Tag Archives: Tory Burch

Birthday weekend.

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My birthday weekend was lovely and thank you for all your wishes.  41 feels okay so far.  In fact not much different from 20 years ago given I went into my birthday with a tiny hangover from the night before – why do I always get carried away the eve of my birthday?!  MM and I sat outside in the summer evening drinking a bottle of cava and enjoying some old tunes from our ‘youth’.  My birthday therefore had a bit of a low key start, but one that had to unfortunately start with a trip into school with Poppy to make sure the nurse cleared her of head lice!  Why oh why – every year there seems to be an outbreak – can we not make these pesky buggers extinct??  It also seems that every time I visit Poppy’s school I am either hungover or drugged up (last time cold meds) – how to make a great impression eh?  Fortunately I rarely go in so my hangovers are not as frequent as they may think, I am verging on responsible these days.

After a Chick-fil-a breakfast my birthday lunch was spent at Houston’s courtesy of MM.  I think it’s odd for an American to say but believe it or not this was my first trip to a Houston’s and I loved it – the atmosphere for lunch is great – busy and bustling and fab service.  Apparently our local one is the highest grossing in the States and it was packed.  To top off the ridiculous calorie intake for the day MM took me to our favorite restaurant Abattoir.  Yes sorry we are a bit boring going to the same old place but why fix it if it ain’t broke?!  It was a lovely evening and we bumped into some neighbors and friends so some fine red was consumed on their patio. The kids then took me to our local BBQ joint on Sunday so it is now time to quite literally tighten the belt and fast for a few days:)

I recorded the closing ceremony for the Olympics and LOVED it.  It was only spoiled by NBCs rubbish commentary again – they couldn’t even identify all the models or designers featured in the ‘fashion’ scene.  Stella Tennant, my model crush, looked incredible – absolutely fierce!  I was thrilled to see the Spice Girls and Take That…if only Duran Duran had been there…oh well I’ll be seeing John Taylor, my childhood crush, on Sunday!  My fabulous Husband has bought me tickets to see them at Chastain – THE BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER!  I’ve waited 25 years or so to see them!  Question is what to wear?  It has to be something that makes JT realize he missed out on the best of the bunch when he sees me lol:)  Or maybe I’ll just get the ruffles and pixie boots out again?

Now for an outfit summary of the past few days.  This weekend has been quite varied:

Thursday:  Dusk stripy tunic, radish effortless cardigan – both Boden, with Tory Red Tory Burch Revas:

Friday birthday lunch: green H&M top – just $12.99 – worn with Zara jacket and Hudson jeans and navy Tory Burch Eddie flats:

Not sure how we managed this but unfortunately there is no photo of my dinner outfit – but I was wearing a white Zara jacquard blazer with these lovely Zara silk pants – it was so nice wearing wide leg trousers for a change!

Monday:  back to work with a bump wearing my Hudson jeans, blush Zara top, leopard print Zara jacket and my DSW Levity wedges:

Today:  I think subconsciously I am trying to wear this blazer as often as I can before the end of summer:  Zara floral blazer, Boden cyclamen skinny jeans, All Saints Tilly t-shirt and turquoise Tory Burch Emmy sandals:

So back to the running today to work of those birthday treats – kindly my FIL bought me a balance board for my birthday – it has so far taught me that I have zero balance…

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Make the most of your assets!

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Now there may be many who say, with 2 days to go before you turn 41, loud prints could be verging on the mutton dressed as lamb look.  But not me.  This summer I have fallen for loud prints, especially trousers with loud prints, in a big way.  It comes from acceptance.  Acceptance that I will never have a 21″ waist thanks to 2 children and my love of wine, but also acceptance that my legs are pretty darn good from running.  It’s very un-British to want to show off (and I don’t mean bragging), or to even say you think you look great, but maybe some of the American confidence is rubbing off on me.

My pants today are not for wall flowers that’s for sure!  I have seen them on bloggers all summer and admired how fabulous they look with their youthfulness and tiny statures.  Then while browsing the Zara website the other day I saw the last pair on sale for $20 and snapped them up knowing full well they’d probably be returned to the store.  Well last night they arrived and they are fabulous!  It was utterly joyous this morning putting them on after a good run – I couldn’t stop grinning.  I felt full of mischief this morning sitting in my car knowing people had no idea what I had on my legs!

Here they are in all their glory – the Zara tropical print pants:

I am wearing them with a white Express t-shirt, black Zara jersey blazer and my nectarine Tory Burch Revas which coordinate perfectly!


I know some of you will loathe them, but I hope others will be inspired to show off your best features and accept that we can step out of our comfort zone regardless of age!

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Styling our Primark jeans!

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Knowing that my blogging friends, Avril (SchoolGateStyle.com) and Beth (StyleGuile.blogspot.com), had also fallen under the trance of the Primark floral jeans this summer, we thought it would be fun for the three of us to collaborate and show you our interpretations of styling for these floral wonders!

As you know I really am new to the Aladdin’s Cave that is Primark as we don’t have them in the US, but I made a child free shopping trip there when I was back in Bury in June.  I love skinny jeans but I have to admit I was pretty terrified by the floral jean trend.  Any pattern for that matter, on jeans, just seemed wrong.  Talk about u-turns!  I nabbed these jeans at just 5 GBP (about $7.50!) and fell in love with them as soon as I wore them. For the price they are great quality and a fabulous fit, plus given all the colors in them they go with a variety of tops – though I definitely advise keeping the tops simple.  The jeans themselves have green, purple, pink, taupe and black in them and I have worn them with tops in all these colors.

Here’s how I styled them back in June in England, I love the casual look here – I wore an AllSaints tank and H&M taupe linen jumper which coordinated great with the jeans.

And here is how I wore them more recently with my pink Zara linen t-shirt from the sale:

For this post I decided to go for a slightly dressier look – though I love that it can easily be a fun, relaxed look without the jacket.  The jacket coordinates perfectly – it’s the Boden tipped blazer in blossom – currently in the sale at $88.80 though other colors are cheaper.  It is fabulous quality and one of my favorite Boden purchases this year.  Under the jacket I’m wearing a simple men’s Gap white t-shirt, with 2-3 year old H&M pink beads.  My Tory Burch musk Eddie flats are my favorite shoes for these jeans – nude and simple.

I absolutely love how Beth, Avril and I have all styled them differently – who would have known that statement floral jeans would be so versatile!

For more details on Beth and Avril’s outfits hop over to StyleGuile.blogspot.com and SchoolGateStyle.com for some inspiration!

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Birthday jeans!

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I know, I know it’s not my birthday till Friday but my fabulous Mum sent me my present early and I’ve been looking at them on the shelf dying to wear them – so I have – 3 days early:)  Knowing how much I loved my floral jeans that I bought when I was back in England, Mum very kindly sent me the Primark leopard print jeans!  They are lovely!  I can’t get over the quality and fit of these jeans for 12 GBP!!  They have a lovely nude background and the spots are almost like brush strokes so not really sure if it’s leopard or cheetah.  Regardless, paired with black they look fabulous.  Total winners and will be worn throughout the Fall into Winter with black boots.

I paired them with my Zara black oversize t-shirt from the sale and my black patent Tory Burch Eddies:

Much as I have fallen in love with Zara over the past few months I am completely bummed with their customer service.  A package went missing the other day with my new trousers – FedEx claim they delivered them – I know they didn’t as I was perched by the door waiting on tenterhooks for the package to arrive!  I’ve even walked around the house a hundred times like a mad woman wondering if they could possibly have been moved by a squirrel with a cruel sense of humor.  Unlike Boden, who always give their customer the benefit of the doubt and refund or resend immediately, on the rare occasion something goes missing, Zara are completely d*cking me around and won’t refund or resend until they have filed a claim with FedEx – aaaarrgggh!!  You wouldn’t believe the time I have spent on the phone trying to talk sense to them.  So two multinational companies who make gazillions every year are holding my $130 until they decide whether they believe me or not!?  SO frustrating – not to mention I don’t have the camouflage or the oriental trousers in my possession…and sadly I still want them no matter how mad I am with Zara.

Look out for tomorrow’s post – a fun collaboration is in store for you all!

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Back to school!

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So we were out there at 6.40am this morning in the dark, waiting for the bus for 1st grade!  Fortunately Poppy was very excited and so wasn’t too grumpy at the early morning routine but gosh I’m certainly not used to it!  Did not appreciate the 5.45am alarm bell this morning.  Of course the bus was late so goodness knows what time she will actually be delivered home today – a bit chaotic with a new bus driver and new bus routes this year.

Hugh has started pre-K too so a big day for us all.  To celebrate the start of a new school year we took them out for lunch yesterday.  Now I have to say we took them to one of my favorite lunch locations – Pizze Fritte – and yes Poppy doesn’t like pizza – so I guess it was a tad unfair, but I also claimed the lunch as my early birthday lunch before Friday – hence the 2 glasses of prosecco…at least Poppy enjoyed her fries:) I wore my Zara butterfly top and blue pants, which can’t be seen here but needless to say I felt very colorful!  Notice how they put families with noisy children in the far corner away from the other patrons…or maybe that table is saved for families with noisy mothers?

This week is hopefully our last week of work at the house…just a few loose ends to finish up and cleaning to do – so bear with me while my morning photos are still so dark and grainy – hopefully next week we’ll be back up in our beautiful, bright bedroom thanks to our new windows!

Today I’m wearing my fab Zara cargo pants, pink Zara linen t-shirt from the sale, AllSaints Itat shrug and Tory Burch pink Eddie flats.  Feeling very comfy on a drizzly Atlanta day.

 

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School open house…

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I’m grumpy.  Have a miserable cold and I was in bed at 7pm last night dosed up with NyQuil.  Head feels stuffed with cotton wool and I am warm and feel fuzzy – but not the good warm and fuzzy:(  This morning should have been more fun than it was.  We headed off to the elementary school for our open morning to get ready for Monday when term starts.  Last year I was hungover after my 40th – not good for meeting your kindergarten teacher for the first time – this year my senses were dulled due to cold medication…Not ideal for being bubbly and chatty and trying to remember parents’ names from the last time you met them.  I’m sure they must all think I’m weird by now.

Plus I’ve been dealing with the transportation department for our school district.  Lots of issues regarding bus drivers, times and routes – and somehow I managed to be volunteered as ‘bus mom’ for this year.  I’ll be passing that baton on next year for sure:)  So 20 or so calls placed with the Superintendent and the Director of transportation and guess how many returned calls – yup – zero.  Useless.  Not looking forward to that 6.44am bus stop on Monday.

Also Hugh is off today for ‘teacher work day’ so I am parenting 2 hyper children, solo, with a cold…brilliant.  Tempted to sit them in front of Disney all day while I drown my sorrows online shopping…but no supermom here has agreed to take them to the pool…madness, sheer utter insanity – someone cart me away now.

Anyway tried to dress the part of the uber cool, urban mom this morning and probably ended up looking like mutton though I did the mutton test with MM and he passed me.  Anyway as I said all the other parents probably think I’m weird anyway by now:)  So I am wearing my favorite Zara cargo pants and a Zara top bought in the sale, with Tory Burch black patent Eddie flats and a necklace from H&M.

Wish me luck at the pool!:)

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Summer cold.

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So all the temperature extremes are taking their toll – from 95 degree temperatures to freezing cold air conditioning – I have a head cold:(  Or as MM suggested it could be the extreme fumes from the new hardwoods in the bedroom being treated yesterday – we must have all been high as kites yesterday – even with the bedroom doors closed the fumes made their way around the house thanks to the air ducts.  The plumber is here today putting in the new faucets – the finish line is in sight!!

I’m taking Poppy to the hairdressers today for a ‘grown up’ hair cut.  She had a go at cutting her own fringe the other day much to my horror and she flattly denied it – even with the evidence presented – locks of hair sitting next to scissors.  She needs to get far better at hiding her misdemeanors!  Preparation for back to school is in full swing and some counties even went back today…I’m not ready for summer to end.

With that thought I did some reckoning and we’ve probably got at least 12 weeks left of above 80 degree temperatures here – so with that in mind I just checked out these fabulous tropical print pants from Zara.  I’ve seen them on several blogs this season but it’s only now, having adapted well enough to the concept of printed pants, that I felt brave enough to buy them.  They were just $19.99 on the ‘last sizes’ section and I grabbed the last pair of 6s – lucky me!

Today I threw on one of my favorite Boden tunics – these Fab jersey tunics are so comfortable and summery.  They are currently in the clearance and the pebble color is only $31.20 – Egyptomaniac is wearing it here and she looks adorable in EVERYTHING!  This is the moss color and it goes great with navy and pink.  I always pair it with my Tory Burch navy patent Eddie ballet flats.

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#NBCFail

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The Olympics have started – hooray!!! NBC are covering them – boo!!!  I have watched NBC religiously since landing in the US and watch Bri-Wi every night at 6.30 – my 30mins with the US’s version of the ‘rest of the world’, but NBC you have disappointed me so over the past few days.

1. The Opening Ceremony was NOT shown live, then the recorded version shown Friday evening was filled with ad breaks, and NBC omitted several pieces of the show including the full musical line up, plus most importantly and most insulting, the tribute to 7/7 was omitted – now if the BBC ever omitted a tribute to 9/11 we’d be hearing about it to kingdom come.

2. Every night Brian tells me at 6.30 there will be no spoilers and all the main events will be shown in the prime time coverage – BUT – he then says something along the lines of “but this news has already rocketed around the world so we’ll tell you now anyway…” and then proceeds to tell me about the Chinese female swimmer whose race I haven’t even seen yet…#MajorFail

3. Ryan Lochte is an irritating s.o.b. who happens to be a pretty good swimmer – I don’t need to see his grill or his shoe collection again – or him tossing a 650lb tire for that matter.

4.  I know we’re in the US and not everyone is aware of the UK geography, but when it comes to Manchester it is NOT ‘just a bit North of London’.

5.  And yes I know it is US coverage but there are other countries taking part that we’d like to see something of…
I could go on and I am trying to rise above it and enjoy the Olympics, but take a look at the tweets with #NBCFail and you will see I am not alone in my grievances.

Rant over.

This should be the last week of dust and dirt in the house – the electrician has been, the painting is done, the shower door hung and all that remains is for the door pulls on the vanity to be added and the mirror to be hung.  Thrilled is an understatement – I can’t wait to get into our new master suite.  While the work has been going on I’ve also done a bit of rearranging in the other areas of the house and yesterday we completed the sitting area in the kitchen with two fabulous IKEA Tullsta leather chairs – for $199 each they can be used and abused by the kids as much as they want – and they look brilliant.  Definitely glad we opted for the off white in the end as I think the black version would have closed in the area a little too much.

Today it’s pretty miserable weather – rain, heat and humidity – but I’m taking advantage of wearing my white jeans for the month before Labor Day.  These are the cropped Zeldas from Express – currently just $29.99, worn with my new Blighty boatneck from Boden, bought in the sale.  My red lipstick today inspired me to wear this scarf – another H&M bargain for $3!  Not sure how well you can make it out but it has fabulous red lips all over it – I love it!  I finished off the outfit with my red Tory Burch Revas for an additional splash of color.  I love the Blighty boatneck – definitely more of a sweat shirt and I sized up so I can layer it in the Fall – not reduced quite as much as I’d have liked in the sale but enough to have bought this dusk one and the quail egg one.

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Zara hits the nail on the head yet again.

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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:)

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On ice.

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So it’s my birthday soon – I’m a fiery Leo – probably no surprise to most that know me, as we are renowned for our lack of modesty, patience and ability to be quiet – I make no apologies.  In the 20 years I have been with MM he has been overwhelmingly generous on my birthday and regardless of our circumstances he has always gone above and beyond to make it a special day for me – without any prompting I hasten to add.  This year, after my VERY extravagant 40th last year, I have asked him not to buy me anything – partly because of the huge expense of the house renovations and partly because I’d like any extra cash to go on furnishing my new walk in closet (so yes still all about me).

I did happen to be browsing though on some other WordPress blogs and found my birthday present for NEXT year!  I have been very lucky to have been gifted a couple of items from Cartier in the past few years – both from MM so he has raised the bar substantially.  I love their unusual, statement rings.  One of my favorite pieces of jewelry is my Cartier Trinity ring in white, rose and yellow gold – he bought this as a random, surprise gift – just because he loves me – I presume:)

So for next year I’m already hankering after the Juste un Clou ring.   I love it in silver – it’s an iconic 70s piece and looks fabulous with a little bit of ice:)  He reads my blog occasionally so nothing subtle about this ‘hint’!

Keeping with the ice theme I took Poppy to see ‘Ice Age: Continental Drift’ at the movies yesterday – cute as kids movies go, but I know I must be getting old when I sit and dissect a movie analyzing all the bits that have been stolen from other movies – there were the ubiquitous pirates and even Guinea Pigs that resembled Eewoks.  Ah well – Poppy isn’t to know yet and she seemed to enjoy it.  Knowing it was going to be icy in the movies with the crazy air conditioning most public places have I opted for another scarf.  This one is a gorgeous H&M scarf – great colors – really nude pastels – a little green, peach and pink in a very subtle rose print – I love it.  I wore it with my Top Shop asymmetrical t-shirt and Boden quail egg skinnies – these jeans are just fabulous and fit me perfectly.  The quail egg is like a mint color without being too green.  For a bit of neutrality I added my Tory Burch tan Emmy sandals.  Oh and two pieces of great news for us shopaholics – Top Shop is opening in Nordstroms throughout the country and H&M will start selling online in the US in October!

Today I know I am definitely flogging a dead horse with the scarf thing – this is a new scarf from H&M.  I nearly didn’t get it as I rarely wear blue but the blue in this scarf is so vivid and contrasts well with the nude/peach in the scarf – plus it’s animal print – so as with my addiction to all things grey marl I had to have it.  The photos show me wearing it with my new Boden Florence tunic from the sale.  Now I love these linen knit tunics, yes they are a little sheer but they’re not indecent and here in the heat and then frigid air conditioning they work a treat.  A bargain to boot at $26.40.  Again worn with my Tory Burch Emmys.

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