The Clothes Show

Last Sunday I went to the Clothes Show Live for the first time. Perhaps I was being a tad naive when thinking it would be ideal for a pre-Christmas stroll round a good selection of stalls. I definitely had a fab time but if you haven't been before, take it from me that it's a) huge and b) incredibly busy. Not exactly the ideal relaxing browsing experience! If you sharpen your elbows there are some good bargains to be found though. I was super restrained and only came home with one bag - well if Models Own will do such amazingly good offers, it's kinda rude not to take advantage of them.



I was invited along as a guest of Echo Falls and had a lovely time catching up with two of my favourite blogging pals and saying hello to some new faces.



Turns out that although the NEC is enormous and perfect for an event of this size, it has terrible lighting! Sarah and Gemma's gorgeous faces are obviously not really this blurry but this was the only photo I had of them together and it doesn't feel right to have had such a lovely day together and then not show them in the blog post.



We spent lots of time oohing over the beautiful things on sale at Silly Old Sea Dog. The stock is just my cup of tea. It's Sarah's too, as you can probably tell by her happy face in the changing room.



I was very, very close to buying this gorgeous skirt. Maybe for next Christmas.

Alison's shoes were almost as tempting! Aren't they fab?




Gem and I had a fun 15 minutes watching the catwalk show featuring all the girls from the last series of Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model on the area right next to the Echo Falls bar. I have a massive weakness for model programmes. I can do without the unrelenting bitchiness but the photos fascinate me. How do they transform such normal looking people into such amazing images?




Watching catwalk in real life turns out to be an odd experience. Fun, but definitely odd. Some of them walk so weirdly! Look how far Angel back leans when she stomps.




I'm not a big enough blogger to be blase about this sort of thing. PRESS PASS! That's well exciting!


Tapestry frock - New Look
Cardi - Gap
Elizabeth I ring - Cheap Frills
Owl ring - present



Thank you, Echo Falls. It was lovely to be invited!

A Weekend in Warwick

Isn't this the best sight to be greeted with in the morning?  Yup, delicious baked goodies for breakfast come as standard when you're staying with baking supremo Sarah.  Char, Sarah, Rosie, Gemma and I descended upon her last weekend for a whole heap of nattering, cake eating, castle visiting and picnicking. It was awesome.

Roisin joined us on the Saturday and we set off for a jolly summer day out at Warwick Castle.

Warwick Castle


And Warwick Sandcastle!

I haven't been there for a long, long time so it was much fun to go a-wandering. It was hot and heaving with people but we managed to find some cool spots.

I love this photo. Pretty Sarah, pretty Gemma, and my face is hiding. Yay!

Also I feel that I should point out I'm not a sunglasses wanker. I'd left my specs in the car and it was either wear these indoors or be blind.

I don't have a group photo to rival the Norbury Manor gif, in fact I don't really have a group photo at all. We were too busy mooching around the grounds of the castle, raiding Sarah's collection of unwanted dresses and shoes (her blog name is truly descriptive!) enjoying ourselves at the Proms concert and then working our way through a rather enormous picnic.

Hark at me trying to be healthy with my picnic and then ruining it all by eating my own bodyweight in cocktail sausages.

Photos aren't the be all and end all of a good weekend though. You know what I liked best? Sitting round Sarah's kitchen table chatting away to everyone about blogging, cake, dresses and suchlike. Hardly any of my close friends live near me now and it's a rare occasion when I get to do the girly things. Emails and Twitter, much as I love them, aren't the same as giggling together in person over coffee and cake. All six of my weekend buddies are truly lovely people. The only bad thing about them is their insistence on living so far away. Rude!

Last two pics courtesy of Gem. Thank you for being organised enough to take a(n almost) group photo!

To The Manor Born

Last weekend was bliss and a real escape from how stressy real life has been recently.  I rounded up eleven of my favourite bloggers - Rosie, Char, Maria, Sarah, Lucy, Chloe, Sarah, Becks, Alice, Gemma, Sophie (and Bodhi the dog) - and we went on a jolly holiday to Norbury Manor in Derbyshire.

It really was the most amazing house I've ever stayed in. And HUGE! If I'd taken a photo of everything that was beautiful then this post would be so long you'd all fall asleep reading it. I'll try and narrow them down a bit. Read on, mes amies. I promise you it's not a sleep-inducing post. And there is a mystery treat for you at the end!

Thank you Mr Martin. Mr Stapleton Martin? I dunno. We found his grave in the churchyard next door and he actually had about 8 names.  Anyway, Marcus, do forgive the informality. You and your house rock and I'm ever so glad you rescued it.

I had the pink bedroom. I put aside my violent prejudice against the colour because it had a) window seats, b) a chaise longue, c) a dressing room and d) the most excellent floors for sliding around on in your socks. 

Also e) a Char to share it with. She may have wished for a different roommate after we got overexcited, jumped on the bed at the same time and I elbowed her in the knee. She has a massive bruise now. Me and my pointy elbows.

It was a deliciously relaxing long weekend, full of epic amounts of laughter, gossip, photographs, cake and wine and amazing food (massive thanks to Chloe for menu planning, ordering and cooking it all!). Yay for fantastic bloggers who share tastes in how a good holiday should go.

We love our cameras.

Becks managed to take a photo of me taking a photo of Lucy taking a photo. The mind boggles.

And we love cake. Did I mention cake? There was lots of cake. So much cake that I had some for breakfast. What?! I was on holiday. It's totally allowed.

We did some active things too. Look, walks!

The debate rages on as to whether it was alpacas or llamas that we saw when we were out in the countryside. Can anyone give a definite answer as to what these creatures are?  The little white one looked remarkably like a sheep to me.

I was gobsmacked to discover that some of the girls had never even heard of Poohsticks, let alone played it. We promptly had a game. Um, shortest game ever. We rather underestimated how fast the river was flowing and I don't think we ever did find out who won. Still fun though!

I do mostly believe in being lazy when you're on holiday though.  Walks are lovely, especially when the sun is shining, but if you're away with that many fantastic people you mostly want to lounge around and talk to them. The Manor had many, many places where this could happen and you could guarantee that you'd always find a group of people gathered around the kitchen table, curled up on the comfy sofas in the sitting room, tucked up in the snug, holding court in the dressing room, sitting on the stone benches in the garden or just generally frolicking around enjoying themselves.

Thankfully there are no photos of me sitting round in my pjs drinking wine (bravo for the unspoken group decision not to take any photos in the evenings) but there are a lot of me in my typical daytime pose - curled up somewhere enjoying a Persephone book.  Here I am:

On a window seat

In the amazing roll top bath

And on a different window seat. There were many to choose from!  I'm wearing a divine pair of new Irregular Choice shoes which the girls got me as a present for organising the holiday.

What a truly lovely bunch of people they all are. I did not expect a present at all! I was just pleased that everyone had managed to make it there and that we all got on so well. Just goes to prove that the best people live on the internet.

Swap Time

I signed up ages ago for the Jubilee swap organised by Lakota at Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping - her themed swaps are always great fun so keep your eyes peeled for the next one.  I was very pleased to be paired up with lovely Lucy from Lucy in the Clouds.  I don't think that Lucy will mind me saying that we were both very last minute on this one, despite the amount of notice that we had! The deadline was 7th July and both parcels have just arrived so we barely scraped in.  You'll have to ask Lucy what she thought of the parcel I sent her (I hope she liked it, even if I did totally run out of inspiration in the handmade category) but I can quite safely say I loved what she sent me.

It started off with this fab card:

And then there were lots of excitingly wrapped presents with intriguing labels:

Firstly, beautiful vintage fabric bunting.

And wonderful book themed writing paper.

Cor blimey, this is the most fantastic find!  A proper 1953 Coronation biscuit tin.  I shall keep treasures in it.

A gorgeous green brooch.

Eep - she knows me well.  Cats and books are two of my absolute favourite things.

Thank you so much, Lucy. You are amazing at picking and making presents!