Monthly Archives: October 2012

Making my Kindle Cooler with Caseable

21st October 2012

A must have accessory for this fall/winter season is a case from caseable! Whatever your favorite fashion trend is, we give you the ability to express your unique style while protecting your electronics.

We offer a range of hand-crafted cases for laptops, iPads, Kindles and more — all made from recycled materials in Brookyln, NY. Customize your own case: choose from our endless pre-made style and color combinations or upload your own image for an accessory we’re sure no one else will have (but everyone will envy!).

When the above e-mail dropped in to my inbox with an invite to try out the service I didn’t hesitate in saying yes (grabby blogger much?!)
My Kindle and I are rarely separated and I’ve been looking for a new case to house it in for quite some time. I used one of caseables pre-made designs as I loved the stars and colours but also had a play with the custom options which would make a wonderful gift if you are starting your Christmas shopping. Shipping took a little while as it came from overseas (and of course, had to be made) but I am delighted with my new case and so is Claude; the now rather feminine Kindle.

Caseable isn’t limited to Kindle covers though, you can customise anything from laptop cases to phone covers. As an example, a custom case for your iPhone will cost you £24.90 which I don’t think is bad going for something completely unique. The website is user friendly and great for a play around. It’s not an every day indulgence but for a special gift or treat for your treasured gadget I can’t recommend the service enough…and I know I was sent my case to review, but trust me, my opinions are mine and mine alone; if you know me, I’m not backwards in coming forwards if I don’t like something!

What case would you design? I’ll be designing some as gifts for special Birthdays and (ssh) Christmas for sure!

xxx

Posted in review

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Fashion Culprit

21st October 2012

Dress c/o Fashion Culprit, Tights c/o welovecolors, Boots: Yull.

I do love a good little black dress, and even more so one that is versatile enough to be dressed down for day and up for night.

This one from Fashion Culprit ticks all the right boxes; worn yesterday for a mooch (hobble) around some shops, and I can also see ways to work it with a blazer for work and with some bold accessories for a girly pub night. Winner. All that and it only costs £15! Don’t let the cheap price put you off, this is made with good quality, thick material meaning it hangs nicely and keeps it’s shape. Of course, to sweeten the deal there is the heart cut out back, too. I want one in every colour!

I’ve been feeling sorry for myself with my injured foot all week so treated myself to a few new beauty bits too, making the most of the 3 for 2 offer in href
=”http://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=2041&id=118255″ target=”_blank”>Boots.com. I always find new mascaras best after a few uses so when the above was the result after one coat of the first usage I was impressed. I haven’t had a chance to test the nail polishes yet but seeing other bloggers who have is making me excited!

Are you a Fashion Culprit?

What new beauty buys have you snapped up lately?

xxx

Posted in beauty, outfits

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Snacking Saturday: The Simply Bar

20th October 2012
Now, I’m no athlete (or even remotely sporty) but I do find protein filled snack bars have an importance place in my diet; long day travelling or a crazy shift at work? These make a powerful dent in my appetite and provide energy and nutrition to last me until I can get a proper meal. When Simply Bar got in touch to announce that their bars had finally made it to UK shores and offered me a sample I was keen to try them out, swung by the short ingredients list and fabulous sounding flavours.

Here’s what they have to say:

“Our product is like no other snack bar on the market. The Simply Bar­­ is a high protein, low sugar, low fat, low glycemic bar with only a handful of natural ingredients. Founder Cathy Richards created the Simply Bars after experiencing difficulties finding snacks that didn’t upset her stomach. She has Crohn’s Disease.

Each bar contains 16 g protein, paired with 2-4g of fat, under 3 g of sugar, 4 g of fiber, and 160 calories or less. Each bar is based on Non GMO soy crisps along organic brown rice syrup. All the cocoa bars are made with organic cocoa mass (we promise this is easy to digest). Check out how The Simply Bar compares to other bars on the market. http://www.thesimplybar.co.uk/compare.html

Loved by many, The Simple Bar makes a great snack for athletes (pre and post workout), vegans, health conscience individuals and those suffering from Celiac, Crohn’s and  IBS.  In addition to it being a great snack, The Simply Bar is gluten free, low GI, dairy free, Kosher and easy-to-digest”

As you can see from the photo at the top of the post the packaging is neat, clean and simple clearly stating what the bar promises and what it delivers. I was sent three of the four flavours available and my thoughts are as follows:

Lemon Coconut: I expected to hate this bar to be honest. I’m not a fan of lemon flavoured anything but in the spirt of fairness I gave this a go whilst travelling up to London on Tuesday knowing I’d need something to hold me over until we could grab a late dinner. The verdict? I loved it! Sometimes I surprise myself, honestly. The lemon flavour was delicate and didn’t overshadow the sweet distinct flavour of the coconut. The bar didn’t leave my mouth dry like some protein bars have done and I would go as far as to say this was my favourite of the bunch. 5/5

Chocolate Peanut Butter: Anyone who knows me by now would expect me to have loved this bar. I didn’t dislike it but it wasn’t my favourite. The peanut butter flavour wasn’t very strong and there was a slight drying edge to the bar. I may have just had one that had been stored too long (these arrived a couple of weeks ago) so I wouldn’t rule it out in the future. It was perfectly edible and still enjoyable, I think I had allowed the flavours to set my expectations too high. This bar saw me through a horrible afternoon at work keeping my blood sugar steady and my energy flowing. 3/5

Cinnamon Pecan: One word, YUM! This could almost replace the Lemon Coconut as my top bar, I love cinnamon, and combined with the pecans this was wonderfully autumnal and really enjoyable. I don’t really know what else I can add to that except try it! 4/5

Most importantly for me, these bars lived up to their promise of being suitable for those with IBS as often new to me foods can trigger that off. Vegans, Coeliacs and low GI folk can enjoy these too which has to be a good thing. At no more than 160 calories per bar these are great if you are on a weight loss diet, or if like me your on a weight gain plan then they make a good addition to another snack (bananas are a good pairing, as is popcorn and biscuits; I’ve tried all three combos!).

You can buy the bars online and I’ve heard on the grapevine that they are looking to launch in to UK retailers soon.

These aren’t cheap, a sample box of 8 bars will cost almost £15 but that’s comparable to other protein bars on the market and the list of ingredients I can pronounce plus the fact you probably wouldn’t eat these every day makes it worth it to me!

Have you tried the Simply Bar yet? Got any other protein packed snacks to share?

xxx

Posted in food, snacking

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Daisy Chain Dreaming: AllSaints Outfit

20th October 2012

Oh AllSaints, so often admired and so totally out of my price league. I’ve been torturing myself browsing through their lookbook lately and have fallen head over heels with this particular ensemble; what do you think?

Vital Stats-

Coat: Check Gaboury Parka, £395

Jeans: Roseport Ashby, £75

Boots: Jules Biker Boots, £175

I’m not going to be the only one hoping to win the lottery tonight, am I?

xxx

Post contains affiliate links.

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moving on up

19th October 2012

 Primark Jumper, Motel jeans, Georgia Rose boots (c/o Sarenza)
I finally remembered I had these boots after searching for something to wear on my feet to London, it’s a bit of a squish getting my poorly foot in to them but they make a change!
This isn’t really an outfit post as such, I wore these jeans for all of 15 minutes before realising I’ve finally gained enough weight to almost outgrow an item of clothing…so off they came, and on to the “for sale” pile where they have already found a worthy new owner and I shall be investing in something that fits my new figure once the rest of the weight has gone on.

It’s hard, to remain so positive about a changing body when mostly people see weight gain as a negative thing. It’s harder still when you are trying to reverse ten years of ingrained behaviours for the last time; no more going back and forth in recovery, this is the final push. I’ve never been so motivated or so excited for life. I can’t explain what’s changed, I guess growing up and the tragic events of this year have given me that final *ping* in my head that I needed to actually do this…as anyone recovering from anything knows, you can only do it for real when it’s for yourself first and foremost. Negative/saddened tweets aside, I am enjoying this journey and keep remindnig myself that sometimes it’s ok to go against the grain, sometimes weight gain for health reasons is needed and there is nothing wrong with that. Life is too damn short to to keep listening to that evil little voice in my head. This is time for the real me, for Laura to shine.

Sorry for getting so personal in this post, I’m probably a chronic over-sharer and wonder if sometimes I give too much away and that the world knows far too much about me. I guess I wanted to get out there, again, what I am doing. Soften the blow of my changing shape perhaps; or maybe I’m just re-affirming it to myself what I have achieved and have yet to achieve. This blog has been a real documentation of my journey especially over the last two turbulent years, and although it may seem otherwise when I do sponsored posts and reviews this blog is for me, myself and I primarily. It still blows me away that so many people read/follow/want to work with me, I’m just a girl from a town nobody has ever heard of who can’t compare to 99% of bloggers out there style and interest-factor wise (who is also chronically insecure). For someone once so camera phobic and painfully shy I’d go so far to say as this blog has proven life changing.

I’ll leave you with this photo of Mae, a peace offering, and I promise not to take offense if you skipped over the lengthy text of this post.

Happy Friday! Any fabulous weekend plans? I’ll be back to my usual self tomorrow.

xxx

P.S. sorry for the appalling writing style in this post, as ever my blogging is done early morning and as each post gets published I doubt my writing ability more and more, oops!

Posted in life, Mae, outfits

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