Autumn Wishing in a Welsh Village

Thank you for all the comments about my hair.  I'm quite pleased with it considering I did it myself. I'm looking forward to experimenting around it with my clothes and make up.  Speaking of which, a few of you commented on the sneak peaks of this dress from my last couple of posts. Well, here it is in all it's glory.   It's another vintage Etsy purchase from the States which I paired with a high street denim jacket and my Dr Marten knee boots for comfort and practicality.  These pics were taken last week during a trip to the Welsh village of Llanfyllin.  We stayed in an 18th century converted mill which, at dusk, looked like this 

It was set in it's own sweeping secluded grounds with a stream and a bridge, blackberry bushes and nooks and crannies aplenty.  The weather was extremely changeable but it didn't matter.  

In fact, lying in bed one night with the duvet wrapped around my neck reading on my phone so as not to disturb a sleeping 5 month old, I realised that Autumn seemed to have suddenly arrived out of nowhere and I was more than ready for it.  I'm ready for tights and cardigans.  Ready for more cuddling up and wrapping the baby in his giant rainbow blanket.  Ready for more darkness and fog and seeing my breath in front of me in the morning

Am I the only one?

A faded prima donna

I bought myself a couple of new dresses in the Asos sale the other day 

This was one of them.  I'm such a sucker for a graphic print.  I've been spending money like it's going out of fashion lately.  I know it's because I'm just bored and seeking something to distract me. Shopping I can do from my laptop while rocking the baby to sleep with my foot.  Unlike most hobbies one might explore which require a lot of time and your full attention, two things of which I have precious little to give at the moment.

I did however, find the time to get my rats mane cut the other day.

I also put one of those hair dye removers on it which brought up the red a few shades to a sort of caramelly, strawberry blonde colour.  It's a bit weird and I'm not sure I like it.  Just not sure where to go next.

Anyhoo, did you see Glasto?  Were you there?  If you were, I'm sooo jealous.  I generally consider myself a bit past the whole festival thing but this time around I would have given my eye teeth to be there on Saturday night to see this band.

Instead I was at home, on the sofa jiggling my little chap on my knee and pondering how many ways my life has changed ;)

Man, I forgot how much love I have for Metallica

What were your highlights?

Red Boots & Golden Years

Before I begin I should quickly state that yep, I'm still pregnant.  Due this Saturday but as you know time and dates mean nothing to the littluns.  Just trying to enjoy my last days of relative freedom and sleep.

On Saturday afternoon I went to a vintage 50's tea party in celebration of my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.

This is me trying to discreetly pose for some outfit shots with my cloudy lemonade while everyone mingled around with their Pimms punch.  I kept getting collared.

As you can see I didn't go with the 50's theme.  This dress has been seen on the blog before because I have practically lived in it these past few months.  It's about as much effort as I can muster at the moment.  Plus I wanted to wear my new babies which match it perfectly...

These bad boys

I got them for a song on Amazon.  I think it was a pricing error as they were advertised as a size 7D as opposed to a standard size 7, which were about £25 more expensive.  I took a gamble and it paid off.  I handed over my £46 and they arrived at my house the next day, a standard size 7 not a 'D' in sight.  Turns out Dr Martens don't even make a 'D' fitting.  Go figure.

I also lacquered my nails with several layers of turquoise glitter

Dress - Asos Maternity
Boots - Dr Martens
Owl bag - Ebay
Cardi - supermarket
Brooch - charity shop
Typewriter necklace - Etsy

My niece organised the party and it was held in the very pretty house she lives in with her mum and step dad.  She stepped in and organised it within a few weeks after the idea we'd had of a big kick butt rock n roll themed party fell through due to my health issues and inability to organise it.  She did a stellar job.  A relatively small affair with close friends and family.  Everything looked so dainty and charming that I couldn't resist walking around snapping a few pics before everyone got there

I really wanted to play in this outhouse but it was temporarilly home to an old bathroom suite

The weather was glorious, spring was in the air.  The music ranged from The Andrew Sisters to Little Richard with a little bit of The Inkspots thrown in for good measure.  There were sandwiches with no crusts, tea and fairy cakes - perfect.

Gonna try and blog again before I pop but if I disappear for a while you'll know what's happened

xxx

Orange Crush

Outfit pics have been a pain in the backside of late

Short overcast days, drizzle and a lack of a photographer during daylight hours all being contributing factors

Plus a smattering of can't-be-bothered-itis

All hail the good old fashioned mirror selfie, the staple of the lazy amateur blogger

Not the best quality, just what we're stuck with.

This is a work outfit from last week.  

Do you like my orange tights?  I can't have enough orange in my life at the moment.  I got them on Ebay.  They were described as 'XXXL Fancy Dress Tights for Ladies & Men'.  I am currently wearing tights for drag queens which happen to be perfect for accommodatng my girth

Dress : Asos Maternity

Cardi & vintage wooden brooch - Ebay

Boots - DM's

Necklace - Dotty P's

Speaking of which, this week I finally finished work for mama leave - woo hoo!

I can't say how relieved I am to be free of that particular bind for the next 10 months.  Just time enough to put the finishing touches to the mammoth home renovation/reorganisation that has been going on for the last 6 months before we welcome Mr Bump (yes, we've been told we're expecting a boy) - due in approximately 3 weeks.

This corner of our new room has been altered slightly to accommodate this...

There is still a flat pack wardrobe and cotbed lying around my house waiting to be assembled which is stressing me out and messing with my mojo really more than it should.   I'm fighting a constant battle against turning into a hyper hormonal neurotic fishwife.

But we don't want to hear about that.  Instead here are a couple more amateur outfit selfies

35 weeks - taken after a party

What I wore for a family gettogether last week

Currently looking forward to a couple of stress free weeks and sleeping in.  Half term couldn't have come at a better time. 

xxx

Where's your mama gone

So as most of you know I'm pregnant right now.  Whatevs.  I'm 32 weeks, permanently exhausted and absolutely huge.  Like comedy sketch, stick a pillow up your dress huge.  I can barely sit upright due to exhaustion and when I'm not working or you know, doing necessary living stuff, you'll find me in a state of deep slumber

 Towards the beginning, while I still had the energy, I scoured the web for maternity wear inspiration and found it to be pretty damn scant.  Why do terms like 'classic' and 'understated' seem to go hand in hand with articles on pregnancy style.  Ugh.

I say thank goodness for bloggers

I found Bianca's blog Goodnight Little Spoon completely by accident and it's since become one of my favourites.  Bianca was pregnant when I discovered her blog and I was very impressed with her creative maternity wardrobe.  Little did I know that before too long I'd be referring back to it for inspiration.  I just love her use of colour, her cardigans and the quirky finishing touches.  

Colour, cardigans and quirky accessories are also all staples of one of my favourite blogging ladies Marissa of The Shades of Monet Chronicles 

Longtime readers will know what a big fan I am of Marissa's style (see this post).  Recently I just loved how she sailed through her pregnancy without missing a beat.  She looked exactly as unique and beautiful as she always did.

I've managed to get by so far without buying too much in the way of maternity clothes.  A couple of dresses and some mama tights notwithstanding.  Even though the way I look has taken a back seat lately.   Still, thank goodness for the unique and talented ladies of blogland to keep me and similarly placed ladies of expanding girth inspired with their colour, creativity and uncompromising uniqueness.    

xxx

PS.  The lovely people at DotComGiftShop have featured this blog as one of their '15 hip vintage blogs' - hop over this way to take a look

PPS.  I won the Modcloth Polyvore thingy from my last post.  You can see my set along with previous winners here if you're so inclined

Academically Yours

I don't know what it is about glasses, or eyeglasses as they're called in the States, that people associate with intelligence.  Particularly these days when glasses are more fashionable than ever before.  These days when names like 'geek' and 'nerd' are plastered proudly across the chests of fashion conscious teens everywhere.  I am just glad I had an eye test quite recently which revealed I did actually need prescription glasses cos now I have a legitimate reason to wear them as I'd always longed to.  I spent my childhood cursing my perfect vision.

GlassesUSA.com recently got in touch and asked if I would like to review of a pair of glasses from their site.  The deal was that I got a discount code for a certain amount to put towards a pair of glasses of my choice.  

 I must admit the selection process was hard.  I have a freakishly large head with a PD of 63 so I am used to having a more limited selection of large frames to choose from on online glasses stores.  Plus, there was not a lot of extra money in the budget for glasses with my ongoing house renovation nightmares and all so I was trying to stay within the gift card limit.  This proved quite difficult.  The first pair of glasses I really liked but they had already been marked down and I wasn't able to purchase them with my gift card code.  After some deliberation I eventually opted for this pair 

Dicaprio 80 black with silver

I found the website a little busy at first.  Lots of text and links and pop ups etc and lots of different ways to navigate to the same areas.  Once I got my bearings I was fine.  Apparently Glasses USA do have a try on mirror feature which looks like this 

I didn't find this on the site but I did use the try on view which was very handy.

These glasses cost $68 (roughly £41).  If you want the special anti scratch, anti reflective gubbinsy package attached you need to add a further $29.95 (£18).  I personally opted not to go with this and I haven't had any problems.  Shipping to the UK also costs an additional $21.95 (£13).

There are lots of discount codes and promotions on the site which I think would be worthwhile checking out if you live in the States as you also would get free shipping and could probably get a good bargain.

So what do you think, do I look bookish?

Sorry these photos are so blurry.  I really liked today's outfit as well.  The weather here as been so damn overcast and the light is always bad in my tiny backyard anyway.

The midi dress is new from Asos, I got a code for 40% off so decided to splash out.  The Docs are also secondhand new.  I got a great deal on Ebay.  Even though I already have a pair of Dr Marten mary janes and zip up knee boots I thought it was high time I bought a pair of classic 1490's again.  I gave away my last pair after I inexplicably went up a shoe size after my last pregnancy.  Necklace and bag both charity shop finds.

Boo to crappy weather and bad light.

Til next time

xxx