Sarah Connor v Holly Golightly

You know that saying, “Some days you are the pigeon, some days you are the statue”.  I hate that saying.  It’s basically saying that some days you crap on people, other days they crap on you.  That's a dog eat dog world I'm not interested in.

I have my own version.  I’m more, “Some days I’m Sarah Connor, whilst others, I’m Holly Golightly”.  Yes, I did just use The Terminator and Breakfast at Tiffanys as references.  I identify with them both.

The Sarah Connor days I am strong, I can deal with whatever is thrown at me.  I have vulnerability, but I’m comfortable in my own skin.  If you screw with me I’ll fight right back.

The Holly Golightly days, I’m bravado.  I’m scared, unsure, I run a mile at the thought of exposing my heart, but I put up a damn good front.    It’s the mean reds. I let myself be Holly when I need to be, she did in the end, overcome her fears and go for it after all. 

Today, I’m Holly.  Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be Sarah.  One day, hopefully I’ll just be me.

 

 

Review of Clinique Moisturiser

I've tried many moisturisers over the years.  

I have combination skin that reacts fine with makeup, but for some reason, doesn't like moisturiser.  I have tried various brands over the years, from the cheapest to the most expensive.  

Putting the wrong moisturiser on my face turns it bright red and stinging.  Not a good look.  This has happened with so many that I have tried.  Nivea worked quite well for me, but I didn't like the thick consistency which took forever to sink in and I had to wait a while before I could apply makeup.  

My review today is for Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion.

The retail price is around £29.00 for a 125ml bottle from Debenhams although you can get cheaper bottles from Ebay.  Some may say that is expensive but I can assure you that for the amount that you actually use, the time it takes to use a bottle up is very cost effective.  Once you have paid for the original outlay, you won't regret it.

The moisturiser itself it feels incredibly light going on and sinks right into your skin without feeling heavy.  You can literally put makeup straight on within two minutes.  Having tried various moisturisers over the years, this is the best one I have used in all areas.  

I have had no skin reactions with this moisturiser since starting to use it, and it has even cured my winterly complaint of dry flaky patches on my face during the cold periods which nothing has ever fixed before.

If you can't afford it, get it on your birthday list, you won't regret it.

Stop Smoking, Drink Wine

My one year anniversary for quitting smoking is coming up in April.  I can’t believe how fast the time has gone, although I’ll admit that some portions dragged a lot longer than others.

I’ve had my ups and my downs, times when I could have cheerfully punched a kitten for a cigarette (I wouldn’t really) and others where my resolve has been so secure that I vowed that I was cured.  The actual state of play is that it is an ongoing affair.  I still love the smell of a burning cigarette and still miss not being able to have one after a meal and a glass of wine. 

Will I ever buy another packet again?  No.  Never.  Will I ever smoke another cigarette?  Impossible question.  The short answer is of course no, but the rest of your life is a long time, and I would be stupid to think that in all that time, I won’t be tempted to have a puff.  Never is a big word.  I prefer “try my damnest”.

I wanted to celebrate my one year in some special way.  I wanted to do something with my friends and my mum, something fun but also special.  I think what I have decided to do is make my smoking pay for me, and also the people I’m celebrating with. 

So my mum and I love to go out to see a movie and have a meal together, so my non smoking will pay for that, and my friends and I love to go out for a nice meal, have some wine and good catch up, so my non smoking will pay for that too.

In the end, spending time with my friends and my mum, acknowledging the people that have helped me on my no smoking journey, having delicious food, watching new movies and drinking nice wine, all paid for by money that used to go up in smoke, what more do you need?

I wouldn’t have gotten through my quitting journey with them, so a little thank you is more than required, along with more than a little fun.

 

 

Hearts & Flowers

Against my better judgement and ignoring what my purse told me, I couldn’t resist having a little look on the Very website when their recent “70% off” email popped into my inbox.

I have a rule when sale shopping.  Don’t buy whatever you normally go for.  My view on it is that whatever you tend to usually buy when it comes to clothing, anything you may have wanted you have already bought, put on your wish list or bought a different example elsewhere.  

Sales are the times for change, for something new, and being daring.

My form of daring is patterns.  Having only in the past few months moved away from having a wardrobe crammed with black and dull clothing, colour is just about settling in my mind whilst prints are still scaring me somewhat.  

So, with an aim on buying something new, bright and patterned, I ended up with these two lovelies. 

I love the heart print black and white dress as it is something that I can style for work, a Saturday afternoon out somewhere nice or dressed up for an evening with a pair of killer heels.  The dress is still available and can be found here "So Fabulous Ditsy Day Dress" .

The flower print dress is definitely the one that frightened me the most.  Flower print?  Me?  Really?  The jury is out on that one at the moment, especially as I couldn't get a good photo for love nor money.  But in any case, you can buy it here "So Fabulous Tea Dress".

I'm still getting used to taking photographs of myself and need a better camera, but bear with me.

How do you do your sales shopping?

Cocktail, Straight Ahead!

There are things that every girl with a love of a pair of heels should know.  One of those things is don't organise a night out in January, because snow tends to argue with heels.  Snow usually wins.

This weekend however I was in a head to head with snow, as I was going on a long arranged night out in Manchester, staying over at the Premier Inn.  This had been booked and arranged for months, so snow was just going to have to reach a compromise.

After a somewhat fraught journey on the bus over to Manchester, with my friend and I praying that the bus wasn't going to slide in the ice on the motorway, we finally arrived at the Premier Inn.  After a much needed glass of wine after check in we were restored to happy and excited for the night ahead.

I was going to take pictures of the room but let's face it, most of us have been to or seen pictures of the rooms.  Clean, spacious, comfortable bed.  The usual.  The only trouble we could foresee in our room was that the beds were on wheels, visions of bed dodgems on the return home came to mind.

After a recommendation from a friend, we decided that The Alchemist was going to be our starting point as I had heard rave reviews about the cocktails, and the fact that they had a 50% off food offer was a definate bonus. 

I would definately recommend going, after sharing a bottle of wine, one cocktail, a shared platter and a main course each, coming away having only spent £20.00 (including a decent tip) is a rare thing indeed. 

I didn't manage to take too many photographs on the night, and none of me all dressed up, but here are a few of what I was wearing, and some of the cocktails we indulged in!

The only pic I have of my dress, dotted pink with a peplum!

An English Cherry Sour

The obligatory Cosmopolitan - buy one get one free!

A Bubblegum Daiquiri, with popping candy!

Mojito - fresh mint or no dice

Stop the Cull

I’m not the type of person that can say silent when something is happening that I disagree with.  I have to speak, take action, do something.  I am not a part of the silent majority.  I believe that in order to invoke change, you need to do something about it.  Staying silent gets you nowhere.

Some may say what can one person do?  What change can you hope to effect on your own?  Well, on my own, not much, but in a collective of similar minds, a lot. 

The change I want to effect is to quash the badger cull which is due to take effect in June 2013.  For those who aren’t aware, the Government originally planned the cull last year, in an effort to bring TB under control.

After over 150,000 signed a petition against the cull, scientists confirmed that a badger cull would not help matters and indeed would make it worse, the MPs voted and with a majority of 147 to 28 voting against the cull.

 

Despite all of this, the Goverment has now done an aboutface and rescheduled the cull.

I can’t help but think that the badger is merely the scapegoat for the fox.  Foxhunting is now illegal and Mr Cameron’s friends need something to shoot.  Why when faced with public opinion, it’s own MPs voting against and the scientific community asking that this cull be stopped, is it still going ahead?

I, like many many others have posted the E-Petition link on Twitter, on Facebook, and now I add it to this blog.  There are nearly 170,000 signatures now on the petition.  Don’t look at it as “There are enough people on there that have signed, I won’t bother”.  That is exactly the same as if you had looked at the petition at it’s inception and said “There are only a couple of signatures, I won’t bother”.

Please bother, please sign, please don’t be a part of the silent collective that watch as things happen. 

For more information: see here

 

You'll miss us when we are gone

Hate isn't Attractive

Now, I know that if you are going to read an article, and I use the term article loosely, on MailOnline, you are opening a can of worms. 

This post however really really made me mad, not for the contents of the article, but by the comments made by the general public.

 

So, what the article about?  Essentially featuring a photograph of three plus size girls, two of whom I follow on Twitter @CallieThorpe and @fullerfigurefullerbust  The article was talking about fashion, how much of it was available to the plus sized market and speaking about the fashion blogs run the girls in question.

 

The girls featured came across as confident, sassy and sure in who they were and what they thought.   If only we all could feel like that!  How many women do you know who constantly bemoan their figure, who are underconfident, shy and hide themselves away?  These women, whether plus sized, skinny, ten foot tall or whatever should be applauded. 

 

I moved on to the comments section however and what I read there truly appalled me.  There is so hatred out there.  I won't repeat the comments.  Although some were positive, a lot ranged from pure insult to accusing the women in the article of encouraging obesity and giving their children the wrong idea of how you should look.

Most figures suggest that the majority of trolls are men, and teenagers.  This did not appear to be the case here.  The majority was women.

So here's what I think.  We should feel sorry for the people who commented, feel really sorry for them.  They are unhappy people.

If you are happy in your life, if you are happy in the way you look, if you are confident and secure in yourself, you have no need to insult others.  What I see behind the comments are people who are insecure, unhappy with the way they look, be it size 22 or size 12, large nose or small nose, large breasts or small breasts.  They feel the need to disparage others as they cannot force themselves to look at what the real problem is, themselves.

The women in the article show women how we actually should be, confident, happy, self secure and out in the world.  I want to be a woman like that.
 

 

Bambi Learns to Walk

As I have mentioned in a recent post, I'm the human Bambi on ice.  Find the smallest patch of ice on the ground and you can guarantee that I will find it, slip on it and usually fall on my ass.  It's quite irritating and very embarrassing.

I'm the girl you see clinging to the wall or anything sturdy to keep me upright, even when most others are walking normally and not slipping.  If there was an Olympic medal in most likely to slip over even in the most unlikely of circumstances, I would win gold.

This year though, it was time to regain the outdoors.  I have purchased a pair of ice cleats for my shoes and have decided to do a review on them, purely for the fact that until someone told me about them last year, I wasn't aware that they even existed.

Made of rubber, designed to attach to the front and back of your shoe

They are a lot sharper than I'd anticipated
but I guess they need to be

Spikes at the front and back of your shoe

Ignore the filing cabinets!

Once on they are barely noticeable

I bought these from a local sports shop for £10.00 although I have seen different varieties of them online from £5.00 all the way up to £30.00.  

When someone suggested me buying them, having explained what they were I have to admit that I wasn't overly optimistic.  How would they work, could I balance on them, would I really be able to work without looking like an idiot..... The only way I was going to to find out was to try.

I first used them yesterday.  I walked out of the bus station, encountered the snow and ice patches and decided to have a go.  

Firstly, find something that you can balance against when putting them on.  Although the rubber on each end was very easy to attach to my boots, I couldn't have balanced properly without using a wall to lean against.  I did get a few looks I will admit as everyone else was happily walking along in their boots, but sod them, I need industrial help.

After a few metres of walking in them, not sure how to shift my balance and with no confidence that I wouldn't slip whatsoever, I began to realise that they do actually work.  I'll clarify that, THEY BLOODY WORK!!!!!

There I was, after years and years of shuffling on snow, falling over and getting a million funny looks as I battled with the weather, I could walk!  I even found myself purposely going for the more icy patches just to test them, and was able to walk over anything.

Anyone who is reading this and has been the same over Winters as I have, practically disabled by the weather, I urge you, buy them.  

I'm Now Officially Old

I'm now officially old.  I haven't had a birthday or anything like that, but I have reached a point that in my youth, I swore would never happen.  I have fallen out of love with "going out on the town".

When I say going out on the town however, let me be a little more specific.  Because we all know that there is "going out on the town" and bar trawling.  My town, god love it, is a bar trawling type of place.  Many bars that you can frequent over the weekend, nightclubs offering cheap drinks, dancing until dawn rises if you want to.

I would go out with my friends all weekend and for years, the magic of a "night out down town" was there.  Overcrowded was "it's busy so it's cool", the age limit of over 25 in the nightclub was a weekend game to be played and usually won.  Weekends were edged in a kind of magic, where everything was fun, romance and whatever you wanted was there for the taking.

For money, work, university and a million other reasons, I haven't been out into the town on a weekend for a very long time.  Over Christmas I went to a party and afterwards, we decided on a foray into town to hit a couple of bars.  That's when it hit me.  The magic had gone.  I stayed for a couple of drinks and then made a rapid escape, via the kebab shop though, some things will never change.  Food at the end of the night will always cure most of your hangover.

I realised the next day however that it wasn't the magic that had gone from the town.  The town hadn't changed.  The bars had changed over the years but were still there, the cheap drinks, the masses of people out for a good time.  No, it wasn't the town that had changed, it was me. For one thing, I could no longer go out with just a purse in my hand with a lipstick crammed in, how did I ever manage????

My 30's are just as much fun as my 20's, just in a different way.  My idea of a great night out is now somewhat more expensive, but as I don't go out nearly as much as I used to, this type of night has become more affordable.

See, she's still there, just better dressed and drinking cocktails ;)

So hence, I'm sat here planning a night away in Manchester next Friday.  The hotel is booked, just a Premier but who needs something fancy for a one night stay, the eating place is chosen, in this case Revolution which does nice on the go food well, with good cocktails and then off to sample some more cocktails at the delights of the Alchemist Bar.  

Good friends, great conversation, lots of laughs, cocktails, a night away and a good breakfast in the morning.  That's my style these days.  What's yours? 

Snow is Falling

Cold weather isn't all bad.  Cozying up in front of the fire, warm soft clothes, comfortable layers.  Cold weather isn't all bad, if I could stay inside the house that is.  Outside brings snow, ice, freezing cold standing at the bus stop, falling frequently on my ass and feeling generally petrified.

I know why I'm scared of snow.    I'm aware in the telling of the story that it is amusing, but it wasn't funny at the time and is the only explanation I have for the fear I feel now.   You are allowed to laugh at it though ;) 

When I was around 6 I walking with my mum along a street covered with snow, snow like it used to, very very deep.  We had both been visiting my grandma and we were on my street making our way back to our house when I disappeared.

Did I disapparate like in the Harry Potter books?  No, I fell down a manhole.  Yes, ok, haha.  This was in the 1980's, before the "Health & Safety" culture got going.  Some workmen had obviously been doing something with the manhole and had it left it uncovered for whatever reason.  With the heavy snow you couldn't see any difference and no signs had been erected.   So little Vicky disappeared, luckily managing to grab hold of the pavement so I could drag myself back up.

Telling the story always gets a laugh, but the truth of it is that since then I have always been frightened of snow, with ice being added to the fear over the years on the grounds that I am the human Bambi on ice, clumsy and unable to keep my balance.

One of my (many I admit) pet peeves are people that wish for the snow.  Why???? You get maybe one day, at best, where throwing snowballs for an hour is fun, the rest of the time you are miserable, wet, cold, slipping and in my case, falling over, a lot.

When people talk about what they would do if they won the lottery, the same thing is always at the top of my list, move to a country where it DOESN'T BLOODY SNOW!

Tell me, please, how is this fun???

Music for Your Mood

I can never understand when someone says they only like one kind of music.  With the exceptions of heavy metal and country & western, I have fairly broad tastes in music.

I like having a collection of music which will suit my mood, or on some days, improve it!  I have “go to” songs for every mood, songs that guarantee a smile, songs to make you want to dance, songs that make you relax, everything is covered.

Here are my go to favourites:

Tired: anything loud with a good beat to wake me up and kick start my brain.  If I don’t fancy trawling through my playlist, my go to’s are usually Nothing Special by Ill Scarlett, Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit or anything from Green Day’s American Idiot album.

Good mood: good mood music for me, when I’m in a really good mood has to be music from the 90's.  Anything from For an Angel by Paul Van Dyk to Dreamer by Livin Joy is guarantee to keep a big smile on my face.

Irritable/sad/ticked off: Here is where my secret stash of cheesy music comes out.  You know it's terrible, you wouldn't admit to liking it in public, but everyone has a secret stash.  This morning Reach for the Stars, S Club 7 raised my spirits.  It's impossible not to smile. 

Relaxed: When I'm chilled out and relaxing, my go to music is usually from the 50's.  At Last, Etta James is one of my favourite all times songs and anything by Frank Sinatra.

Cover anything song: There a couple of songs that I play no matter what my mood, well more than a couple, but my favourites are Inside by Stiltskin and Super Massive Black Hole, Muse.

What are your to go songs?

Repost

Foreword: I originally posted this blog a few days ago and then decided to delete, as it’s very personal and I wasn’t ready.

Then however I saw the cutting for Bieber hashtag last night on Twitter and was appalled.  Young girls cutting themselves for a celebrity to notice them, people making jokes about it, some even saying “Remember, down the stream not across the path”.  So now I’ve put the post back up.

Cutting isn’t the new cool thing.  Depression isn’t funny.  Just because you aren’t walking around with a broken bone doesn’t mean you’re not broken.

…………………………………………….

Have you ever noticed that when you are having a dark day, people will try and make you feel better using the atypical “But think about this and this that is good in your life”….  Am I the only one that this irritates? 

I know that people mean well when they say these things, but isn’t it obvious that whatever it is that is making you sad (if you even know in the first place), has nothing to do with the good parts of your life, that’s there no connection?

Whilst I’m lucky enough not to be in it’s grips now, I’ve flirted with depression for many years.  There was a time in my early 20’s when I came very close.  Too close.  I was so completely unhappy.  I didn’t have the outlets to talk about it and not knowing why I was so unhappy, I didn’t see the point.  In anything.

Maybe if I’d had my blog then things may have been different.  This is my safe zone.  I can say whatever I want, even if I don’t know what I’m really saying until I read back an earlier post. 

Back then though, I didn’t have anything.  Already an inward person I turned in even more so.  I turned to cutting.  I don’t think it was even a conscious decision yet one day, the knife was in my hand.  It doesn’t help. It hurts, physically and emotionally.  You’ll never be quite the same person again.

It’s been years since I was that girl.  It took me years to realise that people will listen when you talk.  If you don’t talk about what hurts, it will always hurt you, or you will hurt yourself.  

I was lucky in that I don’t have any scars.  I still have my dark days, I admit to them freely but the helplessness has left me, along with the urge to cut.  I was lucky I didn’t have depression, which is and can be debilitating.  I was just very unhappy.

Ask for help.  People will always give it.  You are not as alone as you think you are.  Talk to someone, anyone, just talk.

I am not a Lemming

If you rounded up 10 people and individually asked them what their “type” was, I guarantee that you would get 10 different answers.

Tall or short, shy or outgoing; blonde or brunette; sports fan or film addict; plus size or model thin; silly or serious; the combinations are endless.  There is not one standard type for everyone.  We are not the human equivalents of Ken and Barbie.  We all have brains, and those brains are turned on by a variety of things.

My personal preference? Tall and confident.  Confidence to me is sexy.

What I want to know then is why when we all like different things, do people seem to love to pick others apart.  You’re too fat, you’re too thin; your nose is too big; you’re stupid; you’re too loud, you’re too quiet. 

Nobody is “too” anything.    You are you.  You are unique.  No one else is exactly like you, be it physically or emotionally.   Personally, I think that’s awesome.

I was asked this morning if I was going on a diet for my New Year’s Resolution.  The first thing that entered my head was to say “No, but are you going to save up for a nose job?”.  Luckily I didn’t say that, I just called them a ruder version of an idiot.

Our brains shouldn’t be wired in to insult others.  Mine went into attack mode this morning and I’m angrier about that than what the person said.  My first thought shouldn’t have been to insult back, it should have been to realise that if they are insulting others, trying to make them feel bad, it’s more likely that they feel bad about themselves.

We are individuals, with individual tastes.  We don't all look the same, nor think the same.  Why should we?  We should celebrate the differences between people, not fault them.

So that is my New Year’s resolution for this year.  To celebrate what is different about me. 

I am not a lemming. 

 

 

 

Christmas 2012

I've been particularly bad over the Christmas period as I fully intended to do various posts for my Christmas party outfits.  I managed to take a few photos, but mostly not of the best quality and not enough for a proper outfit post.

I didn't want the outfits to go to waste however, so have posted a few of the photographs anyway, I was too  "getting ready focused" at the time I think!

This is the one photo I remembered to take - my office party

Shoes are from Ravel - the bag is a from a craft sale

Gutted I didn't manage to take more photographs of this dress.  It's absolutely gorgeous and I felt so nice in it! Bought from the Mylene Klass range at Very.

Here are a couple from New Year's Eve.  The dress is a gorgeous jade green and was originally bought for my best friend's wedding a couple of year's ago.  Now thought I feel like it looks a little dated so may give it away, or do a blog sale, though not sure how to do that!

Finally, some lovelies I got from Santa this year, the laptop being a from me to me, a necessity when doing a degree and nothing to work on!

Barry M Glitter Polish & Marc Jacobs Oh Lola

Every girl needs a pamper box!

Flamingo print weekend bag from Next - I adore it!

In honour of the ruby red colour - she's named Dorothy

I hope you all have had a fantastic Christmas.  I am sure that your outfit posts will be better than mine! xx

Thought, Not Cost

Firstly, I hope that all who read this have had a fantastic Christmas.  I thought that I would share a couple of present highlights over the past couple of years.  However, the cost involved was not in money, but in time spent.

Last year I received the best present I have ever had in my life.  It was a photo album of my dad, who sadly died when I was seven.  All of my life I have wanted more photographs of him than I had, last year my mum sought to remedy that.

So I now have not one photograph, but a full album, with every photo having it’s own caption so I know when and where each photograph was taken.  It is the most valuable possession I have.

Me and My Dad - Blackpool Pier - Priceless

This year, something homemade was also on the cards.  Not on such a grand scale, but the thought was there.

My mum adores, and when I say adores I mean is obsessed by, Alfie Boe.  I scoured the internet and shops for months for a calendar of him, but to no avail.  So I decided to make my own.  Nothing fancy, just each month at the top of the page with a different photo of him for every month.

I made the calendar as a little added extra for  her in addition to the presents I had bought.  The calendar however was the biggest hit by far. 

It just goes to show, you can spend a fortune on a present, but if you take the time out to make something, your time is rewarded double fold.  In the current climate we are all looking to save that extra penny, your free time and a little thought costs nothing.

Happy Christmas everyone! 

Thank You

This time of year makes me hug my loved ones a little tighter than usual.  It's the time of year to cherish your loved ones and remember those who are no longer with you.  It's a time for looking back, taking stock, and giving thanks.

Today's post is about giving thanks.  My previous post looked back over the past year and it shocked me to realise how far I've come.  Probably to my detriment, but when I make a change in my life, it's always something I keep to myself.  I just go forward with what I want and my family are used to me going along with my own little path.

My path this year has been a little different.  A huge amount of changes have been made.  These have all been due to the blogs that I have discovered and have been reading over the past year.  Reading the stories of these other woman has inspired me to come out from behind my wall of insecurity and into acceptance.

Becky from The Ramblings of Mrs BeBe was the first blog I discovered.  She was the first to make me realise that I could wear the clothes I wanted, and they didn't have to be black.  I wasn't a pariah.  You can still be pretty and be plus size.  

From Becky's blog I went on to find others such as Toni from The Only Way is Toni, Clare from Mrs Brown's Thoughts and Betty Bee from Betty Bee Towers 

Turns out, a blog can change your life.  Those blogs have changed mine.  It may sound over dramatic to some, but inspiration can come from many places.  Change has to come from a starting point.  You need a spark to start you off.  These girls have been my spark.

I should also mention my friend Kate.  I've only met her the once.  I found her, or she found me, on Twitter.  She is as we call it, my sister from another mister.  She's absolutely awesome and has also give me courage over the past year, whether she knows it or not. 

Aside from Kate I've never met any of these women but they have been such an inspiration in the past year.  The girl from one year ago who had no confidence, who was in denial over things in the past that affected the now, who had no courage, who expected the world to laugh at her, is very, very grateful.

Thank you, lovely ladies.  

One Busy Year

Christmas is always the time when I look back and reflect on the year, what has happened and how things have changed.

This year has been a massive year for accomplishments. I have set myself goal after goal this year and whilst I have achieved some, there is still work to be done in others. So here is what has been happening.

Improve Self Confidence

The ongoing theme this year has been for me to try and improve my self confidence. Figuring out what makes me tick, fixing some of my issues by confronting them has been at the forefront this year. I can honestly say I’ve made more progress in this one year than probably my whole life.

Lessons Learnt

Face the things at the back of your mind that scare you. Even the ones you have under lock and key with a “Don’t Open This Door” sign. , If you don’t, they will haunt you forever.

People can only treat you badly if you allow them to.

STOP HIDING.

Puffing the Year Away

On the 16^th April 2012 I made the decision to stop smoking. I am the type of person who once a decision is made, I stick to my guns. For stopping smoking, that is a good way to be. Going from 20 a day to zero on cold turkey isn’t easy, but it’s now been eight months and I know I will never go back.

Lessons Learnt

If you put your mind to something, you can do anything.

Educating Vicky

I’ve started an Open University degree. This will take about one hundred years to complete, but it’s been something I have thought about for years and finally I’ve bitten the bullet.

Blog

If someone had said to me at the start of this year that by the end of it I would be posting about the clothes I wear and posting pictures of myself, full length, wearing them I would have told them they were crazy. No way, no how. Yet a few weeks ago I started on the plus size blogging journey.

I don’t know what I expected actually. Abuse and put downs probably with by my entire Twitter list unfollowing me in horror. Ok slight exaggeration there, but the response that I have received has been awesome.

Lessons Learnt

You are not as horrible as you think you are. Put yourself out there, no one ever got anyway hiding in a corner.

So there you go. My year in retrospect. What will next year bring? Who knows. But I can’t wait for it.

I wish everyone who reads this a very Happy Christmas. Drink too much, laugh too loud, dance away the night and above all, cherish the people that you love.

Shopping in Skipton

Some things are inevitable.  One of them is that it is impossible to go "window shopping" with your mother.  Do not try, it is folly.

On Saturday I went with my mum to Skipton for a wander around the shops and some lunch.  My intention was to wander but not purchase as I wanted to save my money for Christmas.  I got out of the car and I think within 3 minutes I had made my first purchase.  Oops.

Here's my outfit for the day, still channelling the red, white and blue look.

An actual pose!

Typically when I buy jewellery I prefer to buy British made and ideally something that supports local traders.   When I saw this lovely for the bargain price of £7, it had to be mine.  I'm not usually a statement necklace type of gal but my mum convinced me to buy it.  

I bought a few other bits and pieces, nothing exciting but my final purchase was my favourite.  We went into the local town hall which was having a craft fair in it's tiny hall.  

Now all of my life I have had a quirk when it comes to perfume bottles.  I tend to chose the perfume bottle first and the actual scent second, but I have been looking for the perfect perfume bottle forever.  The kind where you decant your perfume in and dab on like they used to do in the old movies.  

Here's the first in what I suspect will turn into a collection.  It's 1920's style, classic, clean lines and I love it.

Hello darling

Now on top of my wish list this Christmas, although I suspect given the price I may be buying it myself in the New Year is the perfume Oh Lola by Marc Jacobs which not only has a beautiful and distinctive scent, also had a lovely bottle.

Do you have something you want to collect?