Marianna Boutique - a beautiful boutique specialising in Danish Designers

Something that I really like doing on Style Guile is writing about new brands and independent boutiques. Sadly many independent boutiques have not weathered the storm of the recession.  When you live in a big City like I do, the astronomical rents mean that they just can't compete with the High Street stores. This is such a shame as they offer such a different shopping experience, both in terms of the choice and the personal service. I would love to be able to pop along to a local boutique and to pick up some simple, stylish, interesting pieces from niche brands.

I've followed the activities of Marianna Boutique (Ipswich) on twitter and facebook for a while now and last week I contacted Emma, who runs the boutique, to see whether she would mind if I wrote about her business.

The Becksondergaard tote in "Mouse" (£45)

There was something about the clothes that Emma featured, and her comments on social media, that made me think: "She sounds like a nice lady, I'd like to find out more about what she's up to."  If I'm honest, I'm a bit nosey too plus I always like a success story - and recently the boutique has had a great success story. Emma described being "beyond thrilled" to be a Drapers Independent Awards finalist 2014.

Interestingly, prior to buying the boutique, Emma was a customer there and loved the collections, especially those by the Danish brand Malene Birger.  At that stage, she worked as a senior finance manager for a large insurance company and did so for nearly 20 years but after having her children, she realised that she needed to make some adjustments to her busy life. (Apparently she has failed in this respect as it's no less crazy now!)

 

Hofmann Mathilde dress (£239)

Emma  trained professionally as a personal image consultant and bought Marianna six years ago. She believes that her expertise in knowing what colours suit certain skin tones or what shapes flatter particular body shapes, combined with a head for figures, has helped Marianna weather the recession and come through it stronger than ever. She says that it's also a great asset when she's in buying appointments as she knows which pieces will work best on her customers.

 

ChloBo yellow tassel necklace (£40) - (I think that this would look great when I go to V-festival on Saturday).

Emma told me that the boutique's USP is very much "Scandinavian Style" and that they specialise in premium Danish designers. Most of Marianna's customers are ladies aged 35-55 and many of them have been customers since the boutique first opened its doors in 2004.

Printed biker jacket (£149 reduced from £249)

The Marianna website was re-launched this Spring and showcases some of the pieces available at the boutique (although only about 75% of the stock goes online due to the availability of quality images.)

Emma has set up a discount for 10% off Style Guile readers on any orders at Marianna. The code is STYLEGUILE10 and it expires 30th September, so there's plenty of time for new season purchases. For anyone who's interested, amongst the pieces above, these are what I have my eye on...

The Sargossa heels (£220) which come in several colours and which are designed to be the ultimate in comfortable high heels. Apparently they have medical grade shock absorbing foam to take pressure off the feet and the heel height is calculated with the optimum platform to support the foot. They sound pretty perfect to me.

With the Drapers awards lunch in London in September it's going to be a busy month for Emma and the boutique and I wish her the very best of luck.

 

A Denim and Chambray outfit for a casual kind of day....

I couldn't quite get it together today. Sometimes when I start the day by doing jobs, with the result that I get showered and dressed slightly later than usual, it doesn't work too well. I started off with a skirt, or two, or three, but ditched all of them. Then, to avoid a fall out of the apocalyptic kind, I went for the simplest of simple of combinations of trusty jeans (GAP) -  a trusty shirt (GAP) - and very trusty shoes (Carvela), all of which were in a very neutral colour palette. OK to some it may be boring and lacking a certain edge but that's where the benefit of normcore comes in. A trend of understated simplicity - it's perfect for those days when you can't get it together or you can't be ar*** because the outfit can be passed off as the ultimate look.

One of our activities for the day, as well as buying school shoes and doing the food shopping, was to go swimming. Luckily the floor blended quite well with my colour scheme for the day. My lovely new basket came along for the ride and if you look carefully, it contains the bikini which I featured on here a couple of weeks ago now. Much to my surprise, it's now my swimwear of choice.

And just look at the numpty who can't even dress herself properly after the swim. Tragic!

A round up of the weekend's outfits (they're not glamourous in the least!)

These are the weekend photos that probably shouldn't be shown to the world but they're all that exist for now.  Plus I always wanted Style Guile to be real life - so I'm going to use that as my excuse for these horrors!

Saturday morning started off with the park run. When it comes to the park run I've realised that age is actually a great advantage.  Clearly not that many women run in my age category which means that it's possible to do a less than brilliant time and still look quite competent (on paper at least). That's my kind of running! Here I'm wearing GAP running clothes, which I really like. They're not great for anyone who prefers a silky, lightweight fabric but personally I prefer a thicker fabric with a bit of support.

Then I decided on my Hush star jumper and a chambray skirt for the rest of the day, plus Topshop shoes. Usually I would choose a slightly more fitted top but it was a relaxed kind of day so, you know, I just went with the flow.

Sticking with the relaxed theme, Jigsaw tencel chinos, a Reiss jumper and converse plus a Kate Spade bag were good for a trip the swings - until it rained and I needed to levitate to keep the white converse white. Such a ridiculous choice of colour for converse!

And today a bag is wearing me!

I'm sure that in real life this bag isn't as big as it looks here - but maybe I'm wrong. It looks as though I could climb in it and camp for the night.

The bag was a present from a relative and it was bought from Indica in Guernsey.  It was handed over to me at the airport, which was a lovely gesture but by that point, we all had our quota of hand luggage, other than Mr SG whose hand luggage was a carrier bag. So guess who got to put his carrier bag (complete with crocs) into the basket to carry on to the aeroplane? Actually he stopped short of that, making me carry it instead but in turn, he had to carry my Cath Kidston bag. That poor man, he has so much to put up with!

So following on from yesterday's post, today I had flamingo coloured legs and shoes. I was off somewhere where jeans weren't really appropriate but having worn shorts and flip flops for so long, I found trousers and heels really hard.

Whilst looking for alternative baskets to bring to you (I failed miserably) I came across this Flamingo bag from Accessorise  (£10). I saw it a while ago and searched for it the other day but couldn't find it and then, when searching for "baskets" today, there it appeared - obviously!

I love little bags like this and find them so useful. I tend to put all of my bits and bobs in them and then move them from bag to bag, which makes life pretty easy when it comes to swapping bags. But back to flamingos....

It all started a few years ago with this wallpaper that we have in our conservatory...

...and this year I had a birthday card with flamingos on which I also love. I feel a flamingo obsession commensurate with my obsession for all things pink, sparkly and striped. Oh dear....

Two of my two favourites coming together - Diet Coke and ASOS plus THE perfect gift!

I'm on a list! Finally, I'm on a list! Actually I'm on a lot of lists, such as "the people who have been on a speed awareness course" list but this is a list that I really like being on. It's the Diet Coke bespoke gift pack, list.

In all honesty, if the criteria for being on the list is how much Diet Coke a person drinks, then I think that I have earned my rightful place. Put it this way: if I was like a flamingo, and if my skin colour was the same as the colour of the food/drink that I consumed, I would be Diet Coke colour, which actually sounds quite appealing to me.

To celebrate the launch of "Treasure Hunk", which is a collaboration between Diet Coke and ASOS,  I was sent this fabulous personalised T-shirt that I'm wearing, together with a personalised crystal-encrusted Diet Coke bottle and a crystal ring- pull necklace.  I love personalised things, from my "Bethy G" necklace from my friend, to my plastic "Elizabeth" bowl, which my eldest bought for me for 50p at a service station on her way back from a school trip a few weeks ago - I love them all.

In a nutshell, Diet Coke and ASOS have collaborated and each day, ASOS will hide Diet Coke "Hunks" in unexpected places across the ASOS site. To find them you will have to crack clues given on the Diet Coke Facebook Page and ASOS.COM and put the answer into the ASOS search bar.

If someone is logged into the ASOS site and finds the hunk, he will appear wearing a Diet Coke T-shirt with the customer's name on it. Ha, that could certainly brighten up a rainy day! Customers can win a host of prizes including limited edition personalised "Share a Diet Coke" bottles encrusted with crystals and customised ring-pull jewellery.

However, the ultimate prize is a bespoke nine-carat, rose gold, diamond encrusted ring pull pendant worth £4,500 designed by award winning jeweller Katie Rowland.  At the end of the six weeks, one winner will be chosen to win the necklace. So to those who enter, good luck!

Oh, and to anyone at Diet Coke reading this, last year I promised my husband's PA that I would find her a bottle with her name on it (I tend to spend a lot of time rooting through fridges of Diet Coke bottles) but still I have failed to do so, if there's on with "Gaynor" on it, could you please point me in the right direction? Thanks ever so!

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue - largely Ralph Lauren with a little bit of Whistles

Today's outfit all started with a bike ride. I needed a bag to put all of my bits and bobs in and remembered that I had given my Ralph Lauren backpack (a true piece of mid 90's chic) to our eldest so, in line with yesterday's shenanigans, I pilfered it back for a while.

The back pack was great for the bike ride and then I thought that about trying it for real - well, for the first time since I last used it for real, which was about 17 years ago.

I love a good midi skirt and I had my eye on this one when it first appeared in Whistles. Although it was spring/summer '14 stock, I couldn't quite figure out why, given the weight of it. When I came across it in the sale, reduced from £125 (ish) to £65, I snapped it up. I can't say that it had my name on it but it's called the "Ivy" skirt, which was my Grandma's name, so I saw it as a sign. Trouble is I seem to keep getting caught out by these "signs".

With the skirt having so much volume in it, it needs a fitted top to keep the proportions in check and this skinny rib knit from Boden did the job. Heels also work to off-set the shape of the skirt. As many of you will know from experience, although midis are great for covering the knees, they are also great at shortening the legs and widening the ankles! In the winter I will wear it with knee high boots, the tops of which will be covered by the skirt. I'm not fond of a gap between the top of  boots and the hem of a skirt (on me at least) as it creates too many horizontal lines and breaks. It just puts me on edge!

I have no idea what tomorrow will bring but I'm off to raid another wardrobe to see what else I may have given away over the years.....

A Topshop jumpsuit and a denim jacket....and despite my protestations, winter clothing has got the better of me after all!

 

I bought this Topshop jumpsuit  in November when I was presenting an awards ceremony. Really it deserves to be worn a little more than it has been so today I found a way of wearing it, if only for a short while.

I really like denim jackets on other bloggers but on me - I'm not quite so sure. I've had this GAP denim jacket for years and a few months ago I handed it down to our eldest but for this post at least, I reclaimed it just to see what I thought. Taking away the positives, the combination of the cropped jacket length and the clean black lines of the jumpsuit make my legs look longer than they are. It's a styling trick that can be applied to lots of different outfits. As to the negatives, I'm not convinced that my face matches the jacket!

So then I tried the jumpsuit minus the jacket. The top part is sparkly so it works well for a night-time outfit but really it's not something for every day. It's not the sparkle, rather more the fact that it's not very forgiving if you get my drift, meaning that I need to breathe in a little!  It also really needs heels for their leg lengthening properties which, for someone who currently prefers trainers or flip flops, is a little bit of a challenge. Still, it's earned its right to stay in my wardrobe.

As I mentioned yesterday, I can't quite face the thought of winter yet so talking about winter clothes is out, as is talking about Autumn, or Fall, clothes but transitional? Yes I can do that! Which is stupid really as it's tantamount to the same thing but that's the power of words for you.

So, thinking ahead to some transitional pieces, I can see these Great Plains wild thing trousers (£55) working their way seamlessly into my wardrobe.  Most people have the odd black jumper lurking somewhere and these trousers together with a black jumper or top would make an easy, comfortable and stylish outfit.

And then when I came across this Great Plains manor wool coat (£130) - which let's face it is full on winter, no disguise, I couldn't resist and I had to share it. I love this colour, it's gorgeous and flattering against so many skin tones. A bright winter (oops, said it again) coat is always something to smile about. Lots of ladies steer away from bright coats, fearing that they won't go with many things but I work on the basis that whatever is peeping out of the bottom is likely to be black, denim, navy or grey - all of which work fabulously with brighter colours, so for me that seals the deal.

A pretty dress and heels, as a contrast to pretty scruffy cut-offs and a top...

 

Last night when I was putting the piles of washing away, I had a flick through my wardrobe and concluded that it was about time to dig out a few favourites that I haven't worn for a while. After all, there are only so many times one can wear shorts and a top before everyone goes "Oh look, she's wearing shorts and a top again. How exciting."

This Reiss dress I've had for probably three years now and it's always nice on a sunny day. I'm also wearing a Paul Costelloe clutch bag which one of my friends gave me for my birthday and some NW3 Hobbs shoes, which I bought at Bicester for about £30 instead of their £189 price tag.

I shall be up early every morning this week getting a few hours work in before the older two surface. However my 6 year old photographer will be taking some snaps of those favourites I have mentioned. I can't promise that I will wear the outfits for the entire day and once that pink front door closes, it's quite likely that those shorts will be donned again. But at least it makes for some slightly more interesting blog posts...hopefully.

Oh and I am trying as hard as possible not to look at the new season's collections that are filtering through because frankly, I want the sun to last for as long as possible and the thought of winter clothing right now is pretty horrific.  However with the "Fall" collections filtering through - you do realise that "Autumn" will soon be a thing of the past when it comes to fashion - I couldn't help but take a quick look at Baukjen and there, predictably, I fell in love with something, namely this jumpsuit, which is £99.  I like to think of it as a more stylish version of a Onesie. Now we're talking!

Last holiday outfit!

Yesterday we had to leave our accommodation at 9.30am and as our flight wasn't until 3pm, we had a little bit of time to spare so we spent it in the most productive way possible in Guernsey, which was by visiting several tea rooms. By 11am we had, between us, consumed bacon sandwiches, sausage sandwiches, chocolate brownie, lemon cake - and that was just at our first one. Two tea rooms later and we were fit for nothing but sitting on an aeroplane.

 

The clouds were stormy but the weather brightened up which I was pleased about because my sister and her family are still camping on the island. Oh and that was another of the "stories behind the Instagram pictures." They too were meant to arrive last Saturday but the ferry they were crossing on had a huge hole in its side as a result of being bashed on a rock when coming to the island a couple of weeks ago, so they couldn't make it until three days later - which meant less time for us to spend together. Boo.

 

For travelling home I opted for Next harem pants which, in the words of the great fashion guru Mr SG "Could be quite chavvy, especially if they had a stripe down the side." To which he had a two word response of "Croc wearer." Layering is also good for me, particularly when travelling (the air con wars in the car were about to re-commence on hitting the mainland) so I wore a bright Topshop T-shirt, layered underneath a GAP sweatshirt. I carried the GAP hat to avoid it getting squashed and my star clutch was with me just because we needed cash for said bacon sarnies/sausage sarnies/ cakes etc at the tearooms. I'm quite attached to my Jigsaw slip on trainers now so they too featured.

And here are a couple of typical Guernsey views - well that and the nudist beach but I think we'll leave those kind of shots off the blog for now. Cute little fishing boats.....

....and lots more cute little fishing boats. Lovely from a distance but that's where I'll keep them I think. I had enough fun going to haul lobster pots out of the water in a tiny, rocking, fishing boat when I was a kid, thanks. Maybe that's where my fear of being eaten by a shark comes from....

The truth behind the Instagram pictures.....and an outfit with a sparkly top

There are no clean clothes left - or at least none that will fit me after two weeks of indulgence and so I'm featuring an outfit that I wore in Cornwall last week. The reason for taking the photo inside is because it was the only way that I could show the sparkle on the sequin vest which was from Next. It is pale green, as are the shorts from GAP and the little pink poppet in the background is in mini Boden (I felt bad that she was constantly wearing her 15 year old sister's hand-me-downs so treated her to a few new dresses for the summer!)

So, a word or two about Instagram. It's great for posting snaps of things that you come across during the day and sharing them with others. For those of you who follow me, you will have seen my holiday photos of sunsets, pretty things, outfits, tasty treats, the books I have been reading and things that make me smile - and all of them act as a window into another world.

But what's really going on behind the snaps? What else is going on that's not being shared. Well, here's a round up of what else has been going on over the last couple of weeks....

• The night before we left to come away, I was concerned that each of the eldest two may have broken a toe. Our son, as a result of running around the house with a friend and crashing into something, and our eldest daughter, by fighting with her brother. Not an auspicious start to the holiday;
• Whilst away, the youngest developed tonsillitis which resulted in a dash to the local Doctor and endless tears about the disgusting medicine which I have to say, was disgusting and I too would have cried had I had to have it four times a day. Disguising it in orange juice helped but why ever did I suggest to try each glass first? I think that I have gone off orange juice for life plus I've probably had a dose of anti-biotics that I really didn't need (but thankfully she is better now, poor little thing);
• How come I had to find the floating poo in the sea?
• Why was it me who came across the drunk man in the sea holding an umbrella, a can of Stella and a beach ball? I felt duty bound to tell the lifeguard because frankly heading out into big waves in that state was not a good idea. It was the umbrella that did it for me. What was that all about?
• I was convinced (once again) that I was going to be eaten by a shark. Probably a Great White. The water temperature was really high and at one point the horn on the lifeguard truck was blaring out down the beach, which in my mind could only mean on thing. In fact a three year old girl had clambered into the truck when no-one was looking and sat gleefully pressing the horn. Go girl!
• How was it that the beach we'd spotted from a distance, and headed to along the cliffs with glee, turned out to be a nudist beach (it's amazing how white bottoms stand out from such a long way off)? That in itself wasn't a problem - well it kind of was, you know what 6 year olds are like - but it could only be reached by an 8ft ladder which was bolted to the rocks. With the wrong footwear it was hazardous - with or without clothing;
• How is that every single time we fly, I beep when we go through security and I have to be taken to one side and frisked? It doesn't matter what I'm wearing, I always set the alarms off. This time I walked through in flip flops (well, not only flip flops) and even then they had to be taken off and scanned separately just in case. Already I'm dreading going through security tomorrow.

So, back home tomorrow. For those of you who will soon be heading off, I wish you lots of sunny weather and a fantastic time. x

Seeing stars....in double!

Just a quick whizz through today's outfits, of which there were a couple....plus one. This morning started off cloudy, hence the long sleeved blouse but, not to be deterred, I still wore shorts. It was observed that everything was a little black (that was my nod to D&G) so I added a splash of yellow - just to ensure that I looked like a bee.

Later on when the sun came out, we headed for the beach. These navy Jigsaw slip on trainers remind me so much of the deck shoes that my Grandma and Grandad used to wear when sailing. In fact the first thing that my sister said when she saw them was "You're wearing majesters" which is what they were known as. It was a word that caused us much hilarity when we were children but google doesn't seem to recognise it, so I don't know where it came from.

There are some fantastic beach kiosks here and at some of them, they pack your lunch into these wooden trugs which you can take down to the beach. There's no issue of a deposit or a reminder to return them, rather it's all just done on trust, which is lovely.

And then later on, just for a change, I wore a skirt. It's a long wrap style one, easy to wear in the sense that it is comfortable but as ever with a skirt there is always the top issue, which can be troublesome. It really needed something not too long, and fairly fitted, so as to work with the proportions. I created the shape that I was after by tying the extra fabric from this vest in a knot at the base at the back.

I decided to go with the full on "double stars" look just because I fancied it and when you have a limited wardrobe, you have to play around with things a little more.

It's our last day tomorrow, after which we will return home and I will battle my way through piles of washing. I may come up for air each evening to write a blog post (about what I'm not sure) before disappearing again. You know the feeling!

Stripes and scallops plus yet another swimwear saga...

Today's outfit is a classic look with a simple colour palette.  I wanted something that gave a nod to that whole 1940's, open top sports car/headscarf/Riviera type look and this jumper from Reiss, GAP shorts and Accessorise sunglasses went some way towards it. And if nothing else, at least I have the blue sky!

I saw these scalloped shorts in GAP before we left but decided that I couldn't really justify another pair of shorts and then, when it became clear that it was shorts weather all the way, I changed my mind but needed to find a way to get them to Guernsey. After trying several different approaches (there's no GAP over here, they don't deliver online and a courier would have cost more than the shorts) my sister picked up a pair in her Brighton store and brought them over. Apparently they were a best seller last week so I was lucky to get a pair at all.

I bought this Reiss jumper in the sale before we left. It was reduced from £110 to £40 and I had my eye on it for a very long time before it was reduced to a price that I was happy to pay. But then when it was, I snapped it up and no doubt I will get a huge amount of wear out of it.

Now following on from yesterday's post, I would like to ask everyone to take a minute to note the size of these particular bikini pants. True, they don't make this particular model's legs look about 2" long but clearly she has copied my M&S beauties because they too are on the rather ginormous side.

I actually feel a little bad about taking the mick so mercilessly out of my bikini because I have to say, it is the most comfortable bikini that I have ever owned, to the point that I'm starting to get the whole big pants thing. There were no cheeky bits of bottom peeking their way out and there was no wriggling or faffing with either the top, or the bottoms, to keep it comfortable.

And one thing is for sure, it was a much finer outfit that the one that I wore on our very early morning swim in the sea. Having decided to run to the beach this morning, last night I gave my sister a bag of clothes, plus a towel and bikini to bring to the beach for me.  Although it transpired that I had forgotten the most important thing - the bikini. Not one to be put off by such a thing I wore some H&M brightly patterned knee length swimming trunks belonging to our 12 year old son, and a bra. Sooooo classy.

Bearing all on the beach in a bikin plus launching the Changing Pod....for when you want to be discreet on the beach

This post caused me much hilarity - look at the size of those bikini bottoms! They remind me of the knickers my Mum would wear.

I must give a warning - you may be shocked by the contents of this post. I think that it's fairly obvious that there hasn't been any photo editing of any description. No filters, camera tricks, lighting tricks or anything else to make me look better than the real life "me" were used in taking these photos - and boy does it show. Nope, it was just an iPhone and about 10 quick snaps which took a couple of minutes. We are so used to seeing everyone airbrushed/botoxed within an inch of their lives that when we see something which hasn't been given that treatment, it can be a little bit shocking.

Anyway, predictably there's a story behind the whole debacle, which started with me leaving my nicest piece of swimwear at the hotel in Cornwall. I have two other bikinis with me but they aren't great when I'm doing lengths of the pool, so I needed something else. I'd already decided that next year would be the year that I invested in some serious swimwear and, knowing that I wouldn't find anything that I loved, I decided to opt for something cheap and cheerful instead.

I looked in the sales at White Stuff, Joules and Seasalt but to no avail and then, when we were in M&S in St Peter Port, this little gem caught my eye. I've called it a sporty/40's hybrid with the top being sporty and those less than brief, briefs, looking like something from the 1940s. It cost me about £10 in total, rather than the £38 that it should have done and I left with a huge grin on my face, knowing that in all likelihood it would give us a giggle, if nothing else.

My dilemma.....

The thing is, how does one go about getting changed on the beach, especially when that beach happens to be very busy and without any facilities? When we holidayed here as children, we had great "changing pods" -  towels made into a tube with elastic around the neck which we put over our heads whilst changing underneath. As an adult I hadn't seen anything similar but there is no way that I would get changed on a beach without something fairly significant between me and the rest of the world.
 

The answer?

A few months ago now I was asked to speak on the radio about what politicians shouldn't wear on holiday. The image of  David Cameron struggling to get changed under his Mickey Mouse towel on the beach in Cornwall last year came to mind. It was obvious what he needed and, subsequent to that radio interview a friend, who had made a changing pod for herself a few years before, and I did some market research and concluded that there was a market for them and so we looked into producing them, under the company name "Bathe & Change". Whilst there are some out there in high tech fabrics, they are designed with surfing dudes in mind. We were after something very much more "bucket and spade" - something a little bit spotty, or striped, functional but aesthetically pleasing and which was just a really nice piece to have with you on holiday.

This is one of our earlier prototypes. We are still tweaking the design (they will be available for men, women and children), planning our PR and marketing strategy and talking to stockists - but here is one in action. It has also been tested, and approved, by Mr SG who is one of the most discerning people there could ever be when it comes to getting changed on the beach. He is very much one for keeping himself to himself - unlike the men we came across yesterday on what appears to be a nudist beach (in Guernsey?) But that's a whole different story.

And here I am part way through the changing process. Not a thing to be seen!

Wow, look at those pants! I said that they would give everyone a laugh. Bridget Jones eat your heart out. My husband's words were: "I don't think that it's the most flattering piece of swimwear that you've ever had. " Understatement of the century but then, even with the best designers and technology in the world, I'm not convinced that any swimwear is really that flattering is it? When things are on show which shouldn't be on show and which are only covered by a small amount of fabric, there's always going to be room for improvement isn't there? ie getting dressed.

And there we have it - all changed without a flash of anything!

Still astonished by the size of those pants!

 

For anyone who would like to find out more about Changing Pods, please email me at style@bethgoodrham.com

 

 

A birthday outfit and a very "boy-like" comment...

 

Whilst we were in Cornwall, I celebrated my birthday. For some reason, I keep thinking that I am a year older than I am, so when I was asked how I felt about being 44 my response was that I felt great, because I keep thinking that I'm 45. Next year bodes quite well too because then I will only have reached the age that I already think I am, so really it's all shaping up quite well on the age front. Until I'm 46 that is.

 

The cupcakes were ordered by my husband from the restaurant but he was so eager that I should also have a dessert that they weren't brought out until after dessert had arrived - hence both the cheesecake and the 12 cupcakes. Sugar rush! (I think that it's still going on.)

This is the outfit that I wore when we went out - it's a Hush dress, Oushka clutch and Zara heels, although I must admit that I ditched the heels before I even put them on and wore flop flops instead.

There was some great improvising on the wrapping paper front. What could be better than having your pressies wrapped in pages from Grazia - and the current copy no less?!

 

I was treated to this lovely Kate Spade watch and wore it with a stack of friendship bracelets from Accessorise. Predictably, I immediately fell in love with the pink detailing on it.

 

And for once the sun shone, and shone and shone!

I wore this dress on our last evening and also for our journey to Guernsey. I wrote about it fairly recently as it being a favourite that I have had for many years.

Mr SG very rarely comments on what I am wearing (although I am sure that he has plenty of thoughts!) but he did say how much he liked this dress and how well it fitted me and how (wait for this) it was less "tent like" than the one that I wore the evening before ie the Hush one. I gently reminded him that the term he was actually after was "more fitted" rather than "less tent like". Boys!