The first of my Nice Things To Do was a trip to my local cinema. I went during the week at lunchtime and I have to admit it was nice to think that everyone else was at work (sorry), it felt rather indulgent and a bit like I was bunking off!

I went on my own, which is only the second time I've been to the cinema alone. I quite like it, you don't have to share your popcorn (salty and sweet - always) and can sit where you like AND you can cry to your heart's content if you wish (and I did).

The first film I saw alone was Mrs Hendersen Presents (I cried then too) starring Judi Dench, whom I adore, when I grow up I want to be just like her. It seemed fitting that my second 'alone film' was also one of hers. My local cinema was showing Philomena again, just for one day, and when I saw it listed I knew I had to go.


It was a lovely film - sad, funny, sweet, frustrating (those nuns!!) and poignant. The performances from both Judi Dench and Steve Coogan were palpable. Knowing that it was based on a true story I was completely absorbed. Forgetting that I was sharing the cinema with 16 others, I swore at the screen, tutted loudly, cried openly, and laughed aloud. I'll forever love any film that can grip me in this way. It's a film that I know I'll find myself thinking about a lot over the next few weeks.

This has set me on a bit of a mission to watch all the films Judi Dench has been in, I've already seen quite a few. I was surprised to see her pop up in the cast of The Chronicles of Riddick, and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, but I'll happily watch them none-the-less.

I've loved her as M in the Bond films and am really looking forward to seeing some of her earlier work. She broke my heart playing Iris Murdock in Iris and as Ursula, the spinster sister, in Ladies in Lavender along side the equally wonderful Maggie Smith. I think I'm going to enjoy this!

Who do you want to be when you grow up?

Love

I'd been mulling over the idea of doing my Wearing it All challenge again, but I couldn't seem to make up my mind. So, in the spirit of my motto for 2014, I decided to just get on with it.

I started last week and have worn almost all of my jeans already - foolish! But it has been nice to think about what I put on in the mornings a little more.

The rule is simple - I have to wear everything in my wardrobe before I can wear something for a second time. The only items that are not included are those that have been put away for the summer.

Looking back through my posts on doing this the first time, I played a game of still got / not got / what was I thinking!? / I wish I still had, and I realised how much I enjoyed this challenge. I found that it made me evaluate what I had in my wardrobe and get rid of bags full of clothes that I didn't like and no longer wanted. Some things hadn't even been worn.

The challenge helped me to change my thought pattern when buying dresses and skirts. Instead of thinking 'a tan and a cute pair of sandals and this would be fabulous', I've learnt to ask myself 'how will I wear this and, more importantly, will I actually wear it?' I have rarely tanning and the rubbish British weather to thank for this. A number of items have been put back on the rails as a result, which is one of the things I was hoping to achieve.

This time I'm looking to do a little streamlining and find some new ways to style what I have.

Here's my first week. The first outfit was to see if the jumper I'd shrunk in the wash was salvageable. Although it is a different shape now, it still fits.


I'm giving the jumper (bottom left) back to the charity shop as the sleeves are a little short and a bit too wide for my liking, I should've tried in on. After discovering that I wasted roughly £240 last year on things that didn't fit or didn't suit me (and couldn't return because they came from charity shops or eBay), it was obvious that I need to try before I buy where ever possible.

The jeans (bottom left) are going too, with only 2% elastane they lose their shape in no time at all (note to self - always check the labels), so my wardrobe is two items lighter already.

The final outfit is a dress I haven't worn since the summer, I had no idea how to style it for cold weather as it's short sleeved, drop wasted and quite wide but my one and only sale purchase - the long grey cardigan - was just perfect. Not too bulky but with enough room for the dress to sit nicely underneath. It might not do much for my figure but it's so comfy to wear that I'm not at all bothered.

I'll be keeping a record with a weekly Wednesday WIA#2 post. Wish me luck!

Love

I got my craft on today and made the first, of what I hope will be many, of the pins I've added to my  projects board on Pinterest. I hope to do at least one a month and today I chose to paint this cloth bag DIY. I'd normally link to the original website but it has been blocked by Pinterest because 'it may lead to spam, nudity or other inappropriate stuff' - you might like nudity or inappropriate stuff on your interwebs (who am I to judge?) - but I know that nobody likes spam, so no direct link.

Luckily, the photos are self explanatory, which is just as well as I bought the paint ages ago, at around the same time I made this neon necklace (July 2012). I was a little worried that the paint might have dried up but it was fine.


It took me about half an hour to paint and then, after leaving it to dry, a further 10 minutes blasting it with the hairdryer to set the paint (I could've done it with an iron but if I can avoid contact with such things I do).

It was really nice to switch off and lose myself in something for a while and I'm pleased with how it turned out. I'll be taking this with me next time I go shopping.

Have you made anything recently?

Love

I have been pondering resolutions and goals, wishes and hopes for 2014 and I realised that a lot of them are the same as for 2013. Namely to start (and finish) the multitude of things I've been meaning to do and finish little jobs around the house. I constantly have a to-do list as long as my arm and I'm always busy but I don't feel as if I ever make much progress. Hence my motto for 2014.

Having read and enjoyed many resolution posts over the past few weeks I have compiled a list of my own, nicking a few along the way.

See something cultural once a month.
I loved Harriet's idea of seeing something cultural once a month. She did this last year and visited some great places so this is going on my list. I hope to drag Andy along with me when I can and if not I'll rope in some friends (I don't see nearly enough of them these days).

Make more of an effort.
I chuckled reading Jenny's resolution 'to make more of an effort', nodding in agreement as I read. Now that I work at home I do tend to just pull on a pair of jeans and drag my hair into a ponytail most days. My boyfriend must wonder what happened to his previously well turned out other half. I totally agree with Jenny when she says she feels better when she's made more of an effort. This ties in nicely with my desire to wear more of my wardrobe. I'm contemplating another Wearing it All challenge. I enjoyed it the first time around and my wardrobe has changed a lot so it could be fun to do it all over again.

Do nice things.
I thought that Su's idea of A List of Nice Things was a fabulous idea (found via Jo). She takes time to do something nice once a month. I promptly added this to my list of things for 2014 - I'm counting a nice thing as anything that I don't have to do, that takes me away from everyday life, even if only for a few hours.

Don't just pin, do.
I decided that I should spend less time pinning and more time actually doing / making / creating some of my pins. I have a boards called Projects and I've yet to try even one of them, not to mention the recipes I haven't cooked and knitting and crochet tutorials that have gone untried. One a month sounds good to me.

Learn a skill.
I like the idea of learning something new, taking a course, meeting people and having a useful skill at the end of it. I'm thinking flower arranging, upholstering or dress making - it depends on cost, time and location but it's definitely worth some investigation.

Obviously I have the standard 'eat well, move more' type resolutions but I always fail at these. Having read this Red Online article, about making bite-size resolutions, I decided to make small daily changes instead. I'll let you know how it goes.

I hope that this will give me plenty of things to look forward to in 2014 and that by the end of it I'll have finished many outstanding projects (hopefully), have a tidier home and a healthier diet and lots of new recipes mastered.

How are your resolutions holding up?

Love

In 2012 I kept track of my clothes, shoes and accessories purchases in order to see how much I spent in a year. The total was over £1,700 and I was interested to see if I could reduce my overall spend in 2013 and take another look at how much I wear, what's never been worn and how much of it is pre-loved.

I'm happy to say I spent less and purchased less with a higher percentage (58%, 42% in 2012) of what I did buy being pre-loved.

The total spend for 2013 was...


That's £563 less than 2012. But when you break it down, it's £99 per month, which seems quite a lot considering I'm rarely in a position where I need more clothes. But new clothes are nice and I enjoy shopping so you could look at it (if you squint a bit lot) as a relaxing hobby?

I was surprised to see that 35% of items purchased I no longer have, this is much higher than in 2012. But when I looked at what was discarded, I discovered that most of it either didn't fit, I didn't like it (having bought it online) or it didn't suit me. Almost all of these items where charity shop or eBay purchases that couldn't be returned. I guess this is the risk you take when buying pre-loved. But adding up how much I spent on these things (£240) makes me realise that I need to be more selective.

In 2012 33.3% of my purchases had only been worn once or, in some cases, not at all. This figure now stands at 13% - much better but still has room for improvement.


I'm almost tempted to try another Wearing It All challenge to kick off the year. I especially need to wear my most expensive purchase of 2012 (Kurt Geiger peep toe sandals), which still haven't been worn! I do get them out of the box occasionally and gaze at them adoringly.


Once again my most expensive items where shoes - a pair of Toms that I wore almost constantly throughout the summer and some Next ballet pumps, which so far have only been worn once. Both where £35.00.


One item that I wish I still had is this jumper. I loved the stripes and the A (A for Andy) but I only got to wear it once as it shrunk in the wash (despite saying on the label to wash it at 30˚ grrrrr!).


My favourite purchase of 2013 is my elephant dress worn for my 3 for 33 challenge. I really should wear my dresses more.

Here are some of my favourite purchases of 2013.


April - a Monsoon tunic dress found on eBay for £5.00


June - my outfit for a world record attempt for the 'largest gathering of fairies in one place'. I would happily wear a tutu every. single. day!


July - H&M tunic. This was perfect for those scorching days we had in the summer. Another summer like that would be nice please.


December - a cape expertly revamped by Mother. This was £2.00 from Barnardos and I love it!

For 2014 I'd like to reduce my total spend further, under £1,000 would be nice. I hope I can be more selective when it comes to charity shop and eBay purchases to limit buying things that I then just give away. And, as always, I want to wear more of what I have - sounds obvious and simple but grabbing a pair of jeans first thing in the morning is such an easy thing to do...

Have you ever kept a tally of your clothes spend? I'd love to know!
Love

I've been subscribed to Birchbox for about six months now and have been saving the packaging, thinking that I could find a use for it. I do this with a lot of things, which means I have a lot of stuff sat around my home waiting to become useful, and today was the day for three of my Birchbox boxes!


In a flurry of pine needles, I took the Christmas tree down today (a thoroughly depressing thing to do if you ask me). But instead of simply chucking all the decorations into one big box, like I did last year, leaving myself with a tangled mess to sort out this year, I packed them away by size and type.


The biggest baubles into a smallish cardboard box, the medium sized baubles into an really old Glossybox box and the smallest decorations into the Birchboxes.


Some of our decorations are quite small and delicate and need a little more consideration than simply being chucked into a large box. The Birchbox boxes are the perfect size to keep them safe and when December rolls around again I'll have a much easier task of selecting decorations for our tree (not that I'm looking forward to Christmas again just yet).


I then sat pondering a use for the Birchbox bags, it didn't take long for me to come up with the idea to use them as storage for my very dull, mostly 100 denier black, collection of hosiery. The inner neat freak in me is chuffed to bits, especially as I've decided that 2014 is the year I'll get organised.

What do you do with your Birchbox packaging?

Love

At this time of year I always feel really nostalgic and spend a lot of time looking back over the year. I noticed that on this day last year I entered the Style Is ethical outfit competition wearing this and I thought it would be fun to recreate the outfit for today. You never know, one day I might actually wear this in the summer months, as intended when I bought it!


I always thought that this dress would look cute with a stripey top underneath so I popped on this one but all other elements remain the same. The top is originally from Jigsaw bit I picked it up in a charity shop for about £3.00. The label says 'hand wash only' but I took a gamble (wash by hand? I think not) and chucked it in on a 30 wash and y'know what? It's perfectly fine.

I've also been thinking a lot about the year ahead and I've read a lot of your posts on what you have planned for 2014 and I have to say you're a creative lot, full of good ideas, of which I am going to steal many! Full credit will be given obviously, but I'm letting January pass before I set out my plan for the year. It's going to be a hectic few weeks and my focus will be almost entirely on work. But this is a good thing, please do not think I am complaining, I am loving the new challenges that freelancing brings!

Do you ever look back at your blog and think 'ohh that's nice, I haven't worn that in a while'?

Love

Just a quick post to say Happy New Year to you all!

Christmas was fun and busy. I've enjoyed catching up with your Christmas posts and reading about your resolutions and hopes for 2014. I'm still pondering mine.

I've returned to reality with looming deadlines and a large workload and I know it won't be too long before Christmas is a dim and distant memory. Not that I'm complaining, this time last year I was driving to work on a daily basis feeling sick and sometimes bursting into tears as I drove closer. In stark contrast, today I am sitting in my sunny office over looking the fields that surround our house and feeling relaxed and happy despite the busy few weeks ahead. I have a feeling that 2014 is going to be a great year!

I hope that 2014 is a wonderful year for you.
Love