Ooh La La | New Look Parisian Haul

This month I have been on a bit of a spending ban, well when I say spending ban I mean I tried my best, failed spectacularly and today I am justifying my splurgey tendencies with this blog post. One day we may delve a little deeper into my psyche and determine why I have such a terrible spending habit and shopaholic tendencies but today I think it would just be that bit more fun to share my recent work wear haul and purchases from New Look (which in actual fact only came to around £55!)

Looking at my wardrobe, as I'm sure we all do, I felt as if I've been in a bit of a clothing rut. Dressing mainly in a midi skirt and a floaty tee, or being really lazy and throwing on jeggings and a shirt, my working wardrobe has left much to be desired. So when the brand new New Look Parisian inspired collection came into stores earlier this month I just couldn't help myself and of course I was able to fully justify these purchases by telling myself they will come in handy for our holidays later on in the year too and of course I get to share my finds with you guys.

Monochrome Tunic Dress £14.99

This was actually something I spotted in New Looks window display, and usually I don't get along with shift / tunic style dresses or horizontal stripes for that matter (I have the fear of looking like a fashionable but chubby zebra) But this is such a lovely fit and the material is so flattering and falls just right, it doesn't exaggerate my hips as some of these dresses often do and I'm looking forward to wearing this little number to work in the colder months with some wooly tights and then taking this to Paris with me in the summer and baring all! (legs)

Striped Baggy Shirt £17.99

This isn't something I would usually go for but the softness of the material drew me in! Since buying this I have barely had it off my back and it is totally worth the price just for the comfiness and wearability of the material. I can wear this shirt with so many things, dress trousers, jeggings or even tucked into a high waisted skirt. Statement pieces you can wear with a multitude of things have got to be my favourites, which is why I almost cried when I ruined my faux leather skirt a few weeks ago!

High Neck Ribbed Crop Top £12.99

I was scared to make this purchase if I'm honest, high necked and cropped are two words which are generally not in my vocabulary, I have the uni-boob fear you see! But feeling like a daring devil I tried this on, and I was pleasantly surprised. Of course I won't be dawning this with my belly on show or with anything too risque, instead I think I'll pair this with a pair of high waisted jeans or a skirt if I'm going dressy.

Grid Check Leggings £7.00

These were on sale, and I remember eyeing them up when they were full price and thinking I just wouldn't wear them enough to jusfity their price. But now I have them I can barely get them off (and no, funny people, it's not because of my big bum!) I wear them to work, around the house, out shopping and like the shirt I love how versatile they are! Usually patterend items scare me a little bit and I only have one item that goes with them, but in this case I have been very creative with my wardrobe and lucky!

 

Given that this has been my one and only haul this month I think my loose spending ban has done me some good, but I am pleased that I was able to find such fashion gems which are all so versatile! Now all I need to do is look for some great fashion accessories to go along with them and my life will be complete (until the next haul)

 

Of course as always I'd love to hear your styling suggestions, have I perhaps missed a trick or maybe you want to point me in the direction of some similar looking items which could dessicate my bank balance even further, either way I'd love to hear your thoughts, comments and suggestions below. Of course as always you can find me loitering about on Twitter or if you'd like to keep up to date with my latests you can always find me on Bloglovin

 

Until next time folks, I'll be nursing my bank balance back to health.

 

H.Elizabeth xx

 

Where is all of the 'Christmas Spirit?' | Christmas Shopping

It must be said, at this time of year I tend to have a love / hate relationship with shopping , well I say it's shopping but if I'm being totally honest it's Christmas shoppers. I apologise in advance for the unseasonably downer of a Christmas post but I'm afraid the world must be called out on their behaviour and so called 'Christmas cheer'  

I entered with high hopes, my mum had treated me to a slap up breakfast in town and the sight of the biggest and brightest decorations the shopping centres had to offer left me feeling incredibly full of festive cheer and I was incredibly ready and rearing to greet the days worth of shopping. And that's when it happened...

The not so subtle shoving, barging, pushing, lack of shopper etiquette as well as the complete and total abandonment of the much coveted Christmas spirit of the year and so the days events unfolded! If I could pinpoint one moment in the day I began to notice a difference I suppose I would say it all started with a tea set, beautiful, vintage and right up one of my friends/family members street the perfect gift....and did I mention it was also the very last one in store! Having picked it up, examined it for scratches, scathes and general scrappiness I decided, yes, this was the one, but all the while I felt a breath on my neck and a handbag nearly up my backside of another suitor for this tea set and upon discovering, much to her dismay, that I had claimed it as my own audibly sighed, mumbled profanities and shot a look in my direction which can only be described as 'bah humbug'....and that was only the beginning.

Throughout my Christmas journey I encountered similar acts of festive cheer and bah-humbugery of the highest order, such as the lady who decided to stop dead in the middle of the busiest street in town only to tut and titter when everyone maneuvered quickly around her or goodness forbid accidentally bump her handbag or perhaps the tale of the family who decided to use their push chair (child still inside) as a battering ram in order to fully dominate the tiny aisle space in BHS would be a more Christmassy tale. And lets not get started on Poundland (which may as well have a sign above the door which reads, 'Ye who enter here, abandon all hope) where I ditched all of my shopping in favour of sanity at having seen the queuing system, or lack thereof, a pet peeve of mine and the rest of the nation. Or perhaps the most interesting of all the elderly lady in Thorntons  who fully bashed, and made me fall onto the counter, in a bid to show her disdain for her lack of purchase, but not to worry she was quickly shut down by the cashier who came to my rescue as the bumper decided it was in fact my ass that was too big, as opposed to her manners being too few.

Much resembling THAT scene from much beloved comedy Christmas movie, 'Jingle All the Way' (the bit with the ball chasing) my hometown became a bloodbath of red tinsel, festive footwear and frivolous spending (that is the only way I can describe a woman piling handfuls upon handfuls of Christmas gift bags into her paws!)

So today ladies and gentleman I ask, why at the 'most wonderful time of the year', the time we ought to be the kindest, warmest and cheeriest we can be (it is indeed an unrealistic expectation I know) do we behave like animals, abandon all sense of moral right and wrong and simply stress one another out!? I myself have noticed that since the Black Friday madness those of us not living under a rock were forced to endure, shopping and the entire experience has refused to go back to normality and the sales aren't even on any more!

In fact in order to de-stress, cool off, let off some steam and generally calm down my mum and I found ourselves trailing a MILLION bags into the cinema with us to see Paddington, and I tell you it worked wonders, watching a fuzzy wee bear navigate London made Aberdeen and the shoppers look a little bit better.

Everything about the entire Christmas shopping experience this year has forced me to reevaluate the way in which I shop, the next time I shall not be going out armed with a fluffy parka and eyes full of hope, instead my weapon of choice will be steel capped boots and a hard visor! 

As I said I do apologise for the cynical Christmas post but I just wondered if everyone elses Christmas shopping experiences have been similar to mine this year? Or is it perhaps just me? (I really hope not) I would love to hear your Christmas shopping experiences from this year or perhaps you have a funny Black Friday story to share! Either way leave them in the comments below, come share them with me on Twitter or if you'd like to hear more of my Granite City rants be sure to follow me on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, I'll be here catching up with a little zen!

H.Elizabeth x

Winter Reads | Wuthering Heights

Set the scene: A cold, dark, Granite City night, you come in and shake the snow from your drenched fluffy hooded coat and stomp excess snow and water from your boots drop your bags and head to change into those fluffy pj's that have been beckoning all day.

Pyjama and slipper boots ready you whip up a home made hot chocolate complete with canned cream, mini marshmallows and grated chocolate, throw a blanket around your shoulders and settle on the sofa. Cosy setting at the ready you pick up your favourite annual winter read, in this case Wuthering Heights, and scene.

At Christmas there is really nothing better than grabbing a blanket, cup of hot choccie and snuggling down with a good book. I think this is a tradition that nobody can escape, unless of course you're running about like a mad man trying to get Christmas gifts last minute (tut-tut) So with that in mind I thought I would share my annual winter read, why I love it and what it means to me!

At this time of year I'm afraid Dickens and his Christmas Carol just doens't do it for me, in fact nothing says Christmas to me more than Wuthering Heights (despite there being no mention of the festive season in the book!)

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Overly loved copy of Wuthering Heights

I first discovered Wuthering Heights when I was in my final year of school, so about 5 years ago, during an assignment where our English teacher asked us to abandon our comfort zones and read a genre we traditionally wouldn't (with most of the girls choosing the ever so original Twilight - which they traditionally would have read anyway ugh!) so I opted for one of the classics and decided Wuthering Heights dark undertones and twisted story line sounded far more interesting than the trials and tribulations of Mr Darcy or indeed Edward Cullen! During the assignment I read the book two or three times and so began my long lasting love and Christmas tradition of enveloping myself in Bronte's world.

What draws me so much more to this book than the other classics is that the heroine is a very flawed and real character who isn't like your run of the mill female characters from the classics who quite frankly allow their men to walk all over them. Likewise our anti hero, Heathcliff, isn't all frilly shirts and afternoon tea, you really have to look hard and dig deep to find any real and 'usual' romance in the novel.

Of course as a bonus the scenery and entire landscape which Bronte paints of the moors, which you can kind of see on the cover, Wuthering Heights and the locations the characters find themselves in are just spectacular, so chilling, dark and  wintery which of course explains my need for a hot chocolate whilst reading!

I'm not going to explain the plot in great detail for those of you who haven't read it but still may but I will say it will be unlike anything you have ever read before and it far surpasses the times in which it was written especially from a feminist point of view, and I'm not for a moment saying that Cathy in the book is a feminist role model but for the times it was set and written in, but I'm pretty damn sure she was.

Do you have any winter traditions you uphold year upon year no matter what? Share them with me in the comments below or tell me your best reads on Twitter or if you'd like to keep up with my Granite City musings come find me on Bloglovin

Until next time folks.

H.Elizabeth x

Granite City Girl's Christmas Tag

Since it's Christmas time the bloggosphere appears to be overwhelmed with festivities, from the blogger gift exchange and gift ideas for him and her, to all of the festive make up collections and of course who can forget all of the gingerbread syrup products we've all been drooling over.

So I was quite chuffed to be tagged to do this post by Kate of Girl With Bambi Eyes as this year I've been feeling particularly festive!

These days I get more into the Christmas spirit. (Me and my Dad in 1993)

1. What is your favourite Christmas movie/s?

Elf, I still remember seeing this in the cinema when it first came out and I am still as much as in love with it now as I was then. I think cinema wise you get to see a different side to Will Ferrel's acting and it's a completely unique take on the traditional Christmas story. It also helps to be set in New York which I have had a love affair with since a very young age and will continue to until I visit ALL OF THE STORES to get it out of my system!

2. Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
My mum HATES me for this and accuses me of lack of excitement but I always wait until Christmas morning, it's not that I'm not enthused by gifts but I like the wait, plus it feels like Christmas lasts that little bit longer.

3. Do you have a favourite Christmas memory?
My favourite memory from my childhood at Christmas was leaving out a Turkish Delight and glass of Coke for Santa (judging by those Coke ads Santa is an advocate!) At least when he came to my house he got something a little bit different!

4. Favourite Christmas food?
I love gingerbread if we're talking simple festive foods, I love that bit in the Grinch where they give him a Christmas cookie but he eats the plate, the gingerbread looks amazing. In fact the entire who feast in the Grinch looks amazing! If we're talking favourite part of Turkey dinner, I'd have to say roast potatoes with cranberry sauce, delish!

5. Favourite Christmas gift?As a kid I got an amazing Barbie dream house, I was very much a girly girl back then too, I remember it was mainly pink and white and it had blue roofing and I was jealous of her interiors and truth be told I still am,  Barbie has got taste!

6. Favourite Christmas scent?

Cinnamon scents are my favourite scents ever, I love anything tasting of cinnamon and extra bonus if its apple and cinnamon.

7. Do you have any Christmas traditions?
I must still be in bed before midnight, otherwise it just throws off Christmas, even if it's 11.55pm it must be before! We also always watch Elf when we're putting up our tree, truth be told that is quite a recent tradition that Nick and I have implemented over the last 3 years. Oh and when we're opening present I always sit on my blanket on the floor, some childhood traditions you just don't let go of!

8. What tops your Christmas tree?
A silver glittery star, I like to keep it traditional when it comes to our tree and those angels often freak me out!

9. As a kid what was the one (crazy, wild, extravagant) gift you asked for but never got?
Probably a puppy, I was never too disappointed though I got some amazing gifts, and I still do!

10. What's the best part about Christmas for you?

I love watching people open their gifts on Christmas morning, I also love sitting eating my breakfast on Christmas morning while this is happening, food and presents have to be the best combo ever!

This tag has been so much fun to do I really do recommend you give it a bash if you're a bit low on the festive spirit this season so with that in mind I tag all of you bloggers and even non bloggers to give this a bash on your facebooks, blogs, social media or even writing it down will help.

Of course if you've enjoyed reading this or if you'd even like to share some of your Christmas memories, drop me a comment below, send me a Tweet or of course if you'd like to keep up with the latests on my Aberdeen antics, little life posts and such like, come find me on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks!

H.Elizabeth x

Valentines Day - A Granite City Romance

Happy Valentines Day everyone, today I thought I'd do something a little bit different to the traditional 'valentines day look' blog post and instead tell you a bit more about my own love life in the form of documenting my relationship milestones in photographs thus far. 

Going Courting: Year 1

First things first, Nick and I met a fairly generic way in a bar in Summer...while he was clad in lycra and dressed as one of the greatest cult superheroes of all time, Spider-man. Indeed I love the eccentric and meeting a man in dressed lycra, on a Summers night, for no particular reason...well naturally this was a pairing that was meant to be (plus the comical link of Spider-man and redhead Mary Jane)

Going Steady: Year 2

This year Nick and I came a long way in our relationship, as a very talented watch maker I received the most thought out and personal gift, a custom watch as you can see above (he's a difficult gift giver to top!) For our first anniversary we hired bikes and embarrassingly Nick taught me how to ride one... (when I say I'm a city girl I mean it in the most literal sense) And on another milestone, we took our first couples holiday to Rome. City of romance and rejection I'm afraid (My attire wasn't appropriate enough for his highness the pope..oops) But lovely none the less the Trevi Fountain is on my list of top favourite romantic places.

Going Down the Aisle: Year 3

Last year marked one of the best years of my life as you can probably guess. On taking a trip to London for our anniversary Nick proposed in the only way I would have expected, while we were eating pizza and he was dressed as Spider-man. Best holiday ever! (to end on a high I'll tell you the top right pic is us at the Rocky Horror Picture Show)

And here are some of the other bits in between

I hope everyone else is having as fab a Valentines day as I am, I look forward to the next 3 years worth of milestones Nick and beginning the rest of my life with him as from August this year.

How have you guys been spending your Valentines Day, drop me a comment below, send me a Tweet or if you want to keep up with my posts follow me on Bloglovin

H.Elizabeth