TK Maxx: Aintree

There's a lot of store redevelopment going on in Liverpool at the moment. Liverpool One sprung up a few years ago now, chock full of all sorts of shops and restaurants, and the rest of the city centre is gradually being revamped too. We've got a Forever 21 now! Matalan have just opened a flagship city centre store and the TK Maxx on Bold Street, which I blogged about here, is huge and ace! They're spreading the love into the suburbs too and have just opened a shiny new store in Aintree, so off I popped last weekend to pay it a visit.

We all know what a bargain you can pick up there, especially when it comes to clothing and shoes. I tried on a beautiful designer coat (the eagle eyed may be able to spot it in the middle of the above photo) which was £210 down to £49.99. My inner bargain hunter shed a little tear at leaving it behind but I do not need any more coats. I just don't. Stop it, Alex.

If I had one slight complaint it would be that the selection of frocks wasn't fantastic, other than sparkly party frocks, but I suppose it's that time of year, isn't it? The gorgeous array of knitwear more than made up for it. Had this specs jumper not been quite so high necked it would have been coming straight home with me.

I don't want this to be a tale of what didn't come home with me but argh, how I would have liked these ruby red slippers! Such are the misfortunes of having a popular foot size. There were some truly beautiful knee high boots too but alas not in a wide calf option (such are the misfortunes of having fat legs too!)

The homeware aisles are totally my happy place. I don't know why people automatically head to Ikea when they've got a house to fill. There is so much lovely stuff (esp. kitchenware) at TK Maxx. Shiny copper pans and gorgeous stoneware and more spatulas than you can shake a stick at.

This set of hat boxes would have been perfect for Maria. I'm weird though and can't buy things with initials on them if they aren't an "A".

Forget #wardrobezoo, I now want a housezoo!

So what did I actually buy? Presents for people, some coffee, knee high cosy socks and a hat!

I'd given up hope of ever finding a cloche type hat that suited me but I found one! I may have made indiscreet whooping noises in the middle of the shop. So happy!


*TK Maxx invited me along to visit the store and very kindly supplied me with a gift card to make a purchase or two. All opinions are my own. What can I say? I like it there!*

A Hat (and the giveaway winners)

I don't often wear hats. I bought this one on holiday over a year ago and it's been languishing on the hat rack ever since. It's not so much that I'm shy of wearing them, just that I have a really large head and they don't often suit me. You know that lovely sort of woolly-beanie-on-the-back-of-the-head look? Yeah, I can't do that. I just look as if my head is so big it's burst out of my hat.

I like this one though. It fits, which is always a good start. It's green, therefore I automatically love it. It has a floppy brim which I can hide behind when I'm feeling bashful about wearing a hat - bonus marks!








Skater dress - H&M
Cardi & belt - Primark
Shoes - New Look
Rings - Primark (snake) & Dorothy Perkins (green)
Hat - hat shop in Dubrovnik


Anyway, here's the bit you've all been waiting for: the winners of the giveaway, as decided by random.org.

Thank you very, very much to MJ, Very and Natureshop for donating such lovely prizes.

The winner of the beautiful ring from MerCurios is... The Girl (who has excellent luck in my giveaways!)
The winner of the £50 Very voucher is... Maddie
The winner of the boots from Natureshop is... Feeneyfoofoo
The winner of the Persephone Books voucher is... Mrs Bossa

Ladies, I shall be in touch with you all very shortly to arrange your prizes.

Racy In Red

I had a rather fab day at the races on Saturday. I had two winners and two thirds out of four bets so I was a) happy and b) rather richer than at the start of the day. I employed my usual combination of reading the form, inspecting the horses in the parade ring and then picking on sentiment. It works though! Just Smudge (we used to have a cat called Smudge...) zoomed in at 8-1 and then my trusty old favourite Monet's Garden ran his usual brave, bold race and came home first to the cheers of practically everyone there. What a horse.

Winnings are not there to be spent on practical things so I bought a new hat instead.

As for my outfit for the day, I went for wintery fabrics, spiced up with some jazzy red accents, and based it all around wanting to be warm and comfortable. No heels for me, not when I'm going to be on my feet all day. A chilly October day is NOT the time to wear a party frock, heels and nothing else - not that this stopped some girls. They would have looked amazing in the summer but all the goosebumps on show rather detracted from the overall look at this time of year.

Vest - Zara (I know, again. It does get washed though, honest)

Skirt - Warehouse

Tights & pearl headband - Dorothy Perkins

Cardi - Matalan

Brogues - River Island

Ring - Primark

Blazer - vintage St Michaels, via Oxfam

Clutch - courtesy of Margaret from Penny Dreadful Vintage - I made her a pom pom necklace and she was lovely enough to send me this in exchange.


The blazer needed a wee bit of alteration before I wore it as it had these beasties tucked away inside the lining. Easily sorted though and I'm very pleased with it. Am equally pleased with the skirt as I bought it when I was about 13 and it's never fitted. It does now though, muahahaha.

Holy shoulder pads Batman!! That's an A4 sized magazine they're sitting on - they're huge!!


Ps - sorry for the lack of weekend posts - I've given up on the pc. I tried to keep up on comments via my phone but it's a bit tricky due to screen size etc. However all is not lost as I'm going to pick up a shiny new netbook after work. WOO!!