Best of 2012: December

And so to December.  We were off work and away for almost a week, plus there was the holidays so there weren't so many outfits to choose from for this month's round up.  That's 2012 done.  Here's to 2013!

Outfit: Friday at the Sales

We decided our new cutlery set deserved a new tray to store it in, so on Friday morning I took myself off to Harrogate to purchase one of these from Lakeland. As I have been drinking hot chocolate fairly regularly lately I decided to treat myself to a milk frother too, and was pleased to find one for half price in the sale. I had a little look in a few other places, but only bought what I had intended: a calendar for the kitchen and some moisturiser in Boots. Exciting, I know.

On the way back I stopped off and got some bits at Tesco. When I got home the young man was just heating up some soup for lunch so I had some of that, then got all the new cutlery out of it boxes, washed it all and put it in the new tray in the drawer.

We have just signed up for a month’s free trial of Love Film Instant and so we installed the app for it on the Wii and watched a film Friday night.

It was cold and damp on Friday, much like the rest of the week really, and I have no shame in admitting I wore my Ukala (EMU) boots. The faux fur boot toppers were in my stocking, a Christmas gift from my mom (thanks Mom!) and I thought I’d wear them for added cosiness.

Brown polo neck sweater – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Jeans – Vila (I Am..... boutique)
Tan boots – Ukala by EMU (c/o Sarenza)
Boot toppers – gifted
Brown leather belt – bought in Crete
Silver snowflake earrings – Funky Junk Jewellery
Wood heart necklace – Scope

Total Est. Cost £57

Best of 2012: November

Outfit: Thursday 27th December

The time between Christmas and New Year is often a bit of a limbo – there’s not much going on and not much to do. We went to the mall which was packed with sales shoppers. We were looking for some work shirts for the young man, which he found in Debenhams. He also found a fantastic leather jacket for half price in the Debenhams sale. I was very good and didn’t buy anything, although I did order a case for my iPad Mini online when we got home.

We spent the evening watching TV – the follow up to Mary’s Bottom Line (the programme about her Kinky Knickers brand) was on.

Cream and navy stripe top – Forever 21
Chambray shirt – H&M
Burgundy jeans – Dorothy Perkins Tall
Tan leather boots – Steve Madden (c/o Sarenza)
Tan leather belt – River Island
Navy heart necklace – Scope
Blue and silver snowflake earrings – Etsy

Total Est. Cost £80

Best of 2012: October

Outfit: Boxing Day

We had to be at my parents’ for 11am on Boxing Day so we could open gifts with them and my sister, brother in law and niece before lunch. My parents got us some drinking glasses to replace our dishwasher-tarnished ones, and my mom got me some perfume. My sister gave me a jug to match my Denby crockery – no longer will I have to serve gravy in a plastic jug or put milk in a little glass jug with a chipped lip!

We had a fabulous buffet lunch and some friends came to visit in the afternoon. My sister and family departed late afternoon so my niece could get to bed on time, and the young man and I stayed for a bit of tea, then headed home.

I had a great time both days and it’s fab that we can spend time with both our families over the festive season.

Red cardi – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Red and white stripe top – H&M
Jeans – New Look
Tan leather boots – Steve Madden (c/o Sarenza)
Green beads – I Am..... boutique
Santa hat earrings – Claire’s
Silver glitter belt – local boutique

Total Est. Cost £55

Best of 2012: September

Outfit: Christmas Day

On Christmas Day we slept late, then had a cup of tea whilst we opened our presents to each other. I am a very lucky girl because the young man got me an iPad Mini! I’m so excited about it as it’s opened up a whole new world of apps and instagram to me (follow me on shoegalfi on instagram if you like).

Around lunchtime we headed over to the young man’s parents’ where we opened more gifts – a lovely set of cutlery. The four of us then went to the young man’s sister’s house (picking up an aunty on the way) for Christmas dinner. We had a fabulous time and by the evening there were 11 of us. The young man’s niece is 7 and so her other aunty and I had a great time playing with her and some of her presents.

By the time we got home it was gone 1am – and we had to be up in good time to do it all again on Boxing Day.

I took my pictures in my slippers as I just wore my EMU boots to travel in and then put on red and white festive slipper socks for the rest of the day.

Teal top – Long Tall Sally
Red tank – M&S
Jeans – Armani (David Jones, Sydney)
Red beads – eBay
Santa hat earrings – Claire’s

Total Est. Cost £104

Outfit: Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve dawned dull and rainy so we stayed in the house for most of the day. Mid-afternoon the young man went off to meet his mate for their traditional Christmas drinks. I enjoyed Carols From Kings (that’s Kings College, Cambridge University for those of you not in the UK) on the radio (I’m still disappointed that they don’t show it live on TV anymore) with a large mug of hot chocolate. Did you know that the choir boys don’t know who will sing the first verse of Once In Royal David’s City until they are all in the back of the college chapel? They all learn the solo and then the choirmaster points at one of them and says ‘You do it’ and that boy has to just start singing. They all know it’s going out live on the radio and would get too nervous if they knew in advance it was them singing.

In the evening I picked up the young man’s mum and we went to church for the Christmas Eve service. It was an epic production by the Youth Club and Junior Church: Christmas seen through the eyes of the decorations on the Christmas tree. We sang ‘It Was On A Starry Night’, which I don’t think I’ve sung since Middle School, and Abba’s ‘I Have A Dream’, which was just random, but it was a fun service with a nice twist at the end when the collection boxes came round and everyone took a chocolate coin out instead of putting money in.

After church I went and joined the young man and our friends in the pub for a festive drink and then we headed home.

Teal sweater – Long Tall Sally
Chambray shirt – H&M
Jeans – Armani (David Jones, Sydney)
Red suede booties – Georgia Rose (c/o Sarenza)
Red beads – Claire’s
Santa hat earrings – Claire’s
Silver cuff – M&S (free on 3 for 2 offer)

Total Est. Cost £125

Best of 2012: August

Best of 2012: July

Outfit: Festival Service

Sunday morning was the annual Nativity Service at church. In the time honoured tradition of church Christmas plays there were old curtains and tea towels galore in the costumes. My friend’s mum writes the script every year and I don’t know how she manages to come up with something different each time. The choir were singing a couple of pieces and I was the only alto which made it all the more interesting. We muddled through though and then in the afternoon my sister and niece came to visit. We baked a chocolate cake and I’d done a chicken in the slow cooker so we had that for tea.

Red dress – Vintage
Red sweater – Long Tall Sally
Grey tights – Tesco?
Teal boots – Faith
Santa hat earrings – Claire’s (I think, they’re old though so I can’t really remember)

Total Est. Cost £148

Best of 2012: June

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my readers, thank you for all your support this year.  I hope Santa brought you everything you hoped for and that you are enjoying this special day.

Best of 2012: May

Week in London and a Couple of Outfits

We spent Tuesday to Saturday last week in London, soaking up the festive atmosphere and generally enjoying some time off before Christmas. We arrived mid-afternoon on the Tuesday and after checking into our hotel we headed out and had a wander through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park to the Winter Wonderland thing that is going on there at the moment. It is a cross between a Christmas market and a funfair and the atmosphere was great. We carried on walking and ended up in Victoria, then hopped on the Underground and headed over to Oxford Circus and walked down Regent Street looking at the lights.

Wednesday morning we went to Madame Tussaud’s (we had 2 for 1 entry with our rail tickets) and met some famous faces there. I was expecting Dame Judi Dench to be tiny but isn’t Bond short?!

Red and white stripe top – Kew 159
Jeans – Armani (David Jones, Sydney)
Tan boots – Georgia Rose (c/o Sarenza)
Teal coat – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Leopard print scarf – H&M

Total Est. Cost £167

Thursday we met up with a friend of ours that now lives in Reading. We had a wander down Oxford Street in the rain and had a drink in a pub. Then we went to have a look at the river and discovered a Christmas market on the south bank by Waterloo Bridge. We headed up to Brown’s in Covent Garden to meet another friend and ended up staying there for a meal.

Friday morning it was sunny so we took the Underground to Tower Hill and walked all the way back to Lambeth Bridge along the river, then back to Kensington where we were staying. We took afternoon tea (complete with mulled wine and mince pies) in the hotel bar and then had a swim in the pool.

Blue sparkly sweater – Topshop
Jeans – Armani (David Jones, Sydney)
Red beads – eBay
Silver belt – local boutique
Tan boots – Georgia Rose (c/o Sarenza)

Total Est. Cost £95