The tale of an inspirational quote

image found on tumblr via valleylily, original source Adored Vintage

As someone who is currently trying to revise (and do note this particular choice of words was deliberate) 

this seems to be exactly the sort of advice I should be taking!

The river walk tale

Yesterday the boy and I decided to take advantage of the Sunday sun and take ourselves off to the River Trent. What was going to be a walk to the local Embankment area ended up being a near-on 4 hour round trip, heading in a direction we hadn't before taken, towards The National Water Sports Centre (where we caught the tail-end of the National Schools' Regatta - very posh!). 

It was lovely to spend time outside together as we hadn't been able to do so for a while (what with the poor weather, lots of revision and my visit back home) and we both really enjoyed the afternoon (despite both suffering from cramped and painful toes by the end of the journey!). Thank you Mr Sun!

What have you all been up to this sunshine-filled Bank Holiday weekend?

The wedding ootd tale!

This outfit post feels as though it has been a long time coming, especially when you think that I first posted about buying this dress back at the beginning of April.

Looking like a bloody mardy bum whilst getting ready before the wedding

Once the dress was sorted I made sure to take my time to find the additional bits and pieces I would wear alongside it (haha)! The invitation stated that - if we wished - we would be more than welcome to wow the boys with fascinators or hats on the day. Now, I knew I wouldn't be able to sit still with either one of those on my head (forever the fidget and fusspot), so I decided to go with a headband. Last minute. As ever. I contacted Sophie, of Crown and Glory fabulousness, asking her for help in picking something (a week before the big day). Deciding upon 'Lotta Rosie' in Ivory, I excitingly looked forward to opening the parcel, which was awaiting my arrival at home. Of course, I wasn't expecting the accompanying gifts included (Sophie, you are SUCH an absolute babe!) so it felt like my birthday when I pulled out not one, but two, headbands and the sweetest of sweet hair slides, all of which can be seen in the photo above.

If you are looking for a piece to match, or add something to, a special outfit, or just to jazz up every day life, I wouldn't hesitate at searching the Crown and Glory website. The pieces are exquisitely put together, pretty darn hard-wearing - they both survived multiple train journeys inside a suitcase that, at times, I wasn't particularly light-handed with! - and are just so darn-it gorgeous that compliments are definitely to be expected!! It's safe to say you most definitely won't regret purchasing a piece and I imagine these two beauties will last (and be accompanying outfits) for years to come.

After trying everything on, I decided the lilac headband pulled the outfit together better, and contacted Sophie to let her know (I didn't want to upset her after all the effort she put into getting the package to me!). Ever the gracious lady, she replied with delight at my having chosen to wear the lilac, and in the email conversation that followed I was incredibly surprised, and most touched, to find out that the headband is a one-off. Sophie, thank you so much again for your wonderful help and advice, and for sending me such a beautiful piece. You, and your business, are an absolute dream come true!

The shoes and handbag were found after three pretty fruitless attempts at trying to find pieces that would match. I ended up choosing white because the other shades were far too hard to replicate in accessories and I think white 'pops' best against the pattern/material (sorry, I completely forgot to take close-ups and I now can't do so as I left them both at home!)

  

Excuse the chipped nail polish, I left the bottle back at home, so no touch-ups for me! Also, the colour is a
lot brighter than how it came out in any of my photos, so please refer to the website for the actual shade!

I painted my nails using Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Blueberry (guys, please let it be known how much of a thing it is for me to paint my nails - it's like a once-a-year event!) to pick out dainty blue flowers decorating my dress and I, miraculously, managed to find Dotty P earrings to match them! I had thought of getting a necklace but it was incredibly hard to find one that would sit and look good against the fabric of the dress. Not only that, but I'm not really a necklace wearer, and had visions of myself messing about with it all day long (I just ended up doing so with the neckline of the dress instead!)

Slight saga regarding my petticoat. The evening before the wedding, when I tried on my entire outfit, I popped it on underneath my dress and roped Moom in for her opinion on whether it looked better with or without. Although agreeing with me that the dress looked better, and more in-keeping with the style of the era (1950s), with the petticoat underneath, I still wasn't 100% happy with way that it sat. After much deliberation we decided the best thing to do would be to cut off the top layer of the petticoat although, of course, that would mean no turning back once we'd taken the chop! However, after getting the thumbs up from my brother (whose opinion I value greatly, especially as the boy and Dodge both gave a firm no to the petticoat altogether!) we went for it, and I was so happy with the outcome. It gave the dress that special something extra. 

I hope you all like it! 

Headband - Crown And Glory, one-off piece (similar here)
Dress - (vintage) A Vintage Obsession (similar here)
Shoes - Primark, as seen in Look magazine online
Bag (just seen) - New Look, not online

A very special wedding tale!

This past weekend I travelled home, not only to spend time with family and friends, but also (very importantly) to celebrate the marriage of two of the latter -  the wonderful James and Mitch. The boys have been a part of my life since the end of 2011 and I couldn't now imagine my world without them in it. To be asked to celebrate their day with them was truly so special, such a lovely gift of friendship, and I can't thank them enough for doing so. Watching them make their vows, and declare their love in a room full of those who loved them both in return, was a special moment in my life and a memory I will cherish forever more.

I also rather excitingly got to attend with my bestest catfish, Leah, who is always a never-ending source of delight, super-smiles, lots of love, and much much laughter and fun. We met for lunch the day before, after not having seen each other for nearly 2 months, and had a good catch up over sarnies and multiple beverages (3 out of the 4 were Leah's!) at our favourite Cafe Monde.

Blurry and excited to be on our way!

Sunday morning dawned, and with it a day full of laughter, love, happiness, champagne, cupcakes and shoeless dancing. Tears sprung to eyes (although smiles never left our faces), hands were clapped, arms hugged, precious words were spoken, hearts were opened, dresses were swooshed, glasses were raised, songs were sung and memories were made.

To James and Mitch....
I wish you a life full of everything the pair of you could ask for. You have brought so much happiness to mine and my goodness do you so very much deserve the same in return. Thank you for being a part of my life. Thank you for being my friends. And thank you so very much for inviting me to witness you starting your new life together as Mr and Mr Allen!!

James and Sean, his best man, awaiting Mitch's arrival

Mitch and James, newly married!

Walking back down the aisle to Come What May

Leah and I trying to get our pose on!

Chatting the afternoon away (best face EVER from James!)

Seating plan - wise choice, I do love a good Blue Lagoon!

Seated at the table, waiting to fill our bellies!

Our table favours!

Starter - Tomato and Mozzarella Terrine

Veggie main - Med Veg Risotto

Puds - Lemon Tart

The lovely reception room

Confetti fun

The scrum-diddly-umptious wedding cake!

A special moment - cutting the cake

Gorgeous cupcakes made by Mitch's Mum (oh to have the talent!)

The first dance :)

My beautiful, blurry MC catfish

The Harry glasses eventually made their way to the groom....

Guests getting their dance on!

Lit up cocktail glass!

Dave showing us his moves!

And for all those wondering, my next tale shall be dedicated to 'the' dress!!

Lots of love

A trip down memory lane tale

Paleis Het Loo (thanks for the heads up on it being Het Loo, Dodge!) which we visited for our 1 year anniversary!

On Monday I finally decided that it was time to develop the disposable cameras (after having realised they were on my bedroom shelf back at home) we had taken with us on our first trip to Europe way back in 2010. I expected all the photos to be of Prague, which we visited in March that year, and celebrated the boy's 21st in, but it was nice to find out that a few more places - notably Cesky Krumlov (Cezch Republic) and Dresden (Germany) - would also be playing their part in jigging my memory and leading me down it's (bumpy) lane. 

The photos themselves look like they were taken in the 90s (hello, disposable camera 'quality') and you wouldn't believe from my rather glam outfit (another hello, this time to you black mac, and weirdly tied scarf!) that it was actually boiling in Prague - so much so that the boy suffered sunburn (that's what happens when you've been starved of sun for a good chunk of time - chairs out, shirts off!) on our very first afternoon of the visit! 

It's so nice to study each and every photo and think back to what we were doing on that day, three years ago. What would we do without cameras?!

(Oh, and I must mention - despite it's obviousness - that there came with today's brief visit of the sun unfortunate, but unavoidable, shadows. I decided, however, I'd rather have sun on my photos, with shadows, rather than no sun at all!)

Gouda and Erfurt (where on earth would I be about my boy's ridiculously good memory?!)

The unusually-coloured buildings of beautiful Dresden

Kassel and Bruge

Cesky Krunmlov and its hot-hot-heat!

Prague, it's all its glory

The Old Town Square and Charles Bridge