Snippets from a weekend

Boy: "Who'd have thought we go to Mulberry and I'd be the one to buy something. You can have the paper bag and bird on a ribbon if you like"

Girl: "You're too kind"

...later

G: "B, where's the bird?"

{B, looking at untied ribbon hanging off his Mulberry carrier, perplexed}

B: "Dunno, I guess I must have lost it"

...the next day, going into the Lido...

G: "Did you really bring your swimming things to a *swimming pool* in a paper Mulberry bag?"

B: "ummm"

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Top photos: Kilver Court Designer Emporium opening weekend

Bottom photos: Bristol Lido

iphone snaps by me

Looking for a wedding dress?

All this recent wedding talk has made me see wedding details everywhere. Browsing the net-a-porter sale this week I came across a selection of dresses which would make lovely wedding dresses, all heavily reduced.

Both this Amanda Wakely shift and this Rick Owens maxi dress would be dresses I could see being worn as a wedding dress, depending on location of course. With a fabulous pair of shoes, obviously.

Amanda Wakely draped silk dress

Rick Owens maxi dress

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Images by net a porter

A&A Wedding: Preview

You guys, Lauren just posted her preview of my sister's wedding. It looks amazing - I can't wait to see the rest. (and that is one of the bouquets I made - it doesn't look perfect, and it had pretty much wilted by the end of the night, and the actual flowers we got made Annie cry [that's another story] but they were made with love and they smelt divine).

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Photo by Lauren McGlynn

Just a Minute in... July

Reading... How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. I have to admit, this is slow progress, mainly because I have been distracted by Vogue, Tatler and Country Homes & Interiors, all of which I subscribe to.

Watching... This depends on whether M is with me or not. We have watched Bright Young Things on TV, Harry Potter 7 part 2 at the cinema and quite a lot of golf, together. I have also been watching series 3 of Gossip Girl and the Apprentice. I may be a little in love with Chuck Bass. Also at the start of July we watched a lot of Wimbledon.

Listening... So far this month I have driven to my parents house (3 hours away) twice and to Taunton and back numerous times. I listen to spotify on my iphone and my album playlists have included Pantha Du Prince, Sigur Ros, The Doors and lots of 80s/90s indie and metal including Alice in Chains which is good for a bit of motorway driving. Also, the Shopaholic series on audiobooks.

Buying... Things in the sale. Lots of Cowshed products, a few bargain pieces of workwear (including silk Hoss shirts for £5 each), two pairs of Kate Middleton-esque work shoes (nude pumps and canvas slingbacks). If people are interested, I can post more of this.

Loving... My new Cowshed candles, walking on the beach, Delilah, family weddings, my new nephew, lunching with lovely ladies.

Wanting... Longer weekends with M, proper summer sunshine, to see more of my friends.

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Just a minute - an occasional series of posts inspired by Talking to Unicorns (who was inspired by Daydream Lily). Just a Minute was started by August Street back in 2007.

The weekly

The thing about living separately during the week is that I spend a lot of time on my own. My weeks are bookend by 45 minute drives to the station, listening to audio books. In term time, the last thing I do before collecting M and the first thing I do after he has gone is ballet. Ballet is soothing, repetitive, peaceful. Those are the good weeks. In the school holidays, the weeks are emptier, but still short. The harder weeks are the weeks when M is away for longer; this week from Sunday morning to late Friday night. Our weekend squashed into Friday evening and Saturday. A visit to the cinema to watch Harry Potter, an afternoon on the sofa watching the golf and finally compiling our honeymoon photographs into an album. Making lasagne, side by side; running to the shop, 10 minutes before it closes, in the rain, to get ice cream.

And then, this morning. On my own. A trip to the beach, a different beach this time, the one above, one with an old-fashioned cafe, eating breakfast and reading the paper. Watching the waves retreating as the tide slid back into the Bristol Channel. A blustering walk along the sea front. Retreating to the house, watching Gossip Girl. I've never been a fan of Sundays on my own. But Sundays, back when I was in London, were easier. There were always things to do, and almost always, things to do things with. But down here, they're lonelier. 

(of course, I could hoover the upstairs, sort through my clothes, clean the bathroom, do my tax return or one of the myriad other boring admin tasks that are vaguely on my to-do-list, but where's the fun in that?)

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Photo by me.

I think everyone who gets involved with a family wedding should have a honeymoon afterwards. Coming back to real life today after such a wonderful weekend feels rather flat. Somehow it was easier after our wedding; the honeymoon giving a buffer to real life and it being *our* wedding so we could talk and blog about it. It's the not wanting to shake it to not dislodge the glitter feeling [TM EastsideBride], but magnified because it doesn't even belong to me in the first place. I am waiting until Lauren posts her photos until I show you my contributions to their day and some of the amazing details and vendors.

But I will tell you this. I spent about 2 hours spinning in circles with the two baby bridesmaids, one of whom christened M "bad kitty".

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photo, by me, of bouquets, by me.

I'm off to my sister's wedding later today. Well, I'm off to help set up my sister's wedding before the actual festitivities take place on Saturday. It's been quite the week here and I don't think I stop again until I get back to work next Monday. I was up in the loft at midnight last night and up again at god knows what hour this morning finishing leaving cat feeding instructions for my cat feeding friend.

Things I packed into the car this morning included
.several large metal ice buckets
.car ribbon from our wedding that my parents would like to re-use
.multiple pairs of pink/nude heeled shoes (haven't yet tried shoes on with dress)
.every hair product that I own including my hair drier (my sister and I are doing our own hair plus the bride's)
.boxes and boxes of dried peony petals for confetti
.weekend bag full of assorted clean but no doubt weather inappropriate clothing
.unchecked makeup bag
.part of our wedding present

Things that I should have packed into the car but forgot included
.my camera (iphone snaps from here on in)
.any outfit to wear to the wedding after party (looks like I will be partying in townwhereIgrewup in grey floor length silk)
.any appropriate top to wear with jeans if we have July weather not November weather
.the other part of the wedding present, which may or may not have yet to be bought, wedding card etc
.clutch bag or decorative handbag for wedding. Yes, I will be attending with a big brown leather LK Bennett work handbag. It would have been perfect for stashing my after party clothes in, had I remembered to bring any

Things I learnt this morning, far too late
.even if the last time you wrote a list of things to take to a wedding was your own and you swore never to do it again, don't listen to yourself. Write a bloody list.
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Photo from my archives, found in a wedding magazine whose name I forget.

So much for posting more frequently... last weekend I went to London and had a wonderful weekend which included a fabulous park picnic with some of my favourite ladies, a magical Flaming Lips concert, meeting my beautiful brand new nephew when he was less than 36 hours old, spending time with my extremely tired sister-in-law and brother-in-law who both could not stop marvelling at their new son and eating not once but twice at my favourite cheap eatery - Yo Sushi.

I then headed to the parental abode on my way back to Somerset and spent some time helping my sister by making something for her wedding (to be revealed in due course). And then, tomorrow, I head back to the parental abode for said sister's wedding.

(I did find time to visit a new gallery down here in Somerset which is where these lovely Leo Davey prints are from. He is an illustrator and I love his work, particularly his local land and seascapes, which I find to be very restful and his colours so vivid a representation of the Exmoor moor and coastline. More to come on Somersetbound blog in due course).

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All images borrowed from Leo Davey's website.