Blog Archives

british blogger sitting on the grass under a blossom tree

3 reasons to be glad of a wet bum

Something dawned on me at Glastonbury Festival on the Thursday night last year and this is the story behind it: Rain and I were sitting in a field on our little fold-up seats, surrounded by all sorts of weird and wonderful vehicle creations waiting for Johnny Depp to appear (in actual real life, right in front of us) to introduce The Libertine, soon to be shown on the massive screen in front of the ever-growing crowd. All of a sudden, a woman amongst the group of friends sitting near us jumped up, saying something along the lines of, ‘I think someone’s spilt their drink here – I’ve got a wet bum.’…..

styling a pink dress

Styling the Spring/Summer 2018 trends: Pink

I have several items in my wardrobe of the dusky blush pink variety; but not so many of the brighter and pastel shades of pink that are on trend this season. I’ll have to be honest, is isn’t a shade that I think suits me very much, but this dress was so lovely, I wasn’t going to pass it by due to the colour! Some of these photos show how I styled it last summer, and some are from cooler days this spring, so they give you a couple of different ideas for how to style a pink dress….

Milsom Place festival of flowers

Festival of Flowers; visit Milsom Place this weekend!

I was so happy to be invited to visit Milsom Place in Bath yesterday and see the preparations taking place for the Festival of Flowers. I love watching the annual Chelsea Flower Show on the telly, so to be shown around Milsom Place by multi award winning landscape gardener, Jon Wheatley, it was a real treat!….

how to road trip with kids

7 ways to survive a family road trip – holidays with kids advice!

Are you going on a road trip with your kids? Does the thought of going on holiday with children fill you slightly with dread? Well, worry no more – I’m here to help you out! Our first family road trip was back in 2002 when our daughters were seven and four years old and we did the classic California route that’s become very popular recently: Los Angeles then travel along the coast to San Francisco; to Yosemite national park; through Death Valley to Las Vegas; to the Grand Canyon; to San Diego for Seaworld then back to LA for Disney Land. And that was pre Sat Nav – I can still hardly believe we did all that with paper maps! Anyway, since then we’ve done a variation of that loop three more times and several camper van holidays in the UK from long weekends to a three-week tour of iron-age sites. Last year we drove from Washington DC to Orlando via Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans. I feel that we’ve got pretty good at road-tripping by now……

thirty plus British style blogger wearing boho dress

Styling a bohemian summer dress

Although the shops often seem full of boho dresses at this time of year, I struggle to find one in a colour or pattern that I actually like! This summer dress by Joanna Hope (bought via ebay) is now a favourite in my wardrobe. It’s in a beautiful dusky shade of khaki green and has an off-white pretty pattern all over. Perfect for summer holiday vibes!….

handmade thank you cards with zig brush pens

Zig Kuretake Clean Colour watercolour brush pens review & a handmade thank you card idea

After some research, I put the Zig Kuretake Clean Color real brush watercolour brush pens on my wishlist and was lucky enough to receive a pack from my cousin for my birthday. Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted brush pens like this! I think it must have been an episode of Blue Peter when they showed an artist who decorated narrow boats with beautifully crafted swirls that inspired me to recreate the style as best I could. When I grow up I want to paint narrow boats!….

fashion blogger wearing a floral shirt dress

How to style a floral shirt dress; perfect spring fashion

I don’t know about you, but as we marched into April I had so had enough of winter! I was desperate to move away from my dark coloured winter wardrobe and wear some florals. I only went in Primark to buy a cheap skin-coloured bra as we were away in the camper and I’d forgotten to pack one! But on my way to the till I spotted this floral shirt dress that I just picked up (along with a mustard dress, coming to the style inspo section on the blog soon!) and took it with me….

living with hypothyroid disease

Living with hypothyroidism – blame, balance, and being kind to yourself

This week is Thyroid awareness week and the 25th of May is World Thyroid Day. It feels like every day of the week and every week of the year is National or International awareness day for something or other. Well, this is mine. I hope we don’t get too weary of these sorts of days and weeks that we become indifferent about them. Anyway, I wrote more about my Hypothyroid disease story on a post a few years ago if you’d like a read of that first; and please scroll down to watch the video I made about it as well…

30 plus fashion blogger styles a 1950s inspired outfit

Styling a 1950’s inspired outfit with a modern twist

I do like the nineteen-fifties style fashions and would like to add a little more into my wardrobe, but for now, this is one of my favourite outfits of the style. These photos were actually taken on my birthday last year and I’ve resurfaced them to show you the outfit. If you like the 50’s era fashion, but can’t afford or find good quality vintage clothing from that decade, then putting together an outfit like this still has the right vibes, but is probably a bit more comfortable!….

Over 40 fashion blogger in a yellow summer dress in a field of daffodils

4 reasons why this is the perfect summer dress! A yellow dress from Marks and Spencer

A few weeks ago now, Chris and I had our first weekend away of the year in our VW Camper van. I packed lots of jumpers and warm clothes because spring really hadn’t kicked in yet. However, once we’d gone through Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, the sun shone, and I felt I needed a new summer dress. I popped in Marks and Spencer in Truro and spotted this gorgeous yellow dress….

age 40 fashion blogger leaning on bridge wearing a pixie jacket

The summer evening jacket. A handmade pixie hem hippy-style coat

I have to admit, although we recently took the photos for this jacket; spring is actually a very difficult season to wear it due to its lack of waterproof-ness and the inclination in England for it to suddenly rain two minutes after the sun is blazing! So that’s why I entitled this as being ideal for summer evenings. It would also be great festival fashion as the pixie hem and unusual woven fabric gives it quite hippy vibes, whilst also being warm when the sun goes down, and perfect for sitting with friends around the bonfire after a night of dancing….

how to buy jersey dresses

A guide to buying jersey dresses. Styling a Joe Browns floral dress

This jersey dress from Joe Browns made its way into my clothing collection recently, so I thought (for a change) I would share it with you before it goes out of stock! If there’s one item of clothing I’ve been reaching for lately, it’s been a dress made out of lovely comfy stretchy material! Jersey, by the way is what t-shirts are made of; a woven fabric with some stretch, sometimes with added elastane or lycra for extra stretch. Through winter I’ve been wearing them with a snuggly jumper over the top and thick leggings underneath and it meets that elusive requirement of being comfortable to wear, but still looks good enough to leave the house in. However, there are good and bad points that need considering when shopping for a jersey dress…..