

And so today I would like to share with you my love for the artwork of Beryl Cook. I can't quite remember the first time I saw one of her pictures so they must have always been in my life someplace.

Her paintings are mostly of curvacious middle aged women, and they will always be having fun. Sometimes in more risque situations than the average tea party! Her photographs always make me smile and the fact that she didn't begin painting until she was middle aged herself gives me hope that goals can be achieved no matter what age we are.

So go on, I've picked out a few of my favourites to share, and if you like her, google her!! :)

Girls' night out series

 Line Dancing

Girls' night out (Ivor Dickie)

Happy art appreciation!!

Fay :)

The dress of my dreams!

Well, as money isn't really happening for me so soon after Chirstmas, I don't think I will be buying any new clothes for a wee while, which give me a great opportunity to celebrity watch.

Katy Perry's dress that she wore for the People's Choice awards is fabulous! I want one! Such a flattering shape that would work well on any figure. I would probably add some straps, just to add some support to my mountainous regions and wear lower heels, but the colours are my dream combination. Love it, love it, love it! Now lets hope someone on the high street brings out their own version!

Well, until the next item I find for my dream wardrobe, until I discover money again

Happy saving up for dream dresses! xxx

She'll catch her death in that!

So, last night I felt it was only right to give my new Primarni dress its initiation test to see if it would be welcomed into the sorority of my wardrobe. So hit the town we did. Caz and I were let loose in Manchester.

Starting off in Atlas, a fairly quiet bar by Deansgate Locks our conversation was put on hold as two girls walked through the door, one in a skirt that could only be described as a belt, and the other in white hot pants and a skimpy zebra skinned top. Now without sounding too much like my mother, what was she doing?? Why would you wear hot pants in January??  I have never quite understood girls that go out wearing next to nothing in the winter months, my teeth were chattering in my dress and thick woolly jacket! Maybe I'm just a big wimp!

And so we moved on to Epernay, a lovely champagne bar. Here people were dressed much more sensibly, and there was a lovely selection of dresses and outfits to nosey at. My little black dress fitted in perfectly!  Digressing slightly, if you ever go to Epernay then you must, must, must try the spiced pear cocktail! its the cocktail of cocktails!!

Walrus in the Northern Quarter was our next appointment where we stopped for a quick boogie before ending the night in TV21, a slightly alternative bar where jeans and t-shirts lived in harmony alongside dresses and heels. Societies own fashion Utopia.

And so, I am pleased to say that the £15 Primark dress had a great night out, wasn't too tight anywhere, didn't fall down, allowed me to move freely and dance like a wild child all night and has been awarded a hanger in my wardrobe, resting until more fun times!

Happy partying! xxx

Evening all!!

As I was walking through Dorothy Perkins this afternoon looking for dresses, I realised that i would never fit into one of their size 18's just by looking at it! which makes me wonder, what size actually am I? My wardrobe contains clothes ranging from 14-22. So on average from my wardrobe I am an 18. So why is it not consistent? So I am on a mission to explore the high street, compare clothing and see which stores really meet my measurements.

Primark was my first stop tonight after spotting a pretty black lacey dress in the window. It has been a while since I have visited Primarni as it is a highly stressful experience at the best of times but 5pm on a Friday night I can deal with. So I hunted down the dress and found a rail load full of them, but was disappointed to find that they were mostly 8's and 10's, with a few 12's and 14's. Dismayed, I was about to walk away, but then decided to double check and low and behold found a size 18! Later at home I tried it on. Although it was lovely and loose on the waist, my 38F regions were struggling to fit above the fitted waistband. After a bit of jiggling and with a bolero I made it look acceptable, but its not the perfect fit. Bargain at 15 quid though so I'm not grumbling!

Anyhow, until my next purchase. Happy shopping! xxx