The race is on to (finally) wear our summer clothes. It's the Wise and Avid Olympics - off we go!

[Russianred]

Athletic leap on To new thread.

Nice bag. I have the Lola to fit all my papers too.

I did wonder re Macial!!

Did you see these boots dona. Surely they will fit your brief!

Hello. Well, did the Bird Sanctuary today...Mrscb - you'd love it there! . Kids loved it but mummy tad eurghhh about the whole experience. Bird poo everywhere and almost 3 year old daughters hands everywhere do not for a very relaxed afternoon make.

I have become obsessed with the Domino bikini in the slate now for next years hols thanks to you Bloss. Which bottoms did you get?

Looby - congrats! And thanks you for your kind words. We have 3 very close together so at one point had 3 hulking car seats in a row across the back. Very few cars fitted them in, and so we went for a Landrover Discovery. I love it. Can highly recommend.

Marsha - think Miele are excellent. Bosch too (forgot about them). We've had Miele before and v reliable/well made. I am looking forward to new appliances in the new place. Saddo. I love planning all these things. Even the DDs have been picking out fabrics etc.

I am not buying anything further until October I've decided (she says). hmmmm...

dauphin, I have the mayday bottom (low rise) and the solitaire bottom, (higher rise, but you can ruch the sides up]]. Love both, but mayday will be for my more confident days! You are teeny tiny, so not an issue for you!
On that note, that blogger is gorgeous gos, but really skinny!

Hello

It's sunny here I have been feeling very much under the weather the last few days, and am so badly in need of sunshine so please, please stay around. We are going on hols on Friday and I have spent so many days on dreary, cold Irish beaches, I'm hoping this will be the week to change all that

Always so pleased to hear about your ds I had been hoping he was ok. Coincidentaly, I have that blazer, unworn still with tags and was thinking of ebaying it. Let me know if you'd like it. It's an 8. I'm usually a 10 but the 10 was too big, they are pretty roomy.

Rufus there's a (reduced) navy lace jumpsuit from Whistles in BTs calling your name! I imagine you would look fab in it.

I just bought these in Zara, I love them! I had another look at the navy Jalouse, can't decide about them. I have a grey suede ankle boot which I might dye navy I think.

Dona I'm making a cobalt version of your watermelon MaxMara. I put sleeves in it as otherwise I would never get to wear it. I probably won't have it finished by Friday, but I'll take it with me and hope to sew on the frill under a shady tree on a sunny day

Ollie I think the ice blue mini would be beautiful for you. I am still looking forward to my Fiat 500 when my 7 seater driving days are over!

Marsha we have a Bosch washing maching and Siemens dishwasher, both great.

MiM hang on in there with the building work, I know it is awful, but it will be worth it.

Dec and Portia such familiar stories, the double whammy of sexism and racism is awful, I have heard it so many times from school/college friends. Hope it will be better for our daughters.

Sorry for the length of this!! Better make dinner.

Dauphin fingers crossed for your dad, hoping he makes a good recovery

Bloss when are you and your colorful holiday wardrobe going away? Hope you have a great time

Bloss don't tempt me!

A boring day of errands, relatives and fractious children.
Received a dull H&M order of socks and vests.

Mummy gave me a lovely silver cocktail ring with a blue stone. Very big, love it. Will get to go to work next week - actually looking forward to it. Vacationing with toddlers is not exactly relaxing. DD2 has her terrible twos and afternoons are a minefield.

Saw a friend yesterday who is a makeup guru. She praised Dr Jart's BB cream - the only one apparently that won't oxidize on pale skin - and Inglot eyeshadows. She had two boxes full of giveaway makeup for us to select from - another friend got a discontinued Chanel eyeshadow palette and I got to try her Nars blushers - Deep Throat is very me. Lovely girly fun!

Must read pages and pages of the thread to catch up!

Ooh Verity do share pics when the dress is ready! Very smart to put in sleeves!

Thanks Verity. Will try to check that out. Hope you get good weather!
Bosch seems to be a good contender for appliances, doesn't it? Have a washing machine and dryer myself! Love how it's not just bags, shoes and all kinds of other clobber that we have such definitive authority on!
Hope you got some more good holiday "clobber" today Bloss! Think your analysis of me a Dramatic Gamine is spot on btw. I too have to curb WAG tendencies though.
Sounds like perfect weekends GoS and NY. We have a tentative plan to go to Kerry for a long weekend. Will be thinking of you Suburban. Great blog post on the jeans.
Thanks for the code Always, I really want some majors. Can't find them anywhere to try on though and I'm about sizing down.
If its worth anything, I think the ice blue is perfect Ollie and it just suits your personality. Grey is too dull!

Have a great holiday verity! Saturday for us.

I am going to make the overnight porridge that some of us have pinned tonight. Hope it's nice as I would love it to work on holiday. Bought the Chia seeds in Chester today.
Took my new M by MJ cross body bag and loved it. Tempted to get it in black too!

Bloss I make the overnight porridge quite often, and my top tip is not to go too heavy handed on the chia seeds - they can give the thing a bit of an odd taste if you put too many in.

Amber just read your Botox thread. You're obviously self conscious (I remember seeing pristine smooth skin when we met!), but keep in mind you're setting up a hell of a lot of life of injecting poison ahead of you if you do it young. No one knows if Botox might do something nasty 40 years down the line, as most people who have it are late 30s+. I know you live in the rarified world of SW London, but remember that it's ok to look like a person who has a life, not a plastic dummy.

Am stunned to realise I have only 2 days of training left. Eek!

Re jbrand majors a big fan here , have navy and black. Wearing them a lot!

hopefully It's too much exposure to Yummy Mummies isn't it? I'm just worried I'll end up with a forehead you could do your washing on soon!

Seventh circle of soft play this afternoon. Why do I always come out of those places feeling like I need to lie in a darkened room with a cold flannel on my crinkly forehead? Also why do so many women insist on wearing low rise jeans to such affairs? I have seen more arse crack today than your average foreman sees in a lifetime.

However, in an unprecedented display of spontaneity, DH has declared he is taking Friday off and taking us to the seaside. He has either lost his job or is having an affair.

Wish I could enter into the appliance debate but the house was ready stocked with brand new, but alas crap, appliances when we moved in, and DH, coming from a deprived background, would meet just junk something in working order unlike me, so we are stuck with them. I frequently consider trying to sabotage the Hotpoint so I can at last justify a washer dryer.

bloss glad to hear MJ is a success, I love my Gigis, and that colour is fab. Where did you find them?

They do them in plum now, Emo (also on my list!).

At least our rainy climate means fewer wrinkles, Verity! Hope you have a good time and looking forward to seeing the dress.

I saw too many Upper East Siders with bad botox, it put me off for life or at least until I am very wrinkly

Amber - apparently Courtney Cox swears by them!

Just spotted this Zara sequin thing - not me, but looks really pretty.

Amber buy some frowned, it will save you needing to sort out another contraceptive solution

frownies

verity thank you do much for the offer! It would indeed have been the right size but I ordered it almost as soon as I got home- found a student discount code and thought it was a sign!!!

decameron plum majors???? I have missed these-where are they hiding?

Everybody please tell me about good (and not dreadfully break the bank expensive) holidays abroad you have had with children. I have NEVER taken our crew abroad and now am craving some sunshine in the October hols. The problem is, I think, that all the holidays my DH and I have ever been on have been city holidays, occasionally Italian lakes and Italian coast but really NY, Sydney etc with nice hotels and tbh no children admitted kind of luxury. Have never done a sit on a beach holiday, more into doing things emmm like shopping and drinking wine in the sunshine. So since having children we have self catered in the uk but I feel the time has come to brave the airports and find another kind of holiday....but I am not sure what although sending the kids to some activity centre and heading to the Waldorf with DH sounds good! So please tell what has and hasn't worked for the wise ladies on this thread.

Eurocamp we do always. Not glam but works for us. I generally do Cote d'azur though so pretend that it's glam!
amber, it was a long process: started with 40 bum blog and images of M&S gigis, to a shopbop search, to love at first site, to size conversion, to small print saying they don't ship to UK, to a google search.... and using Far Fetch in the end. There is hope, they've been dispatched!

always I love planning holidays! how old are your DCs? We've been here with our DDs and it was perfect but they're quite little (1 and 4) and it's quite expensive during schools holidays. Several of our friends have been to the place in Portugal that Ollie went to and have raved about it.

We're just back from a week in Dorset with no wifi which was great fun, DD1 said it was the best holiday ever and I had a big catch up on the thread at 1am this morning while up with a poorly DD2 who seems to have a tummy bug. Luckily she seems to be on the mend.

bloss I love the sandals - where did you order them from?

amber I read your Botox thread, as a needle phobic I've gone for the cowards alternative to Botox and I have a fringe .

Ants wow to the op! I'm 32f and would love to be smaller but I'm too much of a coward to go for an op. I'm hoping they'll shrink if I shift the last 7lb of baby weight, DD2 is 1 so I really should have lost it by now.

Mim sorry to hear about your stressful drive yesterday and the house stuff. It will all be worth it though, our work took 2 months in the end but I'm so pleased with how the house looks. We've got Pax wardrobes with sliding doors in our bedroom and it's wonderful having so much storage space.

No purchases here but I'm planning a Westfield trip at the weekend to buy some new work clothes as my return to work is fast approaching.

When are you back NSG? I have a month left. Really recommend Banana Republic for reasonably priced workwear. There is a big one at Westfield.

Amber In 2 weeks! DD2 is very clingy at the moment so I'm worried about how she'll be but I'm going to be doing 3 days a week so at least I'll have 2 days plus the weekend at home. I'm planning to look in banana republic, Hobbs and R&B for shoes. DH is being grumpy about looking after the girls so it might be a Friday evening trip.

Always, I've traveled a lot with DC, from Sao Paulo to Moscow. The key is to go wherever you yourself like it and to get an apartment (preferably a serviced one - I search on Tripadvisor and by looking for holiday apts)). My kids, 2 &4, are fine on city breaks as long as I sneak in a few parks (this is how I got to know Coram's Fields), consent to takeout on most nights, are happy with a relaxed schedule and take direct flights.

Italy, Portugal, Turkey very easy but have also enjoyed the Baltics (Riga for example). Best trip ever: renting a house in Brooklyn. Have gone some country things too - Brazilian wine country, a wedding in Rhineland in Germany, a few weekends in Tuscany - but they are best if we stay in one place, rent a car, but use it for very short drives only. Have never done a beach vacation with DC - it would bore me to tears. Oh and all trips have been successes, DD1 has been to at least 15 countries and is a seasoned traveller (iPad, snacks, sticker books for flights). I'd recommend a shortish 1-2hr flight for first timers - I'm always totally stressed out during and after the flights.

Bloss just made a batch of overnight oats.
Amber go easy on Botox - saw a lot of freaky former yummy mummies in Brazil!