Miss Sadie K xx: August 2013

dorothy perkins

Mint

Top - Dorothy Perkins

Trousers - Topshop

Shoes - Peacocks

Watch - Michael Kors

I seem to have a slight obsession with this pastel mint green colour recently, so when I saw this top in the sale at Dorothy Perkins reduced from £25 to £15 I had to have it. It is a lovely thick-ish chiffon material with a PU trim on the collar. I love the fit of this top, it's so comfy, and I really like the little step hem making it slightly longer at the back. I decided to wear it casually with these topshop trousers, which are just like super thick leggings and also really comfy, but it could also be easily dressed up with a statement necklace and tucked into a skirt. I have a feeling I will be getting a lot of wear out of this top.

26 comments

, by Sadie

barry m

Barry M Limited Edition Yellow Nail Paint

When I was in Boots a couple of weeks ago I picked up a few new Barry M polishes after wanting to try their Gelly Nail Paints for a while. At the time they had an offer on where if you spent £6 on Barry M products you got a free Limited Edition Nail Paint (they no longer have this offer on but these Limited Edition Nail Paints are still available here). There was a choice of pink or yellow, so I decided to give the yellow one a try. I have never been a huge fan of yellow nail polish but seeing as it's summer I thought I'd give the sunny colour a go. I think the majority of my nail varnish collection are Barry M Nail Paints so it's no secret that I love their polishes. They are such good value for money. It took two coats to fully cover the nails without any transparency and like all other Barry M Nail Paints I have found it to be pretty chip resistant.

I am pretty happy with this polish but I still don't think I'm really a yellow nail convert. I do like this shade as it is not too pale and is nice and bright, but not too bright that it is bordering on neon. However I can't see this being a favourite as I have many other Barry M Nail Paints that I'd be more likely to reach for before this one. It's a nice yellow to add to my collection though if I ever fancy a change and I've been wanting to try some floral nail art, so it will come in handy for that too.

Are you a fan of yellow nails?

15 comments

, by Sadie

aztec dress

Black And White Aztec

Dress - New Look
Sandals - New Look
Watch - Michael Kors

I bought this dress a few weeks ago when I was just having a little browse around town. I love the monochrome aztec print and think it was a little bargain at £14.99. I love little t-shirt dresses like this, they are so comfortable and easy to wear. I teamed it with my new favourite bargain black sandals, which can be see in my little shoe haul here. I'm just a little disappointed that the sun seems to have gone into hiding recently. I hear the heat wave we had a couple of weeks ago is supposed to be making a return next week, so fingers crossed for that!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

32 comments

, by Sadie

dungarees

My Inner Child

I have to admit than when dungarees started popping up in every store and magazine page that I laid my eyes upon, I had mixed feelings. My inner 8 year old was jumping for joy to relive the style of my youth, remembering the days of running around fields and monkeying around on climbing frames in my denim dungarees. My inner child was then pushed aside by my sensible 26 year old self asking how practical and stylish dungarees really are for a full grown adult. Of course all sensible thoughts were thrown out of the window when I remembered that I am still a child at heart and I freaking love dungarees.

Dungarees - Motel

Shirt - Peacocks

Sandals - Topshop

Watch - Michael Kors

Sunglasses - Ray Ban

I am so in love with these Motel dungarees, they have quickly become my summer wardrobe staple. I love the baby blue colour and pretty paisley print. They are made of a nice thin cotton, making them super comfortable and cool for the heatwave we've had in here in England over the past few weeks. They are priced at £48 but if you use my discount code 'misssadiek' you'll get 20% off and be able to bag yourself a pair for £38.40! They have them in lots of other great patterns too, I'm loving these daisy print ones.

What do you think of dungarees? Yay or nay?

29 comments

, by Sadie

cut out boots

New Shoes

Boots, £24.99 - New Look

I posted about these boots in my New Look wishlist post back in June, and was gutted to find out that they had sold out online when I went back to buy them. Then after checking online several times to see if they were back in stock online I went on a little store hunt and finally found a pair in my size, so I snapped them up straight away. Only to find out, after all that, they are now back in stock online! Oh well, at least I managed to get my hands on them and I can't wait to wear them. I'm loving cut out boots at the moment, I think they're a great alternative to sandals for summer.

Sandals, £10 - New Look

Why is it that when you are looking for something in particular you can never seem to find it and then as soon as you stop it happens to be right there in front of you? All summer I've been looking for a simple pair of black sandals and have been unable to find a single pair I like. I'd just given up, seeing as summer will soon be over, when I happened to stumble across this pair whilst on my hunt for the above boots. Even better, they were in the sale, reduced from £19.99 to £10!

Sandals, £12 - Primark

I remember seeing a pair of sandals similar to these in Zara a while back, but for almost three times the price I decided to leave them. These sandals are slightly more dainty than I am used to, but with this style of sandal popping up everywhere, I've found myself wanting them more and more. So when I spotted this lovely red suede pair in Primark for a mere £12 there was no way I could leave them sat on the shelf. I always worry about ankle straps cutting my legs off, as they are short enough as it is, but I think the fact that they are so dainty stops this from happening and are actually rather flattering. I think these will be great for adding a bit of colour to an LBD.

19 comments

, by Sadie

baking

Mini Strawberry Daiquiri Cupcakes

I know this is not a very fashion or beauty related post but if there's one thing I love just as much, it's cakes, and when I have the time I love to do a spot of baking. There's nothing I find more therapeutic than whipping up a delicious cake or batch of cupcakes, then once they're baked who doesn't love to indulge in some yummy sweet treats?! Whilst browsing my Hummingbird Bakery book I came across these mini cocktail cupcakes which I thought would make the perfect little summer's day treat.

Sponge:

100ml White Rum

170g Caster Sugar

150g Strawberries

40g Unsalted Butter

120g Plain Flour

1 and 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

3/4 of a tsp Salt

1 Large Egg

120ml Whole Milk

1/2 a tsp Vanilla Essence

Frosting:

80g Unsalted Butter

250g Icing Sugar

1/2 a tsp of finely grated lime zest

4 tsp whole milk

1. Put the rum and 30g of the caster sugar in a small pan and bring to the boil until it has reduced by half and set aside to cool. Chop the strawberries and soak in the rum for 30 - 40 mins.

2. Whilst the strawberries are soaking mix together the flour, butter, remaining caster sugar, baking powder and salt until they resemble fine breadcrumbs.

3. Mix the egg, milk and vanilla in a jug and with the mixer on a low speed gradually pour it into the flour mixture. Then whisk thoroughly until fully mixed.

4. Line a mini muffin tray with mini muffin cases. Drain the strawberries, reserving the liquid, and place a few small pieces of strawberry in each case.

5. Spoon the cake batter on top, filling each case by two thirds. Then bake in a pre-heated oven at 170 C (325 F) for 12-15 minutes.

6. Whilst the cakes are still warm spoon 1/2 a teaspoon of the rum reduction from the pan over each cake and then leave to cool before frosting.

7. For the frosting, mix together the butter, icing sugar and lime zest. In a jug, mix together the milk and 4 teaspoons of the rum reduction, then pour into the butter mixture whilst still mixing on a low speed. Increase the whisk speed and mix until light and fluffy. Pipe onto cupcakes and decorate with chopped strawberries.

These were super yummy and I'm thinking about giving the Mojito ones a go next. Hope you liked this post and would love to know if you would like to see more? As baking is something I also really enjoy doing and would love to do more posts like this if you would like to see them.