My 2016

2016 has been an interesting year hasn't it? The world seems to be falling to pieces and I'm genuinely worried about the way politics seem to be going. In a stark contrast, my personal life has been mostly amazing, with a couple of downs to go with my ups, so I'm choosing in this blog to focus on that. 

The years started out relatively quiet, January was unremarkable. and in February my birthday was lovely and quiet. I'm not the biggest fan of my birthday, so anytime I can have a nice meal with my family I'm happy. Sadly in February we also suddenly lost our dear, sweet one eyed Sinbad. It was so unexpected and heartbreaking. I miss him a lot and wish he could have been with us longer.

March and April were filled with wedding preparations and DIY, it kept me so busy and I am forever grateful to my Mum, Fal my best friend, my Nanny and my Auntie Maisie. I couldn't have done it without you! I also got to hang out with Melly Em Clark, Nancy of Sugar, Darling and Dom Clark which was so much fun. Anytime I get to hang out with fellow blogger babes is wonderful and I'm lucky to have them nearby.

Me, Melly Em and Nancy, photo by Dom.

March also saw us welcoming a new arrival into our home, the wild hellion beast that is Lemmy Katmister. We adopted him from Cuddles Cat Rescue and it helped us heal after losing Sinbad, knowing we were giving another rescue a much needed home. He is much younger than our other cats Stitches and Patch, and certainly keeps us on our toes. He is a total Mummy's boy and can usually be found in my face!

May was my hen do! I had such a good time and felt so loved that so many people come to it. Afternoon tea, followed by Anti-Nowhere League in the evening. A bit of a mish mash of events, but I wanted something my Nanny and Grandma would enjoy in the day, and was more me in the evening. I also finally decided I needed fun hair again in the run up to the wedding and went pink, with long grown out roots.

Huge thanks to LovedRobe who kindly dressed me for my hen do <3 Headband by Corn & Glory and sash by Oh Squirrel.

And June... June was the best month of my life. I got to marry Stu! He's the best thing to ever happen to me. He constantly makes me laugh, I have never felt so loved, he shares my politics, is a goober with me, is genuinely caring and would do anything for those he loves, and is so supportive. I'm so damn lucky. Our wedding was truly incredible. I blogged a whole bunch about it, which you can read more of in the wedding tab in the top menu bar. I never thought I would get married, and to be able to call my best friend my husband is everything. Best day of my life.

Photo by ClickClickBang Photography.

A week or so later we then went on our first ever holiday together, our honeymoon to Turkey. Two weeks together in a beautiful country, relaxing and enjoying each other's company. We are hoping we'll be able to go on holiday again next year!

I'd say the rest of the year was a bit more peaceful, but between a 50th birthday, a 70th birthday, an 80th birthday, my brother getting engaged and so much more, I don't feel like we've stopped!

2016 marked a full year of Botox for my chronic headaches, and the first time I can say I had truly pain free days in years. It has been so liberating and life changing. I honestly couldn't have coped with the busy year and the wedding in pain like I was, and it makes me so emotional. I am so grateful for our NHS and how much they have improved my life.

I seem to have travelled more than I have in years this year, with trips to Liverpool for Curve Fashion Festival, and finally taking Stu to Wales to visit my family too. CFF was so much fun, even though I stayed in the worst hotel ever. We also had a weekend away in Sheffield to see Evil Scarecrow! My Mum and Dad moved to Cheltenham so we've been to visit them a few times too, such a lovely town.

Naomi of Diamonds and Pearls and Steph of Nerd About Town.

Both me and Stu got promotions in our jobs which has been so helpful in terms of our finances, and it's given us both new challenges we are enjoying. I love my new role and I'm really proud of myself for it. It's not a position I ever thought I'd be in and is so different from anything I studied. It's the first time either of us remember having disposable income like we have now. We've gone out for dinner a few times as a couple, something I don't think we have ever done before! When Stu needed a new pair of trainers he bought them. To not have to worry so much is such a dream and a privilege. We aren't flush by any means, but to have that little bit of money for us is everything.

Stu raised over £1300 for charity and shaved his beard! Full blog post on this here.

I've been able to work with some brands I love this year, and started writing for She Might Be which is a truly body positive website written entirely by plus size bloggers. I'll share some of my favourite outfits in another blog post I think or I'll be here forever!

My blog was also nominated for a couple of awards from a sadly rather unsavoury company who cancelled their awards last minute and hurt a lot of people. I didn't win, but I was so proud that you guys nominated me at all!

I can only hope that 2017 is brighter for the world, and that I can be lucky enough to continue to be so charmed!

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

Pink and Black and Yellow and Summer

I've already blogged one of the outfits I got in the Lindy Bop sale here, so I thought as I've shared my favourite, I'd share Stu's! He has the knack for picking out clothes for me that I might not usually wear that turn out to be awesome. However, I was so with him on this one right from the start.

 'Nora' Lily Jive Dress

I love bright colours contrasted with black, and this yellow and pink combo is lush. It has a bardot neckline (always a fave of mine) and the body of the dress is actually quite long. It sits a little longer in the waist than I would usually like but the print is fun enough that I can forgive it. I got my usual size and it's quite roomy on the bust, so if you are a larger busted lady you should be fine with your normal size. It has some stretch to the fabric which I prefer for that extra bit of comfy.

It falls to below knee on me, so on someone of average height it'll be about mid-calf. It is very long compared to most LB dresses! It comes with a black patent belt but as tends to happen with LB, it hasn't been sized up appropriately as the size of the dress goes up so it is too small. I swapped that out and wore a pink belt with it instead. It works, but it's a shame that the black is too small because the shine of the patent and the extra pop of black looks so good in the photos on the LB website.

I plan to keep an eye out for more dresses in this style now I've tried one. A bardot neckline is my favourite style and this is so lovely.

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

The Pineapple Dress of Dreams : A Lindy Bop Honeymoon Bargain

A Lindy Bop Honeymoon Bargain

Lindy Bop's sales are kind of legendary. The website always crashes, you have to queue to get on it, but once you are in... oh the bargains to be had! After much queueing and tantruming I finally got onto the website and there was so much to choose from. I managed to snag myself a couple of dresses in the most recent one and this is my personal favourite.

This is the 'Lily' dress in an adorable tropical print. I was so hoping this dress would be in the sale and was thrilled it was. And it was only £9!! I love the pattern of it so damn much. A good tropical print is always a summer must have. It's a thicker stretch fabric than most Lindy Bop dresses that makes it feel higher quality. It doesn't crease and holds it's shape without a petticoat really well. I think a pink petticoat underneath would really make the dress pop and look so cute too.

The neckline has 3 small keyhole cut outs in both the front and back which is a cute touch, and it comes with a contrasting pink belt. I've had problems with the belts from Lindy Bop not being sized up as the sizes of the dresses go up, but this one was the right size. That the belt came in bright pink was a really cute touch, it picked out the colours of the print so nicely. I'd have opted for pink because of my hair so it worked out!

I paired it with black shoes from Yours Clothing and pink heart sunglasses from ASOS. I felt amazingly cute in this outfit, especially with my recently touched up pink hair. Stu took these photos before we ate dinner in the Italian restaurant in our hotel as the sun started to set. He managed to get himself the nickname Instagram Husband from some of the other guests... oops!

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

Keeping Cool in Turkey : The Good, The Bad and The Bargains

Keeping Cool in Turkey With Simply Be*

When we picked Turkey for our honeymoon I was expecting it to be in the low-mid 30's in the evenings while we were there. Instead it turned out to be hitting 46 degrees on the regular which is just not remotely comparable to even the best of British summer heat. It meant a lot of my evening outfits were out of the question because it was still so damn hot you wanted to dress as cool as was possible.

And come to the rescue was this Simply Be halterneck dip hem maxi dress*. Simply Be very kindly sent me this for my honeymoon as a wedding present which was so sweet! I haven't owned a halterneck in years but the pattern on this really intrigued me so I picked this out.

The halterneck style meant a lot of shoulder out which totally helped keep me cool once the heat really hit the highs. I wore this twice because I also realised I could absolutely get away without a bra in this dress. Which was heaven! It's a super light material which only creased very lightly in the suitcase which was great. I took a few bits I ended up not being able to wear because of creasing and I wasn't about to pay for my clothes to be ironed. This dress has a shirred back which is always great for a comfy fit and allowing for extra room for those of you who are more blessed in the bust department than I am. I tied the halterneck up in a double knot and it didn't budge once tied, very reassuring!

The pattern on this dress is the real star of the show. It's a sort of zigzig patchwork and I love it. It's really quirky and different and both times I wore this I got so many compliments! The dip hem gave great movement when I was walking around, I love a dress that helps make me feel dramatic. This was the outfit that I wore on the hottest nights and I still felt totally adorable. I have to admit though, once we'd taken these photos my hair went up!

Thanks so much for the cute summer dress Simply Be!

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

The Good, The Bad and The Bargains : A Honeymoon OOTD

*denotes an item that was gifted to me, In no way does this impact upon my opinions which are entirely my own.

A Morris-Wood Wedding : Honeymoon Edition

Stu and I got back from our honeymoon a week ago today! I thought I'd share a few different blogs about it with reviews and info on the trips and hotel, but first a more general one about where we went and how we ended up there.

As we've been living together for years and have a house, we didn't want the traditional wedding presents. We have toastie makers, cutlery, pretty much everything you could ever need! But we have never been on holiday together as a couple. We've been away with my family or to visit Stu's family, but we have never had so much as a weekend away together. We decided that we would pop a note on our invites to say that we didn't want any presents, but if anyone did wish to get us something, a donation to our honeymoon fund would be massively appreciated.

And just wow. Thanks to our unbelievably generous family and friends we were able to go away for 2 weeks to stay at Club Blue Dreams in Bodrum, Turkey. We booked through Thomson on the Monday after the wedding, and flew out on the Thursday! It's a 4 star hotel and all inclusive. It was absolutely stunning, we couldn't have dreamed of staying somewhere more beautiful together.

Having never been on holiday together, two weeks alone was definitely going to be a total change. And it was wonderful. I've never felt so relaxed and happy. Spending so much time in each other's company was so much fun. Every morning we woke up smiling and got to be with the person we love the most all day every day. The hotel staff were fantastic, the hotel itself was immaculate, and the view from the infinity pool was something else.

The sunsets over the Aegean Sea are some of the most awe inspiring in the world. Every night we watched them and felt so lucky. The main restaurant was outside so you could truly enjoy a romantic evening together every night. It got obscenely warm towards the end of our holiday, 46 degrees in the middle of the day! If you aren't into the heat, Turkey is not the place to go in June. It is such a lush green country and the sea was so clear.

We were completely blown away by people's generosity. It can feel really cheeky asking for money, but with the right wording people totally understood and wanted to help us go away together. The sweetness of those nearest to us was more than we could ever have imagined. We are so so lucky and loved. The day after the wedding when we were opening the cards people had given us we both basically spent the afternoon crying because we were so overwhelmed at the love people had for us.

I'll be blogging in more detail about the honeymoon shortly, plus the actual wedding, and of course honeymoon outfits!

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

Groomsmen and Usher Gift Ideas : Bridesmaid Gift Ideas

A Honeymoon OOTD with Navabi*

Our honeymoon was a total dream. More than we could ever have hoped for. I'll blog about the actual honeymoon soon, but in the mean time, here's one of my many honeymoon outfits!

Top - old, unknown

Skirt - Zizzi for Navabi*

Shoes - Yours Clothing

In 40 degree heat, you want simple, cool and comfortable. This Navabi skirt was perfect for it! It's a beautiful silky material, with a fun digital print, and it sits just at knee level on my 5ft 11 frame. It has an elasticated waist which makes it really comfy to wear and it is so cool and floaty. Paired with a simple black top it made a cute and casual outfit for dinner, but could easily be dressed up for a fancier occasion.

I actually wore this twice, once in the evening, and once over my black swimming costume as a cover up on a boat trip. It was ideal for the travel as it doesn't crease which is one of my favourite things about it. I hate ironing! Knowing I didn't have to worry about it in my suitcase was awesome. It's become a key item in my wardrobe as it's so versatile. Dinner, day wear, even work wear, I love it. The pops of green and blue are so bright and fun.

I have a lot more honeymoon outfits to come! These were taken on the walkway to the lift from our hotel room. Such a gorgeous view.

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

Glam Rock Queen : A Summer BBQ Dress

*denotes an item that was gifted for review purposes. In no way does this impact upon my opinions which are entirely my own.