You knows I loves the bumper cars.

You guys, it's been a busy week. I hope you're all keeping well! I've been very busy at work getting stuff ready for an event at the end of next week and it feels like I've spent most of this week crawling around on the floor of the secure room putting things into bags. I mean, proportionally speaking that's not how I spent most of the week. It sure did feel that way, though. So, you know, that's how things are at work. Yeah.

It's been another funny few days. I haven't been sleeping well and I've been feeling anxious again. I think I have come a long way since last year in terms of being able to pinpoint what it is that's making me feel anxious so that I can address it. It doesn't make everything immediately better, is the only thing. Then, I suppose you can't really expect that. I could really do without the symptoms though - on Wednesday night I hardly slept at all and my hands were tingling, and I have that horrible palpitation feeling of having butterflies in the throat. I know what's causing it, the same thing as last time. It can be difficult to break free of the things that are hurtful - even harder when there are others trying to hold on to them. The big difference now is that I know I'll be okay. I haven't always known that, but I'm stronger now, and more able to say no. I'm better at knowing how I feel, and what my boundaries are. I'll be okay.

One of the reasons why these incidents of anxiety have been relatively isolated is that I'm better at directing my energies into the positive things. To that end I went to see my friend L on Tuesday evening to drop off a dress I'd made for her. A while back she very kindly donated a few pairs of adorable shoes to me, so I offered to make her a dress in return. She bought the fabric and picked out the pattern, and last weekend I sewed the dress up. She chose the Parfait pattern by Colette patterns and some pretty Moda cotton. I was really nervous about making a dress for someone else, but it fit her perfectly and she loved it - no photos to share with you, I'm afraid! It was a good experience, because sewing for someone else made me slow down and properly take my time over the details. Also I didn't have that thing I get when I'm sewing for myself, which is impatience to wear the garment! It helped me get back into my sewing groove - but a bit more of that later.

On Wednesday I wore a new frock I'd bought in the River Island sale, after having been inspired by Amber. This photo was taken after a looooooooooong day in the office, so it doesn't really do the dress justice, but it's very pretty indeed. It was the first thing I've ever bought from River Island, and it was a steal at £15 in the sale.

River Island Apple print dress, Bertie shoes and Joules bag

I know. You can really tell I've had a long day. I'll get a better photo on a better day. It's a lovely light summery dress so I can see myself getting a lot of wear out of this. What more could you ask for?!

Thursday was a bit of a blur because I was so tired. I don't know how these people who deliberately pull all-nighters work, because I was in no form at all for anything. I had a short burst of energy when I got home and popped into Decorative Cloth to buy some fabric, and after a nap I was feeling more presentable, which was good. Thursday was swelteringly hot, and I was really glad to be wearing something light and comfortable:

Emily and Fin Chloe dress and Bertie shoes

Who looks tired here?! Yeah. Like I said, I haven't been sleeping well. This dress is pretty cute though, and an impulse ebay bargain buy. It comes down into a nice V at the back as well - not too low that my bra strap shows, which is a bonus.

I was working from home on Friday, which was a good and restful end to the week. The fair has come to town, and after we were finished for the day, Nic took me out for a spin on the waltzers. I love the waltzers!

Fever Tahiti dress, wee flat shoes from Miss Selfridge

I'm looking a lot more lively in that photo though, aren't I?! This dress was a ridiculous bargain, costing the princely sum of 99p on ebay. 99p. It's perfect for a day at home as it's comfy jersey, and I love the bright pink colour. I'll tell you, though, it was not the most suitable dress to be wearing to the fairground. We got extra special attention on the waltzers and it's because the damn skirt kept riding up. I had to keep a firm grip on the hemline, or the Ray Von alike who was spinning our car around (a lot) would have seen more than I was willing to show. Seriously. At one point there were two of them spinning us around. Still, we got an extra long go, so it wasn't all bad. I love fairgrounds, the cheaper and tackier the better, so I love it when the fair comes to town, and I'm looking forward to more turns on the rides over the next week or so.

The louder you scream, the faster the ride! Fun is the key, but keep seated at all times, or you may die. SHABBA!

You knows I loves the bumper cars

I'll be down again later in the week to test out some of the other rides, and to put my pennies in the penny drop machines. I'm dead common at heart, me. Luckily Nic quite enjoys the fair as well, so it was a really nice treat at the end of a long week for both of us:

Nic on the waltzers

Before the ride started and I had to cling onto my hem for dear life

Nic bought me some candyfloss as a special treat:

This may be my favourite ever photo of myself. Look at the size of that candyfloss! I'm going to be back down for some more tomorrow.

Today has been a fairly quiet one, starting with a really good lie in and a browse around a vintage fair in town. I put the fabric I bought on Thursday to good use and, having been inspired by how much I loved the dress I'd made for L, made one for myself:

Colette Patterns Parfait dress in Alexander Henry Luca printed cotton

As you all know, I love Colette patterns but for ages I'd been a bit on the fence about the Parfait. I don't know why, maybe the pockets. I impulse bought the pattern after seeing Debi's purple corduroy version and sewed up my own version in some nasty purple cotton I hurriedly bought at Hobbycraft. Yuck. So I still wasn't all that convinced until I saw this version at Sew Something Vintage. The version I made for L was too cute, so in my spare time yesterday I whipped up one for myself. It really was quick as well, I made this in a few hours and in terms of finish, it's the best dress I've made yet. It fits really well, too.

The buttons came from Decorative Cloth as well, and they're purely ornamental. The dress zips at the side so I thought I'd save myself the hassle of buttons, and it's no problem without them. I know the buttons are as twee as you like, but I think it kind of works. This makes a really nice sun dress, and I will make an autumn appropriate one as well. As with the other Colette patterns I've sewed from, the instructions are amazingly clear and precise and some of the techniques are just so clever! The gathering at the bust is hidden by the midriff facing, a detail which makes the inside of the dress look really well finished. I love it! This afternoon I picked up some pretty blue polka dot cotton for my next sewing project, which I hope to get done this week - more to come!

Anyway, that's me for this evening. Nic and I are about to make dinner and settle in with a film. Behave yourselves, and I'll see you all soon.

Last time you were so engrossed, it turned out you were reading the "Adult Video News."

Hello my darlings! Wow, this has been a busy week. One where I kept meaning to take photographs and write and all, but instead found myself doing other, sometimes less interesting thing. As I overheard a young man say to an elderly lady after he'd hit her with a football he'd been booting around the park, "soz".

It has been a good week, however. After all my bitching and whining last week, this week came up trumps. Don't you love it when that happens?! Work has finally started to get a little bit more interesting, which is a blessing. I'm starting to go a bit mad with boredom, pushing spreadsheets around. Nic was away on Tuesday evening and I had to work quite late, so instead of having dinner I went out with two of my colleagues and drank a bottle of wine and ate some cake. It was lots of fun - for one thing, the cake was very good (mint chocolate cheesecake) and the wine was surprisingly tasty. I don't normally drink red wine, and I didn't order it myself, but that bottle of house Merlot was rather nice. Sometimes it's good to be a pleb, eh? I got home and was just tipsy enough to want to watch an episode of The Kennedys on the BBC iplayer. Man, it was disappointing. I was hoping for so bad it's good - and the utterly bonkers title sequence seemed to promise that - but it was just totally boring. The performances are inexplicable too. I'm no great fan of Tom Wilkinson (I know, shhhhhh!) and it seems he's playing Joe Kennedy as Hannibal Lecter. Katie Holmes is even more mad, sadly. Her attempt at Jacqueline Kennedy's accent makes her sound like she came from Brooklyn or something. So, I sleepily switched it off after having been bored for 20 minutes.

I had Wednesday off work and had a fairly leisurely start to the morning before catching the train down to London. To my delight, the train itself was one of the former Wrexham and Shropshire trains, so my journey felt unusually luxurious! To my additional delight, I did NOT have a hangover. Win! I pottered around a bit in central London, bought myself a dress from Fever before meeting Nic in the Chandos off Trafalgar Square. We had lunch in Soho, I bought another dress (from a fabulous tiny little boutique called Zegerman and Lusky on Greek Street) and we wandered over to Bloomsbury. The sun was shining and the day felt like a holiday. While Nic browsed the comics in Gosh, I had homemade lemonade and scones in Tea and Tattle, underneath Arthur Probstrain's Oriental bookshop. It was GOOOOOOOOD. The scone came with raspberry and vanilla jam and lots and lots of clotted cream. Bliss.

Yum. Seriously. YUM

The reason I was in London was to meet up with Adlina and her husband Eizwan, as they were briefly over in the UK. Adlina and I haven't seen one another since we graduated, but thanks to Twitter we've been able to stay in touch. It was so much fun to catch up with her and the hours sped by. It was really late by the time we got back to Leamington but it was amazing how one day felt like a whole holiday.

I wasn't in the office on Thursday or Friday so not too much to report from those days, I'm afraid. I hardly left the house, because I was working and sewing and also I'm quite bad at leaving the house unless I absolutely have to. I did have the pleasure of running into the lovely Louise and her mum while out shopping, though, and it was excellent to see her beautiful new haircut in real life! In fact, I recognised her haircut first. This is what happens when your friends blog! Both Nic and I were feeling a bit stressy on Friday afternoon (I kicked the drying rack. Enough said, really) so we decided to go out for a bit of a walk in the last of the sunshine. It's amazing how that can always make me feel more cheerful. We ambled down through Victoria Park and then did a bit of grocery shopping. I love Victoria Park, it's one of the bits of Leamington that I never knew existed until I moved here. There's a walk by the river, a bowling green, a play area and even a strange little paddling pool. On Friday evening it had been filled and the water was just too tempting:
It's only about 6 inches deep but the sound of the water and the feeling of it around my feet completely changed Friday afternoon for me.

You can see here how happy I felt! This is one of the dresses I bought in London, from that little boutique in Soho. It's a Get Cutie dress, but it was heavily discounted. I've always loved the look of their frocks but balked a little at the price - this style would cost £110 at full price and while I admit that the fabric itself wouldn't have come cheap, I can't see that I'd be getting my money's worth at that price. Maybe it's since I took up sewing for myself that I'm more discerning, I don't know. I do know that I wouldn't be happy paying that amount of money for a frock that had the zip tape still sticking out the top at the armhole, which mine had. I also had to alter the neckline. I mean, I'm not Lolo Ferarri but I could have been in this dress. Anyway, that's enough moaning because the dress is really rather lovely and quite a bargain too:

Get Cutie dress in Alexander Henry 'From the hip' fabric, and Irregular Choice Mermaid shoes

I've liked this Alexander Henry fabric for ages. Pinup cowgirls, what's not to love?! I'll probably buy some at some point to make myself a frock, but this one will do in the meantime. I love how sassy these girls are:

I was feeling pretty dodgy on Saturday, perhaps a bit hungover (although how, after only two glasses of wine) but with a pounding headache that made me miserable for most of the day. Luckily I had Nic around to look after me, because I was a bit of a sad panda. Dinner and some paracetamol got me upright enough to have a few drinks (just pop for me) in the gorgeous garden of the New Inn with Greg and Paul. Sadly I didn't get any photos of how lovely the garden is, or of the amazing great dane named Ziggy that was wandering around it, but Nic did get a photo of me on the way there:

Emily and Fin Lucy dress and Bertie Sardinia shoes

It was such a lovely, chilled, funny evening made perfect by the chips we ate once we got home. Even when I haven't been drinking, going to the pub makes me want to eat chips. Yes, I am THAT classy.

Today has been similarly quiet, highlights including a game of badminton in the park with Nic. I mean, if you can call it badminton. Really, it was more just me and Nic dicking around with a cheap set we bought in The Works, but it was lots of fun:

I could never be a really cool fashion blogger, I look like such a tit in this photo. Also check out my Deirdre Barlow neck. NICE. It was lots of fun, though. Oh, and I took my shoes off to play properly! I'm wearing the Fever Atlantis dress, a bolero from Phase Eight, and Bertie shoes.

Nic and I did some housework, bought some groceries and had a very domesticated afternoon. Nothing at all exciting to report! So, I'm going to motor on. Nic and I have the last episode of the rather silly Scott and Bailey to watch, some maltesers hot chocolate to drink (I suspect it might taste like Horlicks, but I will report back) and then it's bedtime. I lead such an interesting life! I do actually have lots of, y'know, really deep thoughts to share with y'all, but I'll do that in the week. Have a good evening, my loves.

Yeah, I WAS wearing makeup! I had a lightning bolt on my wanger!

Hello my lovelies! I hope you're all well wherever you are. It's beautifully sunny and warm here in Leamington, and Nic and I have just spent most of the afternoon in the park, which was lovely. Well, it would have been better without all the other people there but I'll try to be gracious. It is a public space after all.

The unbelievably foul mood I was in on Wednesday did go away. Thursday and Friday were a bit better in the office, mainly because I was able to do some proper work. On Friday the head of my department called me to ask me to get involved in some planning work for a new project we might be taking on. It'll be good, I hope, because if it goes ahead it'll give me a chance to actually use my brain and my experience at work, and it meant a lot that she was keen to have me involved in it. We'll see what happens there, I suppose. I think that whatever happens, the next few months at work are probably going to be bumpy ones so I think the ups and downs will continue no matter what.

I don't usually have to go into the office on Friday but this week I had some external people in, so I needed to be there. It was a nice day, although the afternoon seriously dragged. My colleagues were in a silly mood so we did have fun, but I was still glad when it hit 4 and I could leave. On Thursday my most recent ebay purchase arrived, so I wore it to work on Friday:

Fever Atlantis dress and Irregular Choice Hermia shoes

It's funny how your tastes can change. This dress is from Fever's Spring/Summer 2008 collection. I remember at the time thinking I liked the shape, but not the print. But when I saw it on ebay at a bargain price I thought I might as well, and I'm glad I did because I love the print. It's not too clear in that photo, but it's seashells with fish behind them (hence the name 'Atlantis', I guess)
As with my Corbusier Atlantis dress, I altered the straps so the dress isn't halterneck, as wearing a halterneck often gives me a headache. In fact, after these photos were taken I altered them further because they were a wee bit too long (I have narrow shoulders and they kept slipping down, which was annoying) This is an alteration I have to make a lot. Fun.

Nic treated me to dinner from Millennium Sweet House before I went out to the cinema with Lauren to see Bridesmaids. I don't go to the cinema as often as I ought to, given my background in film studies, but I had read a fair bit about Bridesmaids and was curious enough to want to see it. Also, there are so few films about women in the cinema now that when one comes along, I want to go and see it. Well, apart from Mamma Mia. I never want to see Mamma Mia. A lot of the reviews of Bridesmaids gave the impression it was like a female-centered version of The Hangover, which I think is unfair. It has its flaws, but I enjoyed Bridesmaids so much that I'm planning on going back to see it a second time. It's very, very funny but I wasn't expecting it to be so moving. The disintegration of Annie's life coninciding with mean girl friendship politics had me crying as much as John Hamm's performance made me laugh. John Hamm, though. That guy is FUNNEH. Seriously really, really funny. Rose Byrne's turn as bitchface Helen was especially affecting as well. We all know a girl like Helen - someone who can't wait to tell you how much better your friends like her than they like you, and tries to make you feel small. Then she cries that no-one likes her. Yeah, that.

Bridesmaids. Not a chick flick. Check out the bitchface on Rose Byrne!

After the cinema there was still time to catch Nic and friends in the pub around the corner for a drink (another reason to like the film, it wasn't ridiculously long like every other modern film. 2+ hours is too bloody long!) so ending the evening on a gin and tonic was just right.

On Saturday I had a lovely, luxurious lie in before going for a bit of a potter around town. There is a Guide Dog training school in Leamington, and they were holding a big event in the Pump Room Gardens. I'm not sure what exactly all was going on, but there were lots of happy looking dogs and owners, some stalls selling cakes and bric a brac and it coincided with the monthly farmer's market. The weather was nice - warm, but not hot, and I decided to wear a lovely cool cotton frock:

Green wrap dress from Phase Eight, and yellow wedges from Next

This is the second one of these frocks I've bought. The original came from the Phase Eight sale a number of years ago but was a size too big so I stopped wearing it and gave it to a friend. When it came up in my size on ebay last month I went for it! I usually find wrap dresses unflattering, they gape in the bust and tie in the wrong place, but this one works. It has a full circle skirt as well, so although I'm not wearing it with a petticoat here it accomodates one.

This is my attempt to look sultry in sunglasses, but I look silly. The sunglasses are silly - I think they're very 70s footballer's wife, but I like them. On Saturday afternoon I went to hang out with Denise, we drank coffee, gossiped and iced cakes. You know how you do. My hayfever was bad on Saturday and I sneezed non-stop all day. I was mid-sneeze, halfway across Regent Street on my way to Denise when a stray gust of wind blew my skirt up and I flashed my knickers to some teenage boys. Seriously. I was too busy sneezing to do anything else. Luckily, I was wearing nice pants.

Nic and I had been invited out for drinks to celebrate a friend's birthday, and after a rather large dinner I needed to change out of that wrap dress. The bow was constricting my tummy. Nice. We only planned to stay for one drink, but lots of nice people were at the pub, the sun was shining and the garden was pretty. We closed the pub, and it was about 4 am before Nic and I took ourselves to bed. I love impromptu nights out, especially where gin is involved.

Fever Daydreamer dress and Irregular Choice Hermia shoes

I was happily not hungover this morning and, as I said above, Nic and I passed the afternoon in the park. There was a free falconry display which was really interesting - although there was a bit of a hairy moment when one of the birds just didn't want to come back. The falconer was shouting for him for about fifteen minutes, which became increasingly surreal because the bird's name was Joe. It was one of those lovely, lazily sociable afternoons that has turned into a sleepy evening. I have my glass of wine and a DVD and I'm off now to enjoy the rest of my weekend.

The beautiful river Leam in the sunshine from Mill Gardens

Sunhat!

Before I go, if you'd like to check out a few vintage outfit shots, the lovely people at Fever Designs wrote this wee blog about me. I know I'm blowing my own trumpet, here, but go and have a wee look anyway. Good night my pretties!

God, Ben, I'm such an eejit, I put the shorts on my head!

Evening all! Yes, another midweek blog post. It must be the season of the witch! I hope you've all been having a good day and, now that Wednesday is over, that you're looking forward to the weekend. I'm grand, although today has been a difficult day. It certainly brightened up once I got off the train in Leamington and it was sunny, and I was greeted on the doorstep by this little lady:

So, what's the craic?

She's not my cat. In fact, I'm not sure who she belongs to but she's often to be found trying to gain access to our building. A friend who lives around the corner reports that she does the same there, too. I don't think she's a stray because she's in good condition and is very well socialised - such a friendly little kitteh! I sat down on the step and she curled up in my lap, purring away like a good'un. Sadly I don't think she'd enjoy soya milk or vegetarian food, so we didn't invite her upstairs. Still, there's a lot to be said for getting a cuddle from a little purry thing to make your day seem less crap.

Actually, today wasn't that bad. I am exaggerating a little bit. There were lots of good things about it. I got to see my friend C again as she's back from holiday. I had a meeting with some excellent people. I wore new shoes!

Sail Away Ceylon dress, made by me and Irregular Choice Patty shoes

These shoes are black, so they don't actually match the dress but I don't care. I like how they look together. Despite the reservations I expressed yesterday, I really enjoyed wearing these shoes, and the more I look at them the more I'm able to see the flag as a nice graphic. The shoes are a wee bit big, even with insoles but I'm going to wear them anyway and make sure to walk slowly in them!

This was the second time I've worn my Sail Away Ceylon since I made it a few weeks ago, and it held up well through a whole day at work - buttons staying closed and everything! It's convinced me that I need to do another make of this frock, in red with shiny black buttons and black piping. Incidentally, those shoes would go well with that if I ever do get around to making it.

Still, even with the amusement of new shoes and a pretty dress I did not get on well with today. It's partly because I'm still feeling a bit under the weather. Recently, though, I've been really up and down. It's like the emotional equivalent of the weather. You know how at the moment it's all dark clouds and wind one minute, and beautiful blue skies and sunshine the next? I'm just like that. I've been all over the place today, emotionally speaking, veering from feeling so frustrated it makes me physically nauseated to feeling like I could hug a colleague because she brought me a cup of coffee. It's a bit tiring, to be honest. I'm trying not to read too much into it, and I'm also trying hard to breathe deeply and count to ten on all of those occasions when I want to scream (or to type) "would you just PISS OFF, PLEASE!" at the people around me.

The next few months are going to be like this, though. Nic is working so hard to finish his thesis as well as working on other projects too. You all know how much my job is sucking at the moment. Figuring out money stuff and making plans for the future are in there too. There's a lot going on. In some ways, I work well under pressure. You know, I can meet deadlines and I like a challenge. Where I start to crack up is when I feel claustrophobic, and that's how I'm feeling now. In crowds I get stressed out when I have to hold my elbows really close to my body. It sounds silly but it makes me feel trapped. I feel like I'm being forced into things I don't want to do, and being directed down roads I no longer want to travel. It's emotional, and probably a bit of an overstatement, but I am stressed out. I'll get over it, and later this evening no doubt I'll be feeling more mellow. However, like I said, I think the next few months might be a bit bumpy.

Anyway, enough bellyaching. Wednesday is over, and that means The Apprentice later this evening, a wee bit of sewing and a wee bit of reading. I might even be able to scare up enough alcomahol in the cupboards to make myself a Wednesday cocktail. Things could be a lot worse. I'll be more cheerful in the next one, honest. Have a lovely evening, don't be hypnotised by Jedi Jim, and I'll catch you all later.

But eventually, I got out of his headlock. And where are you now, Father Eamon Hunter?

Evening all, my dearies. A reasonably rare midweek blog post here, because I'm trying to be a better blogger and blog more regularly. What a treat for you all, eh? I'm actually not feeling too clever today, and stayed home from work feeling under the weather. I watched Frasier and drank mint tea like it was going out of fashion while Nic worked at the table. The glamorous life, what do you think? I'm actually feeling a lot better now, and hopefully well enough to go out for a walk in the evening sunshine. I did even take an outfit shot for today (to show off the excellent dress I bought for 99p on ebay last week) but the photos are so dreadful. I mean, I'm happy enough to shed my vanity for the love of blogging and all, but my eyes are closed, my hair is in my face. No. Y'all will have to wait for another opportunity to see that frock.

Being as I've had a quiet day I don't have too much to share with you all apart from my new shoes! Well, not quite new - they were a gift from a friend who found that she didn't wear them. She decided to pass them on to me:

Irregular Choice Patty shoes

Of course, I'm pleased as punch at having been given a pretty pair of shoes. Naturally I'm already dreaming of all the things I can wear them with. That said, I might not have bought these for myself, and I wouldn't bring them home to Northern Ireland. I've lived in England for nearly ten years now, and obviously here the union flag has different connotations. I grew up on the Catholic side of things in Northern Ireland, however, so the union flag means something very different to me. My family didn't have strong political views, and neither do I, on the political situation at home. I'm not really a Catholic, far less a nationalist. Still, a part of me can't help but look at the union flag and see it as a statement of a political view. It's the same as when I wear my bowler hat. I like it, but I wouldn't wear it at home - too many thoughts of the Orange Order and sectarian hostility. Things have changed a lot at home, and the current civil disturbances in Belfast are the works now of a few hateful extremists rather than a coherent paramilitary organisation. Anyway, I don't have much more to say on the subject, just that it struck me that I'll happily wear these in Leamington. I just wouldn't find them appropriate in Dungannon, even if no one else was fussed by them.

Anyhow, dinner is ready and Nic has cued up an episode of New Tricks for me. More later in the week, but good solstice to you all.

They have no morals, and no respect for human life. But what they do have is the finest collection of boilers in the world. I include Canada in that.

Hello peeps, what's the haps? I'm one tired and happy Dolly this afternoon, after a most refreshing weekend of socialising. For the most part, last week was highly meh. Those of you who know me in real life or follow me on twitter will have heard me moaning about all the printing I had to do, which was incredibly boring. Still, I came to work prepared with my book and on Monday while printing about approximately twelfty three bajillion scripts I managed to read lots, so it wasn't all bad. I really should quit my jibba-jabba though, because lots of nice things did happen also. Nic started a new job on Monday, which was initially meant to be one day a week but which has expanded to two. On Wednesday evening Zoe taught us how to do traditional hexagon patchwork at Sew Make Believe which gave me the skills and the enthusiasm to start working on a quilt as a gift for someone. So that was awesome, and just the antidote to the tedium of work.

On Thursday night, Nic and I had planned to go and see the amazing Devon Sproule, who was playing in Coventry. The gig was scheduled to be held in a beautiful church, but there was a fairly last-minute venue change to an absolute shithole, so regretfully I got a refund on the tickets and we decided to have an evening out with Tom instead. Ever the classy pair, we had dinner in Wetherspoon's (curry club FTW) and were then joined by Tom. We got soaked on our walk to the pub but good old Nic got a few outfit shots of me earlier that afternoon:

In the rain outside the Old Library. Emily and Fin Lucy dress, Fever Valentina jacket and yellow wedges from Next

This dress came from ebay and I bought it thinking it was navy with yellow flowers - I suppose it can be hard to gauge colour from photographs. I wasn't disappointed or anything, although I do generally try to avoid wearing black clothes. Mind you, I don't think that many people look at the dress and see black because all day long I had people telling me how summery I looked. Which, fair enough, but it is summer! So, I don't really get why people found it surprising. Anyway, I am pleased with the frock, and with the jacket which was also from ebay.

I suppose it is quite summery, now that I look at it...

I was working from home on Friday and the miserable grey weather made me feel a bit grumpy, but I was much cheered in the afternoon by a coffee with some friends and a bit of a gossip and some cannoli, before coming home to have dinner with Nic and watch Case Histories on the BBC iplayer, a nice quiet Friday evening in.

Yesterday and today was the annual Leamington Peace Festival, a free festival held in the Pump Room Gardens. I love the peace festival, which is usually very chilled out and fun, with lots of interesting stalls and fun bands. It was looking like the rain was going to make this year's festival a bit miserable but Nic and I headed down early on Saturday anyway to catch up with some friends. It did rain, but in between the rain the sunshine was beautiful and there was lots to look at and do, as well as the fun of running into friends. After wandering around the stalls and getting some wonderful food (all of the food stalls at the peace festival are vegetarian) we found a dry spot of ground down by the main stage and sat down to enjoy some of the bands, even having a bit of a dance before heading back up to our flat to have dinner. On Saturday evening we had some friends over for drinks, which was a a wonderful way to end the evening. We had bubbly, crisps, beer, cake and cheese - what could be better?! I was somewhat immoderate in my drinking, and was expecting a horrible hangover this morning, but was thankfully spared that. The very large mug of coffee and the cooked breakfast I had probably helped, as did the epic sleep. The sun had come out, so we toddled down with a blanket and a flask of coffee and some leftover cake and wine to meet Louise, her husband, and their two gorgeous doggies. There isn't much to say about the rest of the day, as we passed the time chatting and giggling, playing with the dogs, seeing friends and listening to the music. It was honestly one of the most relaxing and fun weekends I have had for ages. I'm back up in our flat now with a cup of tea and although I'm tired, I feel refreshed for the week ahead. I love weekends like this! I'll leave you with a few photos from yesterday and today, and I'll catch you all later in the week.

Enjoying the sunshine between the rain showers on Saturday

Saturday lunch. Mmmmmmmmm, nachos!

Having a hammock looks like fun...

The main stage. Who knew Leamington had so many hippies?!

Making a tit of myself, dancing to a ska band. I'm wearing my curtains Simplicity 2591 and Irregular Choice Oz heels

Another tit moment, and doesn't the man behind me look like Nick Hewer?!

Nic with Alfie, the greediest doggy in the Western Hemisphere

Me with Prudence the Airedale terrier.

Now, where is that leftover cake?

Oh, indeed.

Well my friends and neighbours, what's the craic? Not too much here, it's a chilly and rainy Sunday afternoon and Nic is drawing and I'm just pottering around, Sunday style. I've got the ingredients ready for a cake to be baked, and scones and clotted cream and lemon curd (and jam for Nic) to have with a pot of tea and an episode of Poirot later. I hear it's what all the kids are into these days.

Anyways, I hope you've all been having a good week. It's been all go in Clackett towers as Nic is working very hard. I've had a really boring week at work - it's been busy, but it seems that all I've been doing is going to meetings, writing the meetings up, going to more meetings, writing them up. Not even a spreadsheet to break it up! (although I did get around to making that spreadsheet of all of my dresses) Things were enlivened a bit the other day though. When I came into work the other morning one of my colleagues told me to go and have a look in the kitchen. Our office has a canteen, but there are two little kitchen areas on each floor for making tea and coffee, with fridges for keeping your lunch in and seating. They're really pleasant, and part of the facilities contract is to provide tea and coffee and milk and cordial. I don't drink any of what's on offer because I'm a fussy beggar (I don't drink instant coffee, I don't drink sugar free cordial, I don't enjoy their cheap-ass tea bags) but this certainly did make me laugh:I always enjoy anything that is headed 'Polite Notice' because it will almost certainly be followed up by something passive aggressive and pissy. The reference to 'headcount' is because almost 60 people have been made redundant since March, as the organisation I work for is closing down. Still, though. Taped up next to it was this riposte:I like to imagine the people from FM services hiding behind the plants with a clipboard monitoring tea bags and possibly microchipping them, all the while wearing specialised security breeches. Later that day, both notices were taken down and replaced by a reworded one that removed references to trousers of any kind and instead urged us to approach FM services in confidence if we saw any suspicious behaviour. I don't know if the man with the bag marked 'swag' counts as suspicious, however. These posters caused a heightened level of hilarity in our team, I think because work is so shit for everyone at the moment that the only thing keeping us right is laughing at everything. It is a little bit manic, if I'm honest, but it does make going into work that good bit less stressful than it would be otherwise.

Other than that, this week has been fairly uneventful. Boredom was getting on top of me somewhat, so I did start to compose a blog post in my notebook about all the things that piss me off. I'm feeling mellower now, but I'll give you a condensed version and perhaps add to this list the next time a vicious mood strikes me. Does that sound like a deal?

Two annoying women I see every day on my way to work:
I did actually write loads about these two that I can't be bothered to reproduce here, basically one of them is that rude woman who pushes along the edge of the platform when the train is pulling into the station, endangering other travellers and just generally pissing me off. The other one is possibly my own fault, but it's a woman who glares at me every single morning when I walk past her. I say it's possibly my own fault because I've seen her around Leamington a few times before and without my glasses on she looks rather a lot like someone who I'd usually walk into traffic to avoid having to talk to so she's probably seen me peering at her to figure out who she is. Or maybe not, and maybe she just doesn't like the look of me and that's fine. But still, having a complete stranger look you up and down and tut when you're just trying to make your way to work is pretty annoying, isn't it? Bloody sourpuss.

The mis-use and abuse of the words 'no' and 'one'

By this I mean specifically people who write 'noone' instead of 'no one' or 'nobody'. I swear it makes a vein in the side of my head start to throb when I see it. It bugs me even more than the incorrect use of the apostrophe. Okay, maybe not - but you get where I am going with this! 'Noone' is not a word, at least not in that context. It is the surname of the fine actress Kathleen Noone, who played Aunt Bette in the fabulous Sunset Beach (she was also in Knots Landing and All My Children. What a woman)

Kathleen Noone. It's fine to use Noone in this context.

Listen up. If I see you writing 'noone' when you mean 'no one', I will think that you are stupid, and I'll like you less as a result. It's harsh, I know, but you shouldn't be writing for public consumption if you don't know that this is incorrect, or are too freaking lazy to proof read your work before publication. Learn to spell, and use real words. Just for reference, I feel the same way about 'alot' when you mean 'a lot'.

Trying to format a document in Microsoft Word
One of the quickest ways to send me dipshit.

Being interrupted in conversation
Someone talking across you is annoying, isn't it? That's not just me, right? What about when the person doing it doesn't even know what they're talking about? Does that make you want to go on a rampage? It makes me want to go on a rampage. I have encountered a lot of this recently. Another irritating variant is when the person you're talking to asks you a question, and then interrupts you when you're answering to finish your sentence for you. This makes me want to punch people in the face. Wait until the other person has finished talking before you make your point, especially if you've just pulled that point out of your ass.

That was as far as I got with my list of negativity but I invite you, readers, to share your peeves and vent your spleens in the comments if you feel like it.

Moving on, then... on Thursday night Nic and I went out for dinner with Lysy and The Scientist to Sushi Ya on Holly Walk. Having had a bad experience the only other time we'd been (good food, bad company) we'd both been reluctant to go again. This time the food was good, the company was excellent but the service was really bad. Live and learn, eh? A few glasses of wine there and later on in the Somerville made the evening despite having had to wait over an hour for three pieces of courgette in tempura. Oooh, look who's still a bit grumpy!!

Friday afternoon I went out to see my friend L and talk sewing, and I spent most of yesterday sewing while Nic worked. We did get out into the sunshine for a walk in the park, however - I'm even more glad of that given the filthy weather today! I've been wanting to have an outfit photo taken in the bandstand of the Pump Room Gardens for ages, and finally got my chance yesterday:

Simplicity 2591 made from Joel Dewberry fabric, red shoes from Topshop and plastic necklace and cuff from my Aspire goody bag

I actually made this dress a few months ago, but yesterday was the first time I wore it. I was pleased with the make but unsure about the fabric, which was a gift. It's a quilting cotton and although the drape is good, I wasn't sure I liked the colour. Lauren suggested wearing it with red, and as the sun had come out I thought I'd give it a go. I think it photographs well and it's comfortable to wear so I reckon it's a keeper.

One more. Why not?

Today the weather is grim so I've been curled up for most of it with a cup of tea and the hilarious Sweet Valley High book that came for me in a parcel from my darling Victoria Deloria. Nic and I did pop out to get some groceries and have a mooch in the shops (£6.99 for a second-hand copy of Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, Oxfam? Are you taking the piss?) so I opted for tights and a cardigan to keep dry, although it's not actually that cold:

Red cardigan from M&S, Fever Prairie Prom dress and Bertie Sardinia shoes

I'll be back in the week but until then, you can check out my other offerings from around the web. I've been a busy little bee this week after all...

Some shoes I want over at About Your Dress

Some sewing tips for Vintage lovers over at Retro Chick

And a photo from yesterday in the park, just because: