An update on...things.

I just wanted to do a little update related to things I have posted about in the past. My outfit wasn't stylish enough to do an outfit post today, i'm afraid! I was cleaning out my closet and came across this old pink "A Day To Remember" tshirt. I rarely wear band tshirts anymore but I feel a new obsession coming on! I love the graphic on the front.


♥ HAIR ♥
If you have followed my blog for a while now you will know I was diagnosed with alopecia earlier this year. Rather than losing patches of hair, my hair is thinning out all over (most noticeable along the center of my scalp) and i'm shedding a lot of hair. I unfortunately don't have much to "update" with regarding my hair. I just wanted to mention it because I got so many emails from girls with the same problem after my initial post and it was really touching. My doctor has been useless, to say the least. I don't want to get into all of the details here but I feel like he doesn't actually care about getting to the root of the problem or helping me. He forgot to refer me to the dermatologist initially so I have only been on the waiting list since June. Apparently the waiting list for private patients is three months so fingers crossed that I will hear from them soon. The condition of my hair hasn't changed much and i'm still losing about the same as before. I'm considering getting a haircut in the coming weeks/months. I kept my hair long because it feels like a "safety net" to have it this long while i'm losing hair, but I just think a shorter style would be easier to take care of and may be more flattering too. We'll see!


♥ SHREDDING ♥
Amazing pose, I know! The "30 Day Shred"..well i'm going to be completely honest - i'm a failure this time around! I skipped a couple of days and got thrown off track so i'll probably start again this weekend from the beginning. My problem is that I have to work out before 7am, including my run that means I have to be up at 5.30-6am which is fine but exercise is really the last thing I want to do that early! I might try doing it in the evenings next time, I just worry I will have no energy left. Did any of you girls start it? I hope its working out better for you than it did with me! The results I got last time are still encouraging me to try again. If anyone has any tips for toning upper arms I would appreciate them.


♥ TEETH ♥
I reviewed the Crest whitening strips on here at the beginning of summer and I thought I would update about them as its about 4 months since I used them now. Well my teeth have darkened one or two shades which is somewhat disappointing. I don't smoke, drink tea/coffee and I brush at least 3 times a day. A few people have said my teeth look more natural now which is positive I suppose! I have noticed that since I used the whitening strips, my teeth have become so sensitive. I tried sensitive toothpaste which doesn't help a whole lot either. Most of the time its hard for me to drink water at room temperature! I have to put my tongue over my teeth to drink it. That said, I would still use the strips again given the chance (I have actually stocked up on another box to use next year)

Oh one last thing - I stopped filling in my brows. Yay or nay? I love the defined look of my brows when I fill them in but sometimes I think it looks O.T.T and a bit like i'm wearing a mask! Saves a couple of minutes when i'm doing my make-up in the mornings too.

xoxo

Etsy pretties of a different kind.

I usually fill my "etsy pretties" post with accessories and pretty homewares however I just had to share Storeyshop with all of you! It was my boyfriends birthday recently and I wanted to get him a card that was a little different (aka. more special/personal) than the usual two glasses of champagne or teddy bears printed on the front. I knew I would find something unique on Etsy and after a little browsing I stumbled upon Storeyshop and picked out this which was exactly what I was looking for.
When the card arrived I was super impressed and emailed Helen, the lady who runs Storeyshop, an email to let her know I was going to mention the card on my blog. She has very kindly offered a discount of 15% to all of my readers! To get the discount, add the card(s) of your choice to your cart, on the shopping cart page click "apply shop coupon code". and simply enter the code PLAR15 in the box. Enjoy! (please note as of November 14 2011, this coupon is no longer active. Hope everyone who used it enjoyed their cards! xo)
Which are your favorite cards in her store? I'm loving this I love you more than Topshop card, I may have to purchase it in the near future!


Note: I wasn't paid or given anything in exchange for this post. I was very impressed when I received my card and just wanted to share them with my readers, hopefully you all like them as much as I do! Plus its great to support indie businesses. I paid for my card with my own money and didn't receive any kind of discount.

PS. I apologize for not posting lately, I won't fill this post with excuses but very soon I will be back to my old schedule of posting every 2-3 days!

OOTD: Brightly wound

♥ Dress: Awear @ ASOS *** Bracelets: Primark *** Flats: Dunnes ♥

Todays dress is another from the sneak peek post. The all over pleats and darling crochet shoulders are too pretty, right? I had been saving this for a special occasion, which today was not, but I just couldn't resist it any longer. I can't wait to dress it up with some pretty heels in the near future. The bracelets are from Primark... I feel like I have so many "sets" of bracelets with pearls but they really are my favorite, even though they all look similar. I really want to update my accessory collection soon though, I mostly wear the same jewellery over and over!

xoxo

OOTD: Pretty flamingo

♥ Dress: Dunnes *** Bracelets: Forever 21 *** Socks: Primark *** Brouges: Primark ♥

I feel like I start far too many blog entries with something along the lines of "I have been sick recently", but yes, I am sick again. I'm fairly sure I have the weakest immune system ever! Today I stocked up on vitamin supplements which will hopefully help get things back on track.

I usually don't like prints of animals (birds, dogs, etc.) but this dress really caught my eye. Dunnes are also selling high waisted shorts with the same print, I am tempted to pick them up next time i'm there. There current A/W collection is a little bit "blah" to me. Although its kind of nice to be able to walk through the store without seeing 10+ things that I want! I picked up the shoes in Primark a couple of weeks ago. I felt like I had struck gold when they were the last pair and just so happened to be my size and marked down on €5. After I got them home and removed the tags I realized they were "wide fit" and much too big on my feet! They aren't quite so bad with thick socks like pair i'm wearing today, though.

Today I decided to weigh myself and... I have gained over one stone (15lbs!) since around the time I went on holiday (mid June). I'm not too happy about that, but I knew I had gained weight and was avoiding the scales purposely/somewhat in denial. Tomorrow i'm going to start the 30 day shred once again. If anyone else wants to start and would like a "support buddy", feel free to tweet/email me. I found a download link on google for anyone who doesn't have it, however it only costs about €10 to buy the DVD!

xoxo

PS. Congrats to Binia who is the winner of the Petite Delights giveaway, you will receive an email shortly!

OOTD: Stripes of gold

♥ Dress: Awear *** Bracelet: Primark *** Shoes: Dunnes ♥

I wasn't going to post this outfit because I wasn't too fond of how the pictures came out but it has been too long since I posted an outfit on here! I haven't had a spraytan in a while and i'm currently using an instant shimmer tan which has made me a bright shade of orange it seems! I actually photoshopped the color of my skin in these pictures to try and make it look a little less neon. I don't think it looks quite so bad in person but it definitely doesn't photograph too well.
The dress i'm wearing is one from my last post. Its probably my least favourite of the three, mostly because of the bust area and how it makes me look almost-pregnant when I don't hold it out. That said, I do love it in its own way and the stripes and bow were too cute to pass up. Threw on my trusty old Dunnes flats with it which have definitely been worth the €10 euros or so that I paid for them last year. They go with so many of my outfits! The bracelet is a recent Primark purchase. I don't always like charm bracelets but (of course!) the pearls won me over.

My new laptop arrived last week and i'm still getting used to it. It has been such a pain to try and get all of my programs, fonts, etc. installed again but I am slowly getting there. Its weird (in a good way!) to have a laptop that doesn't resemble a large rectangular box, my old one was far too outdated.

Hope everyone is enjoying their week so far.

xoxo