Outfit: Torrential Rain?

So it seems that the forecasters got it wrong. Again. Yesterday the weather map for today showed heavy rain all day. I brought out some boots in preparation, and a sweater as the forecast high wasn’t really all that high, and so far? Nothing. No rain at all. The still have it showing on the map for later on so there’s a chance I’ll get wet when I got buy petrol later on I suppose.

Last night I changed the bed sheets, gathered all the dry washing in from the line, cooked tea, sliced my thumb on a kitchen knife whilst chopping vegetables, made the lunches for today, went to the gym, stewed some apples to go in my porridge at breakfast time, ironed and read some of the September issue of UK Vogue. This evening is panning out to be no less busy. I need to clean the bathroom and vacuum, as we have my sister and her husband coming for tea tomorrow. And there’s an extra drama group committee meeting that was just sprung on us yesterday that I ought to go to. I was planning a quiet evening in as the young man is out on a work do. Ah well.

This sweater is one of my 5 fall purchases. It is fine as it is now, and it will layer up come the colder weather. I bought the size down from what I would usually go for, and it fits perfectly. And it was only a tenner! I have a skirt on order from Long Tall Sally (who have had my order since Thursday evening and so far done nothing with it according to their online tracking) that should go really well with this sweater, it goes great with the skirt I have on today, it will go with denim and I have a pair of brown cord trousers – I think, I’m sure I didn’t get rid of them – that it will also pair with.

Tan sweater – New Look Tall
Brown denim skirt – John Rocha (Debenhams) (charity shop)
Brown cowboy boots – New Look
Silver hoops – gifted
Brown necklace – Scope

Total Est. Cost £66

Outfit: Black and White Monday and a Weekend Recap

Happy Monday y’all! There was a lack of posts over the weekend as we were away, visiting with friends in Bristol. I didn’t even have time to take any outfit shots! We headed off Friday evening, and had a superb run down – 70 miles an hour the whole way (it’s motorway just about door to door). We had a cup of tea and a biscuit with our friends and we all went to bed around midnight.

Saturday morning we were up in reasonable time as my friend S had an appointment in town at 11am. We caught the bus down and dropped the boys off for a coffee whilst S & I went to Boots, to her appointment and then popped into H&M to see whether they had the elusive sweater in stock that I mentioned on Friday. A very helpful lass in the store said she knew exactly which sweater I meant, and that they had had some in but had sold out. She phoned the other store in Bristol to see whether they had any but they didn’t. She advised phoning the customer services line who should be able to help further.

We met up with the lads again and wandered down Union Street where there is an exhibition of Banksy style graffiti and street art that had just opened, had some lunch in Revolution (where they offered use 25% off as we were outside hesitating as to whether or not to eat there, then headed across to the M Shed museum, which is all about the people, places and life in Bristol. By the time we came out of there the sun was shining and we decided to take a boat trip down the river on a steam boat. The lads were able to go below deck to the engine room which they loved. We returned to our friends’ house and got ready to go out for the evening. We were booked in to eat at a restaurant in Portishead. I had an enormous pizza (I decided to use a bunch of my weekly points and not worry about it) which was delicious.

Sunday we went out to a National Trust property just outside Bristol and had a long walk around the house and grounds. We stopped off for a walk and an ice cream in Portishead park before heading back to our friends’ house for a Sunday roast. After we’d eaten the young man and I hit the road to drive home. We had a slight diversion off the M5 as there were long delays following an earlier accident, but other than that we made it home without incident.

I unpacked, put some washing on, made the lunches for today, and was finally able to sit down with my laptop for a few minutes. I checked the H&M website again, just on the off chance and was excited to see that the sweater had miraculously come back into stock! I snapped one up there and then (although the delivery date is scheduled for around 3 weeks’ time). My fall shopping is complete once that arrives.

Today has dawned bright and sunny (possibly for the last time this week) and so I was up early to get some washing on the line. I have a bunch of errands to run later on – buying bread and milk, stewing some apples for my porridge, changing the bed sheets. Then it’s my gym class at 7pm.

I decided to make the most of the sunshine by wearing suede peep toes as I fear I will be busting out the boots later in the week, judging by the weather forecast.

White top – Tall Girls
Black and white skirt – H&M (charity shop)
Black socks – River Island
Black suede booties – Buffalo (c/o Spartoo)
Whitby Jet cross – gifted
Black earrings – gifted
Black patent belt – Primark

Total Est. Cost £22

Outfit: Flats Friday

I am so mad at H&M. They have sold out of the only 2 items I wanted from their fall collection. And one of those things was a pair of thick ribbed tights! How is that possible when it’s only mid-August? H&M, you need to get more stock for your website. Also: reply when someone @’s you on Twitter. All is not yet lost – I will just have to search all the H&M stores I come across until I find the items, but that is like looking for a needle in a haystack, such is the sheer amount of stuff to be found in H&M stores. Gah.

Anyway, long story short, I was forced order the other 3 items on my fall wish list (yes, there were just 5 items on my fall wish list and one of them was tights. You impressed?) and not wait until 1st September as planned, for fear of them selling out. Again, gah. I’ll give New Look a shout out for awesome service here though: I ordered at 2pm yesterday, by 4.30pm had received a shipping confirmation and tracking number. I checked it this morning, fully expecting there to be no details available (it’s HDNL after all) and it said the item was loaded on to the driver’s van at 7.30am this morning. Presumably to be delivered today. Awesome!

Yes this is the same pair of shoes I had on yesterday. Told you they were my favourites. That’s only part of the reason I’m wearing them again though. I’m meeting my friend at dinnertime to walk around the lake near work, so flats were a must and I know this pair doesn’t rub my feet as they’re fabric inside.

This whole outfit is inspired by (read: stolen from) Jill GG of Jill GG’s Good Life for less. She’d paired the same top with shorts but as they weren’t work (or weather – it’s still not that warm here) appropriate, I went for my crops which are a similar colour.

I went to Boxercise last night – I intended to cycle up there but the young man got stuck in traffic (there was an overturned lorry on his route) and was late home, so tea was delay and I only had 15 minutes before the class. And then it started raining heavily so I was glad I’d not got my bike out.

Navy and green stripe top – H&M
Brown crop chinos – New Look Tall
Navy and white stripe flats – New Look
Tan leather belt – River Island
Silver cross necklace – gifted
Silver hoops – gifted

Total Est. Cost £67

Outfit: Navy Blue Inspired By Amber

That’s Amber the person, not Amber the colour! This outfit is my version of what Amber was wearing in her latest Shoe Challenge post. Only I went with flats because of all my summer shoes, this is the pair that I wear the most and the ones I will miss the most when it is no longer dry enough to wear them. I also have a few errands to run at lunchtime, and then the Tesco shop to do after work.

Last night I drove over to see my parents. They were pleased to see me and I managed to teach them a couple of things about their PC that they didn’t know before. I’m impressed that they are both embracing the technology so well – they are researching their family trees online and they are both quite au fait with the workings of the internet now.

My latest Sarenza voucher arrived last night and I wasted no time in spending it. You’ll see what I ordered when they arrive next week.

So it’s weigh day and I’m stoked to have lost another 3lbs this week! That makes 12lbs overall and it pushes me down into the next stone bracket too. We’re visiting with some friends this weekend and I know there’s a meal out planned for Saturday night, so I’ll have to make sure I’m good and don’t go too much over my points each day. And on that note, I’ve booked in for Boxercise at the gym tonight.

Navy and white stripe blazer – Next Tall
Navy dress – Next
White tank – Topshop
Navy and white stripe flats – New Look
Blue beads – gifted
Blue ring – Dorothy Perkins
Tan leather belt – River Island

Total Est. Cost £107

Outfit: Lady In Red

You know how when you wash your jeans they can feel tight when you put them on? You wriggle into them, dance around a bit to fasten them up and then they stretch right out again after an hour or so of wear? Well last night I put on a freshly laundered pair of jeans and they were loose! I didn’t have to wriggle or anything. They just slipped on and fastened right up. Granted, this is not the smallest pair of jeans I own, but usually you know that they are freshly washed when you put them on.

Buoyed by the success of fitting into my denim pencil skirt yesterday, I decided the time had come to try on the super skinny jeans I hadn’t worn in a while as they gave me muffin top. Whilst I wasn’t 100% happy with the fit, the muffin top was pretty much gone and another few weeks and I hope to be able to wear them knowing they fit properly.

I went to the gym last night for Aqua Zumba. It was good but the class is so popular that the pool is really crowded, making it difficult to do all the moves fully for fear of kicking the person next to or behind you. Tonight I am going to see my parents.
I don’t think I’ve worn this top with this spotted skirt yet, although I have mixed the top with the other spotted skirts I own. I added the red shrug for warmth and the red heels for good measure. The skirt is super twirly, but I need to work on taking pictures of myself spinning round: my attempt this morning just came out blurry!

Red shrug – New Look Tall
Red and white stripe top – H&M
Red and white spot skirt – New Look Tall
Red shoes – c/o NOW Discount Shoes
Silver cross necklace – gifted
Red beads – Ethel Austin
Silver belt – Primark
Silver hoops – gifted

Total Est. Cost £37

New Boots and Belt!

I received a package from Spartoo yesterday. Packages are always exciting, but when it’s Monday morning and you know there are boots inside: super exciting!

This is pair I chose with the gift voucher that I had to spend:

They are by Hush Puppies and are a slightly darker blue in real life than they look here.

I had a code for 30% off too, due to the fact that my initial order was cancelled. I had ordered the Vivienne Westwood/Melissa Lady Dragons in red with a shiny red heart, but received an email stating that they only had one pair left which weren’t in a good enough condition to be sent out, and therefore my order had been cancelled. The code for 30% off my next order definitely softened the blow (excellent customer services there Spartoo – other companies could learn a lot from you) and meant I could also treat myself to a new leather belt:

This is from the Pieces brand and was loose in the box next to my boot box. I would have liked it to be wrapped a little better really, but as it wasn’t damaged I’m not too worried. I foolishly didn’t read the sizing properly and have ended up with a length that is more waist belt than jeans belt, but as it’s a funky double buckle style, again I’m not particularly upset. If I make an extra couple of holes with my belt punch it will fit in my higher rise jeans I think.

Outfit: Shoeper Challenge #75 and Another Denim Skirt

Remember how I said last week that this skirt was decidedly snug the last time I wore it? I put it on this morning and it zipped up no problem! I didn’t even have to breathe in or anything! I’ve just had a look back at the pictures from last time I wore it and it doesn’t really look that different to then, but I can feel the difference. And the other awesome thing? This skirt is a size smaller than the one I had on yesterday! Yes, LTS sizing is fairly generous, but so is M&S which is what I wore yesterday. Result!

I was cold again in the office yesterday so I put on a cardi today. And rain was forecast so I took the opportunity to break out another pair of socks. I love the lace trim and bows on the tops of this pair.

The shoes were a bargain from Ethel Austin – as you can see from the price tag. Just £3.50 in the sale. I’ve had them for about 2 or 3 years and they get fairly regular wear throughout the autumn and winter (I tend not to wear black shoes very often in the spring and summer). However, they are perfect for a grey day like today. This is my final pair of heeled shoes (unless I acquire any more) to be saved – I’ve just a couple of pairs of flats left now, then come September I can move on to my boots.

Black cardi – New Look Tall
Black top – Long Tall Sally
Denim pencil skirt – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Black socks – River Island
Black shoes – Ethel Austin
Silver hoops – gifted
Silver bling ring – River Island
Silver and diamante necklace – gifted

Total Est. Cost £60

Stuff I Am...

...Loving

Chicken Caesar salad
Big, fat September issues of all the glossy magazines!
Planning my fall shopping list – so far I have only 4 items on it, and one of those is a 2-pack of tights
Packages on a Monday morning (especially when those packages contain new boots...)
Mini Shopaholic (the latest one by Sophie Kinsella)
Weight Watchers maths when 3+3 = 5

...Not Loving

This August weather. Either be warm and sunny, or move right along to September already!
That I can’t remember the last time I ate an actual bar of chocolate
Weight Watchers maths when 1+1+1 = 4

Outfit: Monday

And so it’s Monday again. I need to ensure I stay on track with counting my points for the next 3 days, prior to my weigh in. I’ve added all my food for today to the tracker and I’ve still got 2 points to spare, so that’s a great start. Plus it’s gym night tonight.

This skirt is new to me. On Friday lunchtime I went for a walk on the high street local to the office I work at on Fridays. This skirt was hanging in the Oxfam shop for just £3.99. I didn’t try it on but I knew from the sizing it would fit and it looked like it would be a great length on me, which it is. It’s also flat fronted (funny how I struggled to find a flat fronted denim skirt this time last year, but now I own 3 blue ones and a brown one!) so it’s perfect (the buttons are just sewn on for detail). It is a Per Una at Marks and Spencer one, so the quality is great, and it looks as though it has hardly been worn.

I added the scarf in case it was chilly out. It isn’t really, but I ended up liking the look of it on the pictures so I’ve kept it on.

I’m excited that I have my favourite chicken and bacon sandwich filling again, but in wraps! And I love weight watchers’ maths: the wraps are 3 points each, but you can have 2 of them for 5 points! No idea how that works out, but I’m not complaining!

Navy and white top – H&M
Denim skirt – Per Una at Marks and Spencer (charity shop)
Navy patent shoes – Magrit (local outlet mall)
Blue beads – gifted
Silver hoops – gifted
Navy and white scarf – Dorothy Perkins

Total Est. Cost £49