Shall we Avidly sprint to the sales for some Wise purchases? Trench coats and cover ups, sadly.....

[notyummy]

There we go!

Re Leeds Always. I used to live near there (Harrogate) but now only an occasional visitor. Re shopping - it is great. If short of time, head to the Victoria Quarter which is lovely and has lots of rich pickings. Harvey Nicks is right beside it too! There are plenty of other shops spread out around the Vic Quarter, but it is probably the best place to start. For children the is v central, good for children - and free! Parking/driving slightly tricky, although I have done it. There are quite a few one way systems/ring road etc. I'm afraid I am not sure re park and ride because we always got the train from Harrogate and this weekend just jumped on the bus from Roundhay with friends. I would have thought there would be park and ride arrangements though if you googled.

I am still thinking about the jeans....thanks for the size info Marsha.

Out of interest is it normal for a plumber to need to drive and get a ball float thing and charge for the time? Not that there's much I can do about it if not.

We have what has been a very expensive overflow issue (water bill ).

Ah he's back. Phew! Envisaged him driving around SE London clocking up our card. Must have the faith!

LOL Marsha. I had a Plumber who took a ciggy break to take his time over an hour. Said he was waiting for something to dry.....

Loves of boucle jackets (most of us then!), Zara as a new one on their website - love the subtle colour and the crochet detailing here

Wrong link Ollie - v interested in the right one!

Hi Ollie, your link is to a quite nice MD jumper . Are you back to your normal self now?

Honestly, I think my brain is still addled!

THIS is the Zara jacket/cardi here

MD jumper was meant for Fritzi as its similar to the Gap Pure one she missed out on a while back?

Back later

Hope the jeans aren't too big, Marsha.

Sounds like a great weekend, NY.

My grey Marias are being delivered tomorrow but I am hoping to find a sale pair. I am also going to look for the navy boucle jacket Verity has.

I ordered these from Me&Em for hanging around.

Bloss, I like the sound of the grey and navy together. I like your Maxmara jacket a lot, you don't wear it?

Thanks Hopefully for the pinterest invitation. I'll have to set it up later.

Today's outfit is navy majors, Whistles pink and navy stripe tank top and navy sandals.

I took the baby to a music class this morning, she was so excited, I think we will have to become regulars. Got to get DD1 ready for karate now.

I ran into Liberty tried them on and Trilogy very kindly swapped the sizes. I didn't get it right. So thanks NY for heads up! Also have ordered another pair of c/e florals in another size because the ones I have are already kind of falling down. I hear it's best to allow for more stretch.

Decam I love pink and navy together.

Ollie that made me chuckle a bit. I mean one can't say anything about drying time! Reminds me of the last p&d we had found swigging Pinot Grigio(!) at 10am in the bedroom. I had to counsel him through a bad break up and said, you have a choice you can choose the path of destruction and loneliness (bit dramatic) or finish our job. He finished the job. And also rang me three times a day to tell; me how it was going. I felt like a support crutch! Bit worse than yours, but not as bad as Annie's stalker. Can smile now, but was a bit shocked and shaky at the time.

I do wear it decam, but I don't think it suits me. It's too feminine, too girly for my style. DH has started commenting on the amount of coats I have. It does rain here almost every single day of the year though. All people see are my coats!
Glad you're having success with the jeans marsha.
I am collapsed on my bed having been force fed drop scones and black currant jam by my mum. The VL bikinis are in jeopardy!

notyummy thank you!!! A child free hour in HN sounds my idea of heaven. Meanwhile back in RL I have been found racing round our village shouting our dogs name in vain as she vanished from the house.....some time later I could hear my car alarm in the distance. Appears the dog nipped into the car at some point, was shut in by child who didn't realise she was there....and 30 mins of frantic street searching and sweating followed! Can only feel pulse rate falling now! Oh dear!!!!!

alwaysrunning or

bloss Don't worry, a few bites of scones won't have any impact on your Jillian-ed abs. Think she posted on FB to follow the 80/20 rule with regards to diet: Be good 80% of the time and not so strict 20%. Sounds pretty sensible I think.

Have ordered a couple of cheaper rain jackets as I don't think I love the Farhi one enough to spend 200 Euros on a functional piece of clothing I won't wear that often.

marsha Welcome to the floral denim club Love, love, love mine! Wearing mine with white or navy or grey tops but guess you could wear yellow or other contrasting colour as well (blue I think you asked. sorry for not responding earlier)

ollie Will check out link later. Thought M.Dutti had lots of lovely stuff in when I was in the shop last week. Have worn my white jacket lots already.

Love this navy sequin jumper from Whistles here

ollie That sweater is lush! Will check it out soon. I saw the Zara blazer in store on Sat and if I hadn't two already I would have snapped it up. So so gorgeous.

portia Are you taking your girls to Spain?

deca Have resisted ordering your Me&EM dress although it's gorgeous. No more summer dresses for me (famous last words!)

amber Are you doing your sales shopping with DC in tow?

notyummy Your weekend sounds great.

donaAna Your outfits sound always very chic and metropolitan. I love dressing for really hot weather. Have hardly worn sandals this summer
Where is red?

MiM great pictures on FB - you look amazing. Love your hair colour and style. Envious you got to wear the P8 white dress too (I think?) - mine still has the labels on. Sob.

All three of us currently watching 'Despicable Me' - it is GREAT! Fab famly film for those who haven't seen it. Lots of gags that the kids wont get. DH and have sniggered throughout.

Oh notyummy - Ive got that for the boys to watch in the car on our drive down to France in a couple of weeks.
That along with Ice Age 1 and 2, a new Tom and Jerry and a token Dutch film...... This year I will not be forgetting their little orange headphones!

fritzi just the littl'un usually who is happy as long as she is kept topped up with grapes, strawberries and rice cakes. I did drag DS on the Gracie pilgrimage, but bought him off with some toys in the Disney store. I sometimes take him to Matches as they have toys there so he will sit for ages, plus the girls make a fuss of him.

I like that sweater ollie, cannot believe we are looking at A/W stuff already!

hello all

I think red is on hols isn't she?

Can't decide whether to keep cobalt mini gracie or not - I do love the colour but not sure what I would wear her with. Suggestions warmly welcomed from other cobalt fans!

Ascot on Sat was good fun though the royal enclosure was absolutely heaving inside (due to rain) Generally people were turned out really nicely but clearly the rule of dresses at or below the knee was generally being ignored - which made me wonder, why have it?! Surprised at the number of ladies I saw with really lovely figures but dresses which were way too short and just made them look tarty IMO.

And collapse on sofa....what a day!

Cannot believe I forgot that we had reduced DS's nursery days. Managed to entertain him with the rest of the day in the park and garden.

Thank you Ollie for the lovely comments. Now you can see why I was so upset when I tried my brunette experiment, blond is far more me. I love that jumper by the way, reminds me of the black sequin Whistles one that Red bought last year. Can't remember her saying she is on hols?

I will PM anyone who wants to follow me on Pinterest, I better not put a link up as my account gives my RL name away.

Thank you all for your words of wisdom re work. Reine, you must be a wonder woman to be doing those hours. I suspect that now is not the time for a career change, we are in the wilderness years of expensive childcare and house improvements. Maybe in a few years time. I think my current plans need to focus on finding a job in nursing that allows me to be the nurse and the leader I want to be, and then to make the time for my relaxing hobbies of cooking and gardening.

Ascot sounds great Emo. It just shows that even with the best figure, its all about taste and the principle of less is more. Glad you had a good time though, despite the weather.

Great news on the jeans Marsha.

As I had the leave the house at break-neck speed this am, I felt a total mess for the rest of the day - unwashed hair, minimal make-up (I need a lot more). I will make up for it tomorrow.

DH out tonight, so sitting on the sofa, MN'ing, vino and a little plate of anti-pasti, a little nod to Dona.

mim Thanks for sharing your photos on FB. You and your DCs look just gorgeous!

I've had a cervical sweep this pm and am waiting for some action!

ollie- I tried on that Whistles sweater a couple of months ago in John Lewis. It is a lovely but a v relaxed fit which I wasn't sure was quite me. If you are a 'natural', I'm guessing that it might be just your style.

Lovely Me and Em dress decam but sadly doesn't look v BF friendly. :(

emo- I think the cobalt colour is great in that it could be worn with an all neutral outfit to brighten it up (greys/ blacks, etc) or worn in a clashing way with red or bright pink.

amber- can I pick your brains re the Avedons? How do they come up compared to say J brand sizing? I tried on some j brands before and the 27 fitted well (can't remember which style, sadly). I also tried some Paige skinnies and squeezed into a 26. Do you think the 27 Avedons would be about right or a little big, although perhaps big is good just now anyway!!

I would say size down in Avedons looby, if you want them to go the distance. They are very stretchy and so comfy - would be good postnatally. How the sweep gets things moving for you, you seem to be taking the tardy baby with good grace. I was due around this time last year and was having a right paddy, going on 5 mile walks to try and get things moving. Needless to say it failed and I was induced again. Hope the delivery is super smooth.

Oh and can I just say how over things needing to be bf friendly I am now. I want shift dresses and halter necks.