Frump to Fab 2018 - Fabulous Dahhhhlings

Maman, Glad to see you back and to hear that you had such a lovely time. I bet you were the belle of the ball. And yes, this thread does help us to stay on track.....well it helps me anyway.

I had a lovely time in London. My DIL is good company and we had lots of fun together. It was nice to have some time together just she and I and get down to some serious bonding......:rotfl:

It was very cold, my knee played up and she gets very tired (she is not having the easiest of pregnancies bless her) so we did not venture onto the tube system, we used taxis. Sounds wildly extravagant but the hotel was central so the taxi bills were not too bad.

We managed to get cheap tickets for the Criterion theatre to see a play called The Comedy About A Bank Robbery. It was hilarious. It was very witty and relied heavily on word play and I did think DIL would struggle a bit but she completely got it and loved it. Her English is really good now although she still struggles a bit with TV programmes like Catchphrase but she is Learning fast. Well she is a bright girl...:rotfl:

When we came out of the theatre it was snowing so rather than wander round the West End looking for a nice restaurant we just dived into the Angus Steakhouse which was just opposite the theatre. Not terribly exciting but the steaks were good.

We made up for it today. DIL was in and out of the Embassy in record quick time. I think people might have been put off by the bad weather so there were no queues. After she had had a little rest at the hotel we headed off to a Venezuelan restaurant she wanted to show me and had a slap up lunch before coming home.

I love London and if I could afford a property I would move down there in a heartbeat. So much to see and do and if you are a bit savvy I really do not think it actually costs more than any other city. So much is even free.

I know a lot of people say that it is not a friendly city but I can honestly say I have never had any difficulty in chatting to people or making contact. We found people to be friendly, courteous and helpful and we struck up conversations with lots of people, in restaurants, in the theatre, in the hotel bar.

Now you all know how much I like people watching .......well what better place than London to engage in one of my favourite pursuits.......

Here is a conclusion I have come to - too many people wear dark coloured coats. :rotfl:

All I could see was a sea of black or navy. Even my DILs coat was black, although she did at least liven it up with a brightly coloured paisley print pashmina......which I bought her for Christmas.

Me.....I wore my Winter White mohair coat, so cosy and warm and yes I stood out from the crowd. The other thing ......which happened purely by accident was the colour of my new carry on sized case.

I had ordered one in plum. When it arrived it was Barbie Pink. I decided I liked it so kept it. It was the source of much amusement, with taxi drivers, the hotel staff, in the Venezuelan restaurant today, fellow train passengers. Loads of people commented on it and teased me a bit. I just laughed at their ribbing and told them I was Legally Blonde....after the Reese Witherspoon character in the film.

So......with my white coat and my Barbie pink case I think I must have been rather noticeable. :rotfl: Maybe that is what helped break the ice, making me look approachable so that people found it easy to strike up a conversation. I am not sure but I have to say, hopefully without sounding too vain, I do prefer not to blend in too much with the crowd.

One of the things that can happen to women of a certain age is that we can become invisible. I have heard so many women complain about this. They say they get ignored in shops, restaurants and bars etc or worse they are fobbed off with second rate service. I think this can happen......if we let it. So my answer is .....do not blend in to the point where you become invisible.

Smell divine, put on some slap, style your hair, and wear your nice clothes. Dare to wear bright colours (ok maybe not Barbie pink:rotfl:)

Ban the beige and ditch the boring black!!!!

Unless of course it is a gorgeous little black dress that you have dressed up with some fabulous accessories.