We're AVIDly buying Agnes, Anya & Ash (all very WISE buys!)

[OllieinOrange]

Time for a new thread.....

Just a quickie as in the car on iPhone.

with excitement at the new baby news. Many congratulations Reallygrumpy.

Am amazed at the Ants and Reine closeness!

Emo- loved your gorgeous girls on fb. Am putting my hands over my ears at the prospect of bad weather in Italy- please let it be perfect in the Italian lakes in 3 weeks time!!

Delighted you may have found a house Apuski.

Good to 'see' you LTEC-

reallygrumpy, I crossposted earlier and so completely missed your news! Congratulations!

Reallygrumpy congratulations! Wonderful news.

pickled DD1 is seven and a great travelling companion!

Loving the bloss observations from breakfast and museum.

reallygrumpy huge congrats and a speedy recovery - and yes, name change required!

apuski fingers crossed for you

olly hurrah for the Agnes!

reine and ants that's so funny - and exciting. Hope to meet you Ants in real life soon!

Popped to Kings Rd today with DD2 and had a good look at the new autumn collections, some nice things in Reiss, Zara and Warehouse showing potential. Whistles not so great IMO. French Connection has tonnes of stuff left in the sale. Got some spotty black tights from Wolford.

Sleep fighting DD2 is now snoozing in her cot (miracle!) so I am aving a glass of prosecco, listening to MGMT, mumdnetting (d'oh) and pondering a take away or healthy soup and the shred DVD remains in plastic packing, shame on me.

I am back to normal thanks to Frank and his magic scissors! It's been a long time - since moamu!
Of course whilst I was there I got a text saying dd was 'sitting in a puddle'. She had refused to go in the M&P cafe and by the time she mentioned it they were in the basement of Hamleys which unbelievably has the one toilet, the one lift, on the 5th floor. So had to stop by Gap and buy pants and a gorgeous red dress!
Just came back from Giraffe on the South Bank. Great service. Dd showing all the signs of becoming a Friday night girl!

It's good to have you back emo. Sorry about the weather. Is Europe having a shocker?

So happy for you reallygrumpy reallyhappy!

Huge congratulations RG - has she a name yet? Hope you're enjoying all the cuddles.

Glad you had a lovely meet-up. Your post with London mentions is making me yearn a little Bloss!

So glad you had a a lovely week Annie and hope you enjoy having your parents with you.

Everything crossed for the house Apuski

I loved all of your TS purchases Pickled - especially the scalloped edge blouse.

Sorry for the early finish of the holidays Emo; I hadn't realised our DDs were pretty much the same age - mobility not conducive to holidays/moving, eh?!

Everything in complete disarray here - but DH and I have just sunk a bottle of CdP and have talked through our plans for the place, so are feeling uplifted. No carpets anywhere at the moment (which is a bloody nightmare - DD livid if she's not permitted to crawl) and wallpaper in various states of peeling dating from the 50's. Lots of lovely Bakelite original bits and some beautiful tiling in the bathroom, but in essence, everything must go. We're waiting for planning to come through on our extension, at which point we will get a new boiler and only then will we be able to do flooring.

The neighbours have been very welcoming - one set popped round with flowers and invited us for a bbq, the others came to say hi and the lady across the road brought us all tea when the movers were here - I've never experienced this in all my time in London. The road has its own newsletter with wine club, book club and all sorts of going on. We're meeting up with our lovely friends on Sunday for the Harbour Festival. Bristol looking good so far.

All this aside, we went to JL today for curtains and so on and am very pleased to report that it's my favourite JL so far. Woo-hoo. Also managed to slip in the purchase of this jumper, which is just lovely.

Sorry for epic post - a little over-excited I feel.

Reallygrumpy Congratulations. Enjoy the cuddly newborn stage x
Red you sound at home already. Street and neighbours sound great - what a lovely welcome. Take it you will be joining the wine club without delay?

Took my sister out for a meal last night - went to my favourite restaurant which does the lovely taster menu - delicious - all washed down with a bottle of cava. They leave this evening and friend and her DC arrive tomorrow lunchtime - what was I thinking!

Also have to get ready for DS1's 6th bday on Tuesday (party not until school starts again). He has his first wobby tooth and is v chuffed!

What's eveyone up to this weekend?

reallygrumpy congrats! Enjoy your lovely baby girl!

Ladies, I have a dilemma - wedding coming up in two weeks and need a dress suitable for bf. Don't want to spend a fortune as won't be my usual size, so have narrowed it down to these options:

phase eight

IO1

IO2

Am open to suggestions if you think these are all rubbish...

DH likes IO1, but I am scared of showing off my lumps and bumps!

red, what a lovely welcome, and good idea to head for JL. I can't help but breathe easier when I'm in there!
ollie I'm off to the London Eye then St Paul's then Westminster Abbey. Heading home later. Tomorrow going to the annual Welsh cultural festival if dh the kids are up for it, and going again on Tuesday. Must look good!

Yay, we got the house! Might have something to do with ds1 being utterly charming in the estate agents, happily drawing friendly crocodiles while we were sorting out the paperwork, who knows! Assuming all the checks go through ok, we will be moving at the beginning of September.

Hi A&W ladies, just lost my post
Will catch up later, congrats RG!

Morning. We were 2 threads away from the bottom of the S&B page so thought I had better bump us up!

Bloss your day sounded great. Can't wait to take DSs to London - just waiting for DS2 to get a bit bigger (he is terrible about not wanting to walk longish distances)
Ambernj1 I agree with your DH and love the IO1 dress - invest in spanx if you are worried about lumps and bumps? Great dress to wear for a wedding imo.
Apuski great news on the house and well done DD for swinging it!

Speaking of weddings - any views on Zara's? Almost every female guest is wearing nude shoes - even the Queen! Really liked the colour of the bridesmaids dresses (dove grey) and thought Zara's make up was beautiful. Liked a few of the guests outfits too. I love a good wedding me!

Sister left last night and friend with 2 DC arrives after lunch. Am already visitored-out so hope the next few days pass a little less manically! At least weather look sets to finally pick up so we may even make it to the beach for DS1s bday on Tuesday.

Well done ollie!
Hope the weather does pick up for you.
There is a lot of walking and standing about in London I find. I was struggling a bit as I only had my best shoes with me (the r&b flats - dd is currently wearing them!) My feet hurt and slipping into my espadrilles when I got home was the best feeling in the world!
Looking forward to seeing wedding photos too, might browse DM site when on the way to the festival.
What to wear??
It's dry and quite warm. Risk of a shower. Black skinnies or Agnes (washed!!) Trench with rolled up sleeves? Black and white White co scarf? Which top?
And still my no shoes dilemma.

I liked the P8 maxi amberj, but the IO1 is smoking hot! And you're young, so why not?!

olly I like nude shoes but am starting to think it is being overdone. Especially love an all black skirt/top work outfit with nude shoes though.

red sounds like you have made a good move - enjoy! Hope baby "helping" with unpacking...

DD1 and DH back later today - I am absolutely knackered by the day and night time antics of DD2, she is the worst (best?) sleep fighter in the world. However she will still sit in a buggy so we took in the Kings Road again yesterday and I got this jacket for work from Reiss - it's ridiculously expensive for synthetic fabric but it looks good on and I was so tired I thought sod it I'll treat myself!

Zara new season stuff is nice, got a cobalt blue shirt. Tried a leopard/animal print one on too but I just looked sooo Bet Lynch!

Hope you guys have lovely Sundays -a smashing sunny day in London town.

I meant to say, Zara has started XXL in some of their ranges - this is good news IMO, I don't view myself as XXL "in real life" but am a 14 and sometimes their XL isn't big enough across bust!

Ooh and ants "your" warehouse top (the one in cream, then grey) now comes in BLACK! Lovely.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekends - weather has been pretty good down here in the south with my parents. DH and I leave this afternoon without DD - she is here until I come and collect her next Friday. DH and I both have v busy weeks at work planned, but we are hoping to make the most of her absence to try and get to the cinema or have a meal out!!

I like the Isabel O dress as well Amber.

Ooh, it's quiet here this weekend, hope everyone is having fun. We had a busy day yesterday with family visiting, then quiet chill-out today, which I desperately needed after the manic rushing around at the end of the week.

Amber, I agree with the others - IO1 plus spanx if necessary, though the others are very nice too if you prefer them. Then be prepared for everyone to gush over how amazing you look when you've just had a baby!!

I've been starting to look at AW stuff, and am liking quite a bit of the J Crew clothes on NAP, they've got loads of stuff in the right colours for autumns!

Evening lovely people. I'm feeling a bit tanned. Glorious weather, so nice. Had a friend to stay for the weekend, was fab.

Quickly bought something in outnet sale on Friday. What was it um pale woollen leggings. Probably won't feel like them when they turn up in this gorgeous weather.

Glad you had a good weekend Marsha

Yay for the hours Apuski; what a huge relief, despite the inevitable headache of the move etc. Will keep you in the loop with any info I should pick up in the next month. So far, I have deduced that the JL at Cribbs Causeway is great and that on Park Street they have Whistles, Reiss and Jigsaw next to each other. Hardly revelatory as these are things you probably already knew, but they have been the most stabilising for me so far . Have also found pre-school, nursery and toddler groups that look good.

Have fun this week NY!

I love the cobalt shade that Zara do Emo - saw a lovely cashmere jumper which was, annoyingly, short-sleeved (is there any point in this??) so was a no-go. Hope DH provides you with a bit of respite.

Hope your visitors are well-behaved Ollie. I thought Zara looked lovely, but DoC was not so good - that dress coat was quite vile. Loved Margaret's pleated skirt!

Lovely day at the Harbour Festival - had a chance to wear my big floppy-rimmed sun hat for the first time this summer - I was on a riviera after all... Am waiting for something to go horribly wrong as everything here is great at the minute (remind me of this when I am whinging come September as DH returns to work).

Hello ladies
Very out of touch as nearly three weeks later we still have no internet at home and no landline. It's driving me mad. Cakey beware for when you go back down under, if you are reading - Telstra are very difficult to deal with. Try and get it organized before you arrive if possible!!

I am on limited time in the local library as also have babysitter and also trying to work, but wanted to wave and hope to 'see' you all on Wed when (allegedly) home broadband will be connected.

Hi roary, good to see you!

It's been a bad night, there's been a house fire in our small street overnight, and we've had police cars, 4 fire engines and an ambulance here - firemen still working on the fire. No news on the elderly couple who live in the house .

Oh dear apuski, how dreadful.
Meant to say before though, well done on finding a house.
Glad things are going well for you red. I firmly believe in first impressions. I howled for days after leaving Cardiff to the middle of nowhere in West Wales, damp, old fashioned, orange carpet rental home. It was never right, from the first minute. I am sure things will be great for you.
I was supposed to have the morning off as the new childminder was having a taster session of my 2! But wouldn't you know it, DD is running a temperature, so I have to cancel. Feel a little cheated.
roary, I didn't realise you'd moved already! Why weren't we invited to the virtual house warming! I have prosecco in the fridge!
So because I'm losing my morning off, I am going to do some shopping... Back later with links.

Hi all.

Congratulations reallygrumpy!!!

Emo thanks for the the report back on the warehouse top. Black I not for me I am afraid but if they did it in a navy...now you are talking! Off to have a look!

red glad to see you are settling in!

bloss sorry about DD. Hope she picks up soon. Good luck with the shopping! After our meet I am so lusting after some Agnes!!! Are yours sharkskin?

So have ordered this boden polka dot dress and the the wrap spot top. Having a 'spot' moment. Preparing for September. Next, make appointment at opticians to sort out some contact lenses. Nothing like being back in the classroom to realise I am actually blind .