We had a hectic time last week. Good, fun, but crazy hectic…and to be honest, we’re getting too old for it ! Hahah
Chris flew to Belfast on Tuesday for work, he came back Wednesday night, then Thursday lunch time we headed to a hotel over Henley way, ready for Henley Regatta the following day.
Dress from M&S, Shoes from Gina, Bag from Chloe
But before Friday’s day at the regatta we were picked up and whisked off to see Ed Sheeran in concert at Wembley.
Top and trousers from Tesco, Shoes from Manolo Blahnik, Bag from Goyard
I loved the way this outfit looked on, but I absolutely love how soft and cosy it felt.
The leggings are so soft, they feel like pyjamas. But thick enough to cover and conceal all my lumpy bumpy cellulite. I’m not bothered by it, I have loads of it and have no shame about it. I’d just prefer it wasn’t showing through my clothes.
Ed was incredible!! Just a man and his acoustic guitar holding 90 thousand people captivated. It was amazing.
I’m a bit nonplussed by music really, I like it, I appreciate it, but I’m not a massive fan of live music.
A few things struck me at the concert;
I don’t like crowds (not that we were in any crowds, we were in the corporate entertaining box, which is utterly luxurious, but seeing the crowds below made me feel icky, and trying to get out after the show was horrible).
I don’t like music that I can’t control the volume of (if I could have asked him to turn it down a bit I would have. Hahah). I had to put ear plugs in as my tinnitus was roaring.
And - and I knew this one anyway - I can’t be let loose near an all you can eat buffet.
Old, boring and greedy. It’d make quite the dating profile wouldn’t it…(Chris, please don’t ever leave me).
:)
We had an amazing time. I very much enjoyed the show. He’s a fantastic performer.
Amazing to see just him and his guitar and a considerable amount of talent.
But even that couldn’t persuade me to go to another concert again. Yeah, I know. I’m very weird.
We loved the show, but we got stuck in traffic just outside Wembley as we were trying to get back to the hotel in Henley. Two and a half hours stuck in it in fact, for what should have been a 45 minute journey, Yeah, live music, it’s not for me…
I like an early night and a good book and a ton of sleeping tablets. Hahaha
Henley Regatta has been a staple in our diary for the last eight or nine years now.
When I was still drinking it was a case of getting pissed by a river bank, and now I don’t - it’s filling my face with food by a river bank. What’s not to love.
It’s such a wonderful day. Again, we’re very lucky as we’re in the corporate entertaining area.
We have taken so many lovely clients over the years, we’ve met such lovely people, and this year was no exception, we met some really lovely people again.
The food is good, the wine for those that want to is free flowing. The sun is shining (for the most part), and the rowers are rowing.
…admittedly I’ve not seen many of the rowing races over the eight years. I am a complete philistine. I go for the fun, rather than being a fan of rowing.
It’s a nice excuse to get all dolled up and go out for the day though.
It is an on grass event, so, much like the polo a few weeks back, a wedge or a chunky heel is advisable.
It also happens to be an event where we have our car with us on site. Which means I need to take very few stoma supplies with me to carry round all day.
I’ve got to be honest these are my favourite days out. I feel so much more comfortable and confident if I know the car is parked near by.
The handy thing is with having a colostomy I have solid output, so I’m perfectly happy to change my bag in the car. It makes life so much easier and feels safe. Like an extension of my home.
When we went to the polo a few weeks ago I saw a lady in the most beautiful outfit. A dress in the most stunning soft sage green with matching Chanel bag and shoes. She was an absolute corker. She was absolutely stunning but her outfit outshone any others there. Ten out of ten that lady!
Well I scoured the internet to find a similar dress for me to wear. Obviously I couldn’t quite stretch to her dress’s budget, but found this one and it’s good enough, and feels so comfortable on. I absolutely love it.
I would say ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’…but I’ve just found out the end of that quote, and it paints me in a pretty poor light…’that mediocrity can pay to greatness’. - Oscar Wilde.
Oh well, it’s either flattering to the beautiful polo lady, or just a bit stalkery of me. :)
Dress from Jaki London, I’ve tagged them on my Instagram if you would like to get one.
It was £55, but it had 10% discount for a first time shopper.
It’s ‘one size fits all’, which lets face it is utter bullshittery. I emailed the company and checked with them, and they assured me they had many customers being able to wear it ranging from a size 8 UK to a size 18 UK.
It must have looked half way decent as quite a few friends complimented it, and two strangers in the ladies loo said how lovely it was, so that’s like a five star TripAdvisor rating in my book. All the best compliments come from other women in the loos! :)
Dress from Jaki, Shoes from Fendi, Bag from Chloe
As always it was a fantastic day out. It was a longer day than usual as we go out after for an evening meal now too.
We had a restaurant booked for a 7 course tasting menu…because we’d been starved all day (reader, she lies, she had a 5 course lunch!).
Anyway. It was a lovely evening. One of the clients only lives a few villages up from us and we’ve promised them a meal out somewhere nice. So that’s something to look forward to later in the year.
By the time we got back to the hotel it was late. Two late nights in a row!? Crazy kids that we are!
We got up Saturday morning and I felt like I’d just been dug up.
But we had arranged to pop round to see Chris’s cousin, as she only live about 15 minutes from the hotel.
We had a very flying visit there. It’s so lovely for them to catch up, as we don’t get to see her much.
She’s so much fun, we both adore her.
Dress from Michael Kors, Shoes from Gina, Bag from Chloe
Then we headed off home to see Zak, Sam and Milly, who came up for the weekend to see us, and back to ours to see Olya and Danil too, who have settled really well with us.
We get by on Olya’s very good English, hand gestures, Google translate and my very good impressions and charades (my turkey mince impression being my favourite so far!)
It’s a pleasure having them stay…hopefully it is for them too. :)
Zak and Danil played so beautifully together. I’m possibly a tad biased but Zak is such a lovely little boy, he played so kindly and gently with Danil.
They were very cute and comical to watch.
I invited my mum and dad, Sam, Milly, Zak and Kaitlyn and Ben and our house guests over for a re-run of Christmas - or Julymas as I’ve named it.
We had Junemas last year but due to schedule clashes I moved it a month so we could all gather.
We don’t get the chance to celebrate Christmas together. And as we aren’t religious - Christmas for us is a feeling, so we gather in the sunshine.
We first started it when we missed out due to the pandemic in 2020. But it’s kind of stuck.
Believe me, summer Christmas is lovely. In my opinion, better than the winter version.
Really it’s just a get together but with tinsel and crackers, turkey and all the Christmas cheer. I buy presents for everyone… and they probably rejoice in the fact that it’s the only celebration I don’t expect anything in return. :)
The way I see it, if you’re going to do summer Christmas, do it properly!
Am I perfect? Does everything always go to plan? No, far from it. But credit where it’s due, I’m a trier! :)
Top from Ralph Lauren, Jeans from Tesco, Shoes from Gina
Danil loves getting in on the blog photo action. :)
(Posted with his mum’s permission).
What? You didn’t think all this effort was for the kid’s benefit did you? Hahahahaha
Zak helped me dish out all the gifts (nothing big or expensive, just tokens to say I love you), Including one for Olya and Danil.
They’ve only been here a week, imagine turning up and the crazy lady you’ve moved in with puts on a Christmas in July. It’s not an easy one to explain to people who live in the UK as it is.
They enjoyed it though.
I thought I’d done quite well seeing as I was absolutely shattered from the preceding days leading up to it.
Chris’s cousin messaged me to ask when and how I managed to put on a a full Christmas, including decorations, on very little sleep and even less time. I did explain that the term hero is bandied round overly enthusiastically these days but if the cap fits I’m damn sure I’m going to wear it! ;) Hahahahahahah
Plus I prepped the she shed ahead of time as I had a feeling I’d feel a tad washed out come the Sunday.
It was lovely to see all my favourites round our table.
All this, and whilst suffering a nasty UTI too, yes! I’m ready for my knighthood now! Hahaha
Hello and thank you antibiotics! :)
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I’ve been helping Olya get settled in and sorted out. She has a bank account, a doctors and a Tesco Clubcard, so all the important things are done. ;)
Dress (above) from Ghost X M&S
Dress from TK Maxx (TJ Maxx).
Most tasks feel better in nice clothes. :)
Not necessarily expensive ones, though wouldn’t that be nice in itself. But as I thought pre op my life and dressing well would be over, getting to wear things that I feel look nice is such a joy and a blessing.
And yes, the main thing is I think I look nice. Outside validation is very pleasant I can’t deny that, but it’s not the main thing.
Always dress for comfort and for yourself and then you can’t go wrong.
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The lovely team at Ostique featured me on their Instagram account yesterday. I love what they are trying to achieve, bringing innovation to the world of stoma-ing.
They are a fantastic company and definitely worth a follow.
Wishing you a very happy, restful week. See you soon. Xx