Travelling tales

Just in case you've dropped in for a progress report...

My travels continue apace and currently I'm in the pretty seaside town of St Andrews having a lovely bit of R&R with my sister. If you'd like to see where I've been and what I've been doing, then click here to see my Instagram page for all the latest news.

I'm having great fun with friends and family and am busy making plans for more travelling soon. Exciting times ahead!

Anna x

Time to take a break

Hello and thanks for dropping by. You know how life rarely goes to plan? Well, that's how it is with me currently. I'm not one to take a blogging break, but that's what I'm gonna do. There's no drama, nothing terrible going on, I'm just going away for a few weeks for a break. Meeting up with family, seeing friends and maybe catching some rays, but I promise I'll be back by the end of the month. Happy New Year to you all and I do hope that 2019 is starting well for you. Let's hook up again in few weeks, shall we?

Take care!

Anna x

Style Not Age December challenge - Sequins!

Hello and welcome to our final challenge of the year, and yes I'm in my element as the theme for the Style Not Age collective is Sequins!

New Year's Eve can surely be no better licence to bring out every bit of sparkle and the ladies have definitely risen to the challenge this month. So without further ado let's start with Emma shall we?

The author of Style Splash, Emma has totally embraced the sequin theme with her silver jacket and boots taking centre stage. Talk about ready to party! Join Emma on her blog to get the back story for this festive look.

This gorgeous sequin top was a very timely Christmas present for the equally gorgeous Jacqui of Mummabstylish. Black jeans and heels complete the chic look with a metallic clutch adding a final bit of bling. Join Jacqui on her blog to get all the details.

Elegant glamour with a sprinkling of sequins is what Hilda has conjured up for this month's challenge in the shape of this sophisticated frock. Her sleek heels have had a sprinkling of fairy dust too! Check out Over The Hilda for the full story.

My festive offering comes with extra Brownie points to me - I've shopped my closet as the Americans say. I'm big on recycling as you know, but Christmas presents a huge pressure to buy some new bling to party in. I have three different options of party wear for this evening and only one of them is new and even that was a Christmas present from my lovely hubby.

The leopard print fur coat is very old indeed and was bought in Dorothy Perkins - does that shop still exist? I only ask because the branch in Penzance closed down this year and I'm not sure if that means they have all closed. 

My sequin top was from H&M a couple of years ago and has turned into one of those go-to items, a classic party piece I suppose you'd say. I have a matching skirt, but rarely wear them together as even I have my bling limits! The top and skirt both are fabulous enough even when paired with a simple black top/jeans, but this time I opted for a pre-loved pair of satin trousers in dusky pink to bring out the gold hues in the top. Likewise I chose rose gold for my jewellery - rings were both charity shop finds and the heart pendant was from a boutique in Truro which has since shut down too. The high street is under siege isn't it?

You'll have seen these ASOS boots before, I'm sure. Brocade boots will always be on trend with me! I love the ornate pattern and the colours make them so versatile too. 

So that pretty much rounds things up for our final style challenge of the year. I do hope we've inspired you to try something new/different or maybe even outside of your comfort zone. The ladies and I will be together again on the last Monday of January with our first quest of 2019 - do make a note of this in your diary!

Thanks so much for your company throughout the year. It's been great to know that you're tuning in to see what I've been up to and it's heartwarming to have your feedback and comments. The blog has opened up my life, connecting me to far flung places that I may never visit, but where I've found new friends. I do appreciate your time. It's been a pretty amazing year for me, full of wonderful opportunities and such fun along the way - I hope you've enjoyed the ride. I look forward to sharing further tales of my island life in 2019. 

Wishing you a Very Happy New Year!

Anna x 

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas!

Hello and how are the preparations coming along? Currently I'm still making fudge as fast as I can, but hopefully by the end of today everyone will have their allotted box. Tomorrow I'll be making a raised chicken pie for dinner along with other savoury nibbles, and I hope to do some prep for the Christmas meal too. Please don't mistake me for a domestic goddess - there's a whole lot of panicking and comedy moments take place when I'm in the kitchen!

Homemade vanilla fudge for family and friends. 

And finally, after weeks of trying to find the perfect showcase for my tartan boots - here it is! Oh my goodness, how I love this tartan medley. I'm not sure why tartan is so big around Christmas, but I've not got a problem with this fabulous pattern being on trend again. The green teddy bear coat was from TK Maxx last year and is still a fond favourite of mine, cosy and snuggly, just like a cuddly bear in fact.

After searching the Internet for hours I came across these tartan trews (what beauties!) on the ASOS website and if you fancy them they've got £10 off now, see here. I totally love them and have had so many compliments about them and how very me they are. And now here they are teamed up with my fab M&S tartan boots and don't they look amazing together? Gush, gush!

The red pie crust, frilly cuffed blouse is by H&M and was sent all the way from Japan when my dear friend Ben was there on holiday. He came across it in a market and decided it had my name on it. It came by post, via surface mail arriving some 10 weeks after he got home. But arrive it did and thank you Ben - I love it!

Another H&M secondhand purchase is the Sealed With A Kiss Christmas jumper. I bought it on eBay last year and have found that the black makes it easy to pair with most festive outfits. I have a new sparkly jumper set aside for Christmas day and if all goes to plan I hope to sidetrack one of the family to take some photos before the post-dinner naps commence.

The black and silver ring is preloved and the frilly seaweed ring is by Emily Nixon.

From here on in, my lovely readers, I'm not sure how the rest of December will go blog-wise. I'd like to award myself with a few days off, away from the clamour of social media and let the blog bubble away, garnering comments from you or not as the case may be. 

On New Year's Eve I'll be joined by the Style Not Age Collective for our monthly challenge which just so happens to be Sequins. Oh dear, can you imagine what a terrible chore this will be for me to don something so brash and sparkly? Never fear, I'll give it my best shot!

In the meantime, I'd like to wish you all 

A Wonderful Christmas 

and let's catch up again soon!

Anna x