What Duck Wore...On a January Work Day

On my 33 before 33 list, I have this thingy about doing one outfit post a month. The idea was inspired by Janet's post last year about how bad outfit shots can make you feel better; that really struck a chord with me as I don't feel at all comfortable in front of a camera.

Put me behind one and I'll happily snap away but put me in front of one on my own and I just don't know what to do. How am I supposed to stand? Do I smile or laugh (and risk pulling some kind of weirdo face)? Does the one-hand-on-your-hip-and-leg-bent thing look too forced? Do I cultivate some kind of staring-into-space arty look? Does this outfit which I think I look good in look hideous to everyone else? And so on and so on.

The best pictures of me are the ones that have been taken really quickly or by accident. The sort of ones that, when you're looking back at your pictures on the computer, you think "oh, wow, I actually don't look too bad there".

I don't really want to live my life only feeling good about the 'surprise' pictures though, it'd be nice to think I could actually stand in front of a camera wearing a nice dress and not feel like a complete prat.

 

 

 

So in the spirit of pushing myself to try new things, here's my first outfit post for 2015.

 

With the exception of the shoes (I'll tell you about them in a minute) this is what I wore on my first day back to work after three and half months of sick leave.

 

The dress was from Asda, bought last November for only £12 and it's had quite a lot of use since then (I even spent my birthday daytime wearing it). It's black and white leopard print but I don't think it's particularly loud or in-your-face so I feel quite okay wearing it.

 

 

 

The cardigan was a little gem picked up in a charity shop just before Christmas. It was priced at only £2.99, I'm pretty sure it's handmade and it certainly hadn't had a lot of use. There was a tiny little hole in one area of the neckline but that was no bother to sew up easily.

 

 

 

The shoes I haven't actually worn to work yet (it's far too cold at the moment) but I picked them up last Saturday in a charity shop for £8, completely new and unworn. They're Clarks 'K' shoes and are also the very first thing I've bought clothes-wise in 2015 - the cutting-down-on-clothes and high street ban thingy is going well so far.

 

 

 

How do you feel about having your photo taken?

 

A Photo Every Hour - Saturday 19th April

April's Photo an Hour Challenge was set by Jane (from Is That You Darling) on Saturday 19th - a good day to choose because of the Easter holidays!

 

 

My Easter Saturday panned out a bit like this...

 

 

8am - as always at the moment, my day starts early with IVF drugs and injections.

 

 

9am - Breakfast was on the way, we had Chicken and Cheese Quesadillas!

 

 

10am - About to head out for a bit of sightseeing and the view from our cottage window had not a cloud in the sky.

 

 

11am - I actually missed the 11am shot and ended up taking this at 11.30ish, mainly because I was too busy trying on and buying dresses from a charity shop for £2.50 each!

 

 

12pm - After buying up several things, we walked back to the car through the churchyard of St Cybi's Church in Holyhead.

 

 

1pm - Then we stopped off at Asda on the way out of town as I needed to buy a card for our wedding anniversary on the Monday.

 

 

2pm - We ended up in Rhosneigr where we stopped for a delicious ice cream which we ate on the beach.

 

 

3pm - We headed up towards South Stack in Anglesey but it was absolutely packed with everyone else doing the same thing so instead we thought we'd go back and have some tea and cake in our cottage.

 

 

4pm - I unpacked some of the morning's purchases...

 

 

5pm - My brother and dad popped round to our cottage to collect us on the way to the holiday park swimming pool.

 

 

6pm - We were actually in the pool at 6pm (which I couldn't really photograph) but when we got back at 6.30pm I remembered I hadn't yet unpacked this little tulip basket I picked up earlier that day.

 

 

7pm - Dinner tonight was BBC Good Food's Sticky Apple, Sausages and Bacon.

 

 

8pm - Dinner is served!

 

 

9pm - I know, I'm very sad. I thought the holiday would be a good chance to catch up with some coursework reading for my degree.

 

 

10pm - Treated myself to a bedtime snack of Harry Hopalot before listening to my IVF relaxation CD and falling asleep!

 

 

 

Hop on over to Jane's blog to see when May's Photo an Hour challenge will be - it's always great fun!

100 Happy Days #2

The second instalment of my attempt to catalogue 100 Happy Days... :-)

 

 

Tuesday 21st January
 

More of an #100ThankfulDays picture than happy days but the fact that we have a free NHS in the UK with very talented doctors and nurses is definitely something to be happy about.

 

 

Wednesday 22nd January

A cold night meant a hot water bottle to bed!

 

Thursday 23rd January

Beginning to think this might be a bit tenuous but one side effect of the IVF drugs is tiredness so getting an early night is a happy thing.

 

Friday 24th January

 

Friday night treat after visiting the hospital - KFC Fillet Tower Burger!

 

Saturday 25th January

Fresh bedding is always a happy thing - although I'm well aware pretty much every blogger has a similar duvet set...

 

Sunday 26th January
  

Getting a load of blog posts planned and edited is very satisfying!


 

Monday 27th January

 

Last week there was a new baby in the family, plus next week there's two birthdays so I spent an evening getting organised and wrapping everything early.


 

Tuesday 28th January

 

The new Joe Browns spring catalogue dropped through the letterbox that morning - far too many pretty dresses...


 

Wednesday 29th January

 

First daffodils of the year, just beginning to bloom :-)


 

Thursday 30th January

 

Wore one of my favourite dresses to work today - covered in bird print!



Previous instalments can be found here...
Part One
 

I Spy A January Bargain...

And also a December bargain or two!
 

Even though I probably own more than enough clothes (read: dresses) to last me a lifetime, there were a few things I picked up in the January sales, plus some things for the house and a couple of charity shop bargains down in Cornwall just before Christmas.

 

  

 

First up, a couple of things we picked up in the charity shops of Cornwall (actually, they were both in one charity shop in Penzance - it was a very lucky shop!)

 

 

 We've been on the lookout for a new clock for our kitchen for a while. I did have a gorgeous dusky pink one from Asda with birds on but both me and Andrew managed to knock it on the floor (whilst moving a ladder) and after that, unsuprisingly it didn't work any more.
This retro-looking clock was only a few pounds on a bric-a-brac table - we'd seen some similar clocks for hideous amounts of money in John Lewis a few weeks earlier so we were very pleased to stumble across this!

And in the same shop was this gorgeous blue and brown coffee pot for £2.50. I don't even drink coffee but I couldn't resist buying this to put on display in my kitchen. It says on the bottom, 'Royal Cauldron, Bristol Ironstone, 'Christine''; I have had a quick Google for any info about it but can't find that much on it, although I think it's from the 60s.

 

 

 

My first January sales purchase was something (or two things) I've wanted for ages - a retro-style kettle and toaster matching set. Our toaster's been on it's last legs for ages, the handle was broken and it didn't smell that great when it was toasting bread. I put my foot down and said 'that's it, I'm buying a new one' and thought it would be better to get the one I wanted rather than just put up with another cheap one. I noticed Dunelm Mill had both the kettle and toaster reduced to £31.99 each (down from £44.99) and if you spent over £50 you got free delivery as well so I went for that - and very pleased I am with it too!

Next up on the list of sale purchases - several (far too many) purchases from Joe Browns...


Andrew spotted these shoes in their sale leaflet and to be honest, the fact that he was interested in actually buying some form of clothing was such a rarity that we had to get them. His verdict is that they're very comfy and I've noticed outside of work, he's worn them pretty much all the time.

 The Essential Boot - £26.95 (down from £54.95)



Next come the dresses that just accidentally 'fell' into my online shopping basket whilst buying said shoes...


You'll have to excuse the awkward posing, I don't think modelling comes naturally to me (you wanna see the amount of pictures Andrew took just to get one or two good ones!)


The Flattering Oriental Print Dress - £8.95 each (down from £29.95)

The Dotty About You Dress - £17.95 (down from £29.95)

 

 

The Sweetheart Dress - £14.95 (down from £29.95)

And my favourite dress of all...the Rock and Roses Dress - £37.95 (down from £54.95)

Have you bought anything nice in the January sales?
 

ps. this post is in no way sponsored by Joe Browns, I just really like their clothing!

A Photo Every Hour - Saturday 18th January

As you probably all know by now, I like a challenge and the lovely Janey from Is That You Darling came up with a fab idea to do a Photo Every Hour day once a month. I really enjoy taking part in those sort of challenges, even if sometimes my day seems a bit mundane!

 

The first one of the year was Saturday 18th January - a day that involved a bit of shopping, a bit of cleaning and a lot of feeling middle aged...

 

8am - At the moment my day always begins with the first of my IVF drug fixes
(there's four in total over the daytime)

9am - Cheese and spring onion omelette with toast for breakfast. Pretty simple to make but delicious!

 

10am - After about 2 hours still in my dressing gown, it was time to choose an outfit, slap some make up on and head out to do the jobs we had planned...

11am - The first job was trying to find some green paint in the right shade!

 

12pm - The next job was sourcing some curtains just the right size, colour and price for our new bedroom.

1pm - In between visiting different shops we popped into my mum and dad's house for a cup of tea.

 

2pm - On our way home (after finally purchasing some curtains, yay!), we popped into Asda and ended up looking round the dresses (which is always a bad idea...)

3pm - Last on our list of jobs was a visit to Farringtons Farm Shop to investigate a few things (can't say too much more in case the person in question could be reading this!) and obviously we treated oursleves to tea and cake as well. :-)

 

4pm - New curtains up and they look pretty good, if I say so myself!

5pm - Dinner tonight was going to be Cheese and Bacon Lasagne
(with 4 portions of it going in the freezer for another day).

 

6pm - Lasagne assembled and about to be chucked in the oven!

7pm - Lasagne cooked!

 

8pm - We gave our games cupboard a sort out in preparation for my blog post about things to do on a rainy day.

9pm - And ended up on the sofa playing Scrabble!

 

10pm - Time for a hot drink before heading up to bed a bit later.

11pm - Just as my day starts with IVF things, it also ends with IVF things. I wouldn't say I'm a convert to hypnotherapy but this CD is certainly relaxing and positive - and to be honest, anything's worth a shot!

 

 

 

If you fancy taking part in the Photo an Hour challenge, head on over to Janey's lovely blog to join in next month!