Whatever you want, whatever you like, be WISE and AVID, so do your sums, and get it right....!

[DolceeBanana]

New thread...sorry bit lame compared to normal, but thought I'd bite the bullet (as it were)....

bet it Chesneys Tracey

Bloss....wowee! Gorgeous photo and love jacket!

Loobylu- can I be added too purleese? Thanks

Esher they are probably looking to you for style advice

Personally while I like to look good I don't waste time worrying about things like ageing etc. I am almost 37 and TBH I probably look every year of it most of the time. But I don't stress about it as I know my life is a good one and age is inevitable and, like NY said I know that defining oneself by looks is a very dangerous game and one that i chose not to partake in years ago.

my beauty routine lasts about 2 minutes max (1 minute putting light make up on during week, often no make up in the weekend, cleansing and moisturing daily).

unless of course I am going out somewhere special then I like to knock em dead and do extravagant make up (maybe 15 minutes). I just can't see the point the rest of the time. Which is probably why I will age faster than others! (but mostly I blame the NZ sun - antipodeans with naturally fair skin prone to sun damage just look older than our English sisters)

My stomach is destroyed by my beautiful babies (really bad stretched skin to the point that I have had people ask me what happened ) but i still wear a bikini. That pretty much sums up my attitude to it all.

I believe in looking after oneself and am generally very healthy in terms of eating etc but I am too busy to go the extra mile - clothes however are different and thats why I love this thread!

esher I haven't seen a photo of you but you get rave reviews on this thread I bet they are looking at you because you are hot

oooh I am currently a size 8/10 and do plenty of exercise. I still do not look good naked. Having had two DC, one of whom was an absolute whopper, my tummy is horrifically stretchmarked and will never be the same again. I know it's not a big deal but if I think about it, it's depressing. So I don't think about it. Luckily DH is more of a boobs man so I'm not sure he's noticed

esher I thought you looked proper young (in a good way!) at the meet-up.

Snap mac I took two one-pieces on holiday for the days we hung out with family. Then thought 'sod it' and wore bikinis anyway. Who cares, I had kids for goodness sake!

Mac I love the attitude! I bet that you come across as younger and sexier because of that confidence. I too have a stomach stretched beyond hope but I'd never dare to wear a bikini. Cossies and high waisted jeans for me all the way.

I suspect it's a lesson I'm learning late in life having paid no attention to myself ever before for a while. The clothes do help through - am currently toying with the idea of mincing about in front of the mirror with various shoe-dress combos. When did I turn into such a girly girl! Ah yes, I'd say about a year ago...

Exactly Fleecy. ANyway having seen your photos you are so darned gorgeous who cares what your stomach is like!

Plus I figure who would be looking at me when my cute babies are just so much more enchanting!.

I can take it a bit far. I am missing a tooth in an obvious place and haven't had anything done about it. Gives me a bit of pirate look!

esher, the 27 year old you is in very good company on here

We should sooo go shopping together OOh. I am a good shopping partner - everybody tells me that

goodnight pickled and good luck with your DH's job thing you sound like a nice wife.

I am going to try operation lark again at night all I do is faff on MN and get no work done and have major deadline tomorrow

So night all ..

See I didn't used to worry about ageing AT ALL but it has suddenly hit me like a tonne of bricks although it's not really about the lines on my face or whatever.

I'm not sure I can explain this very well but I think it is more of a mental ageing in that my children are no longer babies and I find myself having to be a mummy in a way that requires me to model good adult behaviour even when I don't always feel like it - maybe its the age old thing of feeling yourself turning into your own mother!
Or maybe it is the classic midlife crisis thing of measuring/evaluating where you are, finding you are wanting or wishing you had done/not done more/less bla bla bla and realising that you are now too old to blame anyone but yourself for where you are - responsibility is very ageing I think.

Oh Mac yes please!

Pickled - how exciting! Did you tell your DH that he must bring you presents back from his international trips? Particularly if he's off to Paris. That would have to be a Rule here I think...

Sorry, it took me so long to word that badly I x-posted with you all going to bed!
I could do with this lark thing too.
Night all x

esher you are keeping me up with your interesting posts... I do get what you mean. I think for me its a state of mind I swing wildly in terms of how I feel about everything (yes there is a word for that!), right now things are good, end of last year after returning to work they were not good and yes I probably did feel more old and tired then and weighed down by all my responsibilities.

Feel free to ignore me but I recommended a great book to roary (which she politely humoured me into saying she might read!) which is all about changing ones state of mind some parts of it are a bit silly and I haven't actually finished it yet but what I read I found really helpful (was recommended to me by my little brother who really has changed his attitude) PM me if you are interested (I sound like a psychotic self help guru).

Esher not badly worded at all, I know exactly what you mean. Maybe it is also because (for different reasons) neither of us has thought about ageing and then all of a sudden, you notice that a few years have gone, you look a bit different and feel as though you've aged those years in the blink of an eye. It is out of our control and a bit of a shock to the system.

I don't think there's an answer but I'd love to move towards the Mac/fleecy/notyummy f*ck it mindset and have fun instead of dwelling on things I can't change. In the meantime I'm gonna get me some of that Elemis marine cream they are always raving about on here and maybe some sleep wouldn't go amiss!

Done everything although my linking was a bit crap!

evening ladies

just home from friend's birthday drinks which was lovely and catching up with a tea before bed. Too much to comment on, but ny am so sorry for your friend and her news, so sad. Sounds like you've had some wise advice on here; for my part I will just say that when I was grieving for dd1 I hated getting flowers - loved the thought and the initial beauty - hated the 'work' they involved (picking up dead petals, changing water) - but that was just a lethargy born of depression.

Best thing I was given was a crystal with healing qualities, think it was jasper. The weight and tangibility of it was somehow comforting, I'd just sit and hold it in my hand for hours.

verity so sorry to hear about your aunt.
hells hope you are ok.

re naked/ clothed body I actually think I look okay naked as have olive skin, no stretch marks, no cellulite, am reasonably firm and defined. In clothes I'm not so enamoured as I yearn for rake thin model clothes hanger body which is never going to happen really. But that would prob look shit naked, so swings and roundabouts. I have big hips/ arse which dh loves but fashion designers don't But hey, 3 natural home births, those child bearing hips are good for something!

ps I think this is lovely. extra 10% off sale prices with code MFD8930

Evening anybody who's still here!

cake I'm completely with you on the flowers front. Now I no longer live in a tiny london flat, and no longer have a small being clamped to my breast I enjoy flowers much more. But finding somewhere for them and looking after them made me cry when my babies were tiny.

ny when one of my friends had to go into hospital for radiotherapy (she was away from her family for about a week in total) a group of us put together a basket of things to do; some smellies but also magazines, puzzle books, a colouring book and some pencils etc etc.

I definitely look better clothed; crap stomach muscles combined with a tendency to carry my weight there mean my tum is not a pretty sight! And boobs a perfectly respectable 32 D, but not as perky as they should be without support

Off to watch the end of Pulp Fiction. It is such a good film, and I can't believe it's so long since I last saw it!

sequins fro esher

cute shorts

for all wearers of navy, poss a bit odd looking at back though

bargainous wool/ cashmere sweater dress

I am perfectly capable of doing this to my own clothes, I don't need you to do it and then charge me for the privilege

last one this is pretty much the lace dress that I spent most of winter looking for. Perfect, and not even the slightest touch of the grieving Italiana about it.

carcofi I hope you and dd are both well soon

morning!

Yesterday some goldsign faded blue denim bellbottom flares arrived from the States (Ebay - about £30 including postage)

They fit perfectly miraculously as I found the sizing confusing (these are size 25 whatever that means). Quite a low rise compared to some of the styles out this season but all in all they are lovely.

DD1 and DD2 are snuggled up in my bed together like little sleeping mice... so cute! I keep popping my head around to peek ("office" space is just outside my bedroom)

right better get some work done!