AVID, WISE and keen to debut our Spring buys

[Russianred]

Inspired, eh?!

Hello...sorry to hear of poorly people...and hope DD is getting better now Red...such a worry!

We've had the ghastly vom bug too, although short-lived I can vouch for its horrid after effects...seems that everything I eat triggers stomach pains again. Oh well.

Hopefully - think the balancing stuff by Kerastase would be very good. My hairdresser is always endorsing it, and I do like the range. Also Tommyguns do a fab all in one conditioner/heat protector/styling product called 'leave me in', which works very well and smells lovely too.

Oh poor DS mrscb....some children can be really mean. It is excrutiatingly frustrating for the parent when their child is being 'bullied'. Hope he's okay.

She's only 17 months, which is a bit young for diagnosis, but her 2nd hospitalization for respiratory things so asthma has been mentioned. Levels are good now though so steroids must be having an effect. Thanks mrsCB, really lovely of you; Will let you know. Hope things get resolved quickly for Ds, poor guy.

Cross posted, red I'm so sorry to hear about your DD. Is it a pre existing condition or a bolt from the blue? Hope you're looking after yourself too.

red Keep hanging in there. Hopefully things will get better once you have a final diagnosis and can go home.

mrscb Poor you and DS. Very upsetting . Did the teacher have any helpful advice?

hopefully Kerastase for sensitive scalp is great.

ollie Maybe the KM dress is "the one". If formal occasions in Holland are anything like here, i.e. no one really dresses up properly, it might be difficult to get to wear it. What a shame. Can imagine you looking fab in that dress. I don't like the H&M blouse though, sorry.

Kudos to annie for drinking spirulina. It is supposed to be so good for hair, skin, everything really but I cannot stand the smell, especially in the morning.

notyummy Fingers crossed the DP dresses will be great. Can see you looking fab in the stripey one.

Hi portia! Missed your posts. I thought of you the other day as we are taking our nephew to Paris during the Easter holidays and I have already started a capsule wardrobe list in my head . I hope it will be spring like and I can walk around in ballet flats.

Hello all. Glad you all liked DD's name. She is a darling little thing and growing more settled as the days go by. I've survived the dreaded day 4 (last time was in depths of despair, this time a bit teary and low but not as bad) and feeling more myself. Sorry to hear that so many of you have been suffering from nasty illnesses; hope you all feel better soon (and enjoy some lovely side effects of weight loss!)

Oh red you poor thing and your poor DD (lovely name by the way). Really hope she continues to improve and you get home soon.
ollie you survived the teeth ordeal v bravely! I really laughed at the great pirate hunt and your excitement at the new shops. Your DSs sound adorable.
amber I always love your colour combinations and you are inspiring me to be more adventurous in mine.

hopefully you looked amazing in those dresses (although I did get v confused about what you actually ended up getting!). I can't believe you think you need to lose weight. I really want to jump on the bandwagon and get either a me and em or a Ceeme (sp?) dress but feel confused about sizing. Was the consensus that they come up big?

rufus the ski-ing trip sounds great. I've never been but DH is keen so I think we'll try it in the future. My favourite hotel The Esplendido has just opened a hotel in St Anton that looks gorgeous. I hadn't realised that Cos sold online now! Lovely jumper and thanks for alerting me to their site.

I have been plotting my 'To buy' list during the long nights (no paternity leave for not so D H so they're all mine...). As a complete rarity I have not bought anything in February so am now raring to go. Things I'm hoping to purchase imminently:

• grey jumpers - tippi j crew (thanks mrscb) and gap (thanks pickled)
• blue bonnetts
• grey skinnies (where from??)
• cross body bag - either neon or leopard or in my dreams the AH one that mrscb has
• a great necklace - either Stella and dot or the shorouk one
• bracelet - from dannijo ?

And there's so much more! I definitely have the shopping addiction problem some of you also suffer from.

On a less fun note, what on earth do you wear post birth but post pyjamas?? I am back in clothes but my body feels very alien. I have no idea how to conceal my tummy in a stylish way and my chest feels enormous. Have visitors starting from tomorrow and I know they'll only have eyes for the baby (and so they should!) but would like to feel half way stylish too. Any ideas welcome!

Apologies for lengthy post, DS is out and DD sleeping. I'm relaxing!

Red- good news that the steroids are working. Fingers crossed that she continues to improve.

Annie- thanks a lot for the link- will peruse!

Mrscb- sorry to hear about your DS's trouble. This sort of thing is so hard for parents as it is tricky to fix.

Hi Portia!

Well, at least I know to size down in Reiss. But really- an 8, me?! If they don't cut for petites, and they don't cut for tall non-petites like me, then they are knocking out a large part of the market. I mean, I know I am not particularly well endowed but overall I am not an 8. Realistically a large 10 on a good day- and frankly, what used to be a 12, as spookily my older clothes are size 12 and most of them fit me.

My Gap tops have arrived. Dull but handy- and the small fits perfectly. Have just gone for long sleeved fitted tops in navy, black , white and grey. Plan to use for casual and also to layer under dressed at work when I don't fancy bare arms.

red hope that DD is getting better this afternoon. What a stressful time for you.

MrsCB sorry to hear about DS, must be so difficult to witness.

Quick link from she who has too many pairs of jeans!

What do you ladies think?

Ollie you really should consider the KM dress as you have been looking for thee dress for ages! does it pass the Roxy test?

Red, sorry DD is still unwell.

Blue, I forced myself back into my more forgiving jeans because there was no way I was wearing maternity clothes any longer than home from hospital and wore this kind of cami make me look more streamlined.

MrsCB, aw, your poor DS.

I blew all my remaining birthday money on this bag. No more bags now until the summer sales

Portia, I like them. And they match my new bag.

Hopefully, Reiss have really nice leather jackets.

Well things seem better today - his teacher is very good thankfully. Of course I've spent all day fretting and he seems fine

Blue - thats so funny as is pretty much my list too I'd just stick to jeans, top, cardi and nice scarf if bf or perhaps a comfy dress if not (I struggled to bf in dresses)

MIM - still chuckling at your 'playing with knives' comment on the other thread.

Ollie -now you know that style is good on you and KM stuff fits you well - keep an eye out for a more casual interpretation.

Ha, well round here there is a certain breed of mother that hold such beliefs. They usually 'bellow' their off springs names a lot and playgroup and wear a faded pink Fat Face sweatshirt with the collar turned up. Your comment abOut weight and your Sister made me laugh too. I have a pact with my friend who is an ITU nurse that she will supervise all artificial feeding closely should I end up in ITU.

Lovely bag Scarf, good for you. Do you use HoF for AH at Westfield?

Blue, I recommend some simple outfits too, lacy camisoles and cardigans etc. I did wear some lovely soft roll top jersey trousers from the white company when indoors after having DS, felt smarter than PJ's but still cosy.

Big hug and mwah's to all these poorly people, we are in a mess at the moment. Roll on Spring for healthy times. I have sinus pain now, ouch! I keep fantasising about wearing shorts in the summer and eating salads in the garden, looking and feeling healthy. With two perfectly behaved children.

Can someone call my therapist?!! Suspect I have fever induced insanity.

Blue - I wore my usual jeans, just the biggest ones I had! (I had worn my usual jeans up until about 8 months anyway due to small bump - never bought maternity ones.) I think I stretched one pair truth be told (bloved TS skinny flares) and I could therefore fit into them straight away. Wore them with loose tops.

Just deposited DD at Rainbows. Today is Thinking Day and they had to go as a person from another country. Calling upon a large number of stereotypes, DD has gone as a French Chef, with stripey top, black leggings, string of shallots around her neck, apron and chefs hat and a wooden spoon. Drew a curly moustache on her too! All DHs idea and he spent ages threading the shallots at the weekend. She is very excited!! The only things we didn't have in the house already were the shallots, so I think he did pretty well.

Have ordered bikinis:

Spotty.

Stripey.

Animal print.

Where is your other thread mim? Sounds entertaining. Sympathy re. the sinus pain, I often suffer and it's horrid.

Really like the bikinis, ny, especially the animal print (surprise, surprise). Can't believe you were in your usual jeans for so long and so soon: I havent worn any of mine since last September!

NY cool bikinis. Like the stripy one a lot. It would be comedy on my boobs though .

Is it bad that I can't remember what I wore post natally either time? I know I carried on wearing maternity jeans for a while after DS1, but I was fat and couldn't get into anything else.

MIM I chuckled at your knife drawer comment too. My group of friends is v diverse in terms of people who care and people who don't, but haven't come across any serious bitchiness yet. Possibly because I veer into the scruffy end of stylish...

MrsCB glad your DS had a better day at school.

Scarf thanks, will check out Reiss site. Love the new bag, is the design embossed?

Portia lovely jeans, although the zips would highlight my saddlebags nicely. Probably good on the slimmer of thigh.

Blue thank you! I think the dresses must be flattering, as my figure really is not great! I kept the Me & Em one as it was slightly better on me. Sizing a tiny bit generous on the one I got (8-10 more like a 10), but I think someone else got the 12-14 and it wasn't massive. Nightmare about lack of paternity leave, is he self employed? Or too dedicated to his job?

Yep, the bows are embossed. I have a thing for red bags. Mim, yes, I bought it in the Westfield HOF, they have a bigger selection than they used to and I had a gift voucher left over from Christmas which helped too.

I think I may give up shopping for Lent.

Blue, I always made my DH give the DDs a bottle at 11pm as he is never home until late and although he got paternity leave, he ended up working from home during it. I thought it would be bonding time for them!

Just found out that my brother and his wife are having their first baby in October so there was meant to be a baby in our family in Oct after all. They are so excited, it's lovely.

Ollie, I like the KM dress, can't you throw a party so you can wear it?

I think it's being tall Blue - bump didn't really grow out as there was more room up and down due to long torso. Having seen you whilst heavily pregnant, you carried it off marvellously and looked great - I think the height thing was the only difference with the jeans. Still managed to stack a couple of stone on though - and the pictures of me near the end look like half of that went on a big moon face .

I like those jeans Portia - can see you in them.

Where is this knife drawer comment? (hate feeling left out!)

Going to attempt jeans in morning in hope that tummy will magically deflate further overnight. Am just wearing thick black leggings with long tops at minute but I do have the raspberry blochs on and they are very cheering.

Blue, the Why do mums of toddlers dress like they are going into battle thread.

Cool bikinis, NY, you will look amazing.

Have found thread and mightily enjoyed the W and A contributions and also the stern lady who condemns all those who take a clutch bag to the park!

Really want to catch up but have been out all day til now. Started looking at SS stuff properly. Walked from Donna Ida to Liberty then to Aveda.

Thankfully the CoH floral print are not good. I felt like a sofa.

But I saw some MiH Paris skinnies that are slightly cropped which I love for summer.

Then I need some Lanvin pumps, can't decide better flats or wedges.
And saw a beaauootiful Philliip Lim bag that I am keen on. But is a big day clutch. Might annoy me.

Back later to read.

Haha just read your post Blue about the clutch. Oversize is ok