Frump to Fab 2016 - Lets make it AWESOME!!!

sugarbaby125

Ruby thanks for the heads up on the Merlin attractions offer with Travel Zoo. I am not really into these types of attractions. I did the London Eye in the 2nd year after installation and found it quite boring and very expensive, the other attractions I am not interested enough to want to visit. I hope someone else will benefit from this information though as it is a really great deal.

I decided to buy the Thames Riverboat Cruise deal for myself as this was already on my wish list for this Summer and I saved £5.20 on the usual advance online booking price. :T

I hope the car trip is a positive experience for you and your family. Preparation is key. Try to make sure you have everything you could possibly need for any type of emergency packed in the car from the night before. I find that making a list based on the needs of everyone helps me to stay focused on what is essential and what may be needed for various emergency situations.

Ellsbel

Wishing you a smooth journey, Ruby. I'm glad you love the Brazilian blow dry; I've not had one before so am slightly nervous given that my hair is highlighted (bad memories of a disastrous perm on heavily highlighted hair back in the eighties- was going for the Madonna look of the time but ended up looking like Worzel Gummidge and had to have it cut short :rotfl:!)- good to hear it works well on your coloured hair.
Lots of running about to do this morning so proper fabbing will happen later - I've a couple of hours to myself this afternoon so I'm going to give myself a face mask.

maman

sugarbaby125 wrote: »

I decided to buy the Thames Riverboat Cruise deal for myself as this was already on my wish list for this Summer and I saved £5.20 on the usual advance online booking price. :T

I've done that and enjoyed a stop off at Greenwich. The chapel and painted hall (now part of Greenwich University but free entry IIRC) was worth seeing and a walk up through the park to the Meridian (and more museums if you're interested).


Another thing I've done quite cheaply is a guided tour of Shakespeare's Globe and always worth checking the booth in Leicester Square for reduced theatre tickets if you fancy a show.


I'm doing Fab Friday but just smart casual for the shops. Maybe one day I'll do something more exciting on a Friday! So jeans and a top and make up. Theatre trip tomorrow so maybe something a bit more glamorous then.;)

lessonlearned

Think I've caught DS2s tummy bug so just taking it easy.

Doing a bit of a paperwork Sort out to make myself useful. :rotfl:

Love GReenwich - it was DS2s university, plus many moons ago an old flame worked at the Martime Museuem so I know the area quite well. Fabulous market.

The university buildings are stunning.

chanie

We drove through Greenwich on our way to the family party. We live about 40 minutes away from Greenwich, but it's not somewhere we've ever been, so it's now on my list of places to explore.

Family party was nice. I wore the dress I wore to two weddings a couple of month ago and my new wedge heels (really comfy). The venue itself was nice, but cold, so I spent most of the party with my coat on. Glad it's over now.

indiepanda

Hello all

Not sure quite where the last couple of weeks have gone. My weekend away was good. Visited the guy I split up with last year at his flat in Leamington - stayed there Thursday night (in the spare room), went for a walk across the fields near Kenilworth the next day, had a pub lunch with him and his friend who I know from London then went to have a look at the micro brewery they have bought. Then we went our separate ways, him to play real tennis and me off to my hiking trip, staying in Evesham for three nights and hiking during the day.

We tend to use Best Westerns for these trips and the one in the village near Evesham was better than the average, food was really nice and it was an interesting old building. The weather was kind to us and stayed dry every day and especially sunny on the Sunday, met some nice new people including a woman who lives quite near me who I expect to meet up with at some point, good hikes etc. Got fabbed up each night (jeans but with my new rose gold sandals, pretty tops, make up, jewellery and straightened hair) and enjoyed the comfort of my new hiking boots during the day.

After finishing our walk on the last afternoon I went back to Leamington to see the ex again as it was his birthday. Not that he would usually want to make any fuss of it - none of his friends know when it is, but I didn't want it to pass unnoticed. Anyway, we had a nice walk into town the long but pretty way round via the canal and river and then had a curry at what was probably the poshest curry house I have been to before walking back to his the long way again. Then drove back to London but by the time I got home it was past 11 and I'd had to stop for coffee en route to stop me nodding off on the motorway which wasn't ideal.

I am used to working a 4 day week and having my Monday off to get myself together, so going straight into work on Tuesday was a bit of a shock. I hadn't remembered to arrange a food delivery for after I got back and I feel like I have been playing catch up on sleep all week, not helped by the fact I must have done getting on for a day of unpaid overtime by working late most nights. So, no exercise and food... all over the place.

Anyway, fortunately I hadn't made plans to go away this weekend so am starting to catch up now, slept in (well, till 8:30, but that's sleeping in by my standards) yesterday and today, got some healthy food in the fridge and more on the way from Abel and Cole tomorrow, got some of the unpacking done and should finish this morning, did a couple of loads of laundry and a home facial and manicure / pedicure whilst catching up on some TV I recorded. Need to get back on the plan this week and get ready for my next weekend away - at least it's not till the end of the month and I have a day off after this time so it shouldn't derail me in quite the same way.

Sorry to hear about you and Wayne, Sugarbaby, have to admit what you were saying about feeling he was trying to impress you with his money and push you with declarations of love sounds rather familiar. The chap I saw earlier this year was doing similar, it felt like he was trying to buy my devotion and rush me into feeling more than I would feel about someone I hadn't known that long.

Pleased to hear about all the fabbing successes and good weddings / parties / summer plans. Am looking forward to a summery afternoon in the pub garden with my friends. Must drink lots of water and too much wine or next week might end up off the rails too! At least being a Sunday they have work tomorrow so likely to be a bit more moderate, and possibly recovering from hangovers from yesterday too!

Have a fab week all x

lessonlearned

Isn't that a problem at venues, you are never sure how hot or cold somewhere is likely to be so you never know whether or not to risk that slinky little backless sleeveless number.

Either the venue is naturally freezing or they crank up the air con. One of our local cinemas is guilty of this. Some of the public rooms on the cruise were quite cold sometimes so a lot of the ladies wore pashminas. I find planes can be quite cold too so always have a pashmina on hand, just in case.

High air con always gives me a sore neck too. I once worked in an office where I sat right under the duct and began to suffer neck problems. We wore uniforms and I started wearing a pashmina round my shoulders.

One of the younger women in the office who fancied herself as a go getter went into a rant about it in front of the boss saying I looked unprofessional (she was trying to curry favour with him by making me look stupid). It soon backfired on her when the boss suggested we swapped seats.....:rotfl:

Well I had a funny couple of days when my son passed his tummy bug to me but thankfully I feel much better now so today I will be playing catch up, cleaning, ironing etc.

Tonight I am going out to dinner with friends so I will fab up Later.
If the weather forecast is right and it gets hot I think I might wear my grey dress I wore to the wedding. It's quite dressy but it doesn't scream "wedding outfit" so I don't think I will look "overdone".

It cost me a lot of money so I may as well get some wear out of it.

Yesterday my little shoe shop shut its doors for the last time so I snapped up another couple of final bargains. That's me well stocked up with shoes now. Also picked up a mid grey fine knit sweater from a charity shop, perfect for mid season or cooler summer evenings.

A bit grey here and still quite chilly but sun promised later so might get the chance to sit out in the garden.

Now that the mad May party month is over I am looking forward to spending the rest of the summer just quietly pottering about, working on the garden, decluttering, seeing friends, hopefully a few days in Belguim in August.

I have booked a decorator to do the hall, stairs and landing in July and need to organise a carpenter to do a few final bits and then DS2s house is done.

I am ready to move on to the next project. :rotfl:

lessonlearned

Good news.....Paleo going well. Weight loss 2lbs in 4 days......

maddiemay

LL - that is great news, the even better news for me is that it seems to have arrived here:j, OH and I returned from holiday a few days early because I was not very well (no need to feel too sorry for me, we had already been away 21 days:D), but I was only 1 pound above the underweight category, which is not a good look on me. I will take up to another 5 pounds if you want to waft them this way:D

Seriously, it just shows that if we give our bodies the type of food they need it gives a great result and no hunger pangs either?

BTW, I fortunately do not have an eating disorder, just a pesky medical condition:eek:

It has been another gorgeous warm sunny day here today, I hope that everyone is blessed too.

lessonlearned

Believe it or not Maddie there was a time when I was half a stone under the minimum weight I should have been. I fought for years to gain weight but couldn't.....,ironic isn't it, now I'm overweight and struggling to get it down.

They never did find out why I was so underweight. I ate like a horse.
At least now since losing some weight I am no longer technically in the obese range.

When I was underweight I caught everything that was going and had repeated throat infections, although apart from that I actually felt fine and had bags of energy, although I did have IBS and stomach ulcers. Mind I was a lot younger then.;)

But I think you are right......it's all about putting the right "fuel" Into your body. Since dropping grains from my diet I do feel much better, definitely fewer tummy upsets. I don't know if this is because I now take probiotics every day.

Although I did catch DS2s tummy bug I wasn't as ill as he was and I think this is because my immune system is Improving and my stomach lining has repaired itself and is no longer so inflamed. This time I bounced back much more quickly than he has, in fact he's still not 100 per cent so I have advised him to take some probiotics and a multivitamin.

Realistically I have 3 and a half stones to lose. I have set myself a gosl of 1 stone by August 14th, for when I go to Belguim.

I found Barcelona very tiring and it's only because I'm lugging too much weight. I am hoping that by losing weight I will have more energy.

I know it sounds like an excuse but healthy eating isn't always the easiest option is it, especially when you need to avoid wheat, all grains and potatoes. Wheat is in just about everything. It's only by cooking from scratch that you can be sure.

I find a lot of the gluten free stuff is still grain based so not really much use. A sandwich or a bowl of Cereal, or an oat or muesli type bar is such a quick easy snack, especially when you are out and about.

However, the good news is that I have noticed that the range in supermarkets is improving though, there are more grain free alternatives than there were even just a year ago. I have even found some grain free granola whereas previously I had to make my own.

Of course anything that is nut or quinoa based rather than Grain based costs a lot more so I still cook as much as I can from scratch, except for the nut based granola. I found making it myself was not much cheaper than buying it so I don't feel guilty about buying it, even if it is over £5 a box compared to say around £1 or so for a wheat based equivalent.

A girl has to eat something and a diet based on meat, fish, vegetables, nuts and seeds costs a lot more than one that is heavy on pasta, rice and cereals.

Still I guess it's worth the effort if it means I'm not constantly suffering stomach problems. I cannot tell you the relief on being - at least for the most part - pain free.

I'm still struggling with fibro but again hopefully over time this will respond to my change in eating habits and of course losing weight will take the pressure of my joints.

Who knows - by the time I enter my 70s I may be fitter than I was in my 40s.......:rotfl:

I was talking to a gentleman the other day who didn't start running until he was 74......

Hope for me yet.;)