Savvy spending with Think Money

My love of a good sale will come as no surprise to long time readers. The joy you feel when one day an item you have been stalking keeping an eye on has a line cast through the price and instead has a shiny new - reduced - price. When Think Money contacted me about their Basic Bank Account and challenged me to a spending challenge, I was more than happy to oblige in some sale shopping! The idea behind their campaign being to promote how being savvy with your money can help you budget and have the best of both worlds - paying for daily costs such as travel and bills, but at the same time being able to treat oneself to a little bit of luxury.

With life lately being all about house viewings, I knew I wanted to pick up some pieces for my future house. Wherever and whenever that house may be. And like the complete cliché that I am, I adore marble, rose gold, and copper. When H&M hosted a 48 hour sale, I was first in - virtual - line on their website. I picked up these marble plates and chopping boards, really impressed that these were dishwasher and microwave safe - something that isn't always the case with patterned crockery sadly. Lastly I picked up this copper tray as it is such a versatile piece. I haven't yet decided if it will be a food plate or a candle plate, but for now it's a food plate:

H&M marble plates - £6.99 £4.89

H&M marble chopping boards - 9.99 £5.99

H&M copper tray - £24.99 £17.49

These items saw their first run this weekend with a picnic type lunch of rosemary focaccia, edamame beans, black olives and mozzarella. Not sure if it's just me, but everything seems to taste much better when you eat off of beautiful plates!

What I learnt is that a little saving here and there really helps - particularly when saving for a house! I saved an incredible £23.90. And not only this, but these were in fact items I was on the brink of buying before full price - but this way, I got so much more for my money!

Have you picked up anything nice in the sales lately?

* Think Money very kindly provided me with budget for this spending challenge, but as ever, all words and opinions are my own!

Autumn / winter staple // the shearling jacket

I'm sitting inside watching the rain pitter-patter against my window, and I think it's safe to say, that over the next few weeks months, going outside with bare arms and bare legs is about as likely as Boris Johnson changing his haircut. Although temperatures are noticeably becoming cooler, it's still early days for a full on winter coat. My most wanted item for this season? A shearling jacket.

Remember the aviator coat 'boom' of a few years back? You'd have been hard pressed to find a magazine that didn't feature one. Soft buttery leather with a hint of shearling around the sleeves and collar. As with most trends, I buckled and bought myself one. Although I stupidly succumbed to vanity sizing - where you order clothing in a smaller size even though that deep down you know that you require the size up - so my jacket wasn't a great fit. With this sort of jacket you need to size up - think layering in colder weather. If you can fit a couple of jumpers underneath with ease, then that's your jacket right there. You can read my guide on how to layer like a pro here.

My shearling jacket didn't fit the bill so I waved goodbye to it on eBay. I haven't found a replacement just yet, but for the time being I am finding plenty of inspiration on LookBook...

Will you be investing in a shearling jacket this season? 

Flaming Grill Pubs review (and complaint)

On most blogs you will find positive reviews. Often reviews fuelled by a freebie of some kind - where the writer feels obliged to say nice things even if they don't fully like the product or experience. As much as I like writing reviews, the one thing I always strive for on here is honesty. If I am gifted an item or experience, I won't necessarily gush on about how amazing it is - unless I 100% think so myself. Because I have no desire to lie to you, or myself. And I write reviews of my own accord - most of my reviews are actually based on a a purchase I have made myself rather than a freebie or other incentive.

As you know, I am no stranger to a Flaming Grill Pub. I have eaten at them many times before and I can't fault their value for money - the sheer amount of food you get for your buck. I wrote a review back here praising their World Cup burgers. However after a more recent visit, I had a less good experience where I felt ripped off.

What attracted me on this particular visit was their limited edition wild burgers menu. I am no stranger to alternative / exotic meats like crocodile etc. Their kangaroo burger appealed the most to me (once I got the idea of a cute hopping critter out of my head!) as I've tried kangaroo meat before and really like it. I hadn't tried it in pulled form before though and BBQ sauce is always a winner.

Ostrich is ok, but isn't my favourite meat. However the baconnaise was a nice idea to boost quite a plain meat which could easily be compared to chicken!

Buffalo is nice, but can be quite fatty (depending on where you go for it!). The fiery sauce meant this wasn't the burger for me... but I did like the sound of the buffalo meatballs.

I ordered the kangaroo burger and paid up front (as is normal in a Flaming Grill Pub). After a considerate wait (it wasn't even that busy!) someone approached me and told me that they'd run out of pulled kangaroo. Deeply disappointing, but what can you do? The meal was already paid for. I just wish that I'd been told this earlier. They did however offer me pulled pork instead which I was grateful for. Eventually the burger comes out and sitting atop the burger, it's not even what I'd call pulled pork - it was a solid block of meat. Definitely not pulled. Traditionally pulled pork falls apart and is in a nice BBQ sauce -  but theirs was dry as a bone, and quite chewy / tough.

And the burger itself? Bland. It had zero taste. I've had kangaroo before and found it to be really tasty compared to the majorly over-cooked burger put in front of me. In fact their burgers were so burnt, I had to cut lots off and waste it.

I will spare you a picture of what I found next.... a foreign hair. And this definitely couldn't be one of mine as it was.... under my chips. Ew.

As this stage, I was pretty fed up. The pub did their obligatory check when they come over and ask: is everything ok? I told the guy: no, it was not. I mentioned that the burger was really overcooked, how it was in fact burnt (and everything else!) and he just says ok and disappears. He doesn't report it to the kitchen or to senior management. He doesn't apologise or have someone else come over to apologise. Appalling customer service and a massive waste of money. And they couldn't even play the busy card as an excuse - it was a Wednesday night and pretty damn quiet.

This was the night before we went away on holiday, wanting a good hearty burger. Instead we didn't get the burger we were after, were offered a substitute which wasn't prepared properly, and a burger itself that was so burnt we couldn't eat fully. And once I discovered that hair, it turned my stomach and I didn't want to eat another bite. And worse still..... Wednesday nights are their speciality burger night. Laughable.

I don't want any of my UK readers to experience the shoddy service I received. I normally wouldn't go this public with such a complaint, but it was dealt with so badly. We weren't offered any sort of goodwill gesture despite me taking it to head office. The Flaming Grill Pubs' motto is "licenced to grill". And they have that right. In this case, grilled within an inch of its life. This is one pub chain that isn't licensed to thrill. Avoid.

Wedding vibes // Wedding outfit

Life lately in two words: Wedding Season. Every year for the last few years I've been honoured to be asked to be bridesmaid, but this year I had a little break from bridesmaid duties. Before now I've taken for granted the ease of knowing what I'll be wearing on the big day, and now fully appreciate how bridesmaids dresses can save you from weeks of indecisiveness about colours, lengths, strapless or not... Every time I found the perfect dress it would go out stock / not be available for home delivery or collection / potentially not arrive on time. Initially I was excited to pick out my own dress and choose a colour that I liked... but it seemed like fate was against me. Until I found my ideal dress from Miss Selfridge through the Debenhams website.

Light blue, strapless, not obscenely short AND in the sale. It was a sign. Then I noticed that frustrating word... "petite". Tall, curvy and proud of it, I am in no way petite. But the thought of letting the perfect dress slip through my fingers was too much to bear. I did a risky thing. I went ahead and ordered the dress - knowing full well that it would almost certainly be far too short on me. When it arrived and I found it wasn't a knicker flashing affair, it was a very special moment. Perfectly versatile for every day wear as well as weddings, this dress has already had lots of wear. With the added bonus of being quite so cheap in the sale, it saved me a fortune that I could have splurged on new wedding outfits.

If you like the look of the dress, it has now reduced down even further in the sale. Initially £25, it went down to £17.... then £12.50.... and now is £10.

I paired with a Forever 21 blazer, a New Look clutch (recycled from my previous bridesmaid duties!) and New Look peep toe heels. All of which were already in my wardrobe - so no further spending required!

NEW IN // Topshop lace-ups and skirt

When it comes to clothing, I don't shop much in-store these days. Not intentionally - it's just that I tend to have more luck online. But I stand corrected. The other day I went to Topshop and fell head over heels for two things: the lace up shoes that everyone and their cat has, and a white skirt in the prettiest embossed pattern:

Red lace-ups  //   White embossed skirt   //  Black lace-ups

Perhaps I didn't need two pairs of shoes. I just couldn't decide. What colour do you prefer? I went outside my comfort zone and picked up a pair in red as I have never owned a pair of red shoes before(!) And seeing as I live my life mostly in monochrome, these will bring a welcome pop of colour to my wardrobe!

And let's talk about the skirt. 

Not only does it have the most beautiful embossed detail, but it also has a rose gold zip. It's love <3

At Home in a Dolls' House exhibition // Museum of Childhood

Remember how I mentioned a little while ago that I'd been to see the Alice in Wonderland exhibition at the Museum of Childhood? Well, whilst I was there, there was another exhibition: At Home in a Dolls' House. But let's get one thing straight: you don't need to have children nor do you need to have owned a dolls house to find it interesting. There were a few interactive parts to the exhibition which were probably aimed more at children... but I like to get involved ;) By the end of it all, I felt like I was in a doll's house of my own!

Whilst we were there we checked out the rest of the museum which I can't recommend highly enough. The amount of nostalgia you will feel is incredible. I found so many toys and games from nursery and primary school that I'd completely forgotten about until I recognised the boxing / packaging!

At Home in a Dolls' House is an ongoing exhibition which runs until September [exhibition now closed]. This exhibition, The Alice Look and the museum itself all have free entry - perfect for keeping your children (and big kids like me!) occupied during the holidays but won't hurt the bank either! You can find opening times and more information here

Have you ever been to the Museum of Childhood?

Feeling festive with Debenhams

It feels weird to be talking about Christmas in July, but today I headed over to Debenham's Christmas press event where fair isle, gingerbread, knitwear and sparkles were left, right and centre.

 I can scarcely believe that it's less than five months until Christmas!

As ever, Debenhams had unique and interesting ways of presenting their collection

I recognised a few items from their other press event but there were plenty of new products on display too. There was certainly lots of Christmas gift inspiration

I know someone who would love these drone sets!

These glittery retro sweet cups are right up my sisters street! 

And one of my best friends would love this bunny cushion!

Debenhams also featured a personalised selection of gifts, hampers and bouquets

Seeing their festive season party dresses got me all excited for Christmas and NYE!

.... however Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a Christmas jumper!

... or Christmas pyjamas. How cute are this gingerbread man pair?

... and let's not forget festive table decoration inspiration. I loved their silver woodland theme!

Also on the agenda for today was a Christmas cookie decorating session - the finished designs hung up as Christmas decorations, or for the less patient.... nibbled upon there and then!

I loved this next use of visual merchandising. The whole ideal of waking up on Christmas morning and finding gifts around the fireplace, feeling like a kid again. Anyone would be excited to wake up and find these particular knee high boots and bags on Christmas morning!

MOST WANTED

And the award for my favourite item goes to... I'll take these in a UK size 6 please!

Oh I do love a cape

Copper pans. Need I say more?

Imagine receiving one of these beautiful boxes tied with with a red bow on Christmas day and inside finding one of these beauties. I love the plum set and the red (bottom centre and right)

Those leather gloves though

This red dress with the beautiful lace overlay. LOVE

And more of my favourite.... lace. But this time in my favourite colour!

I was literally about to leave when a lady came over and asked if I'd like a bouquet of flowers to take home with me. The bouquet in question was composed of the most beautiful red roses and what looks like thistles. These were on display on the day so was a lovely little memento to take home.

A huge thank you to the Debenhams team for inviting me. Never did I think I could feel festive and excited for Christmas as early as July, but I've been proven wrong! Roll on Christmas!

What are your favourite items from the collection?