Where is the snow? I want it to snow! I want it to snow so I have total justification for popping these clodhoppers on my feet.

Given that the Sorels are more geared towards snow than muddy fields, they did the job really well. I got a proper workout as I tell you no lie - these boots weigh a tonne. They probably weigh the equivalent of a small dog each. But I love them. You know when you open the box and you don't quite get it? I was a bit like that with the boots. They looked huge. I put them on and then I started to smile and then I started to stomp around like the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) and then I chuckled a bit and then looked around to see there was no one looking who thought I might need possibly locking up. I declared them KEEPERS.

Do you know what's also really superficially good about these? Call me shallow but they make your legs look about 2mm thinner. They are so big and fat, they make everything else look small. Woohoo!

And I hear there is snow a coming? Maybe in the next few days? For once I can't wait :o) I'm prepared, are you?

Guess what I'm in to now?

Spots.


I normally sit in the stripes camp but just lately, I'm feeling the pull over towards the spots side. It will be a bit of a tug of war between the two and even though I know which side will ultimately come out victorious, it will be fun playing one off against the other (for maybe a week) and then I will get bored and go back to something plain and grey. As usual.

My spots will come in the guise of my Uniqlo silk spot blouses. I first spotted (!) them at the beginning of January 2013 on Shini's Park & Cube. I clicked the link faster than you can say spotty what or dotty what and found that they had sold out in my size. Hmmph! And them they brought them out again in the autumn and I ummed and ahhed so long over them that they sold out again. Hmmph! However it is good to have friends in far away places and Joanna from Poppy's Style kindly helped me track down an ivory blouse and had it sent over from the U.S. And then a month later as I was browsing the Uniqlo sale section, what did I spot (!)? The elusive sold out silk spotty blouses which were no longer sold out??? All colours, all sizes. So I bought the navy too.

And I'm going to take  some inspiration from some of these gals. Shini, Virginie, Steph, Alexa and Clemence. Yeah - I'm totally on first name terms with all of them (not).

I did have quite a hard time finding pictures of ladies in spotty shirts so I guess they're not that popular but those girls look good don't they? Anyway, as there's a shortage of spotty shirt pictures, I thought I'd add one more to the interweb.



Err my interpretation is a bit more suburban than those young gals up there. But then again, I am a  40 something suburban school mum so this is as rocking as it gets. Nigel, a family friend or as we call him "Nee-jell"came round with his camera and I persuaded him to pap me. I did a lot of gazing in the distance at nothing in particular to get one shot that I didn't hate. I find that if I stare straight at a camera lens I grin like a Cheshire cat so best thing to do - not look at the camera. Anyway, thanks for humouring me Nee-jell and when are you popping around again?

By the way, like everyone else in blogsphere, I like a bit of Pinterest for inspiration. I do believe in  trying to adapt looks around what you already have and using it to help you find new and interesting ways to wear your clothes. Michelle from Myfashionable40s is a dab hand at this especially since she took up a challenge to restrict her spending last year and to shop her own wardrobe instead. I love people who are good like this and take on these masochistic challenges and what's more I really love reading about how they get on. I couldn't do it myself if the truth be told but I digress and what I wanted to say was I liked Clemence's look and took the key elements like the spotty blouse and ankle strap shoes and worked my own spring look around them. I might even try a wintery version of it as well at some point with the navy shirt given that we are technically in winter. And now that I've said it - I'm thinking, what a jolly good idea! But not today. Maybe next week as I'm currently in decorating mode (with me being the decorator) hence the slowdown in blogging (1 bathroom and 1 bedroom done so far - chuffed :o)).

Anyway, here are some spotty dotty offerings I spotted on the interweb.

• I have to say the Uniqlo silk blouses that I have are beautifully made and finished and only cost £40 at full price. The silk is just the right weight and thickness which is why I bought two. As you can see from the pictures, the ivory one is thick enough to hide all underwear. 

• Uniqlo are not currently doing the silk spotty shirts but they have brought out a rayon version which is almost identical to the ones I have. The link is above and here as I've found that I can't find the blouse when searching through their actual site. One of those strange glitches I'm afraid!

You know me - I love a little denim dress. Last year, I found a lovely looking shift dress from Topshop which I showed off proudly in this post and then found myself returning it based on the fact that it was too short. 

Look what I found! Another almost identical one! But this one is from Dorothy Perkins and is in a light denim/chambray type fabric which is what I really wanted the Topshop one to be.

• Joanna mentioned that I should start wearing some of the clothes that I stash away. She has a point. But I think I can get away with not wearing this just yet as I bought it for the summer. So there! I didn't break my resolution exactly.... I think :o?

• This one is also kind of cute in a Kirsten Dunst/Carrie Mulligan kind of way. It comes up big though. Size down for a body flattering fit. Stay your own size for a food flattering fit. Would be cute with some pointy sling backs a la fifties style.

At the same time that I bought the burgundy New Balance 410's, I spotted these grey New Balance 620's in the local outlet. I ummed and ahhed. Burgundy or grey. Burgundy or grey. Grey or burgundy? Grey or burgundy? Arghghgh! I couldn't choose. So how about both? Yeah, let's take both. That might seem a little greedy but I got the burgundy 410's for a silly price so I felt I could justify the grey. 

I bought them and wrapped them and put them under the tree. Merry Christmas to me :o)

And credit to me, I've actually worn them instead of putting them back in their box and saving them for whenever. This is one of my resolutions for 2014. Stop hoarding and start wearing. I'm one of those persons who buys and waits and waits and waits. I know some people who go by the rule of if they haven't worn it within a week, it goes. Not me. I like to do the waiting game and make really sure that I like something. Really really sure.

I have to say I'm not actually sold on trainers with boyfriend jeans on me. They work for a lot of people but I feel too laddish in them worn like that. I do however like them with a slimmer cut jean. And I thought I'd try these with my Next waxed cotton jeans.

Last Note :

• The NB 620's I have were bought at a New Balance outlet so they are not current season stock. I believe they are unisex hence the fact that I managed to get such a small fitting pair but all I can find left online are the large sizes in the mens section at Sarenza and mine were half the price of that advertised. If anyone is really interested, send me an email and I can ring my NB outlet to see if they have any sizes you want left.

• For some reason, all the NB's I have tried tend to come up small. It was pure luck that I came across these in a 4.5. I'm taking that as a good sign from the Trainer Gods.

• New Balance is an American English company and manufacturing is done in the US as well as in the UK at Flimby, Cumbria. I kind of like the fact that this pair was was manufactured in the UK - hence the "Made in England" embroidered on the tongue which you don't see on a lot of NB's. A little bit of modern heritage. An oxymoron in a shoe if you like :o)

• An alternative but similar is the New Balance 501 Backpack which can be found here and here.

Hi again. I've been a bit slack on the old blog front. I know I've been a bit slack because the Grumps said to me yesterday evening "Sue, whatever's going on???" and I said "What do you mean?" mentally trying to recall what I'd racked up on the credit card over Christmas. "You haven't posted since Christmas Eve!" My first thought was "phew it's not the credit card!" My second thought was "hmmm, he has a point".

Admittedly it wasn't my fault - I just haven't been in much. I was abducted by eating drinking aliens aka George's God Parents who persuaded us to stay over on New Years Eve and then bolted the door and wouldn't let us go home for a few days. All we were allowed to do was hang out in jim jams and eat delicious food and be plied with drinks. It was torture :o)  Their evil plan was to make us fat and turn us into weebles. They succeeded.

But we escaped. Back to our cold house complete with bare fridge. But there's no place like home is there? Bare fridge or not.

Confession time now. I slobbed in my slobbiest gear over Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed wearing these joggy bots from Uniqlo. They are slim cut and not the thickest cotton and they do loosen up and bag a little as the day goes on but I was at home and no one was looking and they were very accommodating especially after a few of these :o)



I was also very grateful to be slipping them on after a visit to Grandma who's a bit good at cooking.


Err ... basically I ate my bodyweight through Christmas. And I have the thighs and belly to show for it.

But something's got to give folks and yesterday was about the first time I stepped out of the door in relatively normal clothes to do a supermarket shop.