My week in instagram.. #2

I am home from Paris now! And what better way to start posting about it than with my instagram shots from the week?

Getting my Marilyn fix on Monday | Tuesday's uber bright look| Un chocolat chaud | Enjoying the Parisian sun in Wednesday's outfit | The Sacre Coeur | Getting fat just from looking at these French cakes | Wednesday's carb-tastic picnic | Hanging out in the Cafe des Deux Moulins comme Amelie | Un cafe frappe | Un mojitoooooo | Friday's girlie ensemble | Details of my fave Topshop bracelets

More details to come on the whole Parisian sejour, but this is just a quick sneak peek of my shenanigans abroad. One thing I will say is that being vegetarian in France is difficult - hence why my intake has been mostly BNs, pastries, bread and coffee. Oh, and I never realised just how much I dress like a Brit-girl.. the contrast with classic French chic was more than a little obvious..

Love and kisses, Tara xox

Down the rabbit hole.

Yes, that was the theme of my 18th party - it was a joint one with another friend, and we both adore Alice in Wonderland so.. Naturally we told all our friends to come a little bit 'down the rabbit hole' and dress for a bit of a Mad Hatter's tea party. Of course, since it was an 18th party the only way to describe it is going to be 'amazing', 'insane' and 'messy'. I love my friends lots, and there are some amazing photos up on my facebook, but honestly, you lovely fashionable people checking out my blog just don't need to see me looking my least attractive.. You'll be seeing the early on photos. First of all here is what I wore..

Dress - D&G; Shoes - New Look; Bracelet - Pandora; Rings - Vivienne Westwood & Ebay; Crown - made by a friend.

If you can't quite tell, I am meant to be the Red Queen, but a slightly more fashionable version. Okay, okay, so in reality I was just desperate to wear my D&G dress and found a way to work it in with some gorgeous new red shoes, a crown that one of my friends made for me years ago and I still have, plus some red lipstick and a little heart on my cheek (a la Marina Lambrini Diamandis). Honestly, this dress is so gorgeous I can barely believe I own it, so there was no way I was not going to wear it on my 18th! I am now even more determined to keep it forever because it is super-comfortable, actually really good for dancing and will be in style perenially.

Here comes a few of the photos of the night - the good ones that my friends and I won't mind having put on a *fashion* blog!

The incredible cake the other birthday girl made!

Little face cakes that I made.

Holly, Ashleigh, Sammie, me, Alison & Reiss.

Me & Lottie as red queens.

Sammie & Alison.

Clare, Tristan & Sherri.

Martha, Claire, Jenni & Lucy.

Me & Jenni.

Me & Ashleigh.

The hangover-cure breakfast (just toast for me actually).

The carnivores' pile of grease.

The mess we were faced with.

Looking fresh as daisies in the morning, of course.

Anyway, that was my party and it was brilliant fun, I absolutely loved it. It feels so good to be 18 - grown up at last. I hope everyone else had as much fun as me, and that Alison's parents are still speaking to her. Being 18 is a big deal in England, because it is basically becoming an adult and I will admit that being able to vote is scary.. But as one of my birthday cards said "You may be an adult now.. but it doesn't mean you have to act like one!", and I intend to.

Not to drag this whole birthday thing out for too long, but tomorrow I will post my haul of presents (finally!), including those from my family, friends and even my little treats for myself that I picked up at the weekend, while being talked in to getting a Topshop store card..

Love and kisses, Tara xox

Uber-geek.

My latest escapade was a themed house party for one very awesome friend's 18th - and the main idea was to get nerdy but in a cool way. This reminded me a little of the craze for geek chic that struck over the last few years, which was good because it meant I had a pair of nerd glasses just knocking around in my room for me to begin my outfit with...

Blazer - ASOS; Skirt - H&M; Shirt - one of my old school shirts, probably Tesco; Tights & Belt - Primark; Shoes - New Look; Necklace - Topshop; Ring - Parfois; Glasses - randomly acquired.
Uber-geek to me meant more than just getting incredibly nerdy, and it did to my friend too I think, since he specified 'cool geek' - so I tried my best with a mash up of school-uniform-style pieces and some more fashion-y elements. This is me.. when would I ever stop putting my stamp on themes like these? The basic outfit really is just my school uniform, but cooler. Instead of the shapeless blazer I used to wear all of two years back, I chose my new, fitted one, and I tucked my shirt into my skirt to create more of a silhouette. But the devil is in the detail. Suspender tights add a little bit of sex appeal, especially when mixed in with a siren-red belt and lipstick, while the chunky statement necklace revs up the white shirt infinitely. The glasses were practically mandatory - you can't be any kind of geek without your spexy frames!

I'm sure nobody came on here to see a bunch of teenagers partying (except maybe my friends, in which case check Facebook), so I'm not going to add in the hilarious, slightly embarrassing photos of us.. just a few of my little highlights.

Sammie's outfit was one of my faves.

There's Reiss, birthday boy, on the right..

Fuzzy, but cool balloon.

Incredibly cute face cake.

I made cake too!

Sammie & I looking lush.

Myself & Alison.

And that was my Friday night. Just to say, awesome party Reiss, hope you had an amazing time! I got a little bit too into my geekiness I think (note the casual 'check-my-glasses' pose repeated) but it was a cool theme, and everyone made an effort & looked downright SPEXY. Roll on the next of the 18ths please! Now come on, you know you want to party with us... Love and kisses, Tara xox

Christmas chez Tara.

First off, I hope you all had an amazing day yesterday - I know I did! Now, brace yourselves for another long one as I share the fun...

I kicked off Christmas 2011 bright and early with my cute little stocking, in the traditional way - aka curled up in bed, still in my PJs and dressing gown. Definitely a good start.

I love waking up to presents...

Good job, Santa.

And these are the goodies that Santa brought me in the night.. I must have been a good girl this year! My favourite thing so far is the super cute Lindt bear - almost too cute to eat. Almost. But not quite.

Once up and dressed (which my Dad didn't believe since it was before 9am), I finally set eyes upon the pile of presents. To combine two joys, here is what I'm wearing, and the presents neatly snapped in one picture.

No, they're not all for me...

Jumper - ASOS; Skirt - H&M; Tights - Primark; Earrings - handmade locally; Ring - Accessorize.
For my 'christmas at home' outfit I tried to strike the right balance between relaxed-in-my-own-home and all-dressed-up-festively. For most of my Christmases we have visited relatives on the big day, which of course required intense dressing up - but celebrating quietly at home this year meant I wanted to be a little more toned down.. To hit that midpoint I opted for my much-loved Christmas jumper (it has never been more appropriate), which I styled up with my sparkling sequinned mini and statement earrings. Oh, and before you ask, the presents are on the sofa because we don't have a Christmas tree. Never have, probably never will.

Presents!

This is my haul from this year, mostly courtesy of my amazing parents who somehow took my scrambled, last-minute Christmas list, fulfilled it, added to it and made me feel so loved with their finds. Now let me break it down for you...

1. Metallic H&M dress. Gotta have some Christmas sparkle!
2. ASOS faux cardigan jumper - so cute it hurts a little bit..
3. Kylie Les Folies Live In London DVD. Basically, I love Kylie, and being at this show was the best night ever, so I'm going to relive it.
4. Kylie calendar 2012 - from Santa, because Minne is my idol.
5. Bridesmaids DVD.. pure hilarity, enough said.
6. Breakfast at Tiffany's DVD, I will finally get to watch it.
7. Japanese Doll Tote bag. So sweet, and perfect for cosmetics.
8. Coral clutch bag. Just gorgeous.
9. Burgundy clutch - I picked this out myself and waited patiently!
10. Leopard bag, which is isanely cool.
11. Teacup ring.. the perfect nod to my mini-obsession with Alice in Wonderland.
12. Umbrella necklace. How appropriate for England in winter, or in fact any time of the year.
13. Egg timer necklace - very, very sweet and unusual.
14. Cupcake necklace. I think we all know I love cake.. moving on.
15. VINTAGE 50s Hannah Troy dress. My very first vintage piece!
16. LUSH Angels Delight soap, possibly my favourite soap and only available at this time of year..
17. Versace for H&M handbag - after all the fandango of getting the dress, I'm not 100% sure how Mum got her little paws on this, but I'm incredibly glad she did!
18. Versace for H&M earrings. Ditto these - once again, all hail Donatella (and my mum).
19. Temporary Secretary lucky dip bag & 'keep calm carry on' necklace. I adore Temporary Secretary & the blog too, and can't wait to wear these goodies.
20. Pandora silver chain bracelet. I had a cheapie version of one of these bracelets, but it broke recently and I hadn't gotten around to replacing it.. now I have an actual Pandora one - gorgeous.
21. Gloves and scarf, from my aunt and uncle. Seasonal, practical and pretty.
22. Penguin hand warmer. I pointed this out in River Island - I need a way to keep toasty warm while waiting for the bus!
23. River Island diamante headphone covers. Can't wait to bling up my MP3 with this dazzling beauties.
24. ASOS moose mittens (supposedly from my darling cat). Moose mittens - need I say more?
25. River Island grey dress, which I adore for the almost 20s feel of the straight cut and flicky fabric embellishments.
26. The Hunger Games books.. I have been waiting forever to read these!
27. What's New, Cupcake? book. I am already overflowing with excitement for cake baking.
28. Fashion Box book, full of inspiring pictures of fashion icons. I'll admit to losing myself in this yesterday afternoon.
29. Icons of Fashion from the 20th century book. God, I love fashion.
30. Fashion Doodle Book, basically a chance for me to release the fashion from my brain. Love.
31. Smirnoff miniature - best enjoyed straight, while watching Ab Fab. At least that's how I like it.

So yes, I am a very lucky girl because I got such amazing stuff - I can't quite believe it all myself. Don't even ask me to pick a favourite present, I couldn't do it if I tried! After the present-giving extravaganza we didn't quite know what to do with ourselves, and ended up watching the final Harry Potter, before starting to cook Christmas dinner. Well, Mum and I did, Dad fell asleep (but shhhh, don't tell anyone!). Here's the low down on our festive meal...

Lights!

Starting off lightly with melon..

My slightly shell-shocked parents & dinner.

My delicious veggie Christmas dinner. Nom.

My hilarious cracker joke.

The meal was topped off by a cake made by yours truly.

And that is basically the essence of my Christmas Day. After that came the obligatory episode of Doctor Who, where I counted the Narnia references, more chocolate than I care to remember and much more Christmas TV while the fire blazed.. Rounding off the evening was Ab Fab - which is comic genius. I love Patsy... And the final moments of my glorious Christmas day were spent watching my idol, Kylie, sing Let It Snow on Michael McIntyre's Christmas Comedy Roadshow - she was stunning. And now I want snow! I will leave you now with this image of me in the evening, before the vodka, but towards the end of the champagne.. Kudos for reading all this and I hope your Christmas was just as much fun!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love and kisses, Tara xox