Would a camel cape be entirely wise? Or a pair of houlihans a bit too avid?? Who cares!

[notyummy]

Please join me ladies. Don't want to be too sad and lonely on a Friday night.......

LTEC - good luck tomorrow!

libra - The purple handbag is lush! And a bargain. Go on treat yourself!

carciofi - Yes to Belstaff ankle boots. I love the fact that they are midnight blue and not black. I'm after a pair of grey/taupe ankle boots for A/W. Haven't researched properly yet.

tracey - I second Buscopan. If you are into alternative medicine you could try Schuessler tissue salts. Get Nr 8 and dissolve 10 tablets in hot water and sip. It is supposed to help with the cramps.

cake - Love the cut of the jumpsuit but I'm not too keen on the gold bar. But it might be fab with your Cleopatra hairstyle. My hair is as far from Cleopatra as you can imagine . Good luck for tomorrow!

bloss - You deserve beautiful things!

plum - Your outfit sounds great. Might get something for my friend's birthday from the website you linked to. So, thank you!

rufus - Hope you'll find a nanny replacement soon. Might an au-pair an alternative solution? But that wouldn't be really long term either, so probably not.

vin - Glad there are also some good news. Must have been a real shock.

Thankyou abo, ny and libra. I'm paranoid I'm doing them wrong now! Yes, a killer but it's the ab work on circuit 1 level 3 I find almost impossible.

vino, glad to have you back but terribly sorry to hear of your troubles. Please stay with us.

rufus, bummer about your au pair. Sounds a very frustrating excercise.

Hope you're okay hf.

Glad your wardrobe was a success fritzi.
Thanks to all of you for your support and kind words.
Baby slept on the way home from zoo and has only now settled. It's almost my bedtime!!

blossoming - Could Camper boots be an alternative? Bet your DCs had a blast at the zoo today. Baby elephants are so cute esp. if they have no tusks yet.

Bloss I am fine. Just very busy at work. Pre-holiday rush to get work finished before we go - and think about packing, hairdressers etc.

Love that green Alice dress by the way.

LTEC Good luck for tomorrow!

I really can't keep up with all your wonderful links - but I do try

I will add a vote for the weathered ones Rufus.

Vin, so sorry your break hasn't been a happier one. What an absolute toerag he is to behave like that at all, even worse that he did when dd was ill. It amazes me when people who have behaved so badly can feel they 'deserve' to be forgiven.

Forgive him if it feels right to you but not because he says you should.
At the very least he ought to be doing some serious grovelling and offering up of plastic to earn your forgiveness.

Congratulations on the promotion and rise!

Cakey all the very best for your interview tomorrow, I will be very busy tomorrow night but will log in to see how its gone before I head off for my holiday.

This could be quite a versatile jacket

Hi guys. Back from trip to London. Impossible to read all missed posts so just going to say welcome back vin and sorry about arsio P and good luck Cake tomorrow.

Vin. So sorry to hear your news(apart from promotion !) Your OH obviously doesn't value what he has, which is a really sad thing. One day he will realise and it will be too late.

Vin really sorry to hear your bad news. Your DH obviously didn't do a good job of covering his tracks and you're too clever for him. Must have been a HUGE shock. Thanks for letting us know how you are, keep strong. Congrats on promotion - fab timing!

LTEC good luck for tomorrow. I'm sure the job will be yours IF you want it.

Cain have a good holiday

Hi bunjies

Dolce you do sound very slim, you must look great.

am so glad you're back

am so hacked off with your twazzock of an ex-P

I know that you'll be fine. You;ve been through much worse and continue to amaze and inspire us all with your strength, wit, optimism, colour and appetite for retail

In the meantime, a tin of salmon to you

(you may have missed this - it's the new A&W hug)

to everyone else - thanks a million. Mum's b'day tomorrow so may not be around to post but if I get a chance, I will. Just tried on interview outfit for dh and mum and they were that it amounted to less than £20. Got a navy handbag this arvo from local boutique. Not perfect, not bad.

catch up soon and thanks again

OMG vin how dare he? Huge hugs to you, what a dreadful experience on top of what you have already been through. I'm very angry on your behalf. Get him out of the house ASAP especially if he has somewhere else to go. This could be the best thing that could have happened to you, a fresh start especially with your promotion. You deserve so much better. Chin up

HF love that jacket, but am totally in love with the navy hooded cape on your topshop link from the other night, have rung local branch twice about it!

LTEC good luck tomorrow, fingers and toes crossed for you, but honestly you will sail through it. One look at you and they will know you are the woman for the job Couldn't believe it when I read about your holiday, not fair at all, I hope you will get some break over the hols. Your dc's reaction to your haircut made me smile. Exactly 2 years ago this month I cut my shoulder length hair into a pixie crop. I was delighted with my chic new look, but when I came home dd burst into tears and cried all evening. Every time she looked at me for the following few days, her bottom lip quivered. Totally put me off the haircut and I grew it out straight away!

Carciofi there was a whale in Howth last week! Rufus did you see it? Must take a trip on the DART out to Howth, haven't been in years

Tracey bad luck about the period, mine are the bane of my life.

Fritzi great you got some time on the beach

Dolcee enjoy the break tomorrow

Bloss love baby elephants, and as others have said, if anyone deservesthe finer things in life, it is you

Cain and ABO enjoy your well deserved holidays!

Bunny glad you are feeling better about the idea of twins, I am still so of you!

Hope I haven't forgotten anyone

Saw the bag of my dreams on ebay, a navy Hermes Constance, $1900, trying to decide which of the children to sell to finance it

NY I'm sending dh to tesco for a multipack of hula hoops that game sounds a hoot

OK Trying to catch up and do the two window technique.
MM Glad you are feeling a bit better. Your SiL sounds like she makes herself sound better by dissing others. Ignore Ignore.
Esher Sorry I missed you. Hope ur having a great break. Talking of which I have booked here Four weeks to lick my abs into shape. Just done my first shred. Didn't find it hard - do I need to start at L2?
EIE Are you going to Vintage sans Enfants? I've been having a look and the event looks quite tempting, like a W&A Glastonbury!
Cake Good luck for tomorrow. PITA re holiday. Hopefully DH will treat you to something suitably expensive to compensate? Love the jumpsuit and think that the maternity choos deserve an outing soon.
Tracey Glad DD had a great birthday.PS I have purchased the mini-JL sewing machine you posted about. Not taken it out of it's box yet Zembo and Dolcee Hope yours went well too.
Vin Sorry about your news. Hope you have some good friends around you.
Had some terrible news today - a friend's husband died day before yesterday leaving a DD same age as mine. I'm not sure what to do/say, but will write her a letter later.

Not really purchased anything recently. Apart from an Issa Silk Know Jersey dress 50% off. Can't find a link as NAP sale over.

Random postings not much fashion, but feel like I've almost caught up now.

Choo - sorry to hear your bad news. I am sure a lovely letter will be appreciated. Does she live near enough for you to help, or does she have a lot of family?

Re Shred. If you can do level one fairly easily using the hard version of the exercises then you def ready for level 2 - otherwise I would give level 1 a few more days perhaps and focus on the hard version/upping your weights slightly? Whatever you do is fine, I am sure - certainly better than nothing at all.

Verity - I think I will do the hula hoop game the next time we have people over for dinner. Olives in a bowl - pah! Try this instead.

Had a quick skim. GOOD LUCK CAKE from the intvu queen!

WELCOME BACK VINO. So sorry about all the nonsense but am frankly a bit pleased if you've booted out P who sounded 100% unworthy. MV dress is a staple of my working wardrobe - I think of you often!

Bought some nice shoes for Work in Hobbs sale on Sunday: these ones The heel looks a teensy bit frumpy, but because it's not spindly they're quite comfy and look great with my IO pencil skirt and jacket. Got lots of GAP tshirts, a stripey scarf and .......
this I was a bit but DH was crazy about it. He's having a hotpants moment

Gosh choo how awful. I think the main thing is to say something. Like "I'm so sorry and please call me if there's anything at all I can do for you". I've lots of people that when you're bereaved people avoid you because they don't know what to say and it's really awful.

I've heard lots of people say

Vin - now, please excuse the pregnancy hormones, but wish I could give you a kiss on the cheek, as well as a hug (plus tin of salmon, of course). Your P is a vile, vile man.

Re Papillon shoes, here are DD's shoes - she has them in white and silver, aren't they cute?!?!

Morning all.

Ugh, 'tis terribly early. DD woke me up to tell me there was no loo roll left, and she needed some tissue please. Bless her, but then she got in for a bit of cuddle and a lot of a wriggle. Gave in in the end and came down to make tea and hang out last night's laundry.

I had a worrying, enigmatic exchange of texts from a friend last night, who has been distant lately. Am going to pop to patisserie for pastries and go round there in a while to see if she's okay.

Choo, I am so very sorry to hear about your friend. I'm sure she will really appreciate a letter, and also offers of practical help re: taking care of her DC/doing shopping etc.

Vin, I am shocked, just shocked, by your P's conduct. It's all the lying that I can't stomach. If there's somehting wrong-and there surely is, to have an affair-why can't they just be honest instead of being so bloody deceiptful, huh?

LTEC, best of British and tin of John West's finest for today.

CHOO - think Roma's suggested message is a good one. So sorry for your friend, how awful, and then of course I feel so saddened for her little DD.

Verity - Hermes? Be still my beating heart... You have superb taste. Have you looked on ebay to see what price children go for?

Oh choo that's terrible As others said before, anything that will reassure your friend and her DD that they have support will help at least a little bit.

blossoming I second Fritzis idea of Camper boots, I had a pair of wedge heel camper boots which were the comfiest things inthe world, in fact probably the only heels I would contemplate wearing nowadays but they don't seem to do that style anymore re: jumping lungers, if you think you are doing them wrong then start off with a few lunges, then do a couple of the jumping lunges and then go back to normal lunges, just so your body gets used to the movement, saying that I have never seen shred so don't know how she teaches them. The important rule is - if it hurts during the movement - STOP.

LTEC GOOD LUCK TODAY!!!!!!

vino sorry to hear that your RL is pear-shaped at the moment, tbh he sounds like he is being a tosser and you will be well rid but it must be very painful for you and I hope you are taking care of yourself. Fantastic news about promotion, congratulations.

tracey Mulberry are doing a leopard print handbag! With a new cat logo thing. I was reading Grazia yesterday so it must have been in that.

verity link to this topshop cape? I SWEAR I look at all links but then you guys talk about something and I'm like what? Sell all the children and then buy a new one, they will only spill something on it anyway.

Dolcee enjoy your time off, any chance you will have time to find a coffee shop and a good magazine?

choogirl that holiday looks awesome! Sorry to hear about your friends DH, I think as others have said it's better to say almost anything rather than ignore it. A letter sounds lovely with perhaps a nice memory you have of him recounted in it.

bunny those papillion shoes are gorgeous, in fact I would quite like them in silver!

Am in awe of all of you who do shopping trips with 3, I start to shake and want to cry if I have to contemplate it with one (which is actually also DS reaction to going into a shop which has clothes in it, I think he has been primed by his father)

Can I just VENT for a minute (even tho it's very petty next to others troubles at the moment) people keep saying "oh you are very compact for 25 weeks", "oh I didn't even notice you were pregnant" I know these should be compliments but all my brain is thinking is "I'M NOT NORMALLY THIS FAT, I USUALLY HAVE A FLAT STOMACH HOW CAN YOU THINK THIS IS NORMAL". See, petty.

Libra - I got that throughout my pregnancy as well! I like to think people mean it as a form of compliment. I think when you are tall you just dont show as obviously as the baby has longer to spread out! I was 7 1/2 months before anyone really even noticed, and 8 months before I stopped wearing my ordinary jeans (although I had gone from the normal button to an outer one!) I did put on a healthy amount of weight - just over 2 stone in the end - but it was kind of all over, with a long, smallish bump. I was sent to the hospital by the midwife twice because I was very small for dates - but scans showed all was fine. I think she just took up all my inner space (inc stomach), because I had the worst heartburn...which was a blessing in some ways as I was unable to eat that much!

3 weeks before I had dd I was at a meeting with clients when one of the men who worked at the client firm asked me my due date. When I told him, with the wisdom of a man with 3 kids, he sucked his teeth and said 'Oh, thats going to be a tiddler that one..' Cue a 9lb + baby arriving after a difficult labour 4 weeks later - I almost felt like phoning him and shouting 'Tiddler! Tiddler! I'll don't f**king think so!'

Roma - Good to hear from you. Lovely links.