Happy Jubilee Day(s) (and Shopping!)

Today is day 2 of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. It goes for 4 days, and is a celebration marking 60 years on the throne by Queen Elizabeth II.

Source: Guardian.co.uk

I am not much into the Royal Family and their escapades (although I must admit that Princess Kate has amazing hair, I swoon over her locks) but I most certainly am into UK fashion and shopping.

The good news for us Aussies is that some UK websites are offering specials for the Jubilee days. Here are some that I have come across (although, I must admit they're not that amazing, and nothing has tempted me):

Asos - 20% off selected items

Paul Smith - free international shipping with the code 'Jubilee'

Dorothy Perkins - free international shipping when you spend 40 pounds + 20% off selected lines

Boohoo - 5 days of offers (today is 20% off all jeans and all menswear with code 'Monaus20')

Mr Porter - free express shipping to Australia until 10 June

Topman - free international delivery until 9am (AEST) Tuesday

The Snood: Because the Scarf got Boring

This is a snood:

"A snood is historically a type of European female headgear, or in modern times a tubular neck scarf."

These were all the rage in the UK last winter. I predict they will be hitting Oz shelves in the hundreds.

Ways to wear the snood:

Will you be wearing the snood this season? I don't like how it looks over the head, but whatever is warm works too.

Online shopping from the UK

I love how so many UK websites are now shipping to Australia. Dorothy Perkins ships for a flat shipping rate of £10.50. I also just discovered that Monsoon, one of my fav UK high street retailers, ships to Australia for a flat rate of £7.95. Their website is quite clunky to navigate though - you can't sort by price or newest added items, and not all sale items show up in the sale section.

Anyway, this order from Dorothy Perkins cost a grand total of £53 including shipping, thanks to the current 25% off for students:

Order includes 2 dresses, a top, pajama shorts, a high waisted skirt and some genuine leather boots.

This would be my ideal order from Monsoon, although I didn't go through with it - too exxy:

This order would certainly have been preferable to the DP one, but is way too exxy - more than 3x the price! It includes a funky Missoni-esque cardigan, some leather gloves which remind me of Alannah Hill designs (and are a bargain on sale!), some blingy Christmas boubles, a genuine leather honey coloured tote and some cute corporate heels.

Bargain Acquisitions 101 and a Lovely Prize

Today is shaping up to be a good day. It started off badly because I woke up with a splitting headache which I feared would turn into a migraine. I have only had a migraine once in my life, and like this headache, it was due to going off the pill (ie, a hormonal thing). I lay there for an hour, then dragged myself out of bed and downed 2 Panedine with some milk. It has taken about 3 hours of resting, but the headache is just a dull ache now instead of the full blown migraine I was afraid was coming on. So, I am home from work, Bub is at daycare and the day is mine. I *could* go into work now but that option is not particularly appealing. This morning Bub was having a meltdown, and Daddy dealt with it. I was snuggled in my warm bed (albeit in pain and wishing I wasn't awake).

Things are going well on the 'acquiring lovely/beautiful/useful things' front. First of all, I won the giveaway in Sydney Shop Girl's blog! The parcel arrived yesterday, and it's a lovely skincare set from La Clinica (with a cute Kikki K shopping list thrown in for good measure - this will come in handy):

Thank you so much SSG, I can't wait to trial the products!!! :-)

Some Ebay purchases also arrived this morning, and I'm thrilled with them. This gorgeous pearl and dove necklace was $3.50 and these brand new, leather Diana Ferrari loafers were $23:

Bargain acquisitions 100%. Now the reason I probably woke with the headache (apart from going off the pill), is that I was up until 2am+ last night. The reason? Online shopping, duh. I spent about $80 AUD on the Dorothy Perkins website, and acquired the following:

And for good measure, I threw a few extra items into my shopping basket (included in the $80AUD):

For those who are unfamiliar with Dorothy Perkins, it's a UK high street chain and it tends to be pretty good quality. At the moment, they have a large sale section and then an additional 20% off the marked prices is taken off at checkout. They ship to Australia at a flat rate of 10.50 pounds (approx $16). Run, don't walk fellow bargain chasers!

You will also notice that my blog layout has undergone some changes-- ahhh to have the day off work ;-)