Reasons to be Cheerful

For more information on what Reasons to Be Cheerful (#R2BC) is all about please check out this post from Michelle at Mummy from the Heart for a full description.

My reasons to be cheerful this week include:

• I posted a rant about how Daddy reacted to first time childcare after last Thursday's visit to the potential child minder, and I received some lovely messages of support.
• Lots of help and support was received from the lovely ladies at Give Mums A Break.
• I decided to use the child minder, she is lovely, Kiki seemed happy with her too :) 
• Although I had a really bad panic attack before I went, I had a great weekend at Plus North, a fashion event for all this plus size, with my closest friend.
  
  
• We met some amazing people at Plus North and the After Party, especially the Topsy Curvy girls! 
  
• Simply Be were kind enough to send me an outfit to review whilst there too. The dress was gorgeous.
  
  
• I actually enjoyed shopping whilst there! Bought three pairs of shoes for £5 a pair, bargain! 
  
  
  
  
  I also bought a skirt from Topsy Curvy.
• My friend also bought me a baby Pink Diamanté Skull Scarf from there too  
  
  
• Whilst in Manchester, I accidentally fell in to Swarovski and spent some pennies... I bought this N The Skull Pendant and Slake Fuchsia Ruby Bracelet, which is actually long enough to wear as a choker too. Now if I can only find someone to buy me the Happy Duck - Punk Duck  and N the Skull Docking Station....
• We went to Afternoon Tea at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Manchester – Piccadilly too, although wasn't worth it, met some lovely ladies there too.
• I actually went to a Parent & Baby group today, first one since my post natal groups, nearly 12 months ago.

 How was your week? Tell me....

Wobbles Wednesday

I'm dreading my Slimming World weigh in tonight, according to my scales, I have put 4lbs on. Oops!

However, I did have a great girlie weekend though. I have been good apart from the weekend, so hopefully my scales are wrong....

I will update and let you know when I've been judged, oops, I mean weighed :)

Uh Oh! I've put on 1.5lbs!

Simply Be Fashion Review

After I won tickets to Plus North Fashion Event, I obviously needed something to wear, and Simply Be stepped up and offered me an outfit from their collection. 

Simply Be offer a range of on trend plus size ladies clothing, including some amazing designers and brands.

I was offered an outfit to review, which meant I had to look on the website and narrow down the choices. There were plenty of things I could have chosen! 

As I was looking quite a few of the items went out of stock in my size, I imagine that the Plus North event meant a rush on sales. I emailed them and gave a list of a few things I liked.

These were:

Anna Scholz Tie Belt Jacket £25.50

AX Paris Navy Floral Skater Dress £32.00

Butterfly Print Tea Dress £35.00 

Lovedrobe Stud Trim Maxi Dress £45.00 

Within 2 days I had received the AX Paris Navy Skater Dress and the Anna Scholz Tie belt jacket. 

• Luxurious stretch fabric. Anna Scholz has done it again! Coloured jackets are so on-trend right now, straight from the catwalk to you! Sophisticated boyfriend style jacket in fab textured stretch crepe. So soft and drapey, this jacket can be worn open or belted with the self-fabric belt and looks great with the sleeves pushed up for that 'Glam girl around town' look! We all want one! Get it before it's gone! With pockets and self-tie belt. Unlined.
• Length from 27in/69cm.

• This navy floral dress looks gorgeous dressed up or down. Has flattering pleats to the front and back to ensure your curves look fabulous. The multi-floral print means that you can team with different coloured accessories. Complete the look by adding pink lippy and a cute clutch. Has zip back fastening.
• Hand wash.
• Cotton.

I tried them on straight away. The colour of the jacket is gorgeous, it's also beautifully soft.

The dress fit me perfectly. I love skater dresses anyway. I'm not a busty girls (I'm between a B/ C cup) and with a shaped bra, there wasn't much room, so for larger boobed ladies, it may be a bit tight. 

Same with the waist, so may be worth going up a size.

I wore the dress all day on Saturday and it really is comfortable, no nipping, or digging in, although a bit blowy with the wind. Had a few Marilyn moments! LOL

The jacket is quite long, and roomy on the boobs. I also lost a button within hours of wearing it, but again very comfortable. I wore it with a white T and jeans on Sunday. I ended up tying the belt behind the jackets, I felt it was too bulky with it fastened.

Dress: AX Paris Navy Skater Dress from Simply Be

Jacket: Anna Scholz Tie belt jacket from Simply Be

Purple Patent Dr Marten Clemency boots

I adore the dress, so much so that I'm going to buy the coral in it.

Thank you to Simply Be for the outfit.

Find Simply Be:
@ Pinterest
@ Twitter
@ Simply Be Blog

Plus North Fashion Event - After Party

Following on from Plus North Fashion Event, Scarlett & Jo sponsored an After Party at the Renaissance Hotel. They had arranged a Disco, Karaoke, hot food, and an exclusive catwalk show. After the great day, we were really looking forward to the night.

As we were staying in the hotel, we went and got changed in our room, before coming down to the event.

When we got to the Suite where it was being held, there was a queue at the bar. We waited about half an hour to get served, then the Navigator in charge told us he was closing down the shutters and we need to go to the other side and get served. People were getting the lift down to the lobby and getting drinks in the bar there, and were still back before we got served! There were a few incidents of overcharging that I was aware of too.

The food run out quickly as we queued, and we had to wait about an hour for more.

Myself and my friend had a great time and met some lovely people, the girls at Topsy Curvy were mental and good laugh!

Again, every one looked beautiful in their outfits. 

It was a really good night, but I think the hotel really let them down.

Collection of photos from the night: 

Not the most flattering photo of me! 

Scarlett & Jo prom dress

And yes, I am wearing a wig! I fancied a change :-)

  

My amazing best friend

 

The Topsy Curvy girls

 

  This lady's shoes were amazing!

If anyone wants the photo's of themselves, email me and I'll send them.

Plus North Fashion Event

On Saturday 7th September I went to Plus North, a plus size fashion event. It was advertised as a fun filled, fashion fuelled, celebration of all things Plus!

And it delivered!

Plus North was held at the Renaissance Hotel in Manchester this year. I won tickets to the event with Scarlett & Jo.

There were five separate catwalks shows, featuring Simply Be, Yours Clothing, Excite Clothing, Curvissa, and Evans. All the models are plus size and volunteers, and they all looked amazing. 

The main Plus North area was separated in to 2 zones, a clothing zone and a lifestyle zone.
The clothing zone consisted of:

• Simply Be
• SLiNK
• Scarlett & Jo
• Evans
• Lovedrobe
• Curvissa
• Bon Prix
• Yours Clothing
• Panache
• Topsy Curvy 
• Exite Clothing.

The Lifestyle stalls were:

• BGP / Plus Size Awards / Pose Plus Models
• Miss Difusa
• Life's Big Canvas
• Twisted Siren
• No 7
• The Mighty Boof! Photo booth

There were lots of bargains and discounts to be had!
I ended up buying three pairs of shoes! They were only £5 each. Bargain!

I also bought this lovely skirt from Topsy Curvy, no pics yet.
I bought a geeky necklace from Life's Big Canvas, and a really cute camera stamp.

I won a free clutch bag too, I think from Curvissa.

My super friend bought me a baby pink skull scarf from Topsy Curvy too.
She also bought herself a gorgeous purple skater dress, which she wore for the After Party..

It was a great event, I was impressed with all of it. Everybody was lovely and friendly.
Can't wait for Plus London now!

I'll leave you with the photo's of me and my friend from The Might Boof! photo booth...

Please give me a shout if I missed anyone of list or have added the wrong links!