Fat Punk Rock Pixie

I have a low threshold for boredom with my hair, I think I have been every colour pretty much either deliberately or accidentally except green!  Recently I have been playing with candy colours or sweet wrapper vivids of pink and purple, but then I lost my terrible Call Centre job, so was on a job hunt so thought it would be best to have "normal" coloured hair, I hated it I felt middle aged and boring!  At the same time I was trying to grow my hair from a crop but the last cut had been a bit of a disaster with the hairdresser not going with the way my hair falls so it never fell right.

So I toyed with the idea of Ariel orange but my heart was yearning for the cupcake pinks, so as I was having trouble deciding I did a poll of my Facebook friends who unanimously went for candy colours and one Mr Steve Glamoore suggested this:

What can I say, I was hooked I love a pastel pixie, so I got on the phone and booked my hair in Swansea at a place called Boosh in Picton Arcade, with a lovely bloke called Nic.  He listened to what I said didn't try and dissuade me from colouring my own hair and this is the end result.

So this was the haircut please excuse the bitch face I still struggle with having my photo taken a lot.  I really like it but I also know styling will be fun if I am to avoid looking a bit to butch for my taste.

I then raided Boots and Blue Banana for the necessary dyes.

So from Boots I got the Bleach London Violet, The Big Pink and a white toner and from Blue Banana I got a Violet directions and the directions bleach at 30% and a crazy colour in Lilac, which the girl behind the counter said came out the same colour as what I wanted.  Finally I bought a white conditioner from Savers to water dyes down if I went with a home mix option.  I know this seems a lot but candy colours often need topping up and like I said I get bored easily.

So after enlisting the husband with the bleaching I was about the colour of a spring chick, then I used the white toner and I have to say I was quietly impressed by this and it got my hair from the yellow to this:

God awful picture but I think you'll agree cream not yellow

Then against my better judgement I used the Crazy Colour Lilac.  Now I have never been a big fan of Crazy Colour I find the colours wash out, can be patchy and aren't particularly true, but the girl said her friend had used this and it had come out as the colour on the original picture.  So on it went and despite having some reservations about how blue it looked on my head I persevered and here was the final result.

Although it looks purpleish here it was decidedly more blue tinged, so I waited overnight and then I mixed a concoction of the Bleach London, I quite like the Bleach London products and find they are on par with the Directions dyes, but there is one thing the lovely milk bottle design of the bottle makes it impossible to use all the dye which is annoying.  To try and achieve a better colour I used the Big Pink and white VO5 conditioner popped it on and waited.........

Ta Dah the final result!

Although it is no where near the lovely blondey lilac tones of the first pic, I think I needed to use less dye more conditioner to achieve that I am quite happy and think I look like a bit of a Punk Rock Pixie with it and think with some washing it will get there!  

Snacking Saturdays

Following on from Last Saturdays, dirty fries I thought I would share with you my homemade Sausage and Egg Mc Muffins, now there is a lot of these recipes floating around the internet but this one is my favorite and can probably make 6 sausage patties if you are careful 4 if you a bit more hungry/greedy. I will also apologise for the lack of pictures but I arrived home and it was all a bit of a rush! Then my camera wasn't around so I am afraid you've got a terrible mobile phone snap of the finished article.

So what you will need

For the sausage patties:

500 grams Pork Mince

1/2 teaspoon Grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon Thyme

1/2 teaspoon Sage/Rosemary (either will do)

1/2 teaspoon crushed chillis

1 teaspoon ground black peppercorns

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

Then obs:

Eggs

Muffins

Processed Cheese Slices

Then literally all you do is put all the stuff for the sausage patties in a bowl and smoosh it all together, if your being precise you can then roll it out and cut it into rounds with a round cookie cutter about the same size as a muffin, otherwise separate into balls and flatten (tip when flattened use your thumb to hollow the middle a bit more) then grill those bad boys.

Whilst waiting for the Sausages to cook construct the rest grill the muffins to your liking and butter if required and pop the cheese on.

To make the eggs I use one of these:

A nifty microwave egg poacher you can get these usually in Poundland or somewhere like that but be careful as if you leave it too long it can pop its lid and make a bit of a mess.

Then construct, and Voila!

Enjoy with ketchup, Hash Browns or whatever floats your boat!

Swansea Shopping Haul

So as I said I went shopping yesterday, as it was in Swansea it was mainly a Primark Haul.  I was impressed with Primark there are loads of cool T-shirts at the moment, even though I am a bit miffed they had sold out of the Barbie T-shirts in my size, but there were loads of retro style T-shirts available and I would have loved more really especially the grey Nirvana T-shirt.

So my choices were the retro Jurassic Park T Shirt, the Bart Simpson T, which I would love to style with some Blackheart Creatives round earrings in pink or green saying WOW! The Ariel T shirt cos who doesn't love The Little Mermaid? and a black vest cos you can never have too many and I always lose them like other people lose socks.  The fit of these T shirts were good and quite roomy and I would say could fit up to a size 24.

A My little Pony sweatshirt a bargain at a tenner, not much to say apart from I can't wait to style that Bad Boy up!

I also hit the accessories and bought a couple of belts as I am trying to accessorise more and belts scare me a bit, and some blingtastic earrings.  Again there were loads of good and cheap accessories in there but as I had bought so many tops I thought I best go easy.  Although I had to pop into a fancy dress shop and saw retro pink cats eye sunnies and thought these are coming home with me, probably because I never got over wanting to be a Pink Lady.

Finally I went to Boots, cos this brown barnet has to go and I want/need a lipstick and have been lusitng after the matte balm Revlon ones.  Even though it said the hair and make up offer were different offers (the 3 for 2 was on) when I got to the counter they said I could have a third item free so I got a nice pastel green nail varnish as I don't have enough pastels.

So that was my haul. there was a lot of lovely stuff I did fall rather hard for a floral Kimono that was meant as a beach cover up, but alas it was too long for me to style with Jeans like I'd want to, but it might work for someone taller.

But that is it for now, I can't wait to do some outfit of the days using these clothes!

OOTD Primarni Queen

So to celebrate the wet weather we continue to have I went shopping today in Swansea in my Duck dress.  Personally I don't think Swansea is that amazing for shopping it has a lot of the usual High Street Suspects but I do think that it has a good Primark, reasonably good Debenhams and a pretty good Boots, but everywhere else is just okay and I am always irritated that New Look stopped doing the Inspire range although you can get it in the New Look on the retail parks at Forest Fach and Morfa Park, I did go to both today on my way back but it was a bit meh.  However, I did get quite the Primarni haul which I will show you tomorrow.

So for this adventure I felt layers were the name of the game, so I wore a very old Duck Print Primark Dress, a Pink Primark Cardie and leggings from George at Asda with some Ballet flats from Marks as comfort is the name of the game for me when shopping.   This was accessorised with a pink bow from Janine Basil that always makes me feel a bit like Hello Kitty.  I would have liked a nice pink lip too but I have a awful cold sore that is making me feel a bit like a leper so a spot of carmex was popped on instead.

The best photo of a bad lot as my official photographer was wanting to watch Curling,

Love the bow, hate the hair but that is about to change!

Not the most fashion forward shoes but easy to slip on and off.

Dress - Primark (old)

Pink Cardie - Primark

Leggings - Asda

Ballet Shoes - Mark and Spencers

Pink Bow - Janine Basil

So where do you love to shop where you live? What is like?  and what are your top tips for wearing when shopping?

Flowers In The Pouring Rain

Initially this post was going to about daisy print, in the preview of Evan's new collection that was on The Arched Eyebrow there was a gorgeous daisy overlay over a zingy neon background, I don't know if this is ever going to make an appearance, but it hasn't yet and there are some very safe daisy prints on there. but gradually the daisy thing has proved a bit monochrome for me and I need colour to brighten up this grey Welsh winter, I am squelching my way through.

I also make no apologies for a lot of dresses, I am a 90's girl at heart and I spent a lot of my youth in DM's and flowery dresses, dying my hair with henna and trying to do a sorta  Riot Grrrl, hippie meets Tori Amos chic and I'm not sure I'm over it yet.

So my picks

Daisy Collar Skater Dress -AX Paris Curve on Simply Be £45.00

I love this dress and would probably wear it with tights and either flat or heeled Mary Jane Style Shoes and a satchel.

Lipstick Boutique Floral Panel Pencil Dress - Asos Curve £65.00

I have only just got into body con dresses recently as I was scared I would look too porky and bumpy.  The first time I wore anything at all like this was at Plus London and I found I like it, I'm still not brave enough to wear it without shapewear and I would probably style this in a classic way with seamed stockings and plain black heels.

Alice & You Floral Print Playsuit - Asos Curve £28.00

I think this would look great with either clunky school girl style shoes or DM's in the winter and sandals and bare legs in the summer.

Liz McClarnon Bikini - Simply Be £30.00

I am no fan of Atomic Kitten but of Liz McClarnon's swimwear collection with its daisies and flamingos, oh yes.   I am also trying to clear my next fashion hurdle the bikini and I could think of worse places to start than this really cute retro style daisy Bikini.

New Look Inspire Fringed Kimono -£22.99

I can imagine wafting around in some ballet flats and jeans like a fat Sienna or Kate and the kimono is another style I want to try as I have seen loads of blogger babes looking great in them.

Daisy Printed Doll Dress - Simply Be £49.00 

This is a very 90's style dress and I like it, they also do a bird print one in the same style that rocks too.

 Daisy Necklace - Boden £10.00

If full on floral isn't your thing then this necklace from Boden is really cute and a bit Boho/Hippie in style.

Woven Front Floral Print Sweat- Pink Clove £18.00

I think this is really wearable and would look good for my work with kids where practicality is the name of the game.

Asos Salon Dress with Floral Embellishment - Asos £59.50

I think this is really pretty and I love the bright blue, it is currently in the sale and most sizes are still available, I think there is a discount of 15% at checkout for sale stuff too.

Daisy (Sunshine) - Marc Jacobs £49.00 for 50mls

And if it is still too cold to even contemplate anything but Jeans and Jumpers in this rain sozzled winter maybe this beautiful bottle would perk up your dressing table.

So those are my picks are you a floral fan or is it just too girl for you?  Or have you seen/bought anything floral to brighten these grey wet days that never seen to end?

OOTD - Cosmic Girl

I love a print, I have prints of Gnomes, Care Bears, Wizard of Oz, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Alexander Henry's Fishing Girls, so when I saw one of my favourtite brands Get Cutie were having a sale I couldn't resist a peek, as usually the cost of their dresses makes them a very special treat.  Unfortunately the Mexican Wrestler fabric dress I have been coveting for a while wasn't in my size but there was a very nice cosmic print dress in the Belle style in my size and frankly who could resist wearing the solar system.

Dress - Get Cutie Sale

Black Cardigan - Asda

Boots - Clarks

Satchel - Paul Frank via E bay

Hairband - Janine Basil

Now sorry for the awkward posing this is one of my first outfit of the day posts, where I have posed for the picture rather than the picture happening organically.

The dress has no sleeves and as it is still cold I have teamed it with a long black cardie from Asda, shapewear tights from Monsoon which claim to fit up to a size 28, but are a bit tight on me really at a short 20 -22, and my trusty Clarks boots.  The bag a Paul Frank satchel which was a pressie from my hubby and I love it as it is so shiny and has the cute Julius head on it.

As there is a high neckline I didn't bother with a necklace and teamed it with a Janine Basil Hairband with glittery blue stars that I just adore and wear as often as possible.

All in all I think this is kind of a funky science teacher look, although I failed science spectacularly, back in the day.

Dirty Fries

Not to be  a terrible cliched fattie, today I have been craving American food,  from food blogs, shows and people's twitter feeds I have heard about the joy which are Garbage Fries.  So off I went to Asda to gather up some toppings for my fries.

I decided that my fries would be topped with Pulled Pork, sour cream, crispy onions, chilli sauce (that is what is in the disturbing looking battered white tub, I love this from my Kebab shop back in Deal)  and I wanted cheese, but I wanted this to be the processed type I remembered that the low low cheese spread could be used as a sauce if melted in the microwave and I thought if it worked it would be perfect.  I did buy some Doritos Nacho Cheese dip but am pleased to report this was unnecessary.  I also as well as the salad crispy onion fried a red onion till crispy and that is what the black bits are in the final pic.

As I wanted that fried fries taste, we bought the chips and the low low didn't have quite the fluorescent glow but overall I was quite happy and it satisfied my craving.

If anyone else has any American style recipes please pop them in the comments box as I do love to cook