Maggie Angus Are Putting The Fun Back Into Monday

Most of you will be dragging your feet with an expression of gloom, not even attempting to battle off the monday morning blues. So here's a little uplift from me...

Anna Hickman Evans, of Maggie Angus jewellery, is holding a 20% off sale today. The line is relatively new but already receiving great press. The quirky pieces are a fun slant on any outfit. With necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings featuring eccentric designs, such as a row of shoes, they're the perfect gift to our friends this Christmas or even, dare I say, ourselves. After all, who doesn't like to document the obsession, Carrie Bradshaw made so famous?

The already affordable line is holding the 20% discount for today only, so kick off your Christmas shopping with these ultimate items...

NOW £27.20

NOW £21.40

NOW £23.20

*all available at www.maggieangus.com

 

To brighten your day a little further, I wanted to remind you all that Wednesday is the launch of my Advent Giveaway. A product a day to keep the winter blues away. The no.1 rule is that you must be a follower to enter. Some days a winner will be picked at random from my follower list and others I may ask for a physical entry, which again the winner will be picked randomly from. I've already got a bag stacked full of goodies including, Chanel, Bath and Body Works, Mac, amongst others.

So let's kick start this week in style.  Happy Monday Everyone!

*all images from http://www.maggieangus.com/

Style Me Sunday: Airport Attire

So we're nearing the end of the generic "holiday season", I realise but I'm mostly certain that a lot of you fashionistas will not have braved the flight experience during this particularly busy month.  I was inspired to write this post on Friday after spotting actress Gemma Arterton in Gatwick North Terminal.  If I'm honest I would adore to slate her ensemble choice and even exclaim her as chubby and ugly but that would be my overwhelming jealousy speaking.  The green eyed monster would be rearing it's ugly head due to us both being actresses of the same area with one of us ridiculously more famous than the other.

Much to my distress and surprise (last time I caught sight of her was in Bungalow 8, in which she was rocking out a rather ghastly dress with some cheap looking extensions) Arterton looked simple and sophisticated and don't even get me started on how fresh her skin looked!  Ulitmately she had achieved the perfect airport attire by being style savvy whilst factoring in comfort. 

How to steal her style...

Navy Boyfriend Blazer £55 Asos

The Row loose fitting luxe tee £165 Net-A-Porter 

Turn up tuxedo khaki pants £35 Gap


For that extra wow factor I'd team this ensemble with....

Bloch carnivale ballet pumps from £75 at Asos

Coral snood £14 Topshop

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!

A Peach Tulle Dream

Friday night I tweeted profusely about the fabulous peach tulle dress I had purchased for my "Best Bitches" Birthday Party.  Therefore I thought it only right to blog about it, as if any dress is worth blogging about, it is most definitely this one.

After trawling through store after store I was unable to find exactly what I was looking for, which was actually a bright green concoction similar to something I'd seen Lauren Conrad wear in an old Hills.  Just when I was ready to throw in the towel I stumbled across this girly number in Zara's.  It was nothing like what I was looking for and yet every stylish solution to my problem.

I flirted with the idea of leaving this dreamy dress behind but after I tried it on, that inevitably became mission impossible.  I loved the cut as it made me feel slim and curvy in all the right places.  The bodice sucked in my upper half without stopping me from breathing and the full ballerina-esque skirt gave me a great shape without making me feel bad for all that cheese and toast I ate last week.  All in all it was a peach tulle dream! I teamed the dress with a pair of grey Zara bandage stilletto's circa October 2009 and zero jewellery as the outfit already said it all.

Me and Kel Smells at Lea Lea Poos Birthday

Teamed with a blazer this outfit is most definitely versatile enough to make it from Summer to Winter and can be purchased for just £49.99 from Zara's.