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

Morning - dreadful night and feel shocking but how gorgeous is this photo

I actually looked a lot like that a few hours after having my babies too, tracey. How 'bout you?

Tracey, DS1 still very poorly, or someoone else being monkeytastic?

Plum - DS2 up at 4am needing a wee and then awake for the day and DD in our bed most of the night.

I'm going back to the Dr's as anti-b's haven't touched my sinusitis - I am a wreck at the moment. Then am going to pop to greengrocers to buy industrial quantities of fruit and veg.

Tracey< Plum Great photo, but I'D have had my stylist in and my make up done if I was her!

Flying visit...

Hells - so sorry to hear about your grandma. I hope you have some lovely memories of her and some nice things to remember her by. Grandmas are v special.

Cakey and Reine - I so enjoyed meeting up w you yesterday and look forward to next time, hopefully w Carciofi, too! Cakey looked lean and lovely and relaxed, as usual, and little L is just too charming and super mobile! And Reine most definitely is doll like ( that she had little L only 9 months ago and doesn't look like she ever had children ) w a beautiful smile and is v engaging. We chatted and chatted and didn't buy a thing (we are too wise for words). cakey am amazed you think I am not frazzled - I certainly feel it!!

Can I ask your opinion on these Nine West Palomar shoe boots? I think I prefer these Nine West Francesca shoe boots but unsure about the zip and def unsure whether they are 3 times as nice (they are 3X cost).

Tracey - that is a beautiful, beautiful photo of Miranda Kerr. She is stunning and looking so content - never seen her look so good. Sympathy re the dreadful night - same here, virtual clink of coffee mugs...

Bunny - second cup of coffee here Glad you had a lovely meet-up I think I prefer the first pair of boots and they're cheaper.

Oh good, DS is posting the contents of the kitchen drawers through the cat flap.

Plum - wanted to say (like Fleecey), your wedding pics are beautiful - your skin was/is amazing, it just glowed!

Meet up sounded lovely - I felt a pang at the thought of twinny cuddles!

Glad you had a good meet up yesterday, and thanks for the compliment reine. Is carciofi okay?

plum, any chance of some pics on here?

Really mrsj?? I don't feel like I'm having a tough time. Sorry if it sounds that way. I'd say that getting all my work done last night and getting to cuddle all night with L in a big empty bed (blows kiss to absent dh) is a bit of a result! Then slept til 7.30 this morning and will be fresh for birthday drinks tonight, woo hoo!

Face has been duly examined and am happily not haggard, no lines and full cheeks, hurrah for Asian skin and high-protein, skin-repairing diets

Sorry you feel dreadful Tracey get well very soon

plum I too thought you were about 22 in wedding pics! Will always always heed your beauty advice from now

thanks for all the lovely support...things are feeling less fragile...and importantly I have DD's 2nd birthday on Saturday which I want to be a happy joyous event so I need to get that all sorted.

Any cake inspiration for a very girly 2 year old? She is (despite my efforts to NOT pander to gender stereotypes) obsessed with 'princesses, fairies and babies'!!!

Glad you are feelign a little less sad, hells. I am so, so sorry for your loss. For DD's 2nd birthday, I did a butterfly cake, covered in jelly beans, tooti-frootis etc. Girly enough to make her happy, not so 'Barbie is my role-model' that it made me hate myself.

Then this year I did a poodle cake, a bit like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=image57.webshots.com/457/8/85/58/2329885580014386786vsLlfT_ph.jpg&imgrefurl=home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2329885580014386786vsLlfT&h=600&w=800&sz=126&tbnid=XelUjFOXlbTORM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpoodle%2Bcake&zoom=1&q=poodle+cake&usg=__Sa9T145TutIiyK7t3OrEqEo4kwY=&sa=X&ei=Wac2TbWuINGLhQfxzdDpAg&ved=0CCcQ9QEwAQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this, only with body covered in pink mini-marshmallows. It was amazing, even though I decorated it while drunk.

Bloss, will attempt to put pics up, but have always failed spectacularly in the past. Need to take car to garage now, but will give it a go later.

NY fairy cakes keep quite well once iced - 24hrs anyway. I also think you look v.fab in the dress, as far as can tell from rubbish photo.

Hells not v.girly, but I made Noah's Ark for a 2nd birthday (two by two....) and was a big success. So sorry about your grandma.

of the not haggard. I am haggard. Will try eating more protein. I don't diet though, or do much sport other than brisk walking 1 1/2 hr per day with dog plus the Shred...er.... about 1x per fortnight.

Shovelled a whole lot of Timberland little boy clothes into my bag at 50% off last night between office and St Pancras. V cute things.

That poodle is amazing! Better to be drunk to cope with the colour though....

Or Hells copy the fab castle on cake's profile?

Sorry 'rubbish photo' sounded really rude! Just meant not v easy to get the full impression. sorry!

Hi all

Stll feeling rough, so sympathies to you tracey.

Good to hear from you Hells - have been thinking of you. We did a pink fairy castle for DD last year...pic on my profile. (When I say 'we', I mean the royal 'we'...as in Dh did it!!)

Bunny - V jealous of LTEC getting a twin cuddle. Agree that second shoe boots are nicer, but not sure they are worth £75 more.

Thanks for the cake tips - think I will make them and cover them carefully tonight, then ice them either late tomorrow night or Friday morning. Bloody school fair!!

That is indeed a lovely pic of Miranda and her big baby! Well done her. At least she didn't manage to piss of most of womankind a la Gisell Bunchen by wittering on about how it didn't hurt even a little bit...

No offence taken Roma - it is pretty rubbish. I would blame my shaky, ill hands, but tbh I am not much cop with a camera at the best of times!

NY you seem to have a bad dose, dc's had flu just after christmas, and it really knocked them. Look after yourself, lots of rest.

Hells so sorry about your grandmother, it's good to have something joyful to focus on. DD had the full-on barbie princess cake last year, she was 6 though, so best avoided until you have to. I have a heart shaped cake tin, v useful for birthdays, I just alter the icing depending on age.

Reine sounds like a lovely meet-up. Are you another with an amazing memory? Actually I have 3 dc, aged 12, 10 and 6, but for 18months I looked after my best friends dd. She first came to us at 5 months, and she really was our extra child, she called me 'mummyVerity'! Her mum worked v long hours, so she was here from 8.30am until 7 most nights. My dc adore her and regard her as one of the family. TBH, I found it v emotionally complicated! I loved her as if she was my own, and we were very attached to each other, but when she turned 2 I felt I needed to move on and do something for myself, hence going to college. We really miss her and try to see her at weekends.

Dh did school run this morning and I am sitting here nervously waiting for my mum and uncle to arrive. I'm going to drive them to see my aunt, who has been diagnosed with necrotizing faciitis, a flesh eating bug I got some great advice here about what to expect, better to be prepared and all that, but it sounds very grim.

Have been distracting myself reading blogs, and came across a gorgeous Anglomania top love the colour. Will earmark as a potential birthday present!

Bunny I prefer the first boots too

Tracey dh suffers really badly with his sinuses, dr recently gave him 'NeilMed Sinus Rinse' which is good at clearing them out. He also got a nasal spray which has made a big difference, I'll find out what it's called. SIL had dreadful sinuses, and had surgery which transformed her quality of life, but a bit drastic. She does have a beautifully shaped nose though, as op is basically a nose job. Ouch!

A nose job you say Verity - hmm perhaps I'll mention that to GP

DH also ill so has taken to his bed to work from there today

Love that top too.

Tracey I have one blocked nostril and investigated having the op to realign the septum - it's so wonky that only one nostril works (I think this is very common). I decided not to do it as had too much on my plate at the time with babies/moving house etc, but I might. One cousin-in-law did and said it was like having an extra lung, really amazing. The doc told me that it doesn't make an aesthetic difference, or barely, and doesn't causing external bruising, but many people opt to combine the septum surgery with a a bit of beautifying (I wouldn't rule it out as have a rather wonky nose which I broke once in a skateboard mishap).

Verity how nice for your bf!

Wow, lovely top verity. Sorry to hear about your aunt. Best wishes for today.

I have been filling a virtual basket from wrap of all places. Their catalogue arrived this morning. Lots of linen jersey, and a rather nice pair of pleat front shorts. From my memories of last summer, my beach shorts were inappropriate for anything bar the beach, and I loved the linen jigsaw breton dress, although not it's shape. But I will resist, as there's I'm still closer to last summer tha next!

Sorry about the last sentence. It's a long time till summer!