My year Jan-June

Hello lovelies!

It's been quite a year for me personally and on the blog. Time flies so fast and I always like to take stock with an end of year post (or two in this case, lest it be too much to digest at once.)

January

Sunset/face/first Illamasqua purchases/sunset at the beach/first OPI purchases/snow/dot mani/daffodils.

In January we had a quiet month. We bought a double bed and mattress with hubby's Christmas bonus and put it up in the spare room (alongside hubs' drum kit!) so out guests can stay in comfort. It snowed lightly and we froze our arses off on a walk along the sea front - something we try to do at least once a month. We went for a pub lunch with our friends Rach and JP, ever aware that they were moving to Canada in a few months.

February

Us at the beach/Rye Harbour/sunset/train tracks next to the beach/hubby's toe/I started documenting outfits on Instagram/mani/hat weather.

In February we were waiting for the year to bestow the goodies this year would hold. We had another freezing walk along the sea front, as well as a chilly visit to Rye Harbour. There were a lot of lovely sunsets to take in whilst we were bundled up indoors. Hubby had his big toe removed as it was ingrown and spent 2 weeks recuperating. I was his overworked nurse.

March

Girlies at Annette's birthday do/sunset/JP's birthday/cat fiddling/snow/me & C/yummy BBQ restaurant eats/new phone.

March was a better month. I got my new phone, a HTC One. It snowed again, but it wasn't too bad - I think the Mr only had one snow day. I plucked up the courage to have an undercut (I'd previously thought I was too old and too fat for one) and was so glad I did, as I rock it. We went to Kent and had a family meal at the Harvester. We had a birthday party for out friend JP at our house, and went to Hampshire to celebrate our friend Annette's 50th birthday, which was much fun. We took out a giant inflatable penis with us and I was the only bugger brave enough to carry the thing, but it made me a lot of friends on the night! ;)

April

Camber Sands/anniversary flowers/renewing my love for red lippie/hub on the beach/mani/me & C/Eastbourne Pier/mum at Camber/me on my birthday.

April is my birthday month and it was also our first wedding anniversary. The day before my birthday we went to Eastbourne with Rach and JP and went to Primark so I could have a spend up and went to the pier. On my actual birthday we went to Pett Level beach with it's Jurassic Park-style scenery then had lunch in our favourite fish & chip restaurant there. We went to Kent and there was a family meal for my birthday. We went to explore Robertsbridge, which is lovely. My mum and step dad came down to stay and we went to Camber Sands. We also went to London, so it was a full month.

May

At Rach & JP's leaving party with Rach/by the beach at St Leonards/ditto/JP with a fetching kimono/the tide changes the colour of the sea/new bedding/fierce eyeliner/mani.

May was a sad month as Rach and JP left for Canada. Before they did we had a goodbye lunch at the local all you can eat Oriental buffet, and they had a great leaving party at which the Mr drank so much he vomited 8 times when we got home. I was thrilled, of course, watching him all night to make sure he didn't choke in his sleep. We had a couple of walks along the sea front and I did some fake tan which was way too dark for me - so much so the Mr laughed at me! ;) We went to Kent and had another family meal.

June

In Leeds/sunset/BHC goodies/hotel the night before our holiday/mani/my dad on his visit to us, me & C, the beach/me at the beach.

June was another busy month. I started CBT for anxiety and depression. We revisited Pett Level beach on a warmer day so we could hang around longer. I heard of Black Heart Creatives, which would soon be my new obsession. It was the anniversary of my friend Helen's death, which was very sad. We went to the fat clothes swap in Leeds and met Lisa (My Big Fat Blog), Rachel (A Dress is for Life), Rebs (Sullen Hearts), Lolly (Lolly Likes Fashion), Steph (Seeing Spots), Beth (Beth Tinkerbell), Becky (Mrs Bebe), Gemma (Pink Gemma Plus) and many others for the first time. We lost our Nandos virginity with Rachel and her lovely hubby Brett. We also went to Kent again and had another family meal - a tradition started this year which will hopefully go on for years to come. We went on holiday to Dorset with the Mr's parents, my brother & sister in law and baby E.

Part 2 will be up tomorrow. The year got even better as it went on with some great opportunities coming my way as the blog picked up steam - and it's all thanks to you, my readers.

If you're doing one of these posts feel free to link me, I LOVE reading them!

Thanks for reading!


OMCZ 23 - Pretty pencils OOTD

Hiya pickles!

EDIT: I POSTED THIS ON TUESDAY THINKING IT WAS WEDNESDAY. Oops!

Happy New Year's Eve.


This fortnight the challenge was picked by Betty:

'Pretty Pencils'

Betty Wrote: I absolutely love pencil skirts but I've never had the confidence to wear them, what with the VBO and all that jazz. However, I've just ordered a beauty and I could really do with that push in order to wear it...let me see all you lovely ladies rocking your pencil skirts, get those pins out and share your style tips (as I also have no idea what to wear with the damn thing)! Betty x



I'm wearing my old faithful ASOS Curve pencil skirt and a blouse which only arrived a couple of hours before I started taking these photos. It's fresh out of the bag and thus a little creased. It's from Everything 5 Pounds.

I like it because there are 2 layers of fabric over the boobs for modesty, but there's only one panel below the boobs, giving a lovely sheer look. I sized up to a 30/32 as I have a problem getting things with no stretch to fit over my bubble butt. It's too big in the boobs but I don't mind a bit. It has lovely loose flowy sleeves which are see through. The sleeves are too long for me, but they act as hand warmers. 

I'm wearing my Wonder Woman necklace from my friend Lisa. It's funny because I often joke about not being Superwoman any more, so now I'm Wonder Woman as in 'I wonder which body part is going to play up today?' Hahaha. My sense of humour gets me through. :) I love the necklace, and I had the biggest crush on Wonder Woman when I was a child.

Necklace, from Lisa
Top, Everything 5 Pounds.
Skirt, ASOS Curve
Tights* Big Bloomers Company
Shoes, Rocket Dog

Do you wear pencil skirts? They can be a tad unforgiving on my ample hips, but I say sod it!

Thanks for reading.

Have you heard of Taking Shape?

Hi lovelies!

I first heard of Taking Shape when I saw Nikki from Natty Nikki review a piece from them.

A bit of background - Taking Shape have been trading in over 130 stores across Australia and New Zealand for 28 years. They've recently come to the UK and have opened an impressive 16 stores in the UK so far. They do clothes up to a size 26, and a lot of their items are oversized. They do investment pieces rather than fast, disposable fashion.

I was contacted by Taking Shape a few days ago and thought it was about time I checked them out properly and I was pleasantly surprised by both the breadth of the range and the attention to detail in the clothes. I quickly realised I could spend a lot of money on the site and thought I'd show you some of their pieces.

There's something on the website for everyone. There are quite a few items which would suit those of an alternative lifestyle, which really surprised me. I could see myself wearing either of these jackets over a rockin' outfit on a night out.


The attention to detail I spoke about is apparent in embossing on the back of the Sing jacket.


Here are some of the dresses I like.


Taking Shape have an up to 75% off sale at the moment so it's an ideal opportunity to get acquainted with them. I noticed on the website they pick up returns. How awesome is that service?!

Have you had a look at the TS website?

Thanks for reading.

*This isn't a sponsored post, although in the spirit of disclosure I'll be reviewing a couple of their pieces within the next week or so. Opinions, as ever, are my own.

Outtakes 5

Howdy!

I have some more out take photos for you.

I appear to be giving the finger in this one!

Don't ask!

Derp!


More strange finger action

Thumbs up if you...

...are a unicorn!

I'm having a moment here

I decided to head bang a bit...as you do

Well that's me all out-taken out so look out for some more derping in the New Year sometime.

Thanks for reading.

My Christmas

Hiya lovelies,

I hope you had a lovely Christmas (if you celebrate it.) I had a good one - we've certainly been busy!

Our Christmas, like many others in the UK, started off wetly. We had a horrible scary journey to visit our families. We encountered an accident which closed a major road resulting in a major detour virtually as soon as we left home, then we came across a flooded road, then a telegraph pole which was swinging in the wind, and finally a raging torrent. I'm so glad it was day time or else it would've been absolutely terrifying.

The first flooded road we came across wasn't too bad as we could drive through it quickly. The second flooded road was one which normally sits in a dip between two fields which both have gentle winding streams. Because of the recent downpours the streams were now massive lakes with no grass to be seen anywhere and the road was under at least 2 feet of water. All the cars going through in front of us were 4x4s, and then there was us in our small Toyota. As we got to the lowest point in the road the wake of the water was nearly as high as our windows and I was seriously shitting it. My husband is a nutjob. The force of the water ripped our front number plate off! 

1. Flood on A21
2. Wobbly telegraph pole
3. Flood near Bodiam Castle
4. And again - I think the water is brown from me cacking it!


1. Why am I yellow?!
2. Christmas dinner
3. My mum
4. Classy Christmas - Lambrini with lunch


1. My hubby and my brother
2. Me looking shagged after 4 hours sleep
3. My aunt, the cook
4. In the Christmas spirit


1. Pretty onyx earrings from the ma and pa in law
2. Hubs in a gift bag
3. Canary Wharf in the clouds
4. Pretty Christmas trees


On Christmas Eve we went to Kent to see my mum's side of the family, with a quick stop off with my dad's side of the family to drop off the presents. We had Christmas Day lunch at my aunt's house, then went to London to see hub's parents. After an hour or so we headed off to his grandad's house, where all the family gather on Christmas night. There were about 30+ people there, which was down on last year's numbers, thankfully - it gets stiflingly hot and crowded as it is. My brother- and sister-in-law brought the baby, who's now 8 months old and as cute as a button. I was blowing raspberries on her cheeks, which she loved. I also sang to her ('All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth') and she was kicking her legs in time. Poor babe must be tone deaf! ;)

On Boxing Day we went to the cinema to see The Desolation of Smaug again. It's even better the second time around. Yesterday we spent the day with my mum and step dad as it was my mum's birthday. We spent the day going around the shops before going to see an aunt and uncle for a chat and a cuppa, then going to see another aunt and uncle for a Chinese takeaway.

I had a really good night's sleep on Christmas night after consuming copious amounts of vodka, but other than that sweet respite I've felt as rough as a porcupine's arse. I've been weak, shaky, nauseous and my legs were so tremulous at one point I thought the ground was shaking underneath me. I'll be going to see the doctor as soon as I can drag butt there.

It's been lovely to see everyone but I've been a bit detached as I've felt so poorly.

Christmas run down
Rows witnessed: 1
Floods: 2
Sprouts eaten: 24
Bacon sarnies: 2
Alcoholic beverages: 9
Family members seen: 50+
Swear words deployed: 327 (at least 290 during flood crossing #2.)
Vol au vents scoffed: 5

How was your crimbo?

Thanks for reading.

Outtakes 4

Hello!

It's out takes time again - expect lots of photos of me gurning and boob grabbing!


Practising my Scrooge face
I have no clue
Caught preening


Nippy weather makes for nippy nips!
A stunning sunset

Thanks for reading.

Eff flattering redux

Hello you!

It's time to whip out the ol' Gisela Ramirez tee again.

Sometimes I want my clothes to be flattering and sometimes I don't care a stuff. Ultimately, no one owes anyone else flattering clothes. I think fat people are shamed into wearing too many clothes or clothes that cover their whole body way too much, and that's because a lot of people don't want to look at fat bodies. Well, stuff dat.

When I was a kid my mum told me lots of 'rules' about fat people and clothing - that we can't wear short skirts, expose our arms or anything like that. She still lives by those rules. I don't. I've been unlearning them for about the last 10 years or so. I'm thankful to live in a generation where we were encouraged to question our elders. I think that's one big difference between my generation and my mum's.


I might still have a way to go, but I'm knocking down boundaries all the time.


P.S. I need a maxi skirt in alll the colours. Kthxbai.


Hair bow, Beauxoxo
T shirt, Gisela Ramirez (sold out, check eBay)
Belt, ASOS Curve
Skirt, New Look
Shoes, Very (sold out)

You know, next summer I'm going to take alllllll my blog photos (even for the clothes I haven't bought yet, ha) because I hate this absence of light. Yeah, I'm just gonna stand there naked and take loads of shots of me with different lipstick and necklaces on and just photoshop clothes on me later. Hahaha.

I WISH! Is anyone else craving Spring purely for the light?

Thanks for reading.

Polar bear OOTD

Hiya cockles!

I love eyelash everything. My life would be complete if someone would knit me an eyelash onesie with a flap to pee out of. When I asked the good folks on Twitter where I could purchase moar eyelash goodies (other than the Primark cardi I already had) lots of people came up with ideas, and when Hanna of Hanna Wears said New Look had a cream one I did a little squee.


It's a natural kind of cream, like a polar bear. (OK, technically speaking I know polar bear fur is colourless and reflects the colour of snow, but bear with me. See what I did there?!)


I bought the jumper from ASOS when they had a 20% off code. I sized down to a 24 thinking it'd be tight but I could've gone down to a 20 easily. I folded it under to make it look like a cropped jumper. Because my top half is smaller than my bottom half (even including my norks) sometimes the plan is to wear tight things up top and more flowy things on my bottom half to draw attention to my narrower top half. I iz pear.


Also, welcome to my dimply knees. I could've/should've worn tights but have you ever seen a polar bear in tights? I rest my case.


Jumper, New Look Inspire
Dress worn as skirt, New Look Inspire (from twin pack.)
Leah necklace, Extreme Largeness - other names are available but none as fab as Leah ;)
Brogues, Everything 5 Pounds.

Ohmahgawd, these shoes are so tight and so long. The first time I put them on I lost all sensation in my toes after 15 minutes. This time they were a little easier to get on because they'd given a little and I took the laces out. They look so damn cute I will persevere, and they were a fiver for the love of Jeebus.

I hope you're keeping warm, and aren't besieged by fluffy polar bears in skirts.

Thanks for reading!

Christmas Day OOTD

Hello lovelies!

Here's what I'm going to wear tomorrow. Let's start off with a derp photo shall we?


I really need to take that bloody hairband off my wrist for blog photos!

The dress is lovely - loose fitting (I'm wearing a 26) and comfortable with gorgeous gold sparkle amongst the navy. It could probably use a belt but never mind!



Dress, New Look 
Jacket, Matalan
Earrings, Club Indulge Xmas Market
Shoes, Very (past season.)
Festive hair piece, made by Nancy

To all my readers have a FANTASTIC Christmas! Thanks for all your support and your lovely comments. I hope you have an amazing Christmas/Yule/Wednesday (if you don't celebrate Xmas.)

See you on the other side! x x x

Jolly OOTD

Hello you!

I have a casual festive look for you today. I bought this 'jolly' t-shirt from New Look online. It was only £7.99 and I had a 25% off code at the time so it was a no-brainer.


Give it a few days and it'll probably be half price! ;)


I'm wearing my Christmas pud necklace from Black Heart Creatives which was half price at £7.50. Yes for bargains! I talk about BHC so much you might think I'm sponsored by them, but I've bought all my necklaces myself - I bloody love them!


You can see my re-shaved undercut here. I attacked it just before I went to bed a few nights ago. There's a scary amount of grey coming through, including a coin sized chunk by my temple. Henna time!


T-shirt, New Look
Necklace, Black Heart Creatives
Cardigan, Primark
Skirt, ASOS Curve (past season.)
Shoes, Very (past season.)

Thanks for peeking!

I hope you're all ready for Christmas/Yule/Giftmas/Wednesday (if you don't celebrate.)