Frump to Fab 2017 - A Whole New World

lessonlearned

Lainey - I have been drinking sparkling water with a slice of lemon during this hot weather. It is very refreshing and of course zero calories. I buy Sainsbugs. Basics 29p a litre and it really is lovely.

Well Maman you asked what I treated myself to for my birthday. Well it's quite an eclectic mix - a mash up of frivolous and practical. A proper knee brace to help my knee, :rotfl: (not very glamourous) but extremely useful, some new make up, and a book on Investing (hopefully that will turn out to be a good investment ha ha).

I had no intention of buying clothes because I have wardrobes full. Then this morning I looked atthe justlastseason website and they had some "Monday Madness" offers so I bought a pale grey Jacques Verte chiffon crepe dress £89 but it was down To £29 with a further 10 per cent voucher......well it wouldhave been rude not to wouldnt it. Very plain, Its one of those dresses that can be dressed up or down and will take you anywhere. I can't wear black so this will be my equivalent of a LBD (little black dress).

Then......I had a further couple of small wins.....

Took my car for a repair and the bill came in at £30 less than quoted plus I won £25 on the premium bonds. So, in the end, my birthday treats hardly cost me anything.....

Then I picked up a bag of yellow stickered parsnips ........one of my favourite vegetables.

Who said you can't live it large on a shoestring budget.

On Saturday I got taken out to a lovely country house hotel for a posh afternoon tea. My sons hadn't realised when they chose it that it was where we had our wedding reception. It bought back some very happy memories.

For the occasion I wore a calf length blue/turquoise and purple swirly patterned pure silk dress - £10 from a charity shop - bought several years ago and which has had at least a dozen outings so price per wear is around £0.80p.:rotfl: I slung a cotton turquoise silk/cotton shrug £3 charity shop over my shoulders.

I definitely looked the part .....there was a wedding there and I looked as good as the bridal guests in all their finery, even if I do say so myself. In fact one of the waiters assumed I was a wedding guest.

It just goes to show you really don't need to spend a fortune to look nice.

Sugarbaby - your outings sound fabulous.

chanie

LL what a lovely birthday you had. I love the thought of you being mistaken for a wedding guest at the venue you had your own wedding reception.


I had a bit of a lazy work day today. I spent the morning preparing a homemade weightwatchers tracker, so I can use it to record what I'm eating. I added a couple of extra columns for water and fruit/veg intake as well. Its looks very pretty and I hope it gives me the incentive to loose weight, as I've really struggled with the Plan otherwise.

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

I waited all day and evening to hear from my Doctor on Monday. I called the surgery twice to make sure I was still on the call back list and they confirmed I was. I finally got a call from her just after 7.30pm on Tuesday evening on my mobile. I missed the call, but she left a message. Apparently the latest results from my tests have not yet been received by her, so I just have to be patient. :cool:

I am going to a Hypertension group meeting that my surgery has set up for patients on Thursday afternoon. Hopefully I will gain more knowledge and will feel even more motivated to keep improving my diet and the amount of daily exercise I am doing.

I went to a food tasting event at Cubana in Waterloo yesterday evening. As it was literally pouring down with rain, less than half of the expected number of people turned up. My daughter and I had the most aromatic, delicious Cuban street food and a mojito each all for free. :T We also got another portion of food to take away, so that will be my lunch today. This Cuban restaurant, has friendly, professional staff and there is a lovely warmth and ambience in the restaurant. The food has so many subtle flavours and there is so many dishes to try on the menu. We will definitely return as paying customers when the weather is dry again. It has space to dine al fresco and that is what I would prefer to do on our return visit.

maman

You seem to be an expert on finding very exciting and mse :money:things to do sugarbaby. Well done! I saw the Viceroy's House a while ago when it was in the cinema. I agree the interiors were sumptuous, definitely given the Downton Abbey treatment. I enjoyed it and it motivated me to read more about the partition. I do that a lot with historical novels too.


I hope you find the hypertension session useful.:)


I went to the GP this morning to check out my ankle. Apparently it's an inflamed Achilles tendon probably caused by wearing very flat sandals on holiday as I suspected. The doctor said that exercise is good (which I'm pleased about because of my dancing) and he's given me an exercise to do as well. I don't like bothering them for such a minor thing but I asked the nurse for advice (rest v exercise) on Monday and she recommended I made an appointment.


I'm keeping up with fabbing. On Monday I had the shellac taken off my nails to give them a rest. I've cut them short and last night I've painted them with the Barry M manicure treatments I bought a while ago. I always seem to take more care of my nails when I don't have shellac because I'm more conscious of how they look. Shellac covers a multitude of syns.


Yesterday I went into the city centre partly to browse in the sales. I bought myself a very pretty dress which will be useful for dancing. Like you Lainey I'm wearing dresses a lot more than I used to, especially in good weather and with brown legs.:D
http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prod_10701_10001_120010834733_-1


The dress was half price so won't need many outings to be cost effective. In Top Shop I bought a matching shawl/pashmina for £5. I've got a skirt, cardigan and silky top now all in that colour so can do mix and match. Then in TK Maxx I got some black suede ballet pumps (also on clearance) to give my Dune ones a rest as I'm wearing those a lot lately.


That was for me but I bought some pretty bedding for home fabbing in Primark of all places. It's plain white with a trim of Art Deco style green embroidery. I was tempted to buy some coloured glasswear of the same era in the CS but decided I probably have plenty at home. I may go back though.:o


So, all in all a successful shopping trip and not very expensive either.


Sorry it's all been a bit me me today. Hope you're all having a good day.:A

lessonlearned

Maman....what a pretty dress. Your shopping trip sounds fab.
I had a little shopping spree yesterday too.

Bought some gorgeous curtains for my new bedroom (I will be moving into DS2s room) - just need to get some paint and then we can get started next week. Also ordered a couple of £0.01p books from a certain online bookseller and I bought myself a pretty cut glass perfume bottle. One of my usual "something shiny" from my husband to me for my birthday:rotfl:

So a nice few treats this week.

Well now bet you can't guess......

MY sister is suing for peace. :rotfl:

I think her conscience finally got the better of her because she has upped her offer to £10k from her first derisory offer of £2k

I have accepted it with good grace.

It's still far short of an equitable 50-50 split but it was never really about the actual amount, rather the lies, deception and my fathers spitefulness and her collusion.

Anyway I have accepted the profferred olive branch. I will of course be courteous and polite and will do my utmost to ensure that peace and harmony is restored once more to the family for the sake of our children and wider family members. However, I shall not be getting "close" again. I will maintain a healthy and cordial distance. I doubt that I will ever be able to trust her again so I won't be spending much time with her.

Is her contrition genuine, or is she after something again. Only time will tell but as you can see now that my trust has been broken I am a tad sceptical.......

Anyway some chair painting beckons......will be glad when I've finished. :rotfl:

Floss

LL well that was a surprise! Perhaps you should do something with the money so if she ever comes back for it, you can honestly say "Oh I don't have it any more, I donated it to the cats home / spent it on a sports car / gave it to the Big Issue seller in the precinct " :D

savingfortomorrow

lessons learned
that is a turn up for the books. I agree with Floss, use it for something that you will enjoy, perhaps something indulgent and truly wonderful. Travel or buy a beautiful piece of art but enjoy it! I hope that it gives you some pleasure.

lessonlearned

Yes it was a surprise......My gob was well and truly smacked. :rotfl:

and yes I am going to use it for some of life's nice little extras, and to to make some of my cherished dreams come true.

It will be my travel and adventure fund.

So yes I most definitely will "take the trip, buy the shoes" or in my case, the painting or beautiful piece of glassware. . :rotfl:

It will be nice too to be able to be generous to the boys and their ladies and to treat them now and again. I already do of course when I can but it will be nice to have a little bit extra to play with.

ScarlettMcCain

A (very) belated Happy Birthday from me LL - we were away for the weekend taking the boys to Peppa Pig World - 30 degree heat, thousands of screaming toddlers and me with a tummy bug, such fun! It wasn't as bad as it could have been as the park itself has lots of nice bits to rest in, but I could have done without being poorly. The boys have been under the weather since we got back too


Glad to hear that you had a lovely time, and looked completely fab at your celebrations! :bdaycake: And what a shock about your sister, although on reflection it sounds like her conscience has (finally!) got the better of her. If nothing else the money can be used to treat you and your loved ones, bringing some pleasure you weren't expecting.


I think it's a great idea about meeting up too, I could probably make it into London on a weekend afternoon, but not the first week in October as we are away then for the boys' second birthday (Sept 30th onwards). Any other date would hopefully be fine


Your invitation cheered me up actually as a friend has just cancelled on me yet again; she's such a nice girl, I've known her almost 20 years and she always says how much she'd like to meet up, however this is the 4th time in a row that she's cancelled and I'm getting a bit disheartened!! There were three occasions over Christmas - I gave up for a while after that and then when she came back to me, we arranged a get together for this Saturday - she's now told me that she's double booked herself and can't make it. As the previous three excuses were a double booking, illness and family problems I think I'll leave it again for a bit..... it was irritating when she used to do this pre-babies but now I have the boys, it's even more irritating as I don't think she realises how difficult it is for me to arrange a few hours to get away.


It's been rather chilly here today, but a welcome rest from being far too hot, and much better for me trying to look after poorly babies! I hear one stirring so had better go.....

maman

Ooohrubyslippers I live just 15 minutes from Peppa Pig World! Sorry to hear you've had a tummy bug though. It was baking hot on Saturday. I was dancing in the evening and almost melted away.

I'd be very wary of your sister's offer LL. Not exactly take the money and run but, as you said, keep a polite distance. It's an overture but I think too much water has flowed for you to trust her completely.

Glad you treated yourself to some birthday gifts.