Tag Archives: Cyber Monday

Thanksgiving

I had a lovely week with family and friends and I have overindulged. Our friends joined us for dinner on Thursday and I have to say I was pretty chuffed with how the turkey came out after brining overnight. Needless to say on Friday morning I felt like I had been soaked in a bath of salt and wine too, hence I didn’t get too involved or carried away with Black Friday 🙂 In fact I had several items in and out of my Zara cart all day and didn’t buy any of them. I did succumb and buy the Off Duty jumper in charcoal and navy from Boden. I have a couple from previous years and love them so with 30% off I bit the bullet. I can never have too many jumpers!

Some of my favorite stores do still have great discounts this weekend carrying into Cyber Monday:

J.Crew – use HOLIDAY for 30% off and 40% off sale items till 11/30

Mango – use 5BLACK2 in the US and 5BLACK4 in the UK till 11/30

GAP are still offering 40% off everything in the US using code GIFT

Boden have 30% off using code 3K3G at checkout in the US and N9H6 in the UK

AllSaints – 20% off till Monday with promo code CYBER

ASOS have 30% off everything using TGIBF

Back on Tuesday we went to the movies to watch Hero 6 which was really good fun – popcorn and an empty theater – fabulous. I wore my fur as it was pretty chilly here in Atlanta.

Sneakers – Golden Goose (on sale here) // Trousers – J.Crew slouchy wool jogger // Sweatshirt – Target (old) // Fur – Zara (currently in the Cyber discounted section!) // Bag – H&M (old)

Poppy and Hugh were very excited to get out of the house! Poppy is all in H&M except her fabulous red boots which are Boden – she hasn’t taken them off since they arrived!

On Wednesday, once we had bought the 15lb turkey, we headed out for Mexican so we could prepare stuffing and cranberry sauce without feeling hungry!

Sneakers – Nike from J.Crew // Jeans – H&M (some washes just $14.95) // Jumper – J.Crew colorblock tunic // Coat – Mango

Today was spent walking and running with the dogs – time to detox before Christmas so hopefully I can still fit in some of my party wear! I am insisting however that we don’t even discuss Christmas in our house till next week when we get the tree. I need a week between celebrations to reset!

Decorating.

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I’m sorry but I hate decorating for Christmas. I love the end result – but hate putting it all up and then taking it all down. I just want the tree to magically appear perfectly dressed. We always get our tree from a local school that uses the tree sale to raise funds for the PTA and each year we’ve had a beautiful 8ft pine in the house. Now an 8ft tree takes a lot of decorating and for someone who is a tad OCD that is a lot of lining up, leveling, and gaps to fill to make sure that the ornaments and lights are appropriately positioned. Nay fun for neither me, or the folks around me who have to deal with my OCD. I love the idea of us all decorating it together, as a family – but in reality it gives me palpitations and anxiety beyond belief – especially if one area of the tree is overloaded with ornaments at Hugh’s height – meaning they are not located equidistant from one another around the tree. Last year I actually left the country to avoid decorating the tree. I happened to be in the UK and though I tried to provide instructions and directions via Skype, in the end I had to let MM take control and get on with it. The tree arrives on Friday and both children are so excited to help decorate – the control freak in me is tempted to do it all before they get home – but that’s just mean isn’t it?

Yesterday I was late and dashing around so had to do a quick iPhone shot for you. Jane left me a comment the other day about the AllSaints Bonny Cuban boots so I dug them out from the bottom of the boot pile. They are a fun boot with plenty going on, what with fringes and buckles – they are also pretty darn comfy. I love the taupe color they have in stock now too. Building from the ground up I went with the Zara emerald green jeans, AllSaints Wasson dress layered over an H&M t-shirt dress, topped off with the Zara camouflage scarf and the Zara quilted leather jacket. Perfect for a cold, comfy Tuesday.

You all know that I am a fan of Zara’s harem pants. I wore these back in June then these here more recently. They are definitely not to everyone’s taste – but personally I love them as an alternative to skinny trousers and jeans. The only issue I have with these pairs is that they are quite dressy and silky – not ideal for office wear – well not in my very relaxed office anyway. Fortunately I found these herringbone pants – less harem – more just cuffed trousers – but they are so comfy, and even better they are warm – plus they have an elastic waist! I think they will be great for traveling in as an alternative to sweatpants. Today I paired them with a Zara camo top (my I do like my camouflage), Sam Edelman Petty boots in burgundy (they appear to be sold out on Zappos.com after Cyber Monday) and a Zara scarf.

Have you got your tree up yet? Do you decorate as a family?

Embracing routine.

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I always know that I’ve had a great break when I wake up wide eyed, bushy tailed and ready to get back into a daily routine. I’m not denying that it was tough getting out of bed at 5.45am this morning but after a strong cup of java I was ready to rock and roll. Now can someone just explain to me why children sleep in when they need to get up and yet get up with the birds when they can stay in bed? My two had to be well and truly peeled off their beds this morning but I’m always thankful when there is no grouchiness – adults and children were all smiles this morning…it won’t last.

I’ve already had a very exciting morning – I’ve just bought tickets for myself – yes just me, myself and I – to head back to the UK in February. The first quarter of the year is always a great time to plan a trip as it is normally quite an uneventful time of year after all the frivolity of the Christmas period. I’ll be spending my time with family and friends and traveling between the North West and London – I cannot wait! There is something so freeing traveling alone. I love my family vacations, but traveling under my own steam, and doing what I want and when I want is very indulgent. Oh and there might be some shopping to do too! Yay!:) It’s going to take me till then to decide what to pack too as I’ll be meeting up with a bunch of very stylish ladies – more on that at a later date I promise!

On Saturday night MM and I had a lovely date night – well it started out lovely. We went to see Skyfall which I have to say was amazing – Mr. Craig with a bit of stubble was quite luuurvely and Javier Bardem was the best baddy ever! We then had plans for dinner – unfortunately a flat tire made it a tad more stressful than anticipated so my appetite had dwindled by the time we sat down to eat. The pinot noir and sticky toffee pudding made everything better though. Oh and the new Isabel Marant Dickers put a spring in my step too. I wore them with some Gap camouflage jeans bought a few years ago – but I love them as the camo print is really dark and very subtle. The sparkly jumper is the Skye jumper from Boden – perfect for a bit of snuggly bling and a night at the movies, and I layered it over an H&M t-shirt dress for warmth. The scarf is also an oldish H&M purchase. Boden, by the way, have 30% off till tonight!

Today ’tis freezing again so I opted for my coated skinny jeans, black knitted tunic dress and scarf all from H&M (and none of which I can find on the rubbish US site), with my Rag & Bone Newbury boots – yes my feet are very happy with me right now – though my pocket book not so much. Better do some work and earn some money before that trip to the UK:)