Long Weekend

Saturday sees madame and I off to Oxford Street, she is taking something back to M&S as we have a 20% off voucher so she can buy it again. I see a rather nice cardigan, Limited Edition. We decide to pop over to Primark and if nothing is purchased return. Well of course that goes by the board in the end. Primark gives madame something and me a new swimsuit. We return to M&S and the cardigan is purchased.

Saturday night and we are off on a vanilla night in Camden and Lock17. Our daughter is being given a night out by the security firm she works for. I do however have a problem. Drunks are not exactly my favourite people and I have little or no patience with them so I approach the night with trepidation. We are on a balcony so I can observe the bar below. It is quite incredible, the average for a round of drinks is £15 and the four bar staff have problems keeping up with demand. After inquiring I find out how much they earn and I mean earn and considering the amount of money going into the tills they are extremely underpaid. Waiting for the night bus Camden takes on a new light, the drunk and incapable are few and far between which is not the impression you get when driving through.

Sunday sees us off to M&S at London Colney and after a rather nice vegetarian breakfast I succumb to the yellow frock and another rather splendid offering, one with 20% off and the other 50% !



Monday we are off again, Oxford Street and M&S, again! madame gets herself a pair of shoes and so do I, a pair of Autograph white summer shoes. Unfortunately they don't have my size in stock so we order them and will be picking them up tomorrow from Brent Cross.

Exhausting

Well that was a fairly exhausting weekend, for a change. Off Saturday to see Dolenta at her new Breathless premises in Euston. Just one of those trips, out the house, and the bus arrives at the bus stop as we get there. Off the bus and the train is waiting for us, the whole journey couldn't have taken more than 30 mins. So we arrive at about 1.45 to see Ugo touching up the exterior paint and we are inside. A smaller shop but only just. Within minutes Andy arrives so now we are five. Next is Dave and Yvonne who we haven't seen in about four years, followed by Andy's cousin Stephanie and her son making nine of us. Customers come and go all saying 'is there a party in here!, no its just a typical Saturday in Breathless is the reply.
Masses of catching up and gossiping when all of a sudden its time to close the shop, its six o'clock! Off up the road to a Mediterranean restaurant called Romance eight of us troop and an excellent meal it turns out to be, quite, quite delicious but as far off the diet as its almost possible to be. By the time we leave and take a quiet stroll to Euston Station, hop straight onto a train and only have to wait a couple of minutes for a bus we are indoors by 9.45, not bad for a non-shopping trip!
Sunday sees us off to the London Alternative Market to meet friends, starting earlier than usual we manage to find a parking space near to the venue in America Square. Pop into Pret in Crosswall for a late breakfast and put on the silly shoes and meet up with Penny, Natacha, Russell and Sarah then cross the road to the venue and spend the next five hours perusing and gossiping. I did see an absolute dream of a latex frock which I just have to have from Lady Alluras but its not on her website and some dreamy corsets from narcissus-rising. All in all a fab weekend.

Misrepresentation

It keeps happening, surely it comes under the trades descriptions act. Obviously not seeing as who is at it. What I hear you ask. Well now I take far more interest in my appearance it is apparent there is a marked difference between an item of clothing hanging on a rail in the shop and when it is put on a mannequin in said shop. The other day I espied a dream of a frock in John Lewis on a mannequin so went in search of it. Once found I noticed it was rather straight, no shaping at all quite unlike the version on the mannequin where it fitted rather snugly at the waist. Further investigation resulted in finding at least four inches of spare fabric taken in with pins at the back ! John Lewis is not the only culprit. Once warned twice shy I find M&S at the same malarky of alteration. Now to me and anyone else I hope, this changes the item, it makes it an entirely different thing altogether. Surely this is wrong?

Simply ages

Oooo this tiling is taking simply ages, it not having enough room to swing a cat. Have to cut the tiles outdoors as the noise is unbearable too, so its in and out, in and out then there is the measuring and the pattern matching or should I say random placing which is more time consuming than pattern matching.
The son and wife came round yesterday afternoon as it was his birthday too but by then I was sooo tired I'd stopped work for the day. At least I didn't have to cook yesterday, just make salads although I did recover enough to do the ironing in the evening. These 50's style frocks and skirts are all very feminine and lush but oh my do they take an age to iron! So much material, but it is worth it.
Two days now without any pounds disappearing, just the one stone lost. Getting impatient again, I thought I'd be well on the way to the second stone gone ! I must admit I am enjoying the diet, all fresh food, none of this additive and half cooked stuff anymore and I do actually feel better for it. Of course it could be the weight loss or it could be a more healthy diet... or both.

Not thirteen just one

Dear Ted,
Mr Baker why is it that I enter your concession emporium in Fenwicks Brent Cross and find a lovely frock with mark you, a matching handbag and then fail to find it on your website? This is not the first time this has occurred. Now I know that there are many places that list more on their websites than they have in their shop, I can see the reasoning, I can see the financial implications and the issues of space but why have something in a shop you cannot buy online? To the best of my knowledge, and believe me I look almost everytime I go out, these items are not old stock.
It is also a shame that you have another rather large outlet that disposes of old stock at Bicester whose stock you hide from view on your website?
yours etc, etc

Well tonight is to be our first visit to The Way Out Club . At least I've managed to get the outfit selection down to two and it will come down to how much of a lard arse I feel I look. Should be fun, the son and heir will be there with my daughter-in-law, a family outing and lets face it what are parents for if not to embarrass their children.