Tag Archives: Tory Burch

New goggles.

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I am blind as a bat.  Astigmatism and over -5 in each eye means I cannot see a thing without glasses or contacts.  It happened years ago at school and I was mortified.  I had no idea that I was struggling to see the blackboard and I felt such a loser for needing glasses.  I never had the NHS glasses but my first pair were from Boots Opticians and horrific.  Mainly because at 14 I hadn’t done that much research into the spectacle market and really I was so ashamed I had to wear them that even trying them in the opticians was utterly disturbing.  By 17 or so I had my first pair of gas permeable contact lenses that scraped across my eyeball with every blink, but as far as I was concerned red eyes were preferable to glasses.  My how times have changed.

We are now inundated with amazing glasses – which even people with 20/20 vision wear, though I have never understood that.  A variety of daily and monthly contact lenses are available and I even get mine to correct my astigmatism.  Lasik of course is now done routinely, though it still scares the bejeezus out of me which is fine as at the ripe old age of 41 I have been told to wait a few years so my ‘old sight’ can develop before I have it done.

I am a daily contact lens wearer – I love my glasses these days, but to be honest I just find them inconvenient, but with working in front of a laptop so often I need to start wearing my glasses more as my contacts just make my eyes tired.  So as some of you know from my Facebook page I embarked on the hunt for some new cool frames.

I love statement glasses – I like them big and bold and prefer plastic to dainty metal frames.  That being said the dainty metal frames may suit me better.  My current pair are these Oliver Peoples Wacks in cocobolo.  I like them a lot but they are big.

They are also expensive – with lenses we are talking $600.  So I thought I would investigate Warby Parker.  Warby Parker are online only (I think they have bricks and mortar in NYC).  Online glasses shopping is a novel concept – surely you can’t choose without trying them on?  Well Warby Parker have devised a genius model where you can choose 5 pairs to try at home, then model for friends, share on Facebook (they’ll even give you their preference on their page) and hopefully come up with a consensus of the best pair for you and then buy a full set with prescription lenses for just $95!  I could have a pair for every day of the week!  So I chose my 5 pair tried them and not only did most people dislike all of them on me – the one that some did like was one of my least favorites.  So great idea Warby Parker but not that successful for me.

After revisiting my optician I realized I am going to have to suck it up and pay through the nose for my favorite pair.  The Wacks come in 2 sizes and I have the largest size.  After trying the smaller size in black/tortoise I fell in love with them.  They tick all my boxes of style, comfort and color.  Cha ching – ordered and paid for,

Now I am also intrigued by colored frames.  I’ve always played it safe with the tortoise shell as it suits my coloring – but recently I have been drawn to the new aubergine, blue and red frames that are coming to market.  I tried a pair of SALT Brixton frames in velvet purple which I LOVE – but can I carry off purple every day?

I then discovered that the Wacks frame is now done in a beautiful blue color – Havana blue.  So I’ve ordered them to compare with the SALT frames.  I’d love a pair of colorful frames for fun – that can add some pizazz to an outfit!  I just need to decide on the color – plus do I need another pair of Wacks?  I do think that if there is a frame I’m happy with why change it except in color?  I’ll let you know the verdict.  Meanwhile my cocobolo frames are being transformed into sunglasses for me.  Look out for more photos of me with my goggles on:)

Still in the contacts today while my lenses are being fitted and I’m feeling pretty tired after a stressful morning having an old filling removed – I hate the sound of the drill and the smell of tooth dust!  My knuckles were white!  I’m wearing my Hudson jeans, Tory Burch Eddies, Zara owl t-shirt which I love and my Zara jersey black jacket.  Lovely and comfortable for a traumatic morning!

 

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14 years!

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MM and I have been married 14 years today!  I remember it all vividly.  The location was The Devonshire Arms, Bolton Abbey, West Yorkshire.  Neither of us are from anywhere near there – we just wanted a beautiful location and I was obsessed about having a venue that didn’t look like a conference room – I didn’t want “any metal legged chairs”!  We were living in London at the time and we had our hen and stag nights the week of the wedding.  Madness in hindsight.

My hen night was at Kensington Place – a great restaurant in Notting Hill – on the Wednesday night.  I then traveled North back home with my Mum and sister on the Thursday, whilst the boys congregated in London for the stag night.  They traveled up to Skipton on the Friday morning – with Martin, one of the best men, having to side step out of the ticket line to throw up, before getting on the train.  I still feel awful for anyone who was in that line that day!

Friday night was spent at the Devonshire Arms.  I promised myself not to drink – that promise lasted 2 minutes – and a party ensued as all our guests arrived – some we hadn’t seen for a while.  Not a good idea to get carried away on excited energy the night before you get married!  I didn’t sleep a wink that night and I remember sharing a room with Jo, one of my bridesmaids.  In the corridors I could hear MM and his brother howling and giggling – I knew it was going to be a tough morning!

I headed off at the crack of dawn with my Mum and sis to get our hair done.  I felt rough as a badger’s arse but ridiculously excited!  The champers at the salon soon had me buzzing again and it was off back to the hotel to get dressed.  Now remember this is the 19th September in West Yorkshire – all bets would be on rain and clouds but the weather was stunning!  Blue skies and sunshine – in fact a little too warms for some dehydrated folks:)  Later I heard it was quite a miracle that MM made it to the ceremony at all.  He had gone to work off some of the previous night’s excesses in the gym, having forgotten his sneakers he ran barefoot on the treadmill and went flying off the back of it, then he tried to walk downstairs in his flip flops, spilled his cup of water and went flying again!  I’m giggling as I write this – talk about the excesses of youth!

I walked in with my Dad to Pachelbel’s Canon and Simon read The Owl and the Pussycat and we were done!  Mr and Mrs – as easy as that.  The great thing about our venue was that no one had to go anywhere as we used the same room for the ceremony, the reception and the disco.  Our first dance was to ‘Love me Tender’ but I remember the dance floor clearing later too as we whirled each other around to ‘Satisfaction’ by the Stones.  There are some amazing photos of MM and his mate dancing and stripping – yes stripping though not naked thankfully – to ‘Bad to the Bone‘ – many chins were on the floor at this remarkable scene – my Dad’s for one.

The following day we made our way back to London elated, and then on the Monday we jetted off to Northern Cyprus where we traveled with back packs and a jeep for 2 weeks – bliss.

After 14 years and 2 kids not a day goes by when he doesn’t make me laugh – at him or with him:)  Happy Anniversary my lovely.

The photo on my desk!:

Now off to Bacchanalia tonight for a tamer celebration than 14 years ago!

Today’s outfit is all Zara!  TRF blue pants, t-shirt and jersey blazer worn with my Tory Burch Eddies.

 

 

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Weekend outfits.

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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!

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Remembering.

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I cried this morning.  Listening to ‘Imagine’ on the radio just made it worse.  As I took Tennyson out for a walk it dawned on me that it was 9/11 again.  I immediately had a flash back – I remember it all so well.  I was driving to work here in Atlanta, running late, it had just gone 9am and the radio announcer said they were getting reports that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center.  I was shocked but somewhat dismissed it as a dreadful, unfortunate accident.  As the morning unfolded it turned out to be far more sinister than that.  I remember feeling guilty because I was so irritated when all air traffic was grounded as my sister was supposed to be flying out here on the 13th and I so wanted to see her.  There were many people who would now never see their siblings again.  Even for those of us who were no where near NYC that day it still feels very raw, we will carry memories of that day forever.  So peace and love to all, and we will never forget.

Shifting gears now to something far more trite and inconsequential – clothes and hair.

Inspired by Miley’s new look (totally wrong for a 41 year old to be inspired by Miley Cyrus) and Pink’s hair at the VMA awards (again totally wrong of me) I decided to try and go for bigger hair up top today using a bit of pomade – I quite like it for a change:)

I’m wearing my Zara floral jacket and in attempt to transition it to Fall I wore a darker blue Boden long sleeved essential tee from last Fall.  I love these t-shirts – they are so soft and stretchy and great quality.  I’m in my Gap boyfriend jeans and my Tory Burch Revas in hibiscus pink – the necklace is an old J.Crew Factory store one that I bought years ago.  I’m making an attempt to be more thoughtful about accessorizing – accessories are the first thing to be forgotten about if I’m in a hurry in the morning.

My final order from Zara arrived yesterday – final for now anyway – remember I am going cold turkey.  It’s a stunning blue jacket that I just love – it will look great with jeans and tan ankle boots.  I love the gathered shoulders too – I know I will wear this a lot.  Question is do I get the most out of it and start wearing it now or wait to wear it in October when MM and I are off to a trade show in Louisville (oh the glamour!)?  I’m thinking if one really likes something then surely it makes sense to wear it and enjoy it – but nervous about that approach as I know I will want something new to wear come trade show time!

 

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Guilty as charged.

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I buy too much.  I’m a hoarder.  I buy things because I like them, not because I think I will wear them or use them.  I think I’ve been aware of this for some time but since I’ve been trying to reduce the number of items hanging unworn in my closet I have been stunned at just how much I have bought.

I am an online shopping addict.  I love the buying experience online – I can browse, compare prices – so I think I’m getting a bargain, my size is almost always available, I know it won’t have been tried on by 500 people and all I have to do is click a button and I’m done.

This weekend I made a vow to myself to 1) stick to a monthly clothing budget and 2) be more discerning about what I buy.   I’m already putting this into practice – having returned all my Boden preview order for the Fall I know there are just 2 items that I really would like to reorder – both knitted tunics – and neither will be worn here till November.  I am determined to wait till November to order – I know it’s a risk but by then I may have reappraised what I need/want and changed my mind…if I buy them now I could end up with 2 more tunics hanging in my closet unworn.  I think this is how I’ve ended up with so many rarely or never worn items – I buy them in the preview before the weather is appropriate to wear them – so I either forget about them or have moved on to another item I want!

Here’s one of the tunics I ordered and returned – it’s the Boden smocked tunic dress and it is gorgeous – so soft and works perfectly as a dress with tights and boots.  Fortunately there is a long wait right now for my size to be back in stock so that is helping me to stand my ground and wait to order until it is cool enough to wear it.

The second is from the Winter preview – and it is the bottle green collared tunic.  I am actually just in love with this photo too – it makes me think of Twiggy every time I see it, not to mention the setting reminds me of my old haunt Notting Hill.

I will wait to order I swear.  In the meantime I am going to try and go cold turkey and stop browsing the Zara website and Zappos.com – let’s see how it goes.

Fall arrived here this weekend – we’ll still have temperatures up in the 80s each day but this morning I actually had to wear a jacket at the bus stop – it was in the low 60s – just gorgeous!  I took Tennyson, our boxer, for a long walk – another promise I made myself this weekend – I will walk him every morning!

I’m wearing my Hudson Collin jeans, Zara animal print t-shirt, Zara black jersey blazer and my Tory Burch black patent Eddies.  I love wearing a jacket with jeans – and these jersey ones are so comfy and easy to wear.

To those of you who are helping me purge my closet I want to say a huge thank you and USPS are going to be busy with shipments of fabulous items all day.  I am trying to be ruthless and have posted more items over the weekend on my Facebook store.

 

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Flourescing.

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The tooth fairy came the other night.  Poppy has already lost the two front lower ones but now the first top one has gone!  She was actually very brave and gave it a tough yank herself to get it out – she was determined to get that $5!  I remember the days it was just 10p per tooth – showing my age again I guess.

It seems a long time since I wore a dress/tunic which is unusual for me so today I popped on last year’s Boden chic linen tunic.  Given it’s a very flat grey/silver color – the same color as the sky here today – I decided to elevate it with a bit of neon – not sure if I’ve overdone it with the lime J.Crew scarf, pink J.Crew cardigan and pink Tory Burch Revas?  So funny too – I walked into the office and my colleague, who I have converted to Boden, is wearing exactly the same tunic with black leggings and a black jacket – it’s the new Halcyon Media uniform:) Sorry for the fuzzy photo – was too much in a rush this morning and too tired again after another late night listening to Bill.

Give me strength this afternoon – I have a 2hr session at the Y with swim team followed by gymnastics for Poppy – which means instead of sitting on my backside watching, my guilty conscience will force me into the gym – 2hrs in the steam room may be preferable:)

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Office move.

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So today is hectic – we’re moving offices.  I had no idea what a hoarder I am but I’ve just been through my desk and found proposals and presentations from years ago…it feels so good to get rid of it all!  Purging my desk is as therapeutic as purging my closet.  It’s pretty exciting to be moving – another indication that Halcyon Media is on the up and up – a new magazine and a new office all in the same month!  With more sales staff and interns it’s going to be fun to have more space for us all…I’m so proud of MM – I have to keep reminding myself that he and his partners built this business from scratch – I’m so used to it now that I forget the stress and risk involved 7 years ago when he went solo.  It makes me laugh how care free we were back then – he quit his corporate job to start Halcyon the week before Poppy was born – nothing like jumping in with both feet hey?!

I watched the news intently last night as Isaac is on his way.  Sadly it looks like New Orleans is right in his path – and Isaac looks set to hit land on Wednesday 7 years to the day since Katrina hit – can you believe it?  Shit luck for New Orleans – I hope Isaac steers closer to the the Florida coast even if it means Atlanta will get a good dousing, anything to spare New Orleans again.

As I remembered it’s a Bank Holiday today in the UK, it gave me another opportunity to look back over the years.  Between ’95 and ’97 MM and I were partying hard in the streets of Notting Hill.  Fabulous times even though we didn’t have a penny to our name.  We lived in a run down flat on Ledbury Road but critically it had a balcony and we could spend many hours watching the party in the streets and dipping our toe in when we felt like it.  It’s crazy to think how many people we crammed into that one bedroom flat!

Hard to believe it’s Labor Day 2012 next week!  We’re not heading anywhere but I’ll be at the pool again for sure all weekend assuming Isaac has moved on by then!  Today I’m making the most of the sunshine today before the rain arrives and I’m wearing my gorgeous fennel Boden Florence tunic – it was a great sale bargain at $26.40 and I love the color – there are still plenty left too.  I’m wearing it with an H&M scarf and my Tory Burch Emmy sandals.

Keep your fingers and toes crossed for NOLA.

 

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City Hall Bureaucrats…

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…make me scream with frustration!  Three weeks into the school year and Atlanta Public Schools Transportation System finally agreed to meet with parents to hear our concerns and recommendations.  We have been frustrated since the start of the school year due to safety issues, timing, and route changes for the school buses, created by cost cutting.  We all know that change is needed at times, and we are all prepared to accept changes, but when common sense doesn’t prevail it is just SO frustrating.  After waiting this morning for 45mins for the APS representative to arrive and hold the meeting to reassure us that we were being heard – she sat down and muttered something about ‘I have no more information’ – what do these people get paid for???  It was then left to the parents and bus drivers to try and resolve the issues on each route – thus effectively doing the job of APS Transportation…pah.  Not happy to say the least.

Wanting to feel a little ‘fierce’ for my morning meeting I opted for the Zara leopard print capris – what is it about animal print that I love so much?  I’m trying to convince Avril at SchoolGateStyle.com to try the Primark jeans that my Mum sent to me – she appears to be contemplating them🙂

I paired these Zara pants with the same t-shirt and shoes that I wore with the Primark jeans –  with black oversize Zara t-shirt and black patent Tory Burch Eddies.  I need to try some other solid colors with my leopard print though I’m pretty sure black is the way ahead.  Haven’t been brave enough to mix my prints yet.

I’m hoping to hit the pool later this afternoon with the children – it’s beautiful here and I want to make the most of the water before pools start closing after Labor Day.  While sitting by the pool I’ll be working feverishly with MM to get our new website up and running – the new magazine – MMA Fitness – hits newsstands soon so in order to do my part of the job we need our online presence ready and we’re cutting it fine yikes!  Yes mixed martial arts is quite a change from the pre and post natal market but definitely an interesting challenge!

Hair cut time tomorrow – time to get rid of the bouffant look!  Very excited – thinking of something slightly different so watch out for photos:)

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How did it get to Friday?

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The days are whizzing by right now.  With the children back at school, a new magazine at the printers and a hot date with Duran Duran on Sunday I haven’t even noticed this week pass.  Poppy had her first ‘test’ at school today and all the drills during the week paid off – she is thrilled she got 10/10 for her first spelling test!  For her treat we have all just dined on tacos at our local Mexican – lots of fun was had!  It’s great now it’s cooler here too as we get to hang out in the garden for an hour or so before bedtime – nothing wears them – or us – out more than hula hooping and jump ropes.  Not recommended after a margarita.

Today started with a good run around Chastain park – it was certainly cooler but that humidity is a killer.  I’m off there again tomorrow with my running buddy – I haven’t seen her for weeks so it will be great to catch up.  My post workout shower has taken on a whole new meaning now I have full body sprays and a rain shower – I think our water bills will be doubling.

Before I collected Hugh from daycare I popped into our local DSW.  They now have all their Fall boots in and wow – there are some stunners this year – I picked up this Vince Camuto pair for $150 which won’t get worn for months but now I am lusting after the taupe too.  They are a great worn in look leather – really soft – and will look great over my copious pairs of skinny jeans – unfortunately I don’t see them on the website to link to.

With the cooler climes today I opted for my Gap boyfriend jeans, white Express tank and white oversize Zara shirt, with my leaf green Tory Burch Eddies, complemented by some green Target wooden beads that rarely see the light of day.


Now I have a question for you – WHAT do I wear for cocktails followed by an outdoor concert with my teenage icons?

Answers please!:)

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Ready for Fall.

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Oddly, given that it’s still only August, leaves are falling in the garden and the temperature has dropped due to lots of rain – it feels great.  The long summer months here always have me pining for Fall, especially now all the September magazines are out crammed full of fabulous Fall clothes and boots.  From what I have seen we’re in for a real treat this year and I have already ordered my winter coat from Zara as I know this will disappear fast:

It will hang in my closet for a few months yet but it is lovely – more like a chunky knitted cardigan than a coat, with leather quilted sleeves – perfect for Atlanta winters and really edgy looking.

I eventually moved my mirror upstairs last night so I am now taking photos in my empty closet!  MM and I have decided to take a breather for a month before embarking on the closet fixtures and fittings – we’re feeling a little overwhelmed after the renovations!  Today I am wearing my Express blush Zelda jeans, Zara cat top (a bit of a rip off from Victoria Beckham’s cat print dresses) and Zara off white jogging blazer, along with my nectarine Tory Burch Revas.  It’s lovely being able to do hair and make up all in one place again even if I do have to run downstairs to get my clothes:)

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