What I Wore August 24th

On August 24th Lee was still on holiday, and we had to take my grandma to Whaley Bridge so that she could get on a canal boat. She was travelling through 51 locks and the Anderson Boat Lift over the course of a week, it looked like a really fun holiday. She is 91 but it seemed like they would look after her, all food was provided and stuff. She was sure to have a lot of fun just watching the world go by.

We went into a restaurant in Whaley Bridge and I had the WORST customer service ever. My food arrived, after 35 minutes, undercooked and cold, and a little bit congealed. I sent it back while Lee and my grandma ate theirs, but when it came back again, it still wasn't right. The waiter was really rude and while I'm never nasty to waiters, I had just had it. I told him there was no reason, in a restaurant with only three tables being used, why food should take 35 minutes and not be right, and for it then to take a further fifteen minutes and to STILL not be right. I walked out, refusing to eat it or pay for it. Lee and my grandma finished their food and then the waiter had the audacity to put my food on the bill! Lee argued with him and didn't pay. I know that the majority of waiters are busy, underpaid, and so on, but there were seven of us in there and there was just no excuse.

I was really upset and cried, and then I was hungry and upset and cried two more times. I just wanted to get home and sleep. Lee looked after me and my mum was really sympathetic on the phone. I wanted tro share this story because I look perfectly happy in this photo. Lee took it when we got home, so I'd been crying and had a terrible headache. What you see on social media isn't true, it isn't the whole story of someone's life. I tweeted a bit about being upset and got so many lovely responses of support. I talked about it to a couple of friends and felt better. I shared this photo on Instagram but didn't mention anything about my bad day. I didn't mention anything on Facebook. So only by following me on more than two platforms would you start to be able to form a picture of my day, and even then you wouldn't know what exactly happened.

Remember, you're living the soap opera of your own life, but you're only seeing the highlights reel of everyone else's. No one's life is perfect.

Anyway, I hadn't worn this dress in ages so I put it on. It's getting a bit bobbly, but it's really comfortable and I love the floral pattern. It's really old from Simply Be. Perfect summery dress!

What I Wore 23rd August

I saw on Twitter recently that Debenhams was having a sale on Lindy Bop items so I thought I'd have a nosy. They only went up to a size 26, but I've heard that they can be generously sized so I thought I'd try. I ordered five dresses, they came really quickly. Two were a weird slippery material that I didn't like, so I didn't keep them. Two of the cotton dresses didn't fit me on the bodice, so I sent one back and I've kept the other. It's flamingo print, so really cute, and since the skirt fitted me I am going to chop off the bodice and make a waistband to make it a skirt. Since it was so much on sale I feel like this is an okay thing to do!

The fifth dress however was this one. It felt a little bit tight in the bodice, but it looked like it fit me, and I thought the pattern was cute so decided to keep it. I decided to wear it to go out with my mum and stepdad for Lee's birthday. We went up the street from our house to one of the best curry houses around - the Dilraj in Dodworth. We quite often get takeaway from there but we haven't been in to eat in ages. It was delicious, as usual!

The dress does feel tighter than what I would usually wear, but I really like it. Plus it has pockets! It feels really well made and I'll definitely keep an eye on Lindy Bop in the future.

Lee's birthday

As I said, we went to my mum's caravan in York over Lee's birthday. On Monday, his actual birthday, we got up and he opened presents from me, then we set off to Scarborough. The weather was gorgeous, sunny but not too hot. We met up with my friend Shelli in the north bay and had delicious coffee and cake. We played a cute mini golf in the north bay, and then we got the open top bus down to the south bay and played in the arcades. I like the Pacman 2p machines and we played air hockey a couple of times too. It was busy but not too packed, so a really nice time.

Once we were fed up of Scarborough Lee said we should drive up to Whitby so we did. We parked on the West Cliff and sat up there looking at the sea while eating an ice cream. There's a lift from West Cliff down to the beach now, which I'll totally have to go in one day as I like the beach there and it tends to be quieter than the town centre itself. We set off back to York about 4pm and chilled out for a bit before we went out to eat.

We went to Giraffe, which I've never been to before. I've always chosen places near it but not itself! It was okay, nothing special, so I'm not sure I'd go again. Still, Lee enjoyed his chicken burger and I had really yummy tapas. I had chorizo, baked hummus which was a bit weird as I'm not sure hummus should be hot, and some chicken gyoza. I also had some topped homefries - cubes of potato topped with spicy pulled beef and cheese. They were delicious! For dessert Lee had a rocky road sundae and I had churros which were hot and crispy and yummy.

We went back to the van and relaxed again, it was a much colder night so we got wrapped up warm!

On Tuesday we had talked about goin into York city centre as there's a busy that goes from outside the caravan park to Stonebow, but we were tired and decided to go to Ripon instead. I haven't been in forever. Then we went for drinks and cake before finally getting back to the caravan. We made chilli in the van that night, which was slightly delayed when the gas bottle ran out! Oh well. It's all part of the fun.

On Wednesday we just packed up and came home, in a thunderstorm and torrential rain. It was crazy!

Scarborough North Bay, I haven't been in ages!

Looking the other way

I liked this so much I made it my profile picture on Facebook

On the bus

Looking very windswept!

South Bay. The beach was heavng!

Whitby, looking down from West Cliff

Looking towards Whitby's harbour walls

Lee chilling out

My food - chorizo and topped home fries

Baked hummus - it was nice but I'm not sure I'd eat it again

Birthday boy. Lee is now 35!

These ducks live in the caravan site and just wander around. I fed them some bread

Aren't they cute?

What I Wore August 20th

Lee had a week off around his birthday in August, and he asked if we could go to my mum's caravan in York for a few days. We went back in April and had a lovely time, so we thought we'd go again and have a nice time. We set off on Sunday morning and got there around lunchtime. This is what I was wearing - Laura gave me this dress so I thought I'd try it out straight away. It's a Scarlett and Jo one and I love the paisley pattern on it. It's easy to wear like so many of their dresses are, but I felt pretty fancy for the afternoon walking around shopping!

We went to Primark at Monks Cross because I wanted to look at the Harry Potter stuff in there, and we got Lee some new stuff too. We went to Marks & Spencer because we needed some pop, I also managed to get some of the creme brulee liqueur that I had last Christmas and really enjoyed. I bought two bottles this time and will probably buy some more closer to Christmas! Then we drove to the designer outlet because I wanted to go to Paperchase, but there wasn't much there. Then we went into the Lindt shop and bought a ton of the Lindt chocolates - so yum! We went back to the caravan and watched a film before going out to get a takeaway to take back there to eat. It was lovely relaxed day!

Clothes Swap 19th August

On the 19th of August we held another clothes swap in Sheffield, this time at Mugen Tea House on Scotland Street. I've been there a couple of times, as the owner Sarah is a friend of a friend, so when I was looking for a place to hold another swap I thought I would see if Sarah was up for it. She was! So Lee and I rocked up around 10.30 on Saturday to get set up. Laura came to help too, and then more people arrived and the swap got underway!

I got a few bits, but I mostly sat just chatting with people. I had cake to eat, and a couple of drinks. I saw loads of friends and a few new people too. I think we had about 25 people in total which is pretty good for a new venue! Mugen isn't the biggest of places but we had plenty of room in one half, and other customers could come in too. We finished around 3pm and tidied up, hopefully leaving the place back how we'd found it! We headed up to the pub for a couple of drinks then, which was really nice.

I had a lot of fun and I'm really glad that so many people came. Lee took this photo of Laura and I, don't we look lovely?

Amy & Mike's Wedding

In the middle of August my lovely friends Amy and Mike got married under a tree in a field in Cheadle. It was so lovely, so DIY, so them. They hired a Scout hut that had two fields behind it, and they and lots of their friends were camping in one of the fields for the whole weekend. Lee and I went over on the Saturday morning and stayed in one room in the bunk house.

The ceremony started around noon and was under a huge, very beautiful tree. Amy's dad conducted it, which was really nice. I was asked to read the bit which ends "Love is patient, love is kind" from 1 Corinthians, which was a huge honour and privilege. Amy and Mike lit candles together and we all clapped, which is one of those things I love about weddings.

We had mojitos to celebrate, and then photos, and then headed into the Scout hut for the wedding breakfast. It was delicious - fresh bread, butter, salads, cured meat, olives, all kinds of delicious stuff like that. Then the music festival began - there were bands playing, and tea and cake, and a cinema tent, and a fire pit, and a bar, and temporary tattoos and glitter, and paella to eat. It was so much fun, and by the end of the night I was sitting contentedly by the fire with a glass of white wine talking to my friend Michelle.

There are five of us who went to 6th form together and are all still friends. We meet up at Christmas and try to see each other during the year too, but it doesn't always work out that way! I haven't seen Ailsa for two years, since Gillian got married in July 2015. She and her partner came from Oxford but could only stay for a few hours as they had a family party to go to in the evening. Gillian recently had a baby (I made her the baby blanket) so she and Tom left around 8pm I think to get Lily home. Michelle is a pastor and she'd been in Glasgow conducting a wedding earlier in the day, so she didn't manage to get to Amy's wedding until around 9.30 but then she and I had a really nice conversation.

Lee and I went to bed around midnight, the bunk room was warm enough and comfortable enough. Sunday morning started early and I was pretty hungover. I got dressed and headed outside where the sun was shining brightly. Amy's cousin offered me a cuppa, which I drank in the sunshine chatting to others, and then I felt a hundred times better. Gary and Elise were in charge of breakfast so sausage sandwiches and fruit appeared which was amazing. As we left we took cake, flowers, leftover mustard and pickled onions! It was such a lovely wedding and perfect for Amy and Mike.

Here's my photos:

The ceremony tree. Huge, gorgeous, and really old!

Lee and I, I really like this photo!

Amy and her brother coming from one side of the grounds (Mike and his family came from the other)

During the vows - this might have been when their dog Poppy brought the rings!

Emma and her daughter Sophie

Lighting the candle

Gillian and Tom and baby Lily

Amy and her gorgeous dress, which she bought as a basic and altered herself. Her flowers were gorgeously pretty, too, and I'm pretty sure she's never going to take that flower crown off. 

Gillian and Ailsa and me. We managed to coordinate so well without meaning to! This is the best picture of my outfit. My dress is cream and lacy, it was from Asos years ago and I had totally forgotten about it until a few months ago. It still had the tags on! I thought I would save it for Amy's wedding. My cardigan is from Sainsburys, and my purple leggings are from H&M. 

These little ducks were on the bridge of the stream, so cute.

Little details like this made it so perfect. 

Ailsa and me. Even though I haven't seen Ailsa in two years, we have that kind of friendship where we can pick up a conversation as if we saw each other yesterday. 

Father of the bride speech. Amy's mum did a speech first, which was lovely, then Glen, then the best man, then Amy, and then Mike. 

Amy's speech

Amy has the most gorgeous writing. She's an artist. 

Cakes in the cake tent! I think they were all vegan. They were certainly very yummy.

Later on Lee and I went back to our room to put warmer clothes on. I slipped my Sprinkle of Glitter wrap cardigan on as it has long sleeves. I also had my hoodie on. I was grateful to have a warm room to sleep in rather than a cold tent!

I was also uber glamorous and put socks on with my sandals. Parts of the site had turned very muddy with earlier rain and my sandals were the best shoes to navigate that, but I didn't want my feet to freeze either.

The fire pit. It had logs and benches all around it to sit on. I love campfires.

Sunday morning! 

And finally, here are the flowers Amy gave me. They had been on the tables in the hut, and are just so Amy because they're yellow and white! Just so beautiful.

Books of the Month - July

I felt like I was in a real reading slump in July. I read four books and most of another, which isn't many for me, and I felt like I had to slog through them all. At the end of the month I picked up a book which I thought would be easy to read and quick, but it ended up being incredibly full of fat hate and I wasn't at all impressed. I'll review it, of course, but man, it's 2017.

Here's what I read:

A Change is Gonna Come - authors of black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds writing YA stories about change. LOVED it
When the Music's Over - Peter Robinson
Attachment - Rainbow Rowell
The Book of Tomorrow - Cecelia Aherne

As always, my review are here on my book blog.