Wishlist Archives - Page 2 of 2 - With love from Lou

My Designer Handbag Wishlist

07/09/2015 by Louise 79 Comments

When I was in my early 20’s I was absolutely desperate for a Chloe Paddington handbag. You know the ones – they had a huge padlock on them! Well, my lovely fiancé bought me one for my 25th birthday and I should have been over the moon. However, it was in a colour I knew it had never been made in, which meant it was a fake. Gutting. I did use it a few times as I knew that Nathan would be disappointed if I didn’t, but knowing that it wasn’t the real deal definitely took the shine off it.

These days I have a list of designer handbag ‘wants’ as long as my arm, so I thought I’d share a few (or six) of them with you guys today. After all, who doesn’t like looking at beautiful handbags?

1. Mulberry Alexa Satchel – £1,100
I’ve had my eye on the Mulberry Alexa Satchel’s ever since their release back in 2010 and although handbags very often go out of style, I don’t think this one ever has. I’ve been lusting after this in both the black and oak shades recently, but as I’m in the market for a new black bag at the moment maybe I should bite the bullet and treat myself to it. What do you guys think?

2. Chloe Drew Cross-Body Bag – £1,050
Yes, I still love Chloe bags! Although I wouldn’t dare buy myself a bag in the Paddington style for fear of upsetting the better half, I would definitely buy something else from the range. This Chloe Drew Cross-Body Bag is another beautiful timeless piece and I think it would look absolutely gorgeous paired with a pretty dress and heels on a night out.

3. Rebecca Minkoff Mini M.A.C – £128
Rebecca Minkoff bags are definitely my favourite of all the handbags that are available right now. The M.A.C – or Morning After Clutch range is one of the most popular available, yet I much prefer the Mini M.A.C’s! I think they’d be perfect for a night out with the girls. And this charcoal grey colour is right up my street. I can think of so many outfits I could team this with. I love it!

4. Kate Spade Cedar Street Harmony Small Shopper – £245
Kate Spade shopping bags have been on my radar for a while now, and I’m currently lusting after this one in a sweetheart pink shade. I think these bags are super elegant and look a lot more expensive than they actually are. I could see me getting a lot of use out of something like this if I were lucky enough to pick one up.

5. Chanel Classic Flap Bag – £3425
Next up is a bag that I think is probably on most handbag wishlists … the Chanel Classic Flap Bag. I could look at this little beauty all day! Unfortunately at over £3,000 this doesn’t come cheap. I’d definitely consider treating myself to one if I ever came into some money though.

6. Marc by Marc Jacobs Working Girl Leather Dolly Satchel – £355
And last but certainly not least I love this Working Girl Dolly Satchel from Marc by Marc Jacobs. The leather on this is absolutely gorgeous and has a grained finish with silver hardware. I can honestly say that I don’t have any other handbags like this in my collection, so it would make a really unique addition to it, and it’s one of the most affordable handbag on my wishlist as well!

Do you have a designer handbag in your collection?
As always, I’d love to hear from you.

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Stacey’s Bedroom Wishlist

03/07/2015 by Louise 30 Comments

My daughter Stacey is moving to secondary school in September, so we thought it was about time we updated her bedroom and made it a little more grown up. Together we’ve been scouring our favourite stores, and agreed that we quite like the look of white bedroom furniture, with some splashes of colour thrown in here and there for good measure.

Today we thought we’d share her bedroom wish list with you guys, and we’d love to hear what you think of all the pieces we’ve picked out.

First up we have furniture …

1. Stompa CK White Single Bed – Room to Grow – ~~£248.75~~ £199.00
We have spent a lot of time looking at different beds, and Stacey finally settled on the Stompa CK White single bed from Room to Grow. It’s a solid pine full sized single in a classic white finish, and I love that it has both a headboard and a footboard. It even has room underneath for the matching trundle drawer, which comes with a mattress – perfect for those all important sleepovers!

2. Heart of House Avignon 3 Door Mirrored Wardobe – Argos – ~~£499.99~~ £399.99
At the moment Stacey has quite a small wardrobe, and it’s literally overflowing with all her clothes (if you’ve seen our tween fashion posts you’ll already know that she has a lot of outfits), so this time round we’ve decided to go for a much bigger one. We came across this Heart of Avignon 3 door wardrobe at Argos, and Stacey loves that it has a long mirror down the middle as well.

3. Hemnes Dressing Table with Mirror – Ikea – £135.00
This Hemnes dressing table from Ikea is beautiful and sophisticated. It has an oval shaped mirror and two little drawers. It’s quite a lot smaller than the dressing table that Stacey has at the moment, but she keeps a lot of junk that she doesn’t need on there so I’m hoping that she will want to keep this one looking clean and tidy.

4. Ingolf White Chair – Ikea – £39.00
The Ingolf White Chair, also from Ikea, will compliment the dressing table perfectly. I’m not sure how comfortable it will be, but we can always buy a seat cover for it if need be.

5. Kids Avenue 10 Cube Triangular Storage Unit – Room to Grow – ~~£219.00~~ £169.00
Both myself and Stacey have had our eyes on this 10 Cube Triangular Storage Unit for ages! We both agree that it’s different to a lot of other storage units you come across in the shops, and there’s plenty of room to house Stacey’s ‘stuff’ such as books and magazines, blue nose friends, plants and candles.

6. Pod Chair with Grey Cushions – eBay – £389.00
And the final piece of furniture that Stacey has her eye on is this white pod chair with grey cushions. She likes the idea of snuggling up inside with one of her Dork Diaries books and reading in peace. I think it’s a great idea, but with the pod being so expensive I think this will be the one item we won’t be able to treat her to.

Next we have bedding and lights …

1. Black Disco Glitter Voile Curtain Panel – eBay – from £7.63 per panel
As soon as I saw these disco glitter voile curtain panels on eBay I knew that Stacey would love to have them hanging in her bedroom! They’re really pretty, and different to any curtains that we’ve had hanging in her room before. It’s a bit disappointing that these can only be bought by the panel, but at just £7.63 each for the size that we’ll need, it’s not the end of the world.

2. Photographic Paris Bedding Set – Argos – ~~£14.99~~ £5.98
I love the bedding set that Stacey has picked out for her bedroom wishlist. The duvet cover features a photographic print of the Eiffel Tower in black, white and grey shades with splashes of pink (her favourite colour) all over it. It comes as a set as well, which includes a duvet cover and pillowcase. Très chic!

3. Cuddly Cushion – Argos – £8.99
Stacey loves cushions – her bed is full of them! We love this pink cuddly cushion from Argos. It’s pink, fluffy and extremely girly. I think it will look gorgeous sat on the Photographic Paris bedding. What do you guys think?

4. Equator Plush Plain Grey Shaggy Rug – Rug Mountain – £29.26
Stacey’s been asking for a rug in her bedroom as she doesn’t have one at the moment, and we both love this plush plain grey shaggy rug from a website called Rug Mountain. I think it will be lovely and cosy to step on to every morning when she first gets out of bed.

5. Aubrey 4 Light Chandelier – Next – £85.00
And for her ceiling light we thought this rather glamorous 4 light chandelier from Next would look wonderful! I’ve actually been looking for something similar for my own bedroom so I’ll be really jealous if I end up buying this for Stacey, hehe.

And finally, we have a few finishing touches …

1. 12×12″ Instagram Photo Frame – Amazon – £14.00
Stacey loves Instagram, and is always sharing photos of her and her friends. I thought it would be a lovely idea to print some off and add them to these collage frames from Amazon. Each frame is 12×12″ in size and holds four 4×4″ Instagram snaps. I’ll probably pick up 4 or 5 of these and display them on her wall.

2. Lightbulb Vase – Not on the High Street – from £12.95
Just how cute are these lightbulb vases from Not on the High Street?! They are based on the traditional Edison light bulb, and can be used to hold flowers or fill with things like sand or coloured stones to create a beautiful display piece. I think this would look awesome sat on the cube storage unit I mentioned before.

3. Pembridge Double Bell Alarm Clock – Room to Grow – ~~£13.50~~ £12.15
With Stacey starting secondary school soon and wanting to be more ‘grown up’, I think it’s about time I let her have her own alarm clock to set at night and get up to in a morning. When I was a tween I used to love setting my own alarm for school, although I have to admit I very often hit the snooze button a couple of times before getting up!! Both Stacey and I love this double bell alarm clock from Room to Grow. We love it in the heather colour, but it’s also available in grey.

4. Silver Battery Operated Heart Shaped Lights – Amazon – ~~£12.95~~ £8.99
We thought these gorgeous battery operated heart lights would add a little sparkle to the Ikea dressing table if we hung them from the mirror. I have some that are similar in my own bedroom and they instantly make a room look cosier when turned on. At just £8.99 they’re super affordable as well. A true winner!

5. Bitter Vanilla Candle – The Country Candle Company – £6.50
I recently discovered the Country Candle Company, and I’ve been burning their Bitter Vanilla scented candle at home over the past few days. Stacey keeps saying how lovely it smells, so I’d love to treat her to one for her bedroom once it’s all done up. The Butter Vanilla scent if from their Superstars Collection, and has a 15 hour burn time. We just love it!

6. Hollywood Table Lamp – Not on the High Street – £210.00
And finally Stacey has picked out this gorgeous Hollywood Table Lamp from Not on the High Street. We think this would look fabulous sitting on the cube storage unit.

And that’s everything on Stacey’s new bedroom wish list – for now, anyway. I think it could be the longest list in history!

What do you think of all the items we’ve picked out?
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Zest Beauty Wishlist

14/05/2015 by Louise 16 Comments

If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you’ll know that the pretty dismal weather here in the UK this week has left me feeling a little bit down and discontented. I think the main reason for this is because I have lots of lovely photographs I want to take for my blog posts, and with it being so dark through the lack of sunshine, I just haven’t got them done.

So, to make up for today’s beauty review not getting done, I thought I’d share a wishlist of things that have recently caught my eye from one of my favourite online shops, Zest Beauty. I hope that’s OK? Then let’s go …

Freedom & Discipline Steamcream – £13.95
The first thing on my Zest Beauty wishlist is Steamcream’s Freedom & Discipline tin. I admit that I was drawn in by the packaging of this, but I’ve heard lots of great things about Steamcream over the years so I’m sure it would be as fabulous as everyone always says it is! Apparently it is a multi-use cream that can be used all over the body, is easily absorbed and can change the appearance of the skin (for the better) if it’s used on a regular basis. No wonder I’m so keen to try it!

Elemis Spa Home Frangipani Monoi Salt Glow – £36.50
Ever since my visit to Ragdale Hall Health & Hydro Spa last November I’ve been obsessed with the Frangipani range from Elemis! It smells absolutely amazing and I’ve already tried out quite a few products from it that I loved. I would most definitely like to try the Monoi Salt Glow next as it sounds fantastic – it’s a gentle polishing scrub that helps to brighten the skin. And if it’s anything like the other products, it’s just bound to smell amazing.

Phytomer SeaTonic Stretch Mark Reducing Cream – £33.25
Next up on my Zest Beauty wishlist is a stretch mark reducing cream from a brand that I haven’t come across before … Phytomer. It’s designed to be used both in the morning and evening time and will make skin appear smoother and more beautiful looking. Well, a girl can dream!

Decleor Aromaessence Mandarine Smoothing Night Balm – £33.50
Recently I’ve been having a little trouble nodding off at night. I think it’s because I know I’ve got a lot to do and not enough hours in the day to do it all! I’ve used night balms in the past and found that they’ve worked really well to help me relax and drift off, but this one from Decleor sounds extra fabulous as it also helps to smooth those annoying wrinkles. What could be better than that?!

Moroccanoil Root Boost – £18.85
I’m a big fan of Moroccanoil products, but I’ve never tried their root boost before! I have really fine hair so I think that using this would be a great way for me to add some volume and hopefully get thicker looking hair.

Glamglow Thirstymud Hydrating Treatment – £49.99
Glamglow is a brand I’ve wanted to try for a good couple of years now, and I always hear good things about their masks. The Thirstymud Hydrating Treatment Mask caught my eye as since being poorly a few weeks ago my skin has gotten incredibly dry. Since this claims to hydrate, moisturize and restore and replenish, I think it would do my skin a lot of good.

Babyliss Pro Perfect Curl – £199.95
I’ve been wanting to try the Babyliss Pro Perfect Curl in what feels like forever. It features revolutionary new patented technology which makes it super quick and easy to use and everyone I know who has one says it creates beautiful curls in next to no time. Something I’d love to be able to achieve.

Elemis Pro-Collagen Hydra-Gel Eye Masks – £46.00
I’ve tried something similar to these from Bliss before, and I found them to work really well, so I’d love to try these ones from Elemis. They are clinically proven to instantly reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles … something I’ve noticed I’m getting more of recently. Eek!

And there you have it, my Zest Beauty Wishlist. I think it will be a while until I can afford to buy anything new though as we’re off on our holiday’s soon so I need to save every penny I can for that! Oh well, it will be worth the wait.

Are there any products you’d like to try from my Zest Beauty Wishlist?
Why not let me know in the comments below!

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Tween Fashion Wishlist – Spring/Summer 2015

11/05/2015 by Louise 25 Comments

I love shopping for tween fashion pieces. Well, I love shopping full stop, but there’s something extra special about picking out things for other people.

Stacey’s at that age now where she really appreciates being bought nice things, and together we’ve come up with a little wishlist of 4 outfits that we hope to be able to buy for her very soon. We hope you like it!

The first outfit is made up from 4 pieces from New Look and H&M, and it’s ideal for those cooler summer days as it consists of a sweatshirt, trousers and basketball shoes. We were thinking that this would be the perfect outfit for Stacey to wear whilst travelling to Great Yarmouth later on this month, as we tend to leave quite early in the morning and it’s usually quite cool.

H&M Sweatshirt with Lace – £5.00
The sweatshirt is a lovely, short style with lace detailing on the shoulders. The back section is slightly longer than the front, and the sleeves have sewn-in turn-ups. I think it would go with lots of different bottoms, like the beige trousers we picked out above, denim shorts and even jeans. It could be a real summer staple!

New Look White Roll Sleeve T-Shirt – £4.99
Stacey loves roll sleeve t-shirts, and this cotton one from New Look is a casual fit with a round neck, so I think it would be great to wear underneath the short sweatshirt. And if it warms up and the sweatshirt needs to come off, the tee will look great on it’s own. Stacey also has lots of other things in her wardrobe that would look good with this.

H&M Beige Stretchy Trousers – £9.99
It’s been a long time since I last bought Stacey any beige trousers, but as soon as I saw these stretchy ones from H&M I just knew that we needed to add them to our tween fashion wishlist … they’re just gorgeous! They have 5 pockets on them, zip fly and up until age 12 they have an adjustable elasticated waist. If we only buy one thing from the list this year it just has to be these.

H&M Patterned Basketball Shoes – £6.00
Stacey’s really in to basketball shoes at the moment, and I have to agree that they look fabulous on! I saw these leopard print patterned ones on the H&M website and wasn’t sure if she’d like them or not, but she really does! These particular ones are lace ups and and they have rubber soles. I think they’d be great for wearing this summer, and they’re on sale too!

The second outfit features 4 pieces from Forever 21 and Next, and again this is definitely something for those cooler summer days or nights. You might think we’re crazy for choosing things like these at this time of year, but living in the UK you have to be prepared for pretty much every type of weather!

Forever 21 Bow Print Top – £5.00
I added this gorgeous bow print top to our tween fashion wishlist as it reminded me of one I’d seen and loved from J Crew a few years ago! At £5.00 though, this one is considerably cheaper. The top is made from soft and stretchy heathered cotton jersey and has slightly puffed long sleeves and a gorgeous cascading bow print all over it. It’s just lovely.

Forever 21 Navy Jeggings – £10.00
If there’s one thing that Stacey just has to have in her wardrobe, it’s jeggings! She likes them as they look a lot like jeans, but are more comfortable. We love this navy pair from Forever 21 as they look like they would go with absolutely tonnes of tops that we already have at home, so she would be bound to get a lot of wear out of them. They have a mock fly and front pockets, and proper ones at the back … perfect.

Forever 21 Hooded Denim Jacket – £19.00
We love this denim jacket from Forever 21 as it’s very different to the other jackets that Stacey has in her wardrobe. It features sweater-sleeves that give kids a little extra mobility compared to regular denim sleeves and has buttons down the front. There’s also a hood which is a bonus. After all, how many times have you gone out on a sunny day only for it to start raining unexpectedly?!

Converse Chuck Taylor Hi (Unisex) – from Next – £27.00-£53.00
Stacey’s friend recently passed on a pair of pink converse trainers like these that she had outgrown, and Stacey absolutely loves them, hence her wanting another pair! This time she’s chosen a navy pair, and has also gone for the same style as she knows that they’re super comfy and look great.

The third outfit we’ve picked out for our tween fashion wishlist is a little more grown up than the others, but I think it would suit Stacey fantastically. It features 4 items from BHS, New Look and Accessorize, and is great for the warmer summer nights.

BHS Black Lace Back Tee – £8.00-£10.00
I don’t think you can ever go wrong with black, no matter how old you are. And one of the loveliest black tops for tweens I’ve seen this season is from BHS. It’s plain black at the front, and then the shoulders and back of the garment is covered in a gorgeous black lace. It has short sleeves with turn-up cuffs and a round neck. Very glam!

New Look Blue Authentic Ripped Denim Shorts – £12.99
It wouldn’t be a summer tween fashion wishlist without featuring a pair of ripped denim shorts, and we absolutely adore this pair from New Look. They’re a casual fit with zip and button fly fastening, belt loops and ripped detail down each side. We both agree that they would actually look really nice with most of the tops we’ve mentioned in this post, so they’d be bound to get a lot of wear if we were to buy them.

New Look Black Leather Chelsea Boots – £34.99
Chelsea Boots are still very much in fashion this year, and we love this black leather pair with a gold side buckle. They’re quite pricey compared to the boots I usually buy for Stacey, but I think they compliment this outfit really well, and once she moves to secondary school in September she will probably need a better quality pair than we usually go for anyway. I buy a lot of New Look shoes and they always last for ages.

Accessorize Ornate Cut Out Shield Pendant Necklace – £6.00
I think a more ‘grown up’ outfit most definitely needs some cute accessories to go with it, and we love this simple but elegant necklace with an ornate shield pendant with small resin stones, diamante detailing and intricate cut-out parts. It has a long chain as well, which is perfect for the upcoming festival season!

And the fourth outfit is one that I think is wonderful for sunny days out at the park! It is made up of 3 items from BHS and New Look and has lots of Stacey’s favourite colour in it: PINK!

New Look ‘My Unicorn Made Me Do It’ T-Shirt – £9.99
With Stacey still being as crazy about pink clothing as she was when she was a toddler, I had to make sure that I suggested something that represented that. And what better than this adorable t-shirt from New Look with the slogan ‘My Unicorn Made Me Do It’ on the front?! It ticks loads of boxes for me too as it has roll sleeves, a round neck and gorgeous lace detailing on the shoulders. What more could a mummy and daughter ask for?

BHS Mid Stonewash Denim Dungarees – £15.00-£19.00
Aww, I used to dress my little Stacey in short denim dungarees every single Summer when she was younger, but over the past few years I’ve not found many styles of them that I like. These ones from BHS are right up my street though, and I think they’d look fantastic with the unicorn tee! They feature a rip and repair style on the legs, and have adjustable straps for the perfect fit. We love them.

New Look Pink Double Tongue Lace Up Trainers – £10.99
I know, I know, we’ve already picked out two pairs of trainers similar to these in this post, but these ones were too cute not to feature! They’re from New Look so they’re super affordable and they are pink on the outside and have a floral print lining. Another perfect shoe choice for the summer months. Just gorgeous.

And there you have it, our tween fashion wishlist for Spring and Summer 2015. I hope you like all the items we picked out as much as we do. And if you’ve seen anything else that you think Stacey would like please make sure you let us know in the comments below.

What do you think of our tween fashion wishlist?
Would you wear any of these outfits? I know I would!

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Kitchen Wishlist

01/05/2015 by Louise 6 Comments

Recently I’ve been feeling that some of the things in my kitchen could do with sprucing up a little, so I’ve been spending the last few days browsing some of my favourite stores and picking out some bits and pieces that I’d love to be able to treat myself to. Since I know you guys tend to love a wishlist post, I thought I’d share what kitchen items I’d picked out with you.

Aga Cookshop Iconic Stripe Range – £13 – £25
I bought a new pair of oven gloves from B&M Bargains last year, but they’ve already gone in holes! This time I’d like to buy a pair that are a little more expensive, in the hope that they’ll last longer. The ones I’ve picked out are from Aga Cookshop’s Iconic Stripe Range, and are made up of a stylish striped print. They also have some other fab items in the range, such as an apron, gauntlet and chef’s pad.

James Martin 5 Piece Knife Block Set – £49
We’ve had our knife block for a long time now, and we’ve already thrown one of the knives away, and the others are starting to look very old and worn. Since I always hear good things about James Martin’s cookware collection, I thought I’d see if he had any knife blocks on offer, and came across this 5 piece set, which includes cooks, bread, carving, paring and utility knives. They are housed in a hardwood knife block and it even has a built in recipe book holder! How awesome is that?

Next 16 Piece Sparkle Cutlery Set – £20
For some reason, cutlery doesn’t last 5 minutes in our house. For whatever reason it seems to disappear into the abyss, never to be seen again. I can’t tell you how many cutlery sets Nathan and I have got through since moving in together! The next set I want to get my hands on is from Next, and is a 16 piece set made up of four forks, four knives, four dessert spoons and four teaspoons, and each of the handles has the most stunning sparkle to it. It’s safe to say they’re right up my street!

James Martin Lamina 3 Piece Saucepan Set – £139
Another thing in our house that gets a lot of use are the saucepans. Nathan’s mum and dad kindly bought us a set of non-stick ones when we got engaged (many years ago now) but unfortunately they didn’t work as they were supposed to and the bottoms of them just look awful. I saw a set of 3 pans on the James Martin website when I was looking for a knife block that are just what I was looking for – the set includes 16cm, 18cm and 20cm pans, and the heat radiates quickly up the side of them, not just at the base. They sound just perfect.

KitchenAid Artisan 4.8L Stand Mixer in Onyx Black – £429
If there’s one thing I’ve always wanted in my kitchen, it’s a mixer. I’ve been a keen baker for lots of years now, and really think I’d benefit from having a mixer. This onyx black one from KitchenAid would go perfectly with the rest of my kitchen appliances, and since having a good old spring clean last week I’ve now got plenty of room to house one!

James Martin Lamina 26cm Frying Pan – £45
We have the same situation with our current frying pan as we do with the saucepans, so we definitely need a new one of those as well! I’ve picked out the Lamina 26cm frying pan from James Martin’s collection to match the saucepans. I like things to look the same wherever possible!

Next Black Pyramid Kettle – £30 – £32
And finally, I think we’re getting ready for a new kettle. I’ve noticed a couple of times now that the one we have hasn’t boiled when we’ve switched it on the first time. I love this black pyramid kettle from Next. It looks really stylish and has a 1.7 litre capacity and 3KW rapid boil. It also features a water level gauge, concealed heating element and 360 degree base. I just love it!

And that’s everything on my kitchen wishlist. For now, anyway. I’ll probably have another 3 or 4 items to add to it by next week! Oops.

What do you think of my kitchen wishlist?
Is there anything else you can think of that I might need?
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