He's probably crying his eyes out right now like Kate Winslet losing on a scratchcard.

Evening everyone, and happy Monday to you all. I hope you all had enjoyable weekends. As ever, mine seemed to flash by in a blur, which felt especially cruel after a very long week last week. Work was particularly grindingly tedious last week so by Friday afternoon I was totally knackered. After a cup of tea and a sit down at the end of the day (by way of a brain dump, really) I was ready to head out for dinner with my fellow chub club members to the new noodle bar on Holly Walk. It's called Wofon and is sort of a fast food type set up, so it's not the most fancy of places. That said, the food was plentiful and very cheap and reasonably good for vegetarians so it was a really pleasant way to spend the evening. To my shame, I was in bed by 10 and asleep before 11, having drifted off while Nic read from Jeeves in the Offing to me. When did I become so lame, eh? That's what I want to know!

Still though, it meant that we were both up bright and early on Saturday so able to get out to enjoy the beautiful Spring weather. Despite Nic having seen a man wandering around shirtless on Thursday, it wasn't overly warm but it was still lovely in the sunshine. On Friday I'd braved bare legs and peep toe shoes...

 Friday morning in the station buffet - Emily and Fin Lizzie dress and Irregular Choice Mermaid shoes

...and I was encouraged enough by this to do the same on Saturday.

 Fever Maui Atlantis dress, green bolero from Phase Eight and Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Lady Dragon shoes

It sounds like a trivial thing, but I can't tell you how happy it made me feel to be able to out and about with bare legs and without a coat (but with a light jacket - like I said, it wasn't all that warm!) I HATE wearing tights - even the cute colourful tights I get through winter with get old quickly. I haven't packed them away yet, I'm not that optimistic, but I'll take my chances to foresake them where I can. Nic and I pottered around town, picked up some groceries and looked in the consignment store around the corner, where I found a wee present for Denise. All very pleasing! Nic had plans in Kenilworth for the afternoon and I decided to stay home and get on with some sewing.

I bought some gorgeous yellow cotton broadcloth in my local fabric shop with an eye to making a Megan inspired dress for Julia Bobbin's Mad Men challenge. It's not the linen I had thought of going for, but it's exactly the colour I wanted and cheaper and maybe more practical than linen. When I got it home, though, my wayward heart took me in a different direction... towards this vintage McCall's pattern that my friend SJ gave me a few weeks ago. 

From my research it seems to be from 1960 and it's pre-cut to Misses 12, bust size 32. I honestly had no idea whether the bodice on the jumper version would fit me, but decided to just go for it because the construction should make it fairly adjustable. It wraps and fastens at the back with four buttons. So far, so good - the bodice seems to be a pretty good fit, and the yellow cotton is so cute! I sewed at this for a few hours on Saturday and for a bit yesterday, too, and it's definitely helping me to get my mojo back. There's something about sitting in the sunshine, merrily sewing away at something so sunshiney and yellow. The pattern is gloriously odd, as well. The jumper dress has an 8-gored skirt with two massive pockets, all good, but the pocket construction is strange in that the pockets themselves are huge but the opening to them is really little. Also, the sheath dress that you can see on the envelope - well, both of these dresses can be worn on their own but they're also designed to be layered. It looks cute on the envelope, but I admit to have been scratching my head over the practicality of a fitted skirt underneath such a full skirt - your legs would be BOILING! This is my first time sewing from a vintage pattern and so far it's been trouble-free. I kind of like how laissez-faire the instructions are but obviously that's because I'm confident enough to take my own path on some of the bits. For example, I'm going to do the waistband just as the instructions for the Sewholic Lonsdale dress suggests because it makes the inside of the dress so neat. Hopefully I will have a finished object to show you later in the week, and a nice vintage-style sundress to wear in Florida!

On Saturday evening I wended my way south of the river to hang out with Rick and Lauren. It was a lovely evening, with Nic joining us when he got back from Kenilworth. We drank wine, ate snacks and I watched my first ever episode of Take Me Out, which was an experience! It was a really lovely way to spend Saturday evening. We had a lazy start to Sunday, with me sewing in my pyjamas while Nic watched a Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes and nursed a slight hangover, but the afternoon had a treat in the shape of homemade pistachio macarons, courtesy of Denise. 

 Fever Detroit Menorca dress and yellow wedges from Internacionale

Sitting in the sunshine in Denise's flat, people-watching while she baked us macarons, was such a treat and a really delighful end to the weekend. 

 The artist, hard at work....

 The finished product

A photo of a macaron. Where do I collect my blogger bingo card?

And, just because I took this wee photo on Saturday....

Snowdrops at Stone Monkey

The lovely Elise of Foof and Faff tagged me in a blog award meme thingy, so come back tomorrow for that!

If you don't like what's being said, change the conversation

I deliberately held back what I wore on Sunday so I would have something to put into a blog post for today. Sneaky sneaky, what? I have spent the last two very long days at meetings in London so unless I wanted a rather dog-eared, travel-smudged, flash-faced oufit shot it wasn't going to happen!

 

Dolly Dagger Scarlet gingham dress and Irregular Choice Patty shoes

With a coat! Fever Kobe jacket

This is what I wore on Sunday. My annoyance at this dress has abated slightly, and I felt happily springlike in this frock with a comfortable and warm slip underneath. I think it goes really well with these lovely Irregular Choice Patty shoes that came from my friend H. Towards the end of the day, I started to feel a bit cold, but the anticipation of the warmer weather that I felt wearing this drress really did my heart good. I'll tell you what, though. I know they're different styles but for the same amount of money (and in fact, a deal cheaper at full price) the Limb dress I wore on Saturday is twice the dress that this one is in terms of construction, design and finish. I'm glad to have this pretty gingham frock in my wardrobe, but live and learn. I wouldn't buy another one. It's one of those things that learning to sew has helped me to do - to spot what constitutes quality and value for money and what doesn't when it comes to ready to wear clothes.

Sewing has been at the front of my mind a bit recently. Partly because I'm looking forward to some potential fabric shopping (or at least browsing) when Nic and I are in Florida next month. I need to find out how to find these awesome estate sales I'm always reading about on American blogs! I went to the pub with Lysy last Friday night and naturally enough the chat turned to sewing. She was wearing a fabulous wool circle skirt that she had made, and I confessed that I felt I had stuttered a bit when it came to my own sewing.

Part of this is my struggle to get the fit right on my second Peony dress. I spent last Monday sewing it up and while I have rectified most of the issues with my (admittedly very cute and totally wearable) first attempt, it's still not quite right. After a day of sewing, at the end of which the bloody dress still wasn't right (and was all crumpled from having been worked on all day) I felt thoroughly discouraged. When Nic finished work I met him for a coffee and ended up crying into my latte right in the middle of the coffee shop. Way to keep it classy!

The tears weren't all about the sewing. As I explained in a previous post, I have been struggling a bit recently with SAD and have been having a stressful time at work. But also, I was just pissed off at not getting it right, and upset with myself at not having the patience to get it perfect.

All of this is totally contrary to why I started to sew in the first place. I want to learn new techniques and be good at it, and everything but mainly I want to sew because it's fun and because I enjoy making things. I'm not really after a perfect couture fit and I have ample evidence in my wardrobe that I can find ready to wear garments that I love. I wouldn't go around wearing something that plainly didn't fit me, but I'm not looking to be some sort of master tailor, either. All of this led me to wonder why I was being so hard on myself.

One of the reasons is that this knocked my confidence a bit at a time when I was feeling low anyway for non-sewing-related reasons. Another is that I read a lot of sewing blogs written by talented, determined, meticulous women to whom issues like a perfect fit are really important, and many of them are fantastically productive as well. Ladies, I admire the heck out of you all and you're all amazing, but for a while there comparing myself to you was wrecking my head. I had to have a wee word with myself on that matter and remind myself that I want to do this for fun and relaxation and creative endeavour. It doesn't have to be some sort of test that I need to excel at. So once I've stopped fiddling with this version of the Peony I'm done with that pattern, even though I haven't achieved the perfect fit with it. It's time to move onto pastures new, sewing wise, because this one is making me feel like I'm a sucky seamstress. And I'm not! Getting my spring clothes out of the wardrobe at the weekend helped to remind me of that, because packed away were a number of my handmade efforts and they're all good! So no more battling - I'm going to sew something fun.

I was inspired afresh by the rather marvellous Julia Bobbin's Mad Men dress challenge. I'm not sure that I will officially join in, as sewing to a timetable doesn't appreal to me. That said, I am inspired to follow along on my own schedule having seen her breathtaking Peggy dress and Joan dresses. I mean, Joan is an obvious choice for dress imitation, because I don't think there is a single one of her dresses that hasn't given me an attack of LOADS*, but I think my penchant for wiggle dresses has been fairly well satisfied by my ready to wear clothes. So I have decided to turn my attention to both Trudy Campbell and Megan. What I sew is going to be rather dependent on what I can find fabric and pattern-wise, but I have my eye on this simple yellow shift dress as worn by Megan Calvet in the season 4 episode The Beautiful Girls:

                        Photo (and inspiration) from the amazing Tom and Lorenzo Mad Style series

Made up in a bright yellow linen, maybe, this could possibly work with a few adaptations to Simplicity 2591 which is an old favourite of mine. I'd need to find a correspondingly fabulous vintage button with which to adorn the shoulder. I'm not too sure how well yellow would suit me but I think I'd be willing to give it a go. I love all of Megan's outfits - she breathes life and the future into Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, so this is an appealing idea.

The other dress that has caught my eye is one that the fabulous Trudy Campbell wears in season 2 episode Flight 1.

Photo from Tom and Lorenzo again

It looks like I could fairly easily find a suitable pattern, and that the joy would come in the embellishment. Trudy's dress seems to have a velvet bodice with a taffeta skirt, but I'd want something lighter and more summery so would probably look at cotton and cotton sateen, but I'll see what (if anything) I can get, and maybe use the cummerbund bit from the Peony to provide that detailing at the waist. It feels nice to be excited about the idea of sewing again, it seems like it's been ages since I have been.

What about you, dear readers? How do you overcome sewing frustrations, and do you think you'll take part in Julia's Mad Men challenge?

(* Lust Over A Dress Syndrome, as defined by Julia!)

You had a lot of sassy things to say about my clothes steamer, too. But didn't those snow peas taste delicious?

Hello my loves! I hope you've all had a very good weekend. After my blues of last week, I was more or less determined to turn those blues rosy pink and, for the time being anyway, I have succeeded. I was working in London on Thursday and in Coventry on Friday, and by Friday afternoon I was feeling tired and a little bit irritable. A dinner of halloumi and salad and I was ready for the pub with friends.

Bettie Page Jazmin dress and Melissa Amazonas sandals

Flash face! I love this dress, but it's impractical for the cold weather because it's too fitted to layer up. It was so mild on Friday night that I was more than comfortable in it, and I was happy to say hello to an old friend. The pub was brilliant - just a few good friends, a couple of drinks and lots of chats. I finished the night off with a mug of peppermint tea and talking over the evening with Nic in bed, and the blues were thoroughly chased away!

Saturday was rainy but mild, and Nic and I were in the happy position of having no plans at all for the day. We did a wee bit of spring cleaning, put together some bags of books and clothes for the charity shop, and ventured out for a dander through rainy Leamington. Just because I could, I got a bit dressed up:

Limb Great Outdoors Retro dress and Bertie Sardinia shoes - accessorised there with bags for the charity shop and an H&M umbrella!

I always say "oh, I love this dress" about all of my dresses, and it's always true, but I am actually a little bit in love with this dress from Limb. I wrote about these dresses last year on About Your Dress and I've had a hankering for one ever since so when I was at 52 Greek Street at lunchtime on Thursday, I succumbed. At full price these frocks are very expensive, and more than I can really countenance spending on a dress. Half price convinced me, though and I'm glad it did. This dress is beautifully, beautifully handmade. Needless to say, I love the Alexander Henry Great Outdoors fabric, which is covered in sassy ladies frolicking by a lake and in a log cabin:

The dress came with a self-matching fabric belt, which is very cute. I also love the horsehair braid in the hem, which gives the skirt a gorgeous shape. I wore it with a petticoat on Saturday, and also with a little green cardigan from Phase Eight:

I just can't wait to wear this dress again!

Nic and I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon reading, listening to jazz and drinking tea. It was bliss! Together we baked a banana and fruit cake, and in the evening we watched a few episodes of Fringe. All very relaxing and eminently enjoyable.

Today, the sky looked like this over Leamington:

Apparently (according to Twitter, right) there was a bit of snow elsewhere in the midlands overnight. It wasn't exactly warm in Leamington, but it wasn't cold either so I decided to pack away my deep winter clothes and to unpack my spring clothes. I know that's maybe a wee bit optimistic, and I might not wear some of the dresses for another couple of weeks, but it made me feel happy, even though it meant A LOT of ironing! I reacquinted myself with some old friends:

Nic and I went for a walk through the park, sitting in the weak spring sunshine to eat pretzels. We haven't done much else today, apart from my mammoth ironing stint. We did do one very exciting thing, though, which was to book some flights to Orlando! In four weeks we'll be jetting off to spend a week in Winter Park. Nic is giving a paper at a conference at Rollins College, as well as giving a lecture on jazz so we're treating the week as a bit of a holiday. It's been in the works for a while, but it didn't feel real until the flights were booked and now they are. I cannot WAIT. I've never been to America before, and until this evening I hadn't really allowed myself to think of the things we could do when we're there in case it didn't come off. So now you can be sure that I'm going to spend the next few weeks researching things like where are the best flea markets in Orlando, how much it is into the Kennedy Space Centre (which I am, like, RIDICULOUSLY excited about) and what the weather is going to be like.

Anyway. It's Sunday night and I have to be up disgustingly early for work tomorrow so I shall leave you here - but I'll be back later in the week.

Hello! Welcome to potatoes!

Hey all! Happy belated Valentine's Day to everyone. I had to go to work, and so did Nic, but when we got home we Valentinesed it up real nice with some wine, some tasty food and a few episodes of that well-known romantic programme, New Tricks. We know how to live! No, seriously, though, it was a very lovely way to spend the evening. I like Valentine's Day. Nic and I don't do gifts, but we make each other cards. The men who work at the railway station were even more cheerful than normal as well on my way to work, teasing me about whether or not I got a card etc. It was nice.

Today has been weird, though. I left slightly later than normal for work, and was met with severe delays. Someone died on the line at Tile Hill, and after being diverted to Birmingham and then waiting in New Street station for over an hour, I decided to turn back for home as I had no idea when I was going to be able to get into Coventry for work. It was stressful, and very sad to think of the person on the line - I was a passenger on a train a while ago that struck someone on the the line and it was awful. I got back to Leamington at lunchtime, had lunch with Nic and enjoyed my impromptu afternoon off. The sun was shining and, for the first time, it felt like Spring might be on its way:

River Island bird print dress and silver shoes from Topshop

...and one where I'm not squinting

Obviously for most of the day (and right now, in fact) I was wearing a cardigan. Spring hasn't sprung quite yet, after all. The really brutal cold seems to have passed, however and when the sun was shining, there was some warmth in it. On our way to the library I could see the first signs of Spring peeping out of the ground - crocuses:

 Euston Place

Feeling the warm sun on my face and seeing the crocuses really made me feel happy. I know that this hasn't been a long winter - we had a mild spell before Christmas and the cold weather only properly hit after the new year - but it has felt long. I've been struggling, maybe it's a touch of SAD, but I feel like it's been a real struggle to not be sad all the time. It sounds ungrateful because life is very good right now, and really I don't have much of a reason to feel this way. Well, apart from work, which is pretty unequivocally sucky. I know that this will pass, and that things are good, but it is sometimes hard to fight off the blues. I'm doing all I can to keep on top of it, anyway. What do you guys do when you're feeling low? I mean apart from drinking and shoe shopping?!

Anyway, I'm off out tonight with my friend JB. She was given tickets to see the Lightning Seeds play at The Assembly and invited me along. I'm hoping for some fun mid-90s nostalgia and a bit of dancing, then home reasonably early to bed as I'm working in London tomorrow. And from there it's a hop, skip and a jump to the weekend, the pub, some sewing, sleeping late and having fun. See you all then.

Your bodyguard's named Cindy? What's the matter, they all out of Tiffanys?

Happy weekend everyone! I hope you're all having a super Saturday. It's all good here in Clackett Mansions - Nic and I have some friends coming over later so we have a wee bit of tidying to do. But in the meantime we're doing precisely nothing, which is great.

I had another reasonably sucky work week, but it was made slightly more bearable for having been able to book Friday and Monday off as flexi leave. I met Nic and Paul in the pub on Thursday afternoon for a wee end-of-week drink to get into the right frame of mind for the weekend, which was great. We snuggled up in the flat to await the great snowfall... which turned out to be a mere dusting. That suited me, picturesque without being inconvenient, you know? It was particularly good that it didn't snow very heavily as we had plans to spend Saturday in London and the last time we went to London in the snow, getting home was really unpleasant. Anyway - it was sunny and cold and not especially snowy when we got up, so off to London we went. The plan for the day included lunch with JP and Han, a visit to the Fever shop to look at a dress my mum has her eye on for my sister's wedding, and birthday drinks with Mr S at Old Street.

First stop, however, was The Archive Bookstore in Marylebone. Nic had read about this secondhand bookshop earlier in the week and it did not disappoint. I love secondhand bookshops, and this was just the kind of ramshackle, dusty and eccentric shop that both Nic and I enjoy poking around in. I found a little gift for a friend, and Nic picked up a few bits and pieces as well:

The stripes on the window aren't as a result of some weird camera thing - just the reflection of the striped awning! It was bitterly cold, but bright and clear. We had some time before meeting JP and Han at Trafalgar Square, so decided to wander down from Marylebone and take in some of the sights. Being tourists, basically!

Emily and Fin Lizzie dress, Fever Fez chiffon bolero and Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Ultragirl Cameo shoes - I put my coat, hat and scarf on back bloody quickly after this photo was taken!

The walk was very picturesque, taking us down through Grosvenor Square, Old Bond Street and Piccadilly to Trafalgar Square. I particularly enjoyed Grosvenor Square, and the grandeur of Canada House set against the 70s ugliness of the American Embassy:

 Sam the Eagle?

I love spotting blue plaques, and this one on Grosvenor Street was particularly pleasing to two film students

After an astoundingly enormous lunch in The Two Chairmen, we said goodbye to JP and Han and went for a poke around the bookshops and comic shops on the Charing Cross Road and in Soho, a dander through Chinatown and a quick visit to the Fever shop:

 Chinese lanterns

Fever Emilia shift dress - it will look gorgeous on my very beautiful Mummy

Despite the TFL journey planner's claims that it would take nearly two hours to get from the West End to Old Street, we found our way there in about twenty minutes to settle into The Reliance to celebrate with Mr S and his beautiful fiancee. As we had to catch the train back up to Leamington, we could only stay for a few hours but it was most pleasant to spend the evening with old friends, and making new friends. Mr S and Vic had an awesome gift for me and Nic - this:

The pattern includes a deerstalker pattern, how excellent is that? I'm honestly not sure when I'll get around to making this, but I have been wanting to make something for Nic for a while, and this ticks a lot of boxes!

We got back to Leamington late and went straight to bed (after being chilled on an inexplicably air conditioned train - it was -5 outside, so obviously the air conditioning needed to be on? WTF?) and slept deliciously late this morning. As I said, we have some friends coming round later so headed out into the sunshine to get some groceries. Thankfully, it isn't as horribly cold as it was yesterday in London and the dander through town was very enjoyable:

Fever Matoid pencil dress and Melissa Amazonas sandals

Obviously it wasn't warm enough to go without a cardigan and coat, but I feel a bit like it's been all cardigans all the time on the blog recently. I mean, that's because it's WINTER, but I am majorly tired of it being winter. I know spring is on its way, so I'm trying not to complain too much, but still. All I can think about is summer dresses and bare legs and wine in the park on sunny afternoons. Sigh. Anyway. If further proof was needed about how hard I've fallen off the Shoe Challenge wagon, here's a wee shot of my Amazonas...

Sculptural...

I've fancied the Amazonas ever since I saw them on Veronica Darling last year. They're really tall! Not uncomfortable, though, and they have a platform that doesn't roll. They were very reduced in Author shoes. All good!

Right. There's some tidying to do and some food to prepare. Laterz.

You know how John Lennon was better than the rest of the Beatles but he didn't realise it until he met Yoko Ono?

A snowy hello to you all, my lovelies! I hope that, wherever you are, you've been keeping toasty and warm. It snowed here all yesterday afternoon, and right into the night, only stopping at about 1am. This made getting ready to go out to Denise's birthday party interesting, to say the least! Luckily, her house is a short walk and I have a great pair of wellies and the ability to carry my party shoes in a bag, which is what I did:

Bettie Page Captain dress and Irregular Choice No Place Like Home shoes

Apologies for the flash face here, but it was dark! When it's not so bone-strippingly freezing I'll get a daylight photo of this dress which I absolutely bloody LOVE. I've been after it for ages, always wondering if it could live up to my expectations, but it does. She's a beauty, and to prove it here's a photo where I'm not standing really awkwardly..

 

Flash face is making me look a bit middle aged, here. Yikes!

As I say, I'd been after this dress for the longest time... seeing both Amber and Arlene (sorry, Arlene, but I can't find a link to the picture, but it's memorably gorgeous!) looking so jawdroppingly foxy in it really sealed the deal for me. I adore the neckline and pretty much everything else, too. When the weather warms up I think this dress will look good with my cherry Lady Dragon shoes but, for the time being, closed toed shoes were the way to go. As I said, for the walk to Denise's house, the shoes were swapped out for wellies and everything covered up with my oh-so-alluring duffel coat! Although the walk was short, it was hazardous. The snow was the type that really hurts your face, but all the same it was nice to leave footprints all around Leamington:

Nic on our snowy street

The party was fab. There was cava, cheese, cake, dancing and good friends - you can ask little else of a Saturday night! It was especially enjoyable for me, I think, because I had a sudden realisation how much I enjoy socialising. It sounds like an obvious thing to say, but there was a time even very recently, where being in a social situation like that would make me paralysed with anxiety. In fact, I missed Denise's birthday party last year for that reason. It feels good to feel happy, if you can forgive the obvious statement. Nic and I took ourselves to bed late, and stayed up even later sipping peppermint tea (me) and gin (him) and talking over the events of the evening.

We slept late this morning and have been having a relaxing Sunday. I have a big work day in London tomorrow so was keen to be as calm as possible. I spent the morning reading in bed with a cup of tea, and finished my current book, The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks. I picked it up, almost at random, when I was in the library a few weeks ago. When I finished my Hunger Games marathon, I was keen for a change of pace and gave it a go. Reid Banks is best known for having written The Indian in the Cupboard, but The L-Shaped Room was her first novel. It's set in Fulham in the 60s, and follows 28 year old, unmarried and pregnant Jane Graham. I loved the style of the writing and, having enjoyed other novels set in London at the same period (The Heart of London by Monica Dickens and A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark, to name a few, plus some of Barbara Pym's wonderful novels) I really enjoyed all of the period detail. I'm going to look out for the two sequels, and some more of Reid Banks's novels. I always feel a bit lost when I don't have a good book on the go, so I'm moving on to The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller next, I think.

Most of the snow had melted to visciously slipperly slush when Nic and I ventured out this afternoon to run a few errands and listen to some jazz, but at least it had warmed up a little bit:

 

Fever Prairie Prom dress, red cardigan from Marks and Spencer and red cowboy boots from Office. Obviously for the rest of the time outside I was wearing a coat!

I bought these boots five years ago. I had recently read Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon, and seen the Curtis Hanson film and decided I wanted some red cowboy boots, as worn by Katie Holmes's character, Hannah. Office obliged, and these boots have been a winter staple ever since. They're not brilliant in the slush, however - no tread on the soles. They are warm, though, so there's that.

The rest of this evening has been about pottering around, making dinner and watching New Tricks. It's off to bed with me soon, though - to rest up ahead of my long day tomorrow. Have a good week, my lovelies.

The next thing you know you're one of those blokes you read about in the paper, squatting naked on a traffic island, chewing daffodils.

Evening all - probably a snowy evening, depending on where you are. Right now, I'm curled up on the sofa, wearing many layers and legwarmers, with a hot water bottle and three blankets. It's cold in our little flat!

It's been a turbulent week for me at work, with lots of stress, and I've been really emotional. Hence the radio silence, blogwise. Things picked up a bit at the end of the week, but I can't remember the last time I needed a weekend as much as I needed this one. I plan to have a very relaxing, fun-filled weekend!

I'd had a good and restful weekend last weekend, which I think is what got me through at least the first part of the week. On Sunday morning I finished the last of the Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay, in bed. I suspect by the very end of the third book fatigue had set in, but all in all I really loved those books. There are some issues with the pacing, especially in the third book, but Suzanne Collins really knows how to keep you hooked. More pressingly, I think Katniss Everdeen is a thoroughly intriguing character and I love the world that Collins has created in Panem. I had thought that I wouldn't be interested in seeing the movie, but curiosity led me to watching it and I am now really excited about the movie, especially seeing as Donald Sutherland is in it. I bloody LOVE a bit of Sutherland, so that's good news for me. After a thoroughly lazy morning and early afternoon, Nic and I headed out to meet a good friend for coffee and a chat.

Fever Salzburg dress, pindot tights from TU at Sainsbury's and Bertie Sardinia court shoes

I love this dress so much, you guys. It's funny because when I first tried one on last year (in the shops) I wasn't feeling it, and now I can't imagine why. I don't think it photographs brilliantly well but this is one of those dresses that I just feel fabulous in. God bless TK Maxx! I'm now on the lookout for this one in blue at a good price. It's the collector in me, what can I say?!

And the rest of the week was quite a washout, to be totally honest. Too cold to do anything, and stressful at work. Luckily for me I have a couple of good friends at work, and more than a couple of excellent friends outside of work to get me through it, and I'm feeling thoroughly back to myself now. Watching lots of Absolutely Fabulous and drinking endless cups of tea while cuddling Nic helped a lot, as well. Nic had never watched Ab Fab, but it's been a favourite of mine for many years and maybe it was my mini beehive last weekend, but I suddenly felt the need to add it to our LoveFilm list. It's hard to feel sad when you're watching Absolutely Fabulous.

The desperate hangover I had a few Saturdays ago prevented Nic and me from going to Banbury for a celebratory lunch in The Pinto Lounge, so we decided to do that today instead. I was up early for a hair appointment, followed by breakfast in front of an open fire in a nearby pub before we headed over to Banbury on the train. It hasn't got much going on, Banbury, but I like it there and it has a few good features to entice us over. One of them is Books and Ink, a genuinely excellent independent bookshop. It's conveniently located opposite The Pinto Lounge, so after a browse around in there we went for lunch and a knickerbocker glory:

We didn't have one each - just one to share - but both of us wanted to pose with it, because... well, not really sure why

Wintry Banbury

We did well in Banbury - Nic found a few comics he's been after in a charity shop and he bought me a lovely children's book. A quick peek in The Works led me to find this treasure:

YES. Now, fellow sewists, don't clutch your pearls too much here but Liberty isn't really my thing. I really like a lot of the fabrics, just not the price! That said, this book is beautiful and there are definitely a few projects I'll have a go at, and at that price I really couldn't turn my nose up at it. Happiness!

The snow was starting to deepen when we got back to Leamington, and after a quick pitstop in the library (which was offering free DVD rentals today, so I picked up the HBO miniseries - sorry Todd Haynes, five part film, you dink - of Mildred Pierce for free. Nice) we headed home. A woman was walking past when Nic took a picture of what I'm wearing and she couldn't hide her baffled amusement. I really can't blame her:

 

Emily and Fin Lucy dress, cardigan from Marks & Spencer, beret and shoes from Topshop and tights from Dorothy Perkins. Obviously I was also wearing a coat, scarf and gloves today!

Yeah, another Lucy dress. I like them, they're easy to wear and comfortable. And really, what's not to love about polka dots. I think pairing the red tights with red shoes was less successful than pink tights with pink shoes, but it kept my feet warm and these shoes are comfortable.

The beginnings of the snow this afternoon in Leamington - it's much heavier now!

Nic and I are off out this evening, and have a fun Sunday lined up too... I'll be back sooner, this time! Have a lovely weekend, whatever you're doing, and stay warm.