Matalan Press Day

Yesterday I was invited to the Matalan Press Day for the showing of their High Summer 2011 range, which is in stores now if you must know. :P

I was granted the afternoon off from work experience to attend the event, which was very nice of Red magazine to allow, and made my way to the Sanctum Soho Hotel in Picadilly (to say the hotel was posh is an understatement). The event was held on the rooftop (thank goodness it didn't rain) and under the beaming hot lights, it definitely felt like Summer. Happily helping myself to cutesy canapés and drinks, I took a nosy at the range!

I was really impressed with the range. Of course there was lots of lovely maxi dresses and beachwear and the bikinis in particular were extremely cute, with lots of different colours, patterns and detailing, but what really stood out to me were the accessories, jewellery, bags and jumpsuits.

I spotted a few Summer jumpsuits, all with cute animal and floral prints, I even found one that I would consider wearing (I'm not usually one for showing off ANY skin), which had a gorgeous bird pattern and ruffled neckline. I loved the floral wedges and gladiator sandals, but fell even more in love with the jewellery. Gorgeous chunky rings were scattered all over the place, I spotted a cute rabbit face ring and even a ring in the shape of angel wings, and the necklaces are huge must haves! Delicate chains with feminine charms, beaded necklaces and bold statement pieces.

I managed to snap a few photos on my phone, you'll see plenty of floral pieces within the range, perfect for Summer! I also loved the range of beach bags that will be available in all sorts of colours and patterns and I was extremely pleased when one of them was given to me as a goody bag! Also spot the nautical flats which I am also in love with!

They were also offering up a few beauty treatments. I chose to have my nails painted and filed at the little manicure station. I went for a Barry M green with a Blue Barry M crackle polish on top! The coloured crackle range is hopefully going to be available in the Summer! Can't wait!

For my first ever event, I quite enjoyed it and yes those nail photos were taken in the middle of the street. My love for Matalan products is rapidly growing and I can't wait until all of this range filters into my local store, I am definitely going to snap it up!

Finally, as I left I was given a little goody bag. The bag is actually a beachbag from the range and inside was a cute polka dot beach towel (very much needed), a Cherry necklace (do you think they knew?) Matalan press release and lookbook, Barry M catalogue and a Summer straw hat!

Sneaky shopping trip

I've been very naughty today...I accidentally on purpose paid a little visit to New Look today and purchased two tops from my Weekly Wishlist!


After looking around town yesterday, I tried on the Peter Pan Tie Shirt but decided against buying it, then today, after my trial at Hotel Chocolat I decided to go in and try it on again, knowing I would end up buying it.

While browsing around I spotted the Spotty Peter Pan Tee and as that's on my Wishlist aswell, decided to take it into the changing rooms with me. Luckily both tops looked really nice and with 20% student discount (thank God for Student cards that don't expire until July!) I had to get them both as a little treat and also as something to wear during my Work Experience at Red magazine next month.


As I mentioned, I had a trial at Hotel Chocolat this morning. I think it went well. I had to greet customers as they came into the store and then offer them a sample of a Strawberry love heart. I was very polite, asking the customers if they needed any help etc..etc but when offering samples I was not telling them they were Strawberry love hearts until they had already picked them up and started eating...the manager told me I should be telling them straight away that they were Strawberry which I started doing. My aim was to try and sell some of the chocolates but unfortunately nobody brought any. :( My trial only lasted half an hour as it was a really quite morning and I was told I'd hear back in about a week. I feel kind of confident and unconfident at the same time, I'm kicking myself for my stupid mistake!


Now I'm looking forward to doing nothing all weekend. I was originally supposed to be going to London with Vince to see My Chemical Romance at Wembley Arena but I decided to sell my tickets on Twitter to a fellow fan. I really need some money at the moment so it didn't seem right that I was spending £60 on a hotel for a night plus tube fares and meals as well as already having paid nearly £60 for the tickets themselves. Luckily someone brought the tickets pretty quickly and the Hotel was free to cancel, so now the money is going towards my work experience travelling next month. They are my favourite band ever but I've seen them 4 times before and I'm sure I'll see them again, it's a shame but I thought I'd be sensible for once!

Plan B

I can't believe it's nearly November already. Christmas decorations and presents are already going on sale in Shops and Halloween hasn't even happened yet! So, Vince and I have been officially living together for nearly two months and it's going really well...except for the fact that neither of us have any money and we're sharing our living room and kitchen with a furry family of mice!

We thought we only had the one after the boys accidentally caught it on camera...that particular furry creature is now dead thanks to out mouse traps but we've since found two more mice holes in the living room so we're pretty sure there's a few more scurrying about. We have one in the kitchen also, who seems to be some kind of magician mouse. We've put food on the traps but it seems to be able to get onto the trap, lean into and get the food out without the trap getting it. Clever! We're going to have to resort to poison pretty soon!

Anyway, enough about mice. As I said, living together is going well except for the fact that neither of us has any money. Over the summer I worked and saved in the hope I would be able to live on it until after Christmas when I could find a job that wasn't a Christmas temp. Unfortunately my plan hasn't seemed to work as I don't think my money will be able to stretch that far, especially as I have to buy presents as well! Hopefully there will be some shifts in the Student Union but other than that, I'm going to have to hope there's a job for me when I go back home for Christmas.


Last weekend Vince and I went to London for the weekend. It was a really great weekend. I bought tickets to see my favourite band, My Chemical Romance. I booked the Custom House at ExCel hotel for us to stay in which was really nice, we ended up falling asleep when we got there as we're not used to getting up so early to catch the coach. Anyway, we made it to the gig and I have to say it was amazing! If you've read the below post which includes my review, you'll be able to tell, but it was possibly the best gig I've been to in a long long time. There isn't very many photos of Vince and I as I seem to be incapable of smiling properly but there are a few gig photos that I took on my phone and my camera. My camera is RUBBISH by the way!






As I said, my camera is rubbish so these were the best I could get. On the Sunday we enjoyed a nice cooked breakfast and then decided we would pick a place on the tube map and go exploring. Well, instead we settled on Shepherds Bush and decided to see Paranormal Activity 2 and have a roast dinner! Brilliant :)

Since then I've been working on Styleclone.com and various reviews. I've got another review lined up for the Portsmouth News, which will hopefully be printed in the paper! Fingers crossed!


I'm just one followed away from 80! That's amazing. :)

Just keep shopping...

I just wanted to say hi to my few new followers. *Hi* It's great that people are interested enough in my blog to keep coming back. Maybe I'll hold a little giveaway when I reach 80 followers?

Since I've been back in Southampton I've been fretting over what I'm going to wear for my graduation. I know you're all thinking that no one will see my outfit anyway but you'll be surprised how much you actually can see...anyway I've opted for this skirt from RARE for £15.


I'm planning on teaming it with some tights and teeny tiny heels but I'm still not sure what top to wear with it. We've been advised to wear a top with buttons so the gowns can be fixed to us properly...which limits me in what I can wear really. Any suggestions welcome!



Since I've been back I've been spending my Topshop giftcard pretty swiftly. I only have about £30 left on it, but I've picked up some nice stuff. :) I bought these ultra snug ankle boots which are great for the cold weather! (They look MUCH nicer in real life)



I also decided to try one of their Nail polishes. I opted for 'Lead' which is a sparkly black and I have to admit I was a bit disappointed! It's a nice colour but it chipped very quickly and after just a day I ended up taking it off! Shame.



I also spotted a cute sparkly brown eye crayon on the shelf posing as a tester, so I picked up a wrapped crayon, got it home and found it was a normal brown with absolutely no sparkle. My own fault really as I should have checked. I'm gutted because you can't get refunds on make up. :(

I really like the Peter Pan collar dresses they have in Topshop at the moment, however, I don't think I'd ACTUALLY wear it so I'm avoiding temptation!