I don't dress for the school run, I dress for my (wise & avid) life!!

[LetThemEatCake]

continuing from here and quoting esher!!

Dolcee sorry about your mum. I think Tracey is right, can you find a babysitter for the wedding, you will feel so much better if you don't need to rely on her. My father is a real pain and I cut all ties with him years ago. When I read threads on MN about toxic parents I sometimes feel I was a bit harsh as he didn't do anything apalling, but the constant niggling stress of our relationship was wearing me down. I felt so liberated by not having to deal with him. I'm not suggesting you cut all ties with your mum, but do things on your terms, it's really her loss if she misses out on time with you and your dc.

My MIL is the Queen Victoria of grandparents, she likes to keep her distance and I often feel she regards my children with something akin to disdain. It took me years to come to terms with it, but she misses out on so much that I rather feel sorry for her. For example, last Christmas we were in MILs kitchen, and she had a few of those tiny koala bears poeple bring back form Oz as souvenirs. DD loved them and I said 'You have one of those X gave you' Dd says "I don't know where it is' MIL says (in really bitchy tone of voice) 'Well you'll have to find it because you're not getting one of mine' this is a 65 year old granny speaking to her (then) 5 year old grand-daughter. Very sad.

Bloss dress is fab

Carciofi I meant to post last night that I'm sorry about your mum. 51 is much too young

We got soaked to the skin yesterday in a torrential downpour at the park, am tempted to go to park now in wetsuits!

Thanks Verity. Your MiL sounds like a piece of work!

Dolcee, that is hurtful. I agree with Tracey and Verity that maybe you should find a sitter and not have to rely on your mother. Hope your DS has a very happy birthday.

I have one brother here and he and his gf babysat a couple of times. They are younger and I feel bad asking them to stay in on a Saturday night so now I get a babysitter. So no family help here either.

No rain for an hour! Just spent 39p on chalks and dc1 is busy drawing on the drive! Money well spent.

Sorry to hear of your hard time with family too verity.

Bloss - I think you sent the rain down here

Just did mass tidy-up of outdoor toys and now youngest napping.

Bloss - are you at your target weight now?

Carciofi - meant to say I liked those j brands you linked to. Also very sad about your mother

Dolcee sorry your mum is not stepping up to the mark. She's not unusual though as you can see. It really makes me wonder though how they end up becoming like that? I know that I will be very different with my GC, than how my parents are. They seem to view mine as more of an interesting social experiment than being genuinely interested in them as individual beings. They are very preoccupied with spotting familial traits and have deemed my DS1 as being just like his grandfather. Cue extreme interest in him and minimal in the other 2 as they take after my DH and obviously are not worth it.(?!) I despair at such narcissism.

Rufus, my family do this too ... according to my dad all DD got from my poor DH were her eyebrows!

Tracey thanks. She said to my dad when she was dying that her biggest regret was that she would never meet her grandchildren so it always makes me a bit sad when I see my friends' children with their doting GPs. ILs are nice but not overly interested in DD (she is GC number 5 so no novelty!).

sorry about your mum dolce; don't let it ruin your enjoyment of your boy's b'day. Agree about finding back up for wedding.

carciofi am very sorry about your mum and verity, I'm sad to hear that your relationship with your dad was so troublesome. Mine is toxic and my brother and sister have already cut him out; I'd like to but am a wuss

all this talk of grandparental involvement, or lack thereof, is very interesting to me. I have plenty to say on the matter but it's such a complex area with me and this is just not the place. My sympathies to those who feel let down by their parents and iLs, however.

Libra your outfit sounds lovely. Did those blue dresses end up being any use? The transition from jeans-wearer to dresses can be a tough jump, I think - I refused to show my knees from late 20s until about 2 years ago. Re the Lanvin dress, will see what its like in the flesh but am thinking prob wide black studded belt (a la Carrie in SATC1), high ankle boots and biker jacket for 'edgy' and under a camel coat for 'classic'. I really like red and camel, is this wrong??

LTEC - I keep meaning to ask where was your lovely leather jacket from that you were wearing on saturday?

Also - have started a thread but what do you all think about gilets?

Am I deluded or is it quite nice. I did used to wear a cream padded one a lot as was good for warmth although not terribly stylish - you know in my pre-A&W days

Carciofi - oh lordy - that just makes we want to cry

Oh and Dolcee - I am definitely up for another meet-up. Think Hells is back next week so perhaps we can sort out a date then to try and fit with as many as possible.

Ah Carciofi that is so sad . I am sorry.

Friend has gone, was fun but noisy and crumbs everywhere!

I'm wearing the LA dress today ltec. All the best for your interview. I must say they do cater for those who have been seasonally colour analysed!
Boxy shapes though, could do better. They're a Welsh company did you know?

Yes, terribly sad *carciofi. Must be very difficult for you.

traceyb, I am not there yet but I have dropped one more pound. So 3 lbs off target. But is it possible that I have dropped weight but gained muscle? As I said my ancient 2002 7s fit again so I must be very close.

oh carciofi that is so sad

Thanks tracey! I bought it from a shop called Bullfrogs in Greenwich at the end of '08. Label is Helium. Was only about £100 or something but it's real leather and is a decent fit, I think.

I am totally there with the gilets. I've seen some similar to that one and love the muppety look I'd achieve. Thumbs up from me. I am also after some sheepskin/ shearling - have you seen the Acne leather aviator on M-W? that kind of thing, yes please.

Are you feeling thin again yet? I feel huge, hopefully just bc of hormones - L now doing no night feeds, hurrah - just one before dinner and one at 6.30am.

Thanks blossoming!! I'm not really sure what to expect as text is thin on the ground on the site; maybe that's the point though.

speaking of dhs and dresses mine made me laugh the other night when he walked in and said "Another new dress!! It's really nice". It was my black and white stripd Sainsbury's apron

last day of nursery today, thank god that odd little girl won't be there next term - she told dd yesterday "Tomorrow I'm going to shoot you". Consequently dd very clingy at drop-off today and I had to get the teachers to help so that I could leave with the boys. At pick up, the mum was going through her dd's leaver's report with one of the teachers and expressing horror at the inclusion of any 'average' grades; next I heard her saying to her dd that she'd be a fabulous general and that she wished she could find a war for her to go and fight in. Such positive, warm, fun parenting

oh and marsha - lovely NaP shoes - your legs must go on forever in them. Thought of you the other day when I held back to let a car pass in a narrow road and the (male) driver, not satisfied with a headlight flash or a wave, blew me a kiss.

"This must be what it's like to be Marsha", thought I.

Haha you're very kind ltec

Love your style with the kiss

Ds is tired and watching Scoobydoo on comp so will be back later to read thread, relax and look at links

Oh no, dh says shoes are not good. Look like something from Dorothy Perkins and look cheap

Arh! back to drawing board...

Back soon to do patented two window technique?

I. hate. packing.

Almost done but spend way too much time faffing! Not helped by lack of washing machine in holiday house - bloody nightmare!

Dolcee - I truely sympathaise with you on the subject of your Mum. My Mum does similar things - eg didn't ring DS1 on his b-day last year cos "I had spoken to him a couple of days before". She is v hands off and even DH has remarked that he thought she would be a very different type of grandparent than how she has turned out and how disappointed he is with her. I try to stay calm and rise above it all but it still hurts - such as when she couldn't visit here cos of the volcano ash in April and said she would not re-book and just come over in Oct. When I mentioned about being on my own with the kids over the summer hols, all I got back was " a lot of women have to do it". This from the woman whose own Mum would have both me and my twin sister for a week and then have my older sis for a seperate week over summer hols to give Mum a break!!!! Sorry for waffle/offload - but you are not alone believe me! Hope that helps is some small way.
LTEC - the LA website is another which doesn't use models to show clothes - v irritating. But you may not want to bring that up at the interview tho! I seem to buy something from there once every 5 years - breton dress is a good buy tho! Be interesting to see what sort of direction they want to take the website.

Has anyone had a sniff of the JA perfume yet? She did look good at her launch.

Carciofi that is so sad, but I'd feel exactly the same. How terrible it must be to have that reality.
Tracey love those gilets, and want one. I have been threatening to buy one for the last 2 A/Ws, of course once I take the plunge, they'll have jumped the shark.
LTEC how about this belstaff? Too pricey though.this one is slightly less pricey.
Bloss 3lbs is in my book nothing.I mean if you could lose it specifically from one area (I'm thinking my bum here!) I'd be delighted,but all over it would be negligible.
I liked those shoes Marsha

Out for cocktails with some of the mums from DD's school. Wearing Athe Vanessa Bruno dress lashings of red lipstick and nude patent courts.

Will report back a demain.

Night x

Sorry to bring down the mood.

I like the gilets and both those Belstaff jackets.

Plum, I'd say you look amazing, have a great evening.

Thanks for the warm welcome back and thanks for the re cap!
A big congratulations to bunnymother!!! Twins, that's wonderful news. I am a little jealous!
Dolcee.. Sorry to hear your mum is being such a pain. I hope your ds has had a lovely birhday anyway and I totally agree that you should try to find another babysitter for the wedding. It would be a weight off your mind.
Carciofi... So sorry about your mum, how very sad.
Cake... Love the mental image of you and dh in the supermarket. Sounds exactly the sort of thing my brother would do. I think you'd get along well

I went a little bit crazy on the next website.. Couldn't decide which boots to order so just thought sod it and ordered 5 pairs!!! Del due tomorrow. Luckily dh working away! Will have fun trying on and deciding which to keep though.
Can't link as on iPhone but will link the keepers when I e decided!

Also had an invite to evening wedding bash. At a cocktail bar and dress code is cocktail/formal. Dh will wear dj. Any ideas for fab dress under £100ish?
I suit fitted top, less fitted bottom dresses. 50's style is good on me and also one shouldered, bizarrely.

Sorry not been around much this week - last week of term for dd1 who breaks up tomorrow, dd2 broke up last Friday so I have had her under my feet the pleasure of her company all week. Plus me and the dd's go away for 3 weeks this weekend so frantically trying to sort 101 things before we go and pack obv.

So, very briefly in what I have managed to skim-read/glean:

Tracey - I replied on your thread re gilets. On reflection I think I prob do prefer fur to mongolian stuff but partly coz I have contact lenses so cannot wear any mohair/angora type stuff.

LTEC - yes, I also meant to say how nice your leather jacket was on Sat

Dolcee - deffo get a babysitter for the wedding and be done with it. I haven't used them myself but I have a number of friends who swear by sitters agency.

Carciofi - that is so so sad about your mum

Blossoming - how amazing that you only have 3lbs to go - as someone said that is nothing really - I can vary by that much simply due to monthly cycle/water retention etc.

Friend took dd2 today so I could go to gym - felt great. I ran ahem, jogged on treadmill for first time in about 3 years. I won't have any access to a gym whilst I am away and am thinking of downloading one of those 0-5k schedules and trying to run whilst I am away.

Rufus thanks, but I think it might be my weird feet. They would look excellent on a perfect foot.

And meant to add and me too to liking them

Ds1 has been on holidays for a week now. It's my first attempt at the long summer ones. So far, better than I thought it might be....

Esher have a lovely time - will you be off-comm? [repeats LTEC joke from a way back that made me laugh]

yes have lovely hols Esher