Eat, Pray, Love - life as I make it.

My 2012 in pictures.

So this Christmas has been dragged out over the course of the month and I’m not complaining. It’s definitely my favourite time of year. The big kid in me comes out and I get so excited. Here are my highlights!

1. Dancing on stage until security told us to get off and getting completely wasted at Outbound’s Christmas party on 7 jagerbombs and more. And then being hung over for a whole week after!

2. Christmas Carol Service by candle light at HTB with a couple of really close friends and my family.

3. Secret Santa  - David got a vampire cape and bat to add to his wardrobe with love from me. 

4. Christmas dinner at the New Inn with some of my favourite people from work! It was a 4-hour feeding fest (one course per hour!). 

5. Putting our tree, Wayne up and decorating him with gingham and spotty ribbons!

6. Christmas shopping trip to Westfield on a Monday! Eating LOTS of yummy food and shopping til we dropped - no girl could ask for more!

7. Christmas bake sale at Outbound. I now know that I can have a career in cheesecake baking if I ever decide it’s time for a change. Loved that someone asked how much it would cost for a whole cheesecake.

8. Treating my family to a surprise Christmas lunch at one of our favourite fine dining restaurants! I love making them happy. :D

9. Food shopping in Costco, Tesco AND Waitrose - all in one day!

10. Putting all our presents under the tree! 

11. Getting to leave work at 11:30 on Christmas Eve!

12. Christmas Eve dinner with friends we’ve known forever. Delicious curries, prawns, coconut rice and the most delicate and flavoursome macarons were served. And winning the game of Empires!

13. Singing carols at church on Christmas Day. 

14. My mum’s face when she opens her eyes and there is a massive Mulberry paperbag tied with a gigantic bow on her lap. Priceless!

Lastly, cooking Christmas dinner while everyone napped. I love love love cooking Christmas dinner. I had a couple of stressful moments because there was just so much to do. But, they all soon woke up and helped peel and prep the veggies and just in time to receive Will’s call all the way from Vietnam. My family and I speaking to him for an hour and a half, it was almost as if he was there. Us teasing him with mince pies and him distracting me from my cooking - my parsnips were over boiled! Haha, but definitely made my day an even more fantastic one. :D

Christmas dinner went down extremely well. Turkey was perfectly moist with the skin being crisp. The gravy was one of the highlights. I didn’t get as stressed as I did last year (my first year of cooking this) and seemed to have improved in management overall. And even though dinner was a little late at 9:30, I’m really proud of myself! Haha! And my sisters have said that they’re bringing their families round to mine every Christmas for dinner..oh dear.. 

This Christmas has been a particularly wonderful one and I’m so thankful for everything and everyone who has made it so.

<3
Sara L.

Christmas Jumper Day!

Yesterday was a chance to wear our favourite Christmas jumper into work. I didn’t have one until last weekend when my mum let my sisters and I open one of our Christmas presents early. 

This gorgeous Nordic knit cardigan is from Superdry and it’s current season, so go out there and get yourself one! There are a few designs available. These are sure to get you in the festive spirit and keep you warm!

Jumper: Superdry
Jeans: Allsaints Spitalfields
Boots: also Allsaints 

<3
Luella B. 

3so:

Wild W.A.G. Weekend. Well, it was a friend’s birthday dinner party and since her name started with ‘W’, we had to dress up as something beginning with ‘W’, so I took the opportunity to dress in only the way I knew how.. and that was UP! 

I dressed it up, W.A.G. style. Now if you don’t know what a W.A.G. is, it stands for “Wives and Girlfriends”, usually used in reference to footballer’s wives. Their sense of style is hard to explain. Elegant, sophisticated, trend-setting, but somewhat slutty at the same time..

I went for stuff I already had in my wardrobe. This dress is from Lipsy London. I love Lipsy’s evening and cocktail dresses. Even if their sizes are a little on the small side. It still looks great and makes you feel like a million dollars when you have it on. :) Important for a W.A.G. attitude.

I have accessorised with earrings from Mango and a bracelet I picked up not too long ago from Debenhams. My bag is one I found from a quirky store in Singapore, whose name slips my name at the moment. My shoes are from Dune and are unbelieveably comfy, despite the heel.

The party was great! The food was brilliant and the company and costumes were even better! I’ll take any excused to get dressed up.

<3
Luella B. 

3so:

Hello!

It’s cold out there, so I’m going to blog something warm and snuggly. We’ve been so busy in the office this week, but we’ve really embraced the Christmas spirit and started on the food overdosing already. Luckily, I have amazing will-power and have stayed away from the cakes, chocolate, cookies and pizza!

Fuelling up on fish soup this weekend too - on a liquid fast.

I went shopping today for Christmas party accessories, because the lovely necklace and earrings I bought from Mango cheapens my beautiful Armani gown and we’re on a search for something more elegant and classy. But today went horridly wrong as I didn’t buy anything that I set out to get…no clutch, no earrings. I did, however, buy YSL lip stain, D&G perfume, Body Shop glitter dust and advent calendars for both the boyfriend and I. Haha! A very good shopping trip, but still on the search for some earrings and a clutch after all that!! Any ideas?

What I wore:

Knitted Sweater: H&M
Skirt: Mango
Scarf: Pieces from ASOS
Belt: Topshop
Necklace: Forever21 
Boots: Miss KG by Kurt Geiger 

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

<3
Luella B.

Just checking in!

I slept for ages last night, went to bed at 11 and woke up at 9:15 - it’s amazing! I’ve not slept that well in a while. I woke my family up, bringing them tea and hot chocolate in bed as I do most Saturdays. I love that we can all snuggle in my mum’s big king-sized bed and decide what we do for the day. :D

Having scones for breakfast this Saturday. Mmmmm! Then we’re baking butter cookies and bread rolls. Seems the perfect Autumn day for it too!

Here, I have my Dolce & Gabbana glasses on and a top from Pull & Bear. :)

Enjoy your weekend, lovelies!

<3
Luella B.

(Source: 3so)

3so:

Bonsoir!

I’m blogging a look from about a week ago.. I bought this adorable dress from H&M. I hadn’t been in H&M for years, it’s a little bit hit and miss sometimes in there. But I managed to pick this little gem up in the sale section. :D

With black stockings and my trusty US Polo Association boots, this dress can be adapted for Autumn :) My coat is from Warehouse.

Hope you like it.

<3 Luella B.

3so:

Another post tonight! :O I’m on a roll!

This is what I wore yesterday to London with the family and boyfriend. Took the boyfriend to the Natural History Museum after church in hope to see the dinosaurs, but was disappointed when the queue ended up being over an hour long for just the dinos. :( 

We then headed to Harrods and got lost a few times, though, I think we covered most of it! Went to Morelli’s for an ice cream lunch.. mmm!! Only he has the pictorial evidence of the masses of ice cream we consumed. 

So these bright pink jeggings I bought recently are a bit of a shocker, huh?

What I was wearing:

Jeggings: Firetrap
Oversized Shirt: Maggie + Me
Boots: US Polo Association
Jewellery: Forever 21
Coat (not shown): Warehouse
Bag (not shown): Luella Bartley 

<3 Luella B.

3so:

Hello!!

Hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend. I know I have! It’s been a pretty eventful and action-packed one. Painted the town red on Friday - not really! Had lots of lovely cocktails and shots on Friday and then danced all night, when we had a kebab and tumbled into my friend’s house at about 2:30!

On Saturday, my family and i went to Westfield London to watch Skyfall - great film! It was ultra busy! I think everybody had a similar idea!

Today, it’s freezing! So, I dug my Uggs out and put on my warmest faux fur-lined hoody from Gilly Hicks. I love Gilly Hicks! It’s the all-female sub-brand of Abercrombie. Has some very very adorable underwear too! We went to Chinatown in London to get some buns and pastries for lunch. From lunch until Tuesday lunch, I’m not eating! Haha.. I am doing a detox fast, in hope to shift the few pounds I’ve put on in the last couple of weeks!! Fingers crossed!

What I’m wearing:

Jeans: AllSaints Spitalfields
Hoodie: Gilly Hicks
Boots: Ugg Australia
Belt: Superdry
Fingerless Gloves: Marks & Spencer

Enjoy!

<3
Luella B.