Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside..

Just me and my dog...

A very cold, rainy spring break in Rhosneigr, Anglesey. 

I Heart NYC

I have finally got round to photographing my lovely NYC bargains (well some of them anyway!)

My main shopping mission was to get a dress for each of the 2 big weddings I'm going to this summer. The 1st is my husband's cousin who is getting married in Birmingham a week today. I have always lusted after the beautiful dresses in Anthropologie but not being of a typical size 0 thought they might look a little wrong on my curvy size 14 figure - I will get pictures of me wearing it next week and will grit my teeth and post them for you all! - but I fell in love with this very quirky dress and just had to have it. I bought a coral coloured pashmina to go over it for the church service (although with our current freezing weather, I'm considering getting a jacket and tights!)


I got home and realised although I have almost 100 pairs of shoes and boots, I don't actually have anything to match! So I bought some new shoes and then obviously needed a bag to match too.



The shoes were a huge bargain at £6! Primark is always cheap but then half price too, so I splashed out on the very expensive £14 bag from TK Maxx.

The 2nd wedding of the year is my brother-in-law and his lovely wife to be, Emma. We were rushing through Macys having spent a very busy day sightseeing and I saw a glimpse of this dress on a mannequin. I was determined to go back and try it on and eventually, 4 days later, I did!

I haven't decided on the accessories for this one, but I've got plenty of time and another trip to the US before their big day.


I did a lot of shopping while we were away, not least because we had an extra 6 days there! Most of the stuff I bought was for my son and daughter - jeans, t-shirts etc. However, I did buy myself a few bits and pieces, the skirts were both bargains - the black one was from Tommy Hilfiger for $10 (£7.50 in our money!) and the grey patterned one was from Century 21 (like TK Maxx only on 5 floors!) and was $15. I bought the Converse trainers on the 2nd day and wore them all holiday, so comfortable and I've wanted a new pair for ages.

Back soon with wedding tales...

Theres no place like home, theres no place like home

I would love to upload all the pictures of my gorgeous bargains from my wonderful NYC trip, however, my suitcase is still up in the air due to the volcanic ash cloud that meant:
1. Our flight last thursday was cancelled
2. Our 2nd flight re-routed through Air France was bumped due to Air France only taking their own passengers and not anyone booked via any other airline - pah!
3. Wonderful Delta customer service who got us on the JFK-Heathrow flight last night
4. Having to get the National Express coach from Heathrow to Manchester while my luggage went by air!

Next time I will take an almost empty suitcase. I will make sure I take a sweater. I will remember to pack moisturiser so I don't have to use samples from Sephora every day, until I decide which one to buy!

Staying awake at work tomorrow is going to be a challenge - at least its only one day til the weekend.

Weekends are like rainbows that disappear when you get up close

Where does the time go?! On friday my lovely sister and gorgeous niece and nephew arrived bringing chaos in their wake. With one trip to the farm - more pigs! and another to the woods, to stomp through the mud, we spent our time in jeans and jumpers - not quite the springlike weather I would have hoped for with only Easter Sunday bringing a few hours of sunshine.

Yesterday, we waved goodbye and I set about doing the ironing (yawn), catching up on a few episodes of CSI and organising my suitcase for our upcoming holiday for my 40th birthday on Sunday. We're off to NYC and I feel like I've been planning it forever! It has been a definite, that I would ignore the fact that I was moving up another decade by waking up in the middle of a New York spring, the sun would be shining and the shopping would be amazing! I have my $'s and I'm going to spend them :-)
I went straight from work to the hairdressers tonight, who made my hair look as good as it can and then I had to rush home in the rain, losing the style Nyree had worked hard to achieve - oh well, back to normal!

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.

Ok, so I've lost an hour today, but its been a beautiful spring day with lots of sunshine - looking out, I can see a whole line of washing blowing in the breeze, such a simple pleasure but I love it! You can't beat fresh clean line dried sheets!
We went out this morning to Hawarden to a food festival that had been recommended to us. It was a fun drive out and the farm had a decent sized farm shop, a few animals dotted around and a large marquee full of goodies for sale. The pigs were incredibly cute!
We ended up spending a few quid on puddings! Not great for the diet but they looked so good! Then back home to do the ironing for the week and prepare for work tomorrow, not so fun.

All the things I've never done

I set off in good form yesterday ready to shop. However, my frugality over took me and I only ended up buying the top left in the Next sale! There is a reason for me to not be shopping - I'm off to NYC in less than a fortnight so really should be saving my pennies - or should that be cents?! - so that I can buy up a whole new wardrobe when I'm there.
I did manage to get a day bag for hubby - £7 in TK Maxx - I do like a good bargain!
I got back to the house at lunchtime and realised I actually do have to do some housework this weekend. Our house is up for sale, its been up since last June so I'm getting a little fed up of keeping it ready for viewing (with a 20 year old and an 18 year old who treat the place like a hotel), its really not easy. We've also sold twice and then found ourselves back on the market minus buyer but thats a whole other story!
We decided as it was just the 2 of us, to try out the new noodle bar that opened up close by a few weeks ago. We ended up with Thai curry - it was absolutely delicious and went down very nicely with a large glass of red whilst catching up on CSI!

Another lazy Saturday

I have a whole day ahead of me to do whatever I want - I love Saturdays. No work and its the weekend after payday so shopping is planned. I am off to rummage through the chaos in TK Maxx to see if I can find hidden treasures. I also need to get a day pack for hubby, but thats not so exciting! Check back for pics later...