Belle of the Ball - OOTN

The company that I work for helped to co-found a charity that helps young people in the area improve learning and employment opportunities as well as raising aspirations. We do a lot of work for the charity and when the idea of a fundraising ball came about it was myself and other colleagues responsibility to make this a reality. We've been working for months to set up the Ball and finally last Friday it happened.

I should mention this was a black tie event, so I had to get myself a special dress and Matt had to glam up in a tuxedo. I thought it would be good to do a little run down of my outfit for the evening.

The item I picked up first was my dress. This is from a brand called Little Mistress which is sold in House of Fraser. At £70 I thought this was a reasonable cost for a good quality floor-length gown. It was pulled in around the bust and waist with beautiful beading across the collarbone. The bottom was loose and flowy touching the floor. It fitted great and was a dream to wear.

To accompany this I found these heels in Primark for only £14.00 which were the perfect height and the colour matched really well. Then I went over to Monsoon and picked this glittery bag up for £15.00. Its a great size has a magnetic clasp and comes with a strap.

To accompany the look I decided to get gel nails done with the Jessica GELeration colour, it's taboo, which is a dark red with little glints of glitter. I did my hair myself and I basically just twisted bits of hair, folding under the end piece and gripping down. Then to finish I covered the twists which a piece of hair from each side. I took the picture above when I came in so that's why there are a few flyaways.

What do you think of the look?

Autumn Time Candles

When Autumn comes around it's time to change up the candles and bring in some cosy warming scents. I must admit I have a cupboard that is full of different candles, some new and some part used that I just switch up when I feel like it. I love buying candles. It's a little obsession. So as the temperatures have changed I decided it was time to invest in some new candles.

Yankee Candles is one of my favourite candle brands as they do lots of different scents and they are super strong. I love that they continue to bring out new scents as well as keeping the old faves.

I purchased Pain Au Raisin and Gingerbread Maple after watching Zoella's Autumn candle haul because I felt like I needed some new Autumn ones. They are both very sweet smelling but they aren't very sickly which is good. Gingerbread Maple smells of baking and very sweet syrup but isn't too overwhelming with the gingerbread. With Pain Au Raisin you can definitely smell a hint of raisin but it's nice as its subtly fruity. They both have a little bit of spice which makes them feel cosy and warming.

I've had this Christmas Eve candle since last year as I must have bought a few because it's one of my favourites.  Although not technically Autumn I think as it gets colder all Autumn/Winter candles go! This one is a hard one to describe but it's very different from the other two. It's fresh and a bit more perfumy. I think you should smell this one yourself to see what you think!

This little one I picked up from Aldi in the Special Buys as it smelt SO GOOD. I walked past and could smell it so I couldn't leave without it. I'm pretty sure I've seen these candles in other supermarkets so I suggest you search out this one. It is the White Vanilla Bean scent which smells lovely and sweet but homely. As it's an Air Wick candle it's very potent which is brilliant.

The last one is a candle I picked up from Tesco Extra whilst on a little shopping spree. You know when you go to Tesco and you want to buy something but don't know what, then you come out with a book, a candle and all sorts of other things. Yeah, this was bought on one of those times.

When I picked up this candle it immediately made me think that it smelt of something but I didn't know what. Again this is nothing like any of the candles already listed, it's very perfumey. Its a different scent for me and something I wouldn't normally pick but as it reminded me of something and it was black wax, I decided to pick it up. It is in the scent Amber Noir and I'm pretty sure it smells like one of Mum's hair products but in a nice way! One of those that you want on your hair so you can smell your hair all day. Again maybe this is one you have to smell in person!

So what are your favourite Autumn candles? Any recommendations for me?

The Olde Young Tea House

The Olde Young Tea House is somewhere I know I can rely on for a good cup of tea and a delicious piece of cake. One Friday lunchtime I decided it was time to once again venture across town to visit this quaint little tea shop for some grub. Although I speak about the tea shop quite a bit on Gingerbread Smiles I've never actually posted about it so when I was there I thought I'd take some snaps.

When we arrived there were a few tables free for us to take our pick and the lovely tea lady let us know which weren't reserved. We looked over the menu and decided on sandwiches and cake with a mug of tea. We both picked the mozzarella and pesto sandwich then I had a piece of chocolate cookie cake and Mum had a snickers cupcake. To accompany my food I chose a cup of Malibu Dream tea and mum had a pot of normal tea.

I love the interior of the tea house, its full of wood, very vintage looking with beautiful patterned wall paper and quirky accessories. The atmosphere is very friendly with people meeting here to see their friends and family for a catch up.

Our lunch was nice although I wish I'd picked a different sandwich as it wasn't my favourite. The cake however was amazing, as per usual. It is always deliciously moist with lots of chocolate icing. I was really glad that I decided to pick a different tea as it was so tasty. I'd definitely recommend it to other people!

Have you been to the Olde Young Tea House before?

Hallway highlights

Today I thought I'd bring you a little inspiration for decorating your hallway by showing you some key pieces in mine. I know hallways aren't the most exciting places to decorate but we have a few cute bits in ours.

First is our arch 'window' mirror. This is from Barker and Stonehouse. I really wanted it when we first saw it so we decided to get it not knowing where exactly in the house it would go. After being in the house a good few months we got the hallway painted and had new flooring laid then finally found the best spot to put it. Matt's Dad and Uncle kindly put this up for us as we'd have no clue how. It's such a heavy mirror! This does really work where we've positioned it as it bounces the light from the front door window brilliantly making the hall much brighter. Also, most importantly, we can check our appearance on the way out of the house.

Next to the mirror, we have a little table with a phone and lamp sitting on top. Initially, I bought a really cheap phone from ASDA when we first moved in as I thought, who really uses their home phone? After a while of being in the house, we found the other phone to be really flimsy and not easy to use so we splurged on a new one. This blue retro phone was from John Lewis and I think it was the style that both of us were looking for. The little table was from a store called At Home which is local to us in Stockton. It was the last one which was lucky for us and I just think it's cute and very functional.

When we moved in there was a huge fuse box sat behind the front door. Very unattractive. Matt was keen to cover this in some way so we got a joiner in who made us this little cute wooden slide box. Of course, we had to 'decorate' this and add a few bits to it. We picked up these little fake plants and glass stopper bottle from John Lewis and they went perfectly. However the bottle was empty, so Matt took some of my dried black beans out of the cupboard and decided to fill it. Although I was down on black beans, I do think this looks really effective.

Lastly is the light fitting that we chose for our hall. It's very basic but it's exactly the style that myself and Matt like, very industrial. This was from the Portrack Lighting Centre in Stockton and it came in silver or gold but for our hallway, we thought this colour went much better. We also bought a special bulb for this in which you can see the filament when the light is on. A little like old fashioned light bulbs.

So what do you think of our little hallway? We personally love it. It's a nice space to welcome people to our home.

Have you got any home post? Link below!

Why I can't wait for Autumn

This year Autumn can't come quick enough. There is something about this Summer that has not been appealing to us Brits at all! I think we didn't really get a Summer, so it's about time we just got right into Autumn, okay Mother Nature? Bring it.

I hope that you are excited for Autumn too. I've started a Pinterest board filled with beautiful autumn images, cosy interiors and cute craft projects. Although we are only just into September and the leaves have not even started to fall from the trees, I can't wait to wrap up and welcome in Autumn. Here's why...

1. The colours. Autumn brings some amazing colours that I'm in love with including burnt oranges, deep maroon reds and dirty mustard yellows. From the fallen leaves to the clothes in high street shops, the beautiful Autumn colours are everywhere. This year I want to invest in some pieces in these colours and maybe a staple pair of brown boots!

2. Cosy nights in. No more will we think about going out on a night, the place to be will be in the comfort of our own homes. Investing in blankets, candles and good movies will be essential as we start to snuggle up on the sofa rather than braving the cold. I'll definitely have to go shopping for some real Autumn scented candles. I'm thinking cinnamon, woody hints and smokey scents.

3. New flavours. Bring back the hot chocolate, cinnamon, gingerbread and of course, pumpkin. Okay so these aren't new flavours but they get a bit forgotten during Spring/Summer. Now we can indulge in barista hot chocolate, oh and a little bit of salted caramel syrup? As well as this Autumn brings a lot of oranges; bigging up pumpkins, butternut squash and sweet potatoes at every meal!

4. Halloween. I love Halloween. It's time to be a big kid, decorate the house and dress up. I'm hoping to do something this year but even if I don't and I'm just handing out sweets I'm going to go big with my decorations. Matt doesn't know yet but there could be a skeleton or two hanging outside the house on the big night.

5. Comfort food. When the weather gets cold all anyone wants to do is eat all the carbs. It's understandable, we are starting to stock up for Winter. I'll be looking to beef casseroles, warming broths, soups and roast dinners. Of course, I'll still try and keep it healthy but I think diets change by the season and I'll definitely be adapting mine to Autumn.

So what are your favourite parts of Autumn? Are you excited?

Book update.

Recently I've been getting back into books. I absolutely love buying books but don't usually make the time to read them. Over the past few months I've been reading the above three books; Paper Towns by John Green, Dream A Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher and Ten Things I've Learnt About Love by Sarah Butler.

I just wanted to give you a little review of each book. I love reading other people's recommendations on their blog so hopefully, this helps you pick a couple of new books.

Paper Towns - John Green
After reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, I decided to try out a few of his other books. I scoured his collection and chose this (and Abundance of Katherines which I am yet to read). Paper Towns was a really exciting and fun book to read. The adventures that Quentin goes on with Margo and his friends are great to follow and the mystery surrounding Margo is very gripping. Although I do recommend giving this a read I would suggest not holding out any great hope for a brilliant ending.

Dream A Little Dream - Giovanna Fletcher
As you may know, I'm a little obsessed with the Fletchers and have already read Giovanna's other novels, so when this came out I had to get it. I read this on holiday and it was a perfect read for sitting in the Sun. If you are into girly chick flicks then this is for you. Giovanna has really excelled herself this time with a brilliant story and well thought out characters. When the book ended I wanted to carry on reading and know what else happens after the story ends. Thankfully Giovanna is writing a small novella to follow on from this, I can't wait until it's out in October!

Ten Things I've Learnt About Love - Sarah Butler
I picked this up in a charity shop for 50p (got to love charity shops!) after scouring the shelves for some more books to add to my collection. The book is told from two people's perspective, changing each chapter from Alice, whose Dad has just passed away, to Daniel, a homeless man searching for his daughter. At first, I didn't really get into this book but continued reading to see if it got any better. I can say it did, but as I got closer to the end of the book I got frustrated with the characters. The story almost got a bit far-fetched and I was a little disappointed that there wasn't really a solid ending. For a book I picked up for 50p, it was an okay read.

Have you read any of these? What are your thoughts?

P.S any book recommendations, or blog posts featuring book reviews?