Nina Ricci Prize

Remember an earlier post about entering a Nina Ricci competition on Elle UK ??! Well yours truly was selected as a runner up for my modern day romantic fantasy 'drift away dreamer' and won a lovely Nina Ricci gift set! My box of prizes turned up yesterday (brightens up any gloomy monday) and contained a large bottle of the new fragrance and scented body lotion - thank you ELLE!! Check out the sweet website here. Lucky me, eh?

In Love With Lulu

I'm still swooning from my one and ONLY splurge from London Fashion Weekend last week, a Lulu Guinness Clutch bag. It is from the Stella collection, a white satin pleated evening bag with a tiny gold polka dot print and hot pink fuchsia lining. I got it at a bargain price too!

Others added to my Lulu Wish-list are the iconic Lips Clutch, Tiny Cameo Pinstripe Umbrella, and Penelope Handbag from the Couture Collection. aaaah - dare to dream.

What a Wedding!!

My brother got married in a beautiful ceremony on Saturday, to a beautiful lady on a beautiful day!! Congrats to you both! There wasn't a dry eye in the house in the church and during the speeches. I wish them all the happiness in the world.

The Reception was held in the Langtry Manor, Bournemouth, which offered stunning 'Langtry Swan' desserts! A rare sunny Saturday in England made this day perfect. In the spirit of true love.....

Adorable Love Calligraphy Cushion by retreat home, and Retro Love Sign by An Angel at my Table.

Shades of Love by Alfred Gockel

The book Carrie reads Mr Big in the SATC Movie

pics:©nicki grainger

That Friday Feeling

I have definitely got that Friday Feeling. My Brother gets married tomorrow! In a quaint little village church in the middle of the countryside, in this gorgeous Autumnal weather - I cant wait! Had to post this find- Miss Emma Watson looks stunning in a new shoot by Mark Seliger for Italian Vogue. It feels like us Harry Potter fans have watched her grow up through the films, and she seems to be shaping up into a very beautiful, sophisticated actress. (plus I share a surname with her character, Hermione, so I love her!!)

If you want to see more, some scans can be viewed at emma-watson-fans.net of the whole shoot. Im off on my road trip now, have a good weekend everyone. x

LFW gets my Autumn Attention.....

Last night I attended London Fashion Weekend, and what a crazy fashion frenzy it was! The Catwalk show gave us a preview of what trends to expect Autumn/Winter '08 and the stalls let us drool over stunning designer dresses and cuter-than-cute clutch bags as far as the eye could could see! A few snapshots for you.......

The show flirted with fairytale folklore complete with twigs in bird nest hair, gorgeous colours and pixie like patterns. A tough look to pull off though me thinks. BNTM Lianna (right) lured us in with hot trend tartan capes and lumberjack inspired shirts.

Fur accessorised ear muffs and boleros during the show with dishevelled hair, wooden heels and a nod to 70's boho.

Finishing with Gothic Romance, a dramatic dazzling of black lace, leather, spike heels, tiers, ruffles,pearls and smoky eyes. Me likey!!

pics: © nicki grainger

Pin-up Perfection

Just came across this fantastic front cover of U.S magazine TV guide with the gorgeous Desperate Housewives Ladies posing in 1950's pin-up styles!! Isn't it superb!? x

Aren't Girls Grand?

I'm feeling reflective after a girls night in with my bests last night, complete with the newly released Sex and the City movie (love, love, love it), fajitas, cups of tea and good, old fashioned bonding chats. Am feeling female forward today as I heard 'Here come the girls' by the Sugababes on the radio on the way to work, and am off to London Fashion Weekend's premiere night this eve! Expect fashion fabulousness tomorrow.......

pic: ©nicki grainger

Where are you now? dresses to die for.....

My latest purchase from Topshop's boutique was a 'boyfriend' dress that I knew I had to have as soon as I spotted it! Its a slightly eccentric combination of upper-half-baggy-mans-school-shirt- meets-vintage-looking-waist-belt-meets-balloon skirt! The range - Where Are You Now? is a quirky collection of one-off dresses and skirts made out of scarves, belts, mens shirts and odd bits/bobs by designer Josie Beckett. She talks about her designs on marmaladya.com here.

More of Josie's designs are currently available at asos, i'm a big fan as I'm quite the 'messy dresser' and think her collection is original and inventive.

Monkey Mohitos

As a BIG fan of mohitos, I have located a bar in Shoreditch which serves some sublime mint madness! I attended The Drunken Monkey for two of my best girls joint birthday and these cocktails were seriously addictive. So refreshing, so minty, (and I swear they dont give you a hangover). They also do some yummy dim sum so I would recommend a friend alright!

Snapshots of a Summer Garden

A few months ago I visited Capel Manor Gardens in Enfield, Essex, and took a few pics. I adore those two pigs asleep in the sun!! Should make it into a greeting card! To see more pics click here. The beautiful butterfly was about my fifth attempt to capture one on camera, and I got way too excited about it! Its a great afternoon with huge areas to see if you ever get the chance to visit.

Elle.co.uk Fantasies....

Did any of you enter your fantasy on elleuk.com last month? They ran an irresistible competition with Nina Ricci allowing you to submit a fantasy with the crowned winner getting the chance to have theirs made into a fashion shoot for Novembers issue! This was my entry, (click to view full size) and as I was one of the first 200 they sent me a cute sample of the new Nina fragrance in its apple bottle.Well done to the lucky thing who was announced the winner several weeks back, I will be keenly awaiting the shoot in the mag!

My New Favourite Book

I change my mind regularly as to what my favourite books are, but I instantly fell in love with this one, 'Garden Spells' by Sarah Addison Allen. I confess - on this occasion I did buy the book just for the cover (glittery butterflies and lacy dress - can't resist) and the name intrigued me. Very much like the film 'Practical Magic' I thoroughly enjoyed it. I started reading it on the train in London and wanted to postpone my Oxford St shopping splurges so I could read more! I have leant it to a friend and have eagerly purchased her next book, 'The Sugar Queen'.

Mother I actually baked!! (my cupcake cheer heard across the world....)

Several months ago my eyes were perusing my (sorry to say bare) bookshelves and rested upon ‘cupcakes’ by US chef Elinor Klivans andthought I might just give it a go. Embarassingly this was my first ever foray into baking cakes so required supervision in the form of good-cook girlfriend and I squealed with delight when they emerged from the oven! Then the best bit - decorating and taste test!! Now I have successfully made my third batch (of 48!!) To see ALL my cupcakes in all their glory click here.

Latest Lush product I love....

As a self confessed LUSH addict I tend to treat myself to a product as often as my purse strings let me, and last weekend saw the arrival of BIG shampoo on my shelf. Made mostly from salt, the description promises big, shiny soft and thick hair after use. And it succeeds! I LOVE it. It’s squashy and salty but produces lots o’lather and fluffy bold locks after drying. Lush holds appeal as I’m a sensitive skin kinda gal, and they use almost all natural ingredients.