So I've moved...

please pop over and see me at busydoingsomething.blogspot.com xx

Summer essentials

Since we've been having such lovely weather this week I thought I'd share with you some of the must-haves that are in my suitcase when I go on holiday.

Clinique City Block - £16

Image from clinique.co.uk

Hopefully sun cream is a summer essential for everyone, but this is specially designed for your face. It's more like a tinted moisturiser then a sun block and you can wear it under make up or on its own. It eliminates that attractive greasy look you get from using normal sun tan lotion on your face. It is pricy but a little goes a long way.

Image from amazon.co.uk

You may laugh but I really don't like my face getting the sun! A little bit is fine but I hate burning my face. So on holiday I'm pretty much always sporting one of these. They're not the best look but it means I can wear my hair up, keep my head cool and keep my face in the shade. I don't tend to rock the visor here, in case I get mistaken for a golfer or American tourist, but on holiday where no-one knows me it's a staple. Plus there was a whole photo shoot in this month's Glamour featuring visors, maybe I should wear one in Glasgow??? Or maybe not. I've also got my eye on some straw hats for a slightly more stylish option.

My new sunglasses, a TKMaxx £10 buy. I hadn't heard of Cole Haan before but having looked them up online I think I got a bargain! As soon as the sun comes out I have my sunglasses on. I hate squinting and it gives me a headache. Due to this I have some attractive white circles around my eyes but hopefully they won't be wrinkly when I get old!

I ran over my old favourite glasses while cycling in Corfu a couple of years ago and have been looking for a replacement that came up to scratch ever since. These are perfect - not too big, too small, too round, too square....They're my new favourites.

Hello

So it appears I'm not really into this blogging thing right now? I started a new job in March and since then I've been so busy and all my weekends seem to be filled up too. And because of that, and because Blogger has changed beyond recognition since I last logged in, none of my recent posts look the same. So I'm going to kick my formatting arse into gear, give this place a bit of a revamp and attempt to get some regularity back!

So what's new?

I'll start. I have a new phone which means I can do all sorts of things like tweet random Instagram photos of my new bag sitting on my desk - exhibit A.

I've also got myself back to the gym at last! About bloody time. It wasn't even that bad, the thought of it was far worse.

I turned 30! I didn't finish half the stuff on my 30th year list, but hey-ho. I had a lovely couple of dinners, one with friends, one with parents which also included cake and a helium balloon - not embarrassing at all. And had a fab weekend of stuffing my face in London with my hubby, my old flatmate and her boyfriend. That's a whole post in itself. We ate sooo much great food!

So I hope you'll forgive me for being absent and I promise I'll do a bit more in the future. So please look forward to random ramblings, some pictures and some food to come.... aren't you so lucky?

Also, have a look over on Any Other Woman this afternoon and you might see something by yours truly! So I have been writing, just not here ;)

xxx

Wedding recap: The Credits

Venues: Glasgow University & Sherbrooke Castle Hotel
Flowers: Lavender Blue
Cake: Custom Cakes by Lynsey
Make Up: Jacquie @ Looking Good
Hair: Gail Hardie
Bridesmaid dresses: Dessy @ Anne Priscilla Bridal
Cars: Glasgow Taxis
Music: Deoch 'n' Dorus & Dave Lennard (Elvis)

Wedding recap: What I wore

My dress was by Demetrios and I bought it second hand from someone who'd changed her mind - about the dress not getting married! I was so lucky to stumble across her advert on Preloved while looking for pictures of the dress online.

It was in the original bag with the tags still on, in my size, bought from the same shop I'd tried it on in and selling for hundreds of pounds cheaper! It was a gorgeous creamy colour and apart from the small brooch on the hip, the detail was all in the fabric. There were pleats all down the top and my mum said it reminded her of a swan. It was just what I wanted, simple and non-blingy but without being too plain and really comfortable.

My shoes were in the sale in Accessorize. They looked nice but they weren't that comfy and I'd kicked them off before I'd finished eating!


My jewellery
- earrings were Jon Richard from the sale in Debenhams and only cost me about £4!
- necklace was a pendant I bought in a jewellers when we were buying best man presents.
- bracelet, I made myself to match the bridesmaids. It was a double strand of freshwater pearls with a silver clasp. Think it cost me about £5 to make!
- hair clip was another DIY effort made from my great gran's brooch and a Primark hairclip I took apart. Solved my dilemmas od what to put in my hair and was my something old/borrowed (not sure which one!)

I also had a cream fluffy cardigan from Accessorize and the bridesmaids had the same one. I wore it from the flat to the church, while we were having pictures, then on the way to the hotel but I loved it and it was so cozy!

Wedding Recap 3: The Reception

Well, this final recap of the wedding has been a while in coming. Just 3 months after the last one! I left you after the ceremony when we had had our photos taken in the university. When I wrote it we didn’t have the photos from Mirrorbox yet but obviously we do now. This is one of the only ones we have of us outdoors since the weather was so miserable! It didn't matter on the day at all though.

After the photos we got in our white taxi over to the hotel for the reception. The driver stopped just along from the uni to open a bottle of champagne for us and we had a lovely 25 minute journey together. Sometimes traffic isn’t so bad after all. We heard afterwards the bridesmaids and best men had stopped en route to get refills for their hipflasks!

Clearly the hotel had seen the weather outside, anticipated people would be cold and cranked the heating up until it was absolutely boiling when we arrived. We spent a bit of time chatting to people and having a drink, a few family group photos on the stairs, then all of a sudden it was time to have our dinner.

We waited outside the room while the top table went in. R and I were getting asked a question about the cake cutting so weren’t paying attention, which meant we only found out later that our parents and wedding party had done an impromptu conga into the room!

After some excellent (and mercifully not overly long) speeches featuring secret envelopes and a selection of hats, we ate our meal. All those tales of brides not eating anything, not me. I ate every course – leek and potato soup, chicken with haggis, sticky toffee pudding, tea and biscuits – everything!

Our first dance (Roddy Woomble – My Secret Is My Silence) and the first few ceilidh dances all went down brilliantly but we still had a surprise for everyone. At around 9 the band announced they were taking a short break, intro music and bright lights, and Elvis appeared!

R had wanted an Elvis impersonator since we’d first started planning and we managed to keep it a secret from everyone. We were a bit worried about how well he’d go down and for the first song we had to start off the dancing. However, R says that a couple of songs later, he was at the bar and looked into the room to see a full dancefloor and knew it was going to be ok.

Like everyone always says, before we knew it the day was over and people were coming up to say goodbye. I felt like all I did was speak to people but at the same time I hardly saw anyone. It was a brilliant day and so nice to have everyone together in one room. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel after the wedding was over. I definitely didn’t have post-wedding blues and I’m glad that we have our life back after planning. I look at the photos now and really like seeing them but I feel like I’m over the wedding and don’t want to dwell. I’m happy enjoying married life without having this big event to mastermind!

Lunchtime wanderings

I don't take many pictures but I've realised that when I take my camera out with me you see the beauty, or at least appreciate the visual appeal, of much more. It's nice to stop and look sometimes.

Here are some of the things I've seen while exploring out and about in my new work neighbourhood.

Edit: Just realised that these photos look all weird and grainy in blogger, but much better when you click on them. Well, not much better, a bit better!