Friday Five : 27 Jan 2017

Friday five already. I think I'm going to keep up this little Friday routine until I forget to do it one week.

Friday Five (1 of 5) Candles

Miller Harris Candles available here.

This week I lit my Miller Harris candle which I've been saving for some time. I wasn't that big on candles until the other year when I was gifted a White Company Fig candle to try out. It was lovely and it made me appreciate the fact that some of the candles which cost a little more (err more than a fiver nabbed swiftly whilst on the supermarket shop) do actually burn better and are more highly scented and the fragrance lasts longer. I also love the Cabbages and Roses candles and they smell wonderful though I found that they didn't always burn so cleanly in the jar and I often ended up wiping the sooty bits off the inside of the glass. But I most definitely can't fault them for fragrance. For a really interesting and informative read on candles which really opened my eyes, head here.  #lovemeanicecandle

Friday Five (2 of 5) Pink Cardigans

H&M Powder Mohair Blend Cardigan

Isn't this pretty? What a lovely powder pink shade. Not too baby but more a blush. I always like a nosey in the H&M Premium section, this is where you find their "nicer quality" bits i.e. the things which tend to be made more of natural fibres and are slightly less flammable. And isn't this cardigan the prettiest shade to take you in to spring. But if you just don't think you can pull of the girliness of this shade, guess what? They have it in grey and even better, it's on offer too and discounted by £20. #sorelytempted

Friday Five (3 of 5) Stripes Again

Uniqlo Breton

I've spent years looking for the perfect red toned Breton. I tried with an Armor Lux one years back but it was humongous on me. Shame as it was the perfect raspberry red shade on a natural background. I had a J Crew one which was a lovely burgundy shade but washed awful and was resigned to the charity bag at some point. I had a lovely Sezane one which I bought a couple of years back and I sold on - t'was a bit snug but sending it back to France seemed a troublesome step too far. I ordered a Uniqlo one last year but didn't like it enough - the colour wasn't quite right so I returned it. And then I ordered their latest offering with not too high expectations given that my success rate has been diddly squat all these years. And guess what? I really really like it! A mid weight jersey, not too long or short in the body, not too clingy on the doughnut tyre and I love the colour - it's so reminiscent of the original Armor Lux one I bought but fits oh so much better. If you prefer a slightly different shape this one also looks good. #realbretonshave21whitestripes_mineisnotarealbreton

Friday Five (4 of 5) Earrings

Cabbage White England Earrings

Just before Christmas, I treated myself to a pair of earrings. Nothing expensive and it was basically to give myself a bit of a kick up the backside in the accessories arena. I wasn't buying anything new to wear at Christmas but I could at least treat myself to a pair of earrings. So I did and I even managed to keep them in all night till I got home instead of whipping them off after the first compliment and then relegating them to my handbag. Well since then I've been looking and looking for another statement pair. And I rather fancy those up there from Cabbage White England (I have a birthday coming up). You've got to admit, they're a bit #zowiebowie

Friday Five (5 of 5) Cock a Doodle Doo

I've got another four packs of these not in the picture! #pah

Oh yes, the eldest boy told me that I needed to go to the Chinese Supermarket to buy those Chinese candies and White Rabbit sweets that all his class like. They're expecting them for Chinese New Year apparently. So off I duly trotted to the Chinese supermarket, bought a stack of sweets and then it turns out that it's school policy not to allow sweets so now I have all these spare sweets on my hands. What a to do!

Anyway, it's the Year of the Rooster. I never know these things till someone tells me and I didn't know this till my George told me the other week as they're learning about China at the moment. And I had a moment of dread when George came out of the class the other evening and said his teacher wanted to speak to me. It's every mum's nightmare when they hear the immortal words "Mrs ....  could I just have a word with you please?" 😲 This happened the first year of school for Ben when I was summoned to the teacher but instead of being told of my son's crimes, I was asked if I could go in and talk to the lovely children about Chinese New Year. I spent a frantic couple of nights googling up on the Chinese New Year as I knew not one jot. I remember telling them however that dragons were scared of the colour red after a myth about a dragon which was scared away by a child wearing red.  Anyway, there's alway that one child in the class that has to push it and ask questions like "Does it have to be red?". "Are they scared of blue?" "What about dark pink?" or "Orange - that's a bit like red, are they scared of orange?". #awkwardbeggars

Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year to you all!

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Last Note :

• Thank you to all the lovely people who did the candle survey last week. My friend is made up with all the responses. She says "Thank You".