The Grumps gets notified daily by the Dogs Trust on his iPad of dogs available for adoption. And every other night or so, he says "Sue, Sue, come here!" And I duly walk over and look on the iPad at some dog with sad eyes and he goes "Awwww" and I go "Awww" and as I walk away, I say "No". On this one matter, I stand resolute. I let him have kids. I let him watch rubbish TV. I let him drink dirty beer. But we are not getting a dog. 

So cute. And the best thing about the dogs? As with kids that are not yours, it's great when you can hand them back  at the end of the day and you don't have to clean their poo. 

Hope you all have a nice weekend.

Good old Marks & Sparks.

I haven’t bought much from them in years but this year I’m feeling the love. They're definitely having a moment.

They came out with a rather gorgeous looking camel coloured coat last month. Poof. All sizes gone just like that. Took me ages to track one down and when I did, I didn’t buy it only because one side didn’t fit as nicely as the other. But who’s to say another size 8 wouldn’t have been just perfect? Or maybe I’m a little wonky? And even Grazia gave it a mention. Means it was fashion worthy. Let’s move on.

I also saw a rather fetching leopard print coat which I also had to track down in my size but track down I did. I walked round the store with it before I put that back too. Why? It looked good, it fitted well but leopard is leopard and leopard coats aren’t really me - believe me I’ve tried. However, this is actually a great coat for anyone who wants to do leopard print without the bulk of a furry one (been there, tried it on, scared myself, put it back). So a good coat but not as good as the camel one -  Grazia hasn’t mentioned it ... yet.

But don’t feel sorry for me - I came out a winner. I saw a lovely navy coat just as I was hanging back the camel coloured one. 

• I sized down to an 8 so the shoulders sit nicely. But I think taller girls could take their normal size and wear a thicker jumper quite comfortably in this. The code is T49/1247 if anyone is interested. If you decide to try, let me know how you get on.

• I also spotted this gorgeous number. Oh to be a foot taller!

• Told you I was stocking up for winter. And we're not even out of August yet. 

Okay, so it's not up there with a Celine Trio or a nice Chanel but I think it has a little certain something?  Killing time the other day in Primark, I spotted this little owl tote. And what do I really like about it? I like that the little owl is blue which also just happens to be my new favourite other colour. Yellow has been demoted for me this year. Announcing to all and sundry that yellow was my second favourite colour was basically the death knell for all things yellow in my wardrobe. The owl being blue means the bag is the perfect accompaniment to all the lovely blue garments which I seemed to have accrued recently. Don't go adjusting your screens - yes, that will be me in blue, blue, blue and ... ta dah! ... more blue. Or more specifically - navy blue. You're going to get very bored of seeing me wear navy blue. You're going to get bored of reading the word navy blue. 

And speaking of navy blue - my sweatshirt isn't actually a true navy blue, this is more what people describe as an indigo blue. There is a difference (check wiki) and I am picky about my colours.  Grumps will testify how many times I painted the kitchen in the old house before I was happy. He said the walls were probably about an inch thicker by the time I finished. 

So anybody else out there getting the whole navy blue vibe? It kind of just snuck on me and then hit me BAM full on! Has it got you yet?

And is anybody else a decorating fascist out there? It can't be just me? And I look so sweet too don't I?

Looks can be deceiving (cue evil cackle).

Zara Two Tone Jumper

So what's a girl to do? Put your votes in now. Keep or return?

I can't leave things alone. It's gotten to be a bit of a habit with me and it all stems from the fact that if you're a bit of a shorty, things don't always fit. A sleeve here, a hemline there, you just get used to doing a few alterations to make things work for you.

Take my old linen top from Jigsaw. I bought this the week I finished work years ago and it was the top I wore when I left the premises. When I bought it, there was part of me that said I have no job now and I shouldn't buy this as I should be watching the pennies but there was the other argument that said - it might be the last nice thing I buy for a while. I preferred the second argument and bought it.

It is however a little low on the cleavage front. 

I’ve taken it easy on the blogging front this last week - hope you don’t mind too much. Some times it’s like that - there’s not a lot to say and besides the brain has gone dead after endless hours sat in the playground watching the boys hanging upside down and off things they're not meant to.

But I’ve not been totally idle. I’ve been getting ready for winter. I started in June just as the weather was hotting up. Starting in June seemed like a good idea to me - no snoozing, no losing. And what did I start with? I started with a Uniqlo light down jacket. I missed the Uniqlo/Comptoirs des Cotonniers collaboration last year. Okay, I didn’t miss it, I wasn’t that fussed at the time because I don’t do really short jackets and I don’t like to look like I take my fashion cues from the Michelin man. What changed my mind? I saw my niece at Christmas and she had one of the Comptoir down jackets which she was wearing as an alternative to a fleece/cardigan. And she looked really good in it ... and warm. And I'm a right little copy cat if the truth be known. And I love being warm but not hot. And so I started hunting down the CDC ones on Ebay. None. Then I went on line on Uniqlo to see what they had - they had down jackets galore if you were in the market for a wishy washy namby pamby pastel affair which I was not, so when June hit and I saw down jackets arriving in autumn shades - bam. Button pressed. 

I got this one. In plain black. 

Uniqlo Ultra Light Down Compact Jacket (black)

But the wine coloured one looks good too.

Can I tell you now - it’s really hard to get excited when your new down jacket arrives and it’s 28 degrees in the shade? But I’ve got it so that's a tick on the A/W list. First A/W 2013 score in June - beat that. I’m going to use this under “thin” coats for extra insulation. I'm going to wear it under thick coats for extra insulation. I'm going to wear it at home as a cardi. I'm going to wear it as it is, a neat little jacket for the school run. Fact is, I'm going to wear it ... lots. That's the plan anyway. It also folds into a teeny bag too so you could keep one in your bag just incase it gets a bit nippy or is that going a bit far and does that mean I am officially turning in to my mother?).

Wonder if they do sock versions for boots? Get’s mighty chilly standing in the school playgrounds in January.

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Last note :

• I ordered an extra small (I am a size 10) and this was fine as I intend to wear this really underneath coats and I didn't want extra bulk. It fastens fine but is a little snug around the chest.

So I'm a bit slow off the mark. But I got there. I found some. Black pony hair slip ons. Err and some leopard ones whilst I was there too. In Next of all places. That shop which everyone goes in to buy their work wear. Who would have thought?

My hunt started a while back. I first spotted the black Zara pony slips on Ebay being touted for huge amounts and then they started popping up on various blogs. Red rag to a bull. I took the bait and started my internet trawl to find them. And it was interesting. What did I find out along the way? I found that the Zara slip ons arrived roughly at the beginning of the year and came and went in a blink of an eye. Did anyone see them? No? Me neither and I think I'm pretty good at spotting these kind of things. I also found that the Zara ones are actually Celine inspired and that Celine are now doing python ones, petrol effect ones, coloured hairy ones and snakey ones. At a price of course. Can't find any online though. Not that I was going to get any Celine ones anyway.

And how did I come across the Next ones? I was doing my usual using Next as a thoroughfare and I was exiting the store past the last of the sales shoes when I spotted the leopard ones out of the corner of my eye. Now leopard are nothing like plain black but I forgot to mention that I've also been eyeballing the Kurt Geiger Laurel leopard ones. I've actually tried those on but I balked at the price and put those back but kept my eyes peeled for suitable alternatives. Well find them I did and for the princely sum of £18 in the Next sale. Score! I ordered my pair online as there were none in my size in store and they still had lots of sizes last time I looked. The black ones are full price at £36 as they are new season stock.

How will I wear them? Not sure but Fen's given me some lovely ideas with her latest post featuring Studio Nicholson.



Madewell's lookbook helps to cement the reason why I like these skate style slip ons. And how not to look like a skater girl wearing them.



 And if I look half as cool as one of my favourite bloggy girls, Steph, I will be very happy.