It's Christmas!

I can never decide if posts with Christmas (or Birthday) presents in them are crude but, in the absence of strong feeling either way, I decided to share some of mine. As well as my Christmas day outfit. My ideal Christmas Day would be spent in pyjamas. When I was a kid, I was never fussed for getting dressed at Christmas and did so begrudgingly. Now that I am old and spend Christmas visiting family and whatnot, pyjamas won't cut it. Yup, I am firmly in the 'pyjamas should only be worn in the house' camp. The only excusable exception to this are:

• Nipping to the corner shop for milk (etc) and, even then you should add trainers and a sufficiently outdoor appropriate hoodie or similar.
• Unexpectedly having to pick someone up from somewhere in the car - see rule above for making said pyjama wearing acceptable.
• Emergency shit like fire alarms or ambulance travel.
• Being aged 5 or under - embrace it small ones!

Now, my Christmas day wear needs to be:

• Comfortable with plenty room for a food baby.
• Still look 'me'
• Have some sparkle. Well, it is Christmas after all.

Here's what I went with:

Dress: vintage from Godiva in Edinburgh, Cardi: Primark, Belt: Accessorize, Glitter ankle boots: schuh, necklace: Plastique.

How weird does my nose look? It looks like I've had an odd extension to it. I haven't. 

This outfit basically ticks all the Christmas boxes for me: the dress is pretty but also comfy (elasticated waist) and demure enough for a day with in-laws and the belt's a bit loose so plenty room for Chrimbo munching. Those and the cardi are lurex threaded so there's your sparkle. And, there's extra sparkle in the glittery boots. Which also have a heel that's low enough for any Christmas Day walks that get chucked in. My gorgeous mirrored Plastique necklace adds a final statement. What did you wear? If you say pyjamas, I'll be sick with jealousy!

And so to the potentially tasteless gift flashing. I got some lovely gift from some awesome people, including gift cards (NEVER impersonal  - don't believe anyone who says otherwise!), rum, Grasmere gingerbread, nice smellies, useful notecards and note books and, (casual as you like), a pair of Charlotte Olympia Priscilla in glitter. Oh my days. I can't WAIT to wear them. Mind you, I did wear them about the house while I tidied up Christmas stuff last night...

I hope you all had an ace Christmas! Here's to a happy New Year next...

A Brit of excitement makes things something of a Blur...

Yesterday was a great day. It was pancake day (I love pancakes and am the meanest tosser going. Fnar) and it was the Brit awards. Most years I mean to catch the Brits then don't but this year it was penned (not pencilled, penned) in my diary for ages in advance, on account of the fact that Blur were playing! Squee! I LOVE Blur. I'm that 90s kid who never moved on and still loves Blur.

As a teenager, my bedroom was a riot of indie band posters - Blur filled one wall, Oasis the other (I've always been indecisive) and the middle was a mish mash of the Charlatans, Ocean Colour Scene, Shed 7, Supergrass and whoever else I was feeling at the time. And I'm just not over it. These days it might be photos of friends and family on my walls and the odd nice picture, rather than posters and articles ripped from the pages of Big, Smash Hits, NME and Melody Maker but, oh those boys and their guitars are still in my heart. When Blur reformed for gigs back in 2009 I thought I might actually burst - especially when nearly all of them clashed with my hen do, wedding and honeymoon. Gutted. I managed the Newcastle gig two days before the wedding (and the day Michael Jackson died) and it was just amazing. So, post Brits I am hoping desperately that they tour again. What can I say?

Anyway, by the time I got to pancake flipping (like a pro. Did I mention that I toss like a badass?) and Brits watching I was in my pjs but here's what I wore earlier that day:

Dress: Tesco, Cardi: Asda, Belt and necklace: Accessorize, shoes Primark

 I hadn't realised til I came to write this that I was dressed as a trolly dash. I bloody love this Asda cardi though cause I've never seen anyone in the same, it has cute flower detailing on the buttons and it looks vintage. No-one has ever suspected it for a supermarket purchase. And now you know my secret.

My sister gave me this wee fella for my birthday

Here are the shoes (cause it's what I iz about, innit?). They were £6 in Primark's sale. I do enjoy a bit of orange and on a brogue it's freakin' awesome. And on that note, I bid you goodnight.

Doing a happy dance

I'm not sure why, truth be told, but I look purdy happy and dancey here, right? Maybe it's cause I'm wearing pink leopard print shoes and that shizzle just makes me wanna dance! They're shoes #66 in my challenge to wear ALL of my shoes (ridic sized collection) in a year.

Now, about the challenge. I really must get a wriggle on and see what I've not worn yet because if I don't use it, I lose it! Well, sell it or give it to charity. The things is, over the last year, my shoe collection has changed a lot. Part way through the year, I realised there were some pairs I was never going to wear so I just got rid of them. I've bought goodness knows how many extra pairs (it's a habit). There have also been a few 'deaths' in the shoe collection. It's certainly been an interesting year in the shoe-drobe. Anyway, I shall endeavour to pull out some kind of summary in the very close future in preparation for it all coming to an end!

Here are this post's shoes in slightly closer up glory. If you look closely at the toe next to my big toe on my left foot, you can just about make out the plaster I have airbrushed off. I also airbrushed some nasty cuts on my right foot - I'm not that vain but I didn't want to subject you to the yuk of it! These pics are in fact ones I took ages ago and, if I remember correctly, my feet took a beating in my first flip-flop outing of the year. Much rubbing happened and, voila, the skin was gone! Bloody flip flops - so weird how you can have pairs you wear all the time and they're grand then one day, a much loved and worn pair just takes the skin off ya! Ouch!

Shoes: Primark - about £4

One thing that hasn't injured me (but has dyed my finger bright green - cheap metal) is my awesome owl ring, which you can nearly make out in the outfit shot - here he is in all his awesome glory. I friggin' love this ring!

Have a lovely Tuesday evening!

Perpetual Mullet.

Yes, I have decided (for now) to grow out my hair and, at the moment, am in a state of perpetual mullet. What's a girl to do? I'm no good with hair anyway - I never know what to do with it, what products to use or anything.  Literally, these days I am shampoo only and, if I go for a particularly high quiff, a squirt of hairspray. My hair's so short it doesn't even need conditioner. That'll be back in the regime as soon as I have a bit more length though. So, at the moment, the 'do' is in a not-properly-short-but-not-yet-bob-length-either state and the bit that seems to grow fastest is ALWAYS the back of it. I bring this topic up purely because you can see the mullet flicks in the picture below:

Shoes: Schuh, Dress: Urban Outfitter, Shirt and Belt: H&M

I was interviewing at work today so thought I best keep to a slightly neater version of me. Don't worry - there's still ALWAYS a way to work leopard print into any look. Phew! And some accessory awesomeness! The little owl ring is new (duty free when I was at an airport waaaaaaaaaay early. Duty Free is lethal when there's lots of time to kill) and I L-O-V-E him. He's so cute! I feel I will be wearing him a lot. I think we've met the other jewels before.

And so to the shoes. Everyone knows that, if you're going to work 'smart', you need a nice pair of shoes. And I happen to think mine are particularly nice! I've wanted to get a pair of brogues for ages but wasn't sure my legs could, er, work them. Last winter I got my brogue boots which are currently awaiting re-heeling because they were worn so much (off topic, but does anyone have any vague interest whatsoever in shoe repairing? I have about 10 pairs to have mended and can't decide if shoe resurrection equals a remotely worthwhile blog post!). So, I decided that I didn't much care if people liked how they looked on me and went for it anyway.

Pair #62 in the shoe wearing challenge! Look. Aren't I gentlemanly? In a girlie pink sorta way. The brogues are from Schuh and are a gorgeous soft leather and they feel just lovely on. Plus, they smell proper leathery too - I love that. In fact I was chatting to someone today (hello!) who says she regularly offers people a sniff of her Mulberry bag. I totally get that. I'll be honest, I kind of wanted to smell it too! And, on that note, I bid you all a good evening.

Toe so pretty! (See what I did there?)

Godzilla? King Kong?

Forgive me for being SO not down with comic book cartoon-y stuff and the subsequent films that arise from said stuff. However, Mr Scribbler described this as either my King Kong or Godzilla outfit (I can't remember which) on account of the Japanese sun type shoes:

shoes: Schuh

and the NYC necklace:

Necklace: Accessorize

I'm thinking King Kong maybe - I have visions of the giant ape hanging off the Statue of Liberty. Actually, when I clocked my thighs in these jeans I thought of King Kong! Oh the curse of the pear shape. I can rest happy-ish knowing that pears are amongst the healthiest of the shapes with our fat being stored around our arses and thighs and away from our hearts. Yay for pears! However, healthy shape or no healthy shape, I can glean no comfort in light of those saddle bags. Dobbin's sacks, along with the New-ish year can only mean one thing. Yes ladies, it's time to get in shape. Don't I look impressed at the thought?

 

My 'plan' if you can call it that, is to genuinely to make the effort to eat more healthily and to do more exercise. Eating more healthily will include:

Making the effort to get as close to my 5 a day as possible.

Cutting down sugary snacks and sweets

Not mindlessly eating in the evening

Watching and cutting down on portion sizes.

Not eating shitloads of dinner in the evening if I get in late.

NO diet. NO. Why? Because they work for a while then I get fed up and pile the weight back on.This is about re-training my brain to think differently.

And, as for the exercise, I'm aiming for at least 3 zumba classes a week plus a session or two of swimming. I'm signing up for a sponsored 51 mile cycle ride in September too so, as the weather improves, I'll be hopping on my bike too!

Anyone got any tips for success?

ps - the shoes are shoes #48 from Schuh!

A weekend of bargains...

As I mentioned in my last post, I managed to bag some good ol' bargains this weekend and, well, I couldn't help but being a smug ass boaster it seemed rude not to share.

If you read yesterday's post, you'll already have met this little guy. I kind of want to name him. I like naming things - my car, a little half dead mouse we once found in our house and inanimate animal shaped things.

Ring £2.10 in Accessorize sale.

 The following superb piece of bejazzlement cost a relative fortune, in comparison - £2.40 (a whole 30p extra), also in the Accessorize sale. But, ain't it blinging in as understated a way as a ring this size can be? My right ring fingers feels positively regal in it today...

And finally, (for Accessorize at least), this little set of three rings was also £2.40 in the sale. That's only 80p per ring - bargain! That's the same price as pudding minus custard in my work canteen. Pretty fingers, money saved and thinner (for lack of comparative pudding) - these rings truly are incredible. My only worry is that they might end up falling off my bony fingers...

And finally (but really finally this time), I got this set of drawers. Now, forgive me while I go all domestic on you for a mo' but I love these. They have a broken handle and they're a wee bit shabby but they're proper old school and a lovely dark wood. I opened the top drawer (see bottom) and found a British Safety mark inside from 1960, as well as the brand name Austinsuite. It turns out they were a well known furniture manufacturer in the 50s and 60s. Having had a wee scout about, it seems you can still get bits and pieces of their stuff here and there. Some for a song on Gumtree and some, restored by antique folk and selling for up to £300 on eBay and vintage/retro sites. Needless to say I was thrilled to get mine for a mere £10 through Gumtree! And it's perfect in my bedroom.

Blue Monday? Mine was red, black and leopardy!

Blue Monday, schmue Monday! My day was alright, ta v much. How was yours? I've actually been doing a cracking job on the exercise and haven't been eating TOO badly and I had a lovely weekend so, really, there's owt to shout about. Plus, despite a cheeky wee spot, I had one of those days where your outfit comes together nicely and you just feel, well, good. Gotta love that, right?

Also, I managed to sneak in pair of shoes # 46, these little flats by Irregular Choice from Schuh.

They're proper old skool Irregular Choice from back in 2002/3ish. I don't wear them that often so they haven't died. I imagine if I wore them loads, they'd have packed in long ago as they're the most gorgeous, delicate Chinese looking silk/satin. And I love the old Irregular Choice 'bum toe' - I know they really divide people (like they divide my toes - they don't really), but I'm a fan. Split the toe full on like on a Nike Rift though and you lose me - that's just weird!

Leopardy:

Dress: New Look, Cardi: Warehouse, Hairband: Primark, Necklace: Topshop, Belt: H&M, leggings: ASOS, Shoes: Irregular Choice @ Schuh.

 I got this little dress last week in New Look - I couldn't resist the cute leopard print collar! I've already worn it a couple of times so I think it is going to have been a wise investment. Especially as I now plan to TRY to cut back on the shopping this year in favour of saving for holidays. Plus, it's nicer not to be frittering the cash on disposable fashion, isn't it.

Some other cheeky wee bargains here! The necklace I've had for ages (hence the missing stone!), the belt I got free, sort of - it was a gift card purchase, the heart ring was £2.40 as part of a set of three in the Accessorize, and the gorgeous owl was £2.10 also from Accessorize! I got another amazing ring there the same day for £2.40 so that was £6.90 in total AND I had a £5 gift voucher too. I must say, I'm an absolute sucker for a bargain and it's even better when it's something I'd planned to buy anyway - I'd admired the owl ring a few times but vetoed it based on price. It's amazing what 70% off will do to a girl...

You better believe I'm stretching this into a two-parter!

Many apologies people. I've been a bad and irregular blogger over this last week or so. It's been a busy couple of weeks and I simply haven't found the time to put virtual pen to virtual paper. Anyway, after a weekend of my work Christmas party (drunken but fun but gosh my mouth really runs away with itself sometimes. You may have gathered that by now...), Shed 7 in Dunfermline (rock 'n' roll fun times, 90s style) and a much needed day and night at Stobo Castle Health Spa (free upgrade and a bathroom with green leopard print walls. Yes please!), I am back! Hello!

Now, I've finally taken shoes (boots) # 41 off my feet (DM boots from schuh). However, at a rough count, I think they spent over a fortnight straight on my feet in total (no they don't smell - cheeky!). Therefore, as the title suggests, you better believe I'm eaking them out into a blog-tastic two parter. Plus, because I'm not a smelly and didn't wear the same clothes for the fortnight, I totally have pictures of me wearing them with other stuff. Good times. First up, a little reminder of the boots.

Brown, leather and stompy. I can't believe I'm back to wearing Docs and that, at my ripe not that old age I'm already recycling fashion from my teens! Haha! Something in my head says that if I wore something at 14, either it's surely too tragic to be worn now OR I am not slender enough to be wearing said article anymore. However, as with other fashion related choices (stripes on a pear), I said "sod it" and wore them anyway.

dress and leggings: ASOS, cardi: primark, necklace: Accessorize

This is me with chronic hat hair. As well as wearing these boots all the time, I have had pretty much constant hat hair for the last fortnight. It's been so arctic I've HAD to wear a hat and, well, the hair comes with the territory. Bugger, right? I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that my hair was all blow dried and lovely for the Xmas party on Friday night and, thankfully, this weekend, we've seen almost unthinkable highs of up to 5-6c so my hair has been looking something resembling normal. It's mundane I know but it's the little things, innit? awfully exciting!

dress: Primark, cardi: New Look

This is me embracing Christmas fashion and the, er, sleepy look. My cardigan has reindeer on it! Yay! What's not to love about that? Plus, it's the most frickin' warm cardigan I own right now and that shit ain't to be sniffed at during lows of minus 15 or something. Have I ever told you that I do have a small weather obsession? Seriously, when this snow and whatnot happened, I was partly pissed off cos it was a pain (and in some cases, really downright awful to some very nice people) but partly loving the nation joining me in my weather joy. Rock on. I'm gonna try to wear heels with something colourful tomorrow so I have something purdy to stick on here. May as well embrace the dryness while it's here. Laters skaters...xxx

Going for the quadruple!

Do you ever have that thing where you buy a new pair of shoes and you wear them ALL the time? I pretty much don't - almost never. I'm such a shoe hoarder/aficionado that I'm always wearing different ones. Not in a 'ooh, look at all my shoes' kinda way, I just change my mind as to what I'm in the mood for day to day and it seems wasteful not to flex the collexion. Plus, if I'm gonna be on my feet a lot, I'll wear flats but if I have a desk bound day, I'll bung on some mental heels I can barely walk in. Don't get me wrong, I'm a bad shoe mother and I do have my favourites but on the whole, it's a pretty mixed bag for me.

However, last week I got the Bronx Herald Brogue boot from schuh. Shoes # 39. And, man, I can't take them off my feet! Four days in a row I've had them on now. It's partly because I've been driving this week, partly cos I've had a day out of the office (whee! Fun trips!) and partly because I love them! Here they are with some slightly jester-esque socks.

I know they don't necessarily look much but four days in and I haven't had a sore foot and there ain't been a blister in sight, even after nipping down to London and spending the whole day on foot, punctuated by trains (7 of them), planes (2) and automobiles (4). They come with a slightly battered 'faux vintage' look (and a wee disclaimer for the anal explaining that they are supposed to look battered), the leather is deliciously soft and the brogue detailing is classically gorgeous in a mannish way.

boots: Bronx @ schuh, socks: Urban Outfitter

Here's what I wore them with day 1:

coat: eBay, scarf: Accessorize, dress 'n' leggings: Uniqlo

Evidently something on the ceiling's caught my eye.

Then here's me showing those beatches on Top Model how you do a jumping shot. Ahem. I looked so freakin' mental good, I was forced to chop the top half of my head out of the picture so as not to alarm evoke jealously in people. Look at the movement in the cardi though. Lovely!

shirt: H&M, cardi: Topshop

Seriously, my face is so scrunched up you couldn't see my eyes in this pic even if I hadn't chopped my head off. Anyway, what you can't see in the pictures is the very cute necklace I'm wearing that I got for my birthday from my kind friend Lynsey. It's a piece of NYC inspired kitchness from Accessorize. You can get it here, if you so wish.

Now I don't have shots of days 2 and 3 (day 3 I wore the boots with this dress, should you care to imagine the ensemble) but here's day 4 (today) of boot-wearing-gate.

dress: H&M, scarf: Primark

Can you tell I was still shattered from London (I was down there for a work meeting then the schuh press day for s/s '11. It looked fantastic and the girls did an amazing job! And that's not just me being biased on account of knowing them - they truly did a fantastic job) today and flung something on, scraping my hair back and foregoing make up? I promise to try harder tomorrow!

And in aid of looking fresher and more daisy like tomorrow, I'm off for a nice hot bath. Ahhhh...

Dirty Old Boot

No, in spite of what you might have heard, I am not a dirty old boot. But my boots are dirty old boots. They're schuh ones that I got for about £13 in the sale last year. Bargain! They're really soft leather and they're leather lined so I was pleased to bag such a good deal. But, yes they're kind of on the battered side (and the lining's a little loose inside one foot which, at the most inopportune moments, emits a creaky farting noise)...

They look almost forlorn here! They got worn so much last winter due to my distinct lack of 'sensible' footwear and a trip to the local farmer's market was really their undoing. The snow was almost as deep as they are high (in the city centre!) and, on account of said snow, half the stall holders couldn't even get in to the darn market! So there I was trudging about in the slush in my barely suitable footwear and, so cold and rank was the weather, I had to nip into Poundstrecher for some replacement socks cos mine were soaked through. Anyway, the result was the salty tide marks you can see right around the upper and, try as I might, I can't get rid of them. And I'm something of a shoe expert. Well, I am!

So really the shoes are in need of some TLC before they're properly subjected to the weather again this year. They could do with re-heeling before the wooden heel unit goes all soft and soggy, and a bit of rebonding around the featherline (see - EXPERT!) and I'll probably give them a wee coat of dubbin or protector spray to be on the safe side. I know I won't get anything I like as much as cheap as I got these and it's good to take care of things, innit? They might not be the prettiest boots ever but they're comfy and I do love 'em.

Which is why I chose them to wear through to Glasgow yesterday. Mr Scribbler decided he fancied a day in the Weej so we set off for as cheap a day as possible (payday is next week!). Here's what else I wore ('scuse the bizarre look. I only had time to snap one pic before I went out so it's just going to have to make do!)

Dress: Trollied Dolly (worn lots - see here, here or here for the incriminating evidence!)

Denim shirt and jacket: H&M

What you can't tell is that my artfully arranged fringe is covering a spot big enough to have me paying fares for two on the bus. NO Kidding! Thankfully today it's beating a slow retreat back from whence it came. Dirty Bugger.

Anyway, the day of cheapness went very well. Remembering I still had various gift card/vouchers knocking about, I bagged a bag (fnar!) from Accessorize and a pair of socks and a dress from Urban Outfitters all without shelling out a penny. Yay! Ordinarily I'd never pay that much for socks and I think a lot of what Urban Outfitters sell is overpriced but it's not so bad when it's free! And the second dress was an exchange for one I hadn't been able to wear yet as it had a bust zip (thank you for your suggestions on fixing it - I tried lipbalm, a lead pencil and candlewax to no avail. It was just completely busted!) so that kinda felt free. Add to this our Tesco restaurant vouchers which got us a nearly free lunch at Pizza Express, it was an all round bargainous day!

Anyway, I'm off to stare at the rain outside.

Baby Bet rides again!

Yee-haw! So today I was going for this season's Prada meets classic Chanel, topped with wild beast for my look. All monochromatic and tweed and fairly chic and understated for me. However, fate had other ideas...imagine, if you will, this lovely dress:

 

 

With these absolutely delicious shoes (guess who figured out how to use 'collage' on Picasa today?! Me-eee!):

 

 

What a delightful look it would make. However, Primark's quality being questionable as it sometimes is, the dress has a dodgy zip. I really shouldn't have bought it (it's a size too big and has a dodgy zip) but I LOVE it and couldn't help myself. The zip wouldn't fasten when I tried it on but, a wee dab of carmex and some determination and up and down it was going. I decided if I could fasten and unfasten it when I got to the till, I would buy it. And charlatan that it is, it zipped up and down nicely.

NOT SO THIS MORNING!

So there I am, feeling smug in my sure-to-look-chic-ness bubble, on the dress goes and up the zip goes. NO IT DOESN'T. THE BUGGER JAMS AGAIN. And I'm hopping about the bedroom trying to get it up (ooh-er) and I have Mr Scribbler trying to get away for his shower, hoiking at the thing but it will not budge. Bastard. Mr Scribbler goes off for his shower and I try the trusty lip balm on the zip again but nothing. This thing is froze like ICE. It's as stiff as Wayne Rooney in an old lady brothel (apologies to the Rooneys. That's my second bad joke at their expense in as many weeks. If you will make it so easy though...). By this time, I'm getting grumpy, as well as getting a not very sexy sweat on so I decide to take it off. You better believe I was stuck! Worse than when I super glued my finger and thumb together. What a foo'! I had to retrieve Mr Scribbler from the shower to recommence hoiking, but this time the hoiking of the dress up over my head. Hot-diggity damn! I put on a clean dress and promptly pour tea down the front and, on account of all the dress antics, I have time for neither hair, nor make up and go to work looking like a tramp. 

 

The whole thing makes me chuckle now though. Plus, tramp or no tramp, tea or no tea, I got my enormous leopard hairy coat back from the dry cleaner yesterday so, ultimately, I did look a bit Bhetto (see what I did there? Like Bet Lynch? Though when you have to explain your 'joke' for fear of it not being understood it isn't normally a good thing) Fabulous. Another good thing is that I got my hair cut after work which is why it looks so freakin' good.

 

 

Coat - eBay

Dress - I made it. Yes I did - with my own fair hands.

Shoes - Topshop

Necklace - Accessorize

 

Look! Super smashing Swell hair! (I can't get these pictures to align themselves in a nicer fashion I'm afraid. You get the gist though, I'm sure - you're all very beautiful and intelligent). And tired make up free face.

 

 

Anyway, on to the shoes. Pair # 30 (wow! I just realised I now officially have more followers than the number of shoes I've worn. This excites me like a puppy who's just found his tail. Thank you for reading/following my blog. I appreciate it massively). These shoes, as above, are from Topshop and, following the dress dramatics, I was darned if I wasn't still wearing them as planned! They are gorgeous cream leather with black patent toe cap, heel, strap and platform. They're lined in tan leather and they're just stupendous. They're one of the most classic looking things I own and I've worn them loads since splashing out (by my standards) on them. I literally stalked my local Topshop stores trying to find them, as well as calling branches across the land (their stock organisation is HORRIBLE and they cannot tell you where stock might be, even if you're able to travel to the store. It's beyond annoying when you develop an unhealthy obsession) to try to locate them. Having been told they'd never have my size were out of stock etc etc, I popped on site one day to find they'd had an unexpected re-stock! Get a better system Topshop, you retail behemoth!

 

 

Time to go wash off my banana and oat facemask...