Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for booking dinner online.

MYB is a clever bloke. He knows stuff about the web and such like but I, on the other hand, am at a bit of a loss. I use social networking sites but I'm only just using Twitter, I clearly blog and I've become a little too accustomed to shopping online. But that's about it, that's about all I can manage. In actual fact it's not that bad but I still do find myself a little lost when MYB talks about podcasting and rubbish like that.

You see, the Internet scares me. I feel I can never trust it and although I booked both my Britney and Beyoncé tickets through the web, there's always a feeling it never went through. I always feel nervous that train tickets haven't booked or an order I've placed on ASOS won't arrive because the Internet swallowed it up or something equally as silly.

I'm old fashioned, right? Considering I'm both a print and web journalist, I'm still not totally clued up and even if I am, I don't use it as much as I should. But I'm the girl who will send a love letter like your granny would rather than a love e-mail. And, in actual fact, I think MYB probably finds it refreshing.

But I trusted the web tonight and booked a dinner reservation online. Two, in actual fact. One for dinner in Angel on Wednesday with a dear friend and one for a pretty French place for the following evening with a few friends of mine. A few clicks and I have tables booked and confirmation e-mails. Am I going to call up both places tomorrow just to check? Probably. But I'm going to try and resist and put my faith in the Internet. I'll report back and let you know if it actually all goes to plan!

I've picked out an outfit which represents my excitement at the upcoming week. It's a very 'Hollie-Anne' outfit. My mother recently described my style as "pretty hippy" and I'm likely to agree. I like blush tones, flowers, flat sandals and the feel of the air on my legs. I've fallen in love with this dress by Roksanda Ilincic, it has to be one of the most beautiful pieces I've seen lately. I've added some gold flat sandals by Coach, a pretty pink leather Balenciaga bag and I've finished off the look with a Versace bangle and some sweet earrings by Christian Lacroix.


Booking dinner. - by hollieanne on Polyvore.com

Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for shopping for jeans.

All women will admit that the perfect jeans don't exist and searching for a pair that are just right can take hours. I'm sure you'll all agree on the power of the perfectly cut pair of denim jeans; dressed with flats for weekends, heels for work and a pretty top for dates. For me, it's vital I find a pair that are going to flatter my decent size arse, wrap around my hips just right so they look more like Beyonce and not beach whale (whales don't have hips, right?) and my jeans need to be long enough for my silly long legs.

So today my mother and I embarked on finding just the right pair. For a little over a year now I've been wearing a pair from a popular high street store that do just the job and I've wore them for work with a blazer and felt really great. But would they still exist? And even if they did, would they still look decent on me? Losing weight has change me from an apple shape to much more of an hourglass shape (yippee!). I love my figure right now but I find myself becoming nervous that the usual things I'd normally pick out just won't look the same.

But today was a success. I'm the girl who never wears trousers and I only tend to wear jeans once a week with the rest of the week being filled with skirts, dresses and tights. I found the right jeans today, though. They're actually the pair I've always worn but in a slightly darker denim and a two sizes down from normal. I bagged some lighter denim wide-leg jeans from H&M this week for a fiver and although they're fine, I think they'll just be my Sunday jeans for wearing when I'm just popping to the shops for the papers and milk.

My mother, the sweet little cuddle bug that she is, picked me out a nautical over sized tee with a red sequin anchor and I adore it. Thanks, Yummy Mummy. Oh, and whilst I'm onto thanking people, I think I should apologise for the post yesterday. I feel like I came down on MYB too much regarding silly Valentine's Day. We made up last night which was super gorgeous.

Anyway, outfit time? Go on then. Clearly I've picked the perfect jeans shopping outfit! The jeans featured here are hot new label Current/Elliot whom I've heard such great things about. The pretty hippy vest is See by Chloé and I've used an Alexander Wang blazer so it would be easy to visualise how the jeans would look for work and weekend. I think heels are important when shopping for jeans as to get the right leg length so I've used orange Miu Miu wedges for that extra height. I had great trouble today- 34 inch leg is apparently the largest stocked and they're just say fine, I could do with a longer length though. Accessories come from the wonderful Marc B with this orange bag, a sweet Nine West necklace and a Topshop ring that I have officially fallen for. Finally, some Tom Ford sunglasses because posing is fun!

PS/ How incredible was the Alexander Wang A/W show? STUNNING!


Shopping for jeans. - by hollieanne on Polyvore.com

Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for getting back to normal.

Very productive day in my little world. Woke this morning and booked two Beyonce tickets, went back off to sleep for a little while whilst wishing MYB was there to spend a lazy morning with me and then I spent the afternoon in town catching up on the much needed feeling of contentment which has been missing due to illness these past few days.

It was nice getting back to the normality of skinny coffee, Marks and Spencer, daily newspaper buying and freshly blow-dried hair. I devilishly read pages of the book I'm currently reading as I sat in Starbucks and I lost myself in daydreams of MYB and I chain smoking in Paris. I haven't felt like this all week; illness just makes me feel stupidly depressed and I cry more than most because I feel helpless and hate not being up and about and going at a million miles an hour.

My mother finished her first week of her new job so I met her at the hospital with a card and the biggest and most expensive bouquet of flowers I could find- she really deserved it.

The outfit for today is very sweet and I love the navy shades with the clashing pinks, oranges and browns of this Forever21 dress. Over the top of the dress I'd throw on a relaxed trench like this Mike and Chris one. I've added some navy flats, a pretty glitter beret by Coach and a clashing 3.1 Phillip Lim clutch. Lastly, I've added some flower rings with the neon pink one being from Topshop and the other from Forever21. Happy Friday!


Starbucks and flowers. - by hollieanne on Polyvore.com

Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for Alexandra Burke.

How pleased am I that the North London beauty won? I actually really did think Eggnog would win and had been saying so all week but talent came through and she won!

I've been in tears all night, 90% X Factor/10% MYB being the worst boyfriend ever, and couldn't stop welling up during Alexandra's performance with Beyonce. Oh my god! And yet, what made it so emotional was that you could tell Alexandra couldn't quite believe she was singing with her idol. That girl needs to realise she's just as good, if not better, than Ms. Knowles.

So we're dressing like a true Superstar today and all in gold! I adore this Zac Posen satin mini and wish I had the figure to pull it off. If, like Alexandra Burke, you have amazing legs then really work it by wearing some killer Rupert Sanderson high heels. I've added a Fendi clutch and a necklace by one of my favourites, Alex Monroe. The stack rings are Marcia Moran and the bangles are Charmak. Well done Alexandra!


Alexandra Burke. by hollieanne

Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for surprise e-mails from MYB.

I've had a hectic day which resulted in some power dressing and super defending. I could write a mile long blog entry about the antics of today with television companies, porn, turning into my alter ego a la Beyonce and Sascha Fierce and the ripping apart of presentations. However, I like the positive things in life and find that a blog entry on your dear author going on and on about the ins and outs of advertising revenue, putting together a Microsoft PowerPoint and the National Geographic Channel would just be a one way ticket to Dullsville.

So, we're going to keep the mood upbeat! Don't you just love it when surprises come at just the right time? After an amazing day in education and a muffin and cappuccino at Starbucks, I came home and was exhausted. It's times like this, after five hours sleep and lots of caffeine, that I realise I am but a 19 year old and shouldn't want to "get myself settled" for the night in comfortable clothes and with a hot water bottle but that's the way it went this evening. I changed into some wide-leg trousers and a cashmere cardigan once I returned home and sat myself on the comfortable chair to read my e-mails; after a few press releases, a Facebook update and a case study request (I didn't have one, sorry!), I noticed an e-mail from a certain name I remembered very well but hardly ever see in my inbox.

MYB (or My Yummy Bloke for those of you who have not long joined us) has been so rushed off his feet with work lately that I started to get worried about his stress levels. Sure, we've spent some gorgeous time together of late just relaxing but I can't exactly be there to pour him another cup of coffee or give him a hug when he's being given paperwork beyond the roof or trying to employ decent news journalists, can I? He was working in a different city today which is a real regular occurrence but I couldn't help but feel sorry for him- late nights and lots of work are not good. So, during my only spare five minutes of the day, I dropped him an e-mail to say hello despite knowing he wouldn't perhaps get it until tomorrow once he was back in the usual office. I like to be a romantic idiot, to be honest and one of the things that most attracts me to MYB is how sweet and romantic he is.

As regards romance, I like the small things. Perhaps my definition of romance is different to most but to me it's things like when MYB knows my taste so well and texts me to tell me about a certain song I'd love or when he thinks the drive up to Chatsworth will be just as pretty as actually walking around the grounds will be or when he lights candles as we have dinner as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Therefore, after a crazed day, a small dose of MYB romance was just what I needed and just what I got. This afternoon MYB had sent me an e-mail just to tell me he thought I was gorgeous. He took time out of his crazy work schedule just to tell that to some 19 year old writer with a love of tea dresses, balloons and peach coloured socks. I'm positively glowing with happiness now.

I'd wear the outfit I've selected for Dressing For to go out for dinner with MYB- my treat! I love Gareth Pugh but, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, very little of his stuff is really that wearable but these two pieces are a total exception and are clearly being added to my Lust List; the silk top clearly reminds everyone of that Kate Moss ripped vintage Dior dress a little and the zig-zag wrap cardigan looks so comfortable. Pair with some Karl Lagerfeld straight leg jeans and a purple overload via accessories with a strawberry pendant, a pair of stunning earrings with a price tag of over £3,000 (eek!), some amazing Louboutins and a Dorothy Perkins clutch.


Surprise e-mail. by hollieanne