And the WINNER is…

A massive thank you to everyone who took the time to enter the sweetie giveaway.

I was amazed at the response... didn't anyone ever tell you not to take sweets from strangers? Tee hee. Well the winner has been drawn, rather technically...


Out of a hat, by an independent adjudicator (aka my daughter Daisy).

AND THE WINNER IS...


Congratulations to Emily, who won the great big sweetie giveaway!

Please email me your address asap Emily so I can post out your prize!

Thank you again for all the entries, I shall have more giveaways coming soon, so check back now and again.

In the meantime, I shall be laying low for a while, off on my holiday in a few days, so I haven't gone away for long, just for a bit! I have done some huge sale shopping so look forward to sharing those bits with you when I return.

Ta ta for now x

From the mailbag...

I love receiving mail, and where I can I will try to help, here is a recent plea for help...

Dear Ms Shopaholic,

I read with interest, your post below about how you cunningly customised a hat. I just wanted to ask, how on earth did you do this?

From hatloverbutnotacustomiser


Dear hatloverbutnotacustomiser,

I know, I am pretty a-maz-ing, but it really is easier than it looks.

I love DIY blogs about how to make your own clothes or customise them, but truth is, I can't sew. I can't even thread a needle, so I'm all for the really major simple ones.

I recently read a post that explained how to make a ra ra skirt from scratch, whilst doing a handstand AND making your husband Spinach and Lamb Risotto (that sounds gross).

So, here goes, how to customise a hat:

Take 1 hat… and a scarf...


Tie the scarf around the base of the hat:


And ta da… done. (I know, unreal).

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

I do hope this has helped you ms hat person... you no longer need to make do, customise at your will. x

Love Ms Shopaholic

Ok, I'll admit, this is a rubbish customise, has anyone got any tips for a real simple customise that doesn't involve a sewing machine or any brain cells?

ps. don't forget! the great sweetie giveaway ends at 9pm GMT Monday so get your entries in! I'm excited.

Airport chic… you decide…

Today I am getting a little over excited, so much so, I nearly peed my pants.

You see very soon, I will be jetting off on my holidays! yipeeeeee, sun, sea and sand in um... windy Lanzarote.

My mind is starting to wander to the packing. Eugh. I hate packing. I can't pack too early as I tend to get a bit OCD'ish about it and I'll unpack and pack so many times just to check I really did include enough pairs of knickers, even though I know full well I have.

Anyhow, I need your help pretty please, cos you are all so brilliant and know stuff, what should I wear to the airport? Option A or option B (click to enlarge the image). I will wear the most voted for outfit. (I'll even take a picture of me in it, running on the luggage belt - actually no I won't, it is soooooo annoying when that breaks down, I think I'd be booed when I board the plane and boy do I hate being booed boarding planes).

Both options would have a denim jacket accompaniment. Well, it will be like 2° in the UK when we leave and 38° in Lanzarote when we land.

*Or feel free to show me an Option C, and I'll see if I can match it from my wardrobe.

Just Hangin'...

Today I bought a new hat from New Look. A straw trilby.

It will soon be full on festival time here in the UK. And my MUST HAVE for any festival… is a hat. I usually take a couple, because after just 1 day of camping, believe me, I need a hat to cover my bad hair.

This one came with a cute white and blue ribbon around it, but I have cunningly customised it which I guess I can do with any outfit, just by tieing it with a complimentary scarf. Sorted.

Hats are are not only brilliant for bad hair days, but they are also good for bad face days. I went for dinner in Sainsburys Cafe the other evening (I know, classy), then strutted around Sainsburys doing a small grocery shop complete with a 'tomato ketchup moustache*'.

Not one single person mentioned it (including my own two children), and I must have spoken to several people and smiled politely at several more. I'd like to think I'd have mentioned it, even if just discreetly.

Motto for the day: "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle..."

Would you tell a stranger if they had a tomato kepchup moustache?

Total spent today: £7

*Tomato Ketchup Moustaches are not a fashion accessory. Please do not get them confused with comedy fake moustaches which are occasionally very funny indeed.

What a 'Sweet' giveaway...

Today it is time for my first giveaway!

I have a very sweet tooth, and I particularly like sweeties. The sort I used to buy when I was knee high to a grasshopper – retro sweets. It has cost me a fortune in dentistry, but I think it's well worth it!

So for my very first giveaway, I'm giving you all the chance to win this Sweet Experience! And a few visits to the dentist to look forward to. With the Summer Holidays in full swing, maybe you'd like to give them to your kidrens, or keep them all for yourself, piggy pants!

Here go the rules:
1. For one entry, please comment on this post.
2. For a second entry, please become a member.
3. For a third entry, post a link on your blog and let me know about it in the comments.
4. For a fourth entry, …there is no fourth entry, three will do greedypants!
5. Anonymous entries cannot be accepted. Sorry 'bout that, but the nature of anonymity means that I won't know who on earth you are.
5. I will post overseas but exact contents of the sweet basket may change slightly due to weight restrictions.
6. The winner will be picked randomly (out of a hat literally) on Monday 27th July at 9pm UK time and announced on Monday 27th July. Posting of prize will happen approx one week after that date.
7. If you are super lucky and blimmin' well win, I will need you to email me within 7 days of winning with your postal address, otherwise, the next picked runner up will win the goodies. If it all goes horribly wrong, I shall just eat them. Nuff said.

English Eccentric…

Today I bought a polka dot jacket from H&M in their mega SALE.

I felt a little bit eccentric* today. Happy eccentric. So I put on a polka dot jacket and more polka dot in my scarf, a tiny bit mental, but happy mental. Nothing particularly matched today but sometimes I like days like that.

I still feel slightly unwell, but am getting on with it. Everyone in the world seems to think I have Swine Flu. I know I don't as I'm certainly not bedridden, but my nose did go a peculiar colour this evening for no apparent reason (is that a symptom?).

I hate taking my picture, I cannot relax. I wish I were a child again, they are always so totally relaxed in front of a camera. Here is my 2 year old Joseph. He wanted 'his turn'. Cute.


Total spent today: £10 (jacket from H&M)

*The eccentric's habits are incomprehensible not because they are illogical or the result of madness, but because they stem from a mind so original that it cannot be conformed to societal norms. Or they are simply just eccentric.

The morning after the night before...

Today I bought a grey tshirt with a print of a zebra wearing a $ sign necklace. Chavtastic chic from H&M.

I've been wearing leggings again recently, especially on lazy, chillin days like today.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with leggings. I wore them to death whilst pregnant, so much so that I set light to them in a burning ritual shortly after giving birth. I remember thinking 'thank god, no more leggings' – but then low and behold they are everywhere again, and I've found a new type of love for them.

Today, I could really only manage leggings and a tshirt. It is after all, the morning after the night before. Last night I went to Newmarket Races with 3 girly friends, we did a bit of betting on the horses and then watched The Pussycat Dolls, intermingled with several drinks and pretending that we were The Pussycat Dolls (one can dream!) and several more drinks.

The Pussycat Dolls* were great, The lead singer Nicole (I can call her that now, I've seen her in real life, we're as good as best buddies now) is pretty amazing... she looks fabulous and can sing and strut her stuff like no one else I know.

I'd gone dressed in posh party frock and high heels. Totally unsuitable. It rained non-stop and was all outdoors on grass. My heels were sunk so far into the ground, I gave up moving around and stayed in one position like a weeble. At least there was no chance of falling over, I was fixed to the ground. I did sneak in my flats to change into when it was time for some dancing later.

This morning, I had a headache.

Total spent today: £5

*The Pussycat Dolls started life as a Burlesque troupe. Nicole loves Formula 1 British boy Lewis Hamilton. Nicole and Lewis sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. They are boyfriend/girlfriend.

Purple and red combo…

Today I bought this purple dress. I now own the same dress in 3 diferent colours, yellow, purple and pink.

I originally bought the yellow version at full price (£18 - my eggcellent dress) at the start of summer. I have warn it so much, you know when you just get a dress that fits well and feels comfortable, well this is that dress for me. So when it appeared in the New Look sale for £8, I picked up another two.

I've seen a lot of bloggers trying out the purple and red combo recently. I can't say I've really tried it before but thought this dress was worthy to give it a go. I think I like.

Have you ever bought the same item in multiple colours? Did you get bored of the style quickly?

Total spent today: £8

Mods and Rockers

Today I designed and printed my daughters 13th birthday invites… in 1 hour.

We have decided to theme the party 'mods and rockers', really just so we can feed our desire to dress up funny.

As well as the standard disco, we also have an up and coming band playing 'Thee Vicars', they look quite modish but sound more punk/rockish, they have been touring Europe recently, and also appeared at Radio One's Big Weekend. (Daisy's dad is the manager). 

Daisy is inviting over 100 party goers! Wowza, I shall be in the nearby bar me thinks :-)

So, what I need to ask is, what would you go as? A Mod or a Rocker? Which is cooler?

Total spent today: Nil points (a lovely, kind, local printer printed these for nothing)

And I would just like to thank…

Today I'm ill. So didn't shop. Not even online. But… I did receive my very first awardio!!! And that made me feel a little bit betterer.

Once I'd stopped jumping around a bit, (hey, it's my first award, give me a break) I set about picking up my 'MeMe Award' from the lady who makes me laugh out loud, That Girl at Forty Not Out. I heart her massively.

The small print of the award does state that I now have to list 7 things that you may not know about me, and then pass on the award willy nilly to 7 other banging blogger peeps. So here goes:

1. I have a scar right in the middle of my forehead. Not a pretty little 'only visible when you lift your fringe type' but a huge ugly one, (about an inch long now, used to be my whole forehead width), smack bang in the middle. The only good thing about my scar is that it doesn't photograph well, in fact you probably haven't even noticed it in my pics so far, if you met me in real life you wouldn't miss it. There are several urban myths floating around town as to how I did my scar, mainly made up by my big bro.

2. I have a stalker-like obsession with coffee shops. I go on special trips to coffee shops. Mainly to drink coffee in secret. I am currently on a ban from caffeined coffee at home, because it makes me talk really really really quickly I don't even come up for air not even just a little bit I just keep going and going and going making up impossibly long sentences that rarely make any sense and people look at me wide eyed like I'm about to burst like that girl off of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And… breathe. (What? I've been to a coffee shop alright?).

3. I used to wish my name was Donna. When I was little I used to play on my own in the garden having imaginary conversations with myself in which I would call myself Donna, loudly, so my neighbours could here and believe my name was Donna, not Gemma (which it is). It was a rubbish game, because my neighbours both sides were aged 70+ and probably couldn't hear any way, and secondly couldn't care less if my name were Donna, Gemma or VeraVanDuckworth.

4. I luuuurve music festivals. Even though I'm getting a bit old for the old camping and wellies malarkie, I still love music festivals. Last year, I saw Amy Winehouse, Kings of Leon, Muse, The Verve, Stereophonics, Girls Aloud, The Prodigy, Kaiser Chiefs and loads more, all in one weekend. We are off again in August and headlining this year are Oasis and The Killers.

5. I have a major crush on Robert De Niro. Don't know why, he is one of those 'odd' crushes, and a bit of a golden oldie, but we've all got one of those surely? And it's better than Axl Rose off of Guns n Roses, he was my old weirdy crush but I've gone off him now.

6. A few years ago I had my five minutes of fame. I was a football mascot for a local team that had done really well in some national cup thingy. I was in lots of local papers and even did a 'live' radio interview. I was useless, they asked me questions about football which was pointless. I know it was a big game but surely they could have asked me about shoes or shopping?

7. I can never think of 7 things to write about myself. It's always been the same ever since I was little, 6 I can do, easy peasy lemon squeezy, but try a 7th, nope, never gonna happen.

And so, to pass this award on to 7 other bloggerer's:

1. Kari at 'in Kari's Wardrobe'
2. Sharon at Sharon Rose-Style, Thrifting, Fashion and Me
3. Struggler at Struggling to be Stylish
4. Daisy at Daisy Chain Dreams
5. Janetteria
6. The Sydney Girl
7. Winnie at Diamond Canopy

Total spent today: zilchio. not a penny. ill, remember?