My Next Official #ChangingRoomSelfie

Hey guys!

So as you might know i'm part of the Next Blogger Network, and they have almost reached 7,000 bloggers! In celebration they are hosting a competition called the #ChangingRoomSelfie where you have to head into a Next store, pick your favourite outfit, take a selfie and then blog it, tweet it and instagram it! The competition runs until the 1st August 2014 and the winner gets £200 to spend on the new collection! Google Next #Changingroomselfie for more information or head over to the Next Blogger Network! :)

I was on the lookout for some new clothes for work when I saw this gorgeous dress:

It's so bright! I love office outfits that have a pop of colour. This dress is just about knee length on me, though i'm 5"10/11 so it could be a bit longer on most people! As well as the pink and the black, I love the grey stripes at the bottom and the shape of the colours really emphasises your curves! Something I was a bit nervous about if i'm honest! (hence no front view photo haha). The new collection has a few dresses in this style and I think i'll be back to get them soon! Suits don't need to be black, it's summer so it's definitely the time to get some colour in your wardrobe!

I also have a major love for this colour pink, I have other tops from Next for work in this pink too! I don't like wearing dark colours really! haha :)

What do you think of my choice? Have you been into Next to see the new collection, what would you pick?

Love Amylou x

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My Idea of a Perfect Date

Hey guys!

So I was recently reading the Londoner blog and a certain post about Date Night and it got me thinking to what would be my idea of a perfect date. I'm probably going to go off into dream world, and those who don't like soppy things, should probably stop reading now, i'm a true romantic at heart. Also, I realise this is all about me and my likes, but it's my perfect date right?! :)

I think i'd like my date to start exactly the way Rosie's did, with peonies and a note. 

I love peonies, they are my favourite flowers in the whole world. (Cue photos of the most beautiful flowers from Pinterest)

I also think leaving a note is not seen enough these days. It's too easy to just text someone that you'll pick them up at 6 or ring them, but there's just something so romantic about leaving flowers and note that makes a girl think, yeah you really do care. And it doesn't take much to make someone feel special, so you should do it every moment you can.

Next would be, what would I actually like the date to be?!

Whilst taking a girl out to dinner is nice, I think what would be my favourite would be if we both got dressed up (the note would say so ;) ) and then he had set up a table and chairs in the garden. With some cute little outdoor lights. Just the two of us. (again, photos from Pinterest)

We would be listening to my favourite music which would of course have to include my favourite song La Vie en Rose both the english and french versions, and then other songs with the same sort of feel that I love such as L-O-V-E (another all time favourite), Dream a little dream of me, sway, volare, that's amore (you get the idea) :)

The menu would be my all time favourite foods:

Mozzarella en Carozza
Chicken Parmigiana
Then either Banoffee Pie or Vanilla Creme Brulee (I can't pick a favourite!)

(Photos from Pinterest)

Which seems like it would be quite heavy, but dream dates only happen once right, so it's ok!

Would it be too cheesy to say i'd actually love it if a guy could teach me how to dance too? I'm not talking like modern dance or break dancing or anything, just a little traditional ballroom that would match the music (I realise i'm deep into my dream world here, but it would be pretty perfect).

Then we'd sit under the stars and watch my all time favourite movie Sweet Home Alabama on a big screen somewhere, or projected onto the side of a building or something. I don't know the logistics, but in my head it works haha.

And that would be it! :)

I think aside from the romantic side of the date, the perfect part would be the fact that they would think ahead, know how special flowers and note would make me feel (loving gestures are way better than anything money could buy) and the fact that they just knew all of my favourite things. That to me is just the best way to make me feel special, the fact that you actually listen and care enough to learn these things about me.

What would be your dream date be if it could be anything in the world? Would it be quiet and low key like mine, or would you like to taken across the world in a private jet to the best restaurant in Paris, or dine in the most beautiful hotel in London. Or a candle lit dinner in the Boathouse restaurant in Central Park New York?

Let me know in the comments! :)

Love Amylou x



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Country Attire

Hey guys!

So I had intended today's blog to be a quick little post (no doubt it will be huge due to my rambling) about the hotel I stayed in whilst in Cancun and my general experience, but surprise surprise, I lost my memory stick with all my photos on. I swear I need to nail things to my desk so I don't lose them!

So instead i'm gonna do a sort of wish-list post from a website called Country Attire. They recently ran a competition for festival tickets and you had to pick your favourite item that you would take to a festival. I unfortunately missed the deadline, but I loved so many of the clothes on there, I thought i'd share with you a few of my favourites!

For a limited time only too there is a further 10% off all Hunter sale items with the code HUNTER10 so if you love hunter, get over there already!

The first thing I love about this website, is when you visit the web page, a little chat pops up asking if you need any assistance or have any questions, some people might find that annoying, but I thought it was actually a great touch.

So onto the clothes!

(All Photos are taken from the Country Attire website and prices are correct at time of posting)

The first thing that caught my eye was this gorgeous Zimmerman dress:

I'm not usually one for black in the summer, but this ZIMMERMANN Ladies’ Scout Crossback Dress has a sort of lace detail and looks quite light weight, I also LOVE backless tops and dresses at the moment, perfect for showing off your summer tan and keeping cool! This dress is on sale on the website for £205.77 which is a little pricey, but a girl likes to window shop and dream! The more I look at this dress, the more I love it.

The next thing I spotted (also black) are actually wellies. You might be thinking 'why would you want wellies in summer?', well if you are, you've never experienced a British summer.

These are actually the HUNTER Ladies' Regent Sandhurst Savoy Wellington Boots they are £100 in the sale and I love them. I think the quilted design just makes them that much more special. So far it hasn't rained much at all this summer, which probably means soon it won't stop raining, so i'm sure these would come in handy! And even if they wouldn't, it won't hurt to invest and wait for the winter!

I could list so many clothes and shoes on here, but I wanted to pick just one favourite from both so I had more room to show you my favourite accessories! Plus if I didn't already own a tweed jacket and a classic quilted barbour jacket, those would definitely taken up the whole page! Accessories are my major downfall when it comes to shopping, you know the rails of accessories they strategically place by the pay desk? Placed there just for people like me, I sometimes spend more on the things I pick up on the way to pay, than on the thing I was originally buying!

Something with some colour that I love is this belt from Vivienne Westwood

This is the Vivienne Westwood Ladies’ Tartan Belt and I think it would go perfectly with a black dress, or white playsuit! To add a bit of colour to an otherwise monochrome outfit. Sometimes it's nice to just have one splash of colour in an outfit, really draws the eye! This one is currently £99.95 so I might have to save the pennies for a bit first!

I'll just put a couple more photos with links below of my few other favourite things, I didn't realise how much i'd been rambling on and you're probably bored of reading me rambling and just want to see the pretty pictures!

DAY Birger Ladies’ Day Constantine Bracelet - £59.95

Viviene Westwood Ladies’ Hollywood Glitter Effect Clutch Bag - £161.96

Vivienne Westwood Ladies’ VW8015 Sunglasses - £155.95

Have you ever bought anything from Country Attire? Would you buy any of my favourite things?

Hope you're all having a wonderful day!

Love Amylou x

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Mexico #5: OOTD/Instagram Photos

Hey guys!

So as a bit of a different post I thought i'd just share a few of the different outfits I wore at night in Mexico, and a couple of the photos I put up on Instagram whilst I was away too!

A bit of an overload of me, but hey, it's better than me doing loads of different OOTD posts! :) I also only have the one photo pose, in case you haven't noticed! haha :P

Love Amylou x

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Mexico #4: La Trattoria

(I tried to post this a few days ago but it wouldn't upload on the hotel wifi for some reason! I'm not in Mexico anymore but i'm going to upload the rest of my posts as soon as I can!)

Hey guys,

So today we decided to stay out of the sun for a little bit (my tolerance for heat is actually appalling)  so i'm back in the hotel lobby and thought i'd tell you a bit about the restaurant I went to last night.

La Trattoria is located in the Golf Club at the Moon Palace resort and is the most formal of all the restaurants. It requires long trousers, collared shirts and closed toe shoes, though I would have expected that be the case for dinner in most places! But as everyone else would be dressed nice, I didn't think twice about pulling out my ted baker birthday dress!

It was quite quiet down at the golf club so we just had one drink (Sauvignon blanc because i'm just that grown up now :P) and headed to our table. I went back to drinking coke (I can only take so much sophistication afterall) and we started to look at the menu.

Before we could order, the best thing happened, they brought round dessert trolleys, only it wasn't dessert, it was cheese. Usually a cheese course comes at the end of the meal, but here they started with it, and it was really good! I have no photos of the cheese trolley though, sorry! Just take my word for it, it was goooood.

We ordered our food, and I couldn't wait for it to come, I was starving and it all sounded so good! I'll put a few photos of a couple of things we had below! :)

 Cream of Spinach and Tomato Soup

Lime Sorbet in between courses

 Tequila Sunrise (when in mexico...)

Tiramisu

 Black and White Chocolate Cake

Petit Fours

Overall it was pretty good, though this is the second place I've been to here that gives you a piece of meat (Chicken or steak) but it doesn't come with any sides, no potatoes, pasta or even veg, just the meat, I don't understand! I just must be greedy, but I at least like some vegetables with my meat! I didn't include any photos of the mains, because they didn't look too appealing in the photos!

What about you guys? Would you be surprised if you got a meal that was just meat with no sides? Or am I just being weird here? haha :)

Love Amylou x



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Mexico #3: Caporales

Hey guys!

So I thought i'd take this opportunity to tell you all about one of my favourite restaurants at the Moon Palace hotel in Cancun and it's called Caporales.

It's one of the few A La Carte restaurants as opposed to the buffet style, which I much prefer, just makes your meal feel that much nicer! It's also one of the few Mexican cuisine restaurants, and their fajitas are just delicious.

The whole style of the hotel is quite relaxed, so I put away my dresses for the night and opted for my spotty shorts and lace top! Still kept the heels though, just doesn't feel right without them!

You can't book the tables so you have to put your name on a waiting list and wait for a buzzer, but luckily the list was quite short when we arrived and so we waited inside the entrance area for our table, it had some pretty interesting characters hanging around!

The interior of the whole place is pretty different from the rest of the restaurants here, and I think that adds a lot to the charm of the place, such as wooden wheels on the ceiling and bright pictures on the walls

When sitting down the waiter brought all of us (over 18s) some melon margaritas and they were delicious, a new favourite of mine I think!

I decided to just have the one margarita and order some wine for the meal as tequila is pretty strong, and I don't want to be drunk before my food is even on the table! I've always been a fan of sweet rosé wine, but recently read somewhere that rosé is considered the wine of the immature! So I decided to give a white wine a try, and might as well go for a dry one! I thought it would be awful, but I decided to get the sauvignon blanc, one of my mum's favourites, and I actually loved it.

Then again I loved Baileys the first time I tried that, and now I think it's disgusting! But it is far more sophisticated to order a glass of white wine than my usual coke/Malibu and coke at the dinner table, so hopefully i'll grow to love it even more!

(not that sophisticated is a strong suit of mine, just last night I ordered chicken nuggets, fries and chocolate cake on room service for my tea! But I can pretend/dream)

The food here is also really really good.

This was my starter and it's actually just a bowl of melted cheese with onions and green peppers served with flour tortillas. They made it sound fancier than that, but that's what it was, and it was yummy! My favourite starter in the whole world is deep fried mozzarella in carozza, and although this wasn't mozzarella, it was still delicious!

This was my dads starter and I believe it was tortilla chips with shrimp and onions, i'm not a fan of seafood, but he assured me it was really good!

These were the best chicken fajitas ever. The only thing that could have made them better was ketchup, but I was pretending to be sophisticated, and I can't really drink my nice wine and then ask for ketchup to dip my fajitas in can I! haha. I'm extremely fussy and only put chicken and rice in my fajitas, no veg or sauces but they are still really good that way! Though it does mean I end up leaving a lot on my plate! :(

Really I just had a great time and felt like sharing some photos, the staff are all really friendly here but by far they were the nicest here, helping us with recommendations and changing the menu to accommodate my fussiness and my sister being a vegetarian (not something they really cater to much over here!).

If you are ever over in Moon Palace in Cancun, this really is a place to try, its easy to miss out with 15 restaurants, but I can assure you this one is worth it, after 7 days here I've already been twice!

Do you like Mexican food? What's your favourite?

Love Amylou x

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Mexico #2?

Hey guys!

I know I said I was going to do some indepth blogging whilst out here in Mexico, and this is the first post I've done, but honestly, its just so hot, I've done absolutely nothing.

I just can't believe the constant heat and humidity! It's almost as hot as Vegas, but that was dry heat, and this humidity makes it so much worse that I've just taken to collapsing on a sunbed in the morning, and then staying there until it's time for dinner!

I managed to lay in the sun for a total of one day. and the rest of the time I've been in the shade with my hat firmly on! I swear I could get sunstroke just looking at the sun without a hat on!

I've also forgotten to take my camera out even once (i'm the worst blogger, it's ok, i'm aware of it) so most photos will be from my phone and the occasional night one from my dads camera until I remember to use mine! These two were just taken by my mum on her phone!

I'm planning on doing a couple of posts whilst i'm here rather than ambitiously trying to blog too much! I want to do one on the hotel itself, and then a focus on my favourite Mexican restaurant here and then one with just a few OOTDs :)

The family have booked a table in an Asian restaurant called Momo tonight where you sit around a hotplate and a chef does lots of fancy knife tricks and cooks your meal infront of you, it looks pretty cool to watch but i'm not a huge Chinese food fan so i've opted to stay in my lovely air-conditioned room, order some room service and catch up on all my favourite blogs and youtube videos that I've missed over the past few days! The tables are a hot ticket though as my dad had to queue for half an hour to book a slot and there were over a hundred people behind him! We went a couple of days ago and just sat on a normal table and if you like Chinese and sushi, you'd love it.

I may just sound anti-social but i'm actually glowing i'm so red today, and I haven't been in the sun for days! So I think I just need a night sitting in my cool room, might even fire up the hot-tub with only cold water and try to draw the heat out!

Hope you've been having a good few days! :)

Love, Amylou x

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Mexico Day 1: What's in my bag + OOTD

Hey Guys!

I don't know if this is cheating to call my post day one of Mexico when I haven't actually left the UK yet, but i'm at the airport, so i'm saying it counts!

We are flying tomorrow morning but didn't fancy the 4 hour drive at 5am so we decided to drive down to Gatwick today and stay at the Hilton in the airport instead so we could get up at a normal time!

I thought i'd just make a little airport/travel version of a what's in my bag post! I'm using my Black Harrods Tote as it fits everything in and I just like it really!

I got it last Christmas as I didn't have a black bag that was big enough for uni and this one fits everything in!

I've packed quite a bit into it!

I've packed my neck pillow, Mulberry date planner, 1st generation iPad, Microsoft Surface, Guess sunglasses, Michael Kors purse and some earphones and tissues! All I need to put in is my phone, tickets and passport! And my camera obviously, but I had to use that! My suitcase is full of all sorts of cables and wires now! I have different things on each one though! (or that's what I tell myself to convince me that I need them all!)

I'm not good at packing light, and I doubt I need a phone and two tablets for a 10 hour flight, especially as the seats all have screens in anyway! But oh well! :)

I thought i'd share what i'm wearing for the drive too, i'm terrible at OOTD posts but i'm trying to get better! :)

I'm wearing skorts from Miss Selfridge, black camisole from Next, black ballet pumps from Topshop, my harrods bag, guess sunglasses (old) and I can't remember where my necklace is from! Everything you can still buy should be linked if you want to take a look! :)

I painted my nails with OPI nail polishes and cocktail sticks to do the green and black parts! Looks ok from a distance though! haha :)

I'm currently sat in bed watching corrie whilst typing this! I can't wait to set off tomorrow morning, too excited to sleep!

Hope you're having a good Monday!

Love Amylou x

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Last Minute Shoe Shopping!

Hey Guys!

So as you know, I lost my black heels a few days ago, and i'm off to Mexico tomorrow (well the airport tomorrow) so I had to make a mad dash to Meadowhall today to get some new ones!

I tried many different shops but i'm a UK size 8/EU42 so it can be quite difficult for me to find shoes when I need to! (When I don't suddenly everywhere has my size) but after searching around I finally found some in the new collection at Aldo!

I wasn't going to post today, but these shoes are so pretty, I just couldn't resist a quick post to show them off!

Cute right?! They are quite high, and considering i'm already at least 5"10 my mum wasn't too sure but I love wearing heels, so I just went for it! 

I think they are gorgeous, and i'm so glad I found some! These are just what I wanted so i'm glad I didn't find any anywhere else!

In other news, I didn't find a sun hat :( so looks like i'll need to get one from duty free, and maybe some sunglasses, what a shame haha :)

The sun has come out now, so i'm going to make the most of it and procrastinate for another hour or two, then I really must get on with my packing!

If you want to look at these shoes online i'll leave a link here :) i'm not the best with my photos, but they are nice!

Hope you're all having the best weekend!

Love Amylou x

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