Polka Dots and Vampire Teeth

If you can believe your eyes, I have an outfit post for you today! I'm on a roll at the minute; a slowly moving one, but a roll just the same! I actually have a few more outfits snapped and ready to show you over the next few weeks! I'm spacing them out to make them last, since I never know when I'll have the strength to take some more, or even get out of my PJs long enough to wear outfits worth snapping.

This is an outfit I threw together a few weeks ago while I was waiting on a delivery. I thought it was best I didn't scare the courier by opening the door in my PJs! 

It was about 9am when I took these photos, and I'd only had about two hours sleep, so I look rough as hell in them- and felt it, too. I just had to take advantage of the bright sunny morning, though, and got myself in the garden with my camera while I listened out for the door.

The chiffon asymmetric dress I'm wearing is an old one from Matalan, but it's one of my favourites. I always feel great in it, so I return to it time and time again, as I do with almost all of my favourite clothes. I'll never be one of those girls who won't wear anything twice. One: I can't afford to live like that, and two: even if I could I wouldn't; I get too attached to my favourite clothes, and enjoy wearing them regularly! Plus I live in the real world, where it's normal to wear clothes and accessories again and again, until they fall apart. There's no shame in it!

This outfit, apart from the bag, is actually made up entirely of old pieces. I didn't realise it at the time; I was just focused on selecting pieces to wear that I thought would work with this amazing novelty clutch bag. It's a simple look, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Excuse the nails; I was half way through painting them when I fell asleep!

The best part of the outfit is definitely the amazing vampire lips clutch bag, which I'm pleased to say is a current line. It's one of ASOS's novelty Halloween pieces, and it's without a doubt the best novelty bag I've ever seen (or owned)! The novelty bag trend has become so popular over the last few months, and there are so many great bags to choose from, but what could be better than a lip-shaped clutch with vampire teeth?? Nothing!

It was one of those bags that had me squealing at my laptop screen and there was no question about it, I had to have it. For £20, it's so well priced, and the quality is surprisingly good for an inexpensive high-street clutch. It's well made and sturdy, and the design is just fantastic! There's also a surprising amount of room in it for the essentials. I can't afford a Lulu Guinness clutch, so this ASOS novelty is the next best thing!

If you want to embrace a little Halloween spirit but don't fancy dressing up this year, the vampire lips clutch is the perfect accessory for adding a little fright-night fun to your outfit. It makes a statement on it's own without needing the cape and fangs to go with it! It' definitely grabs people's attention, and it's a great conversation starter, too!

Looking back on these photos, the only thing I think the outfit was missing was a belt or a statement necklace. I forgot to add one or the other at the time, but two hours sleep will do that to you! 

I'm also not quite sure why my hair looks so dark in these photos; it's still the same bright red it's always been since I began this blog! I think my camera's just shit! 

Outfit Details

Dress- Matalan // Cardigan- TU at Sainsburys // Tights- Evans // 

Shoes- New Look // Brooch- Cath Kidston // Bag- ASOS // Glasses- Roxy

How would you style the vampire lips clutch bag?

Thanks for reading!

Glasses USA Review

I would be lost without my glasses; that I know to be true. Without a pair of glasses to sharpen the world for me every day, I would probably be lying at the bottom of a stair well covered in bruises. You see, I am extremely short-sighted, and can't see anything clearly without prescription lenses. I can't make out words, or people's facial features, or even my own hand in front of my face. So, I rely on a pair of specs to help me see the world clearly, so I can function normally every day.

I've been a glasses wearer since I was just a baby of eighteen months, and growing up in the eighties and nineties, the glasses I wore were far from stylish. Back then, enormous round-framed metal and plastic glasses were the height of sophistication, and my lenses were about an inch thick! As you can imagine, they were particularly fetching spectacles... ahem.

A rare photo of me wearing my glasses; taken yesterday.  These glasses are by Roxy.

Fortunately, eye wear fashions have improved dramatically since the nineties, but in turn, shopping for glasses has become so expensive, as I'm sure the glasses wearers among you will agree. I can easily spend a couple of hundred pounds on just one pair of prescription glasses!

However, glasses shopping really doesn't have to be so expensive!

I recently heard about a company called GlassesUSA.com, and when the opportunity to review their website arose, I was more than happy to oblige.

GlassesUSA.com is a company who sell high quality eyeglasses online, at affordable discount prices. They sell classic and vintage frames, and also a large selection of designer glasses from many big name brands such as Armani, Calvin Klein, and Guess, with something to suit every taste and budget.

They stock a huge variety of designs, in all shapes and sizes you could ever dream of, and they cater to various vision needs. Besides presciption glasses, you can also find prescription sun glasses and reading glasses, and they also offer multi-focal lenses as well as single vision lenses. In short, they have all your glasses needs covered.

I've never bought glasses online before, mainly because I find it tricky to find frames which suit my face shape, so I prefer to try them on for size. Luckily, the clever people over at Glasses USA have that problem covered with their ingenious Virtual Mirror.

The Virtual Mirror is a fantastic feature which allows you to 'try on' any of the glasses on the website. It's very simple to use. All you need to do to get started is select your gender, and upload a photo. Once your photograph has been uploaded, you can adjust the scale, and then you're ready to try some glasses on!

The Virtual Mirror splits the huge selection of glasses available in to four main categories; plastic, metal, rimless, and semi-rimless. I personally favour plastic frames, so I explored this option, and tried on many different frames, which I found was so easy to do. It even enables you to compare your favourites, which would be helpful for narrowing down which frame(s) to purchase.

It's also possible to search and shop for glasses on their website without The Virtual Mirror, but still with the option of uploading your photograph to try the glasses on throughout each category. In all honesty, I preferred this option, as each product photo was replaced with my photograph modelling each pair of glasses in my search (example below), which I found was easier for finding glasses that suited me quickly.

I discovered that Glasses USA have an extensive selection of eyeglasses to choose from. There are hundreds, if not thousands of beautiful frames available in a wide range of colours, styles, and designs. I was actually surprised by how many frames there were to choose from! I found so many pairs I adored, which I rarely seem to manage in my usual opticians.

The pricing is also absolutely fantastic with frames (including lenses!) starting from about $38, which is roughly £24!

And if that wasn't good enough, they also offer world wide delivery, and the kind people at GlassesUSA have given me a couple of generous discount codes to share with you!

They're offering you 15% off (orders over $50) plus free shipping by entering code: FS15 at the checkout.

 And you can get 10% off any order of prescription glasses using code Blog10.

I can't think of a better time or excuse to buy glasses online!

I will certainly be saving up for a couple of pairs I have my eye on. I'm impressed with GlassesUSA, and I'm sure you will be, too!

What are you waiting for? Why not pop on over to GlassesUSA to see for yourselves.

*** This was a sponsored post which I was compensated to write. However, as always, all words, opinions, and observations are my own. ***

Oranges and Lemons

Morning guys,

I'm sorry that it's been a couple of weeks since my last outfit of the day post, but I have something resembling one for you today.

I've just returned home from a two week stay with my sister at her home in Portsmouth. I mostly spent the time resting from the sofa or from bed, engrossed with old episodes of The Hairy Bikers (I love them!), and The Vicar of Dibley, but I was able to get out a little here and there.

On Saturday, we popped in to Gunwharf Quays, which is Portsmouth's outlet village. What's lovely about shopping there, apart from the great shops, is that it's situated right on the harbour, so it makes a scenic, relaxing environment to shop in. It's just a couple of miles from my sister's home, or I should say was as my sister and brother in law are moving today; so it was a journey I could physically cope with. We popped in quickly to pick up a couple of gifts; but that morphed in to dawdling along the water front with an ice cream, and somehow resulted in taking a short boat trip around the harbour.

We had no interest in seeing the Navy vessels or various other boats and ships dotted around the small bit of coast line; we both just liked the idea of being out on the sea in the scorching sunshine. It was a gorgeous hot day. I decided to push my pain tolerance to the limit to go on it, although I hadn't considered the fact the boat would have stairs. Somehow I managed it, and I enjoyed being out on the water with the sun on my skin. I couldn't move for twelve hours when I got home, but it was worth the pain.

So, what did I wear?

I wore my sunshine yellow polka dot dress from AX Paris which you've seen a couple of times over the last year. It's one of my favourite dresses, and one I always have the urge to wear when the sun is shining. The colour is so uplifting! This was actually the first time I've worn it out in public, and probably the only time I've worn bright yellow in public without feeling self-conscious! I think that just shows how far I've come along the road to self-acceptance.

I usually wear this dress with white and turquoise pieces, but on this occasion I had the urge to try it with coral... and I really liked the result! The colour combination is so pretty. 

I'm sorry I haven't got any full-length outfit photos to share with you. I wasn't happy with any of them- a wind-swept Louise with no make up and a swollen irritated eye is not a pretty sight! I didn't think it was far to subject you to that!

The shrug came from Lovedrobe last summer, which I love for the scalloped edging. I have this shrug in black and off-white, too, and they're perfect summer cardigans. I wish they'd came in other colours, too.

The cropped leggings are ruched at the sides, and came from New Look about two years ago. They're great for wearing under summer frocks for that extra bit of comfort and reassurance, if, like me, you're not comfortable with completely exposing your legs.

I'm still unable to wear any footwear other than flip flops at the moment, so I was wearing my battered pink Havaianas. Hopefully I'll be back in pretty shoes by Autumn.

 The saddle bag was from Accessorize, which I'm afraid is another old piece;  it's without a doubt one of my best summer day bags. 

I bought the skunk cameo necklace from Life's Big Canvas earlier this year (and extended the chain with some ribbon), and the daisy studs are by River Island which I recently picked up for the purse-friendly sum of two pounds.

I love this little skunk!

Don't you think the daisies are just the friendliest flower?

Oh, and I had a couple of coats of Barry M's Gelly Paint in Mango on my nails to complete the fiery look.

Outfit Details

Dress-AX Paris // Leggings-New Look (size 16 on eBay here) // Shrug- Lovedrobe // 
Saddle Bag-Accessorize // Necklace-Life's Big Canvas // Earrings-River Island // 
Flip Flops-Havaianas // Glasses- Roxy // Nail Polish-Barry M Gelly in Mango

Who knew an industrial English harbour could look so pretty?

If you're ever along the south coast of England, and are looking for somewhere lovely to shop, grab a drink, or eat out, make sure you check out Gunwharf Quays. I personally recommend you do!

I'm boring but overcompensate with headlines and flash, flash, flash photography

Apart from a car ride home from my sister's on Tuesday morning, this past week has been spent hibernating in bed.

At first I was advised to rest to allow my toe to recover, but thankfully that's eased considerably over the last few days- although it still hurts to move it, or if anything so much as grazes against it, but it's not a bother. As per usual, my back has been the hand manipulating the strings. It didn't cope well with a two hour hospital appointment, and has been searing hot agony ever since. The worst it's been in a while. I've struggled to move, and even sit up in bed, so have spent most of the week fan-girling over Fall Out Boy horizontally in bed. I'm so excited that one of my all time favourite bands has reunited with new material! And yes, I know I'm twenty-seven!

Yesterday was much of the same, but I had to leave my bed on a quest to find Easter eggs for my sisters; which means I threw an outfit together, and stood up long enough to snap a few photos to bring you this outfit post today!

I bought this lovely red shirt dress from ASOS Curve last Summer, but until yesterday had only worn it once.  I've been itching to wear it this week, so I popped it over black leggings, and wore it with a black cardigan to pop to the shops.

 The dress has buttons from collar to hem, which are hidden by a panel down the centre for a neater look, which is a little different to other shirt dresses I've seen and owned. I like that. I personally love the shape of the dress, and how the skirt flares out from the waist to give a great A-line shape. The fabric isn't quite opaque, so it does show a little of my shape through the fabric, but not enough to cause offence... I hope! My favourite feature is the sweet Peter Pan collar, buy more on that below.

I accessorised with ribbon, a green brooch, lip earrings, and a pair of pink Havaianas. I would have preferred to wear this dress with tights, and a pretty pair of shoes, but I can't wear anything which touches my toe right now... which, with this Arctic weather we've been having lately, has been absolute torture. Having bare feet in freezing temperatures is painful, and not advised!

When I posed for these photos, it was trying to snow, and it was bitterly cold. So cold I managed no more than two minutes of shivering before I dashed back inside with my camera. Winter seems to have gone on unusually long this season. I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever have warmth and sunshine ever again...

And just to mix things up a bit, here's a rare shot of me wearing glasses! This may actually be a Polka Spots and Freckle Dots first! I hate people seeing me wearing glasses, even though I've been wearing them since I was a year old. I prefer to wear contact lenses but Specsavers won't give me any more until I've had a check up, which just isn't possible right now. So, glasses it is!

I tied a piece of burgundy ribbon in to a bow in the centre of the collar, which I was inspired to do after seeing somebody in a street style section of a magazine do so with a thin piece of black ribbon. I really love the way the ribbon instantly changed the look of the dress, and how pretty this little touch is. I know I will be trying this idea again under other collars with different coloured ribbons!

 I guess if I was really trying to impress you, I would have ironed the collar first, but hey, that's not me.

Outfit Details

Dress-ASOS Curve // Leggings-New Look Inspire // Cardigan-Matalan // Flip Flops-Havaianas (Fuchsia) // 

Brooch-Camden Lock Market // Ribbon-local haberdashers // Glasses-Roxy

What I Wore | Behind the Sea

As we've been having such a gorgeous little wave of sunshine and something resembling warmth these last few days, I've been pushing myself to take advantage of the weather and venture outside for short, gentle walks.

On Tuesday this involved a stroll around Portchester Castle again; a place close by to where my sister lives. Each step was a struggle, and progress was quite slow, but the pain was worth it to be outside on a beautiful day in such gorgeous surroundings.

 For me, there's not much better in life than being by the sea. I love the smell of the sea weed and salt water (if I could bottle that smell I would), and I just feel so at peace near water. I don't know why that is.

My sister dragged me out of bed and forced me to dress at lightening speed without showering to go for this walk, so this was the result. An outfit I ended up loving, except for the fact my hair was tied back in a pony tail revealing the ears I prefer to conceal because my hair needed washing.

You may remember seeing this dress on this blog a few months ago, when I wore it with bright teal tights in my garden at home. Well, this week I was itching to wear this dress once more, and this time built the outfit up with purples and blues.

The dress came from Dorothy Perkins, and is a lovely, lined chiffon dress with capped sleeves, and a beautiful bird cage print on a rich raspberry fabric. The colour is truly lovely. I wore it over dark purple tights (as I didn't have a black pair to hand), and a cropped navy cardigan to pull out the blue of the print. I wanted to wear a cropped cardigan as it was fairly warm outside in the sunshine, with only a little chill in the air. It must have only been about ten degrees, so I must have been mad, but I wasn't very cold! I wore it with my blue quilted ballet pumps, as they're one of the only pairs of shoes I can wear with my swollen toes right now, added a few beaded bracelets to my wrist, and borrowed my sister's purple quilted studded chain bag.

I felt quite good in this outfit, and I really wish I'd worn this dress more this A/W. Hopefully I'll get a little more wear from it before the colours of Spring return and make Winter colours look dark and out of place.

My Sister said I was vain for taking my glasses off for photos. I've never liked being snapped wearing my glasses, and I've had to wear them or lenses since I was a baby. Some things never change. This was my vain diva pose mid-blink. Attractive. LOL.

Here you can get a closer look at all the little details.

What I Wore

Dress- Dorothy Perkins // Cardigan- New Look // Tights- Evans // Ballet Pumps- New Look //

Bag- Accessorize // Black Beaded Bracelets- Dorothy Perkins // Pearl Bracelet- Matalan //

Glasses (in hand)- Roxy // Ladybird Earrings (not pictured)- Accessorize //

I really enjoyed being outside in the sunshine, but the walk took it out of me, so it was back to bed, with Grazia Magazine, Dirty Dancing, and some morphine for me afterwards.

Hopefully I'll attempt a couple more outings over the next few days for more outfit posts!

Thanks for reading,

May 31 Day Blogger's Challenge: Day 26- What's In My Bag?

Day 26: What's in my bag...

I did a post like this a little over a month ago, which you can find here Everything But The Kitchen Sink.

I've decided to interpret the challenge in to 'what would normally be found in my bag'. The last time I carried a big bag around with me was in September, and since then a few bits and bobs have found temporary homes around the room. I've gathered the typical contents together just for you.

♥ Bag: Jane Norman at Debenhams

♥ Duvet Set: Next

A sweltering hot sunny day like today inspired me to show you my lovely Jane Norman shoulder bag. Nothing says summer more than a bright shade of yellow. I've owned this bag for several years now; I can't even remember how long ago I bought it.

It has so many pockets to organise things in!

I spy...

Is it bad I've just counted four Cath Kidston things in this snap shot alone?

Everything thrown in to a heap...

So, you caught me- I'm a gadget geek!

 I've had the Kindle since Boxing Day and it's one of the best things I've ever bought myself. I looked down my nose at e-readers for years (how could a screen compare to paper?), but I couldn't be without it now. I've read so much since I bought it. The pretty floral case is from Cath Kidston- highly recommend both!

The red star Cath Kidston case is for my camera (which I used to take the photos). I like to carry my camera everywhere. Then we have my red and black Blackberry, and my ipod with apple earphones and an ipod sock. I'd be lost without both of them.

I got the Cath Kidston case for my Blackberry in Carphone Warehouse.

Do you remember those days before iPods when we had to carry around a stack of CDs and a Discman, or a pile of tapes and a Walkman, to get a musical fix on the go? It was back breaking being dedicated to music as I grew up. I think I'm starting to show my age now... but iPods are such an amazing invention.

I always like to carry a notebook and a pen on me. This pretty notebook has faded a little and was from a local shop.

I always carry a spare pair of glasses and a pair of sunglasses with me.

The glasses are Red or Dead; the sunglasses are Guess. The star case is Cath Kidston.

♥ Vaseline Cocoa Butter and Carmex lip balms. The Carmex ones are by far the best I've found.

♥ Contact lenses canister. It's usually on me in case the lenses irritate my eyes and I need to switch to glasses.

♥ Plasters... I'm prone to paper cuts and blisters.

♥ Body shop powder compact... useful for the mirror and for any touch ups.

As you can see, I use the palest shades as my skin tone is so pale. The freckles give me a little colour, but even they've lightened along with my skin since I've been off work and out of the sun. I must be one of the only girls who actually likes being pale.

This little hair brush may be compact but it's as good as a full sized brush! I always carry a spare hair bobble on me- I get a little wind swept sometimes.

Cath Kidston wallet... I showed you this a few days ago so I won't go in to detail again.

And on days like today, when there's not a cloud in the sky and the temperature is high, I try to keep some kind of refreshing spray on me to cool me down, and of course Sun Cream (not pictured). I usually use a Nivea factor 50+.  

I'm usually pretty sensible when it comes to protecting my skin on hot days.  I'm pale, I'm freckled, and I often burn with it on, even when regularly applied. I hate being sun burnt so I try to be careful. What ever I do I just seem to end up burnt with a million extra freckles.

So, this is my bag today. I often have make up on me- but which ones varies from day to day, and look to look. You may sometimes find perfume, a magazine, something to drink, a scarf, keys, or all of the above in there, too.

What's in your bag?

What's In My Bag? #1

Since I haven't been able to get up and out of my pyjamas this weekend, I thought I'd mix it up and give you something a little different.

No, I'm not going to share photos of a pasty-looking me feeling sorry for myself in my bed clothes- I don't want to scare you all away- trust me, it's not a pretty sight! Instead, I thought I'd share with you the contents of my bag.

Satchel, River Island

One thing I miss about being up on my feet in the real world, is carrying a beautiful bag full of the things I just can't live without every day. I even miss those conversations that arise after clocking a friend or colleague's beautiful new hand-bag.

I'm the kind of person who only packs light during shopping trips and outings. The rest of the time, my shoulders would take the strain of all the necessities I just couldn't live without. I knew that if the world around me was coming to an end, I would be equipped with my magic bag of essentials, that would bring comfort if nothing else. Sure, all those gadgets in their pretty cases would soon become useless, but at least I'd be able to keep my hair and make-up in line!

I am, of course, kidding. But I'm sure you know what I mean. I like to carry everything but the kitchen sink... just in case.

I'll warn you now, this is a long, photo-heavy post. Enjoy!

I bought this beautiful satchel from River Island in December. (I also have similar ones in green and brown, neither of which I've been able to use yet). My current situation has only allowed me to carry it out of the house once. I love the mixture of colours and textures.

 A couple of sneak peeks in to the organised chaos.

As you can see, I love pretty prints on my cases.

More organised chaos. These are the current contents of the bag emptied in a heap on my bed. Please excuse the bright pink, wrinkled sheets.

I love my gadgets!

Here we have my red and black Blackberry, which has a Cath Kidston floral case on the back. The case was so frivolous and expensive, but I love it.

My 32gb itouch gets used for everything from playing an eclectic mix of music, reading emails, taking photos, social networking, and games. I'm currently obsessed with Draw Something, Temple Run, and Words With Friends.

I bought the Kindle on Boxing Day. As a fan of books, and the smell of old pages, I looked down my nose on them for ages. Then my sister got one for Christmas, and I changed my mind! It's so light and easy to use, and the font makes my mind think I'm pouring over a paperback. If I'm cold, I only need to stick one arm out of the duvet to read, and when I've finished I don't even have to leave my house to go browsing for a new one. I can buy and download a book in under a minute! I've read more since I got it than in the last few years put together. I'm currently aiming to work my way through Stephen King's entire collection. The best one I've read so far is The Stand- one of the best books in existence- read it! I've just put IT aside to read The Hunger Games trilogy. I'm a quarter of the way through the first one and am already loving it!

The Kindle case is from Cath Kidston. I originally wanted the shooting stars pattern, but it sold out everywhere in the couple of days I waited to buy it. The case is great as the zip is covered on the inside so it doesn't scratch the gadget.

This is my lovely Purple Canon Powershot SX210IS camera with, you've guessed it, a Cath Kidston gadget case. It's fantastic for a point and shoot camera. It has many of the features you'd find on a more professional camera, with 14.1 mega pixels and has a 14x optical zoom. I've already used it at a ton of concerts, and it takes amazingly clear photos and HD videos. It served me well in New York, last summer, too. One of my favourite features is a video setting that allows you to shoot in black and white, but allows a particular colour in the shot to remain. You could choose red to focus on a fabulous red dress, or perhaps blue to make somebody's beautiful blue eyes dazzle in a world of grey.

What bag would be complete without sunglasses and glasses? I've really poor eye-sight, so only wear the shades when I've got my contacts in. I always keep a spare pair of glasses on me in case the contacts irritate my eyes, or, God forbid, I lose one. I usually have a lenses canister as well, but that's currently on my dressing-table.

From the top:

Red Guess Sunglasses (my favourites).

Roxy Glasses. They look black, but are in fact tortoiseshell.

Boots Sunglasses. I got them in Boots, but can't remember if they're a brand or not.

I also have another pair of glasses. These are by Red or Dead, which I got in Specsavers. They're black with leopard print arms. I need to get them adjusted as they keep slipping off my face, so I can't wear them. I really love the monochrome design of the case they came in, but I also use the Cath Kidston case in my bag, too.

This is my gorgeous Fossil make-up case, which I bought in their Times Square branch in New York last summer. I'm obsessed with old ornate keys, so snapped this up without a second thought.

I love the cute teal lining, and the mirror comes in handy, too.

Full of a selection of useful make up. The contents change all the time in terms of eye-shadows and liners, but the basics usually remain the same.

A few essentials... not all from the case...

♥ Vaseline Cocoa Butter Lip Therapy.

♥ Benefit Foundation Some Kind Of Gorgeous Lite.

♥ The Body Shop Pressed Face Powder 01 (Translucent, I think).

♥ Bourjois Paris Khol & Contour Eyeliner in Ultra Black.

♥ Rimmel Exaggerate Eye liner Intense 100% Black 001.

♥ Carmex Lip Balm.

♥ Maybelline Dream Touch Blush (Peach shade).

♥ Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express Waterproof Black Mascara.

♥ Benefit They're Real! Mascara (Black).

♥ Benefit Foxy Lady Lip gloss.

♥ L'oreal Colour Riche Serum Beamy Plum Lipstick.

♥ Travel-size hair brush- (which works as well as a regular one!)- and a spare hair bobble.

♥ B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful Bon Bon Highlighter.

♥ Inglot Eye shadows.

♥ Plasters, for nasty paper cuts and blistered feet.

And, finally, the contents of my Cath Kidston Purse. No money. Boo hoo.

I keep things simple. I have one bank card. I don't have a credit card. I have a Dorothy Perkins store-card (bad, bad move!), Boots Advantage Card, National Insurance Card, Blockbuster Video Card, a Cash Passport Card left over from my holiday to New York (you load it up with money before you go, and then use it like your regular debit/credit card), a card for my Laptop Insurance, stamps, my staff card for when I shop at work and a Donor Card.

I forgot to take a clear photo of the purse, but you can see it in one of the photos near the beginning.

I also usually have a notebook and pen to hand for scribbling things down, my keys (I scoop them up from the front door when I leave the house), headphones for my ipod (can't remember where I left them), and usually a drink, magazine, and painkillers, too. In winter you may find a pair of gloves and a scarf in my bag, too.

Sorry for the photo-heavy post. Hope you've enjoyed taking a peek!

What things can't you leave home without? What must you carry on you?