Blogging really has a lot to answer for! I went out for lunch and a little mooch round the shops with my Canadian friend and work colleague and went out dressed as above (and below). I noticed I was wearing two items with scallops on: the top is Henry Holland and is fairly new and the skirt is from Peacocks and is several years old. Where did my penchant for scallops come from? Definitely, some sort of subliminal suggestion from a blogger or two (Scathingly Brilliant most notably) who seem to like them! And Peter-pan collars- definitely a love that grew through seeing them on blogs in the past (Laura Daisychain I am looking at you and Lauren at Someonelikeyou), Melissa Shoes- Roisin Dolly Clackett amongst others. Cute bow belts- yep, that's another subliminal blog thing. Oh, and it's not really obvious in the shot above, but I'm wearing a Burt's Bees tinted lip-salve which I saw on Laura Daisychain's blog. I've been using the plain one for years but fancied giving it a try when I was in Debenhams yesterday. So definitely, blogging has a lot to answer for! But of course, it's my own will-power and persuasiveness that is at fault, so I just have to learn to admire something and not buy it!
Speaking of being in Debenhams. My friend was off smelling the Cartier fragrance and asking about redeeming her Barclaycard rewards and so I was hovering round the Marc Jacobs perfumes having a little sniff and spraying a little bit of Dot onto a cute ladybird perfume card when I was pounced upon by a sales assistant. She started telling me about the prices, how the gift set was so much better value and told me to try it on my skin, which I did. I said I liked it and she said to wander around and see if I liked the smell on my skin. She then plunged into a drawer and gave me a little mini 5ml bottle as a sample and then handed me another fragrance sample of the same size without my uttering more than about 2 words. She then left me and I wandered to find my work colleague who had just got the answer to her question. The sales assistant cooed over my shoes in delight and then we walked along to the Burts Bee section (where I picked up my tinted lip balm). The cooing sales assistant then appeared and said, "Oh, you seem to be collecting perfume samples, wait there, I'll get you a little bag of them!" and came back with a mini Giorgio Armani bag filled with different perfume samples. Not bad for no encouragement whatsoever and just hovering to wait for my friend!
The willpower thing went so well until I found a pair of silver/bronze/gold amalgamation small-heeled lace-ups. They were £15 reduced from £50- size 9 and fitted perfectly. When will I learn that all I need is a simple pair of good quality, versatile shoes, not a rainbow of novelties?? (I love my rainbow of novelties but I really mustn't buy anymore!!)
We had a nice lunch in a little Italian restaurant that I must have walked past a zillion times in the town but never noticed! It was very reasonable- only £4.95 for a huge Napolitana pizza which was beautifully cooked from scratch!
With shock at 5.30pm, realising how late it was, I jumped on the train home, CBC met me at the station and drove us back. He'd been out doing a Duke of Edinburgh expedition 9 mile walk with students from school. Alas, he was too tired for Swing Dance so we had to give the Saturday Night Swing Club a miss and instead, headed over to his old housemate's to watch Eurovision! We gathered a big pile of snacks (including leftover pizza from lunch) and headed over there. It was hugely entertaining and we laughed lots and enjoyed sitting there scoring the acts.
Just for your entertainment, I noted down a few quotes from the evening which were uttered in the house:
"Playing the drums standing up? That's so pretentious!"
"He can raise one eyebrow!"
"Mwa ah ah ha, she vanished!"
"Uhrgh, there's a material spider's web in the back ground! What's it for? Surely it's not the back of her dress??"
"Banjo? I hate it already!"
"Whistling! I hate it- it gets 2!"
"Look, it's Frank Butcher on the piano!"
"She's faking the flute!!!!"
"She looks a bit like Nicole Marie Story!!!" (she really reminded me of you Nicole!!!)
"How do you make your hair look wet like that?"
"Er, shower before you go on stage?"
"Hamster wheel!!!"
"What's that buxom wench doing?"
"That's a perve vote! This is SONG contest!"
"He looks like he needs a good sleep!"
"I give it 1. Ooh, wait, it has a trampoline, I give it 2."
"Is that beard fake or real?"
"What does Comme-ci, comme-ca, mean?"
"Why are they holding that ruler?"
"She looks like Britney Spears!"
"Check out the bean pole on the left!"
"She's going for it with that accordion!"
"Why are you giving it 11 Kezzie?!?! He's saying, 'Scoo bi do bi do, I love you!'"
"Beethoven is turning in his grave!"
"It's David Bowie!"
"Hello, I'm a vampire! And I have blood in my earrings and I buy my clothes in a charity shop like Kezzie."
Good old Eurovision!! So much fun and randomness!!!
Linking up to Claire Justine's Creative Mondays with my ensemble!
and linking with Monday Mingle:
