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:

EOTD

Hello,

It's snowed again! Yesterday I was at work saying to my colleague 'Oh whatever, it's not going to snow' then suddenly huge cotton wool ball sized snow flakes flew down. And then again today. The problem is that none of the roads have been gritted around here so it's like an ice rink. Not fab.

I went to the German market in Birmingham for the first time this week with some old friends from uni and had such a fun time. I had mulled wine, a 'red sausage' (it's meant to be the best so I've been told) and some little pancakes with Nutella. It was freezing but really put me in the Christmas mood.

I wore one of my favourite eyeshadow combos using Urban Decay's Naked Pallete for my EOTD:


- Sin e/s all over the lid
- Toasted e/s on the crease
- Darkhorse e/s in the outer corner blended up to the browbone and under the eye
- Virgin e/s in the inner corner

The effect is a daytime smokey eye which goes fab with MAC's Viva Gaga lipstick and MAC's Melba blush.


I hope you're all keeping warm and have a fab weekend.

Naomi
xx

Where Have I Been?

Hello everyone,

I've been off the radar for a few weeks recently because I've been really busy at work and that's the only place I can post blogs :( We have to prepare all the new marketing materials for the start of January so December is always busy which is rubbish! So, I thought I'd let you know what I've been up to the past couple of weeks.

I had a work Christmas meal a couple of weeks ago at a place called the Crazy Bear which is amazing. The decor is out of this world. It's very modern but almost a bit kinky but in a good way; think cream padded walls decorated with diamantes, fur and feathers, chaise longues embellished with gold and upholstered in leopard print. The loos are mirrored so you almost get lost in there and you can see straight through to the mens'! Here are some photos from the website.

We had our meal in this booth:


The lavish bar:


And one of the crazy bedrooms (we didn't stay though):


I'd booked the day after off work to do my Christmas shopping and buy my own very first Christmas tree. So, here are a couple of photos of my tree but minus a fairy because I'm still trying to find the right one:



Then, on the Saturday my mum and I went to the ballet to see Cinderella. We go most years and normally see the Nutcracker but it was Cinders turn this year. The ballet was beautiful. The direction was brilliant and the sets were amazing. I had such a good evening and it's really lovely for my mum and I to do girly things together :)



I went to my boyfriend's work ball last weekend which was in a beautiful hotel in the Cotswolds. We had a three course meal, followed by awards and then a disco so we had lots of fun. Luckily, we were staying in the hotel so we just flopped up to the room when we'd had too much booze! I wore a black lacy dress by Ghost which has an asymmetric hem in a flamenco dress style. I tried to get my boyf to take a photo when we got back to the hotel room but someone had had a bit too much 'fizzy pop' and took a crap blurry one! So here's a dodgy 'posing for the camera' shot that I took:



And then I had my boyfriend's mum' birthday lunch the following day! So, that's what I've been up to and with all that and work, it's been a bit crazy but I think December's always are!

Have you been to lots of Christmas parties? Are you ready for the big day?

Naomi
xx

So not a fan..

...of this:

It's a new range of body lotions by Vaseline called Sheer Infusion with Stratys-3 (yep I have no idea what that is either. It sounds like a type of cloud). The idea is the lotion sinks into the deeper layers of the skin, rather than sitting on the surface, to provide ultimate moisturisation.

So the pros are that the packaging is visually appealing in my bathroom and the texture of the lotion is light but yet enough to make your skin feel thoroughly moisturised without feeling sticky.

The huge con is that when I apply the Vitamin Burst lotion, which has a pleasant orangey scent in the bottle, the scent on my skin changes to what I can only describe as a sweaty gym kit which has been left around for a few days to fester. Not pleasant at all, especially when you have clean sheets on the bed and all you can smell is musty old sweaty damp that you find out is emanating from yourself! :(

Now, I don't know whether this is just a problem with me or perhaps it's because I wear fake tan but I've never had this problem with any other moisturiser. Rubbish.

Anyway, if you do fancy giving this a try (although I'm certainly not recommending it) then it's currently on offer in Sainos (Sainsburys) for £2.49 (save 50%).

However, I can recommend any of the moisturisers in the Vaseline Intensive Care range especially the one with cocoa butter.

I hope you're all ok and enjoying the snow. It seems the Midlands is the only place to have had about 2cm instead of the 10ft everywhere else has had! I do love how snow can make the most unattractive scene look beautifully picturesque. Here's a little photo from my work window:


Naomi
xx

Pretty In Pink

Whilst perusing the net for a suitable client Christmas night out dress, I found this gorgeous one from French Connection:


I do think £140 is a lot to pay so I'll probs wait until the sale when it'll be about half the price but it is amazing.

I love pink and love how girly the dress is. It reminds me of Baby's dress in Dirty Dancing because it's so swishy and swirly at the bottom. It's like a princess dress.

I think this would look cute with either matching pink or silver platform shoes and a few diamond (I wish)/diamonte accessories.

What do you think? Do you have a fab Christmas party dress for this year or a timeless piece you can wear over and over?

Naomi
xx

Sharing The Wealth

Hello,

I received an email newsletter from the Bull Ring in Birmingham and saw there was a click through about Illasmasqua and acheiving the perfect false eyelash look. I've never used Illasmasqua or even tried any of their products as I haven't ever seen them in the shops nearby. Rubbish! Although I've probs not looked hard enough.

Anyway, getting back to what I'm rambling on about, the page the click through went to is brilliant. I'm sure all of you know how to apply falsies but this is a step by step guide with photos including tips such as breaking the spine of your lashes (the falsies, not your own!) so the ends don't pop up which I never knew about.

So, I'm sharing the wealth if you fancy taking a look http://www.browsebullring.co.uk/news/perfect-eyelashes-from-illamasqua/

I hope you're having a fab day. So glad the fog has cleared but it's freezing! I've had the heater on all day.

Naomi
xx

P.S So excited by the arrival of Forever 21 in the Bull Ring. Fi-n-ally!

Oh No!

I feel so sorry for WAG Alex Gerrard/Curran (wife of Liverpool FC player Steven Gerrard)who was papped with her hair extensions on full show. An unfortunate gust of wind blew her own hair up to reveal the wefts. I really empathise with her because whenever I wear my extensions, I always worry people can see the clips! (Photos from www.dailymail.co.uk)


I hope you all have fab weekends! I'm getting my hair done - I hate the week before you get your hair done because I always find I have the worse bad hair days :( Bring on sitting back, relaxing and reading some trashy mags whilst my hair is cooking.

Naomi
xx

Commenting

I've had an email from one of my followers saying they're unable to posts comment. I have no idea why this is the case and I'm just thankful they emailed me to let me know!

So, if you've tried to comment recently and were unable to, please could you drop me a quick email on pintsizedconfessions@hotmail.com just so I can see if this is affecting everyone?

Huge thanks!!!
Naomi
xx

Rocky Horror Show

Last weekend, myself and a few friends went to see the Rocky Horror Show. I had no idea what I'd let myself in for until about 4 hours before the show when I decided I should probably watch some of the DVD. I saw about 20 minutes and deduced that the show is incredibly bizarre. But I thought I'd have a glass or two of vino and just go along with it.

For those that haven't seen the film or the show, the general jist is that a rather prude and plain couple stumble upon a strange party hosted by a transvestite male dressed in corset, suspenders and a full face of make up. The transvestite 'creates' Rocky, the perfect man before he gets up to all manner of sexual liasons with the prudish couple. I know, it all sounds rather odd.

It's tradition for those that see the show to dress up. And anything goes; men dressed as women, woman dressed like sluts (I mean that in a nice way, slut is definitely the theme for the night), bondage gear...you get the idea. And as there is a maid in the show, I decided to go French maid style. Cue 'Ooh La La Maid' costume (actual wording I'll have you know) from Miss Ann Summers:


I didn't want to go too overboard as we were going out afterwards but I did wear my Cheryl Cole lashes which I love.


All in all I actually had a really good night and we did get involved with doing the Time Warp dance during the show. Audience participation is very much encouraged, including shouting out. It was really funny. Although, during the interval I needed the loo and had to double check the sign above the door said 'Ladies' - you literally couldn't tell some women were actually men!

Have you seen the show? What did you think?

Naomi
xx