My Autumn Wardrobe

I thought that I'd show you how I've updated my wardrobe so far for autumn (with some not-great photography!). I would say that I bought a few of these items, mainly the bag and blazer, because I had an interview to dress for but that's maybe a little bit of an excuse. I've loved the Clarks bucket bag since we first had it in store in tan last year and as soon as I knew it was coming in the burgundy colour I had a feeling that I'd end up buying it! I bought the floral scarf from Zara to tie in with the purple colour in the bag for the interview but I didn't even end up wearing it on the day. Needless to say I've worn it almost everyday since then so it was definitely not a wasted purchase. So far this autumn the scarf and bag seem to have become my statement pieces that I've managed to work into most outfits.

Bag - £69.99 Clarks (although I got staff discount off of that!)

Scarf - £17.99 Zara

Cream blazer - £29.99 H&M

This is the least autumnal piece that I've bought and was probably the last of the summer season stock in the shop. I really did only buy this for the interview however I've always kind of wanted a light coloured blazer and I've worn it to work most days recently instead of my black one.

Grey jumper - £14.99 H&M

Purple t-shirt - £6.99 H&M

As soon as the weather turned a little bit chilly I was desperate to buy a jumper! I opted for this speckled grey one from H&M, I had one quite similar a few years back and I hardly ever had it off. A jumper like this is so easy to wear whether it's dressed down with jeans and scarf or dressed up a bit with a blazer and statement necklace. Whilst in H&M I also bought this purple tee; just more things to tie in with the colour of my bag and scarf. 

Patterned sleeveless shirt - £3 H&M sale

Necklace - £3 Matalan

Earrings - £1.50 Dorothy Perkins

Again, it was the burgundy colour in this shirt that drew me towards it and when I saw that it was only £3 in the sale it wasn't really a hard decision whether to buy it or not. I've worn it to work once, buttoned up and tucked into black skinny jeans with the cream blazer. I also can't pass up bargain jewellery! I picked up these wee bargains when I was at home in The Borders lately, I love the ribbon chain necklace.

"Oh wow, you're so brave!"

I thought that I'd write a little post about my experience with online dating! I'm not an expert in the field, by no means. I've actually only used one website and dated one person, which I know in the online dating world is pretty uncommon. You're supposed to join loads of websites and go on multitudes of good (and plenty of bad!) dates, and just get to know loads of people! (And when I say 'get to know', that can mean a different thing from one single person to another!)

It was one of my friends that suggested I join the website OkCupid! I wasn't, and am still not, sure how you go about meeting someone unless you meet them in a club or through work, so this seemed like a good option. The website, which is completely free, requires you to set up a typical profile (*insert intelligent yet witty description of yourself*) and also asks you answer some specific questions, which enables them to suggest matches by what percentage you are compatible! There are always going to be weird people kicking about on these websites and I certainly wasn't replying to the guy who messaged me simply saying "hi what company do you work for"!?!? But I did reply to one person (94% compatible!) who, to cut a long story short, I ended up dating for about 4 months. I had such a great few months spent getting to know him and doing all those couple-y things that go along with dating. It was exactly what I wanted from joining the website! We split due to factors out of our control and, although we don't see each other, we are still friends.

I partly wanted to write this to try and maybe change some people's mindset on the whole online dating thing! I just needed the push that my friend gave me to join a website, and I'm so glad that she did. I've seen a few girls on my twitter feed tweet about how they've thought about joining a website but they're too scared, or they've been talking to someone but are too nervous to meet them. When I was dating and my friends asked me "Oh so where did you meet him?", my response was always matched with "Oh wow, you're so brave!" I suppose maybe you do have to be quite brave to do it, and yes it was daunting meeting someone for that initial drink when you know absolutely nothing about them, but it was also really really fun! It's becoming massively common nowadays (hence those pants they're selling in Asda!!) and some people Internet date like it's a sport but it's definitely still a bit of a taboo subject! Yes, you do judge potential dates from a few photos, their music taste and what six things they couldn't live without...but they are doing the same with you!

You only live once so if you are thinking or have ever thought about joining a dating website then I say just do it (and OkCupid is a really good one if you are considering it)! And if it doesn't work out? Then you can say you've done it...and I'm sure you will have also gained a few free drinks from the experience too! ;)

Cold and Cosy

As I went to write this post I remembered that I actually wrote a post exactly like this at this time last year! Obviously the exact same thing happened last year; we seem to have gone from the height of Summer to what basically feels like Winter in the space of a few weeks. The shops getting all their cosy winter knitwear and heavy woollen coats in stock didn't really seem very gradual at all, maybe I missed the in between phase, but to me it looked like shops just swapped their bikinis and kaftans for jumpers and scarfs. I'm not complaining about that at all, I do love a cosy jumper and scarf combo and always prefer the layers of winter fashion to anything the shops have to offer in the Summer. However I will let out a little disappointed sigh at how quickly Summer ended. I came out of work the other day at 8ish and it was practically dark!?!? X Factor has started...I mean lets all just resign ourselves to the sofa every weekend from now on and admit that it's essentially the countdown to Christmas. 

I do love that cosy, and at the same time cold, feeling that seems to have appeared in the air. I've watched a lot more TV in the past few weeks than I have done in months, I was lured into buying a huge tub of hot chocolate powder at the weekend (only to find I had loads already!), I couldn't deny myself the purchase of a jumper and a scarf (blog post in the process) and I may have already used my hot water bottle a few times!! Maybe talking about Christmas is jumping the gun a little bit but I do think we can safely say that autumn is officially here!!