First I picked out this Classic Full-Zip Hoodie in Green.

It’s just so snuggly and the fit is amazing.

Then I decided on this Classic Popover Hoodie in Navy.

This one is slightly thicker, and it’s just as snuggly and cozy as the other one if not more so.

I also took advantage of their 5 for $26 sale on their Down Undies and picked up some really cute prints.

My favorites are the snowflake printed ones. Obviously because I bought them in all 3 colors. But the stripey ones are adorable too.

Please excuse the fact that my makeup looks a bit wrecked in these photos, they were taken at the end of a very long shooting day.  That also explains my Victoria’s Secret star print pajama pants. Which reminds me the next time I place an order I simply must get some of the flannel pajama pants from Gilly Hicks. They just look so perfect for laying around the house in on Sundays or cozying up in after a very long day.

Seriously I just want to curl up in one of these hoodies with a pair of those flannel pants, a good book and some apple cider. What’s your favorite thing to wear on a lazy day?

I’ve been buying more and more books lately. They’re less expensive than makeup and clothing and give me just as much joy. I’ve bought 7 books total in less than 2 months. That’s more books than I’ve bought in a long time. Really for a while the only books I was buying were ones recommended by Katie of ChapterStackss, and those were on my nook, mostly I was just reading library books on my nook, and getting the Free Friday books.

I bought Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, which has been called the most misinterpreted book ever written. According to the Author, it’s about Technology causing the death of literature as we know it. I adore Ray Bradbury, and could easily call him my all time favorite author. Since my copy of this book had long since fallen to pieces, I decided that I should repurchase it. Even though before his death Bradbury gave permission for his books to be sold in Ebook format, it just feels wrong to buy his work in anything other than physical media. I probably will buy them as ebooks, but only after I already own the actual book.

I also picked up The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, this book has been making the rounds as being completely awesome for a while and I don’t know why I hadn’t bought it before. Since it’s being made into a movie soon, I decided that I should probably read it, since I like to read the book before the movie.   I actually don’t know much more about this book than what I’ve heard from Youtubers who’ve read the book, but I can say that with this book being as hyped up as it is, I will be reviewing in as soon as I finish it.

It might be a while before you see reviews on these books since I have library books and other books I’ve bought to read first. But I will forewarn you that anything written by Ray Bradbury will always receive a glowing review from me, and you should probably read the books and be the judge for yourself.

Now onto the book review:

As you can see I picked this book up at Target and then ended up loaning it to my mother the same day. This book is incredibly disturbing. I didn’t find it as disturbing as my mother found it, but even so. However my Mother has two girls, and I have one boy so that might have effected things a bit. Especially when you consider my mom has read some incredibly fucked up books and not batted an eye.

It’s about the Stuart Family, Tom, Abbey and Caitlin, and the aftermath of Caitlin’s disappearance when she’s 12 years old. She’s found 4 years later eerily calm and unwilling to talk about the time she was gone. When an arrest is finally made she refuses to testify against him.

Having just had his marriage dissolve, Tom is obsessed with finding out what happened to Caitlin while she was gone, even going so far as to using her as leverage with her kidnapper to get them both to talk.

I found the whole book to be creepy, and I sympathized the most with the Father until the end when his obsession with finding out what happened to her sends him off the deep end. In the end I was just disturbed by everyone. I absolutely hated the mother, and found her behavior to be not only pathetic, but weak and selfish. She finds her religion, which is not a bad thing to do when your child is missing. I’m not a church goer now, but I can’t say I what I would do if my son were to go missing. No, the worst part is it’s implied that she cheats on her husband with and then she leaves him for the Church’s pastor. The only one that I didn’t end up hating was Caitlin and that was only because I attributed her behavior to what she’d been through the last 4 years.

Final Verdict: I don’t know if I recommend this book. I think I was too disturbed by it, it didn’t give me nightmares or anything, but I can’t see picking it up for a re-read anytime soon. If you’re into this sort of book then go for it.

Because I’m excessively clumsy I never really like to pay more than $5 for sunglasses. I know that I will inevitably break them or loose them. But I fell in love with Emma Stone’s Rag and Bone Monroe glasses, and knew there was no way I’d pay that much for them, so I began searching for a suitable copy. I found them at Madewell. Then I waited impatiently for them to go on sale because they were $50. And that seems like a lot of money to spend on something you’ve only ever paid $5 at H&M for in the past.

I adore Madewell, they are the kind of place where I only buy stuff when its on sale, because when they have sales they’re amazing. Seriously, like 30% to 50% off of already reduced merchandise kind of sales. Which was the case with these glasses. I only paid $29.50 for them, which is $20 off the original price. And they came with a cloth case that I kinda adore.

Since when they aren’t on my face they live in my purse, I don’t really have to worry about them being crushed because I have lots of compartments in my purse,so nothing is disorganized.

I’ve only had these a bit over a week and I’ve already worn them in two posts.

Last weeks Stylish Sundays: Spiked Rose Gold

And yesterdays Book Review: Things We Didn’t Say

And I can promise you will be seeing them again and again. Because I’m absolutely in love with these. The fit well, don’t give me a headache, which is common with glasses. The lenses aren’t completely black, they’re more of a grey, which is perfect for me because I wear them when I drive, and since they aren’t to dark I can wear them when the sun is setting without feeling like I can’t see. Plus I adore tortoiseshell.

If you decide that you want them, you’re in luck, because they’re still on sale here, and they have them in 3 colors.

Bonus note: Howl Totally approves

For this weeks book review we have Getting Rooted in New Zealand by Jamie Baywood. Since I’m ill I will not be doing an outfit post with this book. I do however have a get the look board.

Start off with a pretty dress, I love this one from French Connection (It’s on major sale right now!), then a sweet bow belt, I, of course, chose this one from Kate Spade. Then you need so black patent flats, and you just can’t go wrong with these from Zara. Then for accessories I chose this Apple of My Eye necklace from Kate Spade, it’s so dainty and perfect. Top it all off with this great Trench from H&M and this red hat from Anthropologie. And you have the perfect look to match the cover of this book.

On to the review!

Jamie Baywood is a California Native that after a string of bad breakups, decides to uproot her life and head for New Zealand. This story is about adjusting, finding your place, and falling in love the right way.

About the actual story though, it was strange for me to read because it’s written in diary format, and is a memoir of her time in New Zealand. Normally neither of those are a style of book that I enjoy. Then adding in that some of the things that happened to her while she was in New Zealand were absolutely horrific. She did have some absolutely lovely things happen, but you have to slog your way through the terrible things to get to them. Honestly when I got to the part about her ex’s, I put the book down and walked away. But then I decided to pick it back up the next day and see what happened.

I’ll just say, that like life, love and shopping, this book gets better as you go through it. She’s very frank and seems to tell things exactly as they happened with no embellishment. It’s this deadpan delivery that truly makes some of the things that happen to her seem all the more horrific. Really that’s all the only word that I can come up with for those things. I can’t even imagine how I would have handled them had I been in her place.

However, when she meets the love of her life, you instantly know it’s him. Not because she blatantly says so immediately, but because he’s the brightest spot in her life at that time.

Final Verdict: I highly recommend this book if your thinking of moving to New Zealand. It was definitely an eye opener into working conditions for expats there.

Bonus: Look how adorable the author is!

I’ve linked up with Get Your Pretty On, so go check it out

*This book was provided for review by the Author. This does not effect my opinion or review of the book at all. I was not compensated for this review.

New Zealand Look by fashionandhappythings featuring a kate spade belt

I was recently contacted by Tess from House Of Fraser, and she wanted to do a guest post about an important must have for Fall, the Trench Coat. Since I firmly agree that a Trench Coat is an absolute must have, I immediately agreed. Check out her post below and let us know what you think in the comments.

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Sadly it is time to accept that summer is fading away. I’ve chucked my sun cream, packed away mu sunglasses, and am fighting the urge to hibernate in a barrel of cotton wool. What I’ve noticed is that my key summer buys are so quickly left wilting somewhere at the bottom of my closet that I may’ve well not bought them!

But not this year! I’m determined to keep my distance from my tent-sized jumpers and jogging pants and keep my key summer dresses  in use. My thought, is that with the right statement coat, you can stay warm without sacrificing style. I’ve set out to create three ways the one-coat wonder can work for a casual day, in the office and on a date or cocktail night with the special ones. When it comes to picking a good coat, I’d always advise a neutral classic style. I opted for the elegant Mint Velvet Trench from House of Fraser. Here’s how it went:

When it comes to work, the easiest blunder is the safe trap. Just because you’re expected to be smart, that doesn’t mean dull! Take these gorgeous Ted Baker floral trousers. This print’s been seen on the likes of MTV’s Holland Roden and is the perfect combination of summer brights and sophistication. With the coat on and a pair of courts, this look will still have a feminine edge, and lovely shape. I’ve also added a  Michael Kors watch for a work-ready touch.

For a relaxed weekend, the trench works just as well. I’ve teamed it with a peplum blouse to add some femininity, and a metallic satchel for added excitement. With some comfy pumps and skinny jeans, this outfit is stylish without sacrificing comfort.

Upgrading to more glamour in autumn can seem difficult. I see far too many women shivering and uncomfortable, as they resist a jacket that they fear will dampen their look. However with a classic trench coat, if anything it complements the outfit. A tie at the waist makes such a beautiful silhouette, and teamed with this playsuit, you’re carrying on the season’s monochrome trend perfectly. I’ve added Kurt Geiger’s ever-popular Isabella sandals to the look, as this trend has been huge. Nonetheless, when colder weather sets in, a pair of suede courts or Chelsea boots could look equally swish without the chill.

I am determined this year, to keep my wardrobe exciting and on-trend. With the right structured coat, you won’t be limited by low temperatures and can freely revisit your summer buys!

Tell Fashion & Happy Things what you will be teaming together to keep hold of your summer buys for longer?

I know I’ve mentioned Emi-Jay hair ties a lot. I kinda can’t help it, I’m absolutely obsessed with them. I’ve tried the ones from Sephora, Twistbands and even ones that my dollar store was selling that looked similar.

None of them have come close. None. I don’t know why these are better, they just are. I’m certain the other companies making them use similar, if not the exact same materials, but Emi-Jay just seems to do it better. They’re about the same price as Twistbands and the Sephora ones too.

Of course it could be the Hippie in me, that’s mostly hidden by all my consumerism. Because Emi-Jay give money to Operations Smile, Be The Match, Step Up Women’s Network, and Project Knapsack. Any one of these charities would have been an admirable choice, but these girls chose to donate 20% of their procedes to split between them all.

Oh yeah, I said girls. Emi-Jay was started by two 8th graders in the Jay part of Emi-Jay, Julianne’s Kitchen. The Emi part of course stands for Emily. They got tired of no damage hair ties that still damaged their hair, and decided there was a better solution, so they found it. And they managed to make a successful business out of it, one that has Jennifer Aniston, Sarah Jessica Parker, Katie Holmes and Kim Kardashian as loyal clientele.

Another thing that I adore is the variety that they come in, printed, beaded and now bows. Bonus they totally have headbands. I haven’t tried them yet, but I am absolutely desperate to. I adore that they’re made with the same size band as the hair ties. Twistband uses a thinner band for their headbands, I have some that I got from Birchbox and I hate them. The thinner twistband actually causes dents.

Everytime I get my hair done, my hairdresser always comments on the fact that I don’t have split ends or breakage, despite the fact that I constantly am throwing my hair up in a messy bun. I don’t use heat on my hair often so that will cover the split ends, but I completely attribute the lack of breakage to the fact that I only use Emi-Jay hair ties.

I love the product, it smells nice and feels amazing on the skin. I works wonderfully to take my makeup off and I almost don’t feel like I need to double cleanse afterwards. I don’t use this daily, only when I’ve worn makeup. It’s priced really well considering you get 150 ml for $32.

I was using this in the morning and then using it at night after I took off my makeup with my Liz Earle Cleanse and polish. But I thought it was breaking me out because of the Shea Butter in it, so I started using it only to take my makeup off, which is how I was using the Caudalie Cleansing Milk anyway.

I think the ClearCalm 3 Clarifying Cleanser would have been a better fit for my skin, but even still I really like this cleanser. Plus the packaging is really cool. You actually “use it up”. The packaging is a balloon or something like that and it shrinks up as you use up the product. It makes me feel like I’m going to get all of the product out.

Final Verdict: This is a nice cleanser, and I fully recommend it to someone with sensitive, non acne prone skin. I really like it, but it’s just not for my skin type.

So when I got the Liz Earle Energizing Hip and Thigh Gel I said I’d most likely do a review of it. Since I’ve been using it a lot lately, and I’ve definitely formed an opinion of it, I thought I’d tell you about it today.

I was sent this product as a bonus gift for ordering the July Essentials Kit. They do one of these kits every month and there’s always a bonus item with it. I kinda wasn’t expecting to really care about it at all, mostly thinking this would just be a chuck in the drawer and forget about it. I usually don’t get on with the free with purchase products. It’s not that they’re always bad products, they’re just usually the sort of products I wouldn’t normally purchase myself. I do like that the bonus item is always a full size product in the the Essentials Kit.

I’m not generally susceptible to the whole “energizing” claim products have, so the first time I used this, it was at night and I used it head to toe, because why not? Just because it says Hip and Thigh doesn’t mean it’s not good for all over. This was a mistake. Not the all over bit, but the using it at night. It took about a  minute or so to hit me, but I started to feel really jazzed, and hyper. I think it was the smell or something, it just made me feel more awake. It also left a slight cooling feeling on my skin which I adored, especially because it’s summer and hot here in the states.

Now for the toning claims I don’t have an answer. I don’t really feel like any product can tone you. You can maybe be temporarily tightened but not actually toned by a product. I haven’t felt or seen that this toned me any. But I did use it all over and I didn’t pay much attention because I just don’t care if something is toning or not.

Final Verdict? I might buy it, I might not. It’s a nice, fun product. It made my skin feel nice and smooth. I enjoyed using it, but I don’t think it’s an absolute staple in my skincare routine.

I’ve decided that I’m going to try to make weekly book reviews a thing here. I’ve read a lot of books  in my life, and many of them were really good. Since I’ll continue to read for as long as I can, there will always be  books to talk about. I also plan to try to pair an outfit with each book. Either what I was wearing when I read it, or what it inspired me to wear after I read it. This outfit is a little of both.

I’m wearing Gilly Hicks Sweatpants, Enough Is Enough Tee from Sevenly, White Converse, Kate Spade Glasses.

On My Face: Kate Spade Glasses, Lancome Teint Visionnaire in 100n, Nars Concealer in Vanilla, YSL Babydoll Mascara and Benefit Girl Meets Pearl. I’m actually only wearing makeup because I’m testing this Foundation and Mascara to see if I want to buy the full sizes. You’ll find out in a future haul if I do or not.
My Hair: Pulled into a Messy Bun with an Emi-Jay Hair Tie, I love these hair ties.

And a very beat up and loved copy of PS. I Love You.

If you’re wondering why I chose this for the example of what I wore when I read this book, when it’s such a long book, well that’s because I’ve read this book so many times and I read fast even when I don’t know the material that I finished rereading it in 4 hours. I actually took these pictures before I started reading, which is why my makeup isn’t destroyed.

If you’re wondering why I was inspired to wear this well that brings us to the review, and that box of Puffs also pictured. The start of this book is sad. It’s heartbreaking. It’s about the first year or so of a widow’s life after her husband dies and how she recovers from the loss. She’s relatively close to my age, and I’m married so her loss really effects me. This is one of the few books and movies that make me cry. Like actual tears and everything (lets see how that mascara really holds up! BTW it’s not waterproof.) So I tend to wear something cozy and relaxed whenever I decide it’s time to reread this book.

It’s sort of really hard to review this book with out giving too much away, but I’ll try.  The book focuses on Holly, who is left a widow just a bit before turning 30, when it’s discovered her husband Gerry has a brain tumor. She’s an absolute mess until she receives the List from Gerry. Something they had only joked about before and here he’d actually gone and done it. One envelope a month with a task to help her get through the rest of the year. As the year goes on you see Holly begin to heal. To learn that there is a life for her without Gerry.

I think the subject of this book could have made it all too heartbreaking, and while that still would have made for a good book, I think the way that the author, Cecelia Ahern, tackles it with humor makes it easier to swallow. The whole book is both funny and sad at the same time. There were parts that made me both laugh and cry and I couldn’t tell you if it was because I was so sad for Holly or if it was because it was all just so funny.

I honestly love this book. I’ve read it so many times now, it’s more like a comfortable old friend, rather than just a story. Even though I know what’s coming as I turn the pages, I still laugh in all the same places and cry at all the saddest bits. I usually pick this up to read when I’m feeling a bit low, and by the next morning I’m already feeling much better.

Bonus: The movie version has what is by far my all time favorite movie quote: Ciara “Are you drunk?” Holly “No.” “Ciara “Well do ya wanna be?”