Last Of My Christmas Sales Haul & A Gift From Mum

My whole body is aching today.  I did a massive workout session last night at the gym, did an hour of cardio and then 30 mins of weights and boy can I feel it today!  I'm walking around like an old wifey, I've got sore muscles in places I didn't even KNOW I had muscles!

So anyway, these are the last bits and bobs from my Christmas Sales shopping and again, I'm really happy with everything I got.  The first item is a cute little black velvet evening bag from Next with brooch detail...

You can either wear it with the strap or tuck it insided the bag, but I always lose patience having to clutch onto a bag all night and prefer to have the strap to sling it over my arm.  I really love the brooch detail and when you take a closer look at it, it's actually very intricate...

It also has a nice clasp with a faux jewel in it, which just adds to the luxury feel of the bag...

I also got these black, peep-toe studded shoe boots from Next which look fabulous with legging, skirts and jeggings...

I pretty much love anything with studs on it so this feeds my need for embellishment! The heel is easy to walk in and they are really comfortable too.  I actually didn't realise they were peep-toe until I got them but I don't have a problem with that because we will be in spring before we know it and I can always wear opaque black tights with them to stop my toes freezing off!

You may remember my Christmas Sales Wishlist post, where I went through the items I had my beady eye on and I'm glad to say that I managed to pick up the French Connection Iron Eagle Black Dress for £65 down from £130...

I actually think the wings on the front look more like angel wings than eagle ones and this has a deeper meaning for me because my mum is a practising Reiki master and also does angel therapy.  This dress has some serious detail...

The material of the dress is actually thinner than I thought it would be, it feels like cotton but this may be due to the fact that the embellishments add alot of weight to the garment so it would weigh a ton if they used a heavier fabric.  The dress is pretty short so I may resort to wearing it with leggings or opaque black tights for now.

The next thing I got from French Connection was this Queen Bee Jacket in Almond Cream which was down to £42.  It feels really luxurious because the fabric is so soft and it also feels very well made.  This will be perfect teamed with skinny jeans and a silk vest top.  The jacket is a little too big for me in the arms and waist though so I am going to take it to a tailor to have it taken in so it fits me perfectly.  This shouldn't cost too much money and it's worth it to have something that really flatters your figure.

My mum dropped over yesterday to come along with me to a bathroom showroom.  Me and Chris are having a whole new bathroom put in in 2 months time so it was my job to choose all the fittings and tiles etc.  Since Chris is offshore, my mum came along to help me out.  We went for a lovely lunch first and since we had loads of time before our appointment (I'm early for everything...it's my thing!) , mum suggested we nip into Next to have a look at the remnants from the sale.  I fully intended JUST to look at housey stuff but I got distracted by some pretty nightwear...

I ended up buying this pale dusky pink pyjama set with a cute sparkly bow on the top for just £7.  They are SUPER soft and now I can start throwing out my pyjamas that have seen better days!ha ha.  I also spotted  

this lovely grey nightdress with silk details made from the same material and this was also just £7.

So all went well with the bathroom stuff and everything has now been picked out with a start date of 7th March so I can't wait to have a whole new bathroom with loads of storage space!  I need it for all my crap!

We were just walking back to the car when my mum spotted a shop called The Design House, which I had never noticed before.  We saw lots of sparkly stuff and beautiful artificial flower displays in the window so naturally we had to go inside and have a closer look!  This place is like a treasure trove for all the things you would love to have in your house.  Gorgeous candle holders, amazing mirrors, chandeliers, little trinkets...endless fabulous things for your house.  We were in heaven!

My mum spotted this artificial orchid tree and she knows that I have wanted something like that for ages just to finish off the livingroom in the flat.  We stood and admired it for a while then looked at some other things.  Mum picked up some artificial flowers for one of her displays at home, then she stopped and said "you know something, I'm going to be very selfless, put these back and get you the orchid tree you have wanted for so long".  This is typical of my mum, she is so generous and thoughtful and she always gets me such lovely things.  As well as that, she gives her time and love generously too :)

I gave her a big hug in the middle of the shop and said thank you with a beaming smile.  It wasn't cheap but the tree looks so realistic and it will last forever.  Even in the close up pic above, you can't tell it's artificial!

The pot it's 'planted' in even has fake soil and moss in it! It's taken pride of place in our livingroom and it looks gorgeous.  So thank you again to my wonderful mum who always thinks of others before herself.

And to round off this post, I just wanted to post a clip from YouTube of Jessie J performing her song 'Price Tag' live on Later With Jools Holland.  I liked her debut single 'Do It Like A Dude' and I was shocked whilst watching this clip that she actually has an AMAZING voice.  There's alot of 'pop' stars who are very popular but it's obvious they are there more for their looks than their singing talent.  This girl has got LOTS of attitude...