What I Wore Wednesday: Spike Embellished Sweater

So what happened to What I Wore Wednesday last week you ask? Tuesday I was down in London for a meeting at Google (are you on Google+? Follow Transatlantic Blonde so I can follow back!) and then I was too buys hanging out and kissing golden postboxes with Lizzie and Jacqui to get a post up Tuesday night.

To be fair the postboxes aren't to blame as I didn't bring my laptop with me down to England so I couldn't have posted anyway. I was in the office and out at meetings all day Wednesday and then my flight was delayed back to Glasgow from Heathrow and I didn't get home until almost 10pm at which point I decided to finish up some work and go to bed. So major apologies I didn't get What I Wore Wednesday up last week.

However I'm back! NBH and I haven't been able to get out just the two of us for a while now as my father-in-law and his wife are back in Thailand and my mother-in-law and her husband are on an 8 week retirement trip. Amazing for them but means we are severely lacking in babysitters! Luckily NBH's Aunt and her husband stepped up to the plate and watched Blondie Boy for us this evening so we could go out to dinner.

We went to the newly opened The Waterfront in Ayr. We'd been wanting to go for some time now and I'm glad we finally got the chance. It's right on the river so the terrace will be beautiful in the summer (just not quite now in the winter!) and only a short drive from my Mother-in-Law's house. I didn't get any photos of the starters because we scarfed them right down! NBH had a burger and I had the Fish Goujons both of which were super good and at only £5.95 for a main course (plus £3 for a starter) who can complain!

Okay but enough about the food that's not why y'all are here. Let's talk about the clothes. Two weeks ago I went to a mall while Blondie Boy was at school. I've been looking for a sweater with embellished spike shoulders for a few months not but not found one I liked but hit the jackpot at HM. I shouldn't be shocked since the vast majority of my closet is HM! I wanted to wear it last week but I figured I'd probably set off the metal detector at the airport and that wouldn't be ideal!

  

Spike Embellished Sweater- HM

Skinny Jeans-Old Navy

Leopard Heels- Dune

I'm so glad I found this sweater and it may not be everyone's cup of tea but it is very me!

I don't often talk about my makeup and hair (other than to complain) but I tried something different tonight. My Dad got me the Naked Palette from Urban Decay for Christmas so I used to dark brown shades on my eyes with a lighter more sparkly one in the crease. My Mom handed me down her Bobbi Brown Denim Gel Liner so I lined my eyes with that for a change from black liner. You can't really tell in the liner but I felt like the navy and brown helped my blue eyes pop.

I also have in fake hair. Yes I know you aren't supposed to admit it but whatever! I've been hating my hair lately; I'd planned to put it in hot rollers but while I packed up my roller clips, heat spray and hairspray I left the rollers at home! So I clipped in some hair extensions and voilà I have instant volume. I'm seriously tempted to get one put in semi-permanently. Have you ever had extensions? Good idea or bad idea?

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Silent Sunday

What I Wore Wednesday: Asymmetric Studs, Spikes & Leopard

This Friday was my friend Julie's 30th birthday! Julie, who I went to see Guns N Roses with this summer, and I met when we were both waitresses at a now defunct restaurant and bar called Frankenstein's in Glasgow. It was a bit of a random place and we seriously had a GIANT Frankie monster that came out of the ceiling and sat up when we hit a button---I shit you not. Despite being random it was a fun place to work. I'm so glad Julie and I reconnected through Facebook and was super excited to help her celebrate her 30th!

We ended up at McPhabb's for £10 Prosecco (who could say no?) and some birthday shots! I honestly could not tell you the last time I had a shot so I stuck to one; I used to be the shot queen but not so much! We had a really lovely time chatting and Julie got a wee birthday cupcake from the staff, too!

I met up with NotBlondeHusband when he finished work instead of moving on to the next club so we could pick up Blondie Boy from my friend Jef's and head home. Even though it was a low key it was a great night and a psychic has told Julie she has to go to Amsterdam this year so we'll be looking for cheap flights to celebrate again!

I randomly went into River Island to shop for something to wear; it isn't somewhere I'd shopped before but they had a massive sale sign up and I figured what the heck. I ended up with this asymmetric black studded top with a external zipper back; it is actually meant to be quite baggy, but it is a size UK 8 which is a size I never even wore at my skinniest. I think it looks way cute fitted though so works for me AND it was only £10!

That is literally the best picture I have of my outfit. Yikes. You can't even tell I'm wearing my Booty Up HYH Pants (which I forgot how much I love) or anything else for that matter! So I've made a Polyvore again to hopefully show in a smidge more detail what I wore since somehow there is a halo in my photo. Is it a halo or a ghost or an aura? I have no idea but it's annoying. I was once told I had a yellow-white aura (so I could be a natural witch if I wanted to be) so maybe it is the latter. Anyway as always I digress!

Black Asymmetric Shoulder Stud Top-River Island

Spike Cluster Earrings-New Look

Spike Cluster Ring-New Look

Leopard Heels-Dune

Booty Up Bootcut Trousers-Hold Your Haunches

Studded Bag-Versace for HM

Have you been shopping the sales? 

Have you ever bought clothes that weren't actually your size but made them work anyway?

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What I Wore Wednesday: Birthday Dinner Out

This past week has been in a word: INSANE. Blondie Boy's birthday party was last Friday, followed the next day by his actual birthday and followed the following day by NBH's Mum's 60th Birthday/his sister's 30th. It was a birthday bonanza weekend!

I have no acceptable or even vaguely okay looking photos of myself from Blondie Boy's party or from his birthday lunch out. To be honest I didn't really wear anything exciting since it was a kid's party anyway. I did put an effort in to my outfit when we went out for Persian food for my SIL's birthday dinner on Sunday and in an even bigger twist of fate Blondie Boy and I BOTH looked cute at the same time (If you're a Mom you'll know this rarely happens--it's usually you or the kid--not both).

I'm not 100% on my skinny jeans with my ankle boots but I gave it a try to recreate the outfit I would have worn on New Year's Eve if we went out:

Blondie

Sequin Top- Loft

Skinny Jeans-Old Navy

Ankle Boots- New Look

Jacket-Zara

Blondie Boy

Skull Sweatshirt-Target

Plain Trousers-US Polo Association

Gym Shoes-Adidas

Fox Hat-ASDA

Blondie Boy has had these plaid pants forever but they've always been to big on him. They finally fit and I loved how they looked with his skull sweatshirt. A little preppy, a little punk and of course he through in his favourite fox hat for good measure.

I also tried out this thingy called a "donut quiff comb" I got at Claire's. I have no idea what it supposed to be used for but I used it like a "bump-it." My hair is really fine and obviously blonde and bump-its just don't stay put in my hair and you can see them through my hair so I thought maybe this quiff comb would work for a bit of volume when I pull my hair back.  Luckily for me it totally worked. You can't see it really in this photo but to me that is a good thing because I didn't want to look like Snooki!

Do you have any crazy gadgets or random techniques you use to make your hair cute?

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Happy 3rd Birthday Blondie Boy!

♥ 

♥ 

What I Wore Wednesday: 30/60th Birthday Party

This past Friday was my Mother-in-Law's 60th and Sister-in-Law's 30th Birthday Party--they share a birthday, the day after Blondie Boy's (party was earlier to catch people home for holidays), so they shared a party, too! Blondie Boy's Auntie Jefy was nice enough to watch him so NotBlondeHusband and I could both attend since BB wouldn't be allowed in the pub after 8pm.

NBH wore the Fair Isle Skull Cardigan I got him for Christmas with some jeans but I didn't have as easy of a time picking out what I was going to wear. It was absolutely blowing a gale outside so a dress or skirt was out of the question.


At first I'd planned to wear my gold sequinned sweatshirt that I got over a year ago and still haven't worn but I wasn't 100% comfortable in it and then NBH said he liked a second top I tried on so I went with that.  The whole outfit was based around my new studded heels I got in the New Look sale for just £10!

Sequin Embellished Sweater-New Look

Skinny Jeans-Old Navy

Studded Nude Heels-New Look

How cool is this silver skull necklace NBH got me for Christmas? It has Tanzanite eyes as well even though somehow they look really washed out in this photo they are a light blue shade of Tanzanite.

I got this spiky ring in the New Look sale too for just £1. I wasn't sure about it but I figured for £1 I could take the risk and I LOVE it! It's a bit over the top and only fits on my pinky but it is one of my new favourites!

We had a great night celebrating both birthdays and I managed to make it through the whole night without taking off my shoes or stabbing anyone with my ring :) I'm sure lots of you will be linking up New Year's Eve outfits this week but NBH was working so while I did have a play around with chalking my hair no fancy outfit for me! What did you do for New Year's Eve? Do you prefer to go out or stay in?

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PS: If you're in the UK you could win a SodaStream Drinks Maker in my latest competition!

Sodastream Review and Giveaway!

This post is brought to you by NotBlondeHusband. I wish Blogger made it easier to tell who the author of a post was! I love our SodaStream Drinks Maker but NBH is the one with fizzy history.

To me SodaStream conjures up memories of childhood. I never had one but I remember friends who did and I also remember greatly coveting one, although never quite managing to get my parents to succumb and get “busy with the fizzy”. I was slightly worried that admitting to remembering it may show my age but given I also remember when most people in Scotland had fizzy drinks delivered to their door on a milk float so I decided SodaStream is probably the least of my worries.

Despite the fact that I considered it somewhat of a sevnties/ eighties throwback SodaStream never really went away. It’s always been popular in Europe where apparently more than 1 in 5 households in Sweden own a machine, but it seems to have somewhat reappeared in the UK recently, so when we were offered a chance to test one out I was keen not only to right my childhood wrongs but also to see where the growing move back to SodaStream had come from.

First off I was surprised how easy it is. We tried the “pure” drinks maker. It doesn’t need plugged in, just a work surface to sit on. Initial set up was a doddle and afterwards it’s just a case of screwing on a plastic bottle and pulling a lever. You then add your syrup of choice and hey presto, 1l of fizzy goodness. A 500ml bottle of syrup costs around £3.49 and makes 12 litres, so the savings that can be made on even supermarket own label soft drinks are pretty good.

Aside from fiscally, SodaStream also makes sense environmentally. The bottle used in the machine is reusable, so instead of piling up mountains of empty 2 litre bottles and throwing away drinks cans that we intended to recycle but just never got round to, the SodaStream has reduced the amount of rubbish we create, which can’t be a bad thing.

My main concern about SodaStream was the flavours. When it comes to soft drinks I’m a label whore, supermarket brands are not an option. First time around I remember SodaStream having name brand flavours like Vimto, Tizer and Irn Bru, now it’s all made in house. I needn’t have really worried, the fruit flavours are great and there’s a surprisingly large range of other drinks, clear flavoured waters, natural options and even energy drinks (I found the Red Bull-esque Xstream particularly good). I’m not going to lie though, for me the cola flavours don’t stack up to the name brand equivalents. We started with a sample pack which let us try without buying a full bottle of the syrups. The root beer in particular was a huge success. We’re all root beer fans in our house and as it’s generally imported into the UK it tends to be expensive. £3.49 for 12 litres with SodaStream is a bargain. It’s not hard to find the syrups either. We’ve bought some in both Tesco and Asda, as well as ordering from the full selection on the SodaStream website.

I think the main reason my parents were anti-SodaStream in the eighties was that they were worried that it somewhat relied on a novelty factor, that we’d all be excited to make our own fizzy drink once or twice and then we’d put it in the back of a cupboard and forget about it. So far that’s not been a problem for it: three months on it’s still in the kitchen and we still use it, both for knocking together soft drinks and soda water. In fact we like it so much that I’m pretty sure that it’s a permanent feature.

The SodaStream Drinks Makers are available to buy at most major grocery stores or online via the SodaStream online store starting from £55.99.

The fabulous people at SodaStream are giving you the chance to win a SodaStream Drinks Maker! If you live in the UK leave a blog comment and follow the Rafflecopter instructions to enter.  Competition ends Friday, January 11th at 4am (see widget for hours remaining). See Rafflecopter widget for full Terms and Conditions.
GOOD LUCK! Competition CLOSED.

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Transatlantic Blonde was provided a SodaStream Drinks Maker for review and one for a prize but all opinions and stories are our own. I don't know about yours but my husband only does and says things he wants to say!