A girls gotta have a new frock... or maybe four?!

Here are the fab four (and there were more!), all looked equally stunning though some meant I could neither eat nor breathe.. hey ho, all in the name of fashion! The shop assistant in Karen Millen appeared unflappable with my tales of woe, coupled with the pain from the fab shoes she found me which were a size smaller than I'm used to. They looked great! They had 6-inch heels and allowed me to teeter across the changing room floor from mirror to mirror seeing which dress made my stomach disappear the most. Impressive or what?! All four fabulous and most desirable dresses were lovely, but sadly buying them all would have meant no food on the table for a month. Not that that would have been a bad thing because I could then have dropped a dress size and felt even more gorgeous! But, let's face it, that ain't gonna happen and who would love a girl with no curves.. ?! x

here's lookin' at you kid!

Hello chubby baby, yes I was very cute and obviously loved my food... ! I bet this was taken in Grandma Whittinghams garden...? I love this photo x

bay city roller posties

Here we are again.. another day another postbox, same tartan trousers! I have patches on my knees from all the bumps I got falling over, clumsy child, and I bet those gloves are on a string..?!

mini me...

It's hard to believe that I could ever have been so small and cute, but hey ho, it's true, my mum said so! Here I am with my aunty D and I'd love to say that I remember this moment, but I don't. Thank goodness for cameras that could capture this moment so years later I could show it off and add it to my blog. How amazing is that..?! X

from mini me to movie star...!

well video diva... but a girl can dream! Got some of the photographs through and Dulcie had taken some great pics too... ! I spoke to Jason & Monika today, they are such great fun and lovely people. January was a great month for meeting new people and trying something different... oh, how I need the buzz of excitement I get from being creative in a challenging way! x

good news...

The swans are back! I love it when they appear here on the lake, they are just so majestic and I could watch them for hours. The days are good, but they are always so much better when the swans are here.. x

about time too..!

it was certainly overdue... ! I'd driven around for as long as I could with a dirty car so had to give in and take my min through the carwash! You can see I was a bit bored sitting there whilst all hell lets loose around me. I get out the carwipes and give the dashboard a bit of a springclean then decided to get my camera out and do a bit of impromptu shooting... fun hey! x

Sunny Smiles...

It was a proud moment to be chosen to take part in the Annual Festival of Queens which was held at the Civic Hall. With my pretty white dress and fresh bouquet of flowers, we felt like little princesses for the day.

From memory, we all had little books with detachable black and white photographs of children which we were encouraged to sell to raise money for The National Children's Home. These little books of children were called 'sunny smiles' and you sold them for a penny each then handed in the money, the stubs and any ones you couldn't sell.

Oh how out of date this idea feels today but it raised money for a worthwhile charity at the time and I got to be a princess for a day! And some of those smiles must have rubbed off on my because i always have a sunny smile even now! x

I missed my vocation in life..

Can you really imagine me as nurse anna?! I have few recollections from my childhood but i do remember the nurses uniform with the cape and doctor's bag. Following in the footsteps of my hungarian grandma, who was a midwife, I seem to have taken up the bag and drunk whatever was inside it by the dozy look on my face! I'm glad I didn't take up nursing as a career because I don't think I'd have been very good at it. In fact, I'd have been rubbish, see I can't even remember my name! x

chilling over lunch...

What a great day.. busy, but good. Lots of lively chat and new ideas then it was off to Pizza Express for what turned out to be a delicious lunch. We had a good laugh and the dough balls were excellent! x

this thing called tartan...

What is this thing I have about wearing tartan? Here I am in my tartan trousers and it was some years later that I remember owning the wild and wonderful tartan duffle coat! I remember ordering it from Auntie Elsie's Catalogue and I loved it! I guess it was my sheltered upbringing that did it! Years of having to wear big green knickers, a silly grey hat and clarks shoes at a girls school obviously gave me a sludgy, pond-dweller complex and made me want to break out of the mould in style. So, what did I do...? The wild child in me yearned to wear something that was brightly coloured, a big fashion statement that would show my true colours and look outrageous - mmm, bring on the tartan duffle coat! Oh how you wish i had a photograph of that too! NOT...! And what's with the grumpy face...? Just goes to prove that grumpy little people can grow up to be sweet-talking, pretty, smiley girls! x

Early Bay City Roller Fans!

It was obviously the big fashion statement for kids of our age, see here, big sis also donning her tartan trousers and at half mast too! That explains why I was grumpy. Marie gets to post the letter and I get to watch... mmm, that's no fun at all... ;-) x

Capturing a proud moment...

I love photographs! How else can you capture a moment like this one? The look on my beautiful mum's face says it all. And if you look closely in the full shot below you can easily spot my dad on the right hand side by the enormous, proud grin on his face. Almost everyone else in the photograph is looking at the person holding the camera. My proud parents are not... they are looking at ME! Photographs like this one say so much and have a real and very special place in my family's history. This wonderful photograph was taken on the day of my christening. Yes, even I fit into a squiggly, stretchy babygrow once! Well I would have done if they'd invented them...mmm! I'd have been wearing one of those wonderful white christening gowns that were okay for girls, but a bit sissy for little brothers!
With the absence of 'the now' pictures I thought I'd delve into my past so I'm counting down to my birthday with some classic vintage moments. Here's my fabulous family at Cranmer Methodist for my christening. I'm the middle child of three, so mum had already been there with my sister Marie and sorry Greg, you're not even a twinkle in anyone's eye on this one! Love you mum x

the good news and the bad...

I've had my laptop updated with all the latest new versions and of course, I knew something wouldn't work afterwards! I've got piccies on my phone but can I get them off? A bit like life, it's one-sided... I can send pics from my laptop to my phone, but not back the other way! Oh well... you'll just have to imagine the coffee and cake I ate this morning whilst waiting at the Old Lodge. I went to choose the menus for my family birthday lunch... woo hoo! Today I have been sleeping and baking apple and blackberry crumble...! x

I love 'stampin up!'

Do you have a special unfrogettable friend? Look at all my yummy new stamps! Just my kinda stamps you might say with all the birthday's and special occasions I've already frogotton this year! Oh dear.. 3 cards on their way to some lucky friends!

lovely to be home again...

Home... there really is no other place like it. Being in different hotels just isn't that great and being in my own place with all my stuff is such a relief after majorca, LA and NEC. The NEC was good but tiring. I've met so many people over the past 3 days and it's been a very successful show. I just need time now to wind down and take a break from work and take in a different view of the world.

Today, I've had a GREAT day. I needed to chill out, relax, get up when I wanted to and just spend some time putting my life back into some order. I had soup at Hobbs, had a wander and just took things at a leisurely pace for a change. I've tidied up and it's lovely to feel on top of things again and a little less tired and a bit more at home. I've been out for supper, which was lovely and now it's time I was in bed..! x

Strutting and swooning...

The divas are strutting, the men are swooning, welcome to life at the Trade Show! It's great here! I can't walk down an aisle without bumping into an old friend and it's always worth coming to swop stories and gossip with colleagues who I haven't seen for 12 months! There are new products, new faces and new ideas to try. Less of the old please! I've just come back from a press launch with a glass of fizz which is always welcome after a day on those heels! Last nights Madonna impersonation went down a treat and I think I may well have a new job opportunity as her double! Perhaps not.. but, hosting the awards was fun and worth all the pain! Tomorrow starts with a working breakfast here at 8am with David & Charles, followed by lunch (Stu has promised to buy me a sandwich!) then it's a quick run round the show before my mini adventure is over for another year! x

Romance, roses and riddles...

I know when I should listen to my intuition and do what my inner being is telling me. I must be getting over my jetlag to be so sensitive, either that or I'm slightly disorganised, in a good way, which means my life isn't so structured and I'm more relaxed to having such thoughts. This morning, having got up a bit later and decided to go in the shower, I decided to go back to bed and read my magazine for a little while. Less than 10 minutes later the doorbell went and look what arrived...! Patience is indeed a virtue and who wants a dozen has-been red roses when you can receive a stunningly, beautiful bouquet like this one! Saint Valentine is still alive and kicking... woo hoo! Tho I have no idea who sent them... mmm! x

Jelly Belly Beans...!

Here's my most fav project that will be coming up in BC22. I loved the papers from Kaisercraft and think this is such a 'sweet' project. I made it with Ginger, of course. I have a lot of my great ideas when she's in the room!! Love the sweet fruity jelly bean flavours but not sure about all those other weird ones.. YUK! Can't wait to see you Sunday at Stitches dol, (you can tell I've been with the boss!) it's been ages. Forget the new frock, I'll be in the bar with just my bluetooth on... woo hoo! x

A trip to the Cheesecake Factory...

I have some lovely friends! Here are their sunny smiles sitting al fresco in Anaheim's Cheesecake Factory. Grasped from the clutches of my dear boss, they whisked me away to this very secret location for feeding up and of course, a lemon drop martini! We played patio-heater-hot-chairs so some of us could keep warm and the food was as expected... fantastic! My shepherds pie could feed a family of four for a week! I discovered where the Americans hide their peas. I've never been served peas in the US before, they don't seem to do veg very well and I've always wondered where all the peas had gone. Now, I know.. in the shepherds pie! This wonderful cosmopolitan group was made up of CHA staff, Aceville competitors, the lovely Sara & her beloved Simon, and her team & the gorgeous Ash & Lee (missed Mindy & Deeps tho) and strangely enough.. I came away with a definate geordie twang! x

What us girls do so well...

Most of my girlfriends have something very special in common... guess what that is? They all know what their right hand is for...! Here's my lovely girlfriend Juicy Lucy doing what us girls do best, smiling and posing for the camera at the CHA International Reception. Me & Debs were being waited on by the lovely Ian who was keeping us all amused with plates of sushi, mini pork baps & wine... great company! x

La Femme Mystique...

So what was the BEST of CHA? It has to be these stunning fashion stamps. All rubber, which gives such brilliant detail and the artistry was truely breathtaking. Even the boss was impressed!

just call me bridget!

I'm sitting herewith my glass of kia and eating cheesecake to celebrate Valentines Singles Night! Spent the evening deleting all those luvly 'Too busy for luve' and 6000000001 ways to say 'I love you' emails... ! Don't get me wrong... I got 1 text and 1 very pink card today...

1 pink card in my letterbox this morning.. how exciting. I couldn't wait and opened it and guess what... it's an RSVP for my birthday party from one of my neighbours Delia & Barney! So yes, it's true, Barney, or Bumble bee, whatever his name is... is sending me pink envelopes on Valentines day... fantastic!

So tonight when I received a text to say 'Happy Valentine Mademoiselle x'... my first thought was 'GREAT'... my second was 'Smart Alec!' because it's from an unknown number! That's what happens when you lose your phone and can't replace your numbers...! I don't know whether his name is ALEC or AMY! Perhaps I've acquired a foreign admirer? Perhaps the emphasis is on the 'MAD'moiselle... oh made me smile!

Got back from LA yesterday afternoon.. and just did a big fat whole full cream day in the brissol office today.. sweet x

Queen of Hearts... it's talent spotting nite...!

happy valentines singles nite! "You haven't heard of it?"... come on all your coupley people! It's what us singles celebrate when we can't get a table in a restaurant on 14th Feb! Mind you, it's a good night to spot talent. Any guy out on his own tonight has to be single because the ones who are in relationships (even those who don't own up to it!) will be out with their significant other tonight... ! I'm chilling with my cheesecake crumbs and a my Kia after a long day in the office after a longer week in LA x

strutting in your paper frock...

here they are... the lovely girls who modelled our fashion show! They were brilliant and I have all their email addresses so I can send them the photos they requested... someone said, we're serving lunch which turned out to be a big bowl of fruit, bags of yoghurt and nut mix and healthy cereal bars... topped off with diet cola... where was the chocolate and crisps I ask myself?! Everyone laughed and just said 'Welcome to California!'...
If I ever wondered what it was like to be a model, now I know for sure. 30 seconds of fame v 6 hours of standing up in a paper frock because you can't sit down otherwise you'll rip it! You get told what to do, fed rabbit food and all this for 30 seconds of strutting up and down a catwalk in your pants! Nah... not for me...! x

what a view...

took this from the plane on the way to LA! Oh what a view... tho the temperature was as frosty in the plane as out! Warmed up tho with a glass or two of vino... phew... watched a couple of movies and the 11 hour journey was over in no time! x

A bit of a diva drama...

fashion show fiesta!

there's no place...

Like home! I just wonder who came up with the concept of 'home'.. it's not about the building or the people... it's about a place where my heart feels happy. It's been a crashingly, interesting week with tears and tantrums, joys and smiles, rewards and relationships and all on the other side of the globe. I'm so glad to be back, be it in body, I'm sure my mind will catch up very soon... well, I hope so!

Awesome...

Tis an American word.. but it's true... the fashion show spectacle here is awesome...! I've spent all day in a room with some stunningly beautiful models and by the end of the afternoon we've rehearsed and it's almost ready for tomorrow... the backdrop is amazing and the lighting effects... truely out of this world.. the event tomorrow night is going to be such a brilliant success.. I'm writing this from LA so I can post some piccies once I get home (soon please..?!).. now when Andy arrives I will need some food and then a BIG sleep... another diva day, very tiring and high maintenence.. ! lots of love to all and wishing I was home x

too much sleep...

I've just has breakfast and left 'the crowd' having theirs. I am surprised I managed to get so much sleep. I had a prawn cocktail with a lemon drop martini for dinner last night then came back and was in bed at 9:30...! I was awake every couple of hours and now feel like I've spent too much time in bed...! That will change now as the show begins tomorrow and we spend a little more time in the bar and less time with my head on that pillow! I'm soooooo looking for4ward to coming home... x

News from LA.. 'the dress that got away...'

I'm a great believer in fate and things we can't explain happening for a reason I'm over in LA and today was one of the quiet days so a chance to do some shopping and visit one of the big shopping malls here. I tried on some new lbds and found one i really liked. Perhaps it's because i'm with someone who is so impulsive that it makes me be less impulsive. I don't know... but I wasn't sure whether i should spend $350 on a new dress.. i wouldn't usually...! But it was perfect and I was tempted... but I thought we could shop and then return. You can already tell where this story is going... the moral being... be more impulsive!

so we went back and considering every dress was around this price and we were in Bloomingdales, so there were 1000's of dresses... I couldn't find my dress in my size.. I couldn't believe someone could have bought 'my dress'.. and then i realised that they hadn't! But they were about to...! There is a woman walking towards the counter with 'my dress' in her hand... ! She must have thought I was stalking her... (too right!) as she placed it on the counter to pay! Perhaps she'd found it in the changing room... I obviously wasn't meant to have that dress because 'it was the dress that got away'... sad, though because it was very nice.. but not meant to be!

I did manage to buy shoes tho today!~ And boots... and more boots! 1 pair of shoes, 3 pairs of ankle boots and a pair of lovely calf length boots... Nine West ankle boots for $30... unheard of... ! Calvin Klein patent heels for less than $40, and I've been looking for a pair of black just above the calf lengh boots to wear with my skirts... fab... needless to say they are all lined up on the floor of my room now and are keeping me happy!

liquid lunch...

What a fab surprise! Made my day... as I walked down Corn Street I could see Fi standing in the middle by those fountains and the big sail... ! We had a hug then went into All Bar One for a girly gossip and some lunch. All of a sudden the rushing around and big pile of work that I had to do today didn't seem quite so important. It's people that count, not stuff, and that put a big smile on my face... as you can see! X

Stair-rods...

I woke up today and it started to rain.. and I mean stair-rods... ! Here's the pretty spectacular view over 'my lake' with me hanging out of the window and trying not to drop the camera! No... of course, I wasn't going to go out to take the photo. If Ginger can hang out of windows.. so can I!

Long live love... roll on sweet valentine's day

Here’s something to get the guys panicking!
No Asda cheap tat this Valentine’s Day... They say it’s the thought that counts... WRONG GUYS! It’s making the effort and believe it or not, a handmade card will score you ooodles of brownie points in the currency of love! Here’s a shining example of true love and devotion, as shown by our MD making a special handmade Valentine’s Card for his wife Gill, tutored by yours truely, of course. Make sure you spread a little love this Valentine’s Day, Thursday 14th February. It's true, some men have it and some don't... LOVE that is! 85% of Valentine's cards are sent by women... mmm... long live love girls! X

having a jade weekend...

I've had a fab weekend filled with lots of my favourite things.. a bit of shopping, yummy dinner, I've made lots of cards and just had some time to myself. I decided it was time to invest in new colours and yes, jade suits me! Bought a couple of books; the secret which is very enlightening. I have long believed that life is like a mirror, you get back what you put in. If you smile your way through the day, others will smile back. If you think and express negative thoughts, others will join in just because that's human nature. How many times have you started a 'bad tooth' story, only to find everyone else has one too! Bought myself another James Patterson because I'm going to need a good book when I get on that plane on Thursday! x New hair day this week for this solo birdie.. side parting... or... middle parting... mmm?

flip 'n 'eck!

It's the start of a new month and time for BIG shoes! It's amazing what BIG shoes can do for my state of mind.. makes me taller for one and helps me get some perspective on the small-minded people who have been such a pain this week! I don't like being surrounded by people who forget how to treat others. It makes me behave in a way that's just not me and that doesn't make me happy. I love being me.

Being down and looking up is never a great feeling, whereas looking down on my week makes me realise just how lucky I really am. And, as an aside, small men just don't cut it either... grrr... and ones that sit and laugh at their own jokes... what's that all about...?! though Gumstools at Calcot Manor is a much better place than I remember. It's certainly been a culinary journey of discovery this week and roll on a weekend of chilling!