Credit Card-less March

Well done to all of you who took part in AND completed Frugal Feb. I failed really early on, let myself and the others down I'm afraid. I seriously think I'm addicted to spending!

So taking inspiration from the lovely Gemma Cartwright over at Big Girls Browse I've decided to set myself a bit more realistic pledge.

This month I will not spend on my credit card* (March)

This will prove incredibly tough for me as if I want something and I can't afford it I've gotten into a really bad habit of just putting it on the plastic, probably paying off less than I spend each month!

I'm going to try a whole month without using my credit card. If I can do this then (hopefully) it will help me to cut down on using it.

If anyone else thinks this is a good idea then please let me know if you wish to join in so we can support each other :)

*credit card can be used in extreme circumstances, say like if I get stranded somewhere and need a hotel, my house burns down or I come across Adele tickets.

Wish me luck! I'm not even sure I can do it!

Leanne

xoxo

Love is in the air....

♥  The fabulous blogging community, you guys really are fab! I tweeted yesterday about the fact that I didn't have many followers, next thing I know I've gone from 8 to 17 - big thanks especially to Christina, Clare, Jude, Emma, Pink Sweetsz and last but not least The Chap for the RTs.

♥ The fact that I won a lovely coat from Boohoo, see Monday Madness post for a picture of the coat

♥ The fact that I bought my wedding dress at a Wedding Fayre today for a bargain price!

 

 Things I want....

 

£22.99 New Look

£6.99 New Look

£3.99 New Look

£3.99 New Look

Monday Madness

So today's post is nothing at all like planned, because I'm sooo excited!!!

It started as a normal mundane Monday. Went to work early as I had a blood test at the Doctors before work, which resulted in being stuck on a bus full of school kids, grrrr! Really wish the schools would sort out transport for them!

I hate blood tests, my arm still kills, give me a tattoo or piercing any day!

After a long day in work me and three of my four bridesmaids went down to our local Wetherspoons as they were holding a Wedding Fayre. We went along to have a nose thinking it'd be absolute rubbish. We had food there too so that the evening wasn't a complete waste.

I checked my phone when we were sat there to find that I had won a competition with Boohoo! If you don't follow them on Twitter then do so here as they hold regular giveaways where you choose what you want to win! This is what I chose and I cannot wait to receive it!

£30 boohoo.com

The fact that I've won this doesn't mean that I'm going to be all about boohoo again now as I am still in the middle of an ongoing dispute with them. I sent items back to them in January, they emailed to confirm they received them on 07 Jan and I am still waiting for my refund. They have, however agreed that they will refund me the postage as a gesture of goodwill even though I did keep other items from the order. They won't win the customer service stakes but they do have good giveaways and sell reasonably priced gorgeous clothes! 

I will do a post when I receive my mac.

This was apparently just the beginning of my good luck!! They were selling dresses at the Wedding Fayre, I've been joking for a while saying "oh yeah imagine when people ask where your wedding dress was from and you reply Pontypool Spoons". Well that will now be my reply!! I never dreamed I'd actually buy one but I went upstairs to the ladies toilets (classy!) and tried it on and I love it! It retails at £795 but due to the fact that it is ex display stock and I bought it there and then I got it for £100!! I really couldn't leave it! It is a bit small but as I'm not getting married until November 2012 I can work on that. They'll also be able to alter it two sizes either way.

Certainly not the Monday I expected to have!

Back to the usual Monday round up post, today I weighed in at 12st 1/4, 1 & 1/4 pounds off from last week, again not great but the right way!

So I have had a very good Monday and I hope everyone else has too :)

Leanne

xoxo

Love Suzie Jewellery

I received my first order from Love Suzie yesterday, very quickly too :)

pretty packaging :)

more pretty packaging

and more pretty packaging

I ordered Time for Tea, Errol and a Anyone for Scrabble?, I am very pleased with all of my goodies and would recommend Love Suzie to anyone looking for quirky, reasonably priced jewellery.

Errol £6.99 Anyone For Scrabble? £2.99 Time For Tea £11.99

I wore my Time For Tea necklace and Anyone For Scrabble? ring yesterday. I had quite a few comments on the necklace.

Big thanks to Love Suzie for my fantastic purchasel :)

Leanne

xoxo

Saturday Night Dance I Like the Way You Move....

My favourite day of the week has been and gone, Saturdays, I love them, especially when the 6 Nations are on :)

I spent my Saturday doing a spot of shopping, Primark again, and then I went to my niece's 2nd birthday party, we had a few cans, as you do, and ended up staying long after Gracie had gone to bed. My sister has been talking about Mad Dog since it has been on but I haven't watched it, they still had it on their Sky planner so we caught up on that, will have to remember to watch it from now on!

This is what I bought in my mini Primark haul, I was very pleased with myself as this is a such tame haul!

I love this ring :)

I then headed on over to Gracie's birthday party :) This is what I wore...

Dress, Cardigan & Leggings all Primark

Belt, Peacocks

Scarf, Crown and Glory Blog Sale

Bag, Peacocks

Love Suzie

Primark

Love Suzie

Primark

Peacocks

Gracie's new boots, too cute!

I hope everyone else had a fab Saturday and isn't suffering too much today :)

Leanne

xoxo

Send a Thought

My friends nan recently passed away and I wanted to send her a little something to let her know I'm thinking of her. I googled 'thoughtful gifts' and came across an AMAZING website! send a thought. If you order three or more items they automatically post it in a 'thoughtful box'. You can mix and match the items to make it as cheap or expensive as you want. I'm pretty skint so opted for the cheaper sweets & chocolates plus some grow your own Forget Me Nots. This is what they sent Emma.

She was very pleased, it made her cry lots :)

Bit of a random post but I thought I'd share this amazing site that I stumbled upon! I think I'll be using them again for Mother's Day as they do a huge range, including some nice looking candles.

Also hot deal, if you aren't as lucky as me to have 40% friends & family Peacocks discount this week pop along to Peacocks where you can get 20% discount + free delivery over £30.

I'm sure I'll have a Peacocks haul to post shortly as I tend to go crazy when I get my 40% voucher - look out!!

Leanne

xoxo

Ch Ch Ch Changes....

Hi all

Just a quicky to say I've changed the design of my blog - I hope you all like!!

Please feel free to give me any suggestions for improvements or leave a comment to let me know whether or not you are feeling the love :)

Leanne

xoxo

NOTD

Today's NOTD is Pewter, Glam by Evie (Peacocks) it cost £2.50 and is available in store.

The initial attraction to this nail polish was the little holographic stars that are mixed in with the polish! It was really difficult to get a photo of the stars though!

I hate to say this (sorry Peacocks, usually nothing but praise for you!) but I was disappointed with this polish. The stars make the application really difficult as they either stick at the bottom of your nail or at the top of your nail. I tried reading the directions to see if I should be applying in a particular way, but couldn't, clear bottle containing pewter polish & black writing on the outside - wasn't thought through very well!

I applied two layers as the first was a little thin. The polish looks amazing as it is an adorable colour and the glitter isn't too OTT. Unfortunately the stars are pointless. You can hardly see them as the polish covers them. Some of them curled up throughout the day and fell off.

I will be using this polish in future as the colour is lovely, but I will be removing the stars from the brush before they come near my nails!

Brilliant idea in theory Peacocks but unfortunately not in practice, the stars ruined a stunning nail polish! Maybe you should re-think and sell the nail polish (minus stars) as a set with the stars to stick on afterwards? You may then have it spot on!

Leanne

xoxo

Grab it while its HOT!!!

I've come across a few bargains today and yesterday that I just had to share!

Firstly (this one ends at midnight today 23.2.11) so snap it up quickly! This is a Groupon deal and has to be one of the best I have seen yet! You pay Groupon just £12 to get £30 worth of products in store at The Body Shop. This is the link for that http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/cardiff/The-Body-Shop/260871/.HrqTps if I've done this correctly you'll also be helping me out by buying through that link as if someone buys something through my recommendation within 72 hours of joining I get a £6 referral fee :) Here is the small print for that deal:

"Commitment to ethical trading
Valid across entire store range except gift card purchases 
Includes a free £5 Love Your Body™ card, for non-members, which entitles you to further discounts, free gifts and member treats all year round  
Free gift for those spending £10 or more over Groupon value Available at 290 stores in mainland Britain To find your nearest store please click here  

Expires 25 May 2011.

Limit 1 per visit, maximum 5 per person.  

Valid in-store only. 

Not valid for Gift Cards. 

No change or credit will be given. 

Normal The Body Shop exchange and refund policy applies. 

Prices may vary in-store. 

Valid in participating UK stores only; see list of non-participating stores below*. 

Photocopied, damaged or defaced vouchers will not be accepted. 

Voucher must be presented at time of purchase. 

* Norwich, Cambridge, Cambridge Hospital, Derriford Hospital, Hove, Horsham, Sheffield, Plymouth, Exeter, Luton Airport and stores in Northern Ireland.  

Not valid online, at John Lewis concessions or in The Body Shop At Home™. Love Your Body™ membership discount is not valid in conjunction with this voucher and LYB discount will not be taken off the transaction using this voucher.  

Voucher entitles bearer to one FREE gift when £40 or more is spent in the transaction using Groupon voucher. The Body Shop reserves the right to choose the gift. 

See the rules that apply to all deals."

Another fab deal from Groupon I think!! 

There is a fantastic deal on nails inc polishes tomorrow only. You can buy 5 for £10 plus £3.95 postage. The catch is that it is a lucky dip, you can't choose what colours you get, but I think this is quite exciting! Here is the jargon for that one:

"On Fri 25 Feb get 5 Nails Inc. polishes online for £10, plus £3.95 P&P. You can't choose which colours, so it's a lucky dip, but Nails Inc. has hinted you could get one of the following shades in your set; Elizabeth Street (cream/nude), Whitechapel, (pearl/white), Hans Road (red), Chester Place (dark pink), Mercer Street (bright red) as well as a few others.
The polishes usually individually retail around the £10 mark, so it's a good saving if you're not fussy about the shades.
The set will contain four 'lucky dip' shades plus the 'A&E top coat' worth £12 and is on sale for one day only on Friday.
It’s worth noting Nails Inc. varnishes are sometimes given as freebies on the front of women’s magazines, yet as the mags normally cost £2.50-£4, if you’re just getting the mag for the varnish, this still wins."

And lastly but not least look at the bargain I picked up today in Peacocks!!

I snapped these babies up for just £7! They aren't on their website, I assume they've sold out on there, but my find today goes to show it is worth checking out your local shop! They had two pairs left in mine, one in a size 4 and one in a 5 which shocked me as usually in the sale they are rubbish sizes. I am very pleased with this find :)

Leanne

xoxo

Lusting after Disney Couture

So it would appear that I was a little behind on the whole Disney Couture jewellery, how I didn't know about this I don't know, now I do know about it I'm crazy for it!

This is my collection so far (pathetic at only two pieces but I will build it up!)

Spencer bought me the fab bracelet for Valentine's Day

and I bought myself the necklace from ebay

I love that the jewellery is quirky, fashionable and cute all at the same time, plus it brings back childhood memories! I also love the cute little pouches that it comes in - basically I love everything about it!

These pieces are on my wishlist....

Unfortunately at £84 it will be staying where it is but I still love it, if, unlike me you have money you can buy it from Amazon

£24.50 asos

£30 truffleshuffle

£38 truffleshuffle

£28 truffleshuffle

£30 truffleshuffle

I am so in love right here! The rings are something that I feel I particularly need in my life right now!

I also find it has an extra bonus of being a justifiable expense, as its Disney it may be worth money one day ..... right???

Leanne

xoxo

Enter this fantastic giveaway by Secret Life of a Wannabe Diva

Hi guys

You must enter this amazing giveaway! It is full of yummy goodies, the blog is also very good so even if you don't enter the giveaway I suggest following the blog.

So what are you waiting for, go enter!! Good luck guys :)

Leanne 

xoxo

Weekly Round Up

Happy Monday all!

Soooo this morning I weighed in at 12 st 1 & 1/2 which means I've lost a grand total of (drum roll please) 1/4 of a pound ha! Not very good at all but it is in the right direction! After the buffet food and copious amounts of alcohol on Friday it could have been a lot worse!

I went out for a lovely meal from work today as it is Spencer's birthday tomorrow, I treated him to a BOGOF offer at the Horse & Jockey! Tomorrow I am cooking for him, which reminds me, I'd better defrost the meat!

As you may already know I went out dressed as a Pirate on Friday night, this is how I did my nails...

old red nail polish & Barry M  Nail effects

As I am still majorly obsessed with my new discovery of Barry M nail effects this is how I wore my nails today....

the white is part of a cheap French manicure kit

My nail storage from ebay turned up last week. This was recommended in a blog posted by Abbzw here. I love this as it looks so neat and all my rings are there to choose from in one easy glance. Before I used to wear the same rings all the time as I'd just go for the ones at the top of the jewellery box. You will see I managed to get my double ring in, to do this I just cut two holes into one. I know a lot of people who have these boxes store their double rings elsewhere. Before putting all my rings in I decided to paint them all with clear polish to avoid green fingers.

I now feel the need to go buy loads of lovely new rings to fill this bad boy up!!

Enjoy the rest of your evening whatever you may be doing. I'm mostly going to be catching up on my Sky + recordings as we are having a new free stat box so I will loose everything on the Sky box.

Leanne

xoxo

Pirates, Lee Evans & Primark

Hi guys. So I've had an eventful weekend and I hope you guys have all had fun too :)


Pirates
My weekend kicked off with a fantastic night out in Cardiff on Friday. It was Lisa from work's 40th birthday, as usual my boss went all out on arranging a fantastic evening for her! The theme for the evening was pirates, we all dressed as pirates and poor Lisa was dressed as a parrot!!

The evening kicked off with a ride around Cardiff Bay on a speedboat!! OMG amazing! This was better than any roller coaster ride I have ever been on. Speeds of up to 85 mph, music blasting - good times! This is the firm we went with Cardiff Sea Safari. It didn't do a lot for our hair and make up but thankfully we were dressed as pirates so it didn't really matter!

We got dropped off near the Millenium Stadium where we then followed a map to tell us which pubs to go to! We had food in O'Neills, shots (and lots of them!) in Cougar Lounge followed by a good boogie in Flares! Fantastic night!

Lee Evans
On Saturday Spencer and I went to Cardiff Bay again where we watched Lee Evans warm up at The Glee Club. There were also another two acts on who were very funny! Watching Lee warm up was strange! He literally came on and read scripts from paper, from our reaction he decided if it needed to be worked on, scrapped or kept in readiness for his road runner tour! All in all it was a wicked evening, for £19 a ticket you couldn't complain! This is what I wore...

Jumpsuit - ebay bargain, bag - Peacocks, tights - New Look, belt - New Look

Shoes - ebay bargain

necklace - Disney Couture

 Primark
Today Spencer and I went to a Wedding Fayre at Chepstow Racecourse - what a waste of time! It was the worse Wedding Fayre I have ever attended, and I've been to a few! We literally lapped the room and left after 2 mins! There was hardly anyone there. We then decided to pop over to Chepstow market so it wasn't a wasted journey, once again though complete waste of time! I remember that Chepstow market used to be huge, now there were more burger vans than stalls! We then nipped into Cwmbran where I had a mini Primark haul!

Today I wore this very old outfit...

 These are the items I bought from Primark (minus the boots and tights)...

Cardigan £12
Dress £7
Love double ring £1.50
Heart lace over the knee socks £1.50

God I love Primark!!

I am now chilling after a fantastic action packed weekend! Unfortunately they aren't usually this eventful! I hope everyone else has had a fab weekend

Leanne 

xoxo