I revealed too much too soon. I was emotionally slutty.

So, after my last blog I went into extreme worrying mode. The weather seemed to get worse - especially in Dublin - and I was convinced my flight home would be cancelled and that I faced the prospect of spending Christmas away from my family. Luckily for me I had a good back up plan, and would have been able to spend Christmas with Nic and his family in Kent. But, in the event, my flight managed to squeeze into Dublin on Wednesday. Only just, it seems - the airport was closed the entire day before and for most of Thursday and Friday as well. I won't bore you with all of the details of my journey but I did spend a miserable two hours of it sitting in the middle of a row on a Ryanair plane, waiting for air traffic control in Dublin to give us a landing slot while an absolutely awful brat screamed and roared and kicked my seat. Ugh. Still, it was definitely all worth it when I got off the plane and was greeted in the airport by my lovely parents.

I've had a stinking cold all week (I caught it on the plane. I could actually feel myself getting ill while I was sitting there) and right now I have a red nose and a pale face - I look less than delightful, so no outfit shots. However, I am starting to feel better and my photographer arrives with us tomorrow, so I might be able to rectify that during the rest of the week. I do feel really rough, though. I know it's only a cold, and I shouldn't be so lame, but my sinuses are giving me real gip. I'll play one more tune on my sad violin and tell you that I couldn't go out with my brother and sisters tonight because I'm too ill, and then I really will stop whinging!
I really don't have anything to moan about. I feel so lucky to have made it home, and so far it's been wonderful even with a cold. We had a bit of a drama on Christmas morning when our oven broke, but my mum took the turkey to my grandma's house to cook it there and luckily enough the hob was working so we were able to cook everything else. It was lovely being with all of my siblings, and though I spent the day just lounging around and reading my book, it was perfect.

When I got home the weather was astonishingly cold. Our 'severe weather' in the midlands had done nothing to prepare me for the temperatures here. On the 23rd and 24th the temperature had reached -15 by about six in the evening! It has warmed up dramatically now, and it's raining heavily and all of the snow has disappeared but it was beautiful when it lasted. I'll leave you with a few photos I took of my snowy home, and I'll be back later in the week

The pond is completely frozen over. However, I did not take accept my dad's invitation to go for a walk across it.

No breakfast by the pond this time

The Copper Beeches look beautiful with frozen leaves

Snow and sky

And a few non-snow pictures. My sister and her fiance had a wedding to attend on the 23rd - so they're providing the outfit shots this time!

Kelly, looking very festive in her Fever Loire dressKelly and M

Let's just say this case has a... distinct smell to it. A certain... paranormal bouquet.

Well, the weather outside is frightful... I don't have a fire, however. Compared to outside, it is delightful in here though! I'm curled up, in many layers with my hot water bottle. I'll admit, I'm not enjoying the snow as much as I might because I have the concern of whether my flight (scheduled for a few days from now) will be able to go. Still, only one more day of work to go so no point in getting stressed about the weather. See - I am trying to be positive!

It's easy enough to be positive after a throughly excellent weekend. It was my work Christmas lunch on Thursday. We were booked into Old Orleans for lunch and although my halloumi and spinach burger contained neither halloumi nor spinach, it was very tasty. As with the pub quiz last week, I really enjoyed spending some social time with my colleagues. As we were eating lunch it started to snow, and it continued after we had decamped to the pub. I got home early enough to meet a few friends for a coffee (much needed after a few cocktails with my lunch) and I had a quiet evening in with Nic and a DVD of Meet Me in St. Louis. Thankfully I was working from home on Friday, which meant I was able to have a little bit of a lie-in. I pottered around and got some work done during the day, and that evening we headed out to the Somerville to meet some friends. The plan had been to have an early evening, but it never works out like that when we go to the Somerville! This was further complicated when, as we were leaving, a fellow patron collapsed and the landlord had to call the ambulance. It was very dramatic. The man hadn't been drinking very much and the landlord suspected he might have had a stroke. I'm not sure what happened - he sent us on home, but it was pretty shocking to see the man just fall off his bar stool and hit the floor.

Nic and I were up bright and early on Saturday morning. We were off to London to see It's A Wonderful Life at the NFT and also to do a spot of Christmas shopping. It wasn't snowing when we woke up, but it had started to snow by the time we were leaving to walk to the station. Nic and I wrapped ourselves up well, and really enjoyed the walk through the snow to the station. We caught the gorgeous Wrexham and Shropshire train down to London and it snowed for the entire journey. It was beautiful to be speeding through the snowy countryside, enjoying breakfast and chatting to each other. We even saw Father Christmas in the buffet car!

Me on the Wrexham and Shropshire train. Not too sure why I'm holding this leaflet!

Our breakfast - toast and jam and coffee

Nic on the train

When we got off the train at Marylebone there was a little bit of snow, but not a great deal. There was a tube strike, and the Bakerloo line was suspended so we walked along to Baker Street to catch the Jubilee line to Green Park, and then on to the Holloway Road. You can see a little bit of the snow in this photo:

Me in snowy Marylebone. The beret and boots are from Topshop, and I'm wearing my Fever Paddington coat and Robin dress. And, of course, my beautiful Joules bag.

By the time Nic and I got to the Holloway Road, about 15 minutes later, there was about 3 inches of snow on the ground!

My feet in the snow. This got less fun as the day wore on.

Although Nic had been to the Holloway Road before to meet a friend who works there, I hadn't. I always like to see a new bit of a familiar town, and this was no exception. It looked very pretty in the snow, and it was worth the journey. Nic was taking me to the Vivien of Holloway shop to buy me my Christmas present.

In the snow outside the Vivien of Holloway shop. By the time I was finished in there, there was a lot more snow!

I liked the Vivien of Holloway shop a lot and would definitely go back. I've admired their dresses for some time now, but was always reluctant to order one online without having seen one in real life first. One of the very helpful ladies in the shop took my measurements for me (lucky I was wearing a fitted dress, really) and helped me pick out the correct size, and then let me loose to try on lots of frocks. I didn't go quite as wild as I did at the Aspire launch, but I wanted to make sure that I was getting the right dress. And I did! I sadly didn't get any photos of me prancing around in amazing dresses and the incredible petticoat I tried on because it was too dark in the store, but maybe I'll put up a picture of the dress Nic bought me later in this post. The snow continued to fall pretty heavily as I was in the shop - and apparently a couple wearing snow goggles spent some time peering in through the shop window! We were both ready for a coffee after our efforts, and on wandering down Holloway road we found this amazing pub:

The Coronet

It's a Wetherspoon's pub, in an old cinema building! I couldn't get any good photos inside because it was too dark, sadly. It's definitely worth visiting if you're in the area. It's full of big photographs of the stars of classical Hollywood cinema - including a beautiful display of photos of Fred Astaire. The coffee was grand, and it was nice to stop but I really didn't fancy eating there as the food looked grim. We headed back into town, stopping at the Princess Louise on High Holborn before lunch.

Nic in the Princess Louise

After lunch we decided we'd had enough of shopping so walked along through Bloomsbury and Holborn to the British Musuem. There was hardly anyone on the streets, and the snow made everything look very pretty:

Bloomsbury Square gardens in the snow

The British Musuem in the snow

We were only able to stay in the museum for about an hour - it was closing early - but we did have enough time to visit the Medieval Europe room and a beautiful exhibition of clocks. I'm ashamed to say it was my first visit to the British museum but I shall definitely be back, if only to see this chap again:

Look at this lovely creature

The snow had turned to slush and our walk down to the Southbank took ages. I had to take tiny little steps because I kept sliding; it's a miracle that I managed to stay upright all day! Our route took us through Trafalgar Square, which was eerily empty, and over the Jubilee Bridge:

View of Westminster from the Jubilee bridge

I was extraordinarily glad to sit down in the bar at the BFI and I treated us both to a cocktail. Sadly, on checking the train times it was clear that it was going to be too risky to stay for the film - the train we were planning on getting home was showing as cancelled as Chiltern were running an emergency timetable. We finished our cocktails and hauled ass back to Marylebone.

The delicious Cosmopolitan made for us in the BFI bar. It's one of the best ones I've ever had, with burnt orange oil and everything on top. Also the alcohol definitely made it easier to trudge through the slush to Westminster tube station!

I was so glad we didn't have to wait too long for a train because by this stage we were both really tired. I'm disappointed to have missed the film but it's not so bad. Nic and I have both been lucky enough to see It's A Wonderful Life on the big screen before (on our undergraduate Hollywood course) and also we have it on DVD. I really did not want to get stuck in London overnight! When we got back we got straight into bed with a cup of tea, watched Friday night's Peep Show and went to sleep. Rock and roll, I know, but trudging through the snow was so tiring. Still, I really enjoyed my day out in London with Nic - we always have so much fun together.

As Nic and I will be spending Christmas with our families rather than with each other, we celebrated a mini Christmas yesterday. Nic woke me up early and, after making a cup of tea, we sat down next to the Christmas tree to exchange gifts.

Our little Christmas tree with gifts and selection boxes underneath

I was very excited to give Nic his gifts, and very relieved that they had all arrived in time! My favourite was his Doctor Who t-shirt with The Master on it:

I AM THE MASTER AND YOU WILL OBEY ME

I was tickled pink with my gifts from Nic, which included some pretty earrings and two Spencer Tracy films. I was really touched by the oddly shaped gift that had been puzzling me - it was a beautiful champagne bowl. I have some very pretty champagne flutes, but I've wanted a champagne bowl for some time (especially after my recent Mad Men viewing) and I was very happy that Nic had remembered, and found such a pretty one as well. As it was our Christmas celebration I was allowed to put on my new dress. Annoyingly, the Tara Starlet petticoat I ordered online to wear underneath it has not yet arrived, but I think you'll still get an idea of what the dress looks like:

Vivien of Holloway Halterneck Circle dress and Vivienne Westwood cherry Lady Dragon shoes

It is so pretty and I am delighted with it. Obviously it was too cold to actually wear the dress yesterday but before I put on some warmer clothes I had some fun parading around in the dress:

I like the halterneck. You don't have to tie it, which makes it much more comfortable to wear. I also really like the lapped zip - much prettier than a concealed one

Pretty bodice

Even the label is pretty, how about that?!

Some of the earrings Nic gave me for Christmas

Twirling around in my new dress

I did put on some warmer clothes after this. Lots of layers, and wellies. Still, it was fun while it lasted!

John Rocha for Debenhams dress. Not pictured: many, many layers underneath it.

Nic and I wandered into town for a walk through the snow and a browse around the markets, before getting ready to spend the evening with friends. Wonderful Lysy and The Scientist were holding a Solstice dinner for a few friends, so we tramped up through the snow to their house to celebrate the festive season with A LOT of food. We veggies had some delicious McSween's vegetarian haggis, which went perfectly with The Scientist's roast potatoes and the champagne I had brought. We were spoiled for desserts - Lysy's yule log, N's apple cake, Sugar Plum's peach muffins and Lauren's candied clementines. We settled down to play Kill Doctor Lucky while we digested, and then walked the snowy walk home. It was so cold when we got outside that I could feel my heart fluttering and, by the time we'd reached the bottom of the parade both mine and Lauren's hair had frozen!

Lauren's frozen hair

I attempted to get in to work this morning but was thwarted by the weather: my train was delayed, and then cancelled as it got stuck behind a broken train on the tracks outside Leamington. I wasn't too upset - I was only going in to the office for a meeting, which I had a feeling would be cancelled anyway. And it was! So on the whole, I've been very happy at home today. I've been huddled under blankets with a hot water bottle, periodically swearing at my work computer but it has been comparatively relaxing. I'll be spending the next few days watching the weather forecast to gauge my chances of getting home for Christmas. Keep your fingers crossed for me - I'm cautiously optimistic.

Now, off for a cup of tea and to watch Any Human Heart on 4OD. An exciting life I lead! I hope to be back in the next few days so stay warm, my dears. I'll leave you with a few more photos of Leamington in the snow:

Saturday must have been a quiet day in the cinema

Dormer Place

Geese on the frozen Leam

Attention lady shoppers. Gifts for husbands, like pipes and slippers, are now available on the first floor.

Evening all! I love that feeling I get on a Sunday evening when the flat is tidy and we've had a good weekend, and Nic and I can cuddle up and enjoy a film or an episode of something. Of course it helps having only a week left of work before the holidays - it totally dispels that back-to-school-tomorrow feeling you sometimes get on a Sunday evening.

Anyway, the flat has been tidied and the dishes have been washed (Yay! Thanks, Nic!) We've got an evening of watching A Christmassy Ted ahead of us (starring Gerard McSorley, in a turn far less scary than Veronica Guerin) I don't know how many times now I've seen that Christmas special, but it seems to get funnier every time I watch it - especially poor old Mrs Doyle falling off the windowsill. It's her wee leg wiggling away, it cracks me up every time!

I hope you've all had a good weekend. It's that time of year when there's lots going on socially and lots to do, so the time goes by really quickly. After finishing up work for the week on Friday afternoon I took myself into town to do a wee bit of shopping and to meet some of the girls for coffee and a giggle. Nic and I had a very quiet Friday night in, we cooked a curry and watched a DVD and went to bed quite early. Ah, the glamorous life!

I had some more Christmas shopping to do on Saturday. My siblings and I do Secret Santa, so we each only have one person to buy for. I only found out on Friday who I was buying for, but it worked out very well because I already had lots of ideas. Nic came round the shops with me and we were successful - I'm very pleased with what I bought - but the shops were horrible. I'm so glad that I'm pretty much finished apart from buying birthday presents for my sisters. We were revived after a hot chocolate in Wilde's, and after doing the grocery shopping we both felt like we'd done enough battling and it was time to go home! The weather was mild enough for me to be able to forgo all of the layers I've had to wear recently, and I was feeling in the mood to wear something dramatic:

H&R Dress from Blue Banana, black cardigan from Dorothy Perkins and Firetrap shoes

I love this dress. It's not at all daytime appropriate, but I thought I'd wear it anyway. I love the full skirt and the built in underskirt. It was really reasonably priced (£24.99) and I am so impressed by the quality of the garment - it is fully lined and made of gorgeous fabric, printed with an amazing flock pattern:

The pattern on the dress - I especially like the little swallows.

In the afternoon, Nic and I continued our Christmas countdown viewing by watching the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special, which was as sweet and funny as I remembered it. Our Christmas viewing for the week ahead includes a few more Christmas specials, and some festive movies like Meet Me in St Louis before we go to see It's A Wonderful Life at the NFT at the weekend. It's really nice to build anticipation for Christmas, and the Dalek advent calendar just isn't doing it. It's nice to have chocolate and to try to decipher what the shapes are meant to represent, but every time I open a door I'm just so disappointed that there isn't a chocolate Dalek waiting behind it.

We were off to the pub on Saturday evening to hang out with some friends over a gin and tonic, and I decided to wear my beautiful Vintage Allure Ethel dress again. I think I decided on Saturday night to wear this dress always, every day, and to buy some spares. The gin might have influenced that line of thinking, but also the fact that this dress might be The Best Dress Ever.

I know you've seen photos of me in this before, but whatever. I love this dress.

The back view's not so bad either

The pub was brilliant, as always. The Somerville Arms is definitely my favourite ever pub and we always have a good night there. I also enjoy the walk home, especially if it involves chips. Last night's walk home included a stop at the chip shop, and on our way there we found some amazing candlesticks just sitting on the pavement. They're covered in candle wax so I'll wait until I've cleaned them before taking photos, but they were quite the find! I think someone must have drunkenly stolen them from another local pub and then ditched them en route. The ditching might have been the result of seeing some police officers. Or, equally likely, because the thief realised that they probably wouldn't be able to get in to Smack when carrying two massive candlesticks. In any case, I'm delighted to have another bit of scavenge to add to our flat, and the candlesticks will help when I'm pretending to be in The Turn of the Screw.

Today has been....surreal. After our usual lazy morning, Nic and I went out to meet Denise and Michael to go dancing. A few weeks ago I'd noticed a poster outside Leamington Town Hall advertising a tea dance, and thought having a dance would be a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. And, you know, to be able to legitimately wear a party frock in the afternoon:

Fever Escala dress and Vivienne Westwood Cherry Lady Dragon shoes

And look, I know, those shoes are totally not winter appropriate. It's mild and all, but my feet were cold. Thankfully we didn't have far to go!

I like the neckline on the back of this dress, it's sexy in an elegant, understated way

I accessorised the dress with a clutch bag and some over the top costume jewellery

Nica Nemo clutch bag, and the ring was given to me by Martha. I'm also wearing Barry M nail paint in grey.

The tea dance was amazing. It was extremely intimidating - we were the youngest people there by about 20 years, and there was nothing amateur about the dancing. I'd had the vague idea that we'd be able to get up and give it a go, but this was proper ballroom dancing. Nic and I had a stab at a waltz and failed miserably, and the organiser took pity on us and gave all four of us a quick and impromptu dance lesson in the hallway. He taught us the waltz and the quick step and, if nothing else, it made Nic and I resolve to take ballroom dancing lessons in the New Year. There's a good chance that Denise and Michael will join us; our dance teacher told Denise he thinks she has it, and that she could teach us a thing or two! We really did have a good time. The mini dance lesson was lots of fun, and it was inspiring and beautiful to watch all of the couples gliding around the floor in time to the music. Mind you, the music itself was what lent the surreal quality to the afternoon - I'm not sure if you can imagine a roomful of elderly people dancing the tango to a synthesised version of Last Christmas by Wham, but bizarrely enough it seemed to work quite well.

Anyway, that's my lot for this evening. I need a cup of tea to revive myself after my strange afternoon! It's going to be a busy week, but hopefully I'll be able to check in, especially if my exciting ebay purchase arrives soon. Stay warm, and I'll see you soon.

I like...

Saturday night, dancing in the kitchen to...

I Like - The Divine Comedy

I like your clothes

I like your hair

I like you clothed

I like you bare

I like your boots, your skirts and your blouses

I like your suits, your shirts and your trousers

I like your mild political stances

I like your wild, spontaneous dances

I like the way you drive me insane

Morning, noon and night

I like you 'cause you're sexy

I like the sexy things you dress in

I like it when you're sitting next to me, whispering sexy things

I like you 'cause you like me

I like the poems that you write me

I like the pictures that you thoughtfully draw for me

They make me look all right

Oh yeah

I like, I like, I like

I like the way you make me laugh

I like your brain, both left and right half

I like the songs you sing when you're bathing

I like your dog, when he's behaving

I like you car, you curse like a trooper

During a hard reversing manouevre

I like the way we kiss and we make up after a fight

I like you 'cause you're sexy

I like the sexy things you dress in

I like it when you're sitting next to me, texting me sexy things

I like you 'cause you like me

I like the poems that you write me

I like the pictures that you thougtfully draw for me

They make me look all right

Oh yeah

I like, I like, I like

I like you 'cause you're crazy

I like the way you do whatever you like

It constantly amazes me

Baby please, stay with me tonight

Oh yeah

I like, I like, I like

Oh yeah

I like, I like, I like

Question I wake to in the morning and pass out with at night: "What's my popularity with my fellow white people?"

Wow, this week has been a long one, hasn't it? Or maybe it's just me. In any case, I've had a good week, even if it has lasted longer than some years have, so I'm extra happy to be at Friday today. How's that for a nice positive thought to start this blog entry off with?!

Seriously though, I have had a really good week. I feel like I've got my sparkle back at the end of a very difficult year, and I am so thankful for that. I've been sparkling away like nobody's business this week. Work has been good, with some interesting meetings and some fun social stuff as well and that has undoubtedly helped me to regain some of my confidence overall. So I'm merry and bubbly today - apologies in advance to those of you who might find that a bit twee. I'm working from home today, which is nice. Or rather, which became nice after my stupid work computer started to work (after a call to our IT people) I'm not that bad with gadgets and stuff, but I find my work laptop utterly frustrating. It never fucking works. I can feel that vein in my forehead start to pulse just thinking about it, so I'm going to quickly change the subject and show you my working from home outfit for today. It's not so cold today, but I am wearing some layers underneath this and the dress is wool. As I type this I'm also wearing a cardigan, so I'm feeling pretty snuggly:

Ruby Belle Bardot dress, red tights from Dorothy Perkins and my old faithful Bertie Sardinia shoes

The waist is high on this dress and I'm not sure I suit empire line frocks, so I added my red belt from Accessorize. To be honest, I'm not entirely convinced about this outfit although I suppose it's hard to tell - there isn't enough natural light for the photo to be all that clear and I don't have a full-length mirror in the flat. What I do like about this frock is the fact that it is so comfortable, it has pockets, and I like the colourway. Also it was really cheap on ebay, which is a win! I decided to stick with the nautical theme and accessorise this frock with this fabulous anchor necklace, which was a gift from Lauren:

Red plastic anchor = FUN

And sticking with the red plastic theme, I wore this ring, which was a gift from my wonderful colleague J:

Roses. I could do a lot of damage with this, but isn't it beautiful?!

I mentioned a few posts ago that some of my lovely blogging friends are taking part in the Dressember challenge - Amber, Fi, Caroline, Lauren and my dear Victoria Deloria are all taking part and you should definitely keep an eye on their progress. I'm not taking part myself, at least not officially. This is mainly because I wear dresses every day anyway (I only own two pairs of trousers, and I've lost one of them) so I'd feel a bit of a fraud by signing up to the 'challenge' aspect of it. I think it's a fabulous idea, however, because I firmly believe in the power of pretty outfits in helping you to feel good about yourself.

I know that to some people this idea seems impossibly trivial and frivolous (not you guys, though, or you wouldn't keep reading this blog!) but I don't think it is trivial or frivolous to care about how you dress. This isn't just about dresses, either. I'm not saying that wearing a dress = well dressed; I admire the sentiment behind Dressember, which is to consciously try to look your best. It isn't about what you wear, it's about how what you wear can make you feel.

My (now former)colleague J and I had a long conversation this week about clothes and their relation to self-esteem and mood. J is utterly fabulous - I'm really going to miss working with her. She comes to work in Vivienne Westwood skirts and Chie Mihara boots (ooooh the Chie Mihara boots, they're heartbreaking) and it isn't because she's wearing designer labels that she looks amazing, it's the way her style is such a reflection of and expression of her personality and her intellect. Her intelligence, wit and irreverence are evident in the way she dresses because she has fun - mixing textures and colours and classic shapes with interesting accessories. She's inspiring because all of this style is just a way of decorating her personality and her intellect and her talent.

It's for this reason that I think Dressember (and other similar challenges) are such a good idea. It encourages us to be creative with our style, and to find what makes us look good and, by extension, feel good. Sally McGraw from the marvelous Already Pretty wrote a post this week entitled How To Be A Body Image Role Model in which she pointed out it is more socially acceptable to trash-talk your body than it is to praise it, and she's right, and it sucks. I love how a challenge like Dressember can encourage people to combat that - to put on outfits that they feel good in and want to share, that make them want to say "Hello world, don't I look gorgeous today?!" If you haven't already done so, I urge you to go and read Sal's post (and her whole blog, which is awesome) and to think about what she advises. I know that, since I have been consciously mixing it up, experimenting and trying new things with my style I have felt better about my body and myself. It's given me a confidence I simply didn't have before.

Anyhow, that's my opinion on that. Heh.

As I was saying earlier, this week has been pretty snazzy even if it has been looooooong. On Wednesday evening I went to the pub with my colleagues and with Nic to take on the pub quiz. It was lots of fun, although I am slightly worried that my team-mates now think I'm the Rain Man (or Elephant Man) of Pub Quiz TV rounds. In my defence, I only knew Aleksandr Orlov's name because I saw his book in WH Smith! Yesterday I met my darling Louise for an extremely tasty lunch and glass of wine in Pizza Express. As always when we get together the time passed in a blur of giggles, and I fairly skipped back to the office that afternoon. Nic met me after work for a coffee in Coventry before we went round to lovely Tom's house to watch the live episode of Coronation Street. We were joined by really good people and had a lot of fun and maybe some wine (okay, yes, I did drink some wine. Don't be too shocked) Nic and I don't have a television so I haven't been keeping up with Coronation Street but, perhaps because of having grown up with it I seem to pick it up via osmosis so I totally knew what was going on. Yes, I am the Rain Man of television programmes, I admit it. Judge me all you like! I really enjoyed watching a live episode of something, and watching it in the company of fellow TV enthusiasts and shouters-at-the-tv was so much fun. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun watching the TV. And in the middle of it all I won an ebay auction for something I have been trawling the internets for for a few years now, AND for about half of my maximum bid for it. Photos to follow when I get my grubby little mitts on it, hopefully early next week.

Now, I'm going to go out for a wee dander in town before it gets too dark to enjoy it. I'll be back over the weekend, with tales of Saturday fun and Sunday dancing. Tune back in then, and have a wonderful Friday afternoon.

I drink what I’m able. If that comes to much, that’s the day’s affair and the liquor’s.

Hello there my pretties! I did mean to write something yesterday, but the day somehow got away from me. So, sit tight because you're in for a lot of me telling you what I've been doing and what I was wearing while I was doing it. Lucky old you!

It's been another very enjoyable weekend, all the better for being so surprisingly mild. Well, it wasn't that mild on Friday night, but still. Nic and I had a dinner date with Lysy, The Scientist and Lauren. A conversation during our pub lunch in The Jug and Jester a few weeks ago made us decide to have dinner in the lovely South Indian restaurant, Kayal, on Regent Street. Nic and I had eaten there a few times before and thought the food was delicious, so were very happy to be going again. I took the opportunity to wear my new Bettie Page dress, which I had given in and bought earlier that week from Pin-up Parade. Unfortunately, the circle skirt version had sold out by the time I placed my order but Helen was able to send me the pencil skirted dress. I love it, although I can't help but think how beautiful the fuller-skirted one would be! Overall I'm really happy with the quality and the fit of the dress, but I did have to mend one of the side seams after trying it on - it had been clipped too close to the seam allowance in one bit and popped open. The stitches didn't come undone, and the fabric didn't tear, it just came away. It was easy to fix, but I would have been very miffed if I'd paid full price for it. Anyway, on with the photos:

Bettie Page Jazmin dress and Irregular Choice Matronix shoes

A close-up to show you the pretty fabric

I love the detail on the back of the dress, it's very sexy in an understated way

Pretty purple button

I wore it with this cocktail ring, which I think actually belongs to Martha...

I had planned to wear my wellies and carry my shoes because the weather forecast sleet, but in my rush to leave the house I forgot. It didn't matter so much because the restaurant is so close to our house. Anyway, we had a fantastic time. The staff are so friendly and helpful, and the food is utterly delicious. I had a spinach and toor daal, which was very tasty. The next time I go, I think I'll order what Nic had - a masala dosa:

Nic with his dosa. What a happy man!

As well as wonderful food, the company was of course excellent. We were fairly stuffed by the time we paid the bill and started the walk along to The Somerville. The walk was beautiful. It started to snow, very lightly, and it was magical to be walking through the snowy streets with good friends. The Somerville was suprisingly busy but luckily we didn't have to wait for too long to get a table, and we were joined by V, who was on marvelous form. It was an excellent night, and I went to bed feeling very happy and still full from my dinner.

Saturday was a thoroughly lazy affair. Nic and I had a browse around the charity shops, did our grocery shopping and chores, and got home and under the blanket for a snuggly evening. A conversation about black dresses with Lauren inspired me to pull out one of my party dresses to try to incorporate it into my day clothes:

Fever Loire dress. Red belt from Accessorize and my black Bertie Sardinia shoes. Photo taken in the Leamington museum

This dress comes with a self-matching sash, but I'm becoming less and less keen on self-matching fabric belts. I'm not completely sure this outfit worked, but I did feel nice and swishy all day in it! While in the museum I took the opportunity to piss around trying on hats:

I love top hats

I really like this vintage railway poster for Leamington

We had a quiet evening in, cooked a roast dinner and apple crumble, and enjoyed a few episodes of Deadwood with some gin and tonic. It's hard to beat an evening in with your honey!

This morning I relived my teenage and undergraduate days by dancing around my bedroom while I was tidying. The soundtrack consisted of Pulp, 604 by Ladytron and The Facts of Life by Black Box Recorder. Teenage Roisin had a massive girl-crush on Sarah Nixey and somewhat-older-Roisin still does. She's amazing, and so today I decided to model my outfit on the cover of The Facts of Life:

It's just the facts of life. There's no master plan.

My attempt at this outfit. I'm wearing the Fever Dita dress in black (I also have this in blue, fact fans!) and Bertie shoes

Accessorised with that cocktail ring and my birthday present from the gorgeous Louise

Photographed in front of the light sculpture thing in Warwick Arts Centre

I think I did okay with this! Also, having ordered this dress again in red from Brandalley (£13!) I'm all set to recreate the cover of The Worst of Black Box Recorder at a later date

Good old fashioned brutality

After all of my dancing around, it was time to go out! Nic and I headed onto campus to see Chico and Rita in the Arts Centre cinema. This is the third time I've been to the cinema in three weeks, which is bound to be some kind of record for me! I really enjoyed the film, but this was the most trying cinema experience of the three. I'm not such a grumpybum that I object to people taking through the adverts, but it does piss me off when they talk through the trailers. Mind you, I shouldn't be so annoyed, because the trailers were for films that looked shit (Skeletons, The Tourist - which looked the most bollocks of the three - and The American, which did nothing except convince me that I don't want to see George Clooney with his shirt off) Anyhow, I really enjoyed Chico and Rita and so did Nic. And on our way home, we had a mini-celebrity spot: Rhys Rosser from last year's Junior Apprentice:

Haha! Nic spotted him first, he must be an undergraduate at Warwick. Anyway, he seems to be doing alright now, he had a couple of chicks with him and was wearing some trendy clothes. Also, he was well-mannered, unlike the little shit in the parka who actually elbowed me out of the way to get onto the bus in front of me. He looked like someone East 17 had rejected as a dancer, and I let him know that. Twat.

Anyway, enough of that rage, it's Sunday evening! Nic's listening to Miles Davis and warming up some mince pies for us to have with an episode of Deadwood, so I'm going to leave you with the video for the single of The Facts of Life.