Remembering The Devil Wears Prada

The Body

I like to think of myself as low maintenance (?) - one £20 haircut every 5 weeks and a pedicure every 3 weeks during sandal wearing season. I don't ask for much! Last year we made the bold decision to get rid of our bath - it was dated, the room was cramped and the kids treated it like the local pool - the floor was usually swimming every bath time. Whilst it was a joy to clean and dry the floor every night, I decided to prepare for their teenage years early and had a double walk in shower and double sinks installed in their bathroom instead. It's a complete joy - no more soggy floors, quicker bath times (who can stomach full on bath time fun after school, tutor and brownies?). It was the right thing to do.

No more soggy floors ;o)

I haven't miss our bath since - however the downside is that this summer my feet are as tough as old boots. With no bath to soak them between pedicures I have dry skin to rival a working mule. So - old sick bucket in front of the TV? I don't think so! This week I have boosted at Tesco - an Elle Macpherson Foot Spa - £32 or free with £16 worth of clubcard vouchers. Lovely duck egg blue and white with bubbles and a massage function - beats an old bucket hands down.

I've given it a test drive tonight - think I may have overdone the bubble mixture as I had to keep getting out to decant the over following bubbles. Despite that it gets the thumbs up from me and youngest who has also sampled - he also tried his hands, and was just about to try his knees before I intervened....

A tad too many bubbles - think I need to adjust quantity ;o)

Gin Fixx

I met two lovely ex-colleagues at Harvey Nicols for cocktails last Saturday. We meet a couple of times a year and pick up right where we left off 11 years ago. We were Team Managers and had a boss to rival The Devil Wears Prada - 11 years later she always comes up in conversation, the difference is we can laugh about it now!

Both my lady friends were late - I didn't fancy running through the gauntlet of handbags and cosmetics again, so I thought I'd stay and have a look round the store.....What the heck? Really? I'm so out of touch with designer brands and their silly prices - nice jumper....£685, nice shoes...£720, nice coat....no idea - but the rack was wrapped with a security system, so I'm guessing they were over £100 ;o)

Unsurprisingly these Sophia Webster flamingo beauties caught my eye - I've no idea what they cost, and I've no intention of finding out - they're not for me (they would have been right up The Devil Wears Prada's street though...) but I do think they are fabulous...

Sophia Webster Flamingo Stiletto

I swear my eyes were watering - it makes me mad that there are people out there who pay these stupid prices for over priced items. Yes - they are usually made from better fabrics/wool, but what can justify those prices? Surely there are better worthy things to spend your money on when filthy rich?

I checked my phone and saw the post I'd been waiting for - Mrs P (Piedpiper7373) was through her op! My eyes watered again - for all the right reasons for my incredible Insta friend ;o)

Here are my good friends Sarah and Gill - they'll kill me for sharing...

Z

I've spotted a few posts on Insta recently raving about the new Z for Accessorize range - their new collaboration with Zara Simon. In their own words ' this seasons most sought after collection' - I needed to check it out!

The range was proudly being shown off at the front of the store - I can confirm it does seem to be sought after as there were lots of ladies politely nudging each other around the stand to try and get a good look and feel.

Lots of layered necklaces (my only experience with these is that they twist together rather annoyingly), stacking rings, statement - but delicate earrings and a few bracelets. They have a gold and silver plated selection - gold held the prime slot - and shiny gold at that. I picked up 3 pieces before realising that would amount to almost £50. Is that a good price for gold plated from Accessorize? I wasn't convinced.... I'm mulling this over - good news is that it's available online, so when I've mulled it over sufficiently I can buy online (and no doubt it will be sold out, but that's how I normally roll...).

There are some lovely pieces - it's pretty hard to choose. These are my favourites....

Cosmos Teardrop Pendant
£15 - Accessorize

Humbug Seedbead Tassel Slinky Earring
£12 - Accessorize

Mimi Layered Necklace
£17 Accessorize

Have you 'Boosted' at Tesco recently? Share your bargains! I was worried the foot spa would get relegated to the garage after a few weeks - tell me I'm wrong?!! If you were filthy rich would you blow your cash at Harvey Nicks? What do you think to the new Accessorize Z range - price acceptable?

Thanks for reading - more must have musings soon xxx

The Artful Dodger

Artful

Whilst my children love to dabble in art, I am utterly, utterly hopeless! This became apparent during art class at high school when we had to draw a 3-d object. Stuck for inspiration, I chose my keyring (?) - it took me a full term of classes to produce anything remotely resembling a keyring. So, it's hardly surprising that I have no desire or confidence to dabble in the world of art ever again!

If my children ask for help mid arty session - I have 2 suggestions......'Have you tried You Tube?', and 'Ask your Dad when he gets home'.

However, events this week have made me think there is hope even for this artful dodger. I stumbled across these 'drawing with numbers' sketches and even I managed to produce a picture worthy of sharing! I showed Hubby and his response was 'I think that's the only decent thing I've ever seen you draw'. Praise indeed!

So, I'm sharing these for any other artful dodgers out there who have opted to pass on art sessions with their children, and whose skills set match mine....

Here's the results after an art session with Freya. Didn't we do well?!!

Hush

I joined Instagram in April for one reason - to take part in the Hush Insta competitions for SS15! Needless to say I never won, but I have them to thank for drawing me to Instagram and making some fabulous new Insta friends ;o) So, roll on to AW15 and it looks like Hush have started their seasonal tease again! There are daily Insta posts to win pieces from their new collection - and guess what? I want it all so far!! Camel skirt for work, lilac jumper to wear with their new boyfriend jeans...I'll be tuning in daily - if not to win, but for a sneak peek at their lovely offerings.

I love their styling - this season promises all the usual Hush coolness, with the Hush comfort and cosy factor I know and love - check our their latest video - a very beautiful model with short hair! No more top knot! Whoop whoop!!

Jamaica

My Hubby has 2 real passions in life. Manchester United and trainers. I generally switch off on Manchester Utd matters, but do listen when he talks trainers! Here's his latest pair - Adidas Jamaica (part of their Island range) - they arrived today and I snapped him wearing them at work (we work together ;o) while zipping round on the office electric scooter. We're selling these so most of the team are now gliding experts - even to the extent of delivering a round of brews whilst gliding. Impressive stuff!

Who says these have to be for men? These Jamaican beauties are available in sizes 3.5 to 13. Don't hold back ladies!

As always, thanks for visiting my blog - I'd love to hear what trends you're looking out for this AW15 - new boots, the wool cape trend? Leather leggings? Shirt dress? What wardrobe gaps are you busy creating that will obviously need filling? Have you got your eye on a certain brand that's already showing signs of a promising new season? Get in touch and share ;o)

In A Mood!

Revamp

I must admit that I've been putting off writing this blog post all week.....I'm officially over summer 2015 fashion buys - I have enough (OK - except for a pair of Topshop Fig Gladiator Sandals hopefully landing today - I will not give up!) - it's time to sit tight and wait for AW 2015 to land.

In the meantime, attention has turned to revamping our bedroom. It's currently white washed walls, white bedding, some throws, more white with shutters and an ageing Twiggy canvas. There are currently lots of style ideas floating around in my head - Flamingo wallpaper, pink lamps, easy like Sunday morning linen bedding, baskets....so I've decided to create an online mood board to sort it all out - hence the delay in writing this post - I've no idea how to do an online mood board.....

Some hours later.....here's my first Photoshop Mood Board attempt.....

1. Flamingo Wallpaper - Cole and Son. Flamingos - what's not to love?

2. Jielde Pink Lamp from Made in Design - £163! I love the pink and love the statement look of these lamps, but maybe not at that price! I've found a cheaper version at Cult Furniture, but damn and blast, they have every colour but pink - typical!

3. French Linen bed linen - I've always had white Egyptian Cotton bed linen, but like the lived in, muted colours of 100% linen bedding. Not sure I'm brave enough to move away from white, so think this is a good choice from Soak & Sleep. Will the linen creases drive me mad? Please advise!

4. Love the on trend dipped mix of ceramic and concrete - nice choice from Cox & Cox.

5. For my pile of scarves - has to be this from Pea Style.

6. My Insta signature shaker - always a place for this ;o)

7. I'm a big fan of Melin Tregwynt - beautifully woven cushions and throws made in Wales. The blue throw was a wedding gift from this store and the chunky beige throw was an extravagant sale purchase from The White Company a couple of years ago - no regrets though, it's lovely!

8. Existing La Cerise Sur Le Gateau cushion from Selfridges. I love the uber cool mix of Liberty print with the silhouette of a lady holding a cigarette ;o)

9. Old pine chair - bought for Hubby's home office several years ago, relegated to our bedroom - love it!

So - enquiries made with a decorator as there is no way I'm wallpapering - painting not a problem, but don't fancy my chances with the lovely flamingo paper! Looking forward to showing off some pictures when I reach the other side of the revamp.....

Revamped

My parents are already through to the other side....My Mum has been busy revamping their bedroom too - new wardrobe doors, freshly painted walls, lovely new bedding and cushions, new lamps and a picture. Very proud of their achievements and certainly worthy of sharing!

M&S and John Lewis Cushions,
Print also from John Lewis

Palace

Finally - If we're all getting a revamp, it's only fair to include Miss Jazzy - her home, often referred to as the hamster 'Palace' could soon be getting a new piece of furniture....given that she doesn't stand still for more than 3 seconds, I'm not sure this latest trend will catch on!

A hamster hammock would surely
be a worthy addition to this Palace?

Anyone out there tried and tested 100% linen bedlinen? Will I need to spend way too much time at the ironing board for this trend? Will I have to do some prep work on my OCD tendencies of needing smooth neat surfaces to embrace linen? Will the hamster appreciate a hammock? Comments and thoughts always appreciated....