Monday 07.12.

Monday was my day off and the bf and I were heading to Edinburgh, I had an appointment with one of my brands and he had a job to do on route. Usually I do not post on days when I am not a work, but before we left the house I asked him to snap a quick picture of me!

I just had to share my fabulous new cardigan/jacket with you all!!

I vowed last year (when we were in Florida) that I was no longer going to be sucked in by the Abercrombie & Fitch lure! I had, had enough of their samey styles, their hugely inflated prices, their dark stores and their tiny sizing!
Yeah, that was until I saw this baby! I did so well (at first) I tried it on and loved it, but I decided that at the price it was I would just leave it!
However, 2 days later there was a 60 mile round trip so that I could purchase said item! I have to say that I am glad that I did - I was so warm and cosy all day yesterday!

It feels weird posting a picture that was taken at home! Please excuse the washing that is drying beside me!
Bista could not resist posing for the camera too - she is just the cutest!

Monday's outfit was:

Skinny Jeans - Vila
Orange t-shirt - Local boutique
Cardigan/Jacket - Abercrombie & Fitch
Boots - Faith

Tuesday 22.09.

I was very tired this morning and was really lacking in outfit inspiration, so I decided to grab my go to! I do love this outfit and the scarf and shoes are what make it for me!




I had a lovely weekend and Monday off. Sunday was a first birthday party in Edinburgh, it was fun to catch up with all of the bf's family, get baby cuddles and eat cake! It was after 8pm by the time we collected the puppy and got home so I had a nice long bath and the bf and I lay along the sofa (with the duvet - the one thing that I love about winter...... snuggling) and caught up on Ugly Betty!

Monday I managed to do lots but very little all at the same time!! I got up at my usual time and headed to the supermarket, I was home by 10am. Bista and I then lay along the sofa for about an hour watching tv. I did some laundry, made a pot of yummy soup and cleaned the kitchen. I then went and me the bf for lunch. In the afternoon I popped round to my very pregnant friends house and had a cuppa and a chat. I then walked the dog and went for a swim. I managed to spend almost the entire day in yoga pants and a hoodie and really felt like I did nothing!

I have a dental appointment this afternoon - it is only a check up, so I should be in and out in minutes!

Today's outfit is:

Skinny Jeans - Vila
Striped t-shirt - H&M
Scarf - Echo via eBay
Shoes - Tod's

Monday 14.09.

No outfit picture from Monday (seriously it was not good - dog walking jeans, trainers and a hoodie).

My bf was away with work from Monday until Saturday this past week so he took yesterday off and we spent the day together. We had used Sunday to get chores etc done so the day was free for fun stuff. I started off by making my first pot of lentil soup of the autumn (yum - lunch today) and a HUGE pot of chilli. We then had a quick lunch and headed off to Culzean Castle with the dog!

It was a beautiful sunny and warm afternoon so we just spent a few hours wandering around the grounds. We had Bista off the lead the entire time as we are trying to train her this way - lets us see how far she is happy to go without us.

We decided that the castle grounds and walled gardens (which are stunning) were not the place to take the puppy that loves to dig. So, we took the longer walk along to the swan pond. Bista was great staying close by but still going off to explore the new smells.

About half way there she started to flag a bit (it was getting very hot) so we slowed it down a bit and got closer to a little stream.

My bf tried to coax her to come down the embankment and into the water for a drink! She could hear it and she could see it, but was just not so sure about making the jump!

Then all of a sudden she leap down into the lovely cool water (it was about an inch deep) where she cooled off and had a big long drink!

We carried on round to the swan pond where my bf and I enjoyed the biggest ice cream cones! YUMMY!! We sat by the pond for a while watching the dog, the swans and the ducks before we headed back to the car and home!

I love days like that!!

Monday 12.01.

Wow, early post for me! I am only in the shop for 2 hours today - Yippee! It is my lovely bf's birthday and I am taking him out for the afternoon. My mum is coming in at 12pm to let me go home to prepare a picnic for lunch! I am taking him to Culzean Castle for the afternoon and then we are going out for dinner this evening.
I got him a fabby new camera so that is why we are heading to the castle for the afternoon, so that he can play about with his new toys!

I am (I am afraid to say) wearing the same clothes as yesterday, I am going straight home to get into my grubby outside clothes, so I thought that I could get away with this as I love the grey top!

Today's outfit is:

Skinny Jeans - Vila
White long sleeved t-shirt - Forever 21
Grey poncho.Jumper - Monsoon
Black cardy boots - Ugg

Friday.

Yippee, it is Friday - and I have a day off tomorrow. I will not be posting as I hope to have a long lie and then just see where the day takes me. My bf and I have already decided that Sunday is a comfort food, pj day on the sofa watching movies! I am very excited.

For my last working day this week I decided to glam up a bit - as the weekend will be very casual. I hope you all have a lovely weekend whatever you are doing!

Today's outfit is:

Black satin & jewels dress - Blendshe
Black tights - H&M
Black boots - Topshop
Black cape jacket - Vila
Black sequin beret - River Island
Gold necklace - H&M
Gold acrylic bangle - Mikey

Tuesday.

I usually wear this dress with black tights and a heavier shoe (the only reason for this - it came into stock at the tail end of winter, so I teamed it with items that made it suitable for that time of year) but I decided that I was far too casual last week.

However, I may never wear this dress ever again!!!! A very, very rude lady has just asked me if I am pregnant??? I am not!! I am only wearing a UK size 12. OK at the moment I have one or two items in my wardrobe that are a little neat - but come on!!!

I would never ever ask someone that I did not know from Adam (and did not know for a fact that they definitely were pregnant and had not just gained a few pounds) if they were pregnant!!
Is it just me, or is that just a down right rude thing to do??

So, today's outfit is:

Printed cotton dress - Vila
Black patent t-bar wedges - Barratt
Silver necklace & bracelet - Tiffany



Yesterday afternoon was lovely, the bf and I got home at just after 1pm, we had a lovely lunch of BBQ leftovers. After a quick change (for my bf) we headed into town for a wander. I wanted to get some colourful basics to brighten up my wardrobe at this in between time! These were purchased from good old H&M.

We then headed to Waterstones where we had a look around - I have grown to love book stores, I could spend hours browsing. We headed up to the back of the store with our purchases and enjoyed a coffee and a muffin in Costa Coffee.

Finally we went to Tesco to stock up on healthy food for the week. The funny thing about the pregnancy comment is, I had already decided to do something about losing a few pounds! We ended the day with a walk along the beach. We are very lucky to live two streets away from the beach.

Time Off, Saturday to Wednesday.

I'm back!!!

I have had a lovely few days off, I feel very refreshed and very positive about all of the up-coming projects. I have thought a lot about what I would like to achieve from the shop in the next 12 months!

Anyway, I have said that I was off from Saturday through to today (Thursday) this was the case, but I did have to put in a very quick 2 hour shift on Monday morning. So, here is my recap of my little break.

Saturday - Wedding.

Our very good friends were getting married in their home town (Fort William- 3hrs 30mins away) and we were very lucky to be invited to join them on their special day. Our original plan was to leave from work on the Friday night and travel through and stay an extra night. However, there was a rather large Hill Walking Challenge taking place and we could not get a room anywhere.

So, on Saturday morning at 8am we set off, we planned to stop in the West end of Glasgow to get our button holes (to try and keep them as fresh as possible - silk flowers are a no-no with me) and to get a bit of breakfast. After the quick stop we headed onwards and upwards. It was a beautiful day for the drive, not too bright but nice and dry. It is a very, very winding road up the West Coast of Scotland to Fort William, but a very beautiful drive. We were both enjoying the views of Loch Lomond, Glen Coe etc when we realised that we were losing time.

In a panic, I scrambled into the back of the car to fetch my make-up, one less job to do when we reached the hotel. Eventually we arrived at the hotel........ 15 minutes before the ceremony started. We ran to our room and had the quickest change of our lives. We then asked for directions to the church. More panic when we were informed the church was 12 miles away!!

Picture of me in my dress (pale green chiffon) and heels (pewter Christian Louboutin), and my lovely boyfriend in his kilt!

We hot footed it to the car and took off at great speed. We were making really good progress when the brakes were slammed on..........
Up ahead were the wedding cars!!!!! We were following the bride!
At the church the car was abandoned, the bride was exiting on the right of her car, so we ran down the left had side and made it to the church just on time (we were not even the last guests to arrive!!).

The ceremony was beautiful, the church was beautiful, the views from the church and the location were outstanding, but the bride was stunning!
The rest of the day and night was fantastic, lots of good food, wine, company and dancing.

Beautiful view from inside the Church!
View once we got outside the church.

Sunday.

After a late night we forced ourselves to get up early have breakfast and get on the road home. We were home by lunch-time, so we went to meet my boyfriend's mum and her husband for some lunch. I then headed to see my dad and my boyfriend to see his (get the Fathers Day duties out of the way).

It was a beautiful day, so when visiting was done my boyfriend came to get me at my parents house and we stayed and ate dinner out on the patio.

Monday.
Outfit: linen crop trousers, striped vest, white cotton cardigan.

My birthday!!
As I said I went into work briefly, then I walked home in time for the lunch plans that had been made for me. I was not told what they were in advance, but I was very pleased to find out that we were going on a picnic!!

We stopped in at Tesco to get our lunch (Sushi for me, pasta salad for my boyfriend) and headed to a local park. The weather was fantastic and we spent nearly 3 hours lying in the sun chatting, eating and enjoying an extra together.
My yummy sushi.

My birthday cake!

In the evening we went to dinner at a local restaurant, where I gorged on amazing local Seafood!! Yum, yum! We had some wine with dinner and then walked home where a bottle of champagne had been chilling while we were out. We enjoyed this while watching a bit of T.V.
No outfit picture, but this is the top and necklace I wore, I got them for my birthday from my sister.

Tuesday.

The weather was awful, so we had a lazy breakfast while we decided what to do. In the end we settled with doing some errands that we had been putting of for ages. It was a great feeling when they were all done!

In the evening we had some friends round for a casual dinner (Chilli) and we then all headed out to the pub quiz. My parents came and met us for a few hours and helped us to win the quiz!!

Wednesday.

Last day off, but it was a good one. I had an appointment in the morning with one of my suppliers. So, we decided to structure our day around this. The appointment was in Glasgow, so we got an early train, had the meeting and then started our day out.

After the work stuff was out of the way we headed back to the city centre grabbing lunch to eat in the sun. After lunch we had a wander around the shops (not clothes shopping though) I bought some thank you cards to send for my gifts.

We then headed to the cinema to catch Indiana Jones. It was not starting for about an hour, so we went round the corner to a nice little bar got a drink and I wrote my thank you notes and got them mailed off.

The movie was great (I had never seen any of the other Indiana Jones movies) and it was so nice to do something a bit different in the afternoon.
Afterwards, we again, wandered about the shops and then headed for some dinner. We ended up in lovely pizza place and shared a bottle of nice wine.

We caught an early train home and on the walk home we stopped and bought some Cheesecake to have for dessert!

No outfit picture again, but I wore another new top (birthday gift from my parents) with my black skinny jeans and my red ballet flats.

Customer Service!

As I mentioned before I had yesterday afternoon off, so I decided to have a wander around a few shops. Since I opened my shop, I have noticed a few other little one off shops that I had not managed to visit.

I had to go to a neighbouring town to run some errands and it just so happened that this town had two new shops that I was desperate to visit. So, I headed off a very excited person! The first shop was a fashion boutique, from the outside it looked lovely so I went on in. I noticed a stunning little top straight away and made my way over to it. I could not see a price so I asked the assistant for some help. She huffed, threw her magazine down on the counter and came over. I explained the size that I needed and asked to try it on. After trying the beautiful (but much more of a casual style on than I had imagined) top I asked what the price was. Again the assistant huffed and told me that it was £80. I thanked her and left - not actually knowing what I was thanking her for!!

Next stop was a cute little home ware and gift store. I love, love, love nice greeting cards and wrapping paper as well as cute little bits for the home. I entered to a very warm welcome and being asked if I needed any help. I explained that I was just looking at the moment. It was then that I spied Emma Bridgewater pieces - I made my way over and started looking. The next thing I know the assistant was behind me, not to help me with anything but to watch me!!!
Again I left without buying anything.

I came home very deflated, I was looking forward to my afternoon in the local boutiques. For me in my shop, greeting the customers and making them feel welcome and not pressured into making a sale, is so important. I want people to recommend my shop, obviously because of the beautiful pieces, but also because of the service that they received.

It would appear to me that customer service is just not as important to some people as it used to be.