Frump to Fab 2019 - Here We Go Again

Wednesday2000

I love dresses. I find them so comfortable to wear. I don't even own one pair of jeans.:D

I had a lovely weekend. The concert was really good and the hotel was very nice. The vegan cafe was amazing! I met my friends last night and we had a good time.

I feel very tired now though as we did a lot of walking down by the coast.

Oh yes, I went to Romford last night for the first time in ages and I saw that Cosmo restaurant people on here were talking about. The queues were stretching back through the lobby so the food must be good there!:)

lessonlearned

Exhausted now......after an afternoon of repairing the beams, filling in cracks on plasterwork etc. Wish I had shares in Polyfilla. :rotfl:

Have just treated myself to a long soak in an Epsom salt bath and given myself a mild facial skin peel. I look radiant. :rotfl: my skin feels lovely.

Didn't get round to tackling my ironing because I did more diy than I had planned to do but once I got stuck in I really enjoyed it. I have set myself a target to get the dining room finished by the end of November. It doesn't sound much but it's a massive job. So much prep work to do. It obviously hasn't been touched in years. In fact the whole house was in a time warp long before Miss Haversham moved in and she did nothing. I don't think she even lifted a duster.......

It's a labour of love. Lol.

Going to have a nice relaxing evening now......light the candles, .coffee, chocolate, a nice film and an earlyish night.

chanie

Wednesday2000 wrote: »

Oh yes, I went to Romford last night for the first time in ages and I saw that Cosmo restaurant people on here were talking about. The queues were stretching back through the lobby so the food must be good there!:)

It’s not that the food is good, it’s just a huge buffet with a wide variety of food from around the world.

I can’t believe how different Romford is. I used to go to school in the area, but haven’t been in about 15 years. Its unrecognisable now, but in a good way. I’d like to go back to properly explore my old haunts, when I get some time.

Sugar I hope it doesn’t take too long to sort out the council tax.

I love dresses too and they are one of my favourite items to work, particularly for work. I have lots of patterned tights I have picked up from TK Maxx, which I wear with them.

silvasava

Morning all.
What a pita Sugarbaby - hope you can get it sorted soon.
LL my kitchen has been finished & I'm slowly 'dressing' the room. Managed to find a lovely console table that had seen better days. DH has reglued the joints, sanded, primed and repainted and it looks stunning now, Im so pleased with it
Going to ring the hairdresser's today for a cut & blow-dry to use up the last of my voucher money. Theoretically it's expired but fingers crossed they'll honour the last bit.
I've managed to find two or three dresses in the CS but I only wear them occasionally, generally I'm in jeans. I bought a lovely black and white one that had black band trimming down the front, hem and sleeves but when I got home decided it was too short but I've removed the hem trim, shortened it and replaced the trim & it's now a lovely hip length top.

maman

That's a ridiculous situation sugarbaby. It's obviously verifiable that your son lives in student accommodation so how on earth can they think he's living with you! Madness. :mad:

That table sounds really lovely silva. We have one in the sitting room behind the sofa that my BIL had in his shed and a lovely chest in the hall that was originally painted white and an old neighbour was throwing away. Both are really good quality wood and after stripping down etc they look amazing. While I can see the usefulness of furniture from places like Ikea (we have a complete wall of Billy bookcases in the study) I do like real wood.

I'm another that is wearing jeans less and less. I'm wearing leggings around the house and copying Wednesday by wearing them with dresses and skirts. I'll have to wear socks or tights very soon but, at the moment, I like having my feet free.:D

I've made an appointment for the podiatrist but it's not for a couple of weeks yet.:( I just go to Shuropody (used to be Scholl) but they seem to be very short of staff . It's hard to predict when I need to go next so I don't usually make advance appointments but I think I'll have to consider that.

The week's weather looks pretty miserable but I'm sure there are indoor things to be getting on with.

Wednesday2000

I'm about to go and pick up the altered dress. :A

I want to look for some more long necklaces as I've realised I keep wearing that silver one I bought the most. I will probably look on Amazon!:D

chanie wrote: »

It’s not that the food is good, it’s just a huge buffet with a wide variety of food from around the world.

I can’t believe how different Romford is. I used to go to school in the area, but haven’t been in about 15 years. Its unrecognisable now, but in a good way. I’d like to go back to properly explore my old haunts, when I get some time.

Sugar I hope it doesn’t take too long to sort out the council tax.

I love dresses too and they are one of my favourite items to work, particularly for work. I have lots of patterned tights I have picked up from TK Maxx, which I wear with them.

I hadn't been out there in about 10 years and I thought it looked really different too. I kept saying to my husband that it looked a lot less run down. It seems a lot more ethnically diverse too.:) The pub we were in had been done up a lot from what I remember of it in the past.

I want to get some patterned tights too, I like that look.

maman wrote: »

I'm another that is wearing jeans less and less. I'm wearing leggings around the house and copying Wednesday by wearing them with dresses and skirts. I'll have to wear socks or tights very soon but, at the moment, I like having my feet free.:D

It's in between weather at the moment. I'm wearing a short dress, waterfall cardi but still in sandals with my leggings.:p

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

What is so frustrating with the Council Tax issue and my son being at University, is that the University provided the written proof that my son is living in Urbanest Waterloo, provided the address and the postcode of the accommodation.

According to Lambeth Benefits because the letter on headed paper provided by the University also stated that my son's home address is my address, then they need further written proof that he does not live at home from the University. But it also stated that they needed a home address and his student accommodation address for the University's records. The Lambeth Benefits decision maker decided that the wording meant that the University was confirming that my son lives at home. :eek: If that was true, why would he have a separate address which is a well known specialist student accommodation address?

Yet Lambeth Benefits refused to amend the decision that reduces my Council Tax Support because they still want another written communication stating that my son is entitled to live in his Urbanest accommodation all year round before they will make a new decision.

My son has made that request last week to Urbanest who say they are willing to provide this further written proof to satisfy the whim of whoever is making this an issue for me and my son to Lambeth Benefits.

What makes me so angry is that when my daughter was at the end of her second year of her Degree at Surrey University, Lambeth Benefits suddenly amended all of my entitlement to Housing Benefit and my Council Tax Support for those 2 years and then insisted that I had been overpaid Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support of just over £1,200!!!!! :eek::mad:

Despite my efforts to get this decision changed, no one in Lambeth Benefits would budge. For no reason that I could see, they suddenly decided my daughter was living at home. In the end, my daughter paid £600 of the money I was supposed to owe and I paid the remaining £600 plus.

My anger and frustration that I am in almost an identical position now that my son is at University has made my already high blood pressure sky rocket. :mad::eek:

On reflection, I have decided not to pay the outstanding Council Tax bill I was sent. Let the threatening letters commence. If they do not resolve the erroneous decision with regards my son and reduce my Council Tax bill to zero again, then I am happy to end up in the local Magistrate Court and let someone from Lambeth Benefits defend their decision making. :cool:

I am recovering from my cold with over the counter medication, including Benylin cough medicine, which really helps me to cease my bouts of coughing. I am still staying hydrated and having lots of rest.

I love dresses. I wear them all the time for evenings out. I mostly wear skirts and tops though for every day wear. I have never been a woman who likes to cover my legs with trousers, jeans, leggings or tights.

lessonlearned

SUgarbaby......how frustrating for you. And a second time too, having to go through it all again. Dreadful.

Well I've just got back from seeing my friend lunch and a mooch round the shops. Didnt buy anything. Looked in both M&S and Debenhams for knitwear. Couldn't see anything I really liked.

Horrible afternoon here, cold, wet and miserable. Popped to Aldi so that's me done now. An early dinner and then take it easy.

Half of my little family have gone down with gastroenteritis.......little one picked it up at nursery. Poor things.

I'm keeping my distance.......

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

I went to Odeon Streatham using my Odeon Limitless card and I bought a ticket to see The Goldfinch and I went to Karaoke in the evening.

I enjoyed the film, but it was not exactly what I was expecting. It had a lot more scenes of drug taking than the trailers for this film had led me to believe and I felt that it was depicting drug use as a positive, enjoyable activity with no negative consequences. I was the only person watching the film so at least I could just sit back and enjoy the film in peace with no distractions. I would give this film 6/10

When I came out of the cinema, it was raining really hard and the prevailing strong winds made it feel like a mild storm. I had come prepared, so I put on my leather gloves and raised my automatic wind proof umbrella. I only have a short walk from the bus stop to my home, but the rain was still coming down hard, so even though I was staying dry, my bags of shopping and my red leather Osprey handbag got quite wet. I had to dry them all off when I got home. It was a good job I had checked the weather online with BBC weather London before I had left home, so I knew exactly what hours the rain was supposed to fall. So I was wearing leather ankle boots and appropriate clothing knowing that when I was due to leave the cinema, it would be raining.

I went to Karaoke despite still suffering with my cold. I dosed myself up before leaving home and went and had a really enjoyable evening. I only sang 3 of my usual songs as there were so many other singers there. There were a lot of talented singers of different ages, but there were only 2 singers in their twenties.

I was left a voicemail on my landline from someone in Lambeth Council Tax. It was quite a long message which did set out my options as the date I should have paid the Council Tax has passed. :cool: I had a conversation with someone in Lambeth Benefits 2 days ago, so until my son gets someone from his University to produce another letter worded in a way that Lambeth Benefits finds acceptable, they will not accept that my son does not live at home. I will have to talk to Lambeth Council Tax today and explain the ongoing situation.

maman

Good to hear you're still enjoying life despite the cold and the council sugarbaby.:) It does seem odd that you've experienced the same situation with your DD and your son. Perhaps it's just Lambeth council who think a student would be daft enough to pay for an empty room in student accommodation while still living at home!:D I know my DD had no issues with our local council when DGD was at university.

Wednesday again so fashion day in my paper. This week's feature is about blazers.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2019-10-08/times2/why-a-blazer-is-the-must-have-item-for-autumn-2019-tz79qcbn3
The styles look really retro, much what I was wearing back in the 70s/80s for work. I remember having a particular suit that came with both trousers and a skirt so you could mix and match. I rarely wear jackets these days but I do have some in my wardrobe that I shall think about. A check Joules one I have seems very on message.

I also heard an interesting discussion on the radio. This was between a fashion stylist and someone from Oxfam. They were talking about sustainable fashion and how people are increasingly buying second hand/vintage or quality new pieces to last. Apparently last year CSs outdid fashion shops in terms of growth of sales. Of course the austerity policy was a factor but it's great from a conservation point of view too. I think we're excellent on here at sustainable fashion already. :A:T

Perhaps there will soon be a movement for sustainable/affordable skin care/make up too;). As I haven't had occasion to go shopping recently I've still been eking out my Clarins serum with the flaxseed oil. I've enjoyed getting back into my pampering routine since the new bathroom was finished. DH and I have a small basket each to store everyday toiletries and I've decide that everything in there has to earn it's keep so I'm determined to use all the products regularly.

Bright and blustery here. I'm not planning to go out but, like you sugarbaby , when I do I always check the weather forecast.