Outfit Of The Day - Bank Holiday Monday

As its a bank holiday today and the sun was out obviously I had to go to sit in a garden with a cold drink and eat barbecued meat.

Warehouse dress £55 (last summers stock) Accsessorize bag £35, Primark sandals £4, New look sunglasses £3.99

I opened my wardrobe this morning and this dress stood out with its fun tropical print, perfect for a sunny day! I love everything about this dress and it shows as I brought it last year and I still want to wear it this year! It comes with a belt made of the same fabric of the dress which I sometimes change a put my own belt on instead. I chose to pull up the top fabric over the belt to make it baggy on the top and shorter at the bottom so it comes up to ankle length. The fabric is really cool and thin which is perfect for a humid day. The only problem I have with this dress is that it creases so badly as you can see from the pictures.

As the dress is so bright I kept everything else simple with some nude coloured sandals, cream satchel and aviator sunglasses.

How did you spend your bank holiday Monday?

Sunday #2

I have had a lovely Sunday this weekend and because it is bank holiday weekend it will feel as if we get a bonus Sunday tomorrow :)

I was hoping to go to a local tea room this weekend but unfortunately I was unable to do so, but instead I spent a lovely morning making cards with my Mum.

My mum is brilliant at crafts and sells lots of handmade cards and scrapbooks and as I mentioned before she has a craft fair coming up soon. So today she was working on some cards and I thought I would give it a go myself. It was nice to relax for a couple of hours and it was very calming and therapeutic. Obviously my cards aren't professional but I am pleased with the results and might do some more in the future to give to friends and family. What do you think of them?



After my peaceful morning of crafting I had an equally chilled out afternoon. I went to a friends house in Ongar,Essex and had a lovely BBQ which between four girls we managed to work it out! To round it all off we snuggled on the sofa and watched Dirty Dancing. Bliss!

I hope you are all enjoying the May bank holiday :D

18th Birthday Card, Congratulations card 

Blue Moon

L-R :  Barry M- 54 Clear, 317 Blue Moon, 354 Amethyst Glitter

I don't usually like any type of blue nail varnish on my own nails but surprisingly I really liked this sky blue colour by Barry M.

Historically I don't get on with Barry M nail varnishes as I find its a bit too thick and it don't seem to last too long before chipping but 3 days in and going strong so far so I may have been converted!

I found this glittery polish in my collection also by Barry M, it's got lots of multicoloured hexagon shaped glitter pieces and small flecks of colourful glitter too in a clear polish. I painted two coats of the glitter on each of my ring fingers as a feature nail. I love glitter polishes but they can be a bit overpowering if on every nail, not to mention a nightmare to take off!

Do you have any tips on removing glitter polish?

I'm no teenage icon...

As I mentioned in my Sunday post I went to a gig at the 02 last night. I went to see the vaccines with two friends and we had a great time and avoided getting anything nasty in our hair.

T-shirt- Very £17, Jeggings- Vera Moda £30, Boots- New Look £27.99, Necklace- Primark £4 

I chose to wear black jeggings for comfort with this motif t-shirt with a mandatory statement necklace which I think was a good mixture of casual and dressy. I also wore my New Look boots which haven't left my feet since I brought them; they are a great height for day or night. On the way out the door I realised by the time I was heading home it may be chilly so I threw on a tasseled jacket over the top.

Excuses for the short post today will make up for it in posts to come!

Bank holiday weekend! Are you doing anything nice?

What's in my bag?

I have had a few requests for a what's in my bag post so here it is. If you have any questions or requests of your own either leave a comment at the bottom or feel free to email me at curiositea23@gmail.com :)

Accessorize bag £35

My handbag is from Accessorize and was £35 and I LOVE it! It is the perfect size and has a strap long enough to wear across the body and a small handle to be held by hand. It has a zip fastening and a zipped compartment inside and the satchel flap and magnetic clips.

Diary| notepad| purse| card holder| lip products| post it notes| sunglasses| hand cream| perfume

-Cath Kidson Diary
I received this diary as a gift and it is the most useful gift ever as I look at it every single day. I have an iPad which I could use but I like the old fashioned way of keeping things written down. The design is just beautiful and each page has a different Cath Kidson print. Love.

-Notepad
As I said before I could use my iPad but I find it uninspiring and difficult to read on a screen I always like to have a notepad and pen in my bag to write 'to do lists' and checklists in. I have written on a to do list somewhere to buy a prettier notepad..

-Post it notes
Most useful stationary ever.

-Purse
I got this in TK Maxx and I thought it was really pretty it has enough room for all my cards, receipts and money. There is some sort of floral theme with the contents of my bag

-Card holder
This is meant to be a card holder but I use it to keep my Oyster card in. As with most things I won I go for the floral design and it was a bargain at £1 from Primark!

-Lip products
I just opened my bag and this was actually how many lip products I had I my bag. I think it's important to have lipstick as I don't carry around a makeup bag so if i need a refresh in the day I usually just slick on some lipstick. My favourite here at the moment is my Mac Plumful which is a lovely plum colour but surprisingly wearable! Carmex is my ultimate lip product I could not leave the house without this and have one in every bag I own just in case!

-Sunglasses
Just got a cheap pair in my bag at the moment these were from new look.

-Hand cream
As I have very dry hands due to eczema I have to keep a hand cream in my bag at all times for when I wash my hands. This soap and glory one is a really nice formula and the travel size is perfect for my bag.

-Perfume
At the moment unhave SJP NYC I my handbag and this is one if my favourite scents ever. Not just because I am a little bit obsessed with Sarah Jessica Parker but the smell is so unusal and lasts all day.

Sunday #1

I hope you have all been enjoying this lovely Sunday, I have been up since 5am for work *yawn* but I have enjoyed a roast dinner today as you should on a Sunday so I cannot complain!

This week has been quite productive and I am settling into a routine writing this blog now and I am really enjoying it, I hope you are too :) I have also spent way too much time in coffee shops this week catching up with friends and sampling new summer drinks (cafe Nero) and generally wasting spare hours.

Looking in my diary I have some exciting things to look forward to in May!

I'm going to a 'gig' next Thursday and out at karaoke on Saturday so looking forward to coming up with outfit ideas/posts for that.

My mum has also go a stall at a craft fair selling her handmade cards and scrapbooks so I will be in attendance with a camera and a purse full of change to see what I can pick up there.

Lastly, as my review on afternoon tea at Mulberry House was such a success with the most views of any post yet, you may be glad to hear that I have purchased a voucher for an afternoon tea locally in Brentwood from Groupon :). The tea is usually £15.95 per person but with the voucher it worked out at around £7 a head so how could I overlook this?

Have a great week and remember you can contact me at curiositea23@gmail.com :D

Afternoon tea - Mulberry House

As the whole world knows I love afternoon tea so it's not a surprise I was kindly gifted a voucher for afternoon tea for Christmas by a friend. As I have no afternoon teas booked for the foreseeable future I thought I would share my last experience.

The tea was for two at Mulberry House in Ongar, Essex and I went with my aunty and little cousin (who is quite accustomed to afternoon tea for a 2 year old.) After a little bit of confusion trying to find the venue once stepping out of the car the grounds were simply beautiful!

We were asked to wait in the waiting room while our table was prepared for us. After a short wait we were shown through to the conservatory which was empty expect an elderly couple but the room was beautiful and you could really appreciate the surrounding grounds from here.

We were seated and chose our tea from the tea menu which wasn't extensive but had all the favourites on there. I went for Earl Grey as I am not very adventurous and my aunty chose an English breakfast I believe.

We were first given a selection of finger sandwiches, they were simple sandwiches with the crusts taken off and we had one of each of egg, ham and cream cheese. They were presented on a normal plate and were nice enough.

We were then presented with a silver three tier cake stand. The top tier was small pots of jam, the second tier was warm scones (one each) and the bottom was a selection of miniature cakes. We were also given a dish with a generous amount of fresh clotted cream and fresh chopped strawberries.

The cakes were yummy as are all carrot cakes and eclairs but I have a penchant for eating warm scones and drinking tea on a cloudy afternoon. So much so we decided to order extra scones (oops).

Overall it was a pleasant afternoon and we were there for hours and thoroughly enjoyed ourself. The setting was just lovely and the afternoon tea menu was just as you would expect. It cannot be compared to some 'luxury' London experiences but if you have a spare afternoon sometime between lunch and dinner why don't you find am afternoon tea venue near you.

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