No More Silly Sundays

Unfortunately I wont be doing my Silly Sundays idea any more as it wasn't as popular after the first one.

But just so all the entries can be appreciated I have decided to feature them anyway as a thank you for taking part...

I may decide to start it up again if it gets some more interest but for now I'll put it down to a 1 time thing!

So, in no particular order, here are all the photos tagged for 

#bestdressedbeardie

 

I'll let everyone know if I start it up again, but please feel free to keep adding your photos!

Thank you for participating!

Hailie

xo

About Time...

So after yesterday's not so successful date (the mother in law and her husband joining us for dinner and the fact we never made it to the cinema) we were quite looking forward to our wedding fair in Reading's Madejeski Stadium... 

However just after we got onto the motorway I was informed that I had previously been mis-informed and thus it wasn't actually on there at all! A friend, who shall not be named, had told me about an amazing wedding fair and said she might attend herself and when I messaged her this morning she said 'nah its not on there'...

When i checked the internet -It was this weekend...but last year! DOH!
Being too far along the motorway to turn around, we decided instead to go to Basingstoke and have the date we intended to have yesterday!

So we went to the Spruce Goose for lunch... it was delicious!

We had a sharing combo to start with which included Calamari Rings, Buffalo Wings, Battered Herb Mushrooms, Peri-peri Chicken Skewers and some celery sticks...

I tried a piece of calamari for the first time and it wasn't that bad! But I can't say about the buffalo wings which I promptly spat out into my napkin, making the Mr. laugh his head off!

So, we split the plate...I had the mushrooms and the skewers, and he had the wings and rings!

For our mains, I had a chicken & Mushroom risotto, and the fella had a double western burger...

His burger was literally massive! each individual burger patty was at least an inch thick, as well as onion rings and a tomato whacked in there!

 What I wore: Lace sleeve top - H&M, Sleeveless a-symmetric cardigan - Topshop, Bracelet & Earrings - Warehouse (What you can't see: Peach bandage Skirt - New look, Leopard print and gold chain bow ballerina shoes - Primark)

After Lunch we went to the cinema and watched 'About Time'.
It's a wicked film! I highly recommend watching it, so light hearted and funny with a great original story line. My fiancé also enjoyed it so it's definitely not a 'Chick-flick'.

What movies have you watched lately? Have you seen 'About Time'?

Hailie 

xo

OOTD: The Hogget

Yesterday afternoon the fiancé and I decided to go on a date. 

We originally planned to go to the cinema, but once we got there at 3pm, we couldn't find a film we liked that was going to be showing any time before 7pm.

So instead we drove to my future mother in law's work to see what time she was finishing and if we could pop round to her's for a cup of tea and kill some time.

But while we were there we started trying to decide where to go for dinner, and decided to look at 'The Hogget'.We'd driven past it so many times and have never been in there so instead we thought we'd purposely drive out to it for meal, and invited the future mother in law and her husband to join us.

It's a really nice little pub style restaurant, with little staircases and small individual rooms with a few tables in each. It had the most amazing wall paper too!
 

We happened to go on 'Steak Night'. So while I ordered myself a delicious steak burger with extra bacon and cheese added, the other 3 helped themselves to 16oz T-Bone steaks! 1 each all cooked to their preferences perfectly. All 4 meals came with triple cooked chips, which were to die for!

After we'd all finished there was no way we could eat another bite so unfortunately I couldn't tell you what the desserts were like! Shame... looks like I'll need another visit!

 What I Wore: Long-line light knit grey cardigan - H&M, Floral dress & Chain cross body quilted & studded bag- Both Warehouse, Knee high grey boots - London Rebel, Light grey spotty tights - Primark, YSL Earrings - (Like Samantha Jones' Out of SATC2!)

Any of you ever tried The Hogget?

Hailie 

xo

Fall in Love...

FALL IN LOVE...With Instagram

Last December, I finally got Instagram after seeing a few odd friends occasionally posting photos on Facebook.

I wasn't really sure on it when I started...

• No inspiration on what to take photos of...
• Didn't really understand the concept of #hashtagging...
• Felt weird letting people I didn't know 'Follow' me...
• Felt weirder Following them back!
• Sure as hell didn't want to take a 'selfie' and post that up!
• Wasn't sure if people would like me...

I got bullied at school on and off for various things - 

1. That I wasn't pretty like the other girls I hung around with
2. I had thick wavy hair that didn't see straighteners until I was in year 10 (that made me 14)
3.  I had a weird sense of humour
4.  I had a cackle laugh
5.  My teeth were crooked - then it was because I had braces
6. I dressed differently to everyone else in my year group (dungarees and belly tops....?!)
7. Or the fact I had a 2 year crush on a guy called Phil who was WAY out of my league back then... and people in my D&T class found out via a 'friend' of mine and I never lived it down...

Gosh I sound so wonderful! Such a catch eh?!

Luckily as a I reached college I found that there was a completely different attitude to my personality and made some life long friends! Still, school certainly screws up your self confidence....

So can you just IMAGINE how I felt using Instagram for the first time where literally THOUSANDS of STRANGERS could judge anything and everything I posted, and the pure FEAR I had posting my first face-on selfie...

Here, I was a bridesmaid at a wedding...

Surprisingly...it wasn't that bad..

In fact...I quite liked it...

I #hashtagged a few pictures and got a few likes...

I started searching common tags and found other people who liked the same stuff I did...

I started following their accounts...some even followed back...

I got a few comments...I even got COMPLIMENTED!

Suddenly I had 50+ followers who actually liked my photos and even the ones of me!

It was fantastic! 

It's not even a vanity thing, or an attention seeker thing...It's acceptance for the way I am. And I loved it.

So now nearly 1 year on, I only have a humble 200+ followers, I have a handful of die-hard followers who literally comment on and like everything I post (I call them my Instagram Family), I post what I like and currently that's about 500 different pictures, I've made some great friends from all over the world, I've seen some great videos and photos of animals I never knew existed, It's a great style inspiration and I can say what I want on there without an angry Mob coming at me with torches and pitchforks because they don't agree!

(Like you can say ANYTHING on Facebook without the risk of some huge F***ing argument, you can't even delete the sodding thing without everyone questioning you and taking it personally!)

I feel more confident with my appearance too on IG - being accepted for the way you dress, look, act can definitely make anyone feel beautiful...even if they're actually only commenting on how beautiful Gimli looks!

Yes - Even Gimli has her own #hashtag and large worldwide fan base!

#gimlithedragon

In my opinion... everyone should get Instagram!

If you have it why don't you follow me on there?

 @hailienellie

Hailie

xo

How To: Chic Top Knot

This is my very first attempt at a hair tutorial so I do apologise if it's hard to follow...

Today I thought I'd demonstrate how to so a sleek top knot like this:

What you'll need is:

Hair that is one or 2 days 'old'...

Silky clean hair will be a lot harder to stay up like this.

You can do this with curly or wavy hair but it looks best and sleek when your hair has been straightened.

A hair tie, some kirby grips (or bobby pins...whatever you call them), a smoothing brush, and a topsy tail (the black loopy thing)

  

1. Start by brushing all your hair through making sure it's smooth and de-tangled.

2. Tip your head upside down and brush all your hair into a high pony tail

 3. Tie and smooth out any bumps so it looks sleek.

4.  Put your pony tail through the loop in the topsy tail

 5. Using the tail part, start threading underneath the pony tail up. (Look at the photo if you get stuck) Look how the loop is around the pony tail, and the 'tail' is poking out the top.

 6. Pull the pony tail through the hole so it rests on top of your head.

 7. Lift the pony tail up and tighten the hair tie.

 8. Back comb the ponytail gently.

 9. Smooth out the front and gather all the ends...it should look really puffy.

 10. Pull the ends backwards, and just give it another smooth over.

 11. Tuck the ends under, and roll back towards the hair tie. Secure with the grips, but try to hide themin the hair if possible. It makes it look more professional if you can't see the grips.

12. Go over the rest of your hair gently with your smoothing brush and spray a light mist of hairspray all over. A little shine spray on the top knot for evenings will give it a more sleek look.

13. DONE! 

Remember to practise - not everyone will get this prefect first time!

Did you like this look? 

Will you try it?

Send me photos if you decide to give it a go!

Hailie

xo