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.
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