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?