October Favourites ’22

Happy Halloween guys! It’s tomorrow, one of my favourite times of year, and unfortunately, I’m not here for it. I bought decorations and never put them up, and I had a pumpkin to carve (thanks to my dad and his pumpkin patch!) but due to have a cold/flu this week, I haven’t even felt up to doing it. I’m gutted. Halloween this year has been a major flop for me for many reasons, which is a shame.

It’s not all doom and gloom in the run up to November though, as me and Dane are now on holiday from work for a week! We’ve been in need of some long time off of work so we’re both looking forward to it.

October really flew by and I can’t believe it’s November in just a few days. I love this time of year due to Halloween and Bonfire Night, but the weather is vile, which is such a shame. I hope during our week off the weather holds off a little, I don’t want to just have a wet week off work. 😦

I’m not going to waffle on anymore, let’s get on with the favourites!

Beauty – Neutrogena Hydro Boost Body Gel Cream.

This is a body cream I’ve been using for quite a while now, couple of months now maybe? Unfortunately I recently discovered that I’m allergic to The Body Shop’s strawberry body yogurt on my legs, so I’ve had to discontinue using that there, and instead I’ve been using the Neutrogena gel cream. I don’t just use this on my legs, sometimes I will use all over as it’s such a quick and easy body gel cream to use! It absorbs quickly, feels light and cooling and smells lovely and fresh too! This is one where a little bit goes a long way too, and I already know I’ll be repurchasing this, especially when it costs less than £5! I also have the spray version too, which I don’t use too often… I need to use it more!

Movie – Various horror including Rec and House of 1000 Corpses.

The past week we’ve spent many evenings watching horror movies through Shudder, a movie subscription service dedicated to horror! We have a seven day free trial and so far we’ve watched quite a few films on there, but the two that stand out to me are Rec and House of 1000 Corpses, the latter being a movie my boyfriend has wanted me to watch since we got together! Rec is always a film I’d heard of due to the remake, but I never actually knew what it was about. Alas I was surprised as I watched it and I thoroughly enjoyed! If you’ve never seen it, you should watch it too, not the remake, the original!

My boyfriend did pre-warn me about House of 1000 Corpses about how “amateur” it is due to it being done by Rob Zombie, who at the time was more known as a musician than director. This was the first film he directed and you can kind of tell, but that’s what is so charming about the film itself! The film is about a group of teenagers who are kidnapped by a family during Halloween. My favourite character (one I’m sure the film is best known for) is Captain Spaulding. He’s fucking hilarious and I can’t get enough of some of the stuff he says, hence the clip above.

TV Show – Chainsaw Man.

I haven’t read the manga, but I was so hyped about the anime for Chainsaw Man releasing a couple of weeks ago! I’ve always heard amazing things about the manga series from my friend Sammie, as well as from members of the Worlds Apart Discord community. We’re on three episodes so far and it’s constantly giving you action and things to get you to the edge of your seat. We follow Denji, a teenage human boy, who is orphaned, and has to hunts devils in order to pay off his families debt. With his pet devil Pochita by his side, he can do what he needs to. However, something bad happens, which changes Denji’s life. I won’t say anymore as I don’t wish to spoil but… I’m loving this series so far and I already can’t wait for the next episode on Tuesday. 😛

Music – PVRIS – “Anywhere But Here” and “Animal”.

Recently PVRIS released two new songs in the form of a short film, where both songs were featured. I really love both of these songs, more so “Anywhere But Here” as I love the lyrics and melody style vibe and sound behind it. I do really like “Animal” as well as it feels the complete opposite to “Anywhere But Here” with harder guitar riffs and more, with the lyrics being a little more edgy too and with a rebel attitude? I remember seeing around the end of October that PVRIS had something new to reveal to fans, so I was excited it would at least be a new song, but the fact we got treated to two?! I can’t remember if I mentioned on my blog previously, but at the start of August I finally bit the bullet and booked to see PVRIS live, and I’m so bloody excited for it! Since I discovered PVRIS in 2019 I’ve been dying to go and see them live. 🙂

Game – PlateUp!

This is a game one of our friends was talking about, which intrigued me. I watched the trailer above and I just knew I had to give it a go! As it’s a game Dane already owned, we opted to play it on the split screen play together with said friend and since then I’ve been itching to play it! This was only yesterday by the way. 😛 So, PlateUp! is about running a restaurant, including cooking in the kitchen, serving the customers, as well as cleaning after them. Pretty much Overcooked, BUT it isn’t as stressful, which is always nice. One thing I especially liked about this game is the fact it’s couch co-op, so you don’t need two copies for you and a someone else to play! It’s up to four players, so maybe even four of you could play at the same time!

Just a few of my favourite things…

A new cross stitch project!

At the start of October I started a new cross stitch project and it’s one I was so anxious about at first, so much so I left it untouched for about a week? Since then I’ve been picking it up every other night and a couple of weeks later it’s looking as it does above. If you can’t tell, this is a Studio Ghibli inspired piece from Spirited Away. It’s Chihiro’s little yellow shoes, surrounded by soot sprites. As we don’t like shoes on in the house, I decided to cross stitch this design for our home to hang up! I’m planning to have it completed before the new Pokemon games come out mid November. The design/pattern is by the same person who I bought my Eevee design/pattern off, which I’ll link here.

New smock dresses.

If there’s one style of dress I’m mad about right now, it’s smock dresses. I can’t get enough of them, honestly! I received a couple recently, one being a pre-order, the other being a bargain find on eBay! I’ll talk about them in the order shown about.

The ghost smock dress is by Lazy Girl Club, which I mentioned recently on my October wish list here. I pre-ordered this dress over a month ago and a few weeks ago, it arrived! I love ghosts, so I knew I couldn’t resist this dress for Halloween, as well as all year around! The only issue I have with it though is it’s far too big for me, which people have commented on. If I don’t wear a harness or belt around the middle, I look like I’m trying to hide a pregnancy, which personally isn’t a look I want. Due to this I’m looking for a harness I can wear with this a lot of the time. I do have a Black Milk Clothing corset style harness that I’m wearing in the above photo, which works so well with it! I’ll probably try and wear this at work one day and see how I get on! If you’d like to get one of your own ghost smock dresses by Lazy Girl Club, or any other of her pieces for that matter, get over to her store ASAP as she’s just reopened it for orders!

The eBay bargain I found is this Lazy Oaf sally dress! I’ve seen this dress pop up on eBay and Vinted on and off, but when someone popped one on eBay for under £40, I couldn’t resist! It was brand new with tags and a complete bargain. I couldn’t wait for it to arrive so I could wear it to work and more. I’ve worn it a few times and it’s definitely too big for me, but it’s fine with a belt around the middle! It’s very cosy and perfect for colder days with a cardigan layered over the top of it. When I wore it to work I got a lot of compliments, which was really nice!

Lumichee goodies.

Finally, my long awaited Lumichee goodies arrived that I ordered! I can’t remember if I mentioned on my blog, but I placed this order through a courier service as the costs I would have paid through Etsy were a joke! I have no regrets and since the hoodie arrived, I’ve pretty much lived in it. 😛 I went for the mousemoth hoodie, as well as a sakura inspired mousemoth plush. I’m already chomping at the bit to place a second order, but I must be good due to Christmas looming! I don’t want to talk too much about these as I plan to write a blog post about these at some point in November. 🙂

So, there we have it, my favourites for October! Did you find October flew by really quickly?

What were your favourites from October? Anything I’ve mentioned that you’re planning to check out? Also, what plans do you have for Halloween tomorrow and Bonfire Night next week? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and have an amazing (and safe) Halloween and Bonfire Night next week!

April Favourites ’22

I can’t quite believe it’s the end of another month already! I mean, one more day and…

Gif taken from Giphy

Sorry, not sorry. 😛 But yes, it’s going to be May tomorrow and I can’t quite believe we are a month away from being halfway through 2022.

Not going to lie, I’m a mixture of excited and nervous for May for a few reasons. It’s going to be nice to have another long bank holiday weekend this weekend, but in a couple of weeks I’ll be going to see My Chemical Romance! Regular readers and friends will know I have been waiting for two years to see them now due to Covid, so I’m glad the time is finally coming up! I printed off my tickets recently so I’m almost ready to go. I’m so excited, but sort of nervous too for many reasons. I haven’t been to a gig since 2017 when I saw cKy, which was a longgg time ago now! I’m also feeling anxious about Covid too. It would suck for both me and Dane to leave the gig with Covid… That being said, it’ll be worth it at this point as I’ve been waiting long enough to go and see MCR! I’m going to try and save up some monies towards merchandise, as I can see me buying a lot of it… Especially t-shirts and hoodies. 😛

Alongside going to see MCR, I’m also planning to go and visit Emily (link to blog) whilst we’re in Milton Keynes! We did try and meet up before/during the cKy gig but it didn’t happen sadly. I’m so excited to meet her! We’ve been blogging friends for as long as I can remember now (over six years I feel!) so it’ll be lovely to see her, and her furry companions too. Go and check her blog out by the way, I have linked it for you all. 🙂

Alongside that, I don’t know what other plans me and Dane have for May, maybe plan something in for our anniversary in June, as well as planning/seeing friends too? We shall see!

One final thing I want to mention is how excited I am for this months content! I have some cute posts coming up in the next couple of weeks and I cannot wait to share them all with you. I know April was a bit of a quieter month but I was so busy over Easter, I didn’t really get much time for myself, let alone sitting down to write.

For now however, lets get on with this months favourites!

Favourite Beauty Product – Peripera – Ink Mood Drop Tint – Bubble Berry and Berry Vibe.

With my March pay I decided to treat myself to some new lip products from YesStyle. I really love wearing lipstick, but as the years have passed, I’ve worn it less and less. I used to live for my MAC satin lipsticks, then liquid lipsticks and now I’m more about my lip stains/tints and glosses. I’ve always found Korean brands lip tints are the best all rounder for lip products, they hydrate, leave gorgeous colour and are affordable. I’ve tried Peripera in the past and really do rate their products highly, so I decided to order myself a couple of lip tints from their ink mood drop range. Bubble Berry and Berry Vibe are both pink lip tints, one being darker than the other. Bubble Berry is described as, “cool berry pink” and Berry Vibe is described as, “bright berry plum”. Alongside the colours being gorgeous and wearable for any occasion, the product itself isn’t sticky, easy to apply and lasts for hours! It’s perfect and I’m so glad to finally have some pink lip tints in my collection.

Favourite Film – Jackass Forever.

As a massive Jackass fan, I have a lot to say about the latest movie. First of all, I have been a fan since I was ten years old in 2000. I adore all the TV show and the movies and if anything they got me through my dissertation for my BA studies at university, as well as some darker times. I’m also a fan of the cKy movies and Viva La Bam. With this being said, Ryan Dunn and Bam Margera not being part of the fourth movie broke my heart a little and I knew from the start that it wouldn’t feel like Jackass to me when I watched it. I finally saw the fourth instalment in April and I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it. There were stunts that had clearly been done before by others and in my opinion, there were clearly stunts that had been written by Bam (I don’t know if anyone else thought this too?). The new cast were great, I have to say, they appeared to be up for anything (and judging by some of their tattoos, had been Jackass fans from a young age like me) and I feel like stunts they did now, were stunts that the Jackass crew back in the day wouldn’t have done. If you don’t know, this is Johnny Knoxville’s last Jackass film… Or so he says, so for his final film I just felt like it was lacking so much and that in itself made me sad. I’m intrigued to see if they do another TV show for the new cast, or another film. I feel like the films should have been left at three, after watching this one. Again, as I said, I didn’t love or hate it, but sadly I think Jackass should be done now, or at least just leave the new cast to do their own thing and retire the old? I don’t know. Let me know what you think! Please excuse the word vomit here by the way, I have so many thoughts about it haha.

Favourite TV Show/Anime – SPY x FAMILY.

With new season anime, comes a new anime show to share with you all! SPY x FAMILY is new for this season and is one me and Dane have been watching for the past couple of weeks since it began. I know this was a manga first of all and one quite a few people I know read and love. I wasn’t massively fussed about watching the anime when it was announced, but seeing as Dane put it on, I thought, “Why not!” and now I really enjoy it! As the name suggests, it’s about a spy family, but with a twist. I don’t want to say too much in case of spoilers, but Twilight, a spy, has to create a family in order to complete one of his missions. The girl he adopts has telepathy and the woman he marries is an assassin. Due to her telepathy the girl knows what her adoptive parents true lives are, but the parents don’t know each others. So far it’s a mixture of funny and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I adore all of the characters so far and Anya (the girl) reminds me of a diclonius from Elfen Lied due to her pink hair and the strange black hair bun covers she wears (which remind of the diclonius horns). I definitely recommend you checking it out and personally, I much prefer the sub to dub, it just works better.

Favourite Music – Saliva – Back Into Your System.

Over the Easter bank holiday me and Dane decided to deep clean our kitchen. It had been long overdue and with family coming over for Dane’s birthday and Easter, we decided to finally do it. During our time cleaning, we decided to put on nu metal from the early noughties, which is a genre of rock music that we both love. At one point Saliva came on and it reminded me of their third album Back Into Your System that I LOVED back in the day and listened to religiously. I remember exactly how I discovered it, through looking for clips from Elfen Lied the song “Weight Of The World” plays against the top of it, which I fell in love instantly. It’s still one of my favourite songs and I’ve honestly missed listening to this album.

Image taken from Wikipedia

Favourite Game – Raft.

This is a game Dane bought for me a while ago so we could play together. Before and during Easter we played it quite a bit, as it’s a really nice, relaxing game to sit and play after a busy day of work. We’ve recently stopped playing it as much as we’ve found it’s getting a little repetitive, but I’m pretty sure we’ll pick it up again some day. The premise of the game is you need to survive and built your raft up. You do occasionally float by islands, which you can stop at to gather more resources, you pretty much live on your raft though. We didn’t realise at first, but there is a story to this game! Our understanding of this is that you play as siblings who need to find their family through radio messages and more. I don’t think we’ve done a lot with the story yet, the idea of the surviving is fun to us! I highly recommend this, but more so if you can play with friends, as it’s just a bunch easier!

Just a few of my favourite things…

Loungefly Cinnamoroll backpack.

To give you all a sneak peak of one of the posts coming up in May on my blog, I wanted to briefly share my latest Loungefly addition, and boy, do I love it! Easter I decided to finally pick up the Cinnamoroll Loungefly backpack, after debating it for months. I’ve been using it since it arrived last weekend and I really love it. It’s comfortable to wear, cute and fits everything quite nicely. It does kind of feel on the small side, but that’s probably because I carry around too much stuff. I think my only worry with this bag is the obvious one, it’s white, so I worry it’ll be stained and dirty easily. That being said, life is too short for regret. I wanted this bag for a while and now I finally have it, I’m going to use it! I snagged it for a bargain of £45 from Pop Figures. They’re Midlands based so this arrived in a couple of days after ordering. I’ll be talking about this bag on a blog post in the next couple of weeks!

Mini Egg nails.

As we all know, Easter was a couple of weeks ago and just before it I was due a new set of gel nails. I decided to go for Mini Egg inspired nails, as not only are they my favourite chocolate, but since 2019 (when I started getting gel manicures) I’ve always wanted to do these nails. So, FINALLY I’ve been able to do it! They’re getting redone this weekend and I’m feeling an emo theme, ready for when I go to see My Chemical Romance. I’m actually really sad to see these go, but I can always get them done again soon. 😀

Animal Crossing Timmy & Tommy amiibo.

On Dane’s birthday we decided to go out and do some geeky shopping and I FINALLY snagged the Timmy & Tommy amiibo figure I was after! This wasn’t cheap at £18, but a lot of places sell it for £20 and up, so I can’t complain too much. Plus Dane bought it for me as he knew how much I’ve wanted it. It’s such a cute figure and in amazing condition. I gave it a good clean when I came home and it’s now in place with all the other Animal Crossing amiibo figures. Now I only have Kicks left to get and potentially Smash Bros Isabelle. The shop I picked it up from is an independent vintage game shop in Birmingham called Vintage Gamer. If you’re in Birmingham like me, or fancy a day trip, I HIGHLY recommend! There’s so many vintage games and consoles, you could spend hours there. Plus the staff are really lovely to chat to, which is always good.

Pokemon Vulpix Flocked POP! vinyl.

This is a new addition to my very small POP! vinyl collection, but one I just couldn’t resist when I saw people talking about it on Instagram. I do love some of the Pokemon POP! vinyl figures as they look adorable, and Vulpix is always one I’ve had on my list to get as and when, so when I saw Smyths had the flocked version, I pre ordered and collected it later that day! It’s still sat in the box, as I’m unsure if I ever want to worry the flocking on it gets dusty/dirty and ruined! It’s such a cute little figure and I’m so glad I picked it up now. 🙂

Lazy Oaf Rainbow Sally t-shirt dress.

Finally I want to share with you one of my recent finds on Vinted! The image isn’t mine, but it is from the listing I bought the dress off of, so it’s fine. 😛 I haven’t yet taken a photo of the dress, nor worn it as I’ve been so busy, but I’m sure I’ll wear soon and post all about it! Anyway, this Lazy Oaf rainbow sally dress has been on my Lazy Oaf grail list for as long as I can remember. Every time I’ve found this dress for sale on second hand websites it would go for silly prices well over £60, and I just don’t have time for spending money that much on pre loved items, no matter what brand. So, when I saw this pop up on Vinted in my size for £25, I knew I had to snap it up! A couple of days later it arrived, was washed and is now waiting in my wardrobe to be worn! I’m so excited to wear it, it’s so comfy to wear and with some tights, and maybe my heart buckle belt, I’ll look adorable and ready for the summer!!!

So, there we have it guys, my favourites from April! I honestly can’t believe we’re already into May tomorrow, this month has flown and it’s been quiet nice to say the least, which I’m thankful for.

As we’re in another bank holiday weekend this weekend, what are you plans for it? Plus, what items are in your favourites list this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time, take care and have a lovely weekend.

Dr Martens x Lazy Oaf Buckle Boot

First things first, Happy belated Easter everyone! Last weekend with the bank holiday was so busy for me that I unfortunately didn’t have time to do much with my blog. Regardless of how busy Easter was, I had a lovely one that was filled with yummy food, shopping, birthday celebrations and more.

Anyhoo… I know you probably didn’t sign up for fashion based posts, but bear with me… Ten years ago when my journey with There Might Be Coffee began it was pretty much all about beauty and fashion. I was obsessed with both and I wanted to shout out about it to the world! Granted, I still love my beauty stuff, but fashion has been hit and miss the past ten years. Before I got with Dane I was all over it, but after me and Dane got together I definitely relaxed with it a little and the past two years with Covid, the way I dressed really changed, and not in a good way. Due to being stuck at home due to lockdown I lived in joggers, leggings, t-shirts, sweaters and hoodies, and some days my pyjamas. 2022 is the year of me really identifying how I’d like to dress, both for my age as well as my aesthetic. I know for a fact I’m not the only one who got a kick up the arse from lockdown fashion “to sort myself out”…

I think I mentioned all of this on my blog post about Tallulah’s Threads, but before Covid I practically lived in mom jeans and sweaters/t-shirts. I can’t remember the last time I reached for my mom jeans as these days I just prefer dresses, both for comfort and for how bloody cute they are, especially smock dresses.

Alongside buying loads of staple pieces for work and personal (mostly dresses to be fair), I recently decided to buy myself a pair of Dr Martens boots I’d been eyeing up for quite some time. I wanted to share them with you today as not only do I feel like I snagged a bargain, but I also want to share my Dr Martens tips with you all… Aka a guide of not coming away with broken feet. 😛

This isn’t the first time I’ve written about my Dr Martens purchases on my blog and I’m sure it won’t be the last! You can read about my first pair of Dr Martens boots here and my Adventure Time Dr Martens here too.

So, just a little about these boots. They were a 2019 collaboration between Dr Martens and Lazy Oaf, which is kind of obvious from the name of the post. There were a few different styles brought out in this collection, including sandals, creepers and especially the buckle boots I’ll be sharing today.

From memory I do recall seeing these released/discussed at the time but didn’t really think much about them. I had booked my trip to Japan and was trying to save as much money as possible for that. However, I did see quite a few people I follow on Instagram get them and the more they posted about them, the more I wanted a pair myself. Again, due to the Japan trip I didn’t look or buy myself a pair.

Just before we booked our Japan trip I did buy a pair of Dr Martens boots I’d had my eye on for a while… Which I’m now selling after only wearing once! They’re heavy to wear due to a steel toe and yeah, I regret buying them. I hope they go to a good home soon.

During lockdowns between 2020 and 2021 I did look at the buckle boots again, but never really thought much about them. The sole is thicker than what I’m used to with Dr Martens and the idea of it put me off. This being said, I stupidly bought some platform trainers… Which have since been sold as I never wore them…

To add here by the way, I’ve always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Lazy Oaf. I’ve always loved their quirky pieces, especially the Boring rainbow cardigan (which I own), as well as the pastel version of it (which I want), but I’ve always really hated some of the pieces they bring out, and don’t even get me started on the prices! I feel like Lazy Oaf is a great brand, but it often feels like influencers on Instagram or YouTubers purchase or are sent the goods, do reviews of them and haul videos (which is great!), but as soon as us “norms” go onto the website to buy stuff it’s often sold out or stupidly priced.

Aside from that, I do have some Lazy Oaf pieces I’ve obtained second hand through Depop, Vinted and eBay. Only one of my Lazy Oaf pieces was brand new, but even then I bought it through Depop. I don’t think I can afford Lazy Oaf new to be honest with you… 😛

Some second hand buying advise (that your probably didn’t ask for), for anyone who is after Lazy Oaf pieces on a budget, or just wants to do their bit buying second hand, I definitely recommend Depop, Vinted and eBay for sure! Look daily and don’t pay more than you would brand new. I recently found a Lazy Oaf grail and paid an amazing price for it second hand. I’ll share it in my April favourites next week!

Aside from that, let’s talk about the boots. I could be here all day talking about my Lazy Oaf finds and purchases over the years. If this is a blog post you would be interested in in the future, please let me know in the comments.

As I’ve already mentioned, these boots have a double sole, something I’m not used to, but that being said it’s not really noticeable when wearing the boots. I was expecting them to be really heavy, but alas they aren’t, which I’m grateful for.

The boots themselves are black, with pink heart motifs on the tongue, as well as on the back of the boot.

As you can tell by the name of these boots, they are a buckle boot, with the buckle shape being a silver heart, alongside with a silver zip in front of the tongue and behind the buckle.

Although these have the traditional Dr Martens boot staples of the yellow stitching and yellow and black tag at the back, without them, these boots could easily be mistaken for another brand. They don’t shout Dr Martens boots to me, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I love the Dr Martens and combat boot look, it’s always something I wanted as a teenager and the day I got my first pair of combat boots (some cheap ones from a market), I was thrilled! I lived in them until they were too painful to wear. That’s when I bought my first pair of Dr Martens and I’ve never looked back.

If there is one thing I have always somewhat disliked about Dr Martens is the laces. Sometimes it feels like the laces can take an age to do up and then I also worry I haven’t tightened them enough. I think this is due to years of living in slip on Vans.

With the buckle boots, it’s one thing I really I love about them as there’s no laces in sight to worry about! Just a zip and a buckle! I really love the look of the Devon boots for that reason alone… Alongside the fact they’re pretty AND have plenty of colours to choose from. I really want the dark purple pair Dr Martens recently announced.

Comfort wise I wanted to share my experience of wearing these so far. It’s not been too bad, thankfully. They were practically new when I bought them so I was wary my feet may end up being ripped to shreds. I’ve always had my tips and tricks to avoid sore feet when wearing new Dr Martens boots but I wanted to look for some more, just in case there had been some newer ones spoken of and shared. Alas, ankle protectors from Amazon was making the rounds, so I decided to buy some.

I’ve tried them once so far and my experience isn’t great. I wore them out to run some errands with Dane and decided to pop them on over tights. First of all, when I was attempting to put my boots on with the ankle protectors, they kept moving as I was putting my foot into the boot. This meant I had to dig my finger in after my foot was in the boot to move them around how I needed them. It was a painful exercise, but doable. It’s a good job we weren’t in a hurry, let me put it that way.

Then when we went out and we were walking around, the ankle protectors quickly slipped from around my ankles down to the bottom of my foot, which wasn’t great. We went for coffee and I attempted to move the ankle protectors back to where they should have been, but it proved to be too much effort. We’d almost finished what we needed to do anyway, so I risked the potential of cut up ankles. Thankfully however, this didn’t happen and my feet were safe!

I’ll definitely given the ankle protectors another go, but this time I’ll pop socks over tights and see how it works. Or maybe even wear the ankle protectors underneath my tights/socks and see how I get on.

My tried and tested method for the past ten years however has been simple. Thick socks, wide plasters/bandage tape on the ankle (and any other part of you foot you may experience rubbing) and a day out to really break them in! My first pair of Dr Martens I wore to Stratford-upon-Avon for the day. I wore plasters and took some with me just to be safe. I don’t remember experience too much discomfort, but I remember the soles of my feet being sore from new boots and lots of walking.

This hasn’t always been the same story with my Adventure Time Dr Martens however, which do really hurt my feet at the best of times. These are boots I really need to break in though, hence the slight discomfort each time I wear them. I’ve also worn these to Stratford-upon-Avon for a day and did come away with sore feet. Ouch.

I wanted to mention my experiences with my other pairs of Dr Martens boots, as last time I wore my buckle boots I did just this and I was in a bit of trouble. I wore tights, my thick Dr Martens socks over the top and risked not wearing the ankle protectors, or plasters. Due to how thick my socks were, the boots felt tight and unfortunately my ankles did start to rub. I only walked to the shops and back, but I was in a bit of trouble! Me and Dane were going into town for the day and I had planned to wear my boots into town to break them in, alas, this didn’t happen and I took them off and wore my Vans instead.

I think a couple of brisk walks to the shops (ten minute walk) and back may help to break these in.

I don’t think I’ve spoken about it yet, but you’re probably wondering how I came to find these boots from almost three years ago? Let me share!

So, my Instagram friend Daysei is a terrible influence when it comes to clothing (sorry Daysei, but you know it’s true :P) and as I know she loves Dr Martens, I mentioned to her in passing how I’d love the Lazy Oaf buckle boots. I wasn’t aware, but more so recently, Dr Martens shoe sizes have been really off and the size you expect to fit could be too big, or too small. This has happened in specific styles and then at random. I’m always a size seven in my Dr Martens, so I started to look at websites such as Depop, eBay, Vinted, and even Dr Martens Facebook groups to try and find the Lazy Oaf boots I wanted. I had no luck for ages, and when I did sizes were too big or too small, shit quality, but mainly people asking stupid prices.

Eventually I came across a listing on eBay where the seller was selling them as worn once for £150, so I went for it and I’ve not looked back! At one point I almost bought a size eight which I would have regretted so bloody much, especially as they were more expensive too.

My only complaint with the boots I bought is the one buckle is very damaged… This damage wasn’t shown on the photos and I only realised it after a few days of owning them. That being said, I’m not too fussed as they’ll get worn and enjoyed so eventually they’ll show wear and tear regardless.

If there’s one thing I really want to do with these boots it’s give them a good polish and some much needed TLC! They did come in amazing condition, but all my Dr Martens boots need some care to the leather. I should have really picked up some goodies in the Dr Martens store last week, but I just didn’t. I think I’ll do a bulk order of goodies next week.

I’m honestly so excited to have a pair of Dr Martens I can just throw and zip on for days out with Dane and friends, I’ve just been so anxious about wearing them due to a mixture of the soles height and the fear of coming home to sore feet. I’m hopeful I’ll be okay though after a couple more wears out and about.

What do you guys think about the boots I picked up? Are you a Dr Martens and/or Lazy Oaf fan? Make sure to let me know in the comments below!

Until next time guys, have a lovely weekend!

March Favourites ’22

I don’t want to be a broken record, but honestly 2022 is flying by! I can’t believe it’s April, but I’m definitely excited for this month! Not only is it Dane’s birthday, but it’d also Easter, which is one of my favourite events of the year. Alongside those two factors, me and Dane have some holiday today… Aka a long weekend for his birthday and Easter, so I’m really looking forward to that.

Currently the only thing I don’t like about April is how skint I’m going to be from spoiling Dane for his birthday, but it could be worse. 😛

March was okay for me, I had some rocky moments but nothing to write home about. I did good with money again, which is always good, but with Dane’s birthday coming I might be a little skint this month. 😛

Not going to lie, March felt like my blog was boring and didn’t have much content. I just had brain fog and couldn’t think of anything decent to write, unfortunately. However, April is going to be full of amazing content and I’m so excited for it! I won’t mention anything, let it be a surprise! 😉

Anyhoo, enough of me waffling, down to the favourites!

Favourite Beauty Product – Sol De Janeiro Coco Cabana Gift Set.

If there is something I have really been loving this month it’s been the two Sol De Janeiro gift sets I picked up! I bought both Bum Bum and Coco Cabana, with the latter being the one I started to use first. Both gift sets contain the body cream, body cream-cleanser and hair and body fragrance mist, as well as a reusable pouch. I snagged these gift sets with my mom from Look Fantastic, as they had an amazing deal at the time to snag these gift sets really cheap, so we bought one each! However, I ended up with two Coco Cabana gift sets as my mom wasn’t keen on the scent, which definitely isn’t the case for me. The Coco Cabana scent reminds me of my teenage years where I constantly used The Body Shop’s coconut body milk, as well as coconut scented beauty products in Fuerteventura too. The body cream-cleanser is really thick and moisturising, but one gripe I have is that I don’t feel like a little goes a long way. I put this down to the moisturising factors behind it. The body cream is for dry skin, but that being said it isn’t heavy and thick, but sort of like a thicker gel texture. It definitely leaves my skin feeling soft and moisturised after use, even my hands!. Finally the fragrance spray, this is GORGEOUS and I have to remind myself not to go mad on it when using, as my little gift set bottles are only 30ml! I’m already planning on buying all of the products in their full sizes when I’ve used the gift set sizes up! My skin has really thanked me for taking care of it a little more the past month. My arms were starting to become really tight feeling due to how dry and tight they were, and the backs of my knees were suffering with eczema/dermatitis too. Thankfully I’ve fast turned that around and I’m so much happier for it. 🙂

Would you guys like to see a review of both the gift sets/ranges? Let me know in the comments! I’m toying with it, as they are really lovely products that deserve shouting out about!

Favourite Film – Turning Red.

I HAVE BEEN SO EXCITED FOR THIS FILM! Literally the Friday evening it came out (11th March) I cooked me and Dane one of our favourite meals (macaroni cheese) and we sat down to watch the film. I’d tried to guess from the trailers and clips what was going to happen somewhat in the movie and I never guessed it to be fair. For those who are yet to watch it, Turning Red is about Mei Lee, a thirteen year old who loves boy bands (4-Town), doing her bit for the planet, and especially her best friends! Unfortunately for Mei, she’s also trying to be a good daughter, which conflicts with her loves at the best of times. One morning Mei finds herself waking up and she’s turned into a red panda! I said it on last weeks blog post about My Dress-Up Darling (which you can read here) but I LOVE slice of life and coming of age shows, films, etc. They tend to bring me so many nostalgic memories and feels which overall just make me feel so happy. This is exactly what Turning Red did for me. It’s based in 2002, when I was twelve years old and just about to become a teenager! I listened to all sorts of music, but definitely loved Daft Punk and Avril Lavigne. It was also an age I’d really started to discover the things I would love now, including Hello Kitty , Cinnamoroll, Pompompurin, Mashimaro and more! The one thing I especially love about Turning Red is how it’s the first Pixar film to be led by women, this is big and I cannot wait to see more female led films in the future. I’m just so sad for everyone who worked on this film, who never got the chance to see their film make it to the cinema, especially with how much love and praise it has received.

Favourite TV Show – Euphoria.

I have been wanting to watch this TV show since it came out in 2019, but due to where it was being shown and the fact I don’t have it, I’ve just never been able to… Until now. With season two recently coming to a close, I was desperate to watch and thankfully for me, I knew someone who was able to let me watch it! I’ve so far watched season one and I’m almost at the end of season two. I’ve really fallen in love with it, as I’m a sucker for slice of life (as I’ve seemingly spoken about a lot lately on my blog!), as well as teen drama. I fell in love with it from a very young age (want to say when I was ten?) so it’s something I’ve always enjoyed ever since, even writing my own teen novel(s) and scripts from time to time. Euphoria is about Rue and some of her classmates/friends at her high school. Rue is the narrator of the show and therefore the main character, and tells us as the viewer about herself and the people around her. The topics in the show range from love, drugs, alcohol, sex and general “issues” teenagers tend to deal with at one point or another. Someone once said to me, “If you like Skins, you’ll love this!”. Now, I fucking hate Skins. The show has always felt very trashy to me, so I’ve never enjoyed it. I watched the first episode in college and was immediately put off, however, Euphoria ticks all the boxes for me! If you’re able to watch it and are okay with all the topics mentioned, definitely give it a go as and when you can.

Favourite Song – Architects – Dead Butterflies.

This is a song that started playing in Dane’s car the one day we were on a trip somewhere and I made sure to add to my playlist, as I enjoyed it so much! Since then I haven’t stopped listening to it, nor the album (“For Those That Wish to Exist”) that it’s off of. Architects isn’t really a band I’ve listened to before, although I do know of them. I really do like this song though and just had to share!

Gif taken from Tenor.

Favourite Book – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Elma’s Office Lady Diary.

I recently picked up volume four of Elma’s Office Lady Diary (as I was missing it), so over lunches and the odd weekend I’ve been catching up on manga. I really miss reading it and have really decided lately to get back on it and catch up on series I need to finish reading, as well as series Dane owns that I want to read as well! Elma’s Office Lady Diary is a spin off of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, which is one of my favourite anime series, and quite possibly the longest manga series I own! Elma in turn is my favourite dragon character as I feel like I can really relate to her. She’s sweet, always wanting to do the right thing, but most of all wanting to eat all the yummy food! Plus, as an office lady myself, this manga spin off for Elma just makes me smile from ear to ear. I’m glad I finally started to read this series! I’m so excited for volume five to come out in the next month or so!

Image taken from Eurogamer.

Favourite Game – Pokemon Shining Pearl.

This is a game I’ve been coming back and forth to since its release towards the end of 2021 and it’s one I absolutely love! I think it’s because it’s really simple, yet nostalgic at the same time. Since I completed the story, I’ve been going back on every now and then to try and 100% complete the Pokedex! I’ve been exploring the underground mostly to try and accomplish this by catching lots of new Pokemon, as well as lots of breeding and egg hatching, and even digging the walls in the underground for plenty of rare items! It’s just been really relaxing and nice! I’m yet to complete the story for Pokemon: Legends Arceus, but I’m still not 100% in love with that game… I’ll finish it one day. Me and Dane were only on about it last weekend how we need to pick it back up, but he’s been obsessed with Elden Ring and now we’re both obsessed with Tiny Tina’s Wonderland… Spoiler for next months favourites. 😉

Just a few of my favourite things…

Pokemon Nendoroid figures.

As many of you know, me and Dane collect Nendoroid figures from Good Smile Company and have done since late 2014. I decided during Covid to start collecting series that I needed, with Star Wars being successfully completed. I then moved onto Pokemon, which has been bloody hard and heart breaking to boot. A lot of the figures are harder to find due to them coming out a long time ago and due to this, the prices are really high. I managed to snag quite a few in 2021 for good prices, which I was really happy about, but finding Cynthia, N and Champion Red has proven to be a challenge due to fakes and prices. I did however recently snag Cynthia and N from a UK seller on eBay for a great price! Now all I need is Champion Red… Which unfortunately won’t be as simple, especially as there’s currently one on eBay for over £300! I’m keeping my eyes peeled, but yeah. 😛

Dr. Martens x Lazy Oaf Buckle Boot.

I’d be fibbing if I said I’d been after these Docs for a long time, but I feel like on and off over the past year I’ve definitely liked the look of them! Someone I follow on Instagram has a pair of the Lazy Oaf Heart Buckle Docs and due to her, I decided that I’d really like a pair to wear with my Black Milk Clothing dresses and more! After scouring the internet for a few months, I finally found a pair for sale for £150, which I didn’t think was too bad for an almost new (tried on and maybe worn once from memory) pair of Docs, especially as these are also limited edition. They came out originally in 2019, but I missed out on snagging a pair at the time as I was saving up for my Japan trip. Now I finally have them though and I adore them… But I’m yet to actually wear them out and about. I haven’t yet as I just haven’t had the chance to, even though I’ve owned them a month. I’m anxious of my feet getting destroyed, but at the same time I do want to wear them! I think I’ll go for a walk in them around the local area with my ankle protectors on (Amazon link) to break them in more! I was toying about reviewing these on my blog, as well as some handy Docs tips that I know of, would you guys like to see that in the future?

Turning Red, Mei Lee Red Panda plushie.

I briefly wanted to show off this massive fluffy cutie that arrived at the start of March, my huge Disney Store Mei Lee red panda form plushie! I couldn’t resist ordering this as I’m a massive sucker for red pandas and plus I’ve been super excited for Turning Red to come out, as I mentioned earlier. This plushie has been living on my office chair and has proven to be an amazing cuddle buddy whilst I’m working (both work and personal stuff), as well as whilst I play games. This plushie wasn’t cheap at £40, but totally worth it!

My Dress-Up Darling… Annnnnd future content to look forward to!

Finally I want to give you all a reminder how much I’ve really fallen in love with My Dress-Up Darling! The first season of the anime finished at the end of March and since then I’ve been taking my time to read the manga, so I can make Marin and Gojo last as long as I can! If you really loved this manga/anime, or would like to discover a new series to read/watch, make sure to go and check out last weeks blog post all about My Dress-Up Darling. Since writing it I have since been inspired to write more posts about manga/anime series I love, including Nana, Elfen Lied and Bee & PuppyCat.

So there we have it, my favourites from March! March really did fly by and I don’t feel like I did a fat lot to be honest with you… I think my favourite thing we did in March was visit my best friend and her boyfriend in Nottingham! Nottingham is a city I’ve wanted to visit for a while and with my bestie living near the city centre, it was so much fun to finally visit it with her!

In March I really did reflect on what content I would like to bring to my blog in the future and I’ve come away with so many ideas, that I cannot wait to write and share with you all in the coming months!

What were you favourite things in March? Also, is there any specific you would like to see, or at least see more of on my blog? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and have a lovely weekend!

July Wish List ’19

Where did June go? I felt like it was only yesterday that I was preparing for a nice week off with Dane and then BAM HELLO IT’S JULY! Honestly though, how shite was June weather wise? It was well and truly awful to be fair and I’m glad we’re getting some nice sunshine right now. 🙂

I’m currently sat at my dining table with a gorgeous cup of Ed’s Coffee House caramel coffee and I’m planning on writing as much as I can before I need to head out later for a D&D session! This months wish list was pretty hard to be honest with you as I’m trying to be good right now due to Japan coming up, (I know it’s 5/6 months away but it will be here before we know it!) which is boring but meh.

Anyhoo – I hope your enjoy this months haul! I feel like there’s so much Japanese inspired stuff there. 😛

• Vans x Lazy Oaf Old Skool Platform (No longer available)

I know these are limited edition and no longer available (unless you pay an absolute fucking fortune!) but I still want them. I regret not buying them so damn much when they came out last year. Like stupidly regret it. Recently I noticed someone was selling my size on eBay at a decent price. They looked legit and when the seller offered to knock £10 off – I bought them straight away. Over a week later I was chasing the seller for my shoes and ended up getting a refund. I was so pissed off… I really wanted the shoes, especially for such a bargain. I’m still on the hunt for these and if you happen to find any in a size 7 for a decent price (no more than £60 with postage!) please let me know! 🙂

• Elfen Lied Omnibus Volume 1 (link)

I cannot tell you how happy I was when I recently discovered that this manga was coming out in English. Honestly my younger 16 year old self would have been over the moon with this coming out. Basically this manga has been running in Japan since 2002 – which is nearly 20 years ago now since it first came out. This was the first manga I read, as well as the first anime I watched. Elfen Lied is pretty much what got me into the things I am today, which is amazing to be honest with you so it really does mean the world to me to finally see the manga in English.

Now you’re probably wondering, “Okay hang on Nat! You said you’ve read the manga… But it’s only just come out in English? How did you read it then?” The magic of translation my friends! 😛 Someone translated it years ago online so I remember when I bought my first laptop 10 years ago (FUCK I FEEL OLD!) I found the manga on a PDF reader and basically flicked back and forth over the pages, reading it. 😛

It looks like there will be four omnibus volumes overall, which the second one due out in October. I would love to see the anime redone – just like they’ve done with Fruits Basket recently. I’d still love to see Elfen Lied Nendoroid’s released too. 😛

• Pokemon Holiday Night Collection Ichican Kuji (link)

This is a kuji I’ve decided to do! I’ve never done one before to be perfectly honest with you so this will be a first! It just looks too good to resist having a go on. I’ve regretted not taking part in some of the Animal Crossing kujis in the past and that in itself annoys me. I’ve got this through YY Kawaii on her Instagram merch page (link and link) and the prizes are adorable! There’s a couple of plushies, some holiday travelling essentials, pots and towels. It makes a change seeing some “useful” items in a kuji as opposed to the usual charms, towels and random figures. I really hope I get some good pulls from this!

• Insert Coin Clothing Persona 4 Teddie Pocket Tee (link)

I’ve already pre-ordered this tee, but I just had to mention it here today as it’s too good not to! 😀 I LOVE Persona 5, as my readers all know and I have had a go at Persona 4 Golden (which I am currently stuck on!) which I also really love. I’m reading the Persona 4 manga too, which I actually enjoy more than the game… But this may be due to the fact I’m stuck on it… 😛 Either way I saw the cute Teddie pocket tee and just knew I had to have it! I recently bought myself an amazing black pair of mom jeans from New Look and I intend to wear them together loads throughout the summer, as well as the rest of the year. 😛 Of course I would be a fool not to wear this to Japan too.

When this tee arrives – I’ll definitely be doing a post on why I love Insert Coin Clothing’s tees so much! I have this one, as well as their Persona 5 Morgana tee too.

• Sarah Dandh Animal Crossing Mug (link to store and Twitter)

I noticed this mug was going around my Twitter feed about a week or so ago and honestly I have fallen in love with it and I really need it in my life. I really don’t need anymore mugs, but if I didn’t pick this up I would honestly be a fool and regret it until I did. I LOVE Animal Crossing and as an ex barista I also love the coffee theme of the mug. It was always one of my favourite parts of Animal Crossing: New Leaf to daily go and work my shift at The Roost Cafe, as well as sit and drink some pigeon coffee. It looks like the mugs will go on sale on Sarah Dandh’s store on 10th July – so I’ll be making sure to pick one up. 😛

• Ohayou! Good Boys (& Girls) Enamel Pin Project (link to Kickstarter)

Finally we have one of my favourite independent artists out there, who has done it again with her recently Kickstarter campaign! 😀 As soon as I saw she was going to be adding Animal Crossing designs to the campaign, I put myself down for two pins and it will be both KK Slider and Isabelle who I opt for. I actually already have an Isabelle pin by Ohayou! but it won’t hurt to have another one, will it? I don’t have a KK Slider as of yet and look how damn cute this boi is! I honestly can’t wait to get these already as I’ll wear them together on my jacket(s) as well as potential ita bag in the future. This campaign has now finished, BUT Ohayou! is a good egg and will probably have them for sale in her store anyway. 😛

So that’s my wish list for July! Again, I honestly cannot believe we are over halfway through 2019 now. It’s scaring me as not only does it mean I’m getting closer to being 30 but it also means it’s closer to us going to Japan and I am SO nervous for that!

Which items do you have on your wish lists this month? Do you have your eye on any of the items I have too? Make sure to let me know in the comments below! 😀

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely week, almost the weekend now, eh?

Boxing Day Sale Haul 2018

I wasn’t actually going to do this post yet as I thought I might buy more in the sales, but alas I think I might be careful with money and actually stop spending. 😛

We are now in that confusing and dull lull between Christmas New Year and quite honestly, as much as I love the break from work, I want to be out of holiday mode now and be back to normal! I just want time for myself again, as since breaking up for Christmas I’ve only had Boxing Day for myself.

Just before Christmas, as well as after I ordered some goodies in the Boxing Day sales, because it would have been rude not to!

I didn’t buy loads in all fairness, but what I’ve picked up I’m chuffed with, especially the first items I plan on talking about. 😛

The first items I picked up in the sale were from Killstar and I was so excited for their sale to start as I’ve been eyeing up some of the items on my wish list for quite some time. I really love Killstar but they aren’t the cheapest in the world, but I get that. So whenever there’s a sale I’ll always try and pick something up for myself! At first they had 20% off of everything, but then after Christmas they had their well known buy one get one half price. So I decided to take up the 20% offer and bought myself a couple of dresses. FYI I am aware the pictures of the dresses aren’t the best… 😦

The first one I added to my basket is the Coven Cutie Skater Dress, which I’ve wanted since it came out around September time. There’s an Instagram account I follow and she wears this dress for work often and it looks lovely! I’ve never been 100% sure what my size is with Killstar so I ordered an L to be on the safe side and it’s perfect! It’s not too big, or too small, it’s just perfect and super comfortable. This dress is a black skater dress with a zip on the chest that has a crescent moon on it, as well as a pleather collar, which I really like. It really does add something more to a plain and boring black skater dress. This will be perfect for both work and in general! I plan to wear this for my birthday on Sunday. 😛 I plan to wear this with tights, flats, my Docs, rainbow cardigans and eventually I’ll be getting some new brothel creepers to wear this with too. 😛

The second dress I picked up is the Widows Skater Dress which is another skater dress I’ve had my eye on for a while now. This isn’t anything special BUT I love how this dress still has a smidgen of alternative in there, without it being in your face. So it’s a black skater dress, but on the back it’s open with a spiderweb pattern, which I really like! It’s in the perfect position on the back too so it won’t show off your bra straps or band of your bra. PERFECT! This again will be great for both work and in general and like the Coven Cutie dress I’ll wear this with all sorts of shoes and bright rainbow cardigans! It’ll also be perfect for the summer too as it’s not too thick.

Although I love everything I picked up, my Killstar buys are definitely my favourites as I’ve been craving some lovely new dresses for some time now. I already want to pick up some more, but I’m going to wait until the next sale me thinks.

Next item I picked up is this AMAZING AND SUPER CUTE plushie from Firebox.

This is a Stuffed Water Bear and it’s meant to be a cuddly and cute version of a tardigrade, which is a water dwelling micro animal. Wow, what a mouthful! 😛 This is just adorable and I have wanted it for some time now. I know it’s nothing special and a little silly thing, but it’s so damn adorable and considering it was in the sale, I knew I had to get it. 😛 I also had a £5.00 voucher to use on Firebox, so I put it towards the Stuffed Water Bear. It’s so damn snuggly and cute and actually reminds me of like a puppy or a guinea pig. 😛

If you like anything in the Firebox sale, or even in their normal range you can get a fiver to spend on the store FOR FREE if you use my code! 😀 https://www.firebox.com/r/natalee-e9e09e

The final items I picked up in the sales was from The Body Shop. I actually had more items in my basket originally but I removed loads as it came to a really silly amount of money, which in reality I didn’t need to spend. I opted for grabbed a couple of items I wanted to try and restock in my bathroom.

First of all I ordered the HUGE 750ml bottle of Strawberry Shower Gel. Dane loves this shower gel, as do I. It reminds me of when I was little as my mom would always buy me a bottle of this as a kid, so whenever I use this it just makes me think of weekday mornings getting ready for school. 🙂 Dane uses this shower gel more than I do, but I still love using it in the shower. 🙂

The next items I ordered are from the Christmas collection! I fell in love with the peppermint candy cane scent and knew I had to have it in my life. Apart from the bath bomb (which I reviewed and you can check out here) I didn’t pick up any of this collection, until the sales. I just didn’t want to I guess, I wanted to wait and see what I was gifted at Christmas and alas I was gifted some of this for Christmas (you can read what I got for Christmas here)!

The two items I picked up were the Peppermint Candy Cane Shower Gel and the Peppermint Candy Cane Body Butter. I’d received these in the sack I was gifted for Christmas, which was lovely as it meant I got to give them a go before the sales started. The shower gel is AMAZING! I love minty shower gels but I always find they leave you feeling tingly and cold, OH and don’t even get me started on what they do to your bits! 😛 This shower gel is nothing like the others out there however. It does give you a slight tingle, but nothing major.

I’m really odd with the body butters and prefer to use them as hand butters. They really help my eczema and as I always carry a little pot in my handbag, if my body DOES feel dry at any point I can quickly use some of this. I love the scent of this body butter and as it isn’t too thick, it’d probably be rather nice to use on my body. That’s my only issue with the body butters from The Body Shop, they can be quite heavy and greasy which is something I really dislike.

I was hoping to have a few more items to add onto this list, but I’m trying so badly to be good with money! I was going to go and pick up some new Vans as I have some vouchers I need to use. I’ll probably end up getting this over the weekend around my birthday. I’m FINALLY going to replace my old black and red checker board Vans. I want the original black and white pair now. I do love wearing my Darth Vader and 101 Dalmatians Vans but I just fancy something new and that I can try and make work with everything.

Image taken from Depop

Although it isn’t a sale item, I did pick up something I’ve wanted for the longest time at a STEAL of a price, which I’m rather chuffed with. After months, YEARS of waiting I’ve FINALLY got my hands on a decent and brand new Lazy Oaf Rainbow Cardigan. It’s not 100% brand new, but it’s only been tried on by the previous owner and still has the tags on it. I’ve paid £55 for it including P&P which I think is pretty decent considering it sells for £75.00 on the Lazy Oaf website!

I don’t have it yet (it’s being posted the start of this week) I cannot wait to show it to you guys! I’ll be teaming this up with my new Killstar dresses for work, as well as in general.

So, what items did you pick up in the Boxing Day sales? 😀 I want to know!

Of course as we all know, it’s New Year’s Eve and I cannot believe how quickly the past week and a bit have flown by since I broke up from work. Not just that, but also with how fast the year has flown too! It’s bloody crazy. 😛

What plans do you have for New Year’s Eve too? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

So have a Happy New Year and I’ll see you in 2019! 😀

Wish List Wednesday – Rainbow Fashion Collab Post!

Today’s wish list Wednesday is such an exciting one and it’s for one reason in particular! This is a collab post with the one and only wonderful blogger, Estelle over at Estellosaurus.

If there is one rainbow queen who I know it is her! I love her outfit posts and I always end up going to look at one piece of clothing she’s wearing in said post online.

It’s because of her that I recently bought myself a new rainbow cardigan and she’ll probably be the cause for many more rainbow purchases… She’s definitely a bad influence. 😛

So we decided to work together to do a collab post and I have been so excited to get it written down! We decided that I would do a wish list Wednesday about rainbow fashion pieces I want and Estelle is going to talk about the rainbow fashion pieces she owns. I would have done the same as Estelle, but sadly I only own two items, which are both my amazing rainbow cardigans! 😀

So without further ado, bring on the rainbow goodies!

• Monki Rainbow Stripe Tee – (link)

I’ve had my eye on picking up a rainbow stripe tee from Monki for AGES but every time I’ve had a look at one it’s either sold out completely or sold out in my size! When I recently visited Bristol with Dane I had a look in the Monki shop inside Cabot Circus and got super excited! Sadly the rainbow stripe tee wasn’t in my size and it looks really cropped too, which sucked. I’m going to keep the hope alive though for a nice striped rainbow tee like this one!

• Monki Crew Neck Rainbow Jumper – (link)

This jumper really does remind me of the one that Lazy Oaf brought out and it looks AMAZING! I would love this jumper to rock to work on Monday’s and Friday’s throughout the colder months, as well as over weekends with friends or lazy days in with Dane. I especially love that the sleeves are a little tighter, because although I love baggy sleeves that can hide my hands, it can be a bit of a pain when working. My only issue with this jumper is that it looks cropped… So I’d want to see what it looks like in the Bristol Monki store before buying!

• Boohoo Rainbow Stripe T-Shirt Dress – (link)

I’ve been after some more t-shirt dresses for a while to wear with my normal black leggings, as well as with my Black Milk Clothing leggings and whilst I’m on a massive rainbow love and high, this top would be awesome to wear with my black leggings all casual and such! I wouldn’t be able to wear this for work, it would purely be for when I can’t be arsed to dress up and want to be comfortable. I could imagine it  being a great t-shirt dress to wear on sick days too. 😛

• Rocks N Rainbows Ringer Tee – (link)

This is a really cute tee but I wish it was in the UK! I know you can order from the Dolls Kill site and get them sent to the UK, but you know… 😛 ANYWAY! This isn’t technically a rainbow item, but it has a rainbow on it so that counts… Right? 😛 I really love this tee for both work and casual because it’ll just go and work with anything and everything! I especially love the red around the collar and sleeves, it’s a really nice touch and works really well! It also isn’t a bad price either, which I’m always happy with. 😛

• Club Exx Dark Rainbow Anodized Boots – (link)

Oh man I just had to add these boots to this list! I know they’re not shouting in your face that they’re rainbow, but fuck me are these sexy boots! I love a good pair of Dr Martens boots and live in them throughout autumn and winter, but these are just something else. To me my Docs are my, “Don’t piss me off…” boots, whereas these would be, “Don’t fuck with me!” boots. You know what I mean? They’d just be awesome to wear throughout the autumn months and possibly spring too.

• Lazy Oaf Pastel Stripe Rainbow Cardigan

This is a cardigan I have been lusting after for the longest time, but these days it’s a bit of a struggle to find unless you remortgage your house first! It was the original Lazy Oaf rainbow bored cardigan that kick started everyone off on the rainbow cardigan craze and I can honestly understand why! Since then, everyone has been either lusting after that cardigan, the one I’m talking about or any others for that matter! I still want this one and as soon as I find it for a decent price, it WILL be mine! I love wearing cardigans for work, as well as in general and this is such a muted and gorgeous colour that I just need it in my life! HEY if you’re selling one and want a decent price for it, DROP ME A COMMENT ASAP! xD

• Run & Fly Unisex Rainbow Jumper – (link)

Finally we have another jumper on this list and it’s the last thing I’ll be talking about today. This is actually a unisex product and honestly I LOVE unisex and men’s clothing, it’s always so much more comfortable than women’s. This is such a vintage looking jumper and I feel like it’s something you’d have seen someone wear in the 60’s or 70’s. Or even something from the 90’s that someones picked up in a charity shop. This would be super cozy to wear throughout the autumn and winter months, both at work as well as over the weekends for chilly evenings out. It isn’t cheap at £30.00 but I would like to pick it up in the near future.

So those are all my rainbow goodies for my wish list Wednesday! I’m not a massive rainbow magpie, but I do love me some signature rainbow pieces!

I just want to say a massive THANK YOU to Estelle for agreeing to do this rainbow themed collaboration with me! Make sure to head over to her blog to check out what she’s written! I posted her link at the start of this post, but I’ll pop it here too.

Please make sure to go and give Estelle some love, not only is she an amazing and adorable blogger, but she’s also an absolute gem and lovely to talk to. I love that I’ve met her through blogging as she’s definitely one of my favourite bloggers and become a very good blogging friend in such a short period of time.

Anyhoo, I’m off for the day! I hope you all have a lovely day and until next time, take care all!

May Wish List ’18

Oh man another month, another wish list! Has to be said, how rotten is the weather?! I’m currently in bed writing this post on a spontaneous day off work (can’t complain at that, eh? :P) and watching the rain out of the window. I’ve had to pop out this morning to have some bloods taken for tests, so now I’m home with a big cup of coffee and listening to a podcast whilst I do blog work!

I need to be good this month to be honest, if anything I’ll probably just buy myself some games and that is it! If I end up being naughty and buying things, then so help me. 😛

• Eevee Dangling Tail Enamel Pin by ToasterKiwi – (link)

If there is a new “hobbie” I have taken up since leaving my old job, it’s collecting pin badges/enamel pins! I have a nice handful of them now and wear different ones weekly, sometimes daily at work, as well as weekends off work. I stumbled across this cute little Eevee pin on Etsy during April and I did go to order it, but left out and decided to be good. It would just be so adorable to wear to work in the summer months on my rainbow cardigan (which you can see here).

• PS4 Detroit: Become Human – (link)

Oh man I have been anticipating this game since it was announced in 2013, 4 years has come and gone and I am SO READY for this game now! I’ve always loved David Cage’s/Quantic Dream games so this is just another one I’ll know I’ll adore. It’s set in Detroit (obviously) and is about 3 characters, all robots with different stories. It reminds me of Heavy Rain in that aspect that you play as multiple people. I’m not 100% sure if all their stories link, but I have a pretty good feeling they do. The games out late May so I’ll be pre ordering it closer to its release date. Smyths Toys are amazing with game pre orders and you save £5 if you order quickly enough, which of course I’ll be doing! I know there’s a demo for this at the moment but I don’t want to play it, I want a surprise when the game comes out. I’ve watched a little bit of people playing the demo and let’s just say, that was enough for me.

• Vans X Lazy Oaf Old Skool Platform Shoes – (link)

BE STILL MY BEATING HEART! I want these SO MUCH right now but I have to be a good girl and save money. I love a good pair of Vans and I find they last so well. If it wasn’t for the fact one of my oldest pairs of Vans (I’ve owned them for 12 years!) are covered in mud and in a shed at my mom’s, I would still wear them. I’ve wanted a platform pair of Vans for a while now and these are pretty kawaii and adorable to wear with jeans, and even skirts and dresses. They’re Lazy Oaf so I knew they wouldn’t be cheap BUT they’re also not badly priced either, in my opinion. I would like to buy a pair before they sell out. I’d wear them at work every now and then too if the time was right. I’ll see how I feel when I’m paid and if I’ll have any spare cash. There’s only one place I can actually find them in my size right now, which is such a shame. They sold out within a few days Vans, Lazy Oaf and even ASOS.

• EMP Star Wars Collar Jyn Dress – (link)

I remember featuring this on one of my wish lists last year (August to be exact and you can read it here if you do so wish) and I never did buy it. I still do, as I would love to wear it for work! It’s the perfect length, would be great to wear in all seasons, as during the colder months you could wear a long sleeved top underneath it, which is probably what I’d do all the time. It has a hood on it, which is something different too and would be really funky to wear on evenings out with friends. When the hood isn’t worn up it has a sort of cowl neck, which I really like. This does feel like more of a dress for winter, but I’d love it for work. 😛

• Monki Rainbow Ribbed Top – (link)

Recently I discovered Katystraub on Instagram and I am in love with her feed! She’s so kawaii and adorable. I’d noticed her wearing some rainbow striped t-shirts and loved it, so when I found out they were from Monki I had a good nose on the website. Sadly the  ones she had were sold out but since then I’ve been keeping my eye on the website for anymore t-shirts like that to come out. I found this one the website a few days ago and I’m tempted to order it for work now to wear with skirts and trousers! When I’ve written this post I’m going to have a good nose on the website. 😛

• Nails Inc Self-Made Mermaid Nail Polish Duo – (link)

I remember wanting this nail polish duo when it first came out, but obviously I never picked it up. I’ve been browsing eBay for second hand ones for a while and I’ve found quite a few for sale, BUT ALWAYS MISSED OUT ON BUYING THE DUO CHEAP! So annoying! I doubt I’ll buy it anytime soon, but I would love to pick it up in the future for sure. I forgot how much I love Nails Inc polishes and the duos are pretty good to be honest. The only thing that is putting me off buying the duo at full price is I don’t feel like the Nails Inc polishes last as long as they should for how much they cost.

So there you have it, my wish list post for May! I would love to buy everyone off of it, but I need to be good! It can be so hard though, you know? 😛

What items are you wishing for this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re ready for the long weekend. 😛

Me and My Technicoloured Cardigan

Please, please, PLEASE excuse the title of this blog post, but you have my dad to thank for that! Well in fact, you have my dad to thank for the blog post in general to be perfectly honest with you.

I mentioned this cardigan recently on my March wish list post (which you can read here) as I had recently stumbled across it on ASOS and wanted it so badly, however they didn’t stock my size at the time.

So, me being the patient person I am (well… Sometimes…) saved it to my favourites on the computer, as well as on my phone. Sadly, my size never did come in stock and before I knew it, the cardigan was sold out.

I was gutted, GUTTED. I even went to Twitter and dropped ASOS a tweet asking if it would be back in stock. They told me they weren’t sure but to keep my eyes peeled.

Now let me tell you, I certainly did my eyes peeled. Like a hawk to be perfectly honest with you! Every chance I got I went onto the page to check if it had come back in stock. Last week I noticed it had come into stock, BUT it was in a size XS. Hell, to the no am I that size so I was grumpy about it. Then a couple of days later it came back in a size M and whilst I MIGHT have squeezed into that size… I didn’t want it. Again, I went into a grump and felt like giving up my hopes of it ever coming out in my size again.

HOWEVER, on Sunday night it did in fact come out in an XL and whilst this isn’t my size, I don’t care about having a size bigger. YES, I have just admitted that I’m an L… Well in this garment anyway. 😛

I was in a spot of trouble however, I’m trying so badly to save money and although I wanted this cardigan really badly and it wasn’t expensive at £35… I was tied.

I’d added it to my basket and was making the steps of going through payment and I stopped. Could I really justify buying this? Did I want to worry about stressing about money? That point was one moments my brain reminds me that I’m an adult and I have responsibilities.

I asked Dane for his opinion and his answer reflected the adult in my mind, he obviously said no.

By the time I had ummed and ahhed about what I was going to do it had sold out. Again, I was gutted that I had somewhat got my hopes up for getting it… But if it was meant to be, it would have been by now.

Later whilst talking to my dad, I had a quick peep at the item again as I was vaguely talking to him about it and guess what? The XL was in stock AGAIN!

I quickly asked my dad, “Hey you didn’t get me anything for my birthday, did you? Well that cardigan is back in stock… Want to buy me that?”

I didn’t expect the answer I got, so when he said, “Yeah I can do. Order it and I’ll send you the money.” I was overjoyed!

So, the title of this post is thanks to him. When I showed him what the cardigan looked like he said how it reminded him of the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which I liked.

My dad was a hippie back in the 70’s so I’d like to think he would approve of me wearing stuff like this. I remember years before him seeing a coat by Joe Browns that he wanted to buy me as it reminded him of something he’d have worn back then. Sadly, he never bought it for me as whilst I may have worn it, it would have only been a handful of times.

I feel like the unicorn and mermaid trends have come and are still sort of sticking around, BUT I feel like in 2018 there will be a rainbow trend hitting and it’ll hit hard this spring and summer along with the 90’s and grunge trends!

As many people will know, Lazy Oaf brought out their rainbow cardigan last year, (sadly it’s currently out of stock) and EVERYONE went mad for it! I did to be honest with you but by the time I’d even heard about it, it had sold out. Now at £75.00, in my mind it’s a bloody rip off for what it is. Fair play if you can afford and justify the price, but personally £75.00 could be a two weeks food shop for myself and Dane.

Not just that though, after looking more and more at the Lazy Oaf cardigan I can’t say I like the shape of it… It looks snug and comfortable from the back, but from the front it looks frumpy and dis-proportioned. On the stock photo the buttons don’t even look like they’ve been done up properly, if that makes sense? Let’s also add, the model looks fucking miserable on the Lazy Oaf website.

I gave up on the idea of ever getting the Lazy Oaf one. As I said, it had sold out everywhere and whenever I looked on eBay and Depop for people selling it, people were either charging more for it than it originally sold for or they were selling fakes. I must give it to people on Depop, they were honest about them being fake, BUT they were using photos bloggers had taken and obviously used on their posts or social media. A good example of this can be the one of YouTuber/blogger Helen Anderson with someone else. It’s a shame this image has technically been “stolen” to be used to make people money online. Yuck, not cool!

So now I had my own rainbow cardigan! I ordered on the Sunday night and my cardigan arrived Thursday. VERY quick for free delivery, which I was equally happy about! It arrived whilst I was at work so I was excited to get home to see it.

Let me tell you, when I opened the package and saw the gorgeous and colourful rainbow stripes looking up at me, I felt happy. There is just something about rainbow stripes that remind me of when I was a child and throughout my early teens.

When holding this in your hands this cardigan can feel quiet heavy… I hope that makes sense! However, when you wear it it is weightless and let me add, extremely comfortable!

As I mentioned before, I picked up an XL when usually I’m an L and whilst this cardigan is oversized, I didn’t expect it to be as big as it actually is! I worried it was a little too big, but to be honest it makes it incredibly comfortable.

It doesn’t remind me of a cardigan to be honest due to the size and if anything, it’s more like a huge blanket!

I wore it for the first time at work on Monday and oh man I loved it and I loved that everyone else did too. I feel like pieces like this can really brighten people up, especially yourself. I had a crap drive to work that morning due to the snow so wearing that cardigan was lovely.

I also wore it out the day after on my day off for my dad and daughter day so it was lovely to finally be able to show it to my dad. To say he loved it is a massive understatement.

This is definitely one of my favourite fashionable buys in a long, LONG time. It’s so unique in every way and even has distressed sleeves and at the bottom of the cardigan itself.

What do you think of the rainbow trend that has appeared? Do you love it, or hate it? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, I hope you guys have had a great week so far and it continues that way!

December Wish List ’17

Not going to lie, I didn’t know whether to make this wish list a Christmas with list or just a casual monthly one. Let’s just say I went for the latter! It’ll be Christmas Eve where I do my Christmas wish list, with a funny twist, so please keep your eyes peeled for that in the next couple of weeks.

But for now I decided to focus on things  that I’d love to buy, but probably won’t (well maybe one or two things off of the list… ESSENTIALS YO!) due to Christmas being right around the corner. My wish list is a bit lame this month, but it’ll do the job! 😛

• Carmex Skinny Dip Limited Edition Unicorn Sugar Plum – £2.59 (link)

I’ve always had a soft spot for Carmex but I always forget about how much I like it until I buy a new tube or jar. I recently bought the cherry flavour for my holiday a few months back and fell in love all over again. I saw online that Skinny Dip were teaming up with Carmex again to bring out not only a unicorn themed jar, BUT also a sugar plum scent/flavour! As soon as I see this in the shops I’ll be picking it up! I need myself a festive lip balm to apply. As sad as it sounds, I’ll probably pick up a couple to stock up! I love sugar plum scented things. 😛

• A Polar Bear in Love Vol. 1 – £8.91 (link)

I recently heard about this manga from Akidearest, a YouTuber who talks about a lot of Japanese related stuff on her channel. Like myself and many other people, she also does a monthly favourites and this was one of the items from it! It’s about a polar bear who is in love with a baby seal, but the baby seal is just constantly scared that the polar bear will eat it. So it’s constantly running away! The polar bear doesn’t know though how scared the seal is so whenever he attempts to run away, the polar bear just goes after it for cuddles and affection. It just sounds adorable and from the previews I’ve seen, it also looks hilarious! I doubt very much I’ll be getting this for Christmas, so as soon as Christmas and my birthday have been, I’ll be ordering this.

• Elodie the Unicorn Humidifier – £39.99 (link)

This is an item I wanted to pick up when it was a Kickstarter! I was going to get the full deal of the humidifier, ramen bowl, mug and planter. I was ordering it and getting myself psyched for it, when I found out it would cost £20 for shipping and that didn’t include any import I might be charged. Gutted, I left it. I’m glad I did however because now Firefox, a UK Based online store are stocking this! I’ll definitely be picking this up in the future to use around the house. I want to put essential oils in, lavender before and during bed time, and eucalyptus when me and Dane feel poorly. I know it’s not cheap at £40, but I want it and need it in my life and in my home! 😛

• Romwe Block Striped Heart Patch Sweater Coat – £18.33 (link)

When Lazy Oaf brought out their BORING rainbow cardigan, the blogging world went crazy. YouTubers were buying it and then everyone else was until it was sold out and not really available anymore. I really wanted the cardigan but over £50 for a cardigan? Oh hell no. As bad as it sounds I scoured Depop and eBay for fakes, but as of yet I just haven’t found one I like the look of, or trust to actually look ANYTHING like the picture. So I left it. Then I recently saw Jess over at iamfoxxtailz talk about this cardigan and show it off in a lookbook (you can read her post about this cardigan here). I thought, “Urgh someone else lucky enough to have and afford the Lazy Oaf one…” But how wrong I was! In actual fact the one she was wearing was from Romwe! I looked for a solid week on the website for it and had zero luck, then whilst writing this post I looked again and eventually found it, IN THE COATS SECTION! This is not a bloody coat!!! I went to order it to be honest but it was saying it would cost me £6.00 postage, which sucks to be honest. Not only that but it’s one size, it could be too small for me, which would suck. I want the oversized look in this cardigan so I can snuggle into it at work, at home and when out and about. I’m tempted to just treat myself to the Lazy Oaf one, but fuck it’s so expensive. That’s a food shop to me. 😛 We shall see what happens!

• Inc.redible Jelly Shot in shade Watch Me Go – £8.00 (link)

I had a feeling that Nails Inc were going to come out with a lipstick line when they had two lip products in the Beauty of Dreams gift set (which you can read about here) and I couldn’t find them ANYWHERE online! It was just a sneak peak of what was to come as a week or two ago Nails Inc came out with Inc.redible, a new beauty brand that so far has loads of amazing lip products, including these jelly shot tinted lip balms. I really want to get my hands on the green one as it looks amazing both in the tube, as well as on the lips. It leaves a light pink stain which I’m always down with. I’ll definitely be picking this up as soon as I can!

• Imperial Leather Foamburst Unicorn Marshmallow Shower Gel – £2.00 (link)

This is something I wouldn’t mind picking up to say I tried it and I probably will when I go into Boots next! I’ve used the foamburst shower gel before and they are amazing. They always remind me of when I was a kid when they first came out. Me and my mom both loved these and still do! I’m pretty sure she still buys the vanilla scented ones. Me and Dane have both used the marshmallow hand wash, shower gel and bubble bath by Imperial Leather so I’m pretty sure this marshmallow foamburst will be lovely to use on cold weekend mornings. For £2.00 I don’t mind giving this a go. 😛

So that was my wish list for December! I’m pretty sure there is more stuff I could have added to the list, but my mind has gone blank to be honest.

As I said as well, I will have a Christmas wish list up on Christmas Eve, which will be fun so keep eyes peeled for that! Anything I couldn’t add to this list will definitely be on that one!

What items do you have on your wish lists this month? Both in general and for Christmas, I want to know!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend!