I mean, Lionel Richie's never even been to Wythenshawe, has he?

Wow, so the sun went away just in time for it to be Monday. Nice one, sun! I woke up this morning feeling verrrry sleepy and confused, having had a weird dream of a dystopian future in which I was in a work camp run by Daleks. I don't know what it says about my subconscious that Indiana Jones swung in to save the day, but whatever. I won't go into details because other people's dreams are boring, right? It meant that, even after my alarm went off for the second time I hadn't woken up so I've been drifting through today in a sleepy haze.

The rest of my weekend after my last blog post was really lovely. On Saturday night, Nic and I went out to play in the park and get the last of the sunshine.

Whee!

That evening, we watched The Thin Man and drank cocktails. It would have been fitting to drink martinis (shaken to waltz time, naturally) but a sad and shameful lack of gin in our house saw us drinking sea breezes instead. The presence of grapefruit juice makes it feel like a health drink rather than an alcoholic beverage and that's fine by me, folks.

Sunday morning got off to a lazy start, and Nic and I decided to make the most of the remaining sunshine by walking out to Warwick. It feels like ages since we've been there, which is a shame because I always enjoy the walk such a lot. Our route took us over the river and onto Smith Street, home to Aspire, a new (but closed on Sunday) vintage shop, and two excellent second hand bookshops. Both were closed, but I am halfway tempted to go back to buy this:

Lovely GIRLS.

Of course, they all have lovely bottoms. With Karen in mind, I posed for an outfit shot on some steps:

Fever Maisy dress and Fez bolero, red belt from a charity shop and red jelly shoes from Miss Selfridge

I haven't tried some Mr Majeeka style do, here, it was windy! After buying those enamel anchor earrings on Saturday I felt the need to continue the nautical theme and throw in my necklace as well. It's all a bit much, but why the hell not, I reasoned. I do adore this dress, which came from the sample rail in the Fever shop on my very first visit there. The jelly shoes are a rare pair of flats, bought to be practical enough to paddle in the sea but pretty enough to wear as part of a proper outfit. Truth be told, I'd forgotten I even had them so finding them under the sofa was a bit of a win. Anyway, this outfit was a nice dose of retro fun and it had a skirt long enough for sitting on the grass. Nic and I walked down through the (small) bit of Warwick castle that you can get into without paying. It's a shame it's so expensive and commerical, because it's a pretty neat castle. Still, though, we did get some pretty photographs:

It wasn't actually this spooky, I was just playing with the vignette settings on my phone

I love this walkway - it's always cool and dark and mysterious

The wind was picking up by the time we sat down to have our picnic in St Nicholas Park but we were able to find a sheltered spot with a view of the river

The boathouse

I was glad of my flask of coffee as it got colder but it was worth having a picnic, if only to enjoy the truly bizarre sigh of the giant swan-shaped pedelo drifting up and down the river. From where Nic and I were sitting, you could only see its head and it was surreal to say the least.

We walked back across the river, pausing on the bridge to enjoy one of England's finest views

Taking the long route home, past Myton hamlet and along the canal, was a perfect end to our lovely walk.

Bear family at Myton school

Grand Union Canal

Bill Posters is innocent - I've been meaning to photograph this for ages, it's one of my favourite bits of grafitti in town!

It was good to get home and feel pleasantly tired after a long walk, and all I needed to complete the evening was a glass of wine and an episode of Inspector Morse. And I don't even care if that makes me sound ready for middle age, because whatever. I'm too old to be out raving these days anyway, so ner.

That's your lot for this evening my pretties, I'm away to cook the dinner and write a letter to a very special girl of mine. See you all soon xx

... and, after an internet search, declined to comment further on the matter of his or anyone else's severed head.

Hola everybody! I know it's been ages, would you all believe me if I told you that it's just I've been super busy? I have been! Sadly with nothing hugely glamorous, but very busy all the same. Anyway, it's a lazy sunny Saturday afternoon and here I am. Settle down, I suppose, and I'll get y'all caught up. Well, you know what I mean.

So, the last time I wrote was before the long weekend. I was slammed at work - more totally boring stuff, but the bank holiday weekend totally made up for it. I had a busy working from home day on the Friday, followed up by an impromptu trip to the pub that evening to celebrate a dear friend getting an awesome new job. I got ridiculously dressed up and wanted to show off my new haircut and ended up having a fabulous night, finished off with chips. Can't ask for better than that, right? Nic and I dragged our hungover selves out of bed the next morning to go to Banbury -for no real reason other than we fancied a change of scenery. It was a sunny, windy day and we had a potter around the charity shops before lunch. We ran into one of my colleagues who recommended a bar to us for lunch - stupidly we ate elsewhere because when we dropped into the bar a bit later for coffee we realised how awesome it was. The Pinto Lounge is really cute and friendly and does the best ever Knickerbocker Glory. Look:

Knickerbocker Glory - yum!

It was accompanied with some lovely coffee....

Banbury is a nice place to spend a lazy afternoon. It has an excellent independent bookshop that also sells second hand books, so we had a nice little haul to look at while swooning over our dessert

Just as well we have lots of bookshelves in our little flat

It was a windy day so I dug some opaque tights out of the winter clothes I packed away somewhat optimistically in March, and paired them with a beautiful Emily and Fin dress I'd borrowed from Denise:

Emily and Fin Lulu heart dress, Fever Fez bolero and my faithful yellow Joules handbag

Okay so obviously this photo wasn't taken in Banbury, but when we got back. Leamington station was looking particularly pretty as the newly renovated waiting rooms had had their grand opening the previous day, with a tea party on the platform. I love the sign, and Leamington's art deco station is one of the town's most interesting buildings (in my opinion, anyway) Nic and I took a turn in the park before returning home for an early night and a very lazy Sunday morning. I was lucky enough to also have the Tuesday off work so, after spending the day sewing on Monday I had a project to bring with me to Denise's house on Tuesday, where we had a little sewing circle with Lauren. The sun had finally come back out, so I dug out one of the dresses that are just too short to wear to work, so don't get worn quite as much:

Ruby Belle sailor pinafore and Irregular Choice Mighty Monster shoes

It was back to work on Wednesday, and on both Wednesday and Thursday I was slammed - it was so busy. However, the sun had come out and after the long weekend I was feeling very relaxed and happy. I wandered into TK Maxx on my way home from work on Wednesday and emerged £36 poorer but with two very pretty new Fever dresses - WIN. On Thursday, Nic joined me in Coventry after work. We had curry at the Spon Gate, a rather nice Wetherspoon's in the city centre, before going to the Nursery Tavern for an evening of drinking and giggling with the wonderful Louise, her husband, her mum and her absolutely hilarious two doggies. It was so much fun, and really good to be able to sit outside in a pub garden and enjoy the gorgeous weather. It also felt a little bit naughty to be getting drunk on a school night, but luckily for me Friday is my working from home day, so I was able to nurse my gentle hangover with many cups of coffee in my pyjamas the next morning. Four cups of coffee and many episodes of Dawson's Creek later (Season 2, now with 150% more douchebaggery!) I was ready to get dressed and face the world. I met Nic in the park sporting one of my TK Maxx impulse bought frocks:

Fever Neapolitan dress (in Spearmint, apparently) Joules bag and yellow wedges from Next

I was genuinely delighted to spot this in my size in TK Maxx, having eyed it up in the Fever store. For £16.99 I had to buy both colourways (well, I didn't have to) so you'll see the other one at some point. I love the hip pockets (because you know I love pockets) but they do mean that this dress is slightly less flattering from the side. I don't care though, because how about those colours?!

Nic had the lovely idea of having dinner in the park, so we had a tapas-style dinner of spanish omelette, olives, bread and cheese by the pond in Jepshon Gardens. I totally failed to take any photos, I was too busy scoffing the delicious treats. You'll have to imagine the food!

Today I met up with Denise, Lauren and Charlotte to go to Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair in the Assembly. I had so much fun, and it was a really good opportunity to take my latest sewing project out for a trial run. Having made a Colette Patterns Ceylon dress last year, I knew I loved the pattern and wanted to make it again. I guess all my Rooibos dresses got in the way, because it's taken me until last week to get around to it. Sugar Plum spotted some navy cotton with anchors on it in a local haberdashery shop a while back, and I had to have it. Zoe's polka dot Ceylon inspired me to put the fabric with the pattern, and try my hand at piping for the first time.

Anchor print Ceylon dress and Irregular Choice Mermaid shoes

I'm ridiculously pleased with this dress. I cut it a size smaller than my green one, and accidentally cut the back midriff band a size smaller again - whoops! It worked out fine though, because I decreased the seam allowance slightly and it resulted in a perfect fit around my waist. This was by accident rather than design, to be honest, but who cares? It fits!

Fabric detail - you can tell I'm having an anchors moment

I'm really tickled with how well my piping worked out. I only had enough red bias binding to pipe the top of the midriff but on reflection, I think piping both the top and the bottom might have been too much anyway. And with the polka dot on polka dot action with the buttons on the fabric, I didn't want to overbalance things. You can't quite see it in the photo, here, but I did my topstitching and buttonholes in red thread to pick out the anchors. I still had some headaches with the buttonhole foot, but I do think I've got the hang of it now, finally.

Another totally gratuitous shot, featuring the sunglasses I bought at the vintage fair, and the handbag I picked up at the fair in the Pump Rooms a few weeks back.

To up the twee factor that bit more, I've added some blue ric rack to the hem inside the dress. Sure, why not?

Super twee ric rack hemming

The vintage fair was very good fun. The Assembly is an awesome venue, and there were lots of stalls to rummage though. I didn't find any clothes that rocked my world, but each of us came away with something and the atmosphere was excellent. Lauren and I explored the backstage area and found a Dalek hidden away:

Yikes!

All shopped out, we stopped at the tea rooms for a pot of tea and to take in the beautiful outfits everyone around us was wearing

Some slightly blurry photos of the lovely venue

A turn around town after the fair saw me buying some adorable red enamel anchor shaped earrings, and some cookies for Nic before coming home. And there's still lots of the weekend to come! Right now, however, I feel like getting back out into the sunshine. Before I go, though, you should hop over to About Your Dress as Ria and Nommer very kindly invited me to join them on their writing team. That's just a wee bit more Roisin for your money, there. #WIN

Do you think I'm... SPOOKY?

Evening all, my pretties! I hope none of you got blown away during today's epic winds. Needless to say, I did not. I was safely bored in our office, watching the horizontal rain whipping across Coventry while I worked on YET ANOTHER SPREADSHEET. Still, at least they have finally sorted out the damn heating so, while my brain is melting my body is fine. Yup, it's going to be one of those weeks.

Helpfully, though, I had an awesome weekend and that should get me through at least the first half of this week. I worked from home on Friday on a spreadsheet (w00t) but I was just glad to be working from home because Thursday at the office stressed the shit out of me. I came home in an absolutely foul mood, and ended up bursting into tears in a ball on my bed. It sucked, and all I wanted to do was pull the blanket over my head and tell the world to piss off. I didn't do that, instead I washed my face and headed out to see my friend L. The walk in the lovely Spring evening picked me up a bit, but what definitely did it was a) the excellent company, b) the wine and c) the two gorgeous pairs of shoes L gave me. Chats + wine + shoes = win, right? I ambled home, picking Nic up from the pub on the way and so I was gently hungover and much happier on Friday morning. You'll see the shoes when I wear them, by the way. They're very pretty.

On Friday night were were joined by Lauren and Rick for the least classy dinner party ever - chips from Lansdowne chippy, lots of wine and cheese and pudding. It was so much fun, I honestly can't remember when I last laughed quite so hard. We were up late and, as a result, had the longest lie in ever on Saturday. I mean, Nic didn't see the a.m at all. It was just that sort of day, and I'm really grateful to be able to just drop out for a day. We did surface briefly to take in some of the sunshine before the world ended, and I wore another one of my Vivien of Holloway sale purchases:

Vivien of Holloway purple rose dress, Max C belt, Irregular Choice Cortesan shoes and that little Cath Kidston purse was a gift from the girls at Aspire Style

Yeah. It was windy! Thankfully the layers of petticoats meant that the townspeople of Leamington didn't actually have to see my knickers, which I'm sure was a relief for them.

I want more of these dresses. MOAR DRESSES.

This dress was a second, so it was quite cheap and I initally bought it thinking that I could sell it on ebay - it was a second because of a little stain on the bodice, which came out immediately I applied the stain remover. It's not going on ebay, though. This one's a keeper, isn't it?

Irregular Choice Cortesan shoes

I'm declaring this one for Shoeperwoman's Shoe Challenge. The first time I wore these shoes, they ate my feet. They did not the second time round. It might be because their appetites were satisfied, it might be because I remembered to use the anti friction blister stick stuff before I put them on. Either way, I think I have forgiven them.

To balance out the supreme laziness of Saturday, I was up bright and early on Sunday to go to CJ's Boot fair with Zoe and Lysy. It was grey and cold and a bit grim, so I wasn't much in the mood for rummaging but I would go back. I much preferred our next stop, the Discover Vintage fair in the Pump Rooms. Zoe and I spent the best part of two hours prowling around the many stalls, and we both came away happy. I'm sure she'll blog about her purchases, and I was quite restrained, limiting myself to a really adorable navy 50s frame handbag. There was a really nice vibe at the fair, and some of the stalls were really excellent. Fellow Sew Make Believe member Amy had an excellent stand and I'm really looking forward to her vintage fair in a July (visit her blog for details.) We finished off by a rummage in the charity shops, before Zoe headed home. I went home, had some lunch and got down to some housework and some serious sofa time. The very relaxing weekend set me up for what is going to be a very busy and stressful work week. I will try to check in with you all during the week, but for now I'm off to eat some veggie chilli nachos and watch a DVD with Nic.

Just so you know, Y-O-U-R-E means "you are" Y-O-U-R means "your"

A happy Wednesday afternoon to you all! Posting midweek seems a bit strange for me, breaking out of my usual Sunday evening routine and I'm a creature of habit and all that. It'll be a short one though as I'm off out shortly for a Sew Make Believe workshop. I'm hosting it this evening and I'm feeling pleasantly smug about having all of my materials and even resources in order! You can't take the teacher out of me, I guess.

Anyway, I do have an outfit shot for you all this evening but the photos are a bit... boke. Nic took these when I got home from work, and I have the look of someone who has just come home from work. But you know, the dress is pretty and it's all good and I don't look bad as such - it's just, this is not my most fabulous self (heh)

Yup, it was one of those days at work! Fever Matoid pencil dress, Vivienne Westwood for Melissa Lady Dragon shoes and my ever-faithful Joules bag

To be fair, it was one of those days. I managed to get everything on my to-do list done but I am finding work such a chore at the moment. I'm working on interesting projects, but doing really boring things and when my job changes in September it's going to get worse. It wouldn't be so bad if there was any opportunity for advancement but at the moment there isn't. So I'm sucking it up, and looking for another job. I know I'm in a really good position and I am grateful for my luck in having a job that pays the bills, but I'll rot there if I stay. I'd sooner go back to commuting and do a job that I don't hate, and I am starting to hate this one. I know moaning about work is super-boring but I am feeling awfully jaded at the moment.

But, you know, it could all be a lot worse. I have some lovely plans in place for the weekend involving wine and chips and dresses and friends so I'm glad it's finally Wednesday. Roll on the weekend! Okay, now I'm off to get stuff done before going out. You'll get a less work-rumpled Dolly next time, I swear.

People aren't going to want to buy batteries from Pa if they think Ma is back there in the freezer hanging from a meat hook!

Hello strangers! It feels like it's been an age since I last blogged even though it's only been about a week, but to be honest I've just not been feeling it. I've been so up and down this past week or so there was a good chance that if I sat down to blog it'd come out a bit of an incoherent mess, so I didn't. Also I've been totally bored with my wardrobe (which I know is really stupid given that I have approximately twelfty three and a half million choices) so not feeling outfit shots BLAH BLAH BLAH. But I swear this isn't going to all be really moany and stuff because I think I've got that out of my system.

And actually, although some things this week have sucked there have been lots of cool things going on too so I think I'll share those with you. Well maybe I'll get one quick moan out of the way which is that last week I damn near melted in our stupid office. It's a brand new schmancy building with some sort of fancy heat regulation system but it doesn't work, and for the past 8 months they've been digging the front of the building up to try to fix it. Monday and Tuesday last week were totally ridiculous, and by Wednesday the heat on our floor had reached 23 degrees. And you can't open the window unless building management does it, because it has to be done electronically, and they refused to open the windows because they said they had the air conditioning on and that would work soon. Balls. Well, it took until Friday to work and although I wasn't in the office I spoke to a colleague who was who said it was so cold that her hands had turned BLUE. So, that was pretty rubbish. Work is also quite stressful at the moment, and I found myself having a panic attack in a meeting on Wednesday afternoon due to a combination of heat, tiredness and just general freaking out at how crap my job is actually going to be over the next few months. Still, I am very lucky to have a secure job and once I got outside and had some fresh air and phoned my dad I was feeling much calmer, but still. The first half of last week bit, basically. Oh also my new shoes chewed up my feet. They're all better now, and the shoes are so pretty that I have forgiven them, but it bloody hurt at the time:

Taken on Tuesday after work, which is why I look like an ice cream that's been dropped on a sunny pavement. Fever Dita dress and Irregular Choice Cortesan heels, they love to eat your feet. But at least your feet get to look nice in the process.

Despite the insane heat, sore feet and general bokeyness of Tuesday I did feel pretty awesome in this dress all day. You just can't beat that colour to make you feel all sparky.

My week took a turn for the better when I left work on Wednesday. I had a post-work coffee date with my Sugar Plum, which was awesome and much needed. I love spending time in big groups but it's hard to beat one on one time with your friends, and I could feel my blood pressure drop and my heart rate slow back down to normal from just hanging out in the pub with a good friend. Nic joined us after a while and treated me to a totally medicinal glass of sancerre and then an even more medicinal bag of chips. I am such a classy girl, no?! This was the start of my downward spiral into pub addiction. Thursday night I was back in the pub (a different pub) for a few glasses of vino and a catch up with Lucy, followed by a dance with Nic. Friday was the day of two pub visits as we had a lunchtime pie date at the Somerville. It's Leamington's best pub anyway, and now they sell Pie Minister pies. What's not to love?! We were back there that evening to celebrate N's birthday, for more wine and maybe a spot of impromptu flamenco dancing by Caroline and Sugar Plum. It was very late by the time I got to bed so I was feeling a wee bit tired and emotional on Saturday, cheered up immensely by a spontaneous trip to Bicester village with Sugar Plum and a bit of charity shop shopping. I was very good at Bicester and didn't buy anything apart from a sandwich, but it was good fun - I'll be back when I have some funds. However, I have enjoyed good charity shop success this week, scoring two Fever dresses for £10 each! I'll show you more of those at a later date but it was very satisfying. They were in two different charity shops as well - I wonder if there is someone going around Leamington, donating dresses in all the charity shops. That's a nice dream!

So, that's my exciting news, and I do use the word 'exciting' loosely. I'll be more craic this week though, I swear. I can feel it in my bones that it's going to be a better week. And I'm going to start buying ice lollies on my way to work, just in case.

Walk where you want to walk

Afternoon all! I'm nursing a thundery pressure headache this afternoon, possibly due to this Spanish Plume thing the Met Office are on about. Actually, generally my head is feeling rather uncomfortably full at the moment, hence the relative scarcity of my posts at the moment. I was feeling seriously grotty and grumpy this morning and last night so I did what I do when I'm annoyed - I vacuumed. It always seemed to work for my mum when I was a teenager and she was cross with me, and it did the job for me this morning. Then Nic and I took a walk, went to the library, had lunch and watched an episode of The Dalek Invasion of Earth (awesome) so my mood is starting to right itself a little now. I was feeling in the mood for something elegant when I got dressed this morning so went for this:

Laura Ashley Falling Rose dress, Bertie Sardinia shoes and Ollie and Nic bag

I don't wear this dress as often as I ought to - probably because when I bought it, it was a wee bit snug on me so I sort of think of it as an uncomfortable dress. It fits perfectly now, though, so I should give it more of a chance. I love the Rennie Mackintosh-esque roses and the shape of the skirt.

Rennie Mackintosh roses

I'm getting in a Shoeperwoman's Shoe Challenge here too, I thought I'd save my beloved Bertie Sardinia shoes, the black ones at any rate. On paper these sound like totally boring shoes and I'll admit, they don't cause people to stop me in the street the way my various pairs of Irregular Choice shoes do, but these are elegant and gorgeous, and I love them.

Bertie Sardinia court shoes

As I said earlier, I feel at the moment like my head is absolutely full and I haven't been my usual sunny (heh) self over the past few days. Slowing down and not letting things get on top of me is something I still have to work on and for the past week it's felt like harder work for some reason. Anyway, the point is not to moan, but to share an excellent blog post I read with you all. It was linked from one of my favourite sites, Jezebel and you can read the whole blog here. I don't agree with all of the advice contained within it, but I felt like it had a lot to say to me about caring too much about offending people, worrying too much if people like me and fretting that people are judging me and bitching about me behind my back. Julien Smith says it's time to stop letting that shit take over, and he has a point.

Do you wonder if someone is talking shit about you? Whether your friends will approve? Have you become conflict-avoidant? Spineless? Well, it's time you started not giving a fuck.

That's fighting talk, isn't it? But seriously, worrying whether someone is talking shit about me is how I spent the majority of my time last year. I worry about it now, too. I wish there was a button allowing me to turn that part of my interior monologue down. It creeps up on me, too. I can be pootling along feeling absolutely fine and then BAM! Something happens and I start fretting what it means. Recently the trigger was getting back something I'd lent to a friend. Or rather, not getting back something I'd lent to a friend. All of a sudden lots of reasons seemed to suggest themselves to me for why I couldn't get my stuff back. I might have been wrong (but I probably wasn't) but the point is, I spent some time worrying about it. Not good.

These are people that don't like you anyway, why should you attempt to please people who don't care for you in the first place?

This is basically what I have to remind myself of frequently. On first glance it seems kind of bleak and pessimistic, but it isn't really. In fact, it's a pretty positive message if you think about it - why worry about trying to make people like you, some people won't and that's okay.

Check this out: when people don't like you, nothing actually happens. The world does not end. You don't feel them breathing down your neck. In fact, the more you ignore them and just go about your business, the better off you are... Not giving a fuck is actually a necessary precedent to create a good life for yourself. It can't happen without it.

This is an awesome message if you can digest it. It's not strictly true that when someone doesn't like you, nothing happens. Or at least, it's not always true. When someone doesn't like you, and is talking shit about you something does happen and it's unpleasant, it changes the dynamics between friends and it can sour relationships. That's why people do it. But the second part of that paragraph is really powerful - you can't make a good life for yourself if you're worrying all the time about what people think. Haters gonna hate, and there's nothing you can do about that.

How to get back your self-respect in five easy steps

• Do things that you consider embarrassing
• Accept, or deal with, awkwardness
• Refuse boundaries - walk where you want to walk. Don't accept false choices. Don't let people dictate how you live your life
• Tell the truth
• Begin your new life

I'm especially taken with the third bullet point about refusing boundaries. To me, this is part of the same process as accepting that you don't have to care if people don't like you, because it's about not allowing how others feel about you to limit yourself. Walk where you want to walk, and do the things that you want to do, even if others don't understand, or if they want to be bitches about it. For my part, this is important. I enjoy making things, crafting, sewing, knitting. I recently heard someone deriding this pursuit as ridiculous. It stung a bit, to be truthful, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to walk where I want to walk. Or at least, I'm going to try.

Those who don't give a fuck change the world. The rest do not.

If you dismiss the things that do not matter; if you remove those things from your mind and focus on what must be done; if you understand that your time is limited and decide to work now, only then will you be able to get to the finish line. Otherwise, you will be dissuaded into living a life you aren't interested in.

I'm not interested in living a life dictated by what others think. I'm not interested in going along with things I don't want to do in order to make others happy. I'm not interested in being told how to live my life. I'm not interested in being in negative relationships. I'm not interested in being controlled. I'm not interested in being in a clique. I'm not interested if people are talking shit about me.

Or at least, I'm giving it my best try.

/end rant

Right, after that I think I deserve to go and eat some crisps. Go and read Julien's blog, enjoy your Sundays and normal service will be resumed around here soon.

Am I to entertain your ballad of dissatisfaction, or has something actually happened? Because I am at work, dear.

Afternoon everyone! Well, it feels like it's been forever since I've written a blog, but I suppose that's what being on holiday will do for a girl. I'm back to work tomorrow, and this past fortnight has felt like forever so I can't quite imagine actually being back in the office. Still, there are definitely worse things than the office, and I feel very well rested from my break. Well, emotionally and mentally anyway - my body seems to be disagreeing and I've been feeling somewhat under the weather for the past few days. Maybe I'm subconsciously rejecting the thought of going back to work, eh?

So, when I last wrote Nic and I were still down in Kent. The rest of our week continued to be as lovely as the bit I've already told you about. We settled down our gallavanting and stayed mainly around the village where Nic's parents live (with a day out to another town to visit his grandparents.) We did lots more paddling in the sea, some writing, lots of reading and sleeping and watching films and even a little bit of shopping. The village has a consignment store and when I spotted these babies in the window, my willpower went all out the window and I bought them. Still, they have never been worn and they were cheap, and I loves them. So I don't feel too bad.

Irregular Choice Cortesan heels

Towards the end of our stay the weather had started to cool a bit, but both of us were sorry to be going - I feel so lucky to have access to such a gorgeous bit of the country, and I'm already looking forward to the next time I can do this:

Lounging on Sandgate beach

We decided to travel back up before the royal wedding, thinking that we didn't want to be passing through London on that day. So on Thursday we packed up all our stuff and headed back to Leamington, making a brief stop in London for a visit to both of our favourite haunts. Nic bought a few things in Orbital Comics and obviously I did a bit of payday shopping in Fever and also at Paul and the International Cheese Centre in Marylebone (I always want to call it the International House of Cheese)

Not pictured: Paul camembert sandwich and Tayto crisps and Black Bomber cheese from the International House of Cheese

It was actually really nice in London - we wandered through Trafalgar Square on our way back to Marylebone and everything was getting geared up for the big day. There was a nice vibe - lots of tourists (and probably Londoners, too) waving flags and wearing deely boppers. Lucky old Nic ran into the happy couple, obviously they couldn't get the day before the wedding off from their employers at Patisserie Valerie off Charing Cross Road.

Our only celebrity spot that day...

Now, I'm not knocking anyone who did watch the wedding - whatever floats your boat, right? But it was not for me, and so Nic and I had a very relaxed and non-weddingy Friday at home. Nic and I watched the second part of the excellent Sarah-Jane Doctor Who serial The Sontaran Experiment (having watched the first part before going on holiday)and the last few episodes of the third season of Mad Men before we went out for a walk and to do a bit of grocery shopping. In the evening I got on with that ridiculous pursuit, sewing - another Simplicity 2591 - and Nic did some drawing. It was all very companionable and civilised, and not a scrap of bunting in sight.

Work in Progress - Joel Dewberry fabric and Simplicity 2591

I was up and out of bed at an unearthly hour (for me) on Saturday morning. I wanted to be in London before 10 to hit the Vivien of Holloway sale. It's been a while since I caught the train to London on my own (since our offices in London closed, although I guess that commuting is set to start up again later this year) and I enjoyed speeding through the sunny countryside with a book and a snack (no coffee, sadly!) I got to the Holloway Road just after 10 and was greeted by mayhem in the rather small Vivien of Holloway shop:

apologies for the blurry phone photos... but this hopefully gives you an idea

It was difficult to move and while I'd had an idea to try on one of the pencil dresses to get an idea of fit, after spending over half an hour in the stationary changing room queue I decided to cut my losses and go with what I knew would fit me. I was joined by Sugar Plum and the two of us came away happy (and tired) with two dresses each, and went to reward ourselves with a drink and a good old gossip. She had to leave shortly afterwards and, while I had planned to hit Walthamstow market for some fabric shopping I was starting to feel a bit wobbly so decided to go home. Well, not straight home. I went back to the Charing Cross Road for a look in the bookshops, and then had a wander through one of my favourite bits of London - Soho. It was a gorgeous day, and Soho was full of happy looking people sitting outside cafes. I bought a macaron and an Orangina from Paul on Old Compton Street and had a wee poke around The Cloth House on Berwick Street before catching the tube back to Paddington to come home. I didn't buy anything in the Cloth House, but it is certainly a lovely shop:

Boutons!

Pretty trims

My darling Nic greeted me at the station when I got back to Leamington, and we had an ice cream in the park before wending our way home for a lazy evening with a film. By this stage I was starting to feel really weird, so I changed into my jammies and dozed on the sofa. But I know y'all want to know about the four dresses I managed to buy in the space of three days, so I did take this wee picture

Fever Delilah summer dress, Fever Matoid pencil dress, Vivien of Holloway Purple Rose dress and Anchors Away dress - also some awesome sunglasses I bought in Hennes for £3.

Sunday was almost completely a washout because I felt like shite, but by Monday I was revived enough to be joined by Denise and Lauren for an afternoon of sewing. I finished my Simplicity dress (photos to follow) while Lauren worked on a fabulous-looking fuchsia circle dress and Denise did some alterations. Nic pottered in and out, bringing us food and doing some work, it was a delight. After the ladies had left, Nic made a comment that resulted in us rearranging the furniture in our living room which was a dusty but satisfying job. I do enjoy bank holidays!

I don't go back to work until tomorrow so today decided to treat Nic to lunch at one of our favourite restaurants. Naturally, I couldn't wait to take one of my new dresses for a spin, and decided to roll this up into a shoe challenge, as part of Shoeperwoman's Shoe Challenge:

Vivien of Holloway Anchors Away dress, Bettie Page belt and Irregular Choice No Place Like Home shoes

Isn't this dress amazing?! I've wanted it for ages, and couldn't resist treating myself to it in the sale. This one is different to my other Vivien of Holloway frocks in that it is made with a heavier weight cotton sateen, and it feels so luxurious. I love it! Lots of people stopped me in the street this afternoon to comment on it too, which made me feel a wee bit bashful but very pleased all the same. I resisted the temptation to wear the lovely anchor necklace that Lauren gave me a while ago (I thought it would be overkill) but I did put on some swallow earrings

another one, just for good measure

The fabric

The shoes need no introduction, and I think they add the perfect amount of whimsy to this outfit

Irregular Choice No Place Like Home shoes

Tuesday Shoesday

My darling Nic was the perfect accessory - I don't like to brag or anything, but I did feel very lucky to be on his arm

Nic

And so it's farewell to hollibobs and back to work tomorrow. Still, it's been a fantastic fortnight and very much what I needed. I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed again . Not by work this time, but other stressful things and lots of rest and fun have definitely helped a lot. I think that I'm a bit better equipped to deal with stressful situations now, and I know when I need to step back and give myself a break from things, and doing that has been really good. And, you know, I have a few new frocks to parade around the office in so maybe going back to the old 9-5 won't be too too painful. Here's hoping not, at any rate.