Happy Bonfire Night!

Naomi
xx

Kelly Hoppen Is My Idol!

Kelly Hoppen is a British interior designer who designs for the rich and famous, exclusive hotels and restaurants and even yachts!

Kelly's style is neutral and muted and she's known for being the Queen of Taupe. Followers of hers on Twitter are called 'Taupettes'!

For the past few weeks Channel 5 have been showing her TV series, Kelly Hoppen Superior Interiors and I've absolutely loved every room. This has lead to a slight obsession, ok full blown huge obsession, with saving photos of Kelly's designs to make a mood board for my living room.

Here are some of Kelly's designs:















Naomi
xx

Forever 21

A few months ago I finally stepped into a Forever 21 store for the first time. I’d read a lot about the store on Laura/Lollipop26’s blog so was really looking forward to my visit.

I went to the store in Oxford Circus which was huge! The floors are laid out by style and colour which I really like because that’s how I organise my wardrobe.

There’s a preppy section with checked shirts, soft cotton zipped up hoodies adorned with numbers, denim and cute blazers. A girly section which looks like a carpet of pale pink and cream dresses and pretty tops. A floral section with summery floaty tops, maxis and skirts. There’s also an accessories section filled with extremely reasonably priced jewellery, shoes and handbags.

This is what surprised me about Forever 21. The price. All the items are so well priced but they don’t look cheap at all. The clever shop layout fools you into thinking the clothes will be more Mango priced but they’re actually H&M/ New Look prices.

I picked up two cute necklaces which £1.50 or thereabouts!


If you’re walking past a Forever 21 store, I would definitely recommend venturing in. You’re sure to find something you love that doesn’t look like all the other high street clothes and the carrier bags are hot pink coloured!

Naomi
xx

Winter Warmers

I popped into New Look the other week for a mooch and was pleasantly surprised by their A/W 2011 range. The range consists of gorgeous maroon, tan, green and royal blue colours mixed different textures such as fur, 'silk' and rich cotton to give a warm and cosy look to the clothes.

I have a mild obsession with clothing that is either furry or adorned with feathers. I have no idea why. Perhaps I was a bird or a rabbit in a previous life! So, no wonder I was automatically drawn to this grey furry gilet (£34.99).

I also picked up some cute brown shoe boots which are surprisingly comfy given their height. They were originally £27.99 but had £10 off so were a bargainous £17.99. The 'leather' looks pretty authentic and the heel is sturdy. They look great with super skinnies.

I'm planning another New Look visit this week! #justbeenpaid

Naomi
xx

Put Some Welly In It!

Since I’ve had Mollie, I’ve been taking her for walks everyday and just wearing trainers/ CAT boots. However, as the weather will soon be starting to turn autumnal and wet, I decided to purchase some new wellies in prepartion for the mud. Although, given the current boiling hot weather, neither autumn or winter look close!

Wellies are boring really. They’re a necessity so I decided to stray away from safe green and be a bit more adventurous!

I chose a pair of Hunter Original Gloss Wellies in Candy Pink:


I love them so much! They’re really comfy and match my snowboarding jacket:


They retail at around £75 on the Hunter website but if you shop around, you can get them for about £50. I bought them from Amazon for £49.99 with free super saver delivery.

Now I just need it to snow!

Naomi
xx

Oh hi!

Hola!

I'm not going to make any excuses for my long departure - I didn't realise my last post was April! I just haven't been in the mood to blog of late but I've been thinking about getting back into the swing of it for a while now so here I am!

I'm not going to make any promises about blogging everyday etc but I'm now going to blog a) when I'd like to and b) when I have something worthwhile blogging about! I started the blog for fun and that's what it should be about!

So, here's a little roundup of what I've been up to in the form of photos to save endless typing and lots of yawning from any followers who may have choosen to read what could only be described as a rather long essay:

28 mile bikeathon in aid of Leukaemia Lymphoma and Research

Trip to France in a portable villa...ok, ok it's a static caravan which was...interesting. Defo not my sort of thing.

My new puppy Mollie the Maltese who I adore! She doesn't normally sport the silly bow. I put it on to see how cute she'd look. She took it off very shortly afterwards.



Hen do in London for one of my best friends - shopping, afternoon tea, Legally Blonde and brunch at Ottelenghi


Weddings, weddings....

Being a bridesmaid

Naomi
xx

OMG I love Mollie's hair

I've been moaning on about my hair for ages driving anyone who will listen insane. I had my long hair cut to just above shoulder length last May and I really loved my shorter, thicker and healthier hair but recently, I've been longing for longer locks again. I've cut my hair extensions in as best I can but I can't wear them straight as the differennce in the lengths is still too great.

I love Mollie from The Saturdays and I've always loved her long hair which probably contributed to the 'I hate my hair' campaign of late. So, imagine my surprise when I saw some new photos of her with shoulder length hair i.e. just like mine!



This shorter style really suits her and has made me like my hair again. Mollie was obviously copying me.....haha!

Do you like Mollie's new hair style? Have you ever had the chop and regretted it afterwards?

Naomi
xoxo

Has Kate Middleton had surgery?

Whilst perusing the Daily Mail website today (one of my favourite haunts) I saw an article about our soon to be new Royal, Kate Middleton. I have no idea what the article was about, probably something incredibly exciting such as 'Kate ladders her tights' or 'Kate pops to little Tescos in her Louboutins' but what struck me was Kate's face. I swear she's had some work done, definitely Botox in her forehead.

Kate laughing - no sign of an expression there.

Kate smiling - still no expression in the forehead or around the eyes

Kate cheering - nope. Nothing. Nada

Don't get me wrong, I really like Kate. She seems like a very amiable person but I do worry that she's getting too caught up in feeling the need to look 'perfect' now she's in the limelight so often. I mean, I'm one to talk. I don't leave the house without at least mascara, bronzer and Touche Eclat on and I don't have the paps to contend with!

What do you think? Do you think our Royal has had a bit of help?

On another note, I'm really looking forward to the Royal wedding on 29th April and I can't wait to see her dress!

Naomi
xoxo

Bonjour

Promises, promises. I'm so rubbish, I say I'm back on the blog and then I disappear from sight. The reason is my crazy workload at present but I'm making an extra special effort to blog this week!

I was feeling grumpy and annoyed that all my hard earned dollar was being spent on boring crap like bills so I bought some fab shoes to make me feel better. I think shoes should be on the NHS. I actually think I'm in love with shoes and in particular anything from the Kurt Geiger shop. Heaven. Here are the little beauties I picked up:

Love, love, love. I wore them on Friday night and admittedly, my poor feet were a tad, ok quite a lot, tired after a few hours but come on, they look good and that's totally all that matters. I meant to take a FOTN but we were in a rush and I only had 30 minutes to get ready. I'm actually shocked I managed it and I re-did all make-up! Anyway, these hotties are called Active by Carvela and they also do them in nude. Sooo have my eye on those too!

I also decided to finally re-purchase the best facial exfoliator I've ever used which is Dermalogica's Daily Microfoliant.


It's not a normal exfoliant as it comes as a dry powder which you mix with water to form a paste. You then gently massage this in, rinse and the result is baby smooth skin. I paid about £30 for 75g (from the Beauty Flash website) which will last a good 6 months.

As it's Mothering Sunday today, I decided to bake some girly cupcakes for my mum as she is a mahoosive fan of cake. And chocolate. And to be honest, most sweet treats.

I used the vanilla cupcake recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery's new book, Cake Days. This book is amazing. Every recipe works and as well as cupcakes, there are recipes for whoopie pies (yet to try), large cakes, biscuits and tray bakes. This book is literally a sugar addict's dream.

I have another busy week ahead but everyone needs a break so I intend to free my stress at lunchtime with some well overdue blogging.

I hope you're all fab,
Naomi
xoxo

Snap, Crackle and Pop

I bought the Barry M Crackle nail polish back in December and consequently let it sit in my nail polish box untouched and unopened. Then, I read Bubble Dreams’ blog on the China Glaze versions and thought I’d fulfil the Barry M version’s destiny.

I decided to use Rimmel Rose Libertine nail polish as a base:


I love the effect. It’s so clever how it works. You don’t need to wear polish underneath for the effect either. If you prefer, you can paint this straight onto bare nails (just with base coat) which looks quite cool.

Have you used this polish or something similar? What base colours have you tried? I’m not sure which colour would look best although I've seen white which creates a fab zebra nail.

Naomi
xx

I'm Back! (Nearly)

Bonjour,

I'm returning to blogging after a short and not entirely willing absence. I won't bore you with the full deets but I thought the grass was greener when it came to my job and it certainly hasn't been. I've learnt the hard way but I'm getting back to being my normal self and really looking forward to being back on familiar ground on Monday. I even laughed this evening. I'd forgotten how that felt.

So no goss tonight, just an update to let you know that I'm here, I'm well and I'm ready to get back into the action.

Proper posts to follow next week!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend,
Naomi
x

Hello

Hey everyone,

What with the busy run up to Christmas, not only at work but socially, I just haven't found the time to blog.

I've also had a crazy month at work which has meant no sneaky blog posts at lunchtime. However, I'm very excited that after 3 years at my current agency, I'm starting at another agency on a completely different account i.e not automotive. I can't wait to get stuck in!

So with sorting out my new job and also trying to furnish my pad (I've been on a curtain mission for about 2 months and I can tell you having no curtains when it's minus 10 degrees outside is not fun. Neither is fake tanning up and hoping none of the neighbours can see!) I just haven't found the time. All my money has been ploughed into bills, bills, bills oh and council tax so there hasn't been anything left over for luxuries such as new make-up :(

I'm planning on taking a short break from blogging so I can devote my spare time to house stuff shopping and preparing myself for my new job. I will be back in the next couple of months but I feel I need to concentrate on other things at present.

I hope you're all fab and are having a good 2011. I'm making 2011 my year :)

Naomi
xx

P.S It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago so I baked nearly 50 cakes for the agency so I thought I'd show you snap: