Handbags and champagne

I am going to start this by saying that it is COLD today and this could be a long one, so I recommend that before you start this you boil the kettle and return with tea, lots of tea.

Today is my Mum’s birthday so yesterday we loaded up the car with our overnight bags and a small fluffy white dog and headed over to their home near Portsmouth to celebrate.  Before I tell you about the day I thought I’d share with you my outfit, along with two of my most loved new possessions.  My first is this fluffy jumper from boohoo, which is so soft and warm I just want to sit and stroke it.  My second is this utterly gorgeous satchel which was very, very kindly send to me by Brand Village.  It is definitely the most expensive feeling bag I have ever owned and came in a dustbag inside another dustbag! The detailing on it is beautiful and it feels so well-made; I can’t believe it’s only £59.99 as it genuinely feels like it would cost at least twice that.

bag: brand village* £59.99 | hat: vintage
jumper: boohoo £20 | shirt: boohoo £12
trousers: primark [old] | brogues: new look [old]

Here it is again hanging on the back of the door in my parents’ kitchen.  I wish I lived in a house as lovely as theirs where there are a million places you can photograph things! (#bloggerproblems).

When we arrived we sat down to an amazing breakfast and my Mum cooked one of her favourite new recipes, eggs baked with parma ham (you do them in a cake tin!)

We then went out to the cinema to see Skyfall (the new Bond film).  Although my parents were fairly nonplussed I actually thought it was excellent and really enjoyed it.  I actually really enjoy Daniel Craig as Bond; I love that he’s a bit more ‘rufty tufty’ than some of the other Bonds and I do think he’s pretty easy on the eye! Despite stuffing ourselves with popcorn (salt and sweet mixed together please!) we got home and had champagne and cakes (well it was a birthday after all!).  I bought a selection from the patisserie at our local Sainsbury’s, which is really good.

Feeling suitably stuffed we went for a walk on the beach to blow away the cobwebs.  The sun was setting and there was a lovely rainbow.  

coat: new look – £59.99

This is Tom, Bodhi and me on the pier.  My coat is from New Look – I bought it after seeing Sarah wear it at the Leamington Spa Blog Meet (I know, copycat or what!) Again it feels really well made and I think I’ll get a lot of wear out of it this winter.  The sun was going down as we walked and the sunset was really beautiful.

I’ve done some jiggery pokery with this next photo in Photoshop but we had to head back after a little while as some pretty mean looking storm clouds came overhead.  We didn’t quite get back in time so we got home looking like drowned rats, changed into our pajamas (well, I did!) and ordered a Chinese takeaway…

We then settled in for the evening with glasses of wine and X Factor.  None of us were particularly enthused about X Factor but we watched it anyway as it feels like that’s what you do on a Saturday night when X Factor is on! There are no contestants I particularly like in this series and I find the programme a bit too long (in fact I was in bed with my book before it finished!)  Oh, and my Mum was naughty and opened all her cards the night before her birthday! My card to her contained a voucher for her and I to go a spa in Fareham for a day at the spa and a two course dinner – I bought the voucher from Wahanda, which I hadn’t used before but definitely will again.  I felt a bit sneaky buying her a present that I know we’ll actually both really enjoy but it will be lovely for us both to have a relaxing day together (and some yummy food!)

This morning we got up early (well, kind of, thankyou to the extra hour in bed!) and decided to drive over to Gunwharf to visit Jack Wills and pick up the fleece-y hoodie I’ve been dreaming about for yonks.  Except for I neglected to realise it was the Great South Run on today and so instead we ended up stuck in traffic, driving round in circles and coming up against lots of closed roads for about an hour before giving up and coming home.  Bit of a waste of a morning (and a fair amount of petrol!)

After a hellish ten minutes in which I watched Tom destroy a McDonalds when I couldn’t eat one (diet!) we headed back home where I am now settled in for an afternoon of blog reading, tea drinking and trying not to get frostbite.  What are your plans for this chilly Sunday afternoon?