Alice in Retail Land

With the new release of Alice in Wonderland comes one problem – the amount of merchandise on offer!!!

Recently Kelly & I visited the Alice themed Wonderland at Selfridges

My eyes were immediately drawn to this Alice figure by Lladro

A mere snip at £340!

Instead I treated myself to the more affordable Alice themed OPI nail varnishes

The Disney cartoon being my ultimate favourite I was powerless to resist this gorgeous Paul & Joe set

Isn’t it cute!

Still on the wish list are these Queen of Hearts earrings

Hmmm and maybe this t-shirt….

What about you – has any of the Alice themed products found their way into your shopping baskets?

Weekend Wonderland

Another weekend has flown past especially as mine was jam packed!

Saturday morning a friend came round for a visit so I decided to bake some croissants

In return I was given this wonderful baking book as a housewarming present

There are many delicious recipes for me to try

Later that afternoon I joined my family to celebrate my great aunt and uncle’s 60th wedding anniversary

What an achievement!

Sunday may be the day of rest but not for me as Kelly & I headed off to see Alice in Wonderland

WOW what an amazing film

Typical Tim Burton it was a visual treat, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter were fantastic and whilst it might not have been as light and fluffy as the Disney cartoon version it was a great film nonetheless.

My cinema viewing for the day wasn’t over as I joined my SIL to see Shutter Island

Despite the promising trailer I did not enjoy this one and found it boring!!!

What did you get up to this weekend?

The Extended Family

Kelly and her family have been extremely kind to me since I've moved home and today I'm thanking her Auntie Jill

Noticing I needed a headboard she climbed into her loft and produced the headboard that belonged to Kelly's Nan for me

I'm really touched and honoured that a family treasure has been passed on to me

As if that wasn't enough Jill also added to my Cath Kidston glasses collection and gave me the tumblers! But where do I put all this growing Cath Kidston glass collection?

Why, in the corner cabinet I'm due to receive this week from her (now she's replaced it with this fabulous unit!)

Thank you once again Jill your kindness is much appreciated

The Weekend

Progress on the flat has been continuing well this weekend starting with putting my shower curtain up in the bathroom

The shower curtain was brought on one of my America trips from Rachel Ashwell's Simply Shabby Chic range at Target (and yes I am regretting not ironing it before I put it up!)

Yesterday I came home from the charity shop with a table for my lounge

The one I did have in the space before was too small - this one fits like a glove! It'll be added to the list of items to be painted

And finally I'd jokingly sent a friend this link the other day suggesting it'd make a nice gift for my birthday, imagine my pleasure when I found this in TK Maxx!

It was only £30 and provides more storage in the kitchen (currently holding my supplies for the Simnell cake I'm planning to bake this week)

Now I'm off to lay my table for a friend who is coming for dinner tomorrow

Martini Time

I meant to publish this post before Christmas but as usual time ran away we with me but as boot sale season is due to start shortly it might even been more useful now!

The women in my family have a love of Martini’s due to our holidays over the years when we’d all meet for pre-dinner drinks, indulging in one or two glasses!

My mum picked up the Martini glass for herself at our local antique centre to enjoy her drinks from at home

When I saw a Martini cocktail shaker in the local charity shop I knew she’d appreciate it as a gift

Looking at the 3 items together wouldn’t they make a fabulous gift for someone?

I often see branded glasses and accessories at boot sales and charity shops and don’t you agree this’d be far nicer than those pre-packaged sets lining supermarket shelves?

I’m sure Christmas 2010 is farthest from our minds at the moment but next time you’re out thrifting have a look at what goodies can be snapped up for gifts

The Boot Sales are coming!

I have my purse ready for the boots sales which will be starting soon

(accessorised with some vintage brooches picked up last year)

It always raises a few smiles from the sellers

My First Scrapbook Layout

A few years ago when struggling for Christmas gift ideas for my nan Kelly suggested making her a scrapbook

This is the first page I completed with Kelly’s assistance

It was the perfect gift for my nan and now she is no longer with us the scrapbooks that I made her (I created one each year following the initial one) are truly treasured

Once my craft room is up and running I can't wait to start scrapbooking booking more memories

Hello Kitty!

Friends and family know they will put a smile on my face if they bring me Hello Kitty treats back from there holidays

Last year I was lucky enough to get a wallet and gift tag set from Kelly

and from my SIL some stationary goodies from her trip to the US

Aren't they good to me!

Ladies who Lunch!

This weekend I had some of my girlfriends round for my first "official" lunch in my new home

It was lovely to bring out all the goodies I've had boxed up for so long and use one of my house-warming gifts... did you spot the Provence Rose cups and saucers? They were a gift from Kelly's mum who has recently come out of the blogging closet!

Happy Mothers Day!

It's Mother's Day in the UK so I thought I'd re-publish a post I did a few years ago on my previous blog in her honour

Here's some photos and facts about my mum!

We all joke MI5 would have trouble cracking the code in mum's text messages!

Friends will pop round and ask "where you going tonight, you look nice" and mum is going nowhere she just likes to dress up to have dinner with my dad

She runs all my errands whilst I'm at work... dry cleaning... post office runs

My dinner is ready every night I get home from work and she does all my washing and ironing... declicately handwashing anything that needs it!

Every evening she brings me up a cup of tea and a biscuit (sadly she hasn't delivered any to my flat although I have come home from work to find her doing my washing up!)

She hates to hear of anyone going without and has loaded friends and family with goodies from the cupboards... only yesterday I mentioned having to pick up some perfume for a friend from a cheaper brand because they were short of cash this month and she produced some small tester bottles from her draws to give her instead

Mum loves entertaining and tends to host a number of family events at our home.... she's always found some extra something to put on the table - she was my first teacher before Martha!

If mum reads something in the paper she'll pull the pages out and put them on my bed to read and we take it turns with passing on books and magazines we've read that we know the other will too

Mum is a die hard shopper.... she'll announce she's cutting back one week and the next is strolling home from Fortnum & Mason armed with shopping bags...

In New York last year I took mum to a Super Target for her first visit. We had 1 hour before our taxi came to collect us.... We seperated for ease... when i tried to track mum down 40 mins later she was still in the same place I'd left her!

My mum is crazy... fun....caring and I wouldn't be without her and most of all I LOVE her!

I hope you enjoyed hearing about mum today and wishing you all a lovely Mother's Day

And so to bed…

This evening I made up my bed with all my new covers and pillowcases

Although looking at the round cushions in this photo I fear I may have made a similar faux pas as Charlize Theron did at the Oscars!

A Long Weekend

I’ve had a jam packed weekend to tell you about…

Friday I was babysitting this little guy

who kindly helped Kelly put together another chest of draws for me

(yes the draws won in my bedroom dilemma!)

Saturday I headed into London with my mum and aunt for a bit of shopping

It was lovely to do a bit of clothes and beauty shopping rather than the homewares and pretties I have been buying for the past few months

Sunday it was back to working on my flat. I have solved my wires issue for now by moving a set of draws from the bedroom which works wonderfully as it blends in the background

My green Lloyd Loom has gone back in the bedroom

I’m pleased to say my bedroom is starting to feel “right”

I even got handy with the hammer and hung my clock and a picture in the kitchen whilst rearranging the shelves

(Its me thats crooked not the shelves BTW!)

Then I made some comfort food, grabbed the duvet and curled up on the sofa to watch the Oscars

And today I’ve used my washing machine for the first time - successfully I’m pleased to add!

Back to work tomorrow so I’m off to bed with my Country Living magazine, cup of tea and a slice of cheesecake