Date Night

How kind of my husband to match his shirt to my toenail varnish. 

We are off for a meal and some time together before I am off for another yoga weekend.

When I get back there will be just two days to get ready for our trip to Barcelona. 

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. 

Dress - Butter by Nadia

Shoes - New Look

St Lucia

After reading Fab At Any Age I nipped over to the Boden sale and bagged this lovely dress for £23.

It is one of my few, new buys for my holiday in Barcelona in a few weeks' time.

The dress is called St Lucia and I love the Caribbean vibe.

It reminds me of my recent trip to Mexico.

I wore the dress out for a family meal at the weekend when my brother and his family came up.

We had a lovely weekend as the weather was hot and we spent most of Saturday on the beach.

Long may this lovely weather continue.

St Lucia Dress and Sandals - Boden

Beach Dress - French Connection

Sandals - Birkenstock

Happy Fifth Blogging Anniversary To Me

It is five years ago today since I made my first post on this blog.
And to celebrate I have picked five pics from the summer of 2009.
Here is a skirt you may be familiar with and I am still twirling!

Here I am, the proud godmother to my beautiful nephew, Seth.

This photo was taken at the annual Writers In Prison Network conference.
I spent three wonderful years as a writer in residence at a men's prison from 2007 - 2010.

I am not quite sure what I was thinking there - probably, should I have had my hair cut this short?

And finally, one of my favourite striped tops, a look I still love.

White Linen

A whiff of white linen perfume instantly transports me back to the summer of 1984.

I am 18.

I have bought my first bottle of perfume with my Saturday Job wages and have just sat my A-levels.

I am on the way to Spain in a coach with my friend Karen.

This photo was taken during a food break, somewhere around the French/Spanish border.

I am on the verge of leaving the tiny terraced home of my childhood to embark on the adventure of adulthood and a new life at university.

The clean, fresh fragrance instantly recreates a world of warm, summer evenings, blue skies and endless possibilities.

Right now I can be anything I want to be.

I had no idea I would meet my future husband during my first term at university.

That I would enjoy 20 years in my dream job as a journalist and become a mother of four.

The possibilities may not have been endless but some of my dreams did come true.

I have no idea of the future ahead of me now but I have faith that some of my dreams may still come true and that there will be some surprises along the way.

Until then I will enjoy a night out in my white linen dress and look back fondly on the last 30 years.

I wore:

Shoes - Gap

Dress - Boden

Practice Makes Perfect

Sorry for the lack of outfit posts but I have been spending most of my energies studying yoga to gain my teaching diploma. 

I have been relying on lots of old faithful combinations which I have worn many times to get me through. 

There have been lots of outfits featuring my Gap Skinnies and striped tops!

Qualifying to teach yoga has made me feel like I did when I first started yoga- useless!

While I have mastered many yoga asanas through my practice, teaching it to others is a whole new ball game.

However, I have to remind myself that I did get better through practise and the more I practise teaching the better I will be. 

I am planning to start teaching classes in January but I know I will have to spend many hours at the front of the class, honing my teaching technique.

So many more days in stripes and Skinnies. 

Namaste for now.