What I Wore 21st July

As I said previously, I'd bought three dresses from Scarlett and Jo in their 50% off sale and took this one to Whitby with me. As it was, I couldn't have chosen anything better because it was such a hot day and this dress is really light and airy cotton and felt lovely!

I'd chosen the purple because I don't have many clothes in purple and I ought to rectify that! This dress is also available in burgundy and green, I believe. It's a nice length on me, coming to just under my knee. It has elastic at the waist, and I like the little cap sleeves. It has shoulder pads which I think do add something to the look, although if they annoy me I'll just cut them out! I wore new cropped white leggings which I bought from eBay, but they weren't great and kept sliding down. Oh well, they were only a few pounds.

This dress is stunning, really cute and with a 40s vibe but still very modern and easy to wear. I'm in love!

An Evening in Whitby

As I said in my previous post, Lee and I went to Whitby for a couple of nights. Lee had booked us into Discovery accomodation, the company owns quite a few properties in Whitby and we were in Starfish House which is right next to their Reception. He booked it on Booking.com and booked us into a room with a kitchenette, so we decided that we'd get breakfast and lunch in, then eat out.

However, when we arrived, it turned out we'd been upgraded into this extremely spacious apartment which was at the top of three flights of stairs. It would have comfortably slept eight people and is wheelchair accessible via lift from the ground right into the flat! It has wide doors and low beds and tables so should be good for disabled people.

There's three double rooms and a twin room, so Lee and I spent a long time deciding which room to have. One had a normal window with very light curtains which was no good. One had just one Velux window and the other had two, so we chose the one with two so that we could get a breeze going (Lee is always warm at night, especially when the weather is hot). All the windows had pull down blinds which kept out ALL the light!

In the living room were two comfortable sofas and some chairs, which led on to a big dining table and into a well-equipped kitchen. There were five windows in this big room and honestly the whole place was just so light and airy. I'd love to go back and spend longer there!

We each got ready (Lee had a bath in one bathroom while I had a shower in the very fancy shower room!) and then walked down on to the riverside. I had booked a table at Harry's Bar because it looked delicious and I thought it would be busy. It's a really interesting menu - it's sort of like fancy tapas. Lee and I shared five dishes: chips, cod goujons, chicken fajitas, mushroom risotto, and halloumi with Mediterranean vegetables. It didn't look like a lot but we both had enough to eat! I was amused that the fajitas came on this afternoon tea tray!

Cute but kind of weird?

We shared desserts too - an assiette that I didn't take a photo of, and this gorgeous dark chocolate mousse. I also had a Summer Cup cocktail and a glass of Kir Royale (one of my faves!)

Really delicious mousse

It was gin, cider, elderflower, mint and lime, I think!

After we'd eaten we went to play in the amusements for a while and then went up to the top of West Cliff to look at the sea. It was stunning! Such a gorgeous day.

The harbour

Looking up the river

I love this photo, it was just getting dark and was beautiful.

And here's Lee and I!

Outfit of the Evening July 20th

Lee and I had a couple of days away in Whitby in the middle of July, because we had some spare time and we both like it there. Just previously, I'd bought three dresses in the 50% sale on the Scarlett and Jo website and I took two of them with me. The first I wore is this Lollidot border dress. It's very similar to other dresses from S&J, but I find that a) they suit me and b) they feel good when I'm wearing them. This one is slightly different because the top is very thin jersey and the skirt is cotton, but I found that this made the dress much more suitable for the very hot day!

I wore it to go out to eat with black leggings and sandals. I took this picture in our room. We'd booked a room but ended up with an apartment, which was lovely! More on that later though.

Visit to The Orange Tree - 19th July

My friend Laura has been to The Orange Tree in North Yorkshire a couple of times before, and I fancied a trip, so she booked us in on the 19th of July. I picked her up and we drove to Pickering in gorgeous sunshine.

We paid £85 which gave us a whole day, and included lunch, treatments, and access to the grounds and hot tub in the garden. They also give you a room to keep your things in and to shower in.

We arrive around 10 and were offered a hot drink. I was impressed because they had decaffeinated coffee (I don't drink caffeine at all). We drank in the very comfortable living room, which has tons of books for guests to browse through. Then we went through to a very comfortable bedroom which had two beds, and a small shower room. Laura got changed and went for her treatments first. She'd chosen an Indian head massage and a facial. Meanwhile I read my book and also napped for a little while. It was so peaceful! I had the window wide open and it was so warm and breezy and quiet. All I could hear were a couple of tractors and some sheep!

The view from my bedroom window, isn't it lovely?

I had chosen an Indian head massage and a foot pampering session. I was shown into the treatment room which was quite dark and which had nice tinkly music playing. The therapist left the room as I undressed my top half and wrapped a towel around my boobs and sat in a chair. I've never had an Indian head massage before but I really liked it. The oil she used smelt lovely and was really nice and warm which made it all the more relaxing on my neck and shoulders. I'd have liked her to go a bit harder on my neck and head, actually! I was so relaxed I could have cheerfully fallen asleep.

Then I moved on to the bed to have my feet done. I'm always a bit wary of massage beds as they never seem sturdy enough for me, but this one barely even moved! The therapist found me another pillow (I find it hard to lay on my back without getting too much boob in my face) and got one for my knees too.

The foot pampering was lovely - she used exfoliant and moisturiser which both smelt lovely too. Again I was totally relaxed and could have happily napped. At the end the therapist brought me a glass of water and then left me to get dressed.

By this time it was around 12.30, so Laura and I read and chatted for a bit in our room before going through to the dining room at 1. All the food is homemade and vegetarian. We had a delicious mushroom, courgette and Stilton quiche, a salted jacket potato and a delicious salad. For pudding we had orange cake and natural yoghurt, and then more coffee for me.

My hair post head massage!

I had a shower to wash the oil out of my hair and then we went into the hot tub, which is in a small shed so could be used in the winter as well as when the weather is nice. We had the windows open to let some breeze through as it was so warm (around 31 degrees apparently!). The jacuzzi is really warm and it was just lovely. There were two other women in there too. When Laura and I had finished, I sat in the garden reading and drip drying in the sun while Laura got dressed, and then I got dressed and we left around 3.40!

Laura has ME and really likes the Orange Tree because she has a room to sleep in if necessary. I really liked it too, and would love to go back maybe next year. It is quite expensive, but for me it was definitely worth it.

And here I am in the hot tub, look at that beautiful view behind me!

Films of the Month - June

I watched a grand total of two films in June! What a failure! I'll try harder in July for sure.

1. Trainwreck. When I stayed with my friend Von we watched this. I really liked it, it feels like a very feminist film and the main character is beautifully flawed and utterly likeable. I'd definitely go have a drink with her! I really recommend this.

2. X-Men Apocalypse. We went to the cinema to see this with my mum and stepdad. I enjoyed it, but I felt like the ending dragged a bit. I loved Quicksilver, I need an entire film of him!

Books of the Month - June

I didn't read much in June, which was a shame. I got really stuck on the Dream Thieves and it took me over two weeks to read. But anyway, here's what I read.

1) What Was Never Said by Emma Craigie. This is a novel about a Somali girl who escapes from "the cutter", the woman who comes to perform Female Genital Mutilation on girls. It's really quite good and a really important subject. Read my in-depth review here. 

2) Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky. This is a novel about a set of serious fans who manage to get a suite in the same hotel that their favourite band, The Ruperts, are staying in. They then manage to kill one of the Ruperts. It's got some interesting stuff about fandom and how entitled fans think they are, but it didn't set my world on fire. My review is here. 

3) The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater. I read the first book in the Raven Cycle last year and LOVED it. This is the second, but it draaaaaagged. Nothing happened, there wasn't enough of the fun interaction between the five main characters and although I appreciate it is probably setting up the next book I just fouind it boring. I suffered through it. My review is here. 

4) Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley. This book is about the civil rights movement. It's set in Virginia and the schools have to be integrated, so ten black students go to a white school for the first time. The heroine, Sarah, is a fantastic character. I did enjoy it and I'd recommend anyone read it. My review is here.

What I Wore 3rd July

I just haven't been doing much interesting recently so I haven't had much to post about. I'm also concentrating hard on writing. But I'm hoping to get out some places soon and have more to post about.

Anyway, on Sunday we went to see our friends Leanne and Adi for tea. They gave us some lovely food and it was lovely to see them and chat. I decided to wear this Scarlett & Jo prom dress because I hadn't worn it in ages and I could see it on my wall. It was a bit fancy but I'm usually fancy anyway!

It's got a really nice underskirt with netting, which makes the skirt really poofy but it's really comfortable to wear. I like the navy colour and think it suits me!