Karl, Marc and Oscar might be three WISE men, but if it's AVID women you're after, this is the place

[PlumSykes]

new thread

Bloss, have you looked at Finca Malvasia? Is fabulous.

Bonsoir - sounds like a logistical nightmare! DH was always so relaxed about booking stuff - and then wondered why nothing was available at the last minute so now I book trips etc. Think its wonderful re you inviting DSSs friends too.

Oh, ABO, that it utterly shit. Happened to me last year, they spent £800 at my-wardrobe. DH totally didn't believe it wasn't me.

ABO nightmare re card - and made so much worse re what they have spent your money on -eg all the things you'd probably like to do too!

Good morning ladies and a very Happy New Year!

Lovely christmas and some lovely presents so felt v spoilted...hope you all had good fun !

Have missed loads....

Silent Witness - just love it! Even dh likes and not too critical of plot lines....And Emilia Fox does indeed have a lovely wardrobe...great coat! Harry's not bad either

Have DS and baby at home as DS not at school yet....dragged him around JL yesterday and bought some great JL cashmere in the sales.

ABO - What rotten luck...hope its resolved quickly.....

plum, I think your link was aimed at traceybath.

Good to have you back dolcee. glad you had a good Christmas.

Meant to say abo, how awful about your card. I'm glad the bank are being helpful.

ollie you are gorgeous!

First day back at work, feeling very enegised and ready to take it all on this year, think the Xmas break was just what i needed to take a breath and come back fighting!

Hope all are similarly well. Package from UO with my purple Donna dress is waiting here for me - very exciting!

Oh thats looks nice Plum.

Mac - glad you had a good break.

Dolcee - was wondering how you were

Anyone contemplating the janice top, it is massive, long and baggy. Quite disappointed, but will give the smaller size a try.

Which 'Janice' top Bloss?
We suggested a few,iirc

Welcome back Dolcee!

ABO - that is really bad luck. I have experienced similar, so know how upsetting it is. I hope you get it resolved soon.

Bonsoir - Holidays must be a real challenge with such a spread of interests/ages etc. Although we have it easy now with one young DD, I think as she gets older we will need to think about how she enjoys her holiday as an 'only'. Although I have mainly positive experiences of being an only child, some of the more negative ones are around going on holiday with my parents as a teenager and sulking through (and probably nearly ruining) several family summer holidays. I think a friend invited along, or a judiciously chosen location with clubs/activities for teenages would have gone some way to stop my sarcastic gloom!!

Had some clothes delivered yesterday, most of which are going back. I am keeping this skirt though. It looks nice on, and the print is really pretty. Good for work - and the clincher was that the size 10 slipped on with room to spare (even after Christmas - and cake - and chocolates - and wine...yippee!)

Right, back to the meet-up. Thanks so much Choo - those suggestions were great. St Martins Lane looks fab, but over budget. The Andaz however looks right on target. Judging by people's reactions further down the thread, we could be narrowing things down slightly. The Andaz has the advantage of offering single rooms, as well as Queens and twins, so people could have single room for £120ish, or share for £90 each (bit more with breakfast - .) Spa looks good too:

Andaz. Not sure what people make of the location - although could be good if we wanted to eat/drink in Shoreditch/Hoxton way - and it is close to Spitalfields for fashion finds on the Sunday!

The other ones people appear keen are:

Radisson Blu and The Rembrandt.

Reviews of these three show the Andaz as v positive, The Rembrandt as quite positive, and the Radisson as pretty mixed, and potentially a bit run down.

If you can PM me with any quick thoughts - it may be better if we take the discussion off board from this point on so that people dont know exactly where we have decided to stay as a group on a specific date!!

Any suggestions from the London ladies on bars/restaurants near those hotels would be good.

The P8 stripey bow top georgina. Also the 'camel' colour is darker than with the dress but still fits into my colour swatches as 'stone'.

I went into Zara 2 days ago and tried on lots of the new season stuff ? very nice! Unfortunately can?t do links as only sale stuff on the website but faves included a leather mini skirt, l/z red dress with twirly skirt and cream silk blouses for work.

Also bought some sale stuff ? this (nicer in RL), this and a black and white l/s Breton....

Still haven?t tried on my UO order ? got a sneaky Karen Walker grey mini dress thrown in as well ? hope it fits!

poor you ABO that has happened to me before too its a drag

DD2 is looking gorgeous ? she got given loads of super sweet clothes for Xmas lots of gorgeous Zara stuff and DD1 has lots of new clothes too.

It was SOOOO nice having over 2 weeks off with the girls and other visiting family ? what a treat to have to cook, clean, shop etc (seriously!!) as well as be with the girls 24/7 ? loved it!!!!

Just got my eyes tested and ordered some lovely purple prada frames for close up and some funky green glasses for when I want distance - both pairs combined with lenses for £360 - not bad! Looking forward to being able to see properly again!

what a treat to have TIME to cook, clean, shop etc

NY - wow! Thanks for all your hard work on sorting this out. It must be a nightmare!

Verity - so sorry about your Aunt. I hope you get positive news soon

And ABO...I'm so angry for you. It's all teh bloody time it takes to sort out that's annoying isn't it?

Brownies finally worked - I had to cook them 15 minutes longer than the recipe said....(Nigella!).

I am thrilled with my faux fur - Fritzi was it you that found it? I've tried on so many, much more expensive ones, but this one suits me best. The colour is great. It does look faux but I sort of want that. The button will have to change though...plastic fantastic!

Tracey- the scarf is beautiful. Totally the wrong colours for me but I can imagine perfect for you.

macmama - your glasses sound fab! My DD has purple frames (check out her pic on my profile) and they look great.

bonsoir your DD is gorgeous those glasses are fabulous as is her cardigan!

tempted by these, these and this in the Asos sale...

Any opinions?

Mac - Love both the boots. I have grey flat ones like the Firetraps ones, that I worn a lot...and wedges like those that I have got a lot of wear out of this winter. In fact the ones you are looking at are only only a tenner more than I paid, and mine aren't leather! Not sure about the skirt tbh - I just have an innate wariness of leather skirts - not sure why. Think they are a little hard to pull off. But thats probably my issues!!!

I know your H&M ones! I loved them but was scared of synthetic.

I wear my bertie leopard wedges so much the black ones seem sensible

Have had the briefest of catch ups whilst I play Pirate Playmobil (a massive hit I should say!) with sleep refusnik DS (who is so tired, as a little under the weather, but won't give in).

Gosh Bonsoir...(your DPs friend). What ghastly news...I am sure your DP must be pretty shook up by it...dreadful.

I too am going to be much more wise on purchases this year. Less is definitely more. I am also going to invest in some lovely undies...

Also, Tracey...so right. I too have 'invested' in some Christmas 2011 things...Picture Palace cards and wrapping paper from Vinegar Hill which was rather too ££ at full price...great idea I think, so long as we don't put away and 'forget' about it all.

Which was the Jane Digby book Tracey?

5 days into 2011 and we have had our first trip to A&E! DS2 somehow managed to fall over on top of DS1s bed and bang his head on the edge of a radiator - small but deep gash on the back of the head and lots of blood (sorry if tmi). So off we went to the hospital where they glued it together and should be fine. As DS2 pointed out, it now matches the scar on his forehead from his Stokke accident in Oct. Boys eh?! (and yes I remembered to take the sticker books and snacks!)

NY - will PM you.