AVIDly purchasing lavender, orange, yellow and pink for spring is a WISE thing.

[FritziGreenEyes]

Sorry for poor thread title but I am hopeless at rhyming at the best of times...
Unbelievable how quickly we filled the last thread!

Had one hour on Friday before the meeting started and used my time very efficiently and bought these. They are not quite as high as the 50/50s but suit me better. Was hugging the shopping bag close to me on the train back home yesterday .

ollie Such a shame that your DH isn't going to go with the job offer over here. Oh, the fun we could have!

hopefully Having you on this thread is great and I enjoy reading your posts a lot. I hope your mother doesn't find any more tidying tasks for you today. You look fab in your wedding pictures.

annie Hope you got all your work done last night and have the chance to get some rest today.

red We have our hob on our kitchen island too. We couldn't decide on backsplash for ages. Haven't had one for ages and it is absolutely fine. I do most food preparation stuff on the island anyway.

Have lovely Sundays everyone!

I don't see myself as a leather jacket girl either. I thought I just wasn't cool enough but different clothing personality sounds so much better! :)

blue- my DD2 was OT which is an even larger diameter of the head than OP (OA the smallest obviously). It did take her a while to come out and midwife thought she was OA so I was getting a bit fed up by the end thinking I was useless at pushing. She finally came out looking to the side at 9lbs 2oz and I am not a large lady. It was fine though and I didn't tear badly (really rate perineal massage). Stay away from tactless friends who tell you horror stories- not v nice as you are obviously anxious.
You will cope fine especially as you have two wonderful grandmothers locally- should be no problem! We are thinking of getting some paid help this time for number 4 as no lovely grandmothers here sadly and DH v busy. I will probably be freaking out come June!

fritzi- thanks for the Oushka Byron link. I like it a lot but I think I prefer the Oushka dover which is still full price. Does anyone else have an opinion?

Right so have tried on pink Marant jacket today and its a no - I looked like a squat sumo wrestler in it. Basically the arms are too wide so just added bulk which being short - I so do not need.

So one thing off my list.

Still obsessing about the pink Stella wedge sandals though.

Oh and really recommend James Perse t-shirts - lovely fabric and good price on shopbop.

Also still obsessing about a Chan Luu wrap bracelet.

A lot of obsessing going on here

And on day two of clean and lean - have now reduced caffeine to one cup of coffee a day, no sugar or sweeteners of any kind and no alcohol in the week. If I don't look like Elle Mcpherson by Friday I shall be most cross

Fritzi - I've got the april on order as love that lavendery/pinky colour.

I need to know marsha!

I've never kept a tally of what I've bought before - and now I know why! I blame hopefully and her spreadsheet.
Here's my January spend:

Spotty trousers TS £38
Navy skinny nobody jeans £39 (were £165)
Raspberry Bloch ballerinas £44 (were £115)
Tan aggies asos £22 (were £45)
Pink silk t shirt reiss £35 (was £59)
Gold snakeskin tote Zara £59 (was £99)
Navy and burgundy long sleeved t shirts x2 whistles £50 (were £70)

= £300ish. (but have also bought this radio and a little silver chest of drawers for the baby's room...)

But on the bright side have saved around £300 and also calculated I've sent back many many ££££ worth of stuff over the month so overall I don't feel too bad. They were basically all SS purchases too. Anyone else going to admit their total?!

Thanks for the encouragement NYE I'm on the ball right now!

Cross posts. Thanks looby. I find this very last bit of waiting and wondering agonising! Also because I had an easy time of it last time I've been rather lax in preparing this time... Paid help sounds like a great idea, go for it.

Hmm, perhaps I can cross the jacket off too mrs cb. Don't really need another summer jacket unless it's a fall in love sort of thing. But I do have a chan luu bracelet and one of Wendy's Stella and dot statement necklaces to add to my list.

Am going IN to Matches to see about these Marant jackets. Very expensive in any case.

Blue on the other hand I am good at spotting how much I have saved

Just popped back from coffee with friends and quick jaunt to shops where I had to replace DDs shoes....and just had to buy some fab purple skinnies (more jegging, actually), from Gap, and some lovely long suede flat black riding type boots from Dune, in sale. Skinnies look good tucked in boots and will be good in Spring. Am currently wearing with tights underneath (a la Bloss), and navy cashmere roll neck, (and a couple of layered long tees). Am warm now.

Bloss have mentally totalled spend for Jan and let's just gloss over it, an an unusual month, with coat buying But, I hasten to add....have worn the Maxmara loads already.

nye T'was I....no cannot do leather jackets.

blue not long now. DS was back to back - sit on that ball! And lots of sitting the wrong way around on the kitchen chair helped... Exciting times.

fritzi love those shades of polish....

ollie I did watch the docu about the Social Workers and was completely saddened by the plight of the little ones.. I really felt for the pgnant s w. Must have been so emotional. Very, very sad. Had to pop in to each of my little ones and give them another kiss.

carciofi have black uggs for house, so warm. But nightmare with flinging baby food. I have spent 5.5 years cleaning up floors (and bottoms).....and do hate it when little one grabs for my clothes for a cuddle and inadvertantly smears hummus on it! Lovely.....not. Like those boots btw.

Good sales shopping. I have less, but have paid more. Usual story!!
Agree with looby all the pregnant ladies. Keep away from birthing stories. None are helpful.

mrscb you so could not ever look like a sumo...what are you like?
Shame about the jacket then. Is this for the reunion? Do like the sound of verity's white tux....hmmm....

I stalked saw a girl today who had on the loveliest pale heathery sort of colour skinny jean, with slouchy oatmeal sweater and contrasting heathery/red/brown scarf. Was lovely...and was just about to ask her where said jeans were from when noticed DD had taken her ankle boot off and flung it onto the floor. So couldn't. Damn.

Bloss - was its a white with blue stripes breton you were after or the other way round? JL has this white with blue Jaeger one here

Tracked down the Sandro jacket

MrsCB the Marant had a similar effect on me, the body is alright but the sleeves are slightly gathered at the top. Reminded me of a Laura Ashley floral jacket I had as a teenager, with gathered leg o' mutton sleeves . Shame as it's such a pretty print. BTW, I love Clean and Lean, I have been doing it on and off for a year and feel much better when I stick to it.

I have my eye on this Maje top, these pink shoes and this Reiss bag although I'm not sure about the colour of the bag as the shop is so dark

No way am I adding up my January purchases . One of my favourite sale buys is this <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.ie/imgres?q=stella+mccartney+olivia+coat+rose&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&rlz=1T4DAIE_en-GBIE308IE310&biw=1366&bih=574&tbm=isch&tbnid=xVu6vYcmIWnYqM:&imgrefurl=www.stellamccartneykids.com/girl-girls-coat.htm&docid=tgtAjFWZd5jVhM&imgurl=media.stellamccartneykids.com/images/7/80/CG/7X_72001_3001_0461.png&w=400&h=400&ei=Wx0oT4CmEMSphAfrrLiTBQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=94&sig=111979699045278376622&page=1&tbnh=117&tbnw=113&start=0&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=54&ty=61" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stella McCartney coat for dd

Oh god, did you have to do this bloss? Have just bought bloody Barbour jacket! Be back later with total...

Lovely, pretty stuff Verity. You are putting me back on SS track now. I love the Stella coat! Like a mini version of the green one I have!

I completely had Marant mix up before. I thought everyone was talking about the other Marant jacket, the blazer.

That Marant blazer is lovely, a better buy I think marsha. Have you decided about the job?

I have ordered the June one so hope you?re right about it being good for Springs NYE as I think that?s what I am.

Nooooooo hopefully you can?t end the boot saga yet ? it has been making me smile!

The wedge hightops are super comfy you say verity? I might have to try in March once sales spending has been paid off!

I?m not a leather jackets person either. I have one but it?s very fitted and short sleeved so not too leather jacket-y.

Blue I do not understand why people feel the need to tell you bad labour stories. If it helps redress the balance mine were all absolutely fine ? one homebirth, one hospital birth, one c-section. Agree RHW?s boots and scarf are lovely.

Nice links verity ? that little SM coat is very cute too

I have spent too much. £454 this month which is waaaaaaaaay over my average but includes some Christmas money. Is rather skewed by the MK watch which was £199 all by itself. Other than that I got:
VWA pink dress £81
C/E jeans £82
Adidas tank for gym £9 in sale
H&M navy cardi, cream cardi and cream/gold stripe top £30 for all
Falke tights £12
Cobalt skinnies £21
Oasis swallow print scarf £20

Hence the £60 budget this month (plus nail varnish) to even things out a bit!

Oh and at Marant confusion. Only on this thread!

Verity close! I have kicked back as dh would say

(ie gently let them know that I can't actually be in the office that much).

It's quite far removed from their FT offer so we shall see. We are chatting tomorrow.

Haha Fleecy I know!

Hi Ladies

hopefully have added others who hadtheirarms-twisted-- asked to see pics of my dds

looby you are spot on..my parents are from Pakistan,DH's mum was American and he is blonde,hence the slightly bizarre result of ginger DD2!

verity your links are all delicious..do you want to adopt me as your DD.

mrscb your post really made me chuckle but completely untrue I know

thank you everyone who sent birthday wishes yesterday..I was so touched..celebrated in style by dining on fish and chips

blue so exciting so near now,annoying when others make it all about them by unloading their bad birth stories..ignore!

icey I watched the SS programme too..I am suprised your DH didn't veto you..I wasn't allowed to watch sad stuff when I was pregnant as I became inconsolable

nye you will be pleased to know that most of the things in my 'to e bay pile' are bad colour choices..

fritzi I like the way you do the school run

where are the lovely annie carciofi and pickled ?

oh yes..this months spends..VWA around 70 in the sale and DVF scarf around 50(outnet) plus an H and M breton 8 pounds and owl ear muffs for DD2 3 pounds in the sale..bigger spends for me as Jan sales and birthday month.

This month for me:

Roxy - £295
Whistles angora jumper £45
White company t'shirt £28

The Roxy bumps it up, but she is a one off. Have made £18 on ebay, which doesn't really even it out does it?!

Ok I now have a SS wish list finalised:

Animal print sandals - seen some fab ones in R&B
Nude ballet flats - suspect I am going to go for a New Look pair and if they only last one summer so be it.
Pink ballet flats from TS
Gold flat sandals.
Spring coloured scarf - love the one you linked too blue
Tan hobo-ish bag
Tan ankle boots - like the TS pistols a-likes every much.

Will review the clothes list once the baby is here!

Yes to closing my ears to grim birth stories - very wise advice. I am in a bot of a bubble really, what will be, will be is my birth moto at the moment.

Nice purchase on the school run Fritzi, I love April so much.

Dauphin that woman's outfit sounds lovely, especially heather coloured jeans. Shame about DD's bad timing.

oops and the leighs of course..40

18 on ebay is 18 pounds more than me mim I really need to get on the case with it!

meant to say we'll miss the boots rollercoaster hopefully if these are keepers

Ooh, lots to catch up on!

Reine and Fleecy I know! I'm slightly wistful about the Boot Hunt of 2012 already. Will have to try on again this evening to double check though . I bought these low front ones and a pair of taupe ankle boots which aren't on the website for some reason. Will post pics on my profile I think, I feel like successful ankle boot purchase requires some kind of celebration! Off to try them on again in a mo and triple check that I like them

I am definitely a leather jacket kind of person. My oldest, most loved and most worn item of clothing is a Zara leather jacket which is well over a decade old (bought in a rare moment of style aged 16 on holiday in Spain), and I am determined to find a replacement this year - it is too big really, and I would prefer a biker style. Plus it is slightly falling apart. I reckon on cost per wear (£100, 13 years of use at least 3x per week on average, anyone want to work that out?) it's got to be the most economical item of clothing ever.

I tried on some nice clothes today too:
This chartreuse shirt has left me with a hitherto undiscovered need for a shirt. I just couildn't quite decide if the colour was right on me (it is much more acid green in RL), but was lovely and relaxed for SS. Any shirt recommendations for me to try?
this faux wrap dress was absolutely lovely too, but a proper office dress, and I don't have a job, so it wouldn't get used. The colour was perfect on me, a real petrol navy. Highly recommended for any autumns looking for office basics.

Also tried a ted baker trench, but the full skirted look was so not me. Colour was great though. Oh, and tried a Davina 2. Gorgeous, but a bit classic for me.

I prefer the Marant blazer to the jacket for me. It is yum. Tried on a nice Mango blazer today, but neither colour or fit were quite right. Had nice sharp lines though, for anyone looking for a budget Marant.

I will post my January spends later on when I am at computer instead of iPad. it is more than anyone else who has actually confessed, but in my defence I have basically bought a new wardrobe. I suspect February will be relatively eye watering too, but then I will be back on my budget. Boo.

MiM- did you like the bag fritzi linked to? I'm tempted- looks like it might work quite well as a changing bag substitute.

I'd like a good springy scarf too- I have really embraced scarve over the winter and will feel a bit naked without.

Reine- thanks for adding me- will have a look in a minute. Dh was away last night which made watching it an even worse idea. I think it was well made though and informative without being sensationalised.

So far for January I have spent:
£20: on pink bag from crappy little stall in shopping centre. I like it though
£40: padded navy coat in topshop sale
£40: 2 pairs hush pyjamas
Approx £30 on basics for new baby
Approx £40 on new underwear, leggings and tops for dd
Over £50 on new shoes and snow boots for dd

I did however make a profit on a pair of new look maternity trousers which I sold on eBay for more than I'd paid for them after wearing them for work for a term!

Blue- chin up- not long left hopefully. Was reading something today that said most back to back babies turn during labour anyway. Fingers crossed.

Saw on NY's fb earlier that she is off to Paris-London was a red herring! Lucky lady.