Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for stripes and florals.

What a lovely day! Did you all enjoy the sunshine? I hope you managed to get out of the office, even if it was just to M&S for a sandwhich during your lunch hour.

I started the day off oddly, not wanting to drag myself out of bed come 10am after not getting to sleep until 4 this morning after romantic discussions and pretty daydreams. When I did manage to pull myself up and out of my slumber, I drank coffee and washed the exhaustion from my eyes with a bubble bath and BBC World Service.

When it came to getting dressed, I was in a bit of a rush after managing to lose the hairdryer for a bit and running around the house like mad. I had semi pre-planned an outfit last night though so pulled on a striped tee, a floral dress and some black tights and flats. My mid-morning rush caused me just to grab the nearest accessories and the result was rather fab with a Topshop corsage pinned at shoulder level and pretty pearls.

I spent my day completing one of my HEFC courses (hurrah!) and then went into Starbucks for an iced mocha, cookie and the latest copy of Instyle magazine. Simple pleasures are always the best and the sun is giving everyone a major boost.

The outfit today is inspired by my outfit. Should I post a pic of it? Hmm, perhaps tomorrow. The stripped tee is from Topshop, this beautiful skirt is by H&M and the pretty pink flats are by Miu Miu. Today, I grabbed my satchel and threw all my junk it; surprisingly, it really finished off my look. This satchel here to perfect to me and is by Proenza Schouler for a crazy $14,500. Do you think it's worth adding to my birthday wish list? Cheaper accessories are this Dorothy Perkins ring and Forever21 pearls.



Stripes and florals. by hollieanne featuring Proenza Schouler shoulder bags

Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for a surprising dress find.

In 11 days time (not that I'm counting), I have one of the most important events of my life. Of course, like a few other events of late, I cannot reveal a word about the exact details as of yet but it's huge to the point that I'm already feeling the adrenaline kick in.

Every exciting event need a new outfit, right? I have to admit that I was starting to panic as to what to wear- it's one of those weird events where one doesn't know exactly what the dress code is. I'd seen a pretty orange chiffon skirt in Monsoon but my pale legs would have classed and I don't trust myself with a bottle of fake tan under any circumstances. As I have a busy week and will probably have plans this coming weekend, it was pretty much a case of finding something today or sticking with my Paul Smith-a-like rose print dress. But the high street came up brilliantly today in the form of a rather plain but super flattering dress.

My new dress is the same shape as the one featured below and, as a girl with decent size hips and not so fabulous legs (although MYB would disagree, I'm sure), it really shouldn't work on my figure but I'm not sure I've come across such a flattering dress. My boobs are reduced in size, my tummy is hidden and my legs looks rather great in it. I'm impressed and, with the plain colouring, it's going to be so much fun to style up with red tones, perhaps flashes of bright white and my favourite vintage silk scarf.

I'm sure the dress is rather recognizable to a lot of you as being the Patricia Field for M&S dress which featured in stores a little while back. Added to the dress is a simple waist belt from Miss Selfridge. I've gone for some fab Forever21 heels and a Patricia Field Barbie necklace which I am now totally lusting after. Topshop provide the super fun accessories with a heart bag, striped ring and domino earrings. Hope you've had a great weekend!


Dress shopping. - by hollieanne on Polyvore.com

Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for travel.

It feels so weird to be blogging in the morning and perhaps a little weird for a lot of you to be reading the Tuesday and Wednesday entries at the same time. As I explained previously, I'm off on a bit of a work/catching up with friends trip but because of the situation, I'm not sure I'll actually get to blog over the next two days. All sounds a bit top secret, right? I'm sure you'll find out in due course.

It's so early right now. I'm normally only up at this time for lectures but there's a final load of packing to be done and lots of beauty treatments to be conducted before I even think about stepping onto any train! I have less than two hours to finish up blogging and replying to work e-mails as well as making myself look ravishing and making sure I haven't forgotten anything. This is all going to be worth it, though. I have a feeling this trip is going to be very productive.

If I don't manage to blog on Thursday and Friday, I'll try and get my lovely blogging assistant to pop a message up letting you know. I'm hoping I can but it may not be possible. Forgive me? I am giving advanced warning. I shall return on Saturday and fill you lot up with more lifestyle rubbish and fashion crap. Have a great few days, guys!

Oh, what? You want an outfit? Oh, OK! I need to dress pretty enough to impress people today but also comfortable enough for survive about six hours of travel! I think this outfit would do the job. I've used a silk pleat Vanessa Bruno top which I'd wear tucked into this stunning Moschino Cheap & Chic bow front teal skirt. I've actually gone for white Converse to dress the outfit down and add maximum travel comfort and the pink leather weekend bag is from trustworthy M&S. Finally, the jewellery is from Topshop- how cute is the bird necklace?! OK, I need to run a bath and make myself look half decent. Have a great few days, everyone.



Travel. - by hollieanne on Polyvore.com

Hollie-Anne Brooks dresses for spending time with her mother.

Some women complain about spending time with their mother. Meeting up in M&S and listening to her go on and on about how you need to settle down shortly and have some babies isn't the idea of a brilliant afternoon for most people, but it is for me.

OK, so my mother is very accepting of MYB (actually, she's thinks I'm not good enough for him- ha!) and she'd never push the issue of children because she knows I'm not maternal and never plan on getting pregnant. But listening to my mum talk about her things and her goings on is utter bliss for me. By the age of 19, my mother had lost her own mother and I find it so difficult to understand how that must have been for her. I'm an only child and my mum has always been my best friend so even if she is "gently guiding" me about marriage and children and the future, I will always love it.

Today we did some lovely high street shopping and then came home to make dinner. I love cooking with my mum, she's an incredible cook. Tonight we had fresh baguettes with humus and Italian meat followed by grilled chicken and ploughman's salad. Yum! We've been painting our nails tonight and sitting watching TV. I love these times.

If my mum and I are meeting for a shopping trip or lunch, I always make sure I look really nice as I want to make her super proud. This outfit is more than mum worthy! The pretty floral dress is by Forever21 and I've added some purple heels from H&M and a corsage (which I own) also from H&M. The clashing colour earrings come from Miss Selfridge, the daisy watch is none other than Marc by Marc Jacobs and this incredibly beautiful necklaces is Yves Saint Laurent. Finally, a Topshop suede clutch to match in with the colour scheme.

Just a final note, the blog will be up tomorrow but early on in the morning. Thursday and Friday will see the blog (most probably) not up and running due to being away with work and not being able to access the Internet. I'll try my best but I'm 90% sure the blog will be down for a few days. Apologies.



Spending time with mum. - 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 cosmetics shopping.

What a fabulous day! Don't you just love the days when you swish around town with nothing but your mother and a fringe bag on your arm? Perfect!

Today I said hello to S/S09 ("S/S09? You're such a geek!"- MYB) with a nod to new florals in coral and feather hair accessories. I'm adoring the new season stuff already with the boho look and pretty feminine shades already filtering through onto the high street. Marks and Spencer added soft grey shades and bright blues and pinks to their Limited Collection and New Look showcased a mix of ghastly patterns and pretty frills. On my high street wish list after today? A M&S patent pink tote, a M&S boyfriend blazer, a black leather jacket I spied in New Look and some Marc Jacobs-a-like satin heels from Clarks.

But mummy and I left the clothing behind for all of a few minutes and headed to the cosmetics counter. As I'm sure I've documented on my blog before, my Yummy Mummy has never been one for designer items and favoured cheap alternatives which would never last as long but today I convinced her, in lure of her new career, to really splash out. With thanks to the usual amazing service at the Chanel cosmetics counter, we purchased mascaras, blushers from the new season collection and lipsticks all to give her a boost on her first day. And me? Well, Mummy and I always share but I think I'll be keeping my classic Miami Peach Chanel nail polish all for me.

As I adore Chanel cosmetics so much (the quality, the shades available and the wonderful service and advice), I've added three Chanel pieces to the outfit selected for today. Firstly, we have this timeless yet colourful tweed jacket which is mixed with a curved 2.55 black bag and a pretty flower ring. Coming in a little closer to most price bands, I've used some Acne skinny jeans, a Topshop tee and some quilted French Sole flats. Happy Saturday, Guys!


Cosmetics. by hollieanne