My Blogger Of The Month: Amy Bell!

This is a bit of a last minute/late idea from me, but I thought it would be a good idea, every month do a little post on my blogger of the month! I read a lot of blogs every day, both fashion and beauty, and wanted to do something to recognise my favourite bloggers and maybe even introduce my followers to the blog. I'm not going to worry about followers, they could have 1 or 10,000 followers, all I want to look for is someone who styles outfits I love and takes nice pictures. I always think it's a really nice thing to do when bloggers write posts on fellow bloggers and how much they love their style, so really this is just a way of spreading blogger love (that sounds so incredibly lame, but I don't care ha!)

My first blogger of the month for January 2013 is... Amy Bell from Little Magpie!

I was first introduced to Amy's blog through working at the Motel Rocks head office, where I was responsible for communicating with bloggers. Amy was a member of the street team and Laura who runs it, put Amy forward as a blogger we might be interested in working with further. Ever since the first time I emailed her, she has always been super nice and friendly and was one of the first people who followed my blog :)

I love her 60's style, she always wears her hair in this perfect beehive and her outfit shots are so good, they genuinely look like part of a magazine shoot. I feel like Amy is quite daring with her fashion but in a way you don't notice at first because she tends to stick with muted colours and classic prints. When you think of daring fashion, it conjures images of mental people who wear shoes on their head; people like Anna Piaggi but Amy is daring in a more subtle way. Like the way she wears a jacket/short sequin suit in the below picture, short suits are a trend thats quickly making it's way onto the high street but Amy was the first person I saw doing it and it's definitely not something for the faint hearted! I think one of the reasons I like her style is that it's quite similar to mine, I like dark colours, feminine shapes and grungy boots, and just love seeing how Amy puts things together, adding neck ties and statement necklaces.

What do you guys think of Amys' style? Do you like the idea of me doing a 'blogger of the month' feature?

February Wishlist

I am without doubt the kind of neurotic person who writes a list about the things they want, in fact I actually start to feel a bit anxious when I haven't got a list of things I want! If I just go shopping without anything in mind I completely fall apart and just buy everything, so it's probably for the best really that I have these lists! At the moment I am completely in love with everything in Topshop, which is why I decided to make Februarys Wishlist 100% Topshop! I don't know whether it's the time of year or whether the Bristol Topshop just has fantastic Visual Merchandisers, but either way the past few times i've been in there I seem to want everything in the window or on the inside mannequins.

1- Red Lace Crop Top - £15. This seems like a real Summer staple, it comes in several colours and is the type of essential you could wear with high waisted skirts, disco pants, and underneath pinafores. At only £15 i'm definitely going to get one just not 100% certain of which colour yet.

2- Denim Pinafore Dress - £38. This is my current number one. I bought the black crepe pinafore and totally fell in love with the style and the shape, and this denim one seems like the kind of thing I will live in during the summer. I can think of a million different ways to wear it; with shirts, crop tops, jumpers, black, white, or with just a bikini underneath on holiday. I need to take it to Glastonbury and am just too excited about it for words!

3- Cream Lace Collar Top - £16. Another summer staple, an item you can wear with lots of high waisted skirt, shorts or jeans. A great price and just something that i'll wear constantly. It also comes in several other colours, the difficulty is picking which one!

4- Bonded Short Parka - £65. I saw this in store the other day and loved it straight away, it's a great Summer jacket, especially as I wear my big Winter parka constantly in the cold so thought this could be a great alternative for warmer nights. I like the navy colour with the grey underneath, but I do think it is far too expensive, its should be £45.

5- Dip Dye Oversized Tee - £20. I have already bought this item, but wanted to include it in the wishlist because it's only been mine for less than 24 hours! I really like wearing oversized tees with my AA shiny leggings, it will also look great with denim shorts or jeans. Dip Dye is a big trend and this is quite a casual way of wearing it due to the neutral colours.

6- MILL Toe Cap Slippers - £26. How cute are these shoes! I do love a good black flat shoe and tend to live in patent black loafers, but I like how these are a basic shoe which will go with everything yet have the added detail of the patent toe.

7- Lace Collar Playsuit - £50. This is quite possibly the most beautiful item of clothing I have ever laid eyes on! I saw it in store and it is just amazing! It feels like it's really good quality, and I just love the lace shoulders. It's something I can imagine myself wearing a lot as it's quite a simple item with an extra detail, something I tend to go for a lot. Although it is the best playsuit i've seen, it is quite expensive and I will need to have a think about whether I can justify it!

What do you guys think of these picks, do you have any of them that you can recommend?

In other news yesterday I joined and gym and went for a 45 minute work out, it was quite hard but I really enjoyed it. As some of you know I have hypothyroidism which tends to leave me feeling very tired and lethargic, but i'm hoping that regular gym exercise will help to boost my energy levels and make me feel a bit better.

Street Teamer

After the unfortunate end to my job at Motel Rocks, I decided I still really love the clothes and the company so it made sense to become a street teamer! I talk about the clothes a lot, and always have one or two items popping up on my wish lists, so what could be better than offering you guys 20% off anything that I mention, or anything you have your eye on! In order to get your 20% off all you need to do is click on the banner below or just go to the Motel Rocks website and at the checkout enter the code 'sophiepalms', it is only valid online at Motel so you can't use it on any other online stores like ASOS or Topshop, but throughout the year I will be able to give you guys extra discounts and promotions so it's a winner for all of us! I also picked the button that had the 'Penny Dress in Black and White Stripe' as the image, a dress which you all know I am besotted with! It's back in stock now too so get it before it's gone!  

I'm still really friendly with the team at Head Office and during my time as an intern become good friends with Lora; who has recently photographed the 'Valentines Collection' imagery. 

I love these images, I love the models hair it fits so perfectly with the styling and graphics, and I love how simple they are. At the moment there is a competition on to win two very different Valentines nights both including a £50 Motel Rocks gift card! I've entered them both, and really want to win the night in because my boyfriend is going to be away for Valentines and I really do love Dominos Pizza! 

Louis XIV

Jumper - H&M

Shirt - Vintage

Skirt - Primark

DM's - Urban Outfitters

I look a bit strange in these photos, I love the outfit but i'm not sure if I look a bit baggy? This is a new skirt from Primark it cost £7, what a bargain! It's a waffle style material and is a midi length which is something I would never usually go for, but I love the look of it with a baggy jumper - it feels quite grungy, especially with my Dr Martens! I decided to team it with this cute vintage shirt to soften it and it's definitely my favourite outfit of the moment. My hair has finally decided to go a bit more silver, I had a bad dye job and the first two inches of my hair was a horrible yellow colour while the rest was the silver I like. I put a toner on it over the weekend and it has lifted so much, I am so much happier with it! 

I had a great weekend, it was a friends birthday on Saturday so me and my friends went out in Bristol for it; I felt suitably horrible on Sunday. I haven't really been out since New Year so it was fun to go out drinking with all my friends and have a good time. Today I applied for 5 jobs! So proud of myself i'm feeling really positive job wise and am just waiting for the next thing to come along. As for the rest of the week i'm just gonna try and relax and carry on filling my day with seeing friends and doing blog posts!

These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things

This week I have been trying to be creative with my blog posts, mainly as I felt I was starting to get a bit stale with ideas, and also I have a massive stye on my eye which is preventing me from doing any outfit posts! I've never had a stye before but it's so uncomfortable, I feel like i've been punched in the eye! It's also swollen so I can't really wear any make up meaning outfit posts are off the agenda until next week :(

If you follow me on twitter you will see that i've been making good use of my spare time, and this week had a massive bedroom clear out and rearrange. I feel like I have a new bedroom so I thought I would share with you guys some pictures of my favourite bedroom things...

Gold Mirror

I bought this mirror for £5 in an antiques shop in Bristol, it's a bit battered around the edges and has some candle wax which will not come off, but I love it none the less. Me and my boyfriend bought it for the flat we used to live in and when we moved out it came home with me; which i'm very happy about. It's one of those things i'm gonna be really glad I have when I have my own place again, but at the moment it happily leans against my wall until I close my drawer too hard; then it falls down and scares the crap out of me!

'Legs' and 'Annie Hall'

I really need to get some frames for these two as they're both such lovely prints, but at the moment they're just lightly stuck to the wall above my bed. The 'legs' picture was an amazing gift from one of my best friends and 'Annie Hall' is my favourite film so it seems right to have the poster in here. The paint on my wall looks very green here, I think its the light as usually is a more duck egg sort of colour.

Dressing Table

Without doubt the best present i've ever received, this is my pride and joy! It was a birthday present from my boyfriend and was a total surprise! I couldn't believe it, it was the nicest thing someone could do and now i've covered it with perfume, beauty products and a few sentimental pictures.

This is a glass bowl from a charity shop where I keep all of my rings. I have so many rings and they range from rubbish quality £1 eBay rings to my other pride and joy the 'Biba' ring. 

Fred Perry Canvas

My brother works for Fred Perry and he got me this when they re-merchandised the store. It's a canvas print and I just find it really unique, it looks perfect next to my dressing table. 

The Chair

Bought in Habitat in the early 1960's this chair was my Grandparents and what a chair it is! My Dad can remember sitting on his Grandads knee in this chair in the 1960's, which is such a nice thought when i'm sat watching TV on it. The union jack cushion was a gift from Abbie who bought it one birthday, I had been wanting one for ages and she managed to find me the perfect one! 

Magazines

This picture highlights a slightly crazed obsession I have for magazines! Elle magazine is probably the reason I decided to do a fashion degree, and i've had a subscription for a few years along with Harpers Bazaar. There's something precious about high end glossy magazines to me, I couldn't rip anything out of them I think of them as little books. The rest of my collection is made up of vintage Vogue magazines given to me by a friends Mum who was about to throw them out, they date from 1972 - 2009. 

So that is my little space, the place I write my blog posts and think up ideas for outfits. I hope you enjoyed these pictures and let me know if you've done something similar because I love having a good nosey around peoples houses haha! Ooo also check out my Pinterest on the right if you want to see some gorgeous interior images i've pinned. 

Soap & Glory Gift Set

For Christmas I was so lucky to receive lots of great make up, beauty products and perfumes, but the one I really wanted to share with you guys was this Soap & Glory set named "Showers that Glee". It was a gift from a member of my boyfriends family so I guess it was toiletries, but when I saw the box I was so excited as it was huge!

Soap & Glory are one of my favourite ranges, I love the feel of the products, the smell and of course the beautiful retro packaging style. The packaging is really similar to Benefit in the sense that they both use vintage imagery and play on the names of their products, and even though Soap & Glory is a lot cheaper I still think it can match the quality of higher priced products.

The first thing I loved about this gift set was that all the items are fully sized. Travel sized items are great for holidays and to test out a product but I always seem to have loads of the 'Body Mist' which I never use and none of the shower gel which I love! In fact i've just checked a drawer and I have four unused body mists! My second favourite thing about this set was two of the main products are items I have never tried before - perfect! The set comes with the standard shower puff and a really useful hair towel but the main products are 'Pulp Friction Body Scrum', 'Butter Yourself Body Butter' and 'Foam Call Shower & Bath Wash'.

Pulp Friction Body Scrub

This smelt so summery, as soon as I used it I felt refreshed! It smelt of citrus and mint and when I checked the ingredients it is a blend of peppermint, lemonade tree oil, orange and fig powder. It is a good scrub in that it foams well, meaning it will last a while however it is quite sticky so you will need to make sure it's all washed off after showering! It left my skin feeling really smooth and fresh, albeit a little dry so I was desperate to use the body butter after.

Foam Call Shower & Bath Wash

An everyday item this was the product I will use the most, so I needed it to be good! Squeezing it onto the S&G puff it instantly smelt great and lathered up well, I hate using shower gels that don't lather! It felt really smooth and left my skin smelling great and well moisturised, meaning I can use it quickly without having to worry about moisturising if i'm in a rush. (apologies for the glare on this picture, took about 50 photos of it but they all had glare!).

Butter Yourself Body Butter

I have really dry skin and it gets so much worse throughout the Winter so I need a good body moisturiser which I know is going to last throughout the day, there is nothing worse than having dry legs because wearing tights or leggings becomes SO uncomfortable! This cream is fairly thick, it's probably not wise to use when you're in a rush as it takes a few minutes to soak in, but after a bath/shower at night it is a dream! I've used Soap & Glory butters before but this one has a citrus smell and literally glides on to your skin. The scent lasted which I liked and it didn't leave my skin feeling greasy, but very smooth and soft.

I really liked all of these products but was especially impressed with the 'Foam Call Shower & Bath Wash', they are all reasonably priced at around £10 and you get good sized products which last for around 4-6 weeks (depending on the product). I would definitely recommend all of them especially if you have dry skin like me and want a low priced but good quality shower range.

Making Pizza

This week has been a good one, i've been feeling really positive and even had a job interview! It was quite scary because it's a job I really want, so fingers crossed! Apart from that I have been making the most of having a week off, seeing friends and having a HUGE clear out. My bedroom looks amazing, I have chucked away loads of things and have a bin bag of clothing that i'm going to sell on eBay. It's so nice to take some time out and organise things, it makes me feel so much calmer and focused, and also makes me more productive because everything is so organised. Plus organised house, organised mind as my Nan says!

Today I am spending some time with one of my best friends. We made a pizza and are planning on making a cake a bit later on. We're also watching Romy and Michelles High School Reunion, it's so funny, I sadly know all the words, mainly because I used to watch it every day when I was 14 (obsessed). Do any of you guys like it, or have a film that you have watched so many times you could write out the script?

I have never done a recipe or food post before so I thought I would do one for the pizzas we've made! It's a bit of a cheat as we used a packet mix for the pizza base, but the main reason I wanted to make one is so I can choose the toppings I want. I'm a vegetarian so I went for mushroom, pineapple and sweetcorn. You need a pizza base mix, pizza base or you can make your own following an online recipe. We used tomato polenta for the tomato base, cheddar cheese and you can choose your own ingredients:

The pizza base is unbelievably easy all you do is mix it in a bowl with 125ml of water, mix together and then knead into a soft dough. Then roll them out into pizza shapes, then you can choose what kind of thickness you want for your base. I like thin pizzas so rolled mine fairly thin, don't forget to use flour on the worktop or the dough will get stuck to the surface!

Leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes, and then start having fun by topping them! Spread the tomato polenta on the base and then I decided to put a bit of oregano on top for extra flavour!

Next add cheese and your own toppings!

Cook at 200 for 15 minutes voila!

They were absolutely delicious and way better (and cheaper) than getting a take away! They took hardly anytime at all and are also a great option for a quick dinner, I may even make some more as lunch options when I get a new job!