Frugal Frump to Fab - 2015

Rummer

Today I popped on a dress and sandals even though it was not that warm as it has been sitting idle through the rain over the last few weeks and I was determined to wear it :rotfl:

My DD was going to beauticians today and I popped in with her and got my eyebrows tidied up and they had a shellac offer which I am going to take up next week. Never had it before but I thought it would be fun for a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow is full on fabbing night as OH has plans with friends and I will have peace and quiet to do all those things I have been planning so come Saturday I will look a bit more polished

I have decided tonight to create some meal plans for the next few weeks so I can reduce our food bills and ensure that their are healthy meals ready each day.

Hugs to those having a tough time.

maman

Haven't had time to read back properly today so sorry if I've missed anything.


Good to see you again beluga and WOW!! have you been busy. Sorting out your life like that with all the plans, placements and study is fabbing in its own way but do make time for some pampering.


rummer, I'm sure that planning healthy meals will be good for your budget and your weightloss plan for 2016. I always plan our meals, buy only the ingredients we need and so waste is minimal and also means I don't just throw rubbish in the trolley and can't be tempted to snack.


If Fab Thursday evening is possible I did it! :DWe were just going to the pub to watch football and have a pub meal. I had thought just to go as I was but having kondoed a couple of cupboards I was feeling a bit grubby and dusty. So instead I got changed into my new black skinnies, ballet pumps, white top and soft red scarf (team colours;)) and I felt good!


Hugs to everyone having a hard time. Like LL said it's not a competition so we all deserve a hug. I took a day off battling about my phone problems today but I'll be back!!

MissRarr

Morning everyone!

Rummer, good luck with your goals and thanks for your very inspiring and enthusiastic post!

Beluga - well done! I'd love to try to find the time for a new qualification so I'm really pleased to hear you're doing so well.

LL - So sorry to hear how you've been feeling and what you're up against. It must be incredibly tough - thoughts are with you!!

I'm not doing great either. Been mentally busy at work for the last four days and finally have two days off. One more shift pattern over the next week with one big deadline and one other big project and then I've got a week off. So, today first of all it's back to bed for a lie in because after a run of early mornings my brain has woken me up far too early!! :rotfl: Then I think a bit of fabbing and pampering, maybe a wander into town and, hopefully, back on the diet after a few days of enforced "eating on the run"

indiepanda

Plumbing issues are still rumbling on - I need to get an access point cut into my main waste water drain pipe by a plumber so the drains people can come back and stick a large claw down it - they've unblocked what they can using a small one down one of the smaller pipes that goes into the main drain pipe. Plumber scheduled to come back today and hopefully I can get the insurance company to send the drain people back again quite quickly - they were out in a few hours last time.

As the plumbing isn't complete I didn't do much in the kitchen yesterday for fear I'd end up having to redo later if I got another leak when having a shower or running the washing machine.

What I did do, which was immensely satisfying, was get all my jewellery boxes out and clean all the tarnished silver, sort out a bunch of costume jewellery I don't wear to go to the CS, throw away some cheap broken stuff and reorganise / put everything away properly so I can find it. This all enabled me to get my jewellery away properly rather than having an "overflow" cardboard box some pieces were sitting in.

I still need to have a second pass through it all while sat in front of a mirror trying on the things I haven't worn so much lately to decide if it's worth keeping them. For example, I have a rather large amount of amber jewellery for someone who wears more blues and greens than oranges, yellows and browns. Some of it is really special and I will keep, but there's some pendants and earrings I picked up as a job lot off ebay some years back that I need to look hard at and decide which I really want to keep - they're similar enough that if one pair of earrings / pendant would go with an outfit, so would another.

What was clear was that I need to be a bit more focused in what I buy and veer more towards good quality stuff. I really love things like my two sets of Ortak enamel pendants and matching stud earrings and wear them over and over at both work and home so they were well worth the money. However, some of the cheaper costume jewellery sets I have maybe worn once and never again - which cost per wear makes them more expensive than my Ortak.

Don't get me wrong, I have some sets of glass beads I've worn over and over and you would have to fight me to get me to throw them away - but even there, my favourite set came from a trip to Murano so wasn't cheap either. Motto for the future - and this will apply to clothes too - quality over quantity.

Off to see my trainer for an extra session later this morning - she's going to look at my running technique and get me running faster - which will be good. I am the slowest of my group of girls that I go out with - two are much quicker and one is marginally faster, and it would be nice to not hold the others up. Need to schedule a few more appointments to focus on this during August before my return to work in mid Sept.

Going to the hygenist later, get the teeth as sparkly clean as they can be without whitening. The whitening isn't that pricey though - am definitely thinking that is a "when" not "if" thing to do. Don't get me wrong, mine aren't bright yellow... but you can tell I like my coffee black. The dentist tells me this whitening technique will mean I can carry on doing that - you top the treatment up cheaply each year as the cost is in the trays not the gels that do the whitening.

Ellsbel

Hi everyone.
Totally agree on the costume jewellery indie. I have loads of it that I never wear so really, however much, or little, I've spent on it has been a waste of money!
I think one or two signature pieces might be a better idea for me, if and when I get my mojo back!
Hope you get a chance to recharge the batteries - mentally and physically miss Rarr
Well done on the meal plans, rummerI could do with making meal plans for brekkies and lunches actually - I don't always choose the best option and if it goes wrong eating-wise early in the day then all good intentions collapse!
beluga your training and OU degree sound really exciting! Good for you for working so hard on something you want to happen:)
Mental fabbing is every bit as important as physical fabbing.
Sounds like a fab outfit, maman, and the team colours obviously worked
vnms *hugs* sorry you're having a rough time, and lesson learned I think you're quite right in taking all the time you need to heal before booking your holiday or finding a house.
I'm not doing great today - just had a visit from someone close who came over just to have a moan to me and offload, which is fine - I don't mind being a listening ear, and frequently am, but since she left I've been sitting here feeling so sad, as its dawned on me, that actually I've not been in a good place mentally for a heck of a long time, and most of the people in my life seem to seek me out when they want to grumble to someone, but completely forget about me the rest of the time!
I don't think there will be much fabbing today, other than a gentle walk.
Off to load washing machine now before I do actually drown in self pity:D
Have a good weekend everyone x

indiepanda

Ellsbel wrote: »

I'm not doing great today - just had a visit from someone close who came over just to have a moan to me and offload, which is fine - I don't mind being a listening ear, and frequently am, but since she left I've been sitting here feeling so sad, as its dawned on me, that actually I've not been in a good place mentally for a heck of a long time, and most of the people in my life seem to seek me out when they want to grumble to someone, but completely forget about me the rest of the time!
I don't think there will be much fabbing today, other than a gentle walk.
Off to load washing machine now before I do actually drown in self pity:D

Sorry to hear you're not doing great today. Can't be nice feeling that most of the people in your life use you to grumble too without checking you're ok. Do they realise you aren't feeling great yourself?

The reason I ask I've come to realise over the years that I can appear in control and quite happy on the surface even when I am feeling dreadful inside, and so people don't necessarily offer help or a listening ear when really I need it.

It took me getting to the point where I got alopecia as well as feeling suicidal with stress and eventually getting signed off work for six weeks to realise I had to learn to ask for help - even if just in the form of a listening ear - rather than wait for people to realise I needed it. I am still a bit prone to being overly independent, but have improved greatly.

I do appreciate this might not be the case with you - might be your friends are just a bit thoughtless!

Do get out for that walk - I find walking such a great stress reliever / mood enhanced, especially if I can get away from traffic. I live in London (though edge of zone 2/3 so it's not that busy off the main roads) and we have lovely parks and even a little wood nearby. Especially love going to the pond and seeing the ducks etc - in the late spring / early summer I was mesmerized by the ducklings, goslings etc.

maman

indiepanda wrote: »

This all enabled me to get my jewellery away properly rather than having an "overflow" cardboard box some pieces were sitting in.

That's one of the things that MK is doing for me. I'm pretty good at having categories stored in the same place. For example yesterday I only found a single pencil that had lost it's way and should have been with others in stationery. BUT like you I have created overflow areas. I could kid myself and say they were sub-categories;) but truly I just have too much stuff. I don't really wear costume jewellery but like LL I have good stuff some of which is inherited that never gets worn. Most days I just wear my grandmother's wedding ring, 11 gold bangles and my (cheap M&S) watch.


So sorting jewellery and wearing some of it might be close on the list of things to be kondoed next.

indiepanda wrote: »

Sorry to hear you're not doing great today. Can't be nice feeling that most of the people in your life use you to grumble too without checking you're ok. Do they realise you aren't feeling great yourself?

The reason I ask I've come to realise over the years that I can appear in control and quite happy on the surface even when I am feeling dreadful inside, and so people don't necessarily offer help or a listening ear when really I need it.

It took me getting to the point where I got alopecia as well as feeling suicidal with stress and eventually getting signed off work for six weeks to realise I had to learn to ask for help - even if just in the form of a listening ear - rather than wait for people to realise I needed it. I am still a bit prone to being overly independent, but have improved greatly.

I do appreciate this might not be the case with you - might be your friends are just a bit thoughtless!

WOW!! How I can identify with that. Fortunately not to the point of it making me ill. I'm not blaming others it's just that I am independent by nature so that's how people perceive me. It's how I want people to perceive me most of the time but makes it difficult when you're feeling a bit vulnerable.


I wonder if that's what makes threads like these so helpful. It's great to be able to offload to virtual friends while keeping the public face intact IYSWIM. Maybe that's a bit philosophical but it works for me:).


It's a lovely bright day here. Not doing much except meal planning and food shopping but the good weather always gives me a lift. Strangely enough I enjoy food shopping as it makes me feel virtuous seeing a trolley full of healthy food knowing I've made good choices for the week ahead.


As it's sunny I've put on a bright cotton White Stuff skirt (pinks/grey/green) with a white top so I'm feeling summery. Have a good day all.:A

Ellsbel

Thanks *indie* - it sounds like you've had a really rough time of it - glad you've turned a corner
You're so right about walking lifting the spirits too.
I am the kind of person who sticks on a smile with people when I'm not really feeling it, but there are a few people close to me who I have told I'm struggling a bit; they always turn the subject back to themselves though :rotfl:
It's ok - most of the time it doesn't bother me, it's just now and again it leaves me feeling a bit down x
*maman* you're so right about being able to offload on here:) hope I don't do it too much though!!:D

Rummer

No need to ever apologise for offloading on here That is one good thing about forums is that you can say how you feel without being interrupted.

MissRarr

Indie - I totally get that feeling as well. It explains a lot of the current work situation I'm in which is so draining. I don't know what's going on at a higher level, but I'm good at reading people and I've known my formerly brilliant line manager has not been right for a while, and whereas I've been able to finally crack under pressure and get a supportive, understanding chat with him before, I was reduced to trying to do the same this week and the reaction was shockingly bad. I currently feel like some sort of sub-human drone in their eyes, when myself and my peers used to be treated well.

If you do decide to offload some amber jewellery let me know - I might be tempted to treat myself! I used to love the expression of character that jewellery allows and that's another thing that I've let slide of late.

Today has become, as expected, a "crash day" - they happen every so often due to the massive commute and sometimes mental workload. I know I should be good but I literally don't care today. Probably not going to achieve much and feel too shattered to even style my hair or do make up - I just need some downtime. So, glass of wine, GBBO and flicking through a cookbook and try to rally the enthusiasm to cook a lovely dinner for when the OH gets in. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.