Frump to Fab 2021

maman

Good to hear from you sashy. 😊 I have a friend who uses Weird Fish, good quality stuff  similar to White Stuff and Fat Face but better.

You must have inadvertently mentioned that you liked Hotel Chocolat pixie! 🤣 I just bought exactly what I like just for myself, 2 bars of chocolate marzipan and a box of cherry liqueurs and some plain crisps . 😋 There's loads of other stuff like Roses and biscuits but DH will eat those, I'm not tempted.

Glad to hear your son is on the mend. I'm really worried about my DD today. She's a teacher and getting very stressed about having to best guess the government dithering. There's no logic (or government explanation) as to why the science that puts us both into Tier 4 doesn't do the same as for London schools. ☹️

chanie

maman I hope your DD gets some answers soon.   I know how difficult I’ll it is for teachers.  On a family chat call, me and OH we’re saying that our children’s school was going to be closed, but SILs school a few miles up the road, wasn’t, because it’s in another London Borough.  This was subsequently changed, but it shows the inconsistencies.

thepurplepixie

Well I have discovered I can't count, I said I had 4 bars of Hotel Chocolat but it was 6 and then I discovered there are two bars in each pack.  It gets worse.
Maman does your daughter teach primary?  My daughter teaches secondary so she sort of knows what is happening, not sure how the tests will work.  She dreading combining supervising keyworkers' children and doing online teaching plus whatever is happening with tests.  The one thing she is adamant about is she is not sticking anything up teenagers' noses and I can't say I blame her. We live in strange times.  I hope your daughter gets answers.
Chanie are you going to be able to cope with schools closed?  It is a nightmare isn't it either way, worrying about children in school and worrying about their education if not.

Wednesday2000

Sashy - I hadn't heard of those tights but I bookmarked it as the shade Suffragette Purple on there is just the colour I wanted to buy. The black tights I like are Manzi from Amazon but they didn't have purple when I looked last.

I put on my warm winter jumper today (it's so cosy but pale grey and bulky) but felt so frumpy when I looked in the mirror that I just changed into a bright blue jumper with a necklace and did my makeup as well. I'm just staying in most of today but will go out for a walk later. I need some warm but flattering jumpers as this blue one isn't particularly warm!

I didn't do the walking exercise video yesterday as I got sidetracked reading and then started watching a show called The Witcher. 

maddiemay

Just having a catch up with you all, lots of positive posts and aims for this new year.

Pixie I had to smile about your chocolate surplus, that is my idea of hell! I do not have a very sweet tooth, a standard smallish packet of biscuits will last me about 2 weeks and a 100g bar of high cocoa solids chocolate 3 or 4 weeks, however if you switched that to cheese twists/biscuits, Wotsits that would be a different matter although I do ration myself to just a few a week LOL.

I have an easily sensitised skin, a dermabrasion facial a few years ago left my skin looking amazing, but within a week face had broken out in weeping sores and am now left with 2 very sensitive areas even 10 years later.  I have no complaints about the salon, just the way my skin reacted.

The above is the reason I now rarely ever buy cheaper skin care products, often their base creams and carrier oils are less refined than much of the higher end niche brands, it is a shame that I can rarely buy from the SM or chemist ranges that were once my staples.

Wednesday – have you tried wearing a bright scarf and ear rings with your warn, but less flattering jumper, I still wear a lot of black, even though popular wisdom dictates that this is a no no for the older woman, but have a fab range of pashminas and those pashmina sized viscose scarves in all of “my Colours” along with matching/toning ear rings, it works very well for me.

Sashyboo – someone else recently pointed me in the direction of those tights, the purple ones are on my wish list too, but when I looked their stock levels were low, may take a while to recover from Christmas sales perhaps, but no hurry.

helensbiggestfan

Good Afternoon Lovely Ladies....

just about to take a lunch break from my decluttering and removing Christmas decorations..  Very cold and windy here so definitely an indoor day.  A combination of cold winds and central heating is really drying out my skin.....I must up my skin care routine.  Drink more water too.  

Wednesday........I have been experimenting this year with how best to keep warm and still look more streamlined.  Like you I found that, despite loosing weight, thick chunky knitwear just makes me look - well chunky. 😂.  For me the way forward is going to be layering up, starting with thermal vests (some are actually very nice these days) and then fine knit sweaters.  Layers trap the heat and keep us cosy and if you keep the layers as thin as possible then you don't add bulk.  

I too have a couple of sweaters that are grey......what was I thinking 😂. so I tend to wear them with a scarf of some sort to jazz them up a bit.   I will get rid of all my oversized chunky sweaters when I next switch out to my summer wardrobe, then next winter I will restock with more thermal vests and tops and more fine knit sweaters in nicer colours. 

I have recently been on a coat buying spree, one red, one orange, and two ivory......I know, I know ....not the most practical of colours but as long as I stay off public transport and am careful the dry cleaning Bills shouldn't be too horrendous.  Lol.  And they suit me much better than dark colours.  Although I also bought a navy one, very practical🤣. I usually wear it with a brightly coloured pashmina so it doesn't "drain" me and make me look washed out.  It's the only way I could wear navy, black or even greys.  

Time to eat, I'm famished.

ps. Time to call it a day I think.   Enough work for one day.   Killer backache now so will rest with my book and then a nice hot bath to ease my aches and pains, 😉. Simple dinner, left overs from yesterday's roast.  

I think we can pretty much assume that restrictions are going to continue one way or another for a while yet so I can pace myself with the decluttering.  

Wednesday2000

Maddie and LL - I think I do need a few more things for winter like bright scarves and jumpers. I might look online for thermal layers too. I did buy some supposedly thermal tops a while back but they seem very thin so I think I need proper ones. I'm okay for coats but not what goes underneath them. I'm terrible for buying cardigans without buttons as well so they don't do up and so are fairly useless to keep my chest area warm when I'm outdoors! I could do with some thermal/warm leggings like Maman mentioned too. 

I'm about to venture out for a walk and will take my umbrella. I'm wearing the cherry red boots and looking at them they are pristine so I'm wondering if I ever even wore them twice in the year I've had them! I did use my indoor trampoline today for 10 minutes and then did some bicep curls as I forgot to do them this morning. I finished another book today and I only have three more paper books to read. Loads more on my kindle, though. I want to start making my way through the books I have as I have not much else to do apart from watch TV or go online.

I can't remember if I mentioned this before but my next book is Becoming Bulletproof:

Former Secret Service Special Agent Evy Poumpouras shares the insights and skills from one of the oldest elite security forces in the world – to help you prepare for stressful situations, instantly read people, influence how you’re perceived, and live a more fearless life. 

From gruelling training to clandestine interrogation rooms, to protecting the President of the United States of America, Evy shares rare behind-the-scenes glimpses while also exploring the psychology of human behaviour and the strategies used by the best negotiators. Evy demonstrates how we can learn from these experiences to heighten our own natural instincts to detect BS, develop grit and become the most resilient and powerful version of ourselves.

Becoming Bulletproof is a timely guide to empowerment, mental strength, and overcoming fear and abuse – a guide to becoming bulletproof.

helensbiggestfan

😉. I am currently reading Becomjng Bulletproof.  Really enjoying it.  She's quite a woman.  I also treated myself to a couple of fashion books,  as well as some business books and an updated Millers Guide to Antiques and Collectibles.  As well as starting my little business I also intend to clear most of my hoard of treasures (porcelaine, mainly CrownDerby and Royal Worcester, plus Denby and assorted pieces picked up in China and Egypt). Also a lot of my jewellery.  I kept some in case I had granddaughters but as I have now gorgeous grandsons instead I've decided most of my hoard can go.  

I am going to take my time so I can get good prices, there's no hurry this time round no need for a firesale. 😂.  However, I do want to streamline everything so I can move house more easily next time.  

I had a Christmas card from a friend who lost his wife around 18 months ago.  Apparently last year he sold the family home up Durham way and has moved near to Portsmouth - a completely different lifestyle.  From a large sprawling Victorian house with a massive garden  to something altogether more compact and manageable. He says he is currently renting and loves the sense of freedom it has given him and that he intends never to own a property again. I am not sure that I would go that far, either in distance or in switching to renting (although never say never). I will keep an open mind but I can definitely see a point to living somewhere smaller and easier to run and maintain.   I don't need a house this big  and the garden does take up a lot of my time.  I think maybe next year if we finally manage to kiss covid goodbye I might start thinking more seriously about my next move.  
 

Wednesday2000

helensbiggestfan said:

😉. I am currently reading Becomjng Bulletproof.  Really enjoying it.  She's quite a woman,  

Oh funny! I can't remember how I heard about her. Maybe a podcast.

maman

Happy New Year maddie, good to see you posting. 😊

I like black too. In fact I like  most neutrals including grey and camel. I loved that cream satin blouse that Kamala Harris wore when they won the US election. 
Kamala Harris' '!!!!!! bow' blouse and white pantsuit has the world talking - 9Style (nine.com.au)
It's so much softer than a white shirt, although I'd pass on the white suit! 

I was thinking only this morning that I need more thermal layers. They make such a difference in cold weather and I'm having to almost wash and wear the ones I've got.  I've got one which is a proper lacy vest. That's OK but wouldn't buy one again. Far more useful are the stretchy, long tops. They look so much like tee shirts that I wear them for layering and it doesn't matter if the sleeves or neckline shows. I have a plain black one and a black one with gold flecks. 
Sparkle Long Sleeve Thermal Top – Black – Matalan
I have this one from Matalan but  the zig zag stitching at the neck made it look cheap so I turned it under and hemmed it. I love it now. 

I've taken the decorations down today  and put them away.  I've just  left the wreath on the  front door and my perpetual calendar in the sitting room until Wednesday. A couple of years ago I did a Marie Kondo on decorations so that I was just left with those I really love.  An added bonus was that they now pack down so much smaller and i can store them in the accessible cupboard under the stairs rather than having to go into the loft. 

Thinking of hands today, we covered hand creams a few days back. My habits have changed partly because of Covid. I used to go regularly to a nail bar run by lovely Vietnamese people. I'd go every month or so and have shellac on my nails and the occasional full manicure. Unfortunately, over time the shellac seemed to be making my nails deteriorate. It could have been something else but to be sure I cut my nails really short and let them grow again with no polish and lots of pampering oils and buffing.  They're in brilliant condition now. I would have gone back to the salon at Christmas  (DD1 still uses them with no problem) but I was afraid to have shellac and then be stuck with it growing out  if we went into lockdown. I was right obviously. So I've been doing home manicures. I have emery boards, cuticle oil (actually Bio oil that I'm using up), a buffing block and hand cream in a little basket in the sitting room and do it while I'm watching tv in the evenings. 

Keep safe and warm everyone. 😊