Growing up

As I get older and the petit garcon is growing up my frame of reference keeps changing. I'm still the same but I have to temper my lifestyle, wants and ideas according to so many factors, namely restrictions and the ever increasing cost of living.

This means I have been very good on the consumption front as I no longer earn in the way I did before. But I had to laugh at the forming consumption pattern of a certain young man.

Saturday shopping is my idea of hell but I had to go to Kingston to order a new sofa in the Sofa Workshop sale. It was the only chance of affording one from there and I have to say they have a lovely selection and we had wonderful service. As we were in the Bentalls centre I popped in Gap to get a present for a neighbour who has just had a baby. Well the petit garcon was straight in there to select an outfit for himself! He spied a top which he insisted he 'needed for golf to look like Tiger Woods.' I started to protest but there was no point in upsetting a father/son moment.

I was caught between the idea of not having something just because you want it and also as I had not allocated any money for that purchase and being a indulgent parent! I was also quite impressed by his knowing what he wanted, the ability to create a look!! Anyway, given we never go shopping usually I thought there would be no real harm in it.

And he did look quite cute and grown up as he set off for the driving range the next day with his dad.

The petit garcon wears Gap Kids, polo shirt & chinos

High Street Pick of the Week

True it isn't Saturday, the usual place for this regular post...but as I'm on school holiday mode all rules/bets are out of the window/off.

Anyway who am I to deny you the immediacy of a great high street buy for your sartorial wardrobe. A winner right now for the evening (isn't it chilly of an eve) and a keeper for the coming winter months. It is an all round winner. Wear with red skinny jeans now and then your soon to be bought pencil skirt. Grab it while you can!

Limited Collection Star Blouse T69 3010 £29.50 in stores now.

The Veneto (by popular request)

What I love about a proper holiday is the chance to abandon all and just be and whilst I'm equally enjoying a holiday from blogging et al, I was asked to share my Venetian hols by a few people so here goes... . My number one pastime on holiday becomes reading and on this break I thoroughly enjoyed 'The Snowman' by Jo Nesbo (thanks to Vix of Vintage Vixen - we did a book swap I think I got the better deal!), 'Girl with a Dragon Tattoo' by of course Stieg Larsson. I cannot believe it has taken me until now to read it. A brilliant book. Our current house guest, my cousin's boyfriend, cracked me up in a best dinner party trump type boast when he said he read the book in Swedish! He does live and work there as does my cousin, hence why he is staying with us. I am disappointed the true title of the book 'The Men who hated Women' was change but aside from that and er not reading it in Swedish, I devoured it. My final read was 'The Beautiful & Damned' by F.Scott Fitzgerald. I decided to reread it and I still think 'Tender is the Night' is my favourite of all his works. I love his dialogue in this book but I did tend to skip read it, probably because I've read it quite a few times.

Mr MDS & the petit garcon enjoyed Keith Richard's Life

The book reading was supplemented by a daily 9am swim in an Olympic sized pool. We were staying at 4 star camp site on the Venetian spit - Venice to the rear the Adriatic to the front. I love a camp site holiday, it is the perfect option with children. The petit garcon was free to cycle, swim and lark about to his hearts content. I also appreciate it is an exceptionally affordable and good value holiday and will do a proper write up of why it is the perfect Make Do vacation when I'm back to blogging properly. We ate al fresco day, noon and night. Observed the 1pm to 3pm siesta, lying down reading books apres lunch and kicked off our heels for an afternoon poolside turn. We went to the beach every morning for an hour or two and generally found an excuse for a spritz (Aperol or Campari one) at every opportunity bar breakfast!

A night in Venice, an evening meal in Treviso and a visit to Burano afforded some culture and sightseeing. My love of Italy is increased ten fold and I particularly love the Veneto - we also enjoyed the most spectacular firework display with live music on the beach at Punto Sabbioni to celebrate 150 years of Italian unification. It was emotional....

Well when in Rome....

The cutest bike for kids

The glorious Grand Canal

The delightful painted houses in Burano

his daily chupa chups!

I am truly a faux Italian. It will be hard not to go again next year but 2012 is the year of the London Olympics and I was very lucky to get quite a few tickets to events, mainly volleyball and water polo. Also the cycling comes past us and generally London will be buzzing if not a bit annoying for travel but a small price to pay really. Plus we thought we do little trips to Norfolk, Suffolk and Kent, have a mini cool Britannia summer fest instead. So, Italy I look back fondly....

Mrs Neglectful & her French attitude

Tis true. I've been rubbish at blogging of late. I'm suffering from a classic case of not enough hours in the day, no staff and too much to do. Given the options, you know where you attempt to find the solution by writing lists, ticking off to do lists and then think about your time management, I thought I was looking in the wrong place.

I have posts galore I need to finish and publish, one of which is an examination of fashion blogging, the other is a bit of a fashiongate examination of the industry. In a time when politicians, the police and the media are under the moral spotlight, I've been busying myself with a core group not dissimilar to the Murdoch clan.

However all is not lost to an intellectual minefield, I do have some fashion forecast or how to spend it for the forthcoming season in a true make do style. And I'm still on my slow burn when it comes to the Make Do Diet. I attempted to take a few photos of the progress but I was not feeling my best. An off day. Lo! Here are the stomach shots. The 100 sit ups a day are the business.
I've lost some inches, a bit of weight but it a slow process but after trying to do a quick fix, all Rachel's advice is working out.

Then it came to me, I needed to lose the to do list, the trying to do everything. I decided instead of looking to the French for their style (actually I don't really I'm more of an Italian when it comes to fashion) I needed to adopt their attitude. When petit garcon's school breaks up I making straight like a French maman and going on vacation for the whole time. It is the perfect option n'est-ce pas?

See you in the Autumn!

High Street Pick of the Week

From now until October I often find a coat is surplice to requirements due to the weather. But then the nights can be quite chilly so a little light something would be quite nice.

I'm no rock chic but I can see the appeal of a white biker jacket to add a hard edge to an outfit. Yes that twee floral dress or floral trousers will love this jacket.

White PU Padded Biker jacket Miss Selfridge £49.99

All hail Julian

I can never resist a 'fashion' programme. I used to love the British show Project Catwalk and I love that Julian MacDonald is back on tv again with his wonderful one liners.

No one can deliver a line like 'you look like you are walking in the Co-op' like Julian.

And he is not a bad designer too. His Star by Julian MacDonald line for Debenhams has some fabulous pieces coming up, I'm rather loathed to share but I will...

Star by Julian MacDonald leopard wrap ring £10

Star by Julian MacDonald vintage disc earrings £6

Star by Julian MacDonald stone set stretch bracelet £15

Star by Julian MacDonald spot mesh dress £45

Star by Julian MacDonald snake print dress (no price currently available)

Debenhams stockist number is 0844 5616161

Keeping nasties at bay

In an attempt to not be too preachy about why I use Arbonne products, I tend to refrain from scare tactics. Who really wants to be told on a daily basis about x or y causing cancer or other diseases. It does make us turn off to the message.

I'm no expert (other than on fashion & film!) but the combination of lifestyle, living longer and exposure to food, sun, cigarettes and chemicals all make for a game of chance. Truthfully most cancer specialists will say there is no rhyme or reason to most cancers in terms of why one person get it or not. However there are obvious culprits, genes, sun and smoking are known to trigger the likelihood. Drink is a potential trigger for throat or mouth cancer etc. There is also the view we are living longer in general but cancer at 84 is vastly different to any other age in respect of life cycle. I think I'd be really cross at getting anything under the age of 70 but pretty sanguine after that. Of course come 70 I might have different views

My interest in products has been lifelong, my first encounter with an off the shelf product resulted in a dreadful skin reaction. I was mortified and from that moment on I delved deep. I'm really fussy. My fussiness has increased with my earnings and knowledge. I've always been a 'natural' girl after that first incident but have in very hard times I have rolled with the products of cheapness.

There are always products that I really like whose contents read like an alchemists list for ...well whatever I would say would be in bad taste as someone has died a death from it. There is no getting away from the toxic nasties whether for cleaning the house or yourself. Yesterday my osteopath mentioned a direct correlation between the use of sun cream and the increase in skin cancer. It was a research scientist type person who mentioned it to him. I don't know the context of the research but I hasten to add there might also be a direct correlation with people increasing their exposure to the sun or sun beds.

What it all boils down to is choice. You choose what you ingest or put on you or use to clean your home. Information is key, understanding the information is beneficial and making informed choices is the result. When I read this article in the Daily Mail, my eyes rolled, mainly
because the Daily Mail is a harbinger of doom on any subject or area of life. The headline is sensational but then towards the end the article gets to the nub of the issue, chemicals do imbalance the body and they are absorbed which can effect you.

The only reason for my layer of fat is food & alcohol intake. I can have no concerns about all my hair, skin & beauty products as they are paraben, chemical free. Of course I'm going to mention some Arbonne products! After all it is my little bit of earnings as I tip tap away writing! Just remember if you ever buy anything online from Arbonne then enter my consultant id 441023472.

My everyday shampoo, conditioner and shower gel is this wonderful trio of no nasties. I love this FC5 shower set at £42 it is pricey; but thanks to Dr Peter Matravers the founder of Aveda and now Arbonne's main man I know everything I put on my hair and skin is safe and does not required me to mix avocado or cucumber plus oil in a mixer. Now all I have to do is fight the flab!

Marni & me

Last week I bought a top from The Outnet, which I always find a brilliant place to buy items you love at prices you can just about cope with! At £87 I thought my choice of a Marni top was a good buy. Why, you could easily spend half that amount of money on a top at Topshop, the same amount at Reiss or even more at Whistles.

I was actually spending my earnings before I'd got them as this week I'm taking a break from writing and doing some fashion teaching. Stepping back into the saddle so to speak found me travelling into central London with my 'armour' an Anya Hindmarch clutch and a Smythson fashion planner inside it.



After a hard days work I returned to find my purchase had been safely delivered. I couldn't wait to try it on and get some quick pics, so forgive the poor photography. I must confess the urgency was based on twitpicing Mrs Bossa!

It's arrived!

I paired it with an Isabella Oliver black pencil skirt

I will be pairing the skirt and top a lot for the A/W season

Excuse the tennis racquet in the background, I realise I might be channelling Anna Wintour!

'I want to go to London Zoo'

When arranging the annual transatlantic bloggers meet where NYC hits London Town, I had a small hiccup. Mr MDS was other wise occupied so I had to bring the petit garcon with me.

The delightful crew were happy to eat at Giraffe at Spitalfields which was very accommodating. Giraffe really is the go to place when you have kids, you really can't p*ss anyone off there with you kid(s) as it is real initial usp was capturing the yummy mummy crowd in a restaurant setting.

However, on the day I spoke to the petit and explained the outing and that he would have to sit quietly at Giraffe with the adults. He is such a willing shilling and likes to be good so I knew my luck was out when he said 'I don't want to be quiet. I want to go to London Zoo'.

I swiftly got super organised and ensured he went to the party he was invited to, thanks to another parent and arranged for Mr MDS to pick him up.

Luckily it was a pleasurable lunch venue with a great choice of food but sadly no Pimms so we had to hot foot it to a pub for that.

The hardest part was extracting myself from everyone to go home. My goodness the range of topics, gossip and views was varied and brilliant. As well as the company of the gorgeous Wendy B. it was a pleasure to meet Mr B, who is charming, considered and very very brilliant. Sharon Rose, Margaret and Liz were of course their usual wonderful selves and I will always feel eternally grateful to blogging for introducing me to them all. Much better than going to London Zoo.

Sharon's bag was more popular than her initially!

Wine before food

At last the transatlantic drink of choice!
Mr B, Penny Dreadful Vintage, Wendy B, Miss Peelpants, My-Style Sharon Rose

Cheers again & again!

Lovely jubbley

Yes he was the stag

PS Margaret of Penny Dreadful Vintage gives best write up & pics of the day.

Ebay tastic

It has taken ages and I still have a few items to list but I need a break from it! Here is the link to my stash And here are a few photos of the items ...