I go crazy cos here isn't where I wanna be

I've had a pretty decent week as far as working weeks go... although that may be because my *ahem* working week was only one day long. Don't get me wrong, I bloomin' love my job, but its the best feeling in the world knowing you've got a few days of freedom ahead. I spent the start of the week at home catching up with my friends (including a trip to an awesome wedding cake shop with my friend who's getting married this year!) and family. My Dad and I spent some quality time together on a photography course which was run through Jessops in Manchester, I wasn't sure what to expect but I was really impressed... the guy made a real effort to find out what we all wanted to develop our skills in and made sure that we didn't leave without the right advice. I feel like I learnt a few tricks to make the most out of the billions of settings my SLR has which I probably wouldn't have got to grips with by just reading a book about it. 

Today I took a trip into town and ended up having an impromptu lunch date with my friend Coral as I'd popped into her work to say hello just as she was being told she could take her break. Perfect timing. We couldn't have planned it better if we'd tried.

Anyway, I ended up wearing my new favourite top (how is it that sometimes you can fall massively in love with the simplest, most unexciting items of clothing?!) for about the 3rd time this week today (thank god for Mama T and her superhuman talents with the washing machine) along with my absolute bargain of a skirt from New Look. I think I paid a tenner for it back in January but they've reduced them down to £7 now... I'm contemplating filling my whole wardrobe with them at that price!

top: Topshop, skirt: New Look, boots: Topshop, socks: Primark, necklaces: Topshop/ Kukee, watch: Urban Outfitters

Anyway, I'm off to get excited that there's still a whole weekend left before Monday rolls around again. Can I just work one day a week every week please?!

R U Mine?- Arctic Monkeys

(In honour of their awesome performance and Alex Turner's hilariously cringey rambling speech at the Brits)

I give a little into the moment like I'm standing at the edge, I know.

On Friday night, I spent my evening in possibly the best way ever... with my homegirls Haim. The gig sold out ages ago (they were only playing Leeds Met, which if you know Leeds at all you'll know its a pretty tiny venue!) but luckily after many hours spent trawling twitter on a quest for tickets I managed to find some for my housemate and I. 

I've heard mixed reviews about Haim's live performances. A lot of people have said their vocals aren't brilliant live so I didn't have my expectations set too highly. But seriously, I couldn't fault them. They've all got incredible voices and they really know how to own a stage. They're like a new generation of girl power with all their hair swishing and guitar riffs. It's made me want to be adopted as the fourth sister even more now. Plus, they all munch on Percy Pigs between songs... Girls after my own heart right there. 

Anyway, whilst I'm at it rambling on about my ever-increasing love for the band, I thought I'd show you what I wore to the gig. Since it was a Friday night and all that jazz I decided to put a bit of effort in (usually I find myself judging people who treat gigs as a fashion show when they're just going to end up soaked in beer and sweat) so managed to quickly take a few snaps of my outfit before rushing out of the house. I love this Primark crop-ip, it's just the right length for me and I bloomin' love anything velvet at the moment so this was instantly a winner with me.

top: Primark, skirt: Topshop, boots: New Look, necklaces: Joy & Urban Outfitters

Falling- Haim

Why couldn't we save you?

Much to my surprise, I've come to realise that I'm actually pretty excited for winter. I've made best friends with my favourite bobble hat again, today I bought myself a new Christmas jumper and I've forced everybody into picking their Secret Santa at work (although on that subject I have no idea what to buy for the person I've pulled out so am now kicking myself for starting the whole present buying process in the first place). 

I'm trying to expand my winter wardrobe by wearing my dresses from the summer layered up under shirts and big wooly jumpers to attempt to save a bit of money before all my money starts being spent on numerous Christmas dinners and trips to the Leeds German Market. This white lace dress was my best buy of the summer so I'm glad it doesn't seem to have any objections to tights being thrown under it and every possible long sleeved item of clothing I own being chucked over it. Definitely £10 well spent... well done Primark.

dress: Primark, shirt: New Look, boots: Topshop, necklace: Urban Outfitters

Something else that makes me happy to see winter rolling in is the ever growing list of gigs I've got booked or am planning on buying tickets for. Peace, Foals, The Family Rain, Haim, Bombay Bicycle Club... and perhaps most excitingly of all I'm crossing my fingers and toes about getting McBusted tickets (all illusions of my musical credentials have gone right out of the window now but quite frankly I couldn't care less... I was a huge Busted fan back in the day so just want to relive those days without the spots and general teenage awkwardness for a night).

I Kill Giants- The Naked and Famous

You don't have my number, we don't need each other now

With the exception of showing you all my black lace dress a few weeks ago, I haven't done any outfit posts in what seems like forever. Mostly because of the inconvenience of this 'spring' weather we've been having leading me to live in wooly jumpers and not a lot else, but also because I really am an awkward little so and so when it comes to taking photos of myself and all that jazz. 

Anyway, the real point of this post is mostly to show you my lovely new necklace from Kukee. I'd been hunting around for a bunting type necklace for absolutely ages but was really struggling to find one I liked anywhere (I was even starting to contemplate concocting a cunning plot to get my friend who had a similar necklace to think she should give hers to me). Luckily, a browse on the Kukee website one evening saved me from my necklace-less induced sadness and probably saved my friendship while I was at it! 

And we all lived happily ever after.

In other news, I met a new patient at work yesterday who said I looked about 15. Given my current age-related crisis at becoming an old person, after getting over my initial horror at being mistaken for somebody about to sit their GCSE's, I couldn't help but partially see this as a good thing as surely it must mean that I don't have to start acting my age yet?!

top: Urban Outfitters, skirt: Urban Outfitters, necklace: Kukee, shoes: Converse

My Number- Foals

I'll sing myself to sleep, a song from the darkest hour

My friend Coral organised a 1920's themed Get Together last night to raise money for Oxfam, so in the name of charity I nobly stayed out long past my bedtime on a school night. I like to do my bit for a good cause and a good two for one cocktail offer. I didn't have much of a chance to dress up due to being far too disorganised after work this week to nip into town on the hunt for something flapper-esque, but I did eventually manage to find an old headband and steal some pearls from my friend to jazz up my outfit a little.

I was glad of another excuse to wear my birthday dress from last weekend, I decided it just about fitted the 20's dress code since the lace is so fancy compared to other lace dresses I've had in the past which have ended up all pulled and with frayed bits of elastic sticking out all over the shop (does this happen to anyone else or am I just really bad at washing my clothes?!). And, even though it had nothing to do with anything, I  couldn't resist using my new satchel which was a birthday present from two of my friends. We have a bit of a long standing joke about satchels which started on a very drunken night a few months ago (I won't bother to explain... its one of those stories that nobody else would or should EVER find funny), so it made a perfect present. That, plus the fact that its just so flipping cute!

dress- Urban Outfitters, bag- Topshop, shoes- Bank

Sit Down- James

(yes, this song has been stuck in my head since it was played on Comic Relief an hour or so ago!)

Falling through high places

Yesterday was one of the most fun-filled Saturdays there ever was. I went to Xscape near Leeds with two of my friends for some jolly snow time where we joined a load of small children on the slopes for a spot of sledging. We decided it was definitely an activity better suited to us 22 year olds than the kids though because we had a quite significant weight advantage helping us along (I knew indulging over Christmas would come in handy sometime!) and unlike most of the people around us we managed not to cry every time we fell off our sledges! Then we spent the rest of the afternoon eating burgers, nachos, doughnuts and lemon drizzle cake. It appears that sledging makes you work up quite an appetite (any excuse). I also took a trip to Urban Outfitters, again on a quest for some cheap jewellery, and somehow this time came home with this new camera. I'm a ridiculous human being.

Then to celebrate the end of the first Saturday of 2013 (here's hoping all Saturdays to follow are equally brilliant!) we cracked open the rum and headed out for the night. The perfect opportunity to give my new dress its first outing. It has a panther on it don'tcha know.

dress: Topshop, socks: Topshop, shoes: New Look

The Wolves- Ben Howard

Tell me what it is that you wanna be

necklace: Urban Outfitters, jacket: Republic, dress: Topshop, converse: Schuh

One of the few shops I can tolerate at sale time is Urban Outfitters, particularly when it comes to rifling through their gorgeous jewellery. However, my mission to find cheap jewellery went a little bit wrong when I found this necklace nestled amongst all of the sale stuff without a sale sticker on it. Giving them the benefit of the doubt that one of the sales advisors had just forgotten to mark this one down I took it to the till to check the price because I didn't particularly want to pay full price for it. But apparently I did actually like it enough to pay £18 because when the girl at the till offered to put it back for me I practically threw my bank card at her shouting "It's ok, I'll buy it anyway". I'm great at sales shopping.

Also, if you haven't heard it being played on Radio 1 this week, then check out the song below by Swim Deep. They'd been floating around for quite a while in 2012 and I've become a little bit obsessed. It looks like they're set for big things this year :)

The Sea- Swim Deep