La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life) - on a tiny budget.

littlegreenparrot

helensbiggestfan said:

The other day I was in a supermarket where there was a little girl shopping with her daddy.  She was dressed in a Disney Princess outfit. She was happily chattering away, dancing and skipping about, loving her dress and basking in her daddy's attention and indulgent smiles from other shoppers. 

Deep down, Isn't there a tiny bit of that little girl in all of us......the part of us that can still appreciate a beautiful dress that makes us feel a little bit special.  Or is that just me........

 Sometimes when I'm out and about at the weekend I see a little girl running about about in her jumper, wellies, and a sparkly rainbow tutu skirt - often with stripy tights underneath. The simple joy of it, no self -consciousness. 
That's what I aspire to. Just to wear the lovely stuff because I like it, and I can. 

I work in a very male dominated environment, but have never worried about wearing colour or anything like that. 
I was once at a conference in the winter and had a bit of a moment of clarity - I was one of only a few women, and was wearing a bright orange sweater with red lipstick. I suddenly realised as I looked around the room full of grey suits, in the twilight, that I was literally glowing like a belisha beacon  

helensbiggestfan

Ha ha.  But at least you didn't just blend into the background.  

Coxy11

My Wellness Wednesday has consisted of a healthy breakfast (poached egg, spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes) and a lunch of JP, baked beans, a little cheese, carrot and celery sticks. Dinner will be a hm chicken curry with more spinach. I find I have so much more energy when I eat well - currently doing SW.

Took myself out for a walk at lunchtime. Windy but otherwise a pleasant day here in Kent. 

I am wearing a purple and pink cardi today with large pink/purple buttons. A CS purchase from a few months back. I love it. Not sure I could carry off orange @littlegreenparrot !!

Brambling

littlegreenparrot said:

I work in a very male dominated environment, but have never worried about wearing colour or anything like that. 
I was once at a conference in the winter and had a bit of a moment of clarity - I was one of only a few women, and was wearing a bright orange sweater with red lipstick. I suddenly realised as I looked around the room full of grey suits, in the twilight, that I was literally glowing like a belisha beacon  

or maybe a bird of paradise in a room full of crows?

Brambling

Jellybaby said:

Debsnewbudget said:

Try living off the pension amount you are going to receive until May.  It will help you realise what you can do when you do retire, as well as boosting your savings. 

This is exactly what I'm doing and it's surprising what you achieve, learn you want to keep or don't in many cases! For me it's taking a lot of the fear and 'will I manage' worries away and giving confidence in finding ways to adapt - also reinforcing that I'm absolutely doing the right thing 😁

I'm waiting for a forecast from my old company pension which i paid into for 25 years before i make a final decision but TBH tax wise I won't want to be working full time although that is not the only reason.  I currently have a DD set up into my savings and I add 15% into my current company pension so if i factor that in I think i can afford to retire or go part time if i really need to.  I do have healthy savings in some part thanks to Martin but I've always been careful with money and have been debt free for many years, for me living alone made me careful as there was no financial support

Helen I had to smile at your little girl dancing, several years ago I went to see Mama Mia in London with two of my sisters and BILs to the embarrassment of my older sister my other sister and I both in our 50s loudly sang ABBA walking from the theatre to Victoria Station in the way of younger sisters the more she told us to stop the more we did it    

Looking in my wardrobe lunchtime I've realised that the side of my wardrobe containing my 'thin' clothes which no longer fit are all bright colours whereas my current larger size clothes are all darker, grey, black, navy etc I need to borrow Littlegreenparrot's orange sweater 

Bluegreen143

Haha, I love the combinations my four year daughter comes up with, the children dress themselves, and I only intervene if the clothes are weather-inappropriate or situation-inappropriate - so I do make sure my son wears his uniform to school for example.

My daughter loves to pair a twirly red velvet party dress over jeans and wellies to go to nursery and who am I am to squash her self expression when she is happy with how she looks?!

My son amuses me by persisting in pairing a black tshirt with black joggers so he looks like he’s wearing pyjamas in the daytime, but he’s young enough that he does still love a turn in the Disney princess dresses too without being self conscious.

newlywed

My wellness Wednesday was walking 7 miles to a shop that sells lots of nuts and dried fruit. Then to the nice chocolate shop for some dark choc buttons… Then I make up my own favourite walking snack mix that often stops me buying cake whilst I am out and about.

although today there was a cake from Waitrose on the way… whilst purchasing apples.

Wednesday2000

newlywed said:

My wellness Wednesday was walking 7 miles to a shop that sells lots of nuts and dried fruit. Then to the nice chocolate shop for some dark choc buttons… Then I make up my own favourite walking snack mix 

Sounds delicious!:) 

Fizz2015

Morning All, I'm carrying over my Wellness Wednesday to today. Yesterday involved a lot of work stress and my MIL falling down our garden steps and fracturing her wrist. Spent the afternoon at the minor injuries unit. 

So today I will put tidy and bright clothes on. Do my hair and make up and go meet a friend for coffee/walk/lunch. 

Humdinger1

Thank you @helensbiggestfan! Was it Chanel perhaps who said 'Elegance is the privilege of age'. I am utterly thrilled to have reversed diabetes for health reasons but also because I can now fit into clothes I bought 10 and more years ago better than when I first had them! A secondary consideration but giving me a boost love Humdinger xx