Avid & Wise, Eyes on the Prize, Our Gorgeous Spring Summer Buys!

[blossoming]

New thread here!

Hello ladies, I can't believe it has been so long! How the devil are you all? Sorry for dropping completely off the radar; I've been embroiled in a messy and demanding bit of work which has been rather a time/energy/shopping/fun-zapper. Ugh, less said and all that.

But boy have I missed this and boy do I need you - I am sat here in fleece and bell-bottom jeans circa 2005, eating Maltesers and DH is microwaving popcorn. Post-gardening but, still, I am letting myself go completely standards slip a tad.

Will you forgive me for not catching up properly and tell me what we are all buying at the moment?

My only purchase recently is a Crumpet cardigan in this print. I cannot believe how soft it is! I almost wish I didn't know as I can't afford to make a habit of it.

I haven't worn it yet though. It calls for something delicate to go with it; I originally saw it in a magazine in a ballerina-inspired piece, which would be beautiful but that would be too girly/soft for me. It looks fab with a tan belt and so I am thinking brown skirt? Any ideas oh stylish ones?

Aha - found cardigan here, the last of the Brix makeovers.

Hi Oooh, gorgeous cardigan. I wondered where you were.

MrsCB and Red, great news on the houses.

Red, I know and to add insult to injury, she has decided she wants the same girl's name we have more or less chosen! Actually that doesn't bother me and my baby is due first. :)

OWW, I do like the Boden top, it is just that I probably need a smaller size but hard to tell at the moment.

Bloss, my DVF dress sold for £97.

DD up back later.

Welcome Haricot! And welcome back Ooh and Red. Delighted to hear of successful house purchases and am jealous of Cape Town! What is your capsule wardrobe going to be?

Hope the poorly DCs are improving and Ants and Every feel better.

Haven't looked at all links as on iPhone. Will catch up on computer tonight. Currently annoyed by being awake in hotel room far too early, probably due to slightly too much booze last night . Had a fab day yesterday doing touristy stuff in London with DH, dd and my Aunt. Did a London Duck tour that dd found v exciting, then a nice lunch in Soho, followed by the Lion King which was wonderful. We have seen it before about 10 years ago, but watching with her was lovely- she was amazed! Walked back to the hotel via the south bank and watched lots of dancers and singers performing, before having a swim at the hotel. Wore maxi I bought recently from ASOS and black wedges, with bf cardie for warmth.

Am about go to the hotel gym to try and work off the VERY rich meal I had last night. Dh has also ordered a lush mothers day breakfast to the room so more calories coming my way. Will have to watch what I eat and 6w6p all week after this weekend as this years bikini premiere looms

Glad you are having a good time, NY. We used to live near Southbank, I love it around there.

Exhausted, I like all your shopping! I am going to buy the Whistles white t-shirt. Did you say to size down?

Morning. Its not Mothers Day here today so I'm on wake up early duty!
Marsha - lovely sounding party - have you booked already entertainer for next year
Haricot - love the Hush dress too. Looking forward to yours and Bloss's feedback.
NY lovely sounding weekend.

Oooh - hello. W&A news is basically us buying or thinking about buying houlihans, bretons and trench coats!
RLYL & MrsCB -great news on house sales. Please share any interior design buys - even if its paint colour - I love moving house vicariously through other people!

Family bike ride later if the rain holds off.

Its the big High Tea on Thursday and I have lots still to do including making 100 scones (am starting to feel a bit stressed by it all)!

One of the guest speakers dropped out so muggins here has been talked into doing a quick demonstration of how to make scones (cringe)! I shall have to channel Nigella and wear a padded bra and tight jumper!

OWW, I love scones and sounds like you are just the woman to ask for a recipe?

Haricot and Bloss, meant to say that I have been looking at that Hush dress too but will wait for your feedback before I order.

And Marsha, glad the party went well. I will probably do a party for DD next year so would like to get the entertainer's details please.

Carciofi
This is the recipe I use - its the easiest one I know and just uses items that you will always have in your cupboards and results in nice scones.

225g of self raising flour
very small pinch of salt
55g of butter
55g of sugar
150 ml of milk

Mix the flour, sugar and salt together. Rub in the butter into the mix with fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs.
Mix in the milk to form a soft dough (you may need to add more flour if its too sticky)
Knead lightly on a floured surface and pat or roll into a shape around 2cm think (try not to handle it too much)
Cut into rounds with a cutter
Put into a greased baking tray and brush the tops with milk.
Bake for 10 minutes at 220c or Gas 7.

Enjoy!

You can also add 55 g of dried fruit but reduce the sugar amount by 25g if you do this.

red Have a good trip to SA and enjoy the time with your Mum. Grandmothers are called "Oma" in German too! Congrats on house! And yes to Houlis, mine got their first outing to local pizza place yesterday with simple short sleeved white T-shirt and ballet flats.

MrsCB So exciting about your move next week! Hope you, DH and the DCs will have happy times there. I just did our winter to summer wardrobe swap and realized how much more I love our house with DH around. When it is just DD there is too much space and can sometimes get a bit lonely.

NY Grey one shoulder plus cocktail sounds like a winning combination!

apuski You should feel proud of your ebaying skills!

Welcome haricot!

And happy Mother's Day to you all! We won't have ours here until May.

ollie Don't forget to lick your fingers while smiling seductively at your audience during your scone baking demonstration .

oohh Lovely to have you back! I feel that getting dressed in something nice yet comfortable makes me perk up immediately. Ditch that fleece and old jeans now .

Ah lovely. No breakfast in bed here, no crumbs; dh has taken children out and it is beautifully quiet. Sun in garden, no noise. lovely.

Ollie I might do, but maybe only has one routine!

Roary I did at philistines. Their good manners were quite impressive!

Carciofi will pm you later. He has great reviews all over mn.

Ok am making coffee. Happy Sunday everyone .

bloss shamelessly asking for a hush code here!
Am not too sure if I've overdone the stripes this year but that Hush dress looks to be a bit more forgiving round the mid area than the people tree one?.

Maybe I should read this thread before posting! (As I've just come off another one)

Ants The Zara ballerinas are comfy but I had to size up and order into store to get a decent new MATCHING pair! The red is a tomatoey colour but very nice And the yellow is fab vin!

OWW, thanks, I will make those this week, DH will be most impressed.

We just went out for brunch and now DH and DD have gone to feed the ducks, leaving me in peace to browse and read the paper.

Apuski, I sold a bag last year for £50 more than I paid for it! It was a red LV that was no longer available in the shops. Wish I kept it though.

Marsha, great, thank you.

Morag, I like the ballet flats in red. May have to get a pair.

My dad is coming over to see us after all. :)

yellow you say, morag?

oH dear I've been so swamped by work I have had no time for avidness. Well, I did take DS to c.wharf yesterday as they had a shopping 20% off thing on, but he screamed non-stop! I got all those 'you're such a bad mother' looks everything I tried to do to console him failed, so er, no shopping

have interview tomorrow for medicine, have to be up super early, have done no preparation at all [sobs] I just haven't had time. Oh dear!

Hope everyone is well

Good day all, Happy Mother's Day.

Great to see some old faces again, well done red and MrsCB on the house front.

Marsha, glad your party was a success, and yes, DH and I do the whole analyse 'it' to death thing too

Vin, good luck with the Med interview - will you take a place if offered?

OWW, best of luck with the scone-a thon, lol at fritzi's tips

NY, glad you are having a fab w/e, what is this grey dress of which you speak?

Apuski, wishing you good luck with your job seach, fingers crossed xx

Lazy day here; love the sound of your day Bloss. So, did you have chips on the beach?

Exhausted - can you link again to your NL cargos please? I would like sone non jean trousers for everyday too! These belted chinos caught my eye here

(NL have also discovered the appeal of an apple clutch here )

Fritzi - its been suggested I return (once the scones from the demo have been baked) wearing a silk robe and then process to smoother them with clotted cream and eat seductively - not gonna happen in a million years!

Hi all!

Am home and unpacked. Glad the party went well Marsha! Am most impressed by your impending display of domestic goddessness OWW

Pickled - grey dress here. Looks like nothing on hanger - and is shorter than appears - but v flattering and quite funky on (well, I think so!)

Right off to do bathtime and then collapse in front of TV. Had a great hangover busting run along the sunny Thames first thing this morning. It was amazing.

Yes will def accept a place if offered at this course (being mysterious but in London so won't have to move!) but the chances are very slim on the basis that I haven't read any of the gmc stuff they insist I read beforehand, have done no prep, and all in all my brain is going through a very fuzzy stressy phase and I can't even remember my dob let alone convince them they should give me a place! In truth though, I might (if I got a place) defer it by one year to allow me to earn more, train etc in the meantime in new job, but it's definitely what I ultimately want to do and not sure if defering would mean higher fees..

exhausted, I love those chinos! I had similar ones last year in beige and the grey ones but I wore them so much they fell apart (buttons off, holes, the lot) so I will need to re-purchase (need, not want, see-wise)

back to my interview wear dilemma. Think suit, play it safe.. have to go to work straight afterwards. argh. over and out gorgeous stylish ones, I shall soon return to pick your brains on summer work trousers and tan/light coloured handbags .. also, how on earth do you make hair curly with ghds?

Happy Mother's day all.

Outrageous Carciofi! We lunched with some friends yesterday who confided that DD's name had long been their favourite girl's name. I'm convinced she'd never told me this before, as it has always been mine and I'd have remembered, but still felt a little .

Fritzi, my Oma is Dutch and my Opa was German, so it's the traditional origins! My Opa emigrated in 1935 after being chucked out of University and Oma arrived in South Africa in 1928 with her diamond-cutter father seeking his fortune. My Mum speaks Dutch, German, Afrikaans, English and Hebrew. Me? Just English, rather embarassingly...

NY sounds like a lovely trip - can't wait for DS to be old enough to see The Lion King, he's going to love it.

OWW hope your demo goes well - are you practicing your seductive glance to audience?! To wet your whistle, we've (a bit pre-emptively) ordered two of these for our kitchen/diner extension.

Ooh good to see you, hope work is calming down a bit. Did you solve your leather jacket dilemma?

Project Capsule Holiday Wardrobe begins tonight - DH has this thing about taking the bare minimum wherever we go and tends to raid my suitcase before we go anywhere. Very annoying.

At the moment - American Vintage grey playsuit, FC navy maxi, FC Breton dress, this Zara shirt and the yellow Vanessa Bruno Athe dress Vin linked to some time ago have made the cut. Having a huge bikini panic though - swimsuits never work on my short body and although I'm back to being a size 8 I still feel more than a little self-conscious revealing my belly 7 months post-pregnancy. Has anyone got some suggestions for me?

Wore white jeans (with a navy breton and navy pumps) for the first time yesterday and was very happy with the look, not so toddler-friendly, but hell. DS and I somehow managed to be in pretty much the same outfit (DH got him dressed and went off for secret shopping whilst I was in the shower). Did attract some glances. Although that could have been the white jeans.

morag thanks for tip. Going to go for the orange ones!
OOOh love the cardigan
Vin good luck with the interview. If they have any sense and see your passion and your reasons for going into medicine they will offer you a place. It has always been my plan to eventually go into midwifery. I genuinely feel that, having had children, I can understand what women go through. I have also had all types of delivery from emergency to unbearably sad through to natural and full of joy so would hope I could offer something. After what you have gone through you have so much wisdom and understanding.
Carciofi so glad you will get to see your dad