Pops of Yellow

Hey everyone,

The sun is shining and the grass is green, under the three feet of snow I mean.
(If you got this reference, you are a BOSS. Factoid.)

The weather here has been an absolute pleasure this week - sunny but not stifling hot, and with the slightest breeze.
I think it's also getting to that acceptable time to start breaking out my summer brights:

DRESS: New Look (around 2009 I think)

CARDIGAN: H&M

BELT: Dorothy Perkins.

SUNGLASSES: Marc Jacobs.

NECKLACE: River Island.

SHOES: From a cheap outlet shop when I was around 15.

POINT OF FASHION: Floral brights...is it summer yet?

This is one of my favourite dresses, and it's really a shame I don't wear it often enough! I absolutely love the two different layers of the skirt, it looks so structured and cute - not to mention a lot more expensive than what it was! (Around £25)

I last wore it in January last year for my sister's AS Photography shoot - yep, definitely need to start wearing it more.

Also a quick FOTD - apologies I'm half wearing my shades, the sun was just too bright without them!

FOUNDATION: Colorstay in 150 Buff by Revlon 

EYELINER: No1 by Barry M

EYEBROWS: Ash Brown by Wet N' Wild

MASCARA: False Lash Effect by Maybelline

FALSE EYELASHES: Ebay

POWDER: 135 by Illamasqua

LIPSTICK: Fire by Chanel

I'm on a real false lash kick at the minute, and have worn them most days this week.

I've only ever bought my falsest from eBay as I was still practicing and didn't want to pay around £6 a pair for me just to mess up (as I have done in the past!)

Victoria recently recommended this seller - and they're nice enough. 

The bands are very thick, but wrapping them gently around my finger makes them a lot more workable. Note that they took over a month to arrive to the UK from Hong Kong, but for 99p for 10 pairs you can't really grumble! 

I believe the ones above are 057 - but I also purchased F-6, Y-7, 018 and 106 if you're interested.

Finally, I'll leave you with some lovely summery tunes - I always think that music sounds better in the sunshine!

What are your favourite songs for dancing around the garden on a sunny day?

Muchos love,

MessyCarla.

Non Stop Week.

Hey everyone,

Apologies I seem to be turning into a once-a-week blogger - but the last week has been especially manic!

It's been one of those weeks where I have a lot on every day, which sadly hasn't left a lot of time for blogging.
However, I've been taking some photos along the way if you're interested in what I've been up to.


As I mentioned in my last post, I booked last minute tickets to Matilda The Musical.
It's been a while since I've been so excited about seeing a show - and I was worried it wouldn't live up to all the hype it's been getting (including ten Olivier nominations!).

But it was absolutely wonderful, one of the best theatre experiences I've had!
I'm sure they're going to sweep the board with the awards as expected, but I especially hope they pick up choreography and set design.

My reason for going to London is that I'm involved with a project with Look magazine. 

I still can't say exactly what is going on behind the scenes, but it's all very exciting! 

Like any event, the best thing for me is always meeting fellow bloggers. 

It's been quite a while since I've been to an event and haven't previously met anyone there! 

But, everyone was unsurprisingly lovely - I had a great time chatting with Milly from Pearls and Poodles, Becca from Fashion Train, Charlotte from Charlie and the Fashion Factory, Claire from Rainbows & Fairydust, Fritha-Louise from Fish Tank Fashion and the twins from London's Closet. 

There were lots of other girls there, but unfortunately I didn't get to meet everyone.

With my new favourite Scouser, Claire from Rainbows and Fairydust.

I loved her candy pastels outfit - it matched her rainbow ombre hair!

And just a few more from earlier this week:

I *heart* NCL!

I bought this dress for just £19.99 in New Look.

Finally tried Cadbury's Philadelphia. NOMMM.

Any spare time I have, I've been playing The Sims again.

I made Carla Sim, just for the lulz and made sure to give her my "chronic b***hface!":

(from Krisatomic.com)

And it's not going to get any quieter for me until the weekend (no rest for the wicked?) - I have plans tonight, then tomorrow I'm volunteering at The Alternative Miss Newcastle Beauty Pageant. 

It's at the Star and Shadow Cinema from 7.30pm, and is just £5 a ticket - with all proceeds going to organisations tackling homophobic bullying in schools.

So please do come along if you're local - I reckon it's going to be an awesome night!

Muchos love,

MessyCarla.

Life In Plastic, It's Fantastic.

Hey everyone,

It's been another sunny week here in the North, and today I was in one of those moods where I just want to wear something bright and colourful.

With my matchy-matchy neon pink lipstick and belt together with my plastic accessories I feel a bit like a doll you would give a small child. Maybe with handy educational phrases?

DRESS: Dorothy Perkins.

JACKET: Matalan.

SUNGLASSES: c/o HalloweenCostumes.com

BROOCHES: Heidi Seeker.

NECKLACE: Primark.

BELT: Dorothy Perkins.

BOW: ASOS.

SHOES: Barratts via Ebay.

POINT OF FASHION: Bright, colourful and plastic.

Just in case it got a bit chilly, I threw this Kitson scarf over my shoulders - and of course added a sweep of my favourite bright pink lipstick (Anime lip tar by Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics).

I also completely love my new heart-shaped sunnies, which were kindly sent to be to by HalloweenCostumes.com. 

Now what was originally going to happen was I was going to create an outfit using elements of fancy dress which sounded absolutely ace, so was also sent a pair of red glittery Dorothy shoes. 

Sadly, they turned out to be a size too small - but I remembered that Claire from French For Cupcake has tiny pixie feet, so they are already on their way to Belfast and should be featured on her blog soon!

The company are absolutely awesome, though - very creative ideas for working with bloggers, and a shout out to PR girl Aleksandra who is the perfect mix of approachable and friendly, yet professional!

In other news, I had my cinderella extensions taken out this week to give my hair a well-earned rest and for the foreseeable future will be using clip-ins instead. 

I absolutely love these pink ombre locks - neon fuchsia at the top to candy floss pink at the tips. 

I now want them in every colour!

Finally, I'll definitely try to write another post before I go - but I'm back in London next week for a top secret mission on Wednesday (oooh!) and I am also sneaking in a theatre trip during my visit!

I've been wanting to see Matilda since hearing great things about it's preview in Stratford-Upon-Avon and just have to see it during it's West End run.

The soundtrack is absolutely wonderful (the music and lyrics are by Tim Minchin, so what else can you expect, really?) and the book and film were two of my favourites in childhood. 

Can you tell I'm just a bit excited?

Muchos love,MessyCarla.

PS: Don't forget to enter my Pearls & Swine giveaway which ends on Tuesday.
PPS: I almost forgot to share this video as it made me laugh harder than anything else this week. Awww man, George Takei is just awesome isn't he? 

Mamma Mia

Hey everyone,

Something a wee bit different on the blog, today...

 

Italian Catholic Mother and Papi B.

I frequently mention the Italian family on my mother's side - specifically my own 'Italian Catholic Mother' (who Claire described as "surely the only mum with a Hashtag").
If you follow me on Twitter you'll know she's one of those people who is absolutely hilarious without really realising it.

Some of my favourite quips and one-liners in recent times include:

When we had the recent minus zero weather, somebody draw a plallus on her iced-up window and her reaction was "I can't be certain, but I'm sure it had a face." 
She has narrowed the suspects down to the school kids who walk past our house or "that fella with the dog who knows I don't like it."

(When we loaned a National Trust card from our neighbour she was straight on the internet looking for free excursions...)
I.C.M: Oooh we could visit Hogarth's house!
PAPI B: He's an 18th century artist, why would you be interested in that?
I.C.M: Oh, I thought it was something to do with Harry Potter...

(When we were watching a trashy tv show about young people going out and getting wasted...)
ME: It's like "Sodom and Gommorah."
I.C.M: Didn't Sodom fight Goliath?

I.C.M: Aren't you going to be bored with all these books?
ME: Reading is the most fulfilling thing you can do. How can you possibly think it's boring?
I.C.M: The only book I've ever read is Shane Richie's autobiography.

Oh, I'm going to be in trouble for those.
I'm frequently warned about "posting the stupid things I say on the internet."
Sorry, mama!


However, the real point of this post is I've been looking through some old photos and absolutely love my mam's outfits.

Being a child of the 90s, I mostly remember her wearing sweatshirts, baggy nautical tops and strirrup pants.
But looking at earlier photos from the late 1970s/1980s she is wearing very sructured, classic peices - and I just had to share some of my favourites.








I've been meaning to do this post for a while, but seeing how it's coming up to Mother's Day I thought it was pretty appropriate.

Have any of you guys ever been influenced or inspired style-wise by a family member?
Do let me know in the comments below!

Muchos love,
MessyCarla.


DISCLAIMER: This post is in partnership with Find-Me-A-Gift.co.uk which is a great website for unique Mother's Day gifts. I received no money from writing this post - however in return they are sending Italian Catholic Mother a present. (How nice?!)
As ever- all words and opinions are my own!

The Only Way Is Hebburn

Hey everyone,

I am a big advocate of "making it work" - especially wearing outfits worn not specifically in the way they were originally designed.
During a spot of outlet shopping I spotted the "cardigan" in the window of a Pilot.
(Remember them? Funnily enough there are still three branches open around where I live...)
It's actually a crop top, with a zip at the back.

I had a lightbulb moment - what if I wore it back-to-front, would it work as a crop cardigan?
Take a look:

DRESS: Next.

TOP (WORN AS CARDIGAN): Pilot.

BAG: Matalan.

SHADES: Marc Jacobs.

BELT: Dorothy Perkins.

HAIRBAND: Primark.

NECKLACE: River Island.

BRACELETS: Various.

SHOES: Office.

POINT OF FASHION: Yet more clashing prints and making it work.

The dress is yet another Next sale find - and actually this one in a different colour. 

It's incredibly rare I buy the same dress in different colours, but for £15 a pop they were wee bargains, so I couldn't resist!

The rest of the outfit was quite cheap too. 

I've been after a royal blue bag for quite a while - I lust over Leanne's version from Primark whenever she posts about it! This is currently in Matalan for an almighty...£6!

My shoes were a present two Christmases ago - but I originally found them in the Office sale for just £10. Hmmm, perhaps shiny red lips on patent black pumps aren't to everyone's taste. 

I can't see why not, though.

(Gahhh stupid sun always makes tights look scraggy!)

I don't know about the rest of the country, but the North East has had some lovely sunny days this week - not quite warm enough for Italian Catholic Mother to whip out the patio furniture and parasol (it should be noted I live in a terraced house so we only have a small back yard but that doesn't bother us. We like to have Pimms and nibbles and pretend we're middle class) but sunny enough to wear sunnies and today was what I call "cardigan weather" - where there's a slight chilly breeze in the air, but not enough to warrant wearing a coat.

This is one of my favourite times of year when the sun is just starting to shine again, and people find themselves in beer gardens after work and on weekends after months of them being closed for being ice hazards. 

But speaking of the North East - I was excited to hear about a new show being commissioned by the BBC all about the sunny town of Hebburn, the little town I live in! Not Newcastle, not even South Shields or Sunderland...Hebburn! Fame at last! 

It's being written by comedian Jason Cook who is originally from around here, so I hope they show some local landmarks, such as:

Hebburn Diner, the Ethel Austin (Yes, we still have one! Jealous?), Hebburn 'Hopping' Centre (someone nicked the 'S' from 'Shopping' in the mid-90s and it's never been replaced) and Fountain Park which doesn't even have a fountain anymore, but no-one can be bothered to change the name.

If you're still interested, type "Hebburn" into Google Images and this is the very accurate first image that comes up:

(Picture credit)

*cue Sex and the City theme music*

Ahhhh, one must be proud of one's roots.

Finally, I leave you lucky lucky people with a vlog.
I recently hit over 1,600 followers which is awesome - I really am so grateful that so many of you enjoy reading my ramblings.

But it's been quite a while since I've posted a video so if you're a newbie or an oldie - this is me, ta-dah!
I chose the 13 question tag that has been bouncing around teh interwebz for a while now:

1. What do you order at Starbucks?
2. What's one thing in your closet that you cannot live without?
3. What's one thing that most people probably wouldn't know about you?
4. Name one thing that you want to do before you die
5. What's one food that you cannot live without?
6. What quote/phrase do you live your life by?
7. What do you like and dislike about the YT community?
8. What's your number one most listened to song on iTunes?
9. What kind of style would you define yourself as having?
10. Favorite number
11. Two hobbies
12. Two pet peeves
13. Guilty Pleasure

Please be aware that I had waaaaaay too much coffee before filming this so I bounce all over the place.

I think the thumbnail says it all though.
*Le sigh*

Muchos love,

MessyCarla.

Return to Virginia

Hey everyone,

It has just dawned on me that I never got around to sharing photos of my holiday to Virginia!

I've already shared some photos from my previous visit in 2008 which was awesome, and as expected I had so much fun second time around.

Here are some of my favourites:

(Photo by Jessica)

Happy as can be in my favourite shop in the world - Sephora!

Jessica and her sister Jaime gave me a $50 gift card as an early present, so I treated myself to stuff from Make Up Forever and Sephora's own range.

The Noland Trail.

The long stretches of water remind me of Pocahontas!

There were such beautiful colours everywhere - it definitely felt more like Autumn than Winter!

This poor tree was knocked over by the recent hurricanes.

Gorgeous holly leaves, you can tell it was coming up to Christmas!

Free Ho! Ho! Ho's!

When Jessica finished her final exam we celebrated with margaritas and fries.

I tell you, what American beers lack in strength, they more than make up for with cocktails. 

It took just two of these and I ended up singing Geordie folk songs in the car park.

Since I'd never had it before, we made pumpkin pie! (We filmed the process here!) and it was absolutely delicious.

I had further belated Thanksgiving food when her grandma prepared an amazing chicken dinner with mashed potatoes, squash, green beans and cranberry sauce. It was without a doubt one of the best meals I've had in years!

Ahhh frozen yoghurt - another foodstuff that isn't as big a deal as it should be here in the UK! 

They had really interesting seasonal flavours such as gingerbread and pumpkin pie. 

I was a bit boring and had original tart, vanilla and cappuccino with Butterfingers, hot fudge and sprinkles. 

Awwww Missy is the cutest and most affectionate cat I've ever met - she's almost like a dog in the way she loves curling up next to people for sleepy time. I love her wee snaggle tooth, too!

So yeah, as you can see I have yet more wonderful memories from one of my favourite places in the world!

Jessica thinks it's funny that I love coming to stay, especially as apart from Virginia Beach there aren't many international tourists. 

But I think that's the beauty of visiting anywhere - meeting the locals and doing everyday things such as shopping at Trader Joe's or World Market is often a lot more interesting that visiting typical tourist traps.

Finally, I'll leave you with two more videos. 

The first is a mash up of footage I took during my holiday. 

The second is Jessica's flatmate David attempting to prepare a chicken salad while we cheer him on. (You'll need to turn the volume up for this one as I just filmed it on my phone!)

Muchos love,

MessyCarla.

Blue Monday

Hey everyone,

Apologies once again I disappeared! It's been one of those weeks where I've felt like I've just had to get off the grid for a while.
Mostly I've just been hanging out with my friends and family, doing real world stuff.

But I'm back - and I went shopping today for the first time in ages. This is what I wore:

It was a sweep-of-red-lipstick-needed kind of day!

(Fire by Chanel)

DRESS: Topshop.
CARDIGAN: H&M.
BELT: Dorothy Perkins.
NECKLACE: Present from Daniel, via Topshop.
HAIRBAND: Forever 21.
SHOES: Primark.
POINT OF FASHION: Blue.

Make-up wise, I used a set which was kindly sent to me from the lovelies at Find-Me-A-Gift.co.uk.

Being a fan of gold products at the minute, I chose the Me Me Me Goddess Eye gift box which includes an eyeshadow quad, liquid eyeliner, eye pencil, mascara and a tutorial card.

I wasn't sure what to expect as although I'd heard of the brand I hadn't tried any of their products, and I was pleasantly surprised.
The eyeshadows are lovely and pigmented and go extra sparkly when I dipped my brush in water first (though to be fair, I do this with all my eyeshadows).

The mascara and the pencil were nice quality too, but I was a little let down by the liquid eyeliner which has a pen time, and I really don't like them.
However, I have a few friends who do - so no doubt this will be donated to one of them!

So although I tried it, for this look I went over the top of it with Elf's liquid liner.

Inside the box.

Eyeshadow swatches applied wet.

Taken with flash at a distance.

Taken with flash close up.

So yeah, overall I was impressed with the set - and for £13.99 it's a bit of a bargain for the products you get!

So this week:

It's been a pretty good one - apart from if you follow me on Twitter you'll know that my friend Ash was in a car accident and had a stay in hospital after losing part of his lower eyelid. 

Thankfully there are no problems with his actual eye, and he is healing up very well - apart from obviously being shaken up and he also has a little whiplash. We've been out this week celebrating his getting better Geordie-style. 

Read: too much fizzy pop. It's medicinal, right?

Thank you to everyone who sent good wishes - he really appreciated them! 

However, it has also been a week of awesome as my best-friend (and Ash's twin) Sam found out this week she is working on a TV show (hint: "WHY AYEEEEEE") in Mexico which is amazing amazing amazing. 

I'm so jealous, and I have already requested that she bring me back a poncho. 

Expect an outfit post with it in the near future. Maybe.

Or else just lots of pictures of me eating the innards of a piñata. That's much more likely.

Muchos love,

MessyCarla.

DISCLAIMER: The Me Me Me gift box was sent for review. I received no money for featuring the item on my blog. As ever, all words and opinions are my own!

Flowers and a Bee(hive).

Hey everyone,

Apologies I have been away for a week - it's been a surprisingly busy one, which is always good!

I wore this outfit today to hang out with my friend Jessica who was in Newcastle for her dissertation research, and I was brought in to help.

By "help", I ended up guarding her Cath Kidston holdall while she handed out questionnaires and bought me drinks - such is life!

DRESS:Vintage.

NECKLACE: Vintage.

BELT: Dorothy Perkins.

HAIRBAND: Primark.

SHOES: Primark.

POINT OF FASHION: 1960s.

I am a bit of a stereotypical Geordie in the way that I don't really like coats. I find buying a coat as stressful as buying a pair of jeans. 

However I found the following in the Dorothy Perkins sale for £30 down from £59 and absolutely love it - I've been after a red coat for a little while, and the faux fur collar was obviously a deal breaker!

As always with coats, I sized up to an 18 and it is still very roomy - there are still a fair few sizes available online, and I really recommend it! 

I apologise for my hair being a bit windswept - I was caught in a bit of a gale on my way home!

It was a bit of good luck that I decided to style my hair into a beehive. 

The last time I did that for my friend Marie's birthday party, I backcombed like crazy and even ended up creating a dreadlock! 

So this time, I simply slept with my hair pulled back then used a Bumpit and lots of hairspray!

Finally: My laptop Ginny II was officially pronounced dead this week after being in the computer hospital all week, so I took the opportunity to make a new friend. 

After nearly 23 years of being a PC, I have made the move to a Mac. I'm still finding my way around the new system but I already love her.

It still needs a name though. My camera is called Bella, so maybe another B name.

My sister suggested Edward. So Edward and Bella. I really don't know how we're related, sometimes.

Muchos love,

MessyCarla.