What I Wore Wednesday: The Oscars Red Carpet 2012

I've been not feeling well on and off all week and haven't left the house except for a board meeting on Monday so no photos of me. So instead I'm going to post my favourite looks from the Oscars; it is what they wore this week. All of the images below are from The New York Times.

Octavia Spencer in Tadashi Shoji. I think the detail work is extremely flattering and I love how the dress looks on her. Plus my Mom wore Shoji to both my and my sister's weddings!

Ellie Kemper in Armani Prive. First off she is ridiculously adorable; every interview I've ever seen she just seems like that girl you know who is the nicest person you've ever met. 
You know the kind of girl who brings you baked goods when you are sick not because she's a 
Martha Stewart wanna-be trying out the latest design she saw on Pinterest but because she genuinely wanted to bring you cupcakes. I think the colour of the dress was less harsh on TV than in this picture, but it was just a gorgeous colour on her and the subtle makeup and pulled back hair with the sparkly rust was just beautiful.

Penélope Cruz in Giorgio Armani. I didn't see this come down the carpet but flicking through the photos I stopped. I love, love, LOVE the sky blue, slightly periwinkle colour of her dress. I'm not a huge fan of trains but it is mostly the colour I'm all about here.

Maya Rudolph in Johanna Johnson. I love Maya's hair. I think the dress could be so much better is the belt was a bit higher or cinched in a bit more. The bust as it is is not that flattering on her. Love the styling though.

Wendi McClendon-Covey in Simin Couture. Her hair and makeup was so pretty when she was getting interviewed. I remember saying outloud "I love her hair." In fact I'm pretty sure I tweeted her to tell her, too (yes I'm that girl). Not a huge fan of the dress but I think the colour is really flattering on her.

Who were your best dressed/styled at the Oscars? Notice I say *best* and not worst. Don't get me wrong I love to hate on hot messes as much as the next girl but I think I will leave that to Joan, Guilianna and Kelly. There is enough negative stuff in cyber-space so I'm choosing to keep it a love fest! Is that okay?

Speaking of love fest one of you is going to LOVE your new Hold Your Haunches leggings! Click back to my HYH review post to see if you won!

What I Wore Wednesday: Errands

I actually did get dressed up again this week when NBH and I went out to the Treehouse for dinner and drinks with our friends Craig and Clair. I wore the exact same outfit as I did to the theatre except I switched in my sparkly Loft top; I loved the outfit but didn't want to link up an almost identical outfit two weeks in a row. So instead I decided to "keep it real". Here is what we wore to run errands today; not glamorous but a pretty good representation of my every day look.

Captain Spooky Top-? (my Dad got it & it doesn't say on the tag)

Jeans-George

Skull Slide Ons-Gap

Fearless Tiny Skull Studs- Dogeared

Cincinnati Bearcats T-shirt- DuBois Bookstore
The Flirt Jeans-Old Navy

Navy and Pink New Balances- Zappos

What do you think about the heart by the way? Do I have to take it down now Valentine's Day is over or is it a year-round kind of decoration?

Don't forget to check out my Hold Your Haunches Leggings giveaway that ends 2/28!

Pineapple Salsa

So one of my good friends is now officially overdue. She went to the GP today who said she'd book her for an induction but when she called she was told the first date was 19 days away in March--she wasn't pleased. Luckily they've phoned back to give her an induction date for a week tomorrow but in that in-between time I came up with a recipe to try and help her along.


Since old wives' tales suggest spicy food and fresh pineapple can help start labour I got the idea in my head to make a pineapple salsa.  First off you should know I don't like spicy food, I'm allergic to coriander/cilantro and I've never made salsa in my life. Also I ran into the grocery with no phone signal so couldn't even look online for a sample recipe.


What I made I think actually turned out pretty well. She didn't get to try it (fingers crossed she's on her way to hospital now) but both Blondie Boy and I chowed down on some earlier.

Blondie's Pineapple Salsa

1 red onion (finely chopped)
1 fresh pineapple (cored & finely chopped)
1 bunch of fresh mint (again finely chopped)
zest & juice of one lime
1 red chilli (deseeded & finely chopped)


Mix, chill & serve with tortilla chips.

You could add more chillies if you like it hotter and sub out mint for coriander/cilantro but I really like the extra dimension it added to the salsa. You'll notice in my ingredients picture I have mango; I was going to add that in originally but opted not to do so.


Have you ever randomly thrown something together on a whim and found a new taste sensation? Am I silly to be proud of myself?

What I Wore Wednesday: Valentine's Day Date Night

For Valentine's Day NotBlondeHusband and I went to see opening night of Zack Braff's new play "All New People" at the Kings Theatre here in Glasgow. Blondie Boy's Auntie Jefy very kindly came to watch him so we could take in the show and a cheeky meal afterwards.

We had amazing seats (front row, grand circle) and while at times I felt the play was trying a bit too hard we both enjoyed it. I love going to the theatre and hadn't been in ages. We grabbed dinner at Bath Street Pony after the show and all in all I'd say it was a great Valentine's Day.  Did you see what NBH got me? Yea awesome Valentine's Day.

So I decided to wear an outfit combining some of my favourite trends from the outfits y'all link up each week: leggings, blazers and leopard print. The leggings are amazing shapewear from Hold Your Haunches that utilize medical grade compression under super stylish leggings. 

As someone with a c-section tummy I love these pants; it noticeably minimized my middle and smoothed out that dreaded c-section overhang. NBH said my butt looked higher too; I don't check out my own ass so I will take his word for it!

Cropped Blazer- HM

Ruffled Top- HM

Boot Cut Leggings- Hold Your Haunches

Studded Bag- Versace for HM

Leopard Print Heels- Dune (TK Maxx)

Sparkly Drop Earrings- Etsy

I finally used my Versace for HM bag! I have no idea why one leg looks shorter than the other; I think NBH needs to let me look at pictures after he takes them next time! 

I originally bought a black and white polka dot top to wear but I thought it felt to business-like so I went with the low cut, ruffle top instead. I was super comfortable and hopefully super cute, too!

The awesome ladies behind Hold Your Haunches are giving y'all a chance to win a pair (boot cut or straight leg) of your own! Use the Rafflecopter widget below (if you are on a mobile you'll need to use a computer-sorry) to enter! Competition closes 28/2 at midnight.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Transatlantic Blonde was provided leggings for review and giveaway but all opinions are our own.

Three words for Valentine's Day

Best Husband Ever

Sizzling Pubs

I'm going to be honest here: I wasn't expecting much when I agreed to check out our local Sizzling Pub. I'm not really a fan of chain pub-restaurants and their reputations aren't necessarily the best, however Blondie Boy, Not Blonde Husband and I had a really nice evening.

First of all the staff were lovely. Blondie Boy has an egg allergy and it can prove to be quite a problem when eating out.  Our waiter had no problem with checking which of the children's meals did and did not contain egg and even went as far as to read labels to double check instead of just asking the chefs. This was great: so, so helpful.

So here is what we ate:

BBQ Wings & Fried Mushrooms

My J20 was Glittery!

NBH's Angus BBQ Stack Burger

My Steak and Chicken Fajitas

Cheese, Tortillas & Fixings

BB's Grilled Chicken, Beans & Chips

The Most Massive Sundae I've ever seen

The portion sizes were extremely generous and we were both surprised with the food. Was it the best meal we ever had? No of course not but it was tasty and extremely good value for money. I was particularly pleased with my fajitas as I've had my fair share of bad British interpretations of fajitas but this was well seasoned and not overcooked. NBH and I split the Mega Supercurlycrunchielistic Choccaberry Sundae and we only got about half-way through. It was really tasty but HUGE!

The face of someone very excited for ice-cream

We went on the weekend but Sizzling Pubs have some great offers through the week and for the school holidays kids eat for free through the end of February! It really is great value for money and I can't say enough about how friendly the staff were. There are locations all through out the UK and I know I will certainly keep my eye out for one the next time we are on a road trip! 

Transatlantic Blonde was provided the meal to review but all opinions are our own.

Blondie Boy on TV

If there was ever any doubt Blondie Boy was mine that can be cleared up with this post.  His new favourite thing to ask for is "Blondie Boy on TV" also known as karaoke. 

We got a fab karaoke machine from Gumtree Deals (did you know they do daily offers?) and oh my goodness does he love it. He dances around and sings into the microphone and it is too cute.  Anyone who knows me will know that I'm slightly, okay extremely, fond of karaoke. It makes me so happy that my boy loves it too!

Taking pictures of him proved difficult because Blondie Boy's dancing includes lots of twirling, running and jumping but I think you can tell he was having a great time! The karaoke machine came with 10 CDs and included one of Blondie Boy's favourite songs ever "Bad Romance."

I know he can't read yet but it is really cute seeing him watch the words on screen and "sing" along. My Dad got a karaoke machine shortly after I moved to Scotland and I was so jealous because I'd always wanted one and it seemed super unfair he got one when I moved away. Now I can sing to my heart's content whenever I like and best of all I know I have someone who is more than happy to duet with me.

Why not check out Gumtree Deals yourself? Right now are deals on everything from iPhone accessories to pancake makers and everything inbetween! 

Transatlantic Blonde was provided this karaoke machine to review but all opinions are our own.