Frump to Fab - A Whole New World.

Wednesday2000

We have only used the air fryer for oven chips so far. Nice to treat yourself to a few things Candygirl.

We watched a film called I See You last night. I have to finish it off later as I didn't see the ending.
I See You (2019) - IMDb

Today couldn't be more of a contrast to yesterday as it is lovely and sunny and bright. We have the garden doors open but it is still a bit chilly. I am about to go out for a walk.

sukeyboo

Beautiful day here - glorious sunshine but decidedly chilly. There is a rumour of snow showers for Friday but hopefully they will pass us by.

I have a hair appointment for tomorrow which I am looking forward to as I am about 2 weeks overdue from being in lockdown. Also have an appointment for a facial next week 😀.

Hoping to have a belated birthday meal out on Thursday - there seems to be a lot of room for interpretation of the Tier 2 rules for eating out at the pub so we will just go along and see what happens. I do agree maman that hospitality seems to be the scapegoat - it must be so difficult for them with the festive season approaching - such a busy time for them in normal circumstances.

Nice to ‘hear’ from you LL - as always, very wise words.

thepurplepixie

Maman don't worry, I'm not easily offended.  I think we all have things that matter more/less than they do to other people.  My one DIL has a real thing about cards, always buys very fancy ones and I just go to the CardFactory and buy 10 for less than she pays for one. On the other hand I have a big thing about feeding visitors and have to be careful not to be too pushy,  I feel a failure if people don't leave with a full stomach and am always surprised when I go somewhere and get a cup of tea, I couldn't just give you a cup of tea, I'd be offering sandwiches, cakes, biscuits.  When our new bed came a couple of weeks ago I think the men were surprised when they were only here for half an hour and I was offering them sandwiches and cakes with their coffee.
It's fun that we aren't all the same.

maman

Glad I didn't upset you pixie. 😊 I buy most of my cards from the Charity Shops especially CRUK. On average, they're about £1 each. I figure that if charity Christmas cards are acceptable then why not birthday cards too. 🤔

I think eating out in Tier 2 is confined to just the people you live  with sukey and/or are in your  support bubble if you have one. So LL would be OK to go out with her eldest boy, DIL and grandsons. We're limited to just DH and I. We'll definitely do that but I will miss meeting up with friends. Even the Rule of 6 was better than this. It feels like a back door lockdown. 

I must make another hair appointment. My hair looks OK but I haven't had highlights done  since before March. I've kept them going with the John Freida products but they're just blonde and I like some caramel bits in there too. 

It's a glorious day here too. We went out for an hour's walk this morning and kept it fairly brisk although I did chat with a friend for 10 minutes because she was out in her garden. 

As it was gloomy and colder, I put a jumper on yesterday rather than my usual cotton tops indoors. DH was very complimentary. 🥰 Yesterday was a silver grey jumper . Today I've put on a burgundy longline one (more compliments😁) so definitely worth the effort. 

Will anyone miss Arcadia? I used to shop in Wallis quite a bit, some years ago, with occasional bits from Top Shop and Dotty P.  I think they lost their way though. Much the same thing happened with Monsoon where I used to wait eagerly for each season's new lines. Do we all have favourite shops/websites that we make for? 🤔 

maman

A start for Christmas. I got out my gloves, calendar and countdown blocks! 😁🎄

sukeyboo

It is just the two of us maman so we should be OK - it was more the way the rules will work with regard to the amount of time you can spend at the venue. We normally have a drink before our meal and then maybe one or two afterwards. If we are to believe the reports then you will be expected to leave once you have finished your ‘substantial meal’ which, according to one cabinet minister, could be a Scotch Egg 😂 - wouldn’t like to be invited round to his for dinner 😱.

Nice to receive the compliments from your DH for the new jumpers 😀.

I haven’t used hardly any of the Arcadia brands for many years now - very occasionally shopped at Wallis but I mainly use Kettlewell (lovely for colours and layering) or White Stuff. Used to be an ardent M & S fan but only buy my undies there nowadays.

MrsPorridge

I have splashed out on some funky coloured nail polishes from Avon.  I used to wear polish all the time, but haven't for the last few years.  Yesterday I painted them steel blue - only went to the village shop.  Today they are firecracker red and I have stayed in all day.  Every time I glance down at my nails it makes me feel good.  I can't believe that such a little bit of fabbing can really lift the spirits
I have been through the Avon book and am ordering mascara (which again I haven't worn in years) and eye shadow.  Plus what they call a pamper pack with various nice smelly goodies in it.  Looking forward to my next delivery already

savingfortomorrow

sukeyboo said:

Nice to receive the compliments from your DH for the new jumpers 😀.

I haven’t used hardly any of the Arcadia brands for many years now - very occasionally shopped at Wallis but I mainly use Kettlewell (lovely for colours and layering) or White Stuff. Used to be an ardent M & S fan but only buy my undies there nowadays.

I only use the local marks and spencers for the loo.  The quality of the clothes is not great, the last skirts faded and bobbles. I bought a dress and the colour fades from navy to a greyish navy tone. I find the material poor. Moreover, the items are a bit frumpy and look very conformist boring uniform-like. The main reason I avoid marks and spencers is they dual price items- they put a euro price and sterling price on an item. They are constantly charged in excess of an exchange rate. They really make me annoyed because of that I avoid them. 

I have not shopped in any of the Arcadia brands for a long time as they just never appealed to me too much. I bought a coat from Dorothy Perkins n amazon last year and it had a label for 84 euro but paid only 12 euro. Bargain it sounds but it was not worth more than 15 euro as it is such a cheap polyester blend that looks ok from a distance but up close- it's not great. 

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

I have had a rest day, as I was aching and had to take painkillers. I am feeling okay though as I still feel energised. 

My younger son visited us for lunch and dinner today, when he came with his laundry. I cooked stewing beef steak with a red pepper, onion, mushrooms and carrots in beef gravy, with healthy skin on herby roast potatoes with petit pois. 

My children and I really love Turkey, but they just felt that there was no need for me to cook Turkey every year for Christmas dinner, so I started to ring the changes with a joint of loin of pork or  a joint of sirloin steak.   

My son-in-law and older daughter are coming to get the Christmas presents for themselves, my 3 granddaughters, my grandson and his partner. We are planning to go for a meal when they come to London.  It has been months since I last saw my older daughter and I have missed her terribly, talking on the phone does not compensate for lack of face to face contact. We will not be hugging each other, but it will be priceless to see her face and her smile.   

chanie

This evening, I dropped a bag of toys off at the Salvation Army for their Christmas toy appeal. I started collecting items at the start of the year, but between the pandemic and being out of work for a while, I didn’t do as much as I would have liked.  I also did a couple of charity shoeboxes, but again, I only did 4 out of the six I wanted to do.   I’ll also buy some items for the food bank before Christmas, as this is something I don’t do often enough.  

On a slightly more upbeat note, OH bought our tree today.  We are hoping to put it up tomorrow.  Very excited.