december.

happy 2015! to be honest my year hasn't gone off to the best start, we're 4 days in now and i've only managed to leave my flat once because i've been so unwell. (still haven't managed to put a bra on yet.) i get terrible cabin fever so being indoors for an entire week has been horrific. no celebrating new year - no NOTHING. anyway.. going to the doctor tomorrow so i'll hopefully get over it soon.

before we move into 2015 though i wanted to share a little bit of december first. it was a super overwhelming and busy month, which started with... getting engaged! my boyfriend, err i mean.. fiancee is much better at being soppy and lovely than i am so if you want to read about what happened you can do so on his blog here.

i'll be honest though - being engaged is weird. i was never one of those girls who dreamed of getting married or wearing a big beautiful dress or all of that kind of stuff. i genuinely never thought i would get married, and i'm still struggling (in a good way!) with the news that i will be... no one really tells you how to react when someone asks you to be their wife, do they? of course it's incredibly emotional and as i said, super overwhelming but then what..? well, you FaceTime your parents and dog, post a picture on instagram, have some champagne and then you go and watch eastenders, that's what.

and here is the ring! seb designed it himself which makes it even more special. it's rose gold with a heart cut diamond and it's absolutely perfect for me. literally could not have picked anything more amazing myself, which is good really since it's going to be on my finger FOREVER. 

i'm still overwhelmed. we're still overwhelmed. we're still unsure how or where or when we want to get married but i guess i'll keep you updated! we're not religious at all so there won't be any big church wedding or anything, as beautiful as they are. watch this space!

and then we went to paris! (with a selfie stick, if you couldn't guess already..) which was lots of fun. we started 2014 there, so it was nice to end it there too. we stayed in a lovely hotel and explored the christmas markets late at night and ate... cheese.. and.. drank.. wine. seb's mum lives in paris so we were able to share our news with her in person too which was an added bonus. 

i may or may not have spent far too much money in sephora and in the pharmacy, as usual... two days after we got back from paris we made our way up north to start a christmas adventure. we saw our lovely friends get married in durham cathedral which was incredible, and then we partied on into the night at durham castle and it was all very special and exactly like being in a harry potter film. their wedding was absolutely perfect and i hope i have as much fun on my own wedding day!

after a quick stop off at my parents house in newcastle we then went up to edinburgh for a couple of days which was lovely. the train journey from newcastle to edinburgh is gorgeous, and i say that as someone who does not care about trains or scenery or.. you know. we visited the christmas market (obviously i'm all about the markets) and drank HOT GIN. we wandered around and admired the castle whilst generally loving life. i tried a macaroni pie from greggs which is as disgusting as it sounds but i can confirm they are an actual real thing. i even saw someone eating one in the street looking like he was enjoying it... just be thankful they haven't crossed the border is all i'm saying.

we went back to newcastle for christmas with my family and dressed loupug up as an elf. we wore christmas jumpers and drank a lot of wine. (well i did anyway.) apart from a six hour train back to london (#kingscrosstrains) it was a great trip!

putting this all together probably explains why i'm so poorly now though. in december i've gone from london - paris - london - newcastle - durham - newcastle - edinburgh - newcastle - london. phew. here's hoping 2015 is as exciting as the month of december ey! 

happy new year everyone. :-) 

loupug's letter to santa

it's christmas NEXT WEEK! as always i'm never quire prepared and loupug wanted this post to be up a few weeks ago but we're hoping santa still might see it in time though... fingers crossed! over to little loulou... 

all items available from pets at home

dear santa paws,

my name is loupug and i turned four this year. i've always been a pretty well behaved pug apart from that one time i did a wee on my granddads pillow a few years back but i hope you don't hold that against me. we all make mistakes, right? this year has seen my chin turn grey and i think i'm getting old now because sometimes i don't even bother chasing cyclists (much) anymore. i do still like shouting at horses on tv though which no one seems to appreciate but i just don't understand how these horses get in my house!??! they soon go away when i shout at the top of my lungs at them though.

for christmas this year i'd really like a new leader, mine is getting a little frayed now since i like to drag my mama around corners (and trees...) quite fast when i see birds i want to chase. it's getting colder now too so i'd love a new jumper or waterproof coat to keep me warm. i struggle to find clothes to fit me because i have a big chest and little body so i hope you can help me! i'd love a big furry blanket to snuggle into as well, i usually snuggle into my humans dressing gowns but sometimes they get cold too so i'd love my own.

i'd also really like some cuddly toys please. i like toys i can chew and play pug of war with, i don't really like playing with balls - well - i do, but i prefer it when the humans do the chasing. i'm a bit of a diva, actually. mama says it's a pug thing. she also makes me wear doggy deodorant and aftershave so i smell nice for the bitches, so it'd make us both happy if you could include some in my stocking please. i sometimes get a dry nose because i've got a flat face and like to sniff everything so some balm to help that would be amazing - even better if it tastes nice. i like things that taste nice.

thank you santa

love loupug
4 years 4 months

& other stories heels

chances are by now you've probably heard of & other stories, which is part of the h&m group and launched last year i believe. i first came across the store in paris and thought the layout and store in general was completely beautiful - not realising there was one on regent street! 

anyway, i just wanted to show off my new 'practical' heels, everyone needs a pair, right? by practical i don't necessarily mean.. weather proof or anything because these are 'velvet' and therefore not the best for england AT ALL. the heel height however, is super practical! they're only about 3 inches and a block heel so easy to walk in for longer periods of time. and they're black, so obviously go with everything.

& other stories velvet pumps, £55
to look at front on these are pretty standard black heels with a cute gold trim around the front but then the back of the heel.. THE BACK OF THE HEEL... is the total selling point. a gold metal lion!! what more could you want from a pair of shoes?

wow third post in a row all about my black and gold shoes and bags. i'm a bit embarrassed because that wasn't even planned but that's okay. note to self: sort your life out.

new shoes

topshop frieda lace up shoes, £26

it's that time of the year again where my £4 primark shoes can't cope with the rain and consequently fall apart after about 2 days. this is where most people turn to boots, but i really struggle with boots! firstly i'm incredibly fussy and usually find it a struggle to find boots i like, and secondly i'm in between shoe sizes and have a slightly higher arch than normal so finding boots that actually fit properly isn't easy either. a stressful situation if i ever did witness one.

so i tend to turn to brogues in autumn/winter time. shoes that cover a little bit more than pumps and that will hopefully last a little longer than a few days. although these topshop ones aren't real leather, i really liked the mock croc and gold detailing, and they seem somewhat better quality... so thought they'd get me through until i can at least find something more long-lasting! any suggestions would be lovely.

these also come in tan which i was tempted by, but black and gold is one of my all time favourite combos and i guess you can't really go wrong with black. 

whilst in topshop i also picked up a new cream cable knit bobble hat which is HUGE and snuggly. paid slightly more than i wanted to for a hat but the massive pompom seriously won me over.

i guess it's officially winter then.

mulberry medium lily and bow french purse

isn't she pretty?

i've always been one of those people who has swooned over designer handbags then consequently cringed at how much money they actually cost. then one day, i fell in love with the mulberry lily. i decided to start saving, and if in a couple of months i still loved it... i'd buy it. a couple of months went by and then some more.. it got to the point where i'd saved more than enough money to buy it i just couldn't bring myself to part with so much money! i ummed and ahhed for a while, weighed up the pros and cons and then just did it. i figured i'd saved my own money, and probably wouldn't be in the position any time soon to be able to buy it again

and i love it. it's the perfect size for me, i tend to avoid big bags because i just fill them with things i don't need and they end up killing my arms. i can fit everything i need on a day to day basis in the lily - including an umbrella! it's the perfect day to night bag and it's still in amazing condition considering i'm pretty accident prone.

the only problem i had with the lily was my lovely french-bulldog-pattern ted baker purse took up too much room in it. the only reasonable thing to do (yeah..) was to invest in the mulberry bow french purse.. wasn't it. no, it probably wasn't but in a moment of madness i just went for it, and i'm really happy i did because it's gorgeous!



don't worry, my blog isn't now going to turn into a crazy expensive love affair. i don't plan on saving for any more designer bags (!) just yet.