Hanging on the (Mobile) Telephone

So I have a baby again and a dearth of spare time.  As such I find myself just reaching for my phone whenever I see something aesthetically pleasing or striking.  It takes seconds and usually that's all I have.  So I thought I'd share.  I might even make it a series - woo woo.  Just the stuff that happens you know, inbetween the mundanity.

(1) I love the colours in my new vintage dress and £1 beads  (2) Can't resist Master L's toes poking out of his blanket when he's asleep

Discovered this vintage shop with the weirdest tea room opposite our local park.  It was an insanely hot and bright sunny day outside and this a dimly lit room with no windows and a 

Victorian mannequin was quite the bizarre contrast

Bought this rainbow necklace and almost couldn't bring myself to open the pretty packaging it arrived in

Lunch at Jamie's Italian.  

Ghost signs on the streets of Liverpool.  I've become a little obsessed with these lately.  I'm the crazy lady who walks the streets pushing a pram and taking random pictures.

In other news, I've been watching back to back IT Crowd on Netflix and wishing I could give Graham Linehan a massive bear hug to say thanks for making me smile since I was 15, and especially for Douglas Renholm, Black Books and Kicking Bishop Brennan up the Arse

source

Your colours wrapped around

When we first found out we were expecting a boy back at the 20 week scan, my mantra instantly became 'absolutely no blue'.  I will not be gender specific with this child.  I am going to dress him in all white or all the colours of the rainbow or a bit of both - but nothing inbetween.  Under no circumstances do I want pale blue anything.  I know, I blame those crazy pregnancy hormones, they have turned me into a fully fledged crank.  Anyhoo, I set about collecting all the rainbow coloured paraphernalia for the nursery I could find.

When I say nursery, what I mean is box room.  A very small space in our 3 bedroomed terrace in which it is practically impossible to obtain decent photographs.  Nevertheless, I've tried to capture some of the best bits to display here like a magnificent peacock plumage

This 3ft wall sticker just makes me happy 

Discontinued Ikea nursery curtains

Made to order orange polka dot shade

Hand painted wooden coat hooks

I am currently going nuts for rainbow crochet anything.  More more more!

A few essentials

Big sister's addition to the artwork.  She's obsessed with rainbows and unicorns at the moment.  Don't know where she gets that from.

Virtually everything from the above pics I found really reasonably on Ebay.  I really don't know how I ever managed without that site in my life.

Then I was fortunate enough to receive this fabulous retro alphabet picture from DotComGiftShop

Isn't it wonderful?  I had recently discovered DotComGiftShop and had made several purchases for my boudoir (check out those flamingo lights) and toy storage for the Little Miss, before they approached me and informed me this site had been featured on their blog and offered to send me an item to review.  I jumped at the chance to own this retro lovely as I already had my beady eye on it.  I think it completes the nursery perfectly.  Having already been a satisfied paying customer I was flattered to be approached and am more than happy to recommend their site, their range of pretty retro inspired gifts and the customer service.

So, that was the 'nursery'

Hopefully next time I blog I will have a new baby, something resembling a waist and a fridge full of blue cheese and pate, come on!

xxx

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

In Your Room

I thought I'd share some pictures of my shiny new boudoir - it's finally done - whoop

I finally have a chimney breast wall like a blank canvas, perfect for all the 60's kid pictures and various wall art I've collected 

I had such a narrow space for a bedside table that I had to use my imagination a little.   After some frantic internet searching I discovered the Tam Tam stool.  I'd never heard of them before but apparently they were all the rage in the 60's after Bridgette Bardot was photographed sitting on one.   Read a little more here.  The other thing I like about them, apart from the fact that they look like oversized game counters, is that you can pick them up dirt cheap and they look great.  Fits right in with my 60's theme

Flamingo lights

I found this rather obscure film poster on Allposters.  The clip frame was picked up dirt cheap online.  Not a film I'd heard of before but it looks right up my street.

Best document storage ever

I bought this plain lightshade from Ikea and covered it with an old pillowcase using this tutorial.  I must admit I am rather proud of it for a first effort

Nail varnish and perfume stash against my teal and pink voiles

My curtains in all their glory.  I bought some giant vintage bedsheets on Ebay, wonder webbed them and got my mum to sew on some curtain tape.  Couldn't be bothered with lining them as we already have blackout blinds for when the babs is sharing our room

Close up of my new pink vanity mirror

...which magically opens up to store my jewellery and ephemera

And that would be my massive 34 week bump you can see in the reflection

Next up the nursery…

xxx