Tag Archives: Marks and Spencer

A girls trip to the Trafford Centre.

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So apart from my weekend in London – the other highlight of my trip that I had been looking forward to for some time, took place yesterday.  My sister took the day off work and left her 2 boys at daycare so we head to the Trafford Centre for a girls day out with Mum.  We try to do it every time I’m back but often there are children involved – who it has to be said – can somewhat hamper the shopping experience!

We arrived as the stores were opening and had a blast.  I relished every moment of it.  There is something really special about spending time with your family that you take for granted when they are around all the time.  Mine are not – so it was lovely watching Mum and Louise have fun and get the same thrill out of shopping as I do.

We started at M&S where Louise and I both got a couple of scarves – Mum had some 20% off vouchers so it was hard to say no:)  Plus Mum got a couple of bags that she paid all of 10GBP for what with her 20% off and various vouchers she had collected!

My scarf – the Indigo Flamingo print (I also got a fabulous bicycle print scarf which isn’t on the website):

Flamingoes

 

Louise’s scarf is a gorgeous silk Autograph scarf:

Lou blue

 

Looking at these simple images of scarves it is evident how different Louise and I are in our style.  She gravitates towards greys, taupes and neutrals – she has very elegant, sophisticated tastes and prefers simplicity to loud eccentric prints.  See the difference?:)  I think it speaks volumes about our personalities!

I then had lots of fun in Ted Baker.  Their store is amazing.  Full of great colors and the decor is very grand and decadent.  I had been wanting to try the Jupi dress since I fell in love with it in Bloomingdale’s.  It’s a lot cheaper here with the exchange rate and sales tax so I knew I had to try it.  Ted Baker do the 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 sizing which drives me nuts as I am always at the 3/4 end.  The store only had a 4 so I tried it and even though it was fine – with my top heavy frame it felt too billowy around the hips.   I put it back knowing Selfridges have a concession that I could check later.  I did, however, know that there was also a t-shirt in the same print – far more practical and versatile.  So I tried the 3 in the top and decided to get this instead of the dress.  End of.  Totally love it.  The changing rooms are a lot prettier than my photos suggest!

IMG_3261 IMG_3260

 

One thing I didn’t get about Ted Baker is that they will only exchange items – not refund them – I think that is pretty rubbish these days.

So on to Zara – Mum got a fabulous quilted jacket (can’t see it on the website) and Louise picked up this gorgeous white coat.  Both Mum and Louise are really petite so look amazing in everything they put on!

Louise coat

 

We then headed off for lunch – there’s a huge selection at the Trafford Center.  I knew I wanted a long decadent lunch i.e. one with wine – so we chose Pizza Express.  Now I remember when they were new and lovely.  This one was fine – but PLEASE it is 2013 – can’t we figure out using laminated menus instead of grubby, greasy card?  As a customer experience ‘expert’ I realize I may be overly judgmental, but this is the first thing your customer sees in a restaurant.  Sort it out Pizza Express!  It just makes the whole restaurant feel less than clean.  Regardless, lunch was fabulous.  I love my Mum and sister:)

IMG_3262

 

So finally I had to look in Selfridges.  I love this store.  The whole shopping experience is immediately elevated.  Now yes I had already bought the t-shirt but just for curiosity’s sake I went to the Ted Baker concession to see if they had a 3 in the dress.  They did.  After a couple of glasses of wine it was a no brainer:)

Here’s what I wore for the day.

Jacket – River Island // T-shirt dress – AllSaints Venice t-shirt dress // Trousers – Dorothy Perkins coated jeggings // Boots – Rag&Bone Newbury

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See you all when I’m back in Atlanta!!  England it has been a BLAST!

 

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Knitted jackets.

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It’s hard to shop in Bury and Bolton.  Nothing to do with the stores or the towns themselves – in fact both have been greatly improved, though it is a little sad to see more and more empty store fronts.  Does everyone go to the Trafford Center these days?  Maybe we need help from Mary Portas?  Don’t get me started about Bury Market.  It used to be the destination for food – pies, vegetables, deli meats and of course black pudding.  Now it seems to specialize in tat.

Anyway back to why it’s hard to shop.  It is bloody freezing here (though sun was seen today).  It makes it impossible to imagine anywhere being too warm for a jacket, or furry boots for that matter.  instead of lusting after bright colored shorts and skirts I have been drawn to woolly knits, big coats and scarves.  I have to keep reminding myself that these items won’t get worn in Atlanta till Christmas – plus they’re not packing friendly.

On a couple of instances though I have managed to persuade myself that it may get worn through Spring – maybe even in the air conditioned office in the Summer.  Hence I may be found guilty of the following purchases.

There is a plethora of knitted biker jackets in the stores.  I love knits and I love biker jackets so guess what – I am like a bear to a honey pot when it comes to these gorgeous things.  The first I spotted was in M&S.  I was generally unimpressed again with M&S – they are trying to be all things to all people – but this cardigan was lovely and jumped right out at me from the racks.  So lovely I got both the cream and the black.  I had to go up a size, but the only review online also says it fits a bit small – especially the arms.

M&S cream MandS black

 

Mum and I went in River Island yesterday.  I remember vividly when our Chelsea Girl in Bury became a River Island – so it makes me giggle that they are now proudly displaying their ‘year founded’ on the clothing labels – 1988 – seems like only yesterday when I am back here.  I probably haven’t been in one since if I’m honest – and I only went in yesterday for research purposes.  Well of course I saw something I needed.  Now I might not get as much wear out of this until Fall, but the color, the knit and the style made it too perfect to leave behind.  It is lovely and you might see me in it tomorrow if I remember to take photos when I go shopping with my sister.

River Island Jacket

 

Tips on TARDIS-like packing are warmly welcome.

 

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Donkeys, cows and sheep.

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It was curry night last night.  I’m surprised there wasn’t a queue outside the front door it smelled so good.  Chicken madras with all the trimmings – yum.  My brother and his family joined us – apparently he pops round every so often when Mum is cooking his favorite or Dad has stock piled some beer – what a coincidence:)

I’ll mention it again but won’t go on I promise – the weather really hasn’t improved.  In fact before the calorific curry I went out for a run and I’m sure it took me twice as long as the wind was so strong.  Despite the weather we bundled up this morning to head for Bury Show.  It’s an agricultural show so it was a great opportunity to show Poppy and Hugh cows, horses, sheep, sheep dogs and a few real life farmers.  Once the falconry ‘expert’ retrieved his hawk we also saw a a few birds in flight – though the funniest part was watching him chase after said hawk while telling us how well trained his birds are.  It’s a wonder he wasn’t cursing over his mic.

Poppy met a member of the Bury constabulary and when he asked where she was from he proceeded to tell us he was off to the Jersey Shore for his holiday.  I asked him if he had seen the show and he replied “no but the Mrs has which is why she wants to go”.  Hmmm good luck with that mate.

Having fun in the garden with Space Hoppers.

Have you ever tried to explain sheep dog training to children?

Gorgeous Shire horses.

Sheep dogs and geese?

PC Pritchard

The most expensive donkey ride ever – total scam!

With Nana and Grandad.

No real fashion stakes to talk about today – Patagonia Nano pullover was certainly needed and the obligatory green wellies – even cooler as they were the ones I had 20 years ago!

Massive cows – didn’t mention we are having roast beef tonight:)

Biggest load of bull – rarely meant literally.

Sunday afternoon now means sitting with my beloved, well missed, Sunday papers, savoring the smell of roast beef and waiting for the England game tonight!  Poppy and Hugh are ready in their official M&S t-shirts, though they are a little confused between the football and the Olympics as they keep telling me they are supporting Team USA too.  We’ll figure it out before August I’m sure:)

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Running over the moors.

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We’ve arrived!! After a tiring but thankfully uneventful flight we landed in Manchester at 8.35 yesterday and were met by my Mum and Dad.  Poppy and Hugh were exceptionally excited and we had one of those ‘T Mobile’ Welcome Back moments that made me all misty eyed.  They both slept most of the way which was a blessing as having bought 3 movies for their iPads I realized on the plane that none of them had downloaded onto Hugh’s – what an idiot I am!  In my midst of syncing iPods, iPads, iPhones, and shuffles I had somehow completely omitted the most important thing – movies on Hugh’s iPad.  He is the only one that will obsessively watch “Hercules” over and over and over again…Thankfully for me his sister was gracious enough to switch iPads which allowed her to play games on his while he watched “Hercules” before passing out:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB3NPNM4xgo

Sensibly I took some ham sandwiches for them on the plane as I knew they’d turn their nose up at Delta food.

Once home we had lots of fun catching up with my sister and her boys, Tom the youngest just 8 weeks old and is grinning from ear to ear already.  My brother and his 9 month old, Alice, then came for dinner later.  It was so much fun seeing all the cousins play together with Poppy of course herding them around and playing ‘mom’.  I then watched the incredibly boring England game with Dad – good result but geez rubbish to watch.

After restful night’s sleep I headed off for a long run this morning.  It was a beautiful sunny morning and it felt great to shake some of the jet lag off and run up some massive hills, taking in the views of sheep, moors, mill chimneys and towns down below.  Little changes around here which is why I love it.

Mum and I decided to have a ‘potter’ around Bury just to M&S and Tesco but of course that can take 2 hours and the children were not impressed – their jet lag well and truly still present.  I did manage to take a few snaps while we were out of some items that I didn’t have time to try or consider but I thought were definitely worth a second look at some point.

Mum with Poppy and Hugh at a Bury landmark.

I pointed out this t-shirt online a few weeks ago and still love it in real life – once I have stopped converting pounds into dollars I may take the plunge.  Right now it seems exorbitant for a t-shirt!

I LOVE this swimsuit and had been admiring it in Mum’s M&S magazine last night – this could be going home with me.

I am loving all things butterfly and bird print currently so this shirt caught my eye, though it’s cotton and could require ironing, not something I like to spend my time doing.

These spotty ballet flats are so cute, but certainly no time to try them…I will be doing when we head to the Trafford Center this week – they are adorable!

My sister was laughing at the following photo – apparently I’m not supposed to take photos in stores as they suspect it may be competitive intelligence but I couldn’t resist this one for MM – the baked bean lover in the house.  Heinz have a packaging that is completely new to me and I LOVE the idea as I am always looking for tupperwares for half opened tins of beans.  I’m sure all you UK residents are completely up to date with the fridge packaging innovation but I’m blown away!  MM thinks it’s sacrilege for beans to come from anything but a tin and was more intrigued by the vegetarian sausage and beans behind Poppy!

Just don’t get me started on how much more advanced British supermarkets are with their packaging and product innovation – the scale of the country compared to the US must allow for more experimentation and variety.  Thankfully pickled onion Monster Munch are still readily available here!

Most of the morning was spent with the children telling me that they didn’t want to walk anymore – they are so used to jumping in an SUV and being driven store to store (on the rare occasion I shop with them), the pedestrian life is quite a shock for them.  Fortunately I was wearing my AllSaints boots (Bonny cuban which I can’t see on the UK or US site right now) which are so comfortable and I love the buckle and fringe detail, they are one of my favorite purchases so far this year.

Finally, a trip back home wouldn’t be the same without picking up a “Hello” magazine…I will enjoy reading this later this evening while the children play with their Euro 2012 football and Olympic Games silly bands – EVERYTHING is red, white and blue here:)

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Remove brain and relax.

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Now I am a sucker for reality t.v. – all the Housewives franchises and anything else that is on Bravo, I love HGTV and of course now I am hooked on American Idol again.  Gosh writing that sentence felt like part of a rehab program – I’m cringing reading it back!  Last night American Idol had their last episode covering the first round of auditions – normally the most excruciating to watch, as I hate it when they show the crappy singers for the purposes of ‘good t.v.’ – but you know what – I think I ‘appreciate’ Steven Tyler a little more each time I see him – that’s so wrong isn’t it?  It has to be said that on a Thursday evening (my ‘Friday’) there is nothing more relaxing than curling up on the sofa with Tennyson, one of our boxers, sipping a glass of vino, removing my brain and watching American Idol.

Tennyson

Tennyson, my love bug.

Friday is the first day of my weekend.  I must say if I were President (not feasible – and not only because I wasn’t born here) I would make a 4 day week mandatory.  Probably not great for the deficit or GDP – but it would be great for morale.  Working that 1 day less a week has had a huge impact on my personal happiness.  Oh, I should mention that school would absolutely remain a 5 day week – otherwise my 4 day week might not be so great!  These days my Fridays are spent procrastinating a little longer with Matt Lauer and my coffee, indulging in a long shower and taking my time deciding what to wear, then I normally run some fun errands around town like Target and Trade Joe’s, followed by a long lunch.  Even after the school bus has arrived I manage to fit in a nice short workout while my daughter does swim team.  When spring and summer come around I like to skip the errands and head off on my bike for a good ride while everyone else is off the roads and I can’t wait to get in the saddle more often again.  Mondays to Thursdays allow me to use my intellect and enjoy adult company in the office, then my ‘free’ Fridays provide some ‘me’ time, ultimately meaning that I enjoy the ‘family’ time more at the weekend.  I feel very fortunate – and sane most of the time thanks to this schedule.

So today, before heading to Trader Joe’s to sort out some food for Superbowl Sunday, I picked out my Boden straightleg wool capris, a fairly old but hardly worn Marks & Spencer Per Una pink sweater, last year’s Boden cropped washed leather jacket, Tory Burch black patent Eddies and a necklace from H&M.  Even though it is my ‘day off’ I still like to make a bit of an effort every time I head out of the house.  The wool capris keep popping back into stock in the clearance and I think they are well worth the $38.  They fit a little higher in the rise than I would ideally like but I find them very comfortable and flattering.

Boden straightleg wool crops, Per Una sweater, Boden leather jacket, Tory Burch Eddies

This week has been busy at work for both of us so tonight MM and I are having a lovely home cooked Thai curry.  I love Friday evenings when we can just put some music on, enjoy a glass of wine and cook together.  Let’s hope the children cooperate!

Is spring here already?

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This time of year in Atlanta presents a real challenge when it comes to dressing.  This morning it was below freezing yet this afternoon will be in the mid to high 60s…I also had to think a little more carefully as we’re off to see my daughter’s teacher this afternoon for a ‘conference’ – just a regular update on performance – but I still feel I should make a little bit of an effort.  So I opted for Boden’s clearance revelation, the Retro tunic in pink, M&S brown cable tights (kindly sent by my wonderful Mum – some things just can’t be matched over here – tights and Mums!) and the brown piped shoe boots, topped off with Boden’s dark brown leather blazer, currently in the sale.  The belt is a couple of years old from Target and I like to wear it sometimes instead of the knitted belt that came with the tunic.  The tunic is a lovely knit and pretty warm – and this winter I have discovered the joy of wearing a dress and how much more comfortable they can be than jeans every day.

Now off to school – let’s hope I don’t show her up…

Retro pink tunicRetro tunic with leather blazer

Monday comes around quickly…

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We had a lovely lazy Sunday yesterday – just a shame it was still a bit dank and cold.  My son still wasn’t completely better but well enough to irritate his sister for most of the day.  I spent the evening eating homemade pizza delivered by my favorite pizza guy and watching the recording of Downton Abbey while MM watched the playoffs on the big screen in the basement – I’m sorry I just couldn’t bring myself to watch another football game – try as I might I just can’t get into it.  On the other had Maggie Smith as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham is just fabulous and makes me laugh out loud every episode.  I’ll be so sad when season two of this brilliant period soap comes to and end.  So you can appreciate what I mean here’s a little compilation of the Dowager’s one liners that is also on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/poppysstyle).

We woke this morning to pounding rain again – it was quite miserable standing at the school bus stop at 6.50am though my daughter was in considerably good spirits for a Monday morning.  They are doing a read-athon at school – which is basically another opportunity to raise money and give parents more stuff to do.  Don’t get me wrong I don’t begrudge the fund raising but I’m starting to feel a little out of control with all the paperwork, things to remember, forms to sign, read and return, homework etc. and this is only kindergarten!  I must get better organized.  Anyway as part of read-athon they are also having ‘spirit days’ where they do something ‘crazy’ each day – today is inside out, backwards day – hence her considerable glee and excitement about wearing all her beautiful Boden items inside out and backwards!  Is it snobbish of me to be relieved that they are ‘Mini Boden’ labels showing all day and not ‘Circo’? – Probably.

I did rise to the challenge and chose a suitable nail polish at the weekend – I’m wearing OPI Nail Lacquer in Louvre Me Louvre Me Not which is a lovely pinky-purple color with a touch of sparkle.

o.p.i.-nail-lacquer-in-louvre-me-louvre-me-not

Getting dressed this morning required a little more thought than usual due to the rain and a doctors appointment – so I needed something easy on/easy off (sorry for TMI!).  I opted for my lovely Boden roll neck knitted dress which I snapped up in the sale, argyle tights purchased from Marks and Spencer (or Markses as we like to say in my family) when I was back home in December, Boden black quilted jacket (the red and blue are in the clearance sale) and Boden black Bloomsbury boots, also sale bargains.  The nail polish matches perfectly with the little purple thread that runs through the tights:)

Though I possess some vanity (you have to in order to write a blog and photograph yourself each day…) I have never really dissected my best and worst body parts.  When I’ve posted photos on Boden’s Community page, for reviews and so on, some folks have commented on my legs – I guess from the running they probably are my ‘best’ feature – but I’ve never consciously tried to draw attention to them.  Having looked at my photo for today though, there is very obviously something sub-conscious going on!

Apologies for the dark photo – I was back to taking it myself and the lighting isn’t great.

Boden knitted roll neck dress, Bloomsbury boots, quilted jacket

With the roll neck I don’t like to wear anything too flamboyant in my ears so I chose my Tiffany Frank Gehry studs, which unfortunately I couldn’t find on their website for you – but here is an image.

Tiffany Frank Gehry

Now back to work after three days at home!  Happy Monday!