What about the aluminum foil; did you cover your ceiling? Well, then, you're in business. You've got yourself an alien-thought-proof room there.

Evening all! I hope you've all been having an excellent weekend, wherever you might be. I've been sunning myself and having a rather lovely time of it, and I'm going to tell you about it in a minute but first I'd like to direct you to my post from Friday if you haven't already read it. I've been reading Amber McNaught's blogs now for a number of years. I respect her professionally and for lots of reasons have come to think of her as a good friend. One of her blogs, Shoeperwoman, is being threatened with closure because of the dishonest and unscrupulous behaviour of another blogger. Please go over to Shoeperwoman and read about it if you haven't already, Amber's blogs are excellent and she deserves lots of support in this.

Anyway, apart from that my weekend has been most pleasing. I had a pretty shitty week. Well, not that bad in the scheme of things but really stressful and frustrating. I was covering for a colleague who was out all week at a training course, which is fine in itself but it involved going to lots of meetings (about three a day) and every single one of them was being run by another colleague who really stresses me out. I won't bore you with all of the details of why this colleague stresses me out but she really does. This week was especially bad because she was running nearly all of these meetings and they all ran late by 15-20 minutes. Which is pretty bad, considering they're hour long meetings - that's really inefficient! It meant that I spent most of my work week running late, missing lunch and generally just feeling really stressed out and pissed off. Not good - coming home and ranting to Nic did help, but still. I'm hoping that this coming week will be less stressful with fewer meetings to attend. By Thursday I had all but lost the will to live so decided to cheer myself up by putting on one of my favourite frocks and cutting out of the office early to have an ice cream in the park with Nic:

Vivien of Holloway polka dot dress, red bow belt from a charity shop and Miss Selfridge wedges

These shoes held up okay for a day in the office, they're just about right for the walk to the station, the walk to the office and then walking around in the office. I don't think they'd be suitable for much more! I think it's a sign that my colleagues have become accustomed to me over dressing for work because while I had a few people commenting that I looked nice, no-one seemed surprised by what I was wearing. So, that was pretty cool. Post ice-cream, Nic and I headed home to dump my stuff so we could go out to spend the evening with Lysy and The Scientist. I got changed, because I knew my evening involved a lot of eating! We got chips from our favourite chippy and settled in for an evening of chatting, eating and playing board games and it was just what I needed after such an annoying week.

I was working from home on Friday and being out of the office did wonders for my mood, and so did the sunshine. I cleaned the windows and our bedroom was so bright and sunny (even if it did smell a wee bit of vinegar from the window-cleaning) that it was impossible to feel grumpy. At lunchtime we headed out to have a picnic lunch in the park:

The delicious salad Nic prepared for usEnjoying the sunshine, the Hollywood Starlet wayYes, I am very devoted to my gardening(!)

It was awesome, and I felt so happy. We don't have any outdoor space at our flat, so Jephson Gardens is like our back garden, and is an excellent place for the outfit shots:

Max C heart dress and Irregular Choice Mighty Monster wedges

When I saw this dress in Paul's boutique in Aughnacloy I had to have it, especially as it was reduced to £10 in the sale! I bought this blue one and Nic bought me one in red. It's a fun little dress to wear, and it has pockets! I thought I'd get a bit matchy-matchy, and paired it with this pair of Irregular Choice shoes I bought in a pre payday slump last week:

Irregular Choice Mighty Monster wedges

They're deceptively high, but as they're wedges it's okay. I love the colour, and the stripy heel, and the dice. I'm less fond of the fact that what looks like suede from a distance is actually fuzzy felt! It's not a problem, it was just surprising when I unpacked them from the box. I'm not going to count this towards my Shoeper Shoe Challenge yet, but I will soon!

After finishing up work for the afternoon I headed out to meet my Sugar Plum for a coffee and a natter, before catching a last few rays of sunshine with Nic and Denise back in the park. When I got home I had just enough time to tidy up and get myself ready before going out again. It was Sugar Plum's birthday and the celebrations were happening in Zizzi's and then the Somerville. I had been saving my new frock for this very occasion:

Fever Olive dress and United Nude Elastic shoes

So, as soon as I saw this dress in my Fever catalogue I knew I had to have her. Mainly because I love the Dita dresses so much, and because I fell hard for the sweetheart neckline and buttons. I feel like a proper bombshell in this dress and that's all a girl can ask for! I'm calling these shoes for Shoeperwoman's Shoe Challenge:

United Nude Elastic Shoes

I bought these shoes in Ballymena when Nic and I were at home last September. They were in the sale and I love a peep-toe but they're not that easy to wear. The colour means they go well with lots of things, but they're not all that comfortable. They rubbed a wee bit on Friday night, it has to be said, and they left some blue dye on my heels. Still, I think they look awesome and they make me really happy because they so vividly remind me of home.

Friday night was lots of fun. Like last Friday evening, I was surrounded by good friends, and there was lots of good food to eat! I'd never eaten in Zizzi's before, but my calzone looked so good that I took a photo of it. I won't share it with you (you've already had a food photo this blog!) but it was super tasty. Y'all will just have to imagine it! As always, the craic was ninety in the Somerville and my plans for an early night just weren't to be. Still, who can complain when there's so much fun to be had?!

Saturday morning I was up early to go to Kenilworth with friends for a craft fair and a picnic in Abbey Fields and a mooch around the charity shops. The charity shops were pretty sucky - so many ugly dresses, and don't even get me started on Oxfam, but the picnic was ace. It was a pretty middle-class picnic (nearly all from Waitrose!) but so tasty. Denise brought along a delicious bottle of white wine, and Nic made us Sloe Gin Fizz using the Sloe Gin Caroline gave him for his birthday. Drinking in the sunshine, dozing on the grass and hanging out with friends - what an excellent Saturday!

Fever Foligno tunic, wedges from Debenhams via a charity shop

I love this dress. It's a good sunny day dress - short, but cute enough so that I don't worry about it all being in the shop window.Sloe Gin - an essential picnic ingredient. Caroline, this bottle is now empty

Sloe Gin Fizz, and some Yum Yums in the background (yum yum!)

Denise and Michael

Denise's first Yum Yum. It made her dance.

Nic

The Kite Eating Tree. I couldn't see Charlie Brown or Linus

When we got back to Leamington Nic wanted to catch a bit more of the sunshine. I had a cup of tea and promptly fell asleep. Sunshine is like a sedative for me, I spent the rest of the evening feeling drowsy and happy. Okay, I guess the gin and the wine probably helped that along! I woke up a bit after dinner and Nic and I watched a few episodes of The X-Files and took ourselves to bed.

I have no craic from today, just more of the same - this time with added grocery shopping and baking (more rhubarb and custard cake) and getting my summer clothes out. For the sake of completeness, here's what I wore:

Ruby Belle Amsterdam dress, red Madrid Birkenstocks and a hat I bought at Leamington Peace Festival a few years ago

This dress isn't meant to be strapless but annoyingly, the little plastic bits that make the straps adjustable both broke while I was out! It works okay strapless, I think but it did bug me a little bit. All the same, I really like the shape and print of this frock. It came with a fabric sash, which I don't wear because a big bow dangling down from the side just seems wrong to me. Anyhow, it's now gone into my mending pile so I can fix the straps. I know this hat is a wee bit ridiculous but it's a great sunhat, and I love it - it's not quite a panama hat (I really want a panama hat) but it is roughly that shape. Also, I was so happy to get my Birkenstocks out for the first time this year. These are such happy shoes for me, even though I mostly live in heels. They're so comfortable and cute, I think my summer sandals this year might be these in a few different colours.
Anyway, that's your lot from me. Putting in all those photos meant this blog took ages to write, but luckily for me there's a gin and tonic and a slice of cake waiting for me as reward at the end of it. If I was tweeting this I'd say #yum. In fact, I will. #YUM