Wednesday Wish List

This week I've been coveting just about everything from Little Moose, so this week's wish list is dedicated entirely to some of my Little Moose favourites. 

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The entire 'Mountain and Cable Car' collection is so wonderfully cute and quirky. I particularly love the pieces with the little cable cars strung between the mountain tops. (#1 and #10).

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I bloody love the entire collection of alpaca and cacti jewellery, especially the lilac alpacas! They're too adorable for words. I need them because of reasons.

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Out of all of Little Moose's accessories, my favourites have to be the 'Jurassica' designs. I adore every last one of those little green dinosaurs. The apatosaurus pieces are my favourites, but the stegosaurus' are pretty damn awesome, too. I'd love to get my hands on the brooches and a necklace or two. 

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How cute are these bow tie necklaces?! I need the sugar glider and bat in my life.

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Little Moose also have their own range of bags and purses, and I'm more than a little smitten with these colourful triangular designs, from a collection called 'Don't Be Square'.They're so fun and eye-catching, and would definitely add some personality to any Summer outfit.

If you'd like to see more of the Little Moose jewellery, bags, and purses I'm coveting, you can find dozens more pinned to my jewellery and bags and purses boards on Pinterest. (I had to stop myself from featuring them all in this week's post as we would've been here all day!) 

Are you coveting anything from Little Moose right now?

50 Things To Do This Summer

The weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer, and there's the delicious scent of barbecue smoke in the air. It can only mean one thing- Summer is finally here! 

We never know how long the sunshine and scorching hot days will last in the UK- it could be three weeks, it could be three hours- so we Brits tend to make the most of every slither of sunshine while we can. 

I love to fill my free time with as much Summer fun as possible between June and September, to make each Summer the best one yet. Trips to the beach, days out to London, barbecues with the family, lazing in the sunshine with a good book... there are so many great ways to fill the long Summer days without having to jet off on expensive holidays or even spend any money. If you're stuck for ideas for how to spend your free time this Summer, never fear. I've compiled a list of my 50 things to do this Summer to give you a little inspiration and I'm here to share it with you today! Let's get started...

1, Spend a day at the beach.

2. Go body-boarding or surfing in the sea.

3. Build a sand castle- complete with moats and flags, of course.

4. Go on a picnic. Pack lots of delicious food, head for somewhere scenic, and enjoy lazing in the sunshine with your family or friends.

5. Have a big family barbecue.

6. Take a walk along a river. Go for a dip in it if you're brave enough, and it's safe to do so.

7. Go for a walk in the countryside.

8. Take photos in a meadow of flowers.

9. Go to a festival or outdoor concert.

10. Visit an aquarium.

11, Take a tour bus around a big city.

12. Spend an entire day reading. Out in the sunshine or indoors in a comfy seat; it's your call; just get lost in a good book and don't come up for air until fourteen hours later, when you realise it's dark and you've not eaten all day. Repeat as many times as you can.

13. Visit a theme park.

14. Go strawberry picking.

15. Spend a night stargazing, and watch for shooting stars. If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, watch out for the Perseids meteor shower, which occurs every year between July 17th to August 24th, usually peaking around August 9th-13th. (Yes, I had to Google the dates!) I  usually manage to spot at least a dozen in an hour or so, around 11pm-12am, from my back garden in Oxfordshire, and seeing one streak across the night sky is always magical.

16. Visit a museum or two. (I recommend The Ashmolean and Pitt Rivers Museums in Oxford, and The Natural History and Imperial War Museums in London).

17. Watch a movie at a park on a hot Summer evening.

18. Go swimming, ideally at an outdoor pool or water park.

19. Eat fish and chips at the seaside.

20. Try every flavour of ice cream from an ice cream parlour, vendor, or brand before the Summer is through. Or for something a little more adult, work your way through every cocktail or cider on a bar menu before your holiday is over.

21, Go to the zoo. (Whipsnade Wild Animal Park and The Cotswold Wildlife Park are my favourites to visit in England).

22. Take a road trip. `

23. Visit somewhere new.  You don't have to pack your bags and head off on holiday somewhere far away; you could take a day trip, or even explore unfamiliar places in your home town.

24. Make a daisy-chain.

25. Go to an art gallery.

26. Go see a play or musical at the theatre.

27. Go on a bike ride.

28. Go horse-riding.

29. Spend a few hours relaxing and enjoying the sunshine in a city park.

30. Get an ice cream from an ice cream van. I'll take a 99 with chocolate sauce and hazelnuts, please!

31. Take a boat trip. There are all kinds of excursions for spotting sea creatures, seeing beautiful scenery and getting up close to iconic landmarks,  all around the world. Of course, you could just enjoy being on the open sea, go on a cruise, or take a ferry instead of travelling by air.

32. Take a walking tour around a city, or explore one on foot yourself.

33. Have a water pistol or water balloon fight. Who says kids should have all the fun?!

34. Watch the sunset or sunrise somewhere pretty.

35. Go to a fun fair.

36. Eat some candy floss.

37. Go camping. (Or glamping if roughing it for a few days really isn't your thing).

38. Explore rock pools and / or caves at the beach.

39. Play crazy / mini golf.

40. Take a random drive in the countryside on a sunny day, with the windows down and your favourite Summer tunes blasting from the speakers.

41. Have a paddle in the sea.

42. Watch multiple films at the cinema in one day.

43. Make some killer Summer playlists to soundtrack your Summer fun.

44. Run through a water feature.

45. Spend a couple of hours having fun at an amusements arcade.

46. Visit a farmer's market and buy lots of delicious fresh food, which you could then take on a picnic.

47. Treat yourself to a pedicure or two to keep your feet looking pretty for sandal season.

48. Toast marshmallows or s'mores over an open fire.

49. Sunbathe in the garden.

50. Create a scrapbook full of snippets, photos, and mementos from all of the fun times you've had over the Summer.

What are your favourite things to do during the Summer? Are there things I've missed off the list that you think should be on it? Let me know in the comments below!

Wednesday Wish List

These are some of the pieces on my wish list this week...

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Lady Vintage's latest collection of Isabella sweetheart dresses is to die for. All of the prints are gorgeous. I'm particularly smitten with #1, #2, and #8.

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Lindy Bop is still killing it with their new Bailee yellow Venice swing dress and skirt, and Crystal red swing dress. Aren't they beautiful?

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I'm loving ASOS Curve's current selection of sleepwear. How cute are these pineapple, shark, and pretzel print PJs?! 

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Kate Spade have the cutest collection of summer footwear right now. Just look at all of these wonderful casual beauties. I particularly love the starfish and seahorse print trainers.

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And these sea horse print cosmetic cases and wristlet from Kate Spade are adorable.

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These colourful Manon Baptiste dresses may be simple in design, but they're all stunning, and those bold pops of colour sure make a statement.

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I'm in love with these two dresses from Dorothy Perkins' Curve collection. I need the gingham fit and flare dress in my life.

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And finally, these two novelty clutch bags from Modcloth are amazing, and would fit in perfectly with my novelty bag collection.

If you'd like to see more of the pieces that catch my eye each week, check out my style wish list boards on Pinterest. I pin to them as and when I find pieces I love, and many never make it on to these wish lists.

What's on your wish list this week?

Photo Diary | June 2016

I'm sorry it's been so quiet around these parts lately. I'm sure you're bored of hearing me say that; I'm bored of saying it, but I am sorry for being such a shit blogger and neglecting my blog. 

It's not that I haven't wanted or tried to blog; I have a head full of ideas and I've been raring to go, but my health has had other ideas. 

With hospital visits and the puplet using up all my spoons, horrendous pain in my arms and hands getting worse and limiting the use of my hand-claws, my vision being blurry through my glasses (going for a long-overdue eye test next week), and being placed on a new painkiller that's been giving me abdominal pains, writing, taking, and editing photos haven't been easy. Add in the usual aches and pains, and combine it all together, and that's why Polka Spots has been neglected over the last few months. My health has had to come first. It's really frustrating, but what can you do? Hopefully one of these days I'll get back on track, and make up for lost time.

I have been doing my best to snap photos of the little things to share on Instagram, though (that is, when the app on my phone has been working, which isn't often), so I thought it was about time I shared a new photo diary with you guys. I've been working on making my Instagram a colourful place, as I'm a colour-junkie, and I love to inject more colour in to the world. I don't know why, but colour just makes me so damn happy. I can't get enough of it. I've posted lots of colourful photos over the last few months, and I hope you like the following snap shots as much as I do.

1. Alice in Wonderland Dormouse Tsum Tsum. // 2. Hobbycraft Haul. // 3. Sunday entertainment. 4. Le sister's birthday presents. // 5. Wrapping presents in pretty tissue paper. // 6. Birthday presents for my sister.

1. Alice in Wonderland Tsum Tsums (series one). // 2. Writing in Cath Kidston notebooks. // 3. My awesome Accessorize telephone box bag. // 4. My new bicycle print Lindy Bop Bretta tea dress. // 5. Making progress on my colourful cross stitch. // 6. Perfect lip and lipstick print, heart-pocketed Lindy Bop Brittany dress.

1. The biggest ice cream ever. // 2. Chocolate bunny shortly before decapitation. // 3. Rosie eating daisies. // 4. Coffee and OPI nail polish wins. // 5. Cheerful tulips. // 6. Easter chocolate from the bestie.

1. Billie and Blossom polka dot tea dress. // 2. Post-hospital double cheeseburger. // 3. Pretty Cath Kidston diary. // 4. Bluebell woods. // 5. Cath Kidson purse. // 6. Making a daisy chain.

1. Working on my cross stitch sampler. // 2. Pretty drive home from the hospital. // 3. My brooch collection. // 4. I made a daisy chain! // 5. Happy soaps. // 6. Pink blossom.

1. Telephone Box. // 2. Little blue butterfly on the holly bush. // 3. Oxford architecture. // 4. A lost balloon soaring over Oxford. // 5. My garden after a freak hail storm. // 6. Bluebells and headstones in Oxford's St. Mary Magdalen Church graveyard.

If you'd like to see more photos like these, you can keep up to date with my little snap shots on Instagram here.

Thanks for reading.

Wednesday Wish List

Here are sixty-six pieces I'm loving this week...

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Being a big fan of all things Alice in Wonderland, I'm completely obsessed with Olympia Le-Tan's amazing Alice in Wonderland collection. Sadly, they all come with a designer price tag, but if I was rich and skinny, I'd buy every last piece. Every last one of them. If any high street brands wants to create affordable dupes, I'd be okay with that.

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These novelty bags from Skinny Dip and ASOS, and food print purse from Monki are too cute. 

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Dorothy Perkins have long been one of my go-to brands for casual Summer dresses. These colourful maxi t-shirt dresses from the Curve collection, and tipped sun dresses from the standard range look ideal for no-fuss Summer dressing. Just add a pair of sandals, a cross body bag, and a killer pair of sunglasses and you're good to go.

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I love this strawberry print vest, and gingham bardot top, which are also from Dotty P's.

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My Lindy Bop wish list is growing by the day! I love the shape of these 'Marion' sweetheart neckline skater dresses, and the prints are both to die for. 

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These cherry print Charlotte dresses from Lady Vintage are gorgeous. I can never resist a good cherry print.

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I want all the things from Simply Be, especially that beautiful embroidered maxi dress, and lace maxi skirt. Come to mama!

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I'm also drawn to so many colourful printed dresses from Simply Be this week. They'd all be perfect for a holiday in the sun. I need that Samya daisy print dress, and pineapple swing dress in my life.

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ASOS Curve have a great selection of dresses and playsuits this season. I'm finding myself drawn to so many of their denim, floral, and embroidered pieces.

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Some pretty shoes I have my eyes on from ASOS; all very different, but all so beautiful.

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And finally, I've fallen in love with Devel's amazing 'Freshly Squeezed' collection of bright and colourful fruit-themed swing and wiggle skirts, after seeing them modelled by Amanda and Katie earlier in the week. (How amazing do they both look?!) If I got my hands on one of the swing skirts, I don't think I'd ever want to take it off. The skirts are all made to measure, so I assume they can cater to any size, but you can find out more on their website.

If you'd like to see more of the pieces that catch my eye each week, check out my style wish list boards on Pinterest. I pin to them as and when I find something I love, and many never make it on to these wish lists.

What's on your wish list this week?