Slip of a thing...

And at last the sun came....

..which gave me a chance to wear this slip dress from Marks and Spencer Limited Edition (now £14 in the sale)...

...whilst we went for a birthday tea at a lovely friend's house...

...where we ate lots of delicious cake! 

 YUM!

What not to wear on a skiing holiday - rocking Simon Cowell and socks with flip flops!

“Mum, you look like you’re sitting on the toilet, slowly” came the words of encouragement from the 7 year old at the end of day two of our skiing holiday. “You need to work on your speed.”  And there I was, thinking that I was doing OK. Apparently not.  

There have been a few tense moments, a little bit of swearing, times when I would far rather have been at home, or anywhere else frankly but as I’ve said before, I have no choice, which in some ways makes the whole learning to ski thing easier.

Now I know that a huge amount of you will be seasoned skiers and that there is very little that I can offer in terms of suggestions for clothing, things to take and so on but for those who are just embarking on a skiing journey of their own, there may be one or two things that I can offer.  I did quite a bit of research before setting off  (ie speaking to knowledgeable friends) and this is what I’ve concluded so far….

My waist bag, which due to being known as a “fanny pack” in the US has caused considerable hilarity, is hugely useful. I bought it at H&M (£7.99) and I use it to hold the key for the locker in the boot room, a lippy, some money, chewing gum, our key card and some tissues.

I tend to start quite early to get some practice in before the lesson starts (well, for the 2 days that we have been here!) do my ski lesson, have lunch and then ski all afternoon, which means that I get fewer breaks than the experienced skiers who have hot chocolate stops along the way in the morning. So I’ve started to carry peanut M&Ms with me. Good for a sugar hit together with some protein and they don’t melt in my pocket.

I’ve rocked some pretty good looks so far too, I think you will agree…

Simon Cowell – look at the high waist band on those trousers. In the above photo I'm wearing an H&M  sports top (£14.99), which is made from wicking fabric which comes in handy when you're sweating due to being permanently petrified. I've also linked to the H&M women's sportswear, which is definitely having a moment. There are some fab tops and jackets, together with printed bottoms and some great accessories. 

And as for another look...

Flip flops and socks – the ultimate fashion faux pas but handy for wearing to the boot room.

As you can see I'm sort of, but not totally, convinced by this skiing business but I do like my new Warehouse hat which I can't link to because the wi-fi is more unreliable (and even slower) than my skiing - but it's now £5 in the sale. 

Updating a piece from last winter with bits and bobs bought over the summer...

Jack Wills shirt, Dune boots, New Look jeans, Topshop T-shirt, Accessorise bracelets.

As I think is pretty obvious, I don't do glamour in Wales. Not that it's not a glamourous place - far from it - have you seen Catherine Zeta-Jones, or Katherine Jenkins, or Catherine Middleton? (OK so she's not strictly Welsh, in fact she's quite possibly not Welsh at all but she's married to the Prince of Wales' son and she lived on Anglesey for a while). No, it's just that a) I am always under instructions to "pack light" which means that everything has to work together and b) we tend to be walking on the beaches, lighting fires, crabbing off the pier and chilling at home, so heels and dresses don't really fit into my lifestyle over here.

Now let's face it, a checked shirt is never going to set the world on fire but checks are a huge trend this season - from scarves to shirts, to coats and even shoes. Here are a few of my favourite checked pieces this season:

Warehouse checked cape £30 which I really like as it's a relatively inexpensive way of adding something to your wardrobe which is warm, practical and which will give a lift to an existing jeans/coated jeans and boots type outfit.

This Jigsaw cropped checked shirt (£59) is 100% cotton and comes in burgundy, which is having a huge revival this season, or blue. Easy to wear with black, blue or grey, it's a nice alternative to a denim shirt for a weekend look - especially for those who aren't fans of double denim.

And at New Look there's this orange checked scarf for £9.99 which I first spotted on a friend who was out watching the half marathon. She observed that only I would notice a scarf after 11 miles, the last of which was uphill, but it was so lovely and I was so desperate for a distraction from the discomfort that it was a welcome sight (as of course, was she.)

And the orange scarf sort of leads me on to this beautiful orange sky which greeted me a couple of mornings ago, having been woken earlier than I would like to have been by the youngest.

All of which completely misses the point of this post which was to talk about how things that you may have added to your wardrobe over the summer, can be used to re-work pieces that you may have had last winter.

In the above photo I've added in my favourite Topshop yellow T-shirt and a stack of bright bracelets from Accessorize, both of  which pick out the colours in the shirt. It's not revolutionary but it's worth having a rifle through your wardrobe, taking out something that was OK last winter but perhaps not quite as it should have been and see what else you can add to it to make it work a little better - or in a different way. Just a thought for a rainy afternoon!

I love this jumper which I've seen on several people. I think that there's something wonderful about wearing a jumper with 1970 written on it....unless like me you happen to have been born in that year - in which case it's not necessarily something that I would choose to advertise.

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

Heavenly days on sunny beaches in shorts (again)!

 

There's nothing rad about shorts, that I do know. But it's hot and what's more, what was left of my spray tan has now adhered itself to the inside of my wetsuit so I need to try and get a little colour on my legs. I seem to have done it pretty well on my nose, with Mr SG asking whether I was matching my lipgloss to the colour of my nose tonight. He needs to watch it or he might find his beloved crocs being sold on eBay.

This combo was just some GAP printed shorts, a GAP hat bought in the sale on Saturday, a plain white H&M vest, Jack Wills flip flops, La Mandarine sarong and a silver Oushka clutch.

I've recently mentioned some new goggles that I bought. My old ones were terrible and I had to stop every five lengths or so to de-mist them and empty them of water. They also left deep welts under my eyes, which is also the reason that Sharron Davies doesn't swim much anymore (apparently). Anyway, for any swimmers out there, I can't recommend the Aquasphere goggles highly enough. This morning I did my entire swim without having to stop once. Attractive they are not but they do a good job.

Tomorrow it's my birthday so I may take a little blogging holiday, depending on how it all turns out! However I am sure that I will be posting the odd pic of the birthday proceedings on Instagram. I think that I may have had wind of one of two things that might appeal to some of you out there...

Ooh, and yesterday's post was my 1000th post. I think that I worked out that if each post took on average one hour, that's about 42 days, or seven weeks of my life that I have devoted to blogging. I'm not quite sure what to make of that.  

Shorts and flip-flops weren't quite what I had in mind for the day...

Is it only me or does anyone else have an irresistible urge to order a skip as soon as the sun comes out? Well that, along with ordering new cushions from John Lewis. I think that having a skip on the drive would somehow make everything feel more ordered, in the same way as possessing a stack of shiny new cookbooks makes you feel like Nigella/Jamie even if  in reality you still turn out the same five predictable meals every week night.

So today's plans to shop in preparation for an event on Thursday night were somewhat scuppered by not only one, but two, children being unwell. Therefore my outfit of GAP shorts and a denim GAP top was very much designed with running up and down the stairs in mind, to take drinks/snacks/provide entertainment and so on. Crikey, I'd forgotten what hard work it is having two poorly ones at home.

I had a brief interlude to nip out to buy provisions of the Calpol and tissue variety. Plus I always sneak some treats in the basket on the basis that if they are refused by the invalids, I know that they are truly ill. Those packets of fruit pastilles and Cadbury's desserts? Hmmm, oddly they have all have disappeared. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be at home with them tomorrow, at least my brief trip out will be to Waitrose where I have some "click and collect" items being delivered of the cushion shaped variety.

An old favourite dress because today I'm feeling slightly delicate....

It's always good to have an old favourite in your wardrobe, a tried and tested dress made of natural fibres, that will withstand whatever you throw at it and, which once on, can be forgotten about. For me this French Connection linen dress does the trick. It may not be the height of fashion (a stack of friendship bracelets and my new flip flops helped slightly) but the length is good enough so that I don't have to worry too much about what I'm doing in it and given it's age, I'm not at all precious about it even though it is cream - which is good because, having just looked down at it, I've got a beetroot stain on it. I mean seriously, who in their right mind prepares beetroot in a cream dress? Haven't I read Victoria Beckham's book about never going near beetroot?

In all honesty I'm also feeling a little delicate today, which was another reason for needing the comfort of an old faithful. I'm not delicate in the way that you might imagine, given that last night was a Saturday night - but rather because a friend and I decided that it would be a good idea to go for a summer solstice run. We ended up running 22.5 miles which was slightly longer than we had planned but it was brilliant fun and arriving by the University clock as it struck midnight is something I will always remember.

The weirdest thing both before, and after, a long run is how much you need to take on board food wise to stop everything from coming to a grinding halt and how suddenly everything becomes so much less appetising.  Chicken and rice at 12.30am was not what I fancied but was what I needed. And whilst normally I would love oatcakes and goats' cheese, it really didn't seem that appealing. And as for jelly babies and drumstick sweets - right now I could quite happily never see either again. Well that is until next time....

Today's shoes - What I wore, what I saw and what I bought....

 

Today, shoes featured quite heavily in my day. I had two meetings at opposite ends of town so predictably I had a pair of trainers with me just in case but these M&S block heeled leopard print shoes are so comfortable that I didn't have to change - which is a rarity for me when walking a distance. And it's really odd but whenever I wear these shoes, people always ask me where I got them from. They are always shocked by the response!

Clearly I only have one dress. This is the same Pia dress that I featured only a couple of days ago but I was on the 'phone whilst trying to get dressed so I had to go for something easy/stretchy and which wouldn't end up in me doing myself an injury. It was then easy just to thrown on the shoes and jacket before heading out of the door.  I think that here I am wearing the dress slightly longer than at other times of the day but that's what I like about it - it can be worn longer or shorter and I've even been known to put it on upside down - but that was in error.

On the way back across town there were four shops that were directly in my path, so they each got the once over. Jigsaw was first and although I tried on a couple of dresses, there was nothing that I loved enough (or more importantly which loved me enough) to justify buying it. Then, having felt a little bad about my comment about White Stuff yesterday, that too got a visit, just in case it had the perfect summer dress - but it didn't. It did have plenty of skirts though...

Then it was the turn of Coast, where I looked lovingly at the Ariel shoe (Coast £65 down to £30) but I concluded that, much as I liked them. I really didn't need these shoes in my life. Although looking at them again maybe I was wrong about that. I don't know about you but I always feel that it is important to acknowledge when one is wrong about something and to try to do something to fix it....

And these are what I bought today - wait for it - the Jack Wills Castley flip flop (£14.50) - I know, hardly a purchase of designer shoe magnitude. I've had a pair of Cath Kidston flip flops for a couple of years now but they are looking a little tired and given that they haven't included any in their collection this year, I have had to look elsewhere. For some reason I like a print on the base of the flip flop and the top part is my perfect shade of pink.

So that's my round up of the shoes I wore, the shoes I saw and the shoes I bought - for today at least!

Jack Wills Liberty Print Sweatshirt Dress (and red shoes)

With a partly sunny but partly rainy day forecast, I thought that it would be a good idea to wear this Liberty sweatshirt dress from Jack Wills. It took me weeks to get the right dress in the right size during which time it had been reduced pretty heavily and although it was all a bit of a faff, it all turned out OK in the end.

Interestingly of the assistants in Jacques Vert in House of Fraser commented on how much she liked my shoes and how although she wouldn't have thought of putting them with this particular dress, they actually worked OK and wasn't it funny how sometimes things that didn't really go at all could look quite good together. I must admit that I wasn't quite sure whether to take it as a complement or an insult but it did make me smile.

I think that fairly casual sandals, skater trainers, converse, flip flops and birkenstocks work well with the style of this dress but hey, what do I know? (Don't answer that!) I'm hoping to get plenty of wear out of it during our Cornwall/Guernsey holiday in the summer.

Hope that everyone's week is going well so far - I know it's early days but it feels like it's been going on for a while already....

[BTW I would just like to say to the lady from Cardiff who emailed me several weeks ago now, my responses keep getting returned, so if you would like to email me again with your telephone number, I will happily call you.]

Essential summer shopping from Jack Wills (and Liberty) with some Whistles and Jigsaw thrown in!

 

Show me clothes that are covered in sequins, leopard print or stripes, or clothes that are pink, navy or flouro and I'm there - throw in some Liberty print too and I can't resist! 

When I saw these pieces in  Jack Wills  on Monday I was virtually beside myself with glee. Jack Wills have raided the Liberty fabric archives and chosen one print, which they have used in two colour ways, in a whole range of pieces. I love, love, love the bomber jacket, partly because it makes what is quite a trendy style - and one which could easily look quite dodgy - very wearable.

 

Just off the top of my head, I'm seeing the jersey dress used as a bikini cover up with white converse and tanned legs (someone else's not mine), I'm seeing the hoody with cut off denim shorts and flip flops, the bomber can go into slightly more trendy territory, perhaps with a pencil skirt of some description and heeled sandals and the crew neck short sleeved top could be layered over a white shirt and worn with cigarette style trousers for a smart(ish) work look. There's also a top with a Peter Pan collar, another dress style and the fab trousers below. All pieces come in both colour ways and the link above will take you through to the page with all of them on.

Yesterday I mentioned that I had seen a couple of pairs of skater trainers/slip on trainers/deck shoes - call them what you will - that I liked. I wasn't expecting to find these in Whistles (£135) but I really like the texture on them and of course being navy, as opposed to the full on printed ones that I featured yesterday, they are very wearable.  They are pretty pricey though and there are much cheaper versions out there but if they are going to be your one new true love this summer, they may be worth holding out for (along with a 25% Grazia offer which must be due out anytime now.)

On the other hand, for less than half the price, these Jigsaw slip on plimsolls (£59) are a less spendy option. The upper is 100% leather, unlike the Whistles ones which are made of cotton, jute and raffia. On reflection I just have visions of the Whistles ones fraying and unravelling, to the point that all is left is the sole. Hmm, not a good look.

Anybody tempted? I fear that I may be paying Jack Wills another visit sometime soon and there's a 10% discount with Jigsaw today which you can take advantage of by entering SPRINGEVENT  at the checkout.

The 12 outfits of Christmas - I wish that there was more by way of silk/heels/sequins but tomorrow is always another day!

 

The plan was, having travelled home from Wales first thing this morning, that I would change into something a little more Christmas like - maybe a dress, maybe with some accessories, maybe even some heels - so as to avoid posting another picture of jeans and a jumper (Primark jeans, All Saints jumper, Jack Wills shirt, Ash wedge trainers). Clearly that plan didn't work.  I did however notice that on Coronation Street tonight, Sally Webster was wearing a nice blue blouse and a black pencil skirt and Leanne Platt had a top with pretty sequinned sleeves - so that might be a good place for Christmas outfit ideas.

Tomorrow will be a different story - I will change 55 times and wear dresses, skirts, sequins, silk, leather and prints; possibly all at the same time. In fact my first outfit will be truly impressive and will include a red flashing nose and an elf hat with a bell on it, in addition to running gear. There will be five of us running the streets of Birmingham so do give us a wave if you see us - assuming that we haven't been carted off by then.

As to today's gift, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a pair of sparkly or metallic shoes so if there's one thing to add to your last minute Christmas purchases tomorrow, they should be it. Dune is a good "go to" store for sparkly shoes and I like this pair which are now priced at £34. An ankle strap may not be for everyone but it looks as though this strap can be removed and I'm sure that everyone will be too busy partying to notice the little loop! Hope that you all have a fantastic Christmas Eve!

Working the grunge look...

Inside grunge...

 

 

Outside grunge...

 

Here I'm working the grunge look, in a way which I find wearable. Actually that's a total lie - I'm just wearing a selection of clothes which happen to fit into the grunge look, as defined this time around!

 

I'm wearing grey Cos skinny jeans (I love Cos jeans for their in between sizes and slightly higher rise - definitely worth checking out for anyone who finds it tricky to get jeans to fit because they are in between sizes - see similar here), Seven Boot Lane boots , Cos pink top, Jack Wills plaid shirt (for a good selection look here, some are in the sale) Zara parka (similar here in navy or cream) and a Radley bag. I bought the bag as a nappy bag when I had our son, so it's 12 years old now but still going strong. Whenever I look at it I think "Wow, that's a great piece of cow" because it is just a fabulous piece of leather and it still smells great too.