1/1/11

New Year. A chance to start afresh. To be whoever, whatever you want to be, to make and break resolutions. Or just another day? I always get all contemplative around New Year, wonder where the last 12 months went, how I'm another year older and when I'll get it all figured out. It's impossible to say, isn't it?

However, in light of the fact that it is a New Year, here are some things I'm going to half heartedly think about doing resolve to do:

• Eat a little bit less - I eat too much right now!
• Exercise a little bit more
• Make good progress with my career
• Keep enjoying my blog and, hopefully, have others enjoy it
• Be kind

What resolutions are you all making this year?

So the reason this post is entitled 1/1/11 is because the outfit below was from that day. Well, you didn't think I was going to get all sombre and resolution-y on your asses and not chuck some shoes in there too, did you?! Goodness me! 

On New Year's Day we always all pile round to Mr S's Aunt's house and have a big family buffet (everyone eats and drinks a bit much and generally makes merry) so I decided to make the effort and wear 'something nice'. Cue pretty floral dress and leopard print aplenty, topped with a set of vintage pearls that belonged to Mr S's Gran. Well, that's my version of 'something nice'. Plus Mr S's aunties appreciate a good pair of shoes so I always try to entertain on that front.

Dress: vintage reproduction, cardi: H&M, shoes: schuh, pearls: vintage

 The shoes are pair #44 from schuh and they were a bargain £17 in the sale last year. You know me and my leopard print and I enjoy the black and gold twist on it here. I love it when a print that might ordinarily be tacky ends up on a shoe and works. I also enjoy the concealed platform and squared off toe of the shoe. They're a good un but not the most comfortable!

Look, look - I also got a haircut. I still have a long fringe but the rest is even shorter than it was. And, I am still figuring out what to do with it. The problem is that enough weight has now come off my hair and it is now immune to the effects of gravity. AKA, after I wash my hair it all stands on end and I look like a Chuckle Brother...(weird 80s kid's TV guys)

So, if you have any tips for dealing with sticky up hair, do let me know!

I hope 2011 has got off to a good start for you all and continues to treat you well! (Look, there's me being kind already)

Festive summation

I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas and New Year type period. I've had a swell time and, rather than do a few posts on it all, I thought I'd sum it all up in a one-er, complete with neat picture collages. May I please now have an 'ooh' from the audience?

Christmas Eve

I was working Christmas eve so there truly isn't much to write home about from that day. However, I did come home to find Mr Scribbler festooning our flat with Christmas decorations which was lovely, partly because I hadn't had time to do it and our flat did look really bah humbug, and partly because he couldn't give a monkey's about Christmas decorations ordinarily, so it was very sweet of him to bust them out as a surprise.

The other thing of vague note about Christmas eve is that, in another burst against winter dressing and big boots, I dropped a boot level to these suede ones from schuh (only to end up wishing I'd stuck with the thick soled Docs). I also whipped out this awesome sequined cardigan thing. I got it for a song in a vintage store in Haight Ashbury in San Francisco and it's by a brand called Three Flaggs, a division of Edith Flagg clothing (she says as if she knew Edith personally and didn't have to run through to the bedroom to read the label). I just looked up some info on the brand and it's really rather interesting - check out the Wiki info if you fancy it. Three Flaggs was started in 1973 and I imagine some lady in California going on a cheesy cruise and using this piece as a little cover up to keep off the sea breeze. It's hard to see from the picture but the sparkle is really iridescent and just what was needed this Christmas eve!

Christmas Day

I love Christmas! It's just ace going round seeing the family and then chilling out, watching crap TV and eating plenty good food. This year we visited Mr S's parents, followed by my Mum (where my little sis, niece and nephew also were), and finally my Dad and Step-Mum. It was a fair round trip by the time we made it back to our place and we couldn't wait to get stuck into dinner (AKA, even start on dinner. AAKA, crack open some champagne in a fit of faux-poshness). The tree below is my Mum's (ours is tiny - about a foot) and it's accompanied by my home baked and decorated Xmas cake (YUM!), gifts for giving on our journey and my sensible, yet sparkly Xmas ensemble - gold lurex dress (cute, comfy, plenty room for belly expansion), cosy leopard print coat and my shiny new leopard print Fud. Yes, Fud. Now, I don't know if that word has any meaning where you live but, where I come from, it's slang for, er, a lady garden. This amuses me greatly as I am actually an overgrown child with a wicked sense of rude and toilet based humour. So, when I came across the company, I hit Twitter to express my amusement. Cue sense of guilt and shame when the company contacted me to say they were unaware of the double meaning and had decided to change their name! Apparently, there's supposed to be an umlaut over the 'u' so it'd be pronounced 'oo', 'food' (Furry Hood - Fud - geddit!?) but, I guess the umlaut doesn't come up in all fonts etc so they got Fud. Anyway, point is, although it started with a chuckle, their Fuuds (as they're now called) are actually very cute and cosy and thanks go to Mr S for treating me to mine! It's now official. I love Fuud.

Hogmanay!

I also love Hogmanay (New Year's eve to the uneducated. Not uneducated in a rude way, just if no-one's ever referred to New Years Eve as Hogmanay in front of you, you might wonder what the sweet bejesus I'm talking about. It's a Scottish thing). For me, Christmas is family, Hogmanay is friends. And me and some friends went down to a lovely local pub, the Roseleaf, which is all pretty chintzy wallpaper, hats displayed around the room and menus hidden inside vintage vino magazines. Oh, and blackboards and chalk behind the loos. Cue much hilarity. No, of course I didn't draw a penis on the blackboard like an IMBECILE. The Roseleaf serve their cocktails, pot-tails, in vintage teapots accompanied by a mish-mash of mixed vintage tea cups. It's tres lovely. And their food is absolutely delicious! Anyway, a swell time was had by all. Unfortunately, I'm fairly sure I hadn't yet worn the shoes I wore that night during my shoes challenge (sorry, is this making sense?) but I neglected to get a picture of my whole outfit - d'oh! Blogger fail. I shall wear them again, snap them and include them. Here's to 2011 being a good one folks!

Maybe I should have split this into three separate posts...