How To Outfit Post, Odd Socks Style

The night before, have a mildly angsty rifle through my wardrobe trying to find something blog-worthy that you haven't already seen before. Decide that I don't own any nice clothes. Give up and go to bed.

In the morning, go "argh" and shove on something that looks vaguely presentable.

Give up tea break to:

Go and stand in the freezing cold by my beloved brick wall.

Hi, brick wall! You are looking bricktastic today.

Having had to put sensible spare flats on to get to the brick wall, swap for shoes I've actually been wearing.



Prop camera up on picnic table, check I've got the settings right and fire up the multishot option.

Try my utmost to avoid being seen by any passing gardeners/visitors/school children. This often to leads to photos such as this:



Keep coat on initially, then decide that despite the freezing conditions, it really must come off at some point. Take a minimum of 50 photos.



Decide I look like a troll in all of them and ponder whether I'll ever be brave enough for an outtakes post. Attempt to distract from this by taking arty-ish closeups of the jewellery.




Run back inside and have v. large cup of coffee to warm self up.


Give up lunch break to:

Upload photos.

Groan almightily at the amount of them where I'm either looking gormless or have managed to zoom in too much and chop my feet or head off.

Narrow it down to a few that I don't actively loathe. Crop, resize, alter the exposure if necessary.

Upload to Blogger and edit the HTML coding so they show up as a decent size. Tag, add links, loudly curse Blogger's really annoying habit of inserting random coding in places and making it look a mess.

Get massively sidetracked by work (yeah, lunch breaks are a notional concept here).

Remember I haven't finished, go back and write something vaguely interesting to accompany it. Usually fail.

Think "oh feck it" and hit "publish post" anyway.

Feel guilty about my shocking lack of replies to comments.


Blogging. Weird pastime, isn't it?


Dress - AX Paris via charity shop
Shirt - Um, Gap, I think. I stole it from my brother
Shoes - Next, via charity shop
Coat - c/o Very.co.uk
Locket - Etsy

What I Did On Saturday

I ticked one of the things off my "Want to do in 2012" list and went to Somerford Park for a thoroughly horsey day out. We were volunteering at a British Eventing competition for the very first time and to say I was nervous was putting it mildly, despite having been on a great training course in February. I haven't really ridden since uni and even back then I never had the competitive spirit for this level. We do spectate a fair amount and it's always a fab day out, but this was a different task altogether. Everyone was lovely though. Anywhere where you're greeted with a big smile and a tray of bacon butties is officially in my good books.

View from one side of the car

View from the other side

So basically, when you fence judge you arm yourself with all the above equipment. If it's cold, you sit in the car. If it's sunny (which it wasn't) you sit outside and get a tan. Every time a horse comes past you blow the whistle to alert spectators, click the stopwatch to get a time, fill in the scoresheet to say if it's gone clear or had any penalties, radio through to Control to let them know and then breathe and watch for the next one. They were coming every 90 seconds or so at one stage so it was a busy old day! Excellent fun though and absolutely no chance to get bored.

Obviously, a picnic is a must. Homemade leek and potato soup from a flask, nom. We would have been splendidly fed by the organisers had it not been for all our various allergies. Honestly, we're a pain to feed - it's much easier to bring our own!

Most importantly, no-one fell off at our fences. Hurrah! We had some refusals but practically everyone went clear so it was a jolly nice introduction to the volunteering role. Here's a cheeky photo of someone jumping the house rather beautifully.

It's also an excellent opportunity to play "Horse I'd Most Like To Take Home". My winner was an incredibly sweet little pony called Mocha (not the one in the photo above, although that was pretty nice too). So, so cute!


Apologies gang, but I only took this one photo featuring me (there were competitors out walking the course and I got very bashful) and my face looks the most monumentally grim it has ever looked. EVER. No idea why - I was having a great day! Anyway, admire my wellies and posh coat, for they both rock.

Mad As A March Hare

Is this frock hare print? Is it bunnies*? Am I mad? Is it March? To the last two questions, the answer is yes. To the two others, I dunno. It's a cute print though, no?

*And is it a sign that I've watched entirely too much Buffy that I type that and want to scream "It must be BUNNIES"?


On a slightly more serious note, it's Fairtrade Fortnight and the dress is from People Tree. I wish I could buy stuff from there more often but you should know me by now - I am a) stingy with my money and b) a bit of a charityshopaholic. Hence I lurk on the website when the sales are on (and there are some lovely frocks on there at the moment, argh the temptation) and try and use my minimal shopping budget wisely.

I feel a bit more virtuous about how I've spent my money because it's supporting a company and a cause that I believe in and is way better than investing in yet more poorly made, unethically produced tat. Also, look at the frock! It's awesome, and really lovely fabric. I would so much rather have one of these than three nasty Primark frocks that will fall apart after one wear.

POCKETS!

SHOULDER BOWS!

Dress - People Tree
Cardi - New Look
Necklace - gift
Shoes & bracelet - Dorothy Perkins

ps - unsponsored post, just a company I really admire.

February Scavenger Hunt

Note to self for March - try and remember to look at Kathy's list of scavenger hunt items more than 3 days before the end of the month. I have taken rather a lot of these today.


Black and white

At least this one was easy.


5

Fnar. That is all I have to say on the matter.



Empty

Poor dead tree, it is empty(ish) inside and had to get chopped down. The tree surgeon had a very big chainsaw. Fnar again.


Crowded

A (small) section of last week's insane to-do list


Music


The song I cannot stop listening to at the moment.


Leap Year


Imagination fail.



Cupid

Bah.


Food

Well it had to be cake, didn't it? Marbled vanilla and choc chip loaf cake to be precise.



In the Sky


Is it a bird? Is it Superman? No, it's a plane. Boo hiss to the evil company with all the stupid charges.


Love


You know I don't do the hearts and flowers shit. I truly love every little thing about my ginger bundle of fluff though. Yes, even that insanely irritating habit of constantly walking backwards and forwards between my face and the laptop/magazine/book I'm looking at.


Train


I have been on a train this month, honest I have. See the top of this post for the reasons why I don't actually have a picture of one. This ticket is for my jaunt Oop North in a couple of weeks.


Heritage


Did you know that you should never polish gilt? Well you do now. I am full of such useless conservation tips.

Back To Basics

I'm back! Not that you'll have missed me, but I have really felt the lack of bloggage recently and I'm sorry for it. February is always a fully ridiculous month in terms of work/life balance though and life is only just starting to take back over.

How better to ease back than with an outfit post? Nice and simple, green and with some Irregular Choice shoes. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...

Dress - AX Paris via charity shop
Blouse - present from Vix
Shoes - Irregular Choice, Christmas present from Char. I have wanted these FOREVER. She is fricking awesome.

How did the hair get so ginormous? Princess Leia(ish) buns, that's how:

Don't quite have the guts to go out like this normally...

Anyway gang, what's new with you? Have I missed anything good during the stupid month of being stupidly busy?

Tagtastic

I am not generally fond of the awards and tags that consist of listing things about yourself. I dunno, they just seem a bit lacking in imagination. I make an exception for this one because, yes, I have to do a bit of listing but then I get to answer Perdita's brilliant questions and that's much more fun!

So the rules are:

1) You must post 11 random things about yourself;
2) Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post;
3) Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer;
4) Go to their blog and tell them you've tagged them;
5) No stuff about 'you're tagged if you're reading this' - legitimately tag people.

So, my 11 things:

1) I do not fancy Brad Pitt at all. The one time he has looked halfway decent was in that episode of Friends and I think that was more due to the nice navy jumper than anything else.

2) When I buy new clothes, I like to hang them on the picture rail in my room for a little while so I can admire them.

3) My favourite film of all time is Mary Poppins and I will not hear a word said against it.

4) I sometimes get 2 and N mixed up when writing things down. I have no idea why.

5) I don't like red roses.

6) Or diamonds.

7) I have a pathological loathing of the word moist.

8) I like to liven up long car journeys by making the noises of animals that we drive past. All together now... *spot a sheep* *BAAAAAAAA* Quite tricky when driving past a field of llamas.

9) I feel really uncomfortable in Topshop.

10) I am fangirlish about the following things: The West Wing, Henry Cavill and mini party rings.

11) I'm not on Facebook. Never have been. Don't want to be.



And the questions set for me:

1) What is your favourite flavour of crisps?

The perils of having a milk allergy: there are a surprising amount of crisp flavours that I can't eat. I mostly scoff ready salted Walkers Baked. Very boring, I know. Not necessarily my favourite flavour but the least likely to make me feel ill.


2) What is the funniest photo of you that you still own?


The demented bride look is tres chic, non?


3) What would your dream home be?

Something Georgian. Big enough for all my books. In an ideal (lottery winning world), something like this would be my dream and I'd have a pony in a paddock at the bottom of the garden. If I won enough to buy a nice house but not enough to give up work, I would truly love a house on Hope Place.


4) What are you great at? (Keep it clean. Or don't. Whatever)

Oh the temptation to not keep it clean. My dad reads this blog though and I don't want to shock him.

I am great at reading. Also list making. I am amazing at sounding polite and helpful on the phone whilst rolling my eyes dramatically. I like to think I'm quite good at being a friend too.


5) Who (fictional character) would you go to the pub with? (Extension: pint or bender? Why?)

Bertie Wooster. Bender. Why? Well he's rich and well mannered, so I wouldn't be buying the drinks. He's hilarious, so we'd spend the evening laughing and getting into scrapes. Plus I would naturally be transported back in time for this bender so I could wear something fabulous and end up dancing on a table in a glamorous nightclub.


6) Which takeaway is best?

Chinese.


7) Explain your plan for the Zombie Apocalypse.

I haven't got one! Oh shit, best think of something quick... Um, find some fellow survivors and put my Girlguiding survival skills to good use? We could take over a house in the countryside with a large library and I'd be quite happy. I'm quite handy (good with an air rifle, can cook out in the woods, faff with tents etc) so I reckon I'd be useful to have around.


8) Which terrible, terrible fashion do you secretly kind of hanker after?

One word: Clueless

9) Tell me your motto.

I don't really have one. Perhaps (to steal a phrase from Dory) - just keep swimming. I find most things are bearable if you're prepared to slog through them.


10) Who is your favourite villain?

Jadis, the White Witch from the Chronicles of Narnia.



11) Describe your favourite pair of shoes.

Irregular Choice.
Suede.
Green.
Teal.
Brown.
Gold piping.
Beautiful.


I would like to tag the following blogs:

Lady Bug Says
Tête en l'Air
Pennyblossoms
Chloe Likes To Talk
Please May I?
t*rexes and tiaras
Jumbles and Pompoms
Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping
Katyboo1's Weblog
KezzieAG
Foof and Faff

My 11 questions are:

1) Are you a morning or a night person?
2) Have you ever stolen anything? (be honest, I won't set the law on you)
3) What is your favourite word?
4) What can't you live without?
5) Who/what do you have an irrational dislike of?
6) Where is your favourite place to eat out?
7) Who is the cleverest person you know?
8) What was the last film that you saw at the cinema? Was it any good?
9) What is your guilty tv pleasure?
10) Where did you last go on holiday?
11) What makes you go "GAHHHHHHHHHHHHH"?

No Hearts and Flowers Here

As per my very own single girl tradition, implemented last year, I mark this day not with gnashing of teeth and wailing about the lack of tacky flowers and gifts in my life, but with a blog post full of HOTNESS.

A very tasteful, monochrome blog post full of hotness.

It's all arty like, honest it is.














My taste doesn't generally run to skinny wretches but there's always one per year. Hello Eddie Redmayne!


What? WHAT? I love Kermit.

Seeing as it would be rude to leave my two favourite ladies out...