A Valentine's message from Carrie Bradshaw

Put the chocolate down, step away and take a few moments to hear this special Valentine's message from the ever stylish Carrie Bradshaw.

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda...My Summer Holiday Must Haves (but didn't)

Following on from my previous blog post, re the I Don't Know How She Does It trailer, I expressed that I'm always run a little ragged and forever juggling a million and one things.  This was very true of the weeks leading up to my much mentioned trip to Marbella.  I had it all planned, how I was going to update my summer wardrobe, which beauty products of both the budget and luxe variety I was going to shell out on and what I was going to blog about, to schedule for whilst I was away.  As most of you know the last didn't happen, so you'll probably not be overly surprised to read that neither of the first two points did either.  You may even recall a pre Marbella post about the very fashionably organised, travel shopping website, Style Passport, that I didn't even get the chance to utilise, despite the fact it would have simplified and relaxed the entire holiday prep experience.  It became apparent that the expression "if only I'd had time" was escaping my mouth quite regularly and so I bring to you Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda, everything I wish I'd known about/had time to purchase before my trip.

I've dreamed about being uber sophsticated and whipping out my facial mist, mid land, whilst adjusting my pashmina.  I'm more likely to be seen trying to de-static my hair and downing a G and T in fear that we'll crash.  As you can imagine I'm never the most refreshed looking, post plane, so Aesop's Facial Hydrating Mist wouldn't have gone a-miss...



Style Passport £16



I'm also not a "make-up to the beach" kinda gal, which I'm not too sure was the right attitude in Marbella.   I spotted Becca's Beach Tint in Fig on Style Passport, however, which would have been spot on to add some relaxed glamour, after beginning to feel and look a little squiffy at Ocean Club's Champagne Spray Party...

Style Passport £20

There was the Nars Laguna Beach powder bronzer in Sephora, Puerto Banus, on my last day and I loved, loved, loved!  It emphasised my tan, adding just enough sparkle to create a glow, without looking like I'd sprinkled glitter all over my cheeks...



Nars £24





These are some pretty magnificently loud towels by Sex and the City costume designer, Patricia Field, that would have been a risky shipping purchase just days before my trip...damn it...

Patricia Field $25

Patricia Field $25

Patricia Field $25

Hmm, which to purchase for my next holiday though?  All suggestions welcome.

I've also been coveting these jewels for some time now, designed by quirky creator of Maggie Angus, Anna Evans.  Her latest range, as usual, adds a playful twist to trends of the moment.  From Miami to Ibiza promises to complete your look as you sip cocktails by the harbour....I'd prefer my own yacht...



Maggie Angus £15



Maggie Angus £23.99

Maggie Angus £15

Maggie Angus £19.99

Whilst grabbing the info for my much dreamed of beach towels, earlier in the week, I also stumbled across a pair of flip-flops I am entitling, The Wild Card.  They won't be for everybody but my God do I think they're cool...

Sorry, had to show you them in all three colours.  Just. Had. To.  All available at Patricia Field for $18.

What's on your Summer Holiday must have list?

*Images taken from http://www.style-passport.com/, http://www.patriciafield.com/ and http://www.maggieangus.com/

How to throw a FABULOUS Party, McNally style, for under £200: Part Two

As expressed in an earlier post, my mum and I love throwing a soiree or two and this year we've managed three already and we were super impressed with both the results and the compliments we received!  Each event has been incredibly different and priced around £200, basically cost effective sophistication and so I wanted to document all of them via pictures and with a little "How to...." vibe to them.  By no means are either of us the next Martha Stewart but we sure as hell gave it a try!  There were too many pictures to document in just one blog post, so I have seperated them into their three respective categories.  Part one was "How to throw a Sex and the City themed Cocktail Party", so if you haven't checked it out yet, you can do so here!  Part two is a little more season specific and would be fairly impossible to re-create in England any time soon due to our British Summer time ending back in early August.  So without further ado here's Part two....

We donned our summer dresses for a tres chic Garden Party........

My Godfather's 60th Birthday was fast approaching and being that they had attended my Grandfathers Garden Party organised by us five years back, my Godmother decided she wanted us to throw a surprise one for him. This was subject to many lies due to the fact they were staying with us at the time. Therefore the sheer concept that we managed to pull this off as a success along with keeping it a secret was pure genius, even if I do say so myself!

Tables were dotted around the garden with miss matching shabby chic tablecloths and a jar of sweet peas from the local country shop decorating them. Canapes were served upon arrival teamed with a glass of Champagne.

This was my favourite table

My mother and I have been collecting shells from random canapes we've been purchasing over the months from Marks and Spencers. We used these then to fill them half with smoked salmon and half with prawn cocktail, to be eaten with a mini fork. We also served tartines which are chunks of dried baked ciabatta topped with something of your choice. We chose parma ham, cherry tomatoes and basil.

The Ice Bowl

My mothers Ice Bowl! Fill a largish bowl with water and place in sliced lemons, juniper berries, basil, flowers or any other decoration of your choice and then place a smaller bowl in the middle. Place in the freezer to set and then fill with prawns or another ice cold delicasy.

My Magnolia Bakery cupcakes graced this partys presence also, although this time they were Charlton Football Club themed for my Godfather, unforutnately the red dye ended up being hot pink, which was slightly dissapointing.

We finished the day off with afternoon tea, which included homemade millionaire shortbread, birthday cake and the themed cupcakes.

Truly Scrumptious Cardboard Cake Stand £11 John Lewis

How to throw a FABULOUS Party, McNally Style, for under £200: Part One

My mother and I have always prided ourselves on our party planning skills and 2010 has seen us pull off a hat trick.  Secretly we dream of taking on this role professionally but we are both caught up with our other projects to actually seriously consider any such idea.  All three of the soiree's we have organised this year have had a trendy spin on them in some way or another and all have been hits for both ourselves and our guests so I thought I'd document in pictures our successes along with how we made them so....

Firstly we got Carrie-d away....

That's right, with SATC2 about to hit the cinemas (which by the way I still have not seen!) I couldn't think of a better theme for my 25th Birthday back in April.  A girls only event, we decked out our dining room New York style.

We went with the colour theme from the first movie, black and hot pink.  The floor was laden with balloons.  The table was laid to perfection by myself with black table cloths and hot pink and silver lip confetti (very Lulu Guinness) and hot pink table ware.  The room was adorning New York street signs also to give it that extra Carrie and co flair.  All decorations were purchased from http://www.partypacks.co.uk/ .  On first view their offerings do look somewhat tacky but they are like a really good thrift store, or TK Maxx, if you look hard enough you can find some buried treasures!

My mum's Strawberry Centre Piece

Fill a garden pot with cement and place a wooden stick in the centre. Place a whole small melon on top once dry and cover base with foil or spray paint, whilst fixing strawberries via cocktail sticks. The perfect accompaniment to a chocolate fountain!

My Magnolia Bakery-esque Cupcakes

Recipe taken from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook and decorated as per the darling SATC themed cupcakes Lola's in Selfridges were sporting back in 2008.

And finally the piece de la resistance.....

                                                

We projected the original film onto one of the walls, whilst playing some of my favourite tracks from both the soundtrack and in general as background music.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

 

Drinks were purchased from Sainsburys and there was a choice of either the classic Cosmopolitan or my personal fave the Margherita.  Both concoctions were premixed but surprisingly good and most importantly strong for a very reasonable price!  We also offered prosecco with a hibiscus flower on arrival, which went down a treat!

As you can see from the pictures above I chose to wear a simple black onesie with some sequin embellishment at the top.  I then blinged up the outfit Carrie style with my Ghetto Fabulous initial earrings (which were switched from two of the same letter to one of each....shhh don't tell Topshop!) and these outrageous wedges!