Nottingham has always been my key place to visit when it comes to shopping, meeting blogging friends and enjoying what the Intu centre has to offer; 

During September I was invited to the A/W event which took place after hours within the centre, I set off with my friend, Sarah, to see what delights the key fashion staples were for this year, a long with meeting many friendly faces.

After having some tea at Stonebaked Pizza which I have to say was amazing service and speedy food delivery, we headed to the location outside of Boots and I was amazed as the set up was beautiful. 

A nicely sized building aka as the style garden, was surrounded by mannequins styled with prepossessing a/w fashion from stores that are found within the Nottingham Intu.

 I never felt so thrilled as we were kindly greeted by the ladies of Cartwright Communications, checking us off on the guest list we were then directed to the stand of Thaikhun, which is a quirky street food Thai restaurant, that has newly launched in the centre; we were offered a yummy refresher drink which could either be alcoholic or non and great nibbles were available to satisfy any cravings!

One of the main things which made me ever so giddy was the flower crown station!

Such a creative idea, the talented Super+SuperHQ was showing us how to create a statement headpiece to wear for any occassion or just around the house.. Like I do! Amy provided us with a variety of materials from fabric flowers, leaves and all things glittery I decided to create a half sided piece with hints of blushing pink, soft purples and foliage. This was a nice little surprise for us bloggers and something I'll always treasure.

I wore my flowercrown creation with pride and continued to browse the mannequins and began visiting each of the beauty booths that were giving all the latest tips and tricks and a demonstration on to any willing participant! 

I spoke to the very pleasant, Lee, who works at Benefit in Boots and he was such a outgoing and informative person; he gave me a few tips on defining my brow's arch with their brand spanking new brow products! It of course made me want to buy everything , but they do have some affordable kits on offer that may just have to go on my Christmas list this year..

Other brands there were Clarins, Liz Earle and Lancome to name a few.

Then the delightful Lola Royle held a small catwalk presentation of the newest collaboration with John Lewis which is Modern Rarity; My goodness the clothes were beautiful.. every staple item was within it and we were so lucky to see some of these pieces before anyone else! The clothing was very delicate and cool toned, smart yet classic and very well made. Although the collection is a bit on the pricey side (cheapest from £75) for most of the pieces, it was still a refreshing glimpse into what the collection has in store. 

The models rocked the mini runway on chic red carpet and brought the A/W pieces to life.

At the end of the evening there was a prize draw from Benefit cosmetics which shockingly both myself and Sarah won! The contents were some brilliant samples of their products to test out which if you know me, you know I love a good sample before buying! And the kind Sostrene Grene provided us all with a goodybag of home pieces in a cute totebag; Thank you so much to them for being so generous to us.

Overall it was an amazing evening and was very nice to see other bloggers and interact with brands, I'm sure I'll have plenty of A/W staples in my wardrobe thanks to them!

When I was approached by Claire from TankPr to attend the new launch of the Rush hair salon in Nottingham, I jumped to the chance as I'm always on the look out for places to go to relax and get pampered when you need it most.

Based on Long Row, Nottingham, the neatly outside with its monochrome design was hard to miss, it breathed sleekness and style, as I walked through the front door I was greeted by bubbly Claire who gave us an overall outlook on the night. 

There were colour consultations currently taking place with beautiful vloggers and bloggers sipping prosecco. Staff wearing all black were greeting us and giving us a tour of the two story salon, the walls were a clean shade with stylish glass tables and bold black seats, portrait length mirrors draped on the walls perfect for watching the magic take place of having your hair styled by award winning specialists.

Upstairs was very open in the main styling area, there were up-dos taking place and a braid station which I had to have due to the fabulous creations being made on the ladies.

In the back there was a cut off section where there were two slender seats and basins surrounded by professional hair products, this was a key favourite part of the salon as to me your experience should be personal and one to one with the stylist, so this was a pleasant surprise.

It felt like a complete VIP experience and everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming. We had some great conversations and I'm so glad it was such a majestic turnout. 

On leaving we were each presented with a small Rush bag which contained loveheart sweets, a handy pen, sample of Kerastase nourishing care, 150ml of 72's blow dry cream which smells like a salon fresh hairstyle at home and some complimentary offers at the salon which I can't wait to use!

Thank you Claire for the invitation to a luxurious salon experience in the heart of Nottingham! 

Book your appointment with Rush here

 Love Ellie xo

Hey lovelies!

Hope you're all doing splendidly, this post is something I wanted to share with you. 

My passion of the vintage era grows with not only my thoughts and the way I live but also the way that I dress; when I'm not at work and I go to retro events I go the full way with make-up, hair and of course the overall outfit.

The last event I attended was the vintage carnival at Nottingham racecourse, there was so much to do and see but the only downside was the weather, I tried to get some pictures when it settled down but that would have been the only thing I would have wished to have been different.

I'm going to start posting more of my outfits of the day if you enjoy them, just let me know your thoughts in the comments section!

Dress - LindyBop

Belt - HellBunny

Jacket - LindyBop

Shoes - Topshop

Underskirt - LindyBop

Bag - Vintage

Necklace - Vintage

Head Scarf - Bow and Crossbones

Also here are a few captures I got of the day of some of my favorite parts of the event!

I had a marvelous time and met some great people; my goal is to attend as many vintage events as I can especially those in the bigger cities, as well as post the outfits so you can get some ideas if you'd wish!

I find it exhilarating to dress differently and to live it, walk down the street and hold your head up high; if you're happy with the way you look that's what matters.

Love Ellie xo

From luxury to affordable, this year is no exception to find your top advent calendar.

I will admit, only last year was the first time I actually ever had a beauty advent calendar, I was always tempted to buy ones from the clothes show when they were on a special offer but went away empty handed. 

But now it's got to the point where all the launches of Christmas gifts, wrapping paper and cards have hit the stores and we get cheeky glimpses of beautiful packaging with delicate doors to open on the countdown of Christmas. 

But the amazing thing is opening these travel sized or full sized items to get continuous use out of them till the new year!

So shall we have a look at what Beauty calendars are out now or soon will be?

Get your wishlists at the ready!

The Vintage Cosmetic Company Luxury Beauty Calender

The NottsAlzheimersMeetup

Hosting my first blogger event

It was over a year ago when I had started to focus on raising money for a disease that effected half of my life growing up; 

My dear grandad found out he had vascular dementia in his late 50s, he was hardworking, a passionate family man and would always light up any room he was in with his words of wisdom. 4 years ago he sadly lost his battle with dementia and also alzheimers towards his end of life.

 I saw how this effected him in every aspect as well as my family and it was the most difficult time for us all. Sadly there are many families in the same position as you read this, that lack the support or funds to help their loved ones when they need it the most. 

Luckily there are charities out there who advise and spread the awareness of the disease and the one that I've been most close to is the Alzheimers Society.

Not long after my grandad's passing, my mum and I did a 6 mile walk in his memory with many others who have lost those closest to them, we would talk about our times with them, the good and the bad and motivate ourselves to get to our end goal. 

So, why did I decide on hosting a meet-up?

I've had my blog for 4 years this year, through this time I've attended many events and blogger meet-ups which have been wonderful, and I've truly admired those who have taken the time to organize and plan. So I thought I will put together two of the things I am most passionate about, raising awareness of Alzheimers and meeting other like minded bloggers in a cosy atmosphere! I wanted to do this for my grandad most of all, there's not a day that goes by when I miss him terribly, wondering what life would have been like if he wasn't effected by this cruel disease. I felt this was my purpose and the right thing to do.

New Feature Friday!