Tag Archives: Atlanta

Santa at the Zoo.

6 Replies

It’s been a whirlwind couple of days what with the Thanksgiving festivities.  Now the children are getting older I have to say it is getting more and more enjoyable.  It was fun watching Poppy hooked on the Thanksgiving Day parade while I was getting the turkey ready to go in the oven.  We were all very organized and sat down to eat early at 1.30 – at the request of MM so that he could justify eating leftovers later in the day.  In the evening we cracked open the box set of The West Wing – my those first episodes look dated now – but it was thoroughly enjoyable accompanied by a bottle of Barolo.

Yesterday we headed to some friends for their annual post Thanksgiving party that includes BBQ and a fun jam band.  The kids had a blast and let off some steam and I talked and talked all afternoon.

This morning we were up at the crack of dawn for a visit with Santa at the Zoo.  Now I know Santa is a busy guy at this time of year – but come on 8.30am??!  At least we had cookies and hot chocolate to warm us – it is freezing here today!  I’m now enjoying some alone time while everyone else is at the park riding their bikes.  It’s bliss – I’ve got the coffee pot on and Radio 2 playing and I may go and hold the sofa down for a minute or two:)

Poppy was very excited to select her perfect outfit for Santa this morning:

Hugh joining in the fun, somewhat under duress:

The all important lists which were an exercise in patience for Mom:

Hugh explaining to Santa that he is just going to stand next to him – under no circumstances is he sitting on his lap – smart boy:

Me wrapped up for the first winter day in Atlanta – my new Boden Iona coat which I love, over my Boden Must have jumper in blackberry, layered over a Hampton t-shirt (mine is a 2011 version), my Hudson skinnies, Frye Phillip studded harness, and snood/infinity scarf what ever you call them and wrist warmers are from H&M.  The bag is my ever loyal and trusty YSL Roady (couldn’t find a link to mine with the sting ray handle).

Believe it or not I didn’t buy anything on Black Friday – even though I had lots of fabulous offers arrive in my inbox – some of Net-a-Porter’s were very tempting – but I resisted.  Did you get anything?

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Grrrrr.

12 Replies

A couple of my Boden orders arrived!  The first – the slouchy merino jumper is gorgeous.  I normally order the larger of my two sizes in knitwear and did so with this, ordering the US8.  It is perfect.  Lovely and oversized with drapey dolman sleeves, but lovely and snug around the bottom and the cuffs.  It is long too and sits on my bum perfectly.  I think it can be worn with long skirts or skinny jeans equally well – as long as your lower half is fitted this jumper will be flattering.  I ordered the silver melange and love it so much that with the 25% off (code Q753), and some account credit begging to be used, I have just ordered it in sunset too.  Grab one now while there are plenty of colors and sizes left.

The second order is the washed red Fairisle jumper.  Hmmm – I do like it – but MM’s look was one of complete surprise – ‘that is so not you’ – was his comment – which I have to say is why I like it.  I have returned it though as I think the red was too Christmassy (yes ignore what I said the other day), and also the US8 was fitted.  If there is one thing I don’t like it is fitted knitwear.  So I have returned and I’m exchanging it for a US10 in the Fudge melange.  The jury is still out but again with 25% off it is worth a try.  I think I like it as it makes me think of cold, winter walks that end up in front of a roaring fire in a country pub eating steak and kidney pudding.  Not many of those here in Atlanta.

I do like a bit of animal print.  Today I am going for it in a big way.  The outfit initially started as red and taupe but quickly became overwhelmed by leopard print.  The taupe top is from Zara in the sale and the cardigan is the radish effortless cardigan from Boden SS 2012 and it still pops back into stock occasionally.  I love this cardigan – the color just makes me happy.  Serendipitously I discovered my H&M leopard print scarf coordinates perfectly with both.  Yes there is a lot going on here so I attempted to tame it with my Hudson Collin jeans and Sam Edelman tan (really taupe) suede Louie boots.

Then I went and over did it completely and threw on my best purchase ever from Marks & Spencer – last year’s leopard print coat.  Words cannot express how much love I have for this coat.  Oh how I wish you shipped to the States.

Odd experiment here too – always far happier with photos taken of myself in the mirror rather than with the tripod – must be because that is how I always see myself rather than how others see me?

Stay warm and let me know if you order anything from Boden with this fab deal!

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

A week of family fun?

4 Replies

I’ve no idea how it got to the week before Thanksgiving.  All of a sudden I am panicking about the children being home for a week and needing to organize activities, food, and of course prepare for Thanksgiving Day itself.  Since being in the US Thanksgiving has become our favorite holiday.  You get to eat, drink and be merry without any of the material aspects of Christmas.  We love it.

With a 6 year old and 4 year old I find a week at home for the four of us requires planning in order to avoid the cries of ‘I’m bored’ – and that’s just from me.  For the first time we’ve bought tickets for Cirque du Soleil.  We went for the cheap seats in case the children can’t sit still through the whole show.  I’m really looking forward to it so let’s hope it’s good!  MM and I are planning an itinerary of all sorts of trips and adventures for the week, heading North, South, East and West from Atlanta, and avoiding any kind of retail outlet.  Thanksgiving Day will consist of the usual – watching the Macy’s parade, some football and then a fabulous meal of roast turkey with all the trimmings and some good wine.  No Atlanta half marathon for me this year due to injury, lack of training and laziness – but I’m quite looking forward not having to be up at the crack of dawn.

I mentioned MM and I went to Atlantic Station on Friday – an outdoor mall in midtown.  It has a huge H&M and I nipped in to get the kids some hat and glove sets, which unfortunately they didn’t have.  Not wanting to waste a trip I had a quick peak at the Grey Concept that was just arriving.  To be honest I was disappointed with the choice available – they told me they were expecting more – but I did manage to grab the grey long skirt in my size for $18.  I rarely wear long skirts – I had a Diesel one back in the 90’s that I bought from Harrods – a complete splurge back then – but I lived in it.  This H&M one is great for the price – perfect color, fits well, has good stretch so it’s not restrictive.  It’s a little thin but with grey tights underneath it works well.  Keeping with the grey theme I’m wearing my AllSaints grey Godiva cardigan bought in the sale back in June from the Trafford Center.  The white top is Zara and the scarf is my animal print favorite from H&M.  I have a couple of pairs of boots that would have worked but I opted for comfort and chose the Frye Jenna studded in grey – love these.

How do you keep the family busy when everyone is home?

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Back to basics.

8 Replies

I am on the other end of the spectrum from “Domestic Goddess”. I rarely cook – as in a home made meal from scratch – and never bake.  All this is changing though and I’m actually finding some pleasure in it.  Yesterday I found myself in heaven with a Saturday afternoon at home all by myself.  A highly unusual situation.  After being ill this week I have been craving some real comfort food – more specifically some good red meat.  So I decided to make a beef and ale stew.  It wasn’t until I actually put it all in the oven that I appreciated what a ridiculously easy, yet deliciously rewarding, meal this is to make.  The house smelled incredible and yes the stew tasted pretty darn good too!

Next up is to bake my favorite cake that my Mum makes when I’m home.  It’s delicious – and even better with custard when I can find it over here – Delia’s very sticky prune and date cake.  Maybe we need the equivalent of The Great British Bake Off over here for some additional inspiration?  If Dancing with the Stars can work here then surely a baking show can?

Looking for comfort again I decided to take advantage of Boden‘s diminishing discount offer and order some great basics for the coming winter months (WAFF is the best code I could find that is current and will give you 15% off).  I love knitwear and I would wear it all year round if I could.  Boden has the best quality and selection of classic shapes I have found.  They’re not cheap but reasonable when bought with a discount.

My wardrobe right now seems to revolve around patterned or colored trousers – whether they be of the jeans, skinnies or harem variety – so I chose some lovely neutral sweaters that can be worn with all of them.  My favorite is unfortunately delayed but, fingers crossed, it may turn up early.  It is the black Off Duty Jumper – a lovely roll neck, boxy jumper that will look great with skinnies and will layer well.  I normally order US 8 in their jumpers but went for a US 6 in this based on reviews.

Next up for a bit of sparkle I ordered the sparkle Skye jumper in parchment.  I had ordered the regular Skye jumper early in the preview and returned it in the charcoal as 1) the 8 was huge and 2) the charcoal seemed a bit blah for the price.  I do love the cut though and hope that this lovely nude in a 6 will be a good choice.

Finally for a splash of color I’ve ordered the washed red Fairisle jumper.  I think this will look gorgeous with jeans and a white shirt underneath it, with my Pistols.  I love this red and yes it may be verging on a Christmas jumper but what the heck – I’ll happily wear this on Xmas Day in NYC!

Ooops I did just say finally didn’t I?  Not quite – I ordered the Iona coat too – in fact 2 of them.  I couldn’t quite make my mind up – red for fun and color or black for versatility – so I’ve ordered both colors to compare and get MM’s opinion.  Some of the UK reviews complained about this coat being too light – which here in Atlanta – could make this the perfect coat for me.  I’m really hoping it works more like a heavy cardigan that I can throw on over a top or light sweater.  I love the drape of it and think if styled right it could look really fun and stylish.

I’ll keep you posted as they arrive!

Today we headed to the Zoo – one of our favorite places to spend Sunday mornings – yep another way we differ from the majority of Atlanta.  MM took great amusement in my camo gear – it really wasn’t intentional to look like I was heading out into the wild with the rhinos, but a bad choice of outfit in hindsight!  The camo trousers are Zara – I can’t say enough about how comfy these are.  The top and scarf are also Zara, worn with my JohnnieB leather jacket from last winter, and the Ash Gwen studded sneakers.

Oh and I have a budding hairdresser in the house – my daughter decided to cut Hugh’s hair today – he won’t need his fringe trimmed for a while that’s for sure…

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

New hair.

4 Replies

Quick post to share my new haircut.  I am loving it!  So thank you Chadd for the cut and Gina for the color at the lovely A la Mode Salon here in Atlanta – a friendly, intimate salon where I also take the kids for their cuts.  And no it’s not a paid plug – I genuinely love going there!

I will never want to go blonde, it just wouldn’t suit me, but these are the images that inspired the cut:

And here it is – sorry for the blurred photos – at home with a little man today who has been sick so he was behind me looking for attention…poor lad.  I’m looking forward to having some fun styling it myself!  Jeans (last worn here), jumper and scarf are all H&M.

Look out at 5pm ET today when I’ll be posting a fabulous collaboration with a couple of special blogging buddies…very exciting!

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

The Holiday Blues.

8 Replies

It happens every year with varying degrees of intensity.  While everyone else is excitedly comparing costumes and planning Thanksgiving road trips I am pining for home.  But is it home anymore?  Let’s put it this way I wish I was in England with friends and family.  But do I still have friends in England?  I’ve been here for 12 years now and a lot has changed.  Lives move on.  What is it that I really miss?  Is it the familiarity and security of where I grew up?  Is it my family that has almost doubled in size since I left?  Would I really move back if the opportunity presented itself or is it just a fleeting moment of seeing it all through rose tinted spectacles?

Every year I go back to the UK for a couple of weeks and I have a fabulous time – then I’m ready to get back here.  So if I went back to England would I miss the US the same way?  Would it be fair to uproot the children?  Could I go back knowing my Husband has zero desire to go back?  What would we do for a living given our business is here?  I ask myself the same questions every year and feel more and more backed into a corner.  It’s the eternal conundrum.  The longer we stay here the more roots we have here, and the more I miss England.  Can I have my cake and eat it please?  I sometimes feel like I’m skating the surface of life, avoiding getting in too deep with friendships or communities – because that would just make moving back even tougher no?  Is it time to accept Atlanta as home and stop dipping my toe in and go skinny dipping exposing all to everyone?  Answers on a postcard please.

On a lighter note we went to Abattoir last night to celebrate MM’s birthday.  It all went well and fun was had up until the main course arrived.  I ordered hanger steak – yum – errr not so much – it was covered in a rich hollandaise sauce.  So in my very British manner what did I do?  I wittered on about it to MM instead of returning it to the Chef, after all I got what I ordered.  Next time I’ll go for the beet salad.

I did have a new outift to wear – the AllSaints Amei dress in petrol is fabulous – so comfy and easy to wear.  It has two ties inside it that you tie behind your neck so you can adjust the length of the drape at the front and wear it tunic length or longer.  It was chilly yesterday so I layered it over an H&M vest/dress in black.  After seeing Doesmybumlook40 in her Dorothy Perkins coated jeggings I discovered they do free shipping to the US and ordered a pair before there was a rush on them.  As she says they are fabulously comfortable and felt really dressy.  I wore the pony hair Nine West Haywire shoe boots, and then topped it all off with the Boden leather jacket from back in the sale and my Zara camo scarf.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

A visit to H&M.

1 Reply

H&M has had a huge store here in Atlanta for a few years now down at Atlantic Station and I recently discovered there is also one at Cumberland Mall.  I never used to shop there much when I lived in the UK, but having been introduced to their children’s clothing I found myself appreciating their cheap, disposable fashion more and more.  When MM and I used to venture out more often (we’re much happier watching t.v. and cuddling on the sofa these days) I could always count on H&M for a fabulous, cheap dress that would work for a one off occasion.

Having reviewed some of my recent posts I realized that my uniform of skinny jeans and patterned pants was getting a bit old, and with the onset of colder weather I find myself pining to wear snuggly tights and a dress.  Now Boden tunics have always been my go to, but I fear I have OD’d.  I’ve recently had a great clear out of all my tunics, and though I did order the collared tunic recently, it worked on me like a lead balloon – NOT flattering in the slightest on my busty, waistless, hipless frame.  So I am still in search of great weekend/day dresses that aren’t too long, are jersey or knitted so they work on my frame, and can preferably be worn with leggings or tights.  Hence I took a rare wander through H&M at the weekend.  I felt like I was cheating with a Swede behind my Spanish lover’s back…but it was fun:)

Here’s what I found – it’s neither jersey or knitted, nor do I think it will work with leggings but it is a stunner!  Above the knee, full of fabulous colors and it will work with black or burgundy tights, plus at $35 it is a steal!

There’s also a cute tunic version of the dress for those days when a fitted dress is not going to be comfortable enough!

These t-shirt dresses are fab – though I would venture to say too short with tights – better with leggings worn as a long t-shirt.  The website only shows this color but in store they had grey, burgundy and green stripe too.  At $14.95 they are worth one in every color.

Finally this knitted dress was perfect – I love the asymmetrical hem, again though a little too short at the front for my years to wear it as a dress – but I particularly love the black and the brown melange – both would look great with black leggings – again a great price at $25!

Very impressed I have to say H&M…I will be back for a gander soon once I let Zara know about us.

 

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Weekend outfits.

2 Replies

Thursday night was fab – the meet and greet was so much fun and we’re lucky we have a great bunch of parents and a fabulous teacher for our class.  I decided to wear my loud Zara snake print pants – they are lush.  They have so many colors in them – pink, taupe, green, and the zips at the ankle – I will wear these a lot through Fall and they’ll also look great with boots or my Ash trainers.  The shirt is a really old Zara shirt – their basic shirts are fabulous and wear well – they have a similar style this season with an elastic waist which is lovely in all three colors.  Of course I have on here my trusty Tory Burch Eddies in Camilla pink – I wanted to wear heels but hate clomping around on someone else’s hardwoods in heels – I never walk on mine in them so why would I risk damaging someone else’s?!

Fall has absolutely arrived here – the weather is stunning.  Clear air with no humidity, bright blue skies and stunning sunshine – this is my favorite time in Atlanta.  Yesterday was Fall Festival at Hugh’s daycare – pony rides, fire trucks, bouncy castles etc and we had a great time – another family not so much – as their kid got off the bouncy castle with the worse bloody nose ever, poor guy!  I wore my new Ash Bowie trainers – just gorgeous soft leather and perfect for this kind of event.  Kat over at Doesmybumlook40 has a fab blog on wedge trainers today.  She introduced them to me as I see very few Ash over here but Nordstrom‘s do sell them.  I ordered mine on Amazon but they do have an online store here too but a lot of sizes are out.  These are another pair that I love from Steve Madden – the Hilight available in a variety of colors – a complete rip off of the Isabel Marant style but only $150.  Steve Madden has a plethora of wedge sneakers here this season.

I went casual with J.Crew selvedge denim shorts and my Top Shop t-shirt bought back in the UK in June – though I did notice that Top Shop is now available here in Nordstrom – exciting!

Off to spend the day by the pool today so there’ll be no outfit photos this evening:)
A big thank you to all of your comments on the Warby Parker frames too – you can see them all here!

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Solo parenting.

5 Replies

I know I often sing the praises of My Fabulous Man but here goes again.  He really is one of the best parents around.  As he was moving the office last night it meant an afternoon and evening of solo parenting for me…Now the children are great and mostly well behaved but it is tiring parenting alone!  For those of you who are single parents you all deserve a medal as far as I am concerned.  From homework, to dinner, to entertaining, to bath time, to bed time – (even reading with my stubborn 6yr old can be quite exhausting when we have to restart every paragraph to get it error free, she’s such a perfectionist) – I missed MM’s calming influence and jolly banter.  I was thrilled to see him this morning, as I was fast asleep when he arrived home around midnight last night.  Even after a late night he was busy making Poppy’s lunch this morning – I do love him and appreciate him, probably more than he knows.

So we’re in the temporary new space today until our permanent new office is ready in about 2 weeks – they’re busy painting and building out the floor plan for us.  It all feels very grown up – 9th floor with a view of Atlanta and floor to ceiling windows…how did I get here?  Fortunately we have internet today – unexpected as it’s normally the first thing not to work in a move – so I have already ‘christened’ my new desk with a bit of online shopping.  I have bought the All Saints Dita tee dress in black/chalk.  It looks divine and there are knitted versions of this cut too that I have my eye on for the colder weather.  It looks perfect to be worn as a dress or with skinnies as a tunic – a black leather jacket over it will look fab.

Today I am wearing my tropical Zara pants again – not sure if the protocol is the same for these as with seersucker and white – they may have to be stored after Labor Day this weekend.  I paired them with my H&M coral linen jumper and black Nine West ankle boots from a few years ago.  As you can see I had a ‘prop’ this morning – my gorgeous boy:)

 

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Zara hits the nail on the head yet again.

1 Reply

Much as I love blogging it has had its pros and cons.  Cons mainly being I am always verging on being skint from seeing and buying gorgeous clothes modeled by my favorite blogging friends, and pros being that I have been exposed to lots of other fabulous brands that I may not have ventured to try in the past – basically resulting in the con.  Thank goodness for eBay hey so I can constantly recycle my closet!  Anyway my favorite new retail lust is Zara.  I’ve always known they were in Atlanta but never bothered to venture in opting to stick with my trusty, quality brands like J.Crew, Boden, AllSaints and H&M.  Zara is a tad pricier than H&M but is always spot on trend and being a trouser girl they always seem to have plenty to offer for me.  I love how they are constantly rotating their stock.  Their sizes are hit or miss but I’m learning to figure them out so I can order online with a little more confidence and benefit from items that haven’t been tried on 20 times, plus they offer free shipping.  In the past week or so their new collection has been filtering into stores and online, and I ordered these fabulous TRF snake print trousers which arrived yesterday.  They are DIVINE.  They are a gorgeous blend of neutral colors – lots of taupe, blush and nudes which means you can wear them with anything from a white shirt to a pink tee.  They have ankle zips and, on my legs, finish neatly at the ankle.  I can’t tell you enough how thrilled I am with them not to mention they were just $59.90!

I just ordered the snake skin shirt – not to wear with the pants – that might be overkill – but as I love the colors and pattern so much I thought the shirt would be great with jeans – black or blue denim.  I am truly embracing the animal print trend this season – though I can’t avoid it even when only Bet Lynch and I are wearing leopard print.

Today it is hot, hot, hot and I’m taking it easy in the air conditioning.  I find this heat really exhausting so I don’t plan on doing too much today except for a fun dinner with the family and then watching the Olympic Games opening ceremony.  Staying in has allowed me to enjoy the comfort of jeans again and I am wearing my Primark floral jeans – best bargain of the year at 5 GBP, along with a sale bargain from Zara – a lovely pink linen t-shirt which incidentally will look great with the new pants!  All paired with my trusty Tory Burch musk Eddie ballet flats – the best nude shoes I have.  Here’s to a fun weekend y’all and yes I’ll be cheering Team USA and Team GB – I think that is allowed:)

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta