I should turn 18 every year.

Finally growing up in to an adult may be scary, but on the definite plus side along with being able to do a variety of new, fun and potentially brilliant new things, you get a very good haul of presents. Everyone wants to make it a birthday to remember, and often want to get you things you can keep forever, or just send pretty insane amounts of money. I have to admit, my presents this year were incredible, and I am just sorry it has taken me so long to get around to posting!

1. The New Students Veggie Cookbook

2. My Week With Marilyn - Colin Clark

3. Thorntons chocolate champagne bottle

4. Marilyn Monroe boxset

5. The Barbara Stanwyck Collection DVDs

6. Classic Screen Sirens boxset

7. River Cottage Veg Everyday - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

8. The Big Sleep DVD

9. Cleopatra DVD

10. Emma Bridgewater notebook

11. Passion - Lauren Kate

12. Floral hairclip

13. Voucher for a free luxury manicure at Luci Foreman

14. Topshop Petite lace dress

15. Body Shop Love Etc gift set

16. Swarovski ring

17. Vivienne Westwood earrings

18. Vivienne Westwood ring

19. River Island heart earrings

20. Topshop cross earrings

21. River Island leaf earrings

22. Yumi parrot print tee

23. Elephant necklace

24. Blue feather necklace

25. Roses necklace

26. Butterfly necklace

27. Long beaded necklace

28. Vintage style floral cameo rings

29. Peach schnapps

30. Alice in Wonderland 'Curioser and curiouser' mug

31. Topshop gift card

32. Selection of Topshop underwear

33. Jewellery box

34. Tiffany heart necklace

From this gorgeous selection of presents I think you will agree my friends and family know me pretty well! I absolutely love everything, and can't wait to make each piece a part of my life. I have already worn the gorgeous Topshop lace dress, Vivienne Westwood jewels, Tiffany necklace and River Island leaf earrings (outfit photos to come soon - promise). I also spent my morning off today watching black and white films, becoming steadily more obsessed with Lauren Bacall, Barbara Stanwyck and 1940s glamour. I know, I didn't think it was possible, but my nostalgia is growing.. I have read the books already too, and am bursting with ideas for meals from the two cookbooks. Thankyou once again to everyone for all the presents - I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Obviously, I got a fairly substantial sum of money for my birthday too, and as is tradition I put the majority away to save.. but that didn't stop me going and getting a few little belated birthday presents to myself!

Bag - Topshop 

I have wanted a gorgeous pastel, ladylike bag for ages and this one in Topshop had literally been calling my name.. so when I finally had a bit of money I went and treated myself to it. The colours are literally beautiful  - so impractical of course, but so sweet.

Chain bracelet, cross bracelet, rings - Topshop
Cross earrings - River Island

Jewellery is a bit of a weak spot for me. I can never resist a good sale and the cross bracelet and rings were just such bargains that I had to have them! I have also been eyeing up the chain bracelets for quite some time because they are slightly ethnic, unusual, individual and quite different, so I finally bought one for myself and can't wait to work it. I also picked up these cute cross earrings in River Island - I'm not religious, but for some reason I love crosses..

Purse - River Island

This lip-shaped purse was just so playful and cute that I couldn't quite resist. I love how fun it is, and that bright pink hue is very du jour for SS'12. Also, this has more than a little hint of Lulu Guinness to it!

So that is my amazing haul of presents, so grateful for all of them! Also thankyou to all of you who commented saying Happy Birthday, and just anyone who comments and reads at all to be honest - it always makes my day. 

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

Just call me Mrs Claus.

Okay people, it is now only five days until Christmas. FIVE. I think I am bubbling over with anticipation. That and the downright smugness of knowing I have bought and wrapped all of my Christmas presents, and won't be participating in a Christmas Eve panic-buying session. Which also increases the anticipation - I can't wait to give my gifts and make people happy (hopefully) by showing them just how much I care. At least it's only five more days to wait until my loved ones (aka my wonderful parents) get to unwrap their presents.. Which were admittedly only completed today, on the final Christmas shopping trip. Here's what I wore to dive into the busy realm of Christmas shopping..

Jumper - H&M; Jumper Dress (underneath) - ASOS; Tights - River Island; Socks - Urban Outfitters; Boots - Primark; Bag - H! by Henry Holland; Hat & Earrings - Topshop; Necklaces - New Look & Rock N Rose; Rings - Primark & Parfois.
I was taking no chances today. I decided to double-jumper myself, then add in my chunkiest cable knit tights, fair isle socks, some serious boots and then top it all off with my beloved faux fur hat. This all resulted in a very snuggly-warm Tara whilst walking around town in the December cold. I also find that layering up in winter is the best way to keep warm, while not resorting to covering your favourite clothes up with a giant coat.. My favourite part of this look remains the gorgeous hat - I wish I could wear it every day because it is just so cosy, and finishes off a winter look so well. I'll be unspeakably sad to pack it away in summer..

Today's shopping trip was shorter and slightly less fun than usual since I am sticking by my little personal challenge of not buying myself anything until after Christmas. It had seemed so easy up until now, when resisting the siren call of the checkout meant that while on the computer I could only browse the pages, not click 'Add to shopping bag'.. Being at home and away from temptation made it seem simple. Then I went straight into a town centre full of my favourite shops, and I have to admit I nearly cracked. There were so many things I could easily have snapped up and added to my wardrobe, so many new gorgeous pieces out just in time for Christmas that were just calling my name, telling me that they could be mine if I just handed over my overused little debit card.. But I didn't. I only bought my remaining Christmas presents, and as a result I now feel very virtuous indeed. Never mind the fact that I am already planning what to buy with my Christmas money (which I am hoping will add up to a lot), right now I feel super smug and proud of myself.

After returning home with my presents, I decided that today was the day to get them all wrapped up and looking festive & gorgeous. So I waited until my mum was out of the way, then set myself up in the living room with everything I needed to wrap, some super-cute paper and the obligatory bows, ribbons & gift tags..

I may have gotten a little overexcited with the wrapping, but isn't the paper just too cute? And anything bright and shiny is a winner with me, hence the bows and ribbon. I will, however, be the first one to put her hands up in the air and admit that her wrapping skills leave a lot to be desired. I'm getting better at it.. but you can definitely tell who wrapped them. My mum's wrapping will be neat, clean and tidy, whereas mine are more than a little scruffy. But it's the thought that counts... Now the only question remaining is who is getting all of these lovely, haphazardly-wrapped presents? Oh, and did I mention it is FIVE days to Christmas?! Love and kisses, Tara xox

Check out my hectic life.

And I say hectic with only the slightest hint of sarcasm. Having stayed up doing coursework for many a night, only to hand the draft in, get feedback and be told to carry on drafting, the easing of the workload I thought would happen downright hasn't. Part of me assumed that teachers would get some Christmas spirit and stem the tide of homework that is threatening to drown me (or at least my social life), but apparently not - and I bet I will get holiday work too! The homework plus the fact that I am out at college from 7.40am to 5.45pm most days including journeys, leaves me with very little time other than weekends. It's not just college making me busy, I work basically whenever I can (or as often as I am needed), while trying to fit in blogging, some kind of social activity and even a little bit of sleep. I think the evidence for the busy schedule I keep is that since this blog started (a few months back in July) I have posted every day, minus the days I was on holiday in Madrid, but yesterday I simply did not have time. 

So here comes the catch-up of yesterday...

It was Friday, chilly and the end of the penultimate week of term (yay!), and yet again I had suffered from stylist's block..

Jumper & Skirt - H&M; Top (underneath) & Earrings - Topshop; Jacket & Shoes - New Look; Tights - Primark; Rings - Forever 21 & Parfois.

Continuing with the trend of layering up my separates when I draw a mental blank, I wrapped up a little in a peter pan collar top, jumper & coat, only to suffer chilly feet in my dollies. Sensibility still escapes me. As you probably know, I have a thing for tights and yesterday I decided that black ones just wouldn't do with such a monochromatic outfit, dredging up some purple ones from the back of my tights drawer. And I am pretty pleased with the result - the bright tights and lipstick lifted the whole look, and in my opinion made it work. I bet you're now thinking that this wouldn't have taken long to write yesterday, but I was actually out last night at the Christmas show by my old gymnastics club Spirit and didn't get in until about 10pm, then decided upon a rare early night. It was amazing to see everyone last night, and the routines were all brilliant. I resisted the urge to jump in and see if I could still do some moves.. Hope to see everyone again soon, I miss you!

Now that tomorrow has been caught up on, here's what's going down today. As Christmas is fast approaching (15 days people, 15 days!!), the entire clan of us - okay, Mum, Dad and I - went out shopping to try and get gifts sorted. I split off from the parents of course, not just because I prefer shopping without parental interruption, but also so I could get their gifts without them seeing. If you're reading this my lovely parents, I have nearly got all the components of your prezzies. In all honesty, I have nearly got all of my Christmas shopping done, which is a very organised, epic feeling. Here's my outfit for hitting those shops hard today..

Jumper & Skirt - H&M; Tights & Boots - Primark; Socks - Urban Outfitters; Bag - H! by Henry Holland; Necklace - Rock N Rose; Ring - New Look.

To get in with the festive feel I was rocking my sequin skirt today - I cannot express how on-trend it is to be sparkling in sequins right now, and not just for parties. This skirt has yet to make a party appearance, but has been worn in the daytime to add some glamour to my day-to-day style. Dressed down is of course the only way to make this work so that you don't look OTT for a Saturday morning shopping spree, which is why I teamed my skirt with a chunky cable knit jumper and some tights in the du jour print of polka dots, while juxtaposing the girly, sparkly glamour it gives off with some serious, heavy boots and fairisle socks. 

I have to admit something though, this wasn't a shopping trip dedicated to others. I may have gotten a little bit carried away with the spending money thrill and treated myself to some early Christmas presents..

This totally gorgeous little top is from New Look (yes, I spend too much money in there), and caught my eye for two reasons.. One, the beautiful, spring-like pastel colour and two, the £5 off tag. After getting closer I completely fell for the double peter pan collar and cutesy sleeves - this top is leaning towards the uber-feminine look that is coming in, and the light, ice-cream hue makes me think of the current resort collections being showcased by designers. It will just feel so fresh to be wearing light colours in winter.

I also picked up a face mask from Lush (and you can get my opinion on it once I've given it a go), some new makeup and a lemon shower gel. I'm really going in for the beauty-related treats at the moment, and I may even try my hand at some proper reviews of all the new stuff I'm trying. Anyway, I have that mountain of homework to tackle, and work at 6.30, so I'd best be off now.. Love and kisses, Tara xox

We are in the Christmas spirit!

It's been a few days since I inundated you with my absolute love & adoration for the festive season, and that's a few days too long in my book.. Especially when I couldn't have been provided with a better excuse than today - the day my gorgeous group of friends and I got our Secret Santa on & swapped prezzies! First Christmas present of the year - woohoo! The thrill of presents buoyed me through the first half of the day until lunchtime, and even managed to make me get up in the morning and get dressed without too much inner grumbling..

Dress - Internacionale; Coat & Tights - Primark; Shoes - New Look; Ring - Accessorize; Earrings - present from a friend.

Although this looks quite simple, finding a coat to go with this dress was quite stressful. Originally in my head I had just pictured the dress, tights, shoes combo and couldn't shake it from my brain, because I really wanted to wear it - outerwear just didn't figure - and then it was so nasty outside that I simply had to find one. This is why the first picture is sans coat, it is how I wanted to look, and the second is how I actually looked. I am quite fond of my blue trench though, it may be a cheapie, and a bit of an oldie, but it is a classic - classic style, classic colour, classic chic. It also fits pretty nicely, nipping in at my waist, unlike my other coats which create a vastly different silhouette. I will just say that what with the fit-and-flare dress, red lipstick and bow-seam tights I was trying to channel my inner Marilyn.. not sure if it came off, but in my head I was strolling around like a vintage movie star. Reality may have been vastly different, but that was the character I was today - screen siren on a casual day (meaning you still don't leave the house without your trusty red lipstick). 

I said there was Secret Santa, and while it didn't remain so secret in the end (we all fessed up to who we had after the presents had been distributed and loved by all), I think it was just what we needed to perk up this penultimate college week. Everyone is getting bogged down in exams, coursework and depressing weather, so a little bit of love goes a long way. I also chose today to give out my Christmas offering to my beautiful friends (whom I love VERY, VERY much)...

Merry Christmas my lovelies! Yes, I continued my trend of cake for gifts, indulging in some intensive baking last night to produce some lush little cupcakes, vanilla & chocolate, iced in white, chocolate, green & red, adorned with edible glitter in silver, white, green, red & gold. Sense the festive colour scheme here. Edible glitter is my new dessert obsession - I believe it was the great Kylie Minogue that said "when in doubt apply more glitter" - and it really made these cupcakes look Christmassy and special. They went down well I think, so I am glad to report that my Christmas present was a success! I decided against actual presents for several reasons (1 - money is tight. 2 - would rather make a big deal about people's 18th birthdays. 3 - I just love baking cakes.), but cake is a good way to show you care.

This is neither fashion-related, nor cake-related, but I just wanted to put this out there - I love my bestie Florence SO SO much, and just wanted to share this beautiful picture of us in the midst of the Secret Santa joy...

Isn't she gorgeous! And I even look tolerable here.. Love you loads Flo! Now just a few little extra comments to be made...

Credits to akikik for the first cake picture and the picture of me & Flo - amazing blogger, amazing friend, awesome photographer. Also just a quick notice of love for all of my friends, you are all brilliant, you get me through the day. In friends, I am coming to include you my little band of followers/readers/commenters - there may not be many of you, but seeing that people are actually reading what I write and taking the time to comment really makes my day! Finally, this marks the official, official start of this festive season for me, so MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Love and kisses, Tara xox