Lakeside Shopping Haul Part 1!

A few weekends ago, four of my friends and I decided to have a girls shopping trip. As we don't live in a very big town, shopping is very limited to a New Look and Dorothy Perkins and so we decided we wanted to go somewhere with a bit more variety. A 90 minute car journey with the help of my Australian voiced Sat Nav and a playlist of music later we turned up at Lakeside. I had never been shopping there before so I was really excited about our little shopping trip. It is fair to say that I went a little overboard on the shopping and was definitely feeling spendy that day so I thought that I would share all the bits and bobs I picked up.
 One of the first shops we went in was the massive Primark. I think it actually covered at least two floors and so it was a bit overwhelming when we went in. However we had such a laugh trying on the funny hats, sunnies and clothes and we also found some bargain buys. I never seem to have much patience with Primark and it doesn't take me long for me to become bored of shopping in there and so I was really pleased when I found a few things I liked. 
The first two things I got were these shorts. I actually got a grey pair and purple pair for my holiday last summer and they were so handy for going to the beach and pool in and were comfy and light enough to wear sleeping too. So I was so thrilled when I saw these have returned this year. At only £3 a pair they are a fantastic buy and so I got a red and a beautiful royal blue pair too. Each pair has the white detailing around the bottom and a logo on the right leg and these will be perfect for chilled summer days even if I don't go on holiday this year.
 The next thing I bought in Primark was this bright pink pillar candle. I've really been into candles recently and wanted a few to accompany my scented Yankee candles. The colour really appealed to me and although these are scented I actually like the Mango & Citronella scent as it is different to what I usually go for in a candle. It really is a fresh, uplifting summer scent and this was another bargain at only £2.
 My final purchase in Primark was picked up whilst I was waiting to pay for my items. I hate the fact that shops put little items around the queuing area because it makes you want to buy pointless stuff that you don't necessarily need. On this shopping trip this is exactly what happened to me because I picked up this huge pot of Tic Tacs for only £1. To be fair they were rather refreshing and different to the typical mint or lime and orange flavours I'm used to and plus I hadn't had Tic Tacs in a long time so this justified buying them.
 Another shop that we went into on our trip was Forever 21. Up until this day I had never really shopped in Forever 21 or even been interested in the clothes they sell. I don't think I had even ever looked on their website but as soon as I walked into the Lakeside store I knew I had been missing out.
 They have some lovely pieces in there from their dresses to tops to bags and jewellery that I kind of regretted spending so much money before I went in this shop. It was so hard to resist buying from here and I had my eye on a gorgeous pair of sandals and a necklace but in the end was good and only bought two things.
 The first thing I got was this casual logo vest costing £9.50. I love the print of this top and the text of 'Fortune favours the brave' and I think the cut and shape of it is really flattering too. It is cut quite deep at the sides and so my second purchase was a little bandeau top which I thought I could pair with the vest. I thought the hot pink would contrast well with the navy blue and make it look more interesting.
 The bandeau itself is a really pretty lace floral print and was a really good price at £3.15. Overall I was really impressed with the prices of the items in Forever 21, as they were much cheaper than I expected them to be.  

Of all the shops we went into that day, I was expecting to come out of New Look with some serious damage to my debit card. As it happened I only came out of the shop with one thing. This however, was a beautiful kimono that since buying it, I haven't stopped wearing. It is made from a sheer material which makes it so light and wearable for summer and the floral pattern is interesting yet not too in your face. The colours are also lovely and I am especially liking the royal blue shade in there. Costing £24.99 I wasn't sure if it was a little overpriced but I knew I couldn't leave it on the shelf.
 My next purchase was in River Island. After scouting the bag and purse section as is tradition when I go in there and having nothing in particular catch my eye, I thought that I would have a peek at the jewellery.
  Although I am a huge fan of rings, I don't own that many necklaces, especially statement pieces. I was attracted to this silver piece because of the beautiful detailing and the slightly 'tougher' look it has. I also thought it was reasonably priced at £7 and this had been a welcome addition to my wardrobe. So far I've worn this with the above kimono and a plain white tee and it has worked really well.  

My final clothes/accessory buy during this shopping trip were these aviator styled sunglasses from Dorothy Perkins.
 I have always been a fan of this style, yet have never found a pair to suit my face. I have loved wearing the retro styled sunnies for the past few summers and bought a new pair from RI at the beginning of the season but I was still looking for the perfect aviators.
  I was actually about to buy a different pair of sunglasses when I saw these and I tried them on just by chance when my friends said they suited me. I agreed and so these are my first pair of silver aviators costing me only £8. They have a grey graduated tint in them which I think looks great and they even came with this beautiful floral case to keep them safe and clean.
Although this is the end of all the fashion and random things I bought on this shopping trip, I did go a bit over the top on the cosmetics and beauty items and so will be posting a part two of this shopping trip over the next few days. I had such a good day at Lakeside, not just because I went shopping but because I got to spend the day with some of my favourite people and catch up with them because I don't get to see them as much as I used to.

My Ring Collection

It's no surprise that whilst I have been growing up, I have been steadily building collections of different items. One that I am quite proud of is my massive shoe collection, but one which has been quietly growing is my rings. I am not a massive jewellery person but I have to admit that I am partial to a nice ring or two. Instead of necklaces and bracelets I seem to have a healthy collection of rings, which I am now about to share. 

Whilst looking through my collection I realised I have a lot of small, cheap rings which I decided not to feature because a) I don't really wear them and b) I thought it would be more interesting to share the rings I wear on a regular basis and the more interesting ones. All of these rings are stored on this manikin hand which I got as a birthday present probably about 5 years ago now (wow.)

This first ring is one which I bought from Dorothy Perkins a few years ago. As it is not actually made from sterling silver I haven't found myself wearing this product very much at all. The biggest selling point for me was the detailing and the size but it has now started to go a bit tarnished at the top which is disappointing.

The next ring was another from Dorothy Perkins. This was in one of their many jewellery sales and I really loved the way that the design was quite simple but I like the way it was made into quite a big ring. I think I picked this up for about £2 which was a bargain. My only regret about this ring is that I have not worn it half as much as I thought I would.



Out of all of the rings I own, this one will probably always be my favourite. I've had this since August 2009 and up until the past year I probably wore it almost everyday. I bought it from a shop in Tunisia whilst on holiday there for around £10 I think. I love the detailing and the size of this ring and an added bonus is that it is made from silver, so it hasn't turned my finger green or anything like that. I wear this as pictured, on my right hand.
The next ring that I am featuring is this beautifully intricate floral one which I picked up in Dorothy Perkins (I think!) within the past year. I've noticed my collection heavily features floral, twisted and detailed rings and so these easily become classics for me. I'm not entirely sure how much I paid for this particular ring but I would imagine it would have been somewhere around the £5-£6 mark. I usually wear this ring as a single statement piece, similarly to the way that you would wear a statement necklace and I think that it works really well.
Next up is one of my smaller rings, which again up until about 3 months ago, I wore religiously. Unlike in this picture, it's usually found on my middle finger of my left hand and it was actually a Christmas present a few years ago. I like that it is slightly different from the other rings I own and I think that it's the perfect size.
My next ring is one of the newest to my collection. I picked this up from a shop called Spangle, which sells sterling silver and gold jewellery. I love shopping there because their pieces are quite unique and so reasonably priced too. This sterling silver ring cost me around £12.95 and I love the detailing and the fact that it is another small ring to add to my collection. I've worn this almost everyday since I bought it and it was definitely a good purchase on my behalf. It has been a nice change to wear a smaller ring as opposed to some of the larger ones in my collection, but it still reflects my love for floral and intricate designs.

Next in my collection is a ring that I received for my 18th birthday. It is my first and only ring from Pandora and it was such a lovely shock and surprise when I got it. Again this is a sterling silver ring that lives on my right hand and it actually something a bit different from my other pieces. I love the combinations of colour in this piece and the simplicity of it, and also the studded balls add different layers to it too. It cost around the £50 mark, but I think it has been worth the money you pay. It is a really special ring to me and so although I've worn it in everyday situations I have also kept this for special occasions as I don't want to damage it whilst I'm at work.
Last year whilst I was on my first ever holiday abroad with my friends we went to the small shopping centre to do some traditional tourist souvenir shopping. In one of the shops I found this gorgeous ring costing a mere 10 euros. I decided there and then that it would become a tradition to buy a new ring in every country I visited, especially because I had done the same previously on a holiday to Tunisia. I love the embellishment on this ring and the symmetrical pattern and the fact that it is of course silver.  
This next ring, to date, is the cheapest and what I consider to be the biggest bargain find in terms of rings that I've found. Dorothy Perkins often have jewellery sales and so when I saw this for £1 I didn't think twice about buying it. I didn't even care that it was gold and not silver like all my other jewellery, I just loved the way that it looked as though there is a leaf wrapped around your finger. As an added bonus, it fits on every one of my fingers aside from my little one, so it is so versatile.
Moving back to the trend of statement rings, this next one was another gift a few years ago. I'm not sure how much this cost but it has the twisted, curly detailing that I love and a oval stone in the middle. I am really loving the colour mint and especially the mint green/light blue shades and actually forgot a little about this ring. This ring is also adjustable so I am able to wear it on almost any of my fingers but I think it looks best when it is on the finger next to my middle one. Over the summer I think I am going to start to get some more wear out of this piece because I haven't worn it as much as I thought I would.

Another recent purchase has been this next ring. Again this sterling silver is from Spangle and is studded with Cuban zirconia around the front of the ring. This particular ring cost me £19.99 and is usually worn on my middle finger on my left hand. One thing that it a little annoying about this though is that it often twists around so that you cannot see the stones, but I love the simplicity of it and that it isn't too big or overpowering.  
I think this next ring is also an addition from Spangle. I bought this a few years ago now so I'm not sure how much I paid for it but I think it was around the £12 mark. Again, this has a really simple design and I love the cut-out hearts that make up the shape. This is also sterling silver which means that it hasn't turned my finger green and it has been a great everyday ring which I've also worn for special occasions too.
The final ring in my collection is one that I picked up from Dorothy Perkins a few years ago now. It is actually a double ring, which is worn across two fingers. In my case I wear this on my middle and ring finger on the right hand and I love the floral pattern of it. I also love the way that the silver isn't perfect and that it looks slightly tarnished in places as it adds more texture and depth to the piece. I also like the added diamantes which gives the ring a bit of sparkle. The ring itself is also another adjustable one, which means that it is so versatile and will fit most people. 

 

I've really enjoyed going through my collection and having a proper look at the types of jewellery that I buy. I think it is obvious that I am a huge fan of silver, floral and intricate designs. There is a mixture of larger and smaller pieces ranging in prices and it's been good to rediscover some things that I had forgotten about.