Hello, hello!

Failed at Friday's Letters last week... again.

Dear Monday, We're never going to be great friends but just occasionally we seem to call a truce - like today.

Dear X Factor, Chris Maloney. Seriously?

Dear Boiler, Thank you for not having a terminal or expensive fault. If you could see your way to lasting just a few more years I'd really, really appreciate it.

Dear Boyfriend, Thank you for getting the boiler fixed and my apologies for being a grumpy cow, you know how I hate to be cold.

Dear Pampered Chef Party Demonstration Lady, You're good. You're really good. I came along with a steely resolve to spend no more than £30. I restrained myself for approximately 15 minutes before I crumbled and spent a small fortune.

Dear Show and Stay, Thank you for making the experience of booking a show, hotel and train tickets to London an absolute breeze.

Dear Workmen, Thanks for cancelling two days before you were due to insulate my loft and fill my cavity walls. If you could pull your finger out that would be awesome!

Dear Self, Stop moaning and look on the bright side - you're warm (hurrah!), you have a trip to London to look forward to (ditto), your boyfriend has finally got through a stupidly busy time at work so you'll be seeing more of him (huge hurrah!) and the acupuncture you're having for your sinusitis is beginning to take effect. Life is good.

And so to Inspiration Monday. I joined in last week but didn't find a minute to take any outfit shots. I honestly didn't know if I was coming or going for most of last week and it's set to get busier!


This shot was taken surreptitiously, which explains a lot! I have a nightshirt that would have suited this inspiration so much better but work draw the line at PJ's, more's the pity!

Hope you have a fab week.

Lots of love

Dear Boiler. Thank you SO much for deciding to stop working in the second week of November. So considerate of you. First the oven and now this... what's next? (You know there is going to be a third).

Dear Boyfriend, Pleeeease can you call the man to come and fix/replace our boiler. Cold makes me grumpy, which ultimately makes your life more difficult, so it's in your interest to sort it out. Please.

Dear Blog Friends, Please do not think me a weak and feeble female for leaving the boiler to my boyfriend to fix. I'd do it myself but he keeps telling me he'll deal with it.

Dear Charity Shops of Ipswich, Brace yourselves - I'll be heading your way tomorrow in a determined and purposeful manner.

Dear I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, I am very surprised to find myself watching (and enjoying) the show. I'm team red. David Haye and Brian Conley are a genius combination. These celebs have all been somewhat of a surprise, I'm not sure I want any of them to leave the jungle, except for Nadine maybe...
I can't believe that another week has gone by again so quickly! Thumbing through my diary today I was shocked at how little time remains before the Christmas madness begins once again. The good news is that apart from my best friend and by boyfriend, my Christmas shopping is done (thank goodness for Amazon wish lists).

Hope you have a great weekend.
Love

Hurrah! The first proper outing for my new boots (wearing them around the house doesn't count) for this month's Everybody, Everywear. I kept the rest of my outfit simple to let the boots shine :)

I'm on the hunt for the perfect pair of black knee high boots, something with a bit of a heel but not much, a bit casual but smart enough for work, slim fitting and right up to the knees, possibly with buckles… you think I'm being a little narrow in my search? Little bit?

I love these but they're £95 and not leather. I'd pay £95 for leather but not not leather.

I like these too but they don't have the same, y'know… 'thing' about them.

Anyhow, here they are my new brown boots again... just because I love them so much!




Love

I missed Friday Letters in a blur of activity, so here are some Monday Letters instead.

Dear Monday, You suck. The only time I like you is when you have 'bank holiday' written in front of you. You always come around too quickly and you spoil Sunday evenings.

Dear Clothes Swappers, You guys rock! You turned out on a rainy Saturday morning, full of gusto and laden with bags of clothes. I did however fear for my friends safety as she carried five ball gowns towards the rails and you mobbed her. Play nicely now.

Dear Christmas, I know that people aren't talking about you yet, but I haven't forgotten that you're coming. I'm stocking up my pantry in preparation (I can't be the only person to have purchased a Christmas pudding in early November). This year will be less frantic. I promise.


Dear NoneSuch Things, I love your site. The tapes I ordered arrived and are already adorning the front of my Christmas cards, with lots more projects planned.




Hope you all have a fab Monday (do the best you can with it, the week will improve). See you tomorrow for Everybody : Everywear, this month the theme is 'boots'. Guess which ones I'll be wearing?

Love

When it comes to my nails I have a love/hate relationship with them. I used to bite my nails when I was younger and sometimes, just sometimes, I slip back into old habits. Needless to say my nails go from long to short, unkempt to perfectly polished and everything in between.


When my nails are short, I often find myself longing for beautifully manicured nails, mostly for an occasion that calls for being well groomed, but sometimes I just want to feel well groomed. This is what led me to try imPRESS nails. It was Nicole Scherzinger's advert that first brought these to my attention, and as annoying as I find her on The X Factor, I couldn't help but take note.

Boots had a 3 for 2 offer on nail accessories, so I bagged a few to give them a try. I wanted to road test them before I used them 'for real'.


There are no real instructions on the packaging, but there is a QR code, which when scanned takes you to a short tutorial on how to apply them. They're really easy to put on - simply clean your nails with nail polish remover, select the size you need and line them up. Starting with your pinky fingers, peel off the tabs, align to the cuticle and press onto your nail. Apply your thumb nails last.



The whole process only takes a few minutes. I loved this and much prefer it to the glues I have tried in the past. I also really like the shorter length, as they're the closest to the longest length of my natural nails that I've ever tried. You do have to file the edges to get rid of the tell tale tabs but that's easy enough to do.


They say they last for a week. I decided to get the housework out of the way before testing them... then changed my mind. I thought that if these babies could really stay put for a week they'd have to be able to withstand some housework. And they did. They also survived a pumpkin carving, baking, sewing of sock monkeys and all manor of everyday activities. They held fast and showed no signs of budging. I put applied them on Sunday morning and removed them Thursday evening but they would easily have lasted longer.


My only issue was the lack of guidance on how to remove them, so I pushed down on the tip, levered a gap at the cuticle and peeled them off. It was really easy. No harm done.

The index finger on my right hand is damaged from when I shut it in a door at the age of 11. As a result of a crushed nail and five stitches, the nail is slightly domed and other false nails have been tricky to apply and stay put, some have been really rather uncomfortable, but I had no problems with the imPRESS nails.


At £7.99 I think these are a bargain. For a quick manicure fix they're perfect. They say that they don't harm the nail but I can't believe that these can be good for your nails if worn continually but I'd highly recommend for a special occasion or the odd pamper session.

Do these sound like something you would use?

Love

Monday Inspiration was Lauren Conrad wearing a fabulous slouchy jumper and boots. Perfect transitional dressing! I had no excuse to go shopping for this week's inspiration as it was the perfect opportunity to wear the oversized M&S sweater I found on my recent blogger meet up!

Accesorised with my poppy and a huge scarf. See the other inspirations here.

Dear Friday, How nice it is to see you again. I may moan about how fast the year has gone by (November already?!!), but I will never, ever be sorry to see you.

Dear Sophie, Well done for organising a photographic scavenger hunt for October. Maybe others will join in for November? The list is a good one…

Dear Caroline, So, what are you going to make with your Christmas fabric? I'm nosey intrigued.

Dear Mr Kipling, Your Halloween inspired Fiendish Fancies were exceedingly good indeed. A perfect post poorly pick-me-up! Thank you x (Yes, I ate them all and no, I didn't share them.)

Dear Sarah, Your idea to get fish and chips for lunch today was inspired, the studio may smell of vinegar but my tummy is happy and full - a big improvement on earlier this week.

Dear Zara, You know those boots? Well, I've changed my mind. I want these, or maybe these (fickle much?).

Dear Men of Britain, Tache up - it's Movember!!



Hope you have a lovely weekend - keep warm, eat well and laugh a lot.
Love

I was bitten by the Halloween bug this year. I put this down to the fact that, on a whim, I planted some pumpkin seeds and was able to carve my own this year. I'd never done it before so why I chose to do so this time around is a mystery.

When I was growing up we didn't really do anything to mark the occasion. As small children, my brother and I were allowed to sleep in the same room on Halloween. There was a candle holder on my brother's wall which, on this night and this night only, my parents lit the candle to keep the ghouls at bay. To a five year old this seemed ridiculously exciting!

As we got older we went trick or treating a few times. The trend hadn't really taken off in the UK at that point, so it was a pretty fruitless exercise. We rarely played tricks on anyone - we taped up the odd letterbox or put toothpaste on door handles but nothing too serious.

One Halloween I remember a house decorated with cobwebs and pumpkins, we excitedly knocked and shouted "trick or treat" as the door opened, expecting a wondrous bounty. Instead the women gave, what I can only describe as, an exasperated howl. She was obviously having a fancy dress party but hadn't counted on any trick or treaters knocking on her door. It tickled me that she obviously didn't want to open her door to the likes of us, however, she had no choice but to answer, in case her guests were knocking. She simply slammed the door. Needless to say she got taped and toothpasted.

Anyway, my Halloween turned out to be somewhat different to what I'd planned this year. No bat t-shirt, no delicious pumpkin bites, no ghoulish fondant fancies, no scary movies. Just me, in bed, feeling poorly.


I managed to carve my pumpkin the night before but then started to feel decidedly off colour. Maybe I can blame the onset of illness for the complete hash I made of my first ever pumpkin carving. Who would have though it would be so difficult? I had no idea, I just grabbed my knife and started hacking away. I'd almost finished when I slipped cutting out his nostrils, sliced into my finger and punched out his cheekbone. I have to be honest, I nearly cried. It had taken me ages!


Not to be deterred, I repaired it with some sticky tape and dress making pins. It was enough to hold it in place and didn't look to bad with a tealight burning inside and the lights out.

Anyway, I'm feeling better now and have a feeling that the fondant fancies won't last another night!

Love