The Vitality Show 2009

This was my fourth or fifth time at the Vitality show. I find it hard to believe that it’s been going for ten years. But then I find some of the stalls hard to reconcile with the show’s slogan about taking care of the girls. However once again despite not buying much (some wine, dairy free chocolate, chili sauce and dried fruit) I came away with loads of heavy bags.

Good stuff:

*A fun day out with a couple of buddies. This has become something of a tradition for us.
*New venue was slightly easier to get to and apparently we could have visited the Ideal Home show as well (but didn’t discover this until too late to really be bothered with it).
*Good programme of workshops and talks – Deciding in advance some of the talks we wanted to go to helped to give our day some structure. Facial yoga was good fun and the Burlesque taster was fabulous.
*Much less 'let me read your angel card and predict your fabulous spirit guided future' than in previous years. There is a place for having your aura read I’m sure but I don’t think this is it.
*The Vitamix demonstration – When my current stuff dies I want one of these because it does everything and lasts a lifetime (or twenty odd years in any case).
*The Highways Agency stand – offering you the chance to play with card, glue and snippets of pretty things and think about how you’d spend your time if you weren’t caught in traffic. Basically they were promoting the travel information services they offer. I usually get my traffic updates from the BBC but I’d much rather get them from the horses mouth.
*Black Tower sparkling wine in little cans – Perfect for picnics.
*Mr Singh’s Chilli sauce – like a hot salsa, how could I resist?

Less then impressed by:
*The talk on de-ageing your wardrobe – We left it very early on as we just couldn’t stand all the celebrity name dropping and less then original/inspiring content. Plus I’m never going to give my full attention to a presenter who opens with the line “Hello, girlie girls.”
*Not enough massage treatments – we ended up going to Ibiza Angels who were actually very good but we spent time trying to check out alternatives too (rather difficult when there aren’t any!).
*People with wheelie suitcases – What do they have in them? Why don’t they check them into the cloakroom?
*No healthy lunch options – we took our own packed in laptop lunch containers. I’m so glad we did because the food on offer seemed to be all sausages and greasy Panini.
*The Philadelphia sponsored cooking demos – you were just waiting for the chef to add a certain cream cheese to the ingredients.

Other things to worry about:

*No Colour me beautiful, Lush or Redwood foods.

*Skin breaking out after. Obviously my complexion is usually flawless. Was this bought on by facial yoga?

* Do people actually need showers that change colour?

My approach to next year: Plan in advance which talks to attend. Wear solid shoes to avoid being run over by wheelie suitcases. Pack healthy lunch. Consider booking massage closer to home for day after.

What I wore 21st - 27th March 2009

I am definitely starting to feel a little warm in my layered winter outfits. However I am not rash enough to head out into uncertain spring weather wearing a light coat and high heeled sandals.

I may shed a layer or two. Swap leggings for tights. I’m already leaving my hat at home and if I didn’t wear scarves partly as an accent they would be staying in the box some days too.

I think my spring wardrobe will be revolving heavily around grey dresses, belted things and short skirts.

Also working on at least one photo to go with this post each week...

Friday
Grey v neck tshirt, woven belt, short black skirt, green velvet jacket, patterned tights, lace up black boots.

Saturday
Exercise clothes
Old jeans, olive green ribbed t-shirt.
Black and white skirt, black and white top, sheer tights, black ankle boots (Fancy dress party).

Sunday
Allotment clothes
Red and black dress, black slip, black tights, woven belt, black mary jane shoes.

Monday
Black leggings, green velvet jacket, grey dress, chunky brown belt, brown boots.

Tuesday
Exercise clothes
Mens jeans, turquoise vest, grey wrap cardigan, brown boots.

Wednesday
Black leggings, black vest, emerald green knitted dress, black buckle boots, green and black necklace.

Thursday
Grey knitted dress, turquoise vest, black leggings, brown buckle boots.

Things I Love Thursday

I've used logos from Icing in the past since it's the home of tilt. However today I am inspired by Vixel at Sparkle and Glitter and have created my own image in Paint! Feel stupidly proud of myself and fear this may spark an entire rush of logo madness only inhibited by my drawing skills.

Girlie days out - I'm off to Vitality Show with some and looking forward to it. The classes, demos and talks look particularly good and I'll be finishing it off the day with a glass of champagne.

Meals for free - well almost. Deart Heart and I have been really good at using up leftovers this week. Cottage pie type thing on Tuesday night using up leftovers from Sunday lunch and Pasta last night using up the last of the sweetcorn soup we had for dinner on Sunday/Monday night. Tonight we're making French bread pizzas using some of the baguette that appeared in our kitchen after the party we went to last weekend.

Lara bars - the market near to where I work has started selling these again. They are so good!

Charity shops - Last week I went hunting in charity shops for belts and a Mod outfit. I picked up a black and white skirt and top which I did a few temporary alterations to for my costume. I was able to pick the stitching out the next day, give the top to Dear Heart's Mum and set the skirt aside for the next choose2reuse Tuesday. I got two terrific belts both of which I have worn several times already. What a difference they make to an outfit!

Other stuff: new blogs, grey dresses, water, good reads that you didn't expect, not worrying, trips for work, being inspired, spinach, being able to wear sunglasses, really good sleep.

A photographic hitch

I'd planned to start posting occasional pictures of my good and lovely self up here. Mainly so that when I waffling on about a certain outfit or sewing project you have the faintest idea of what I am referring to. My plan was to use both my phone and the only full length mirror in the house to do the deed.

The full length mirror because it is the only one long enough to have any hope of capturing enough of me. I want to use my phones to take the pictures because then I can email then straight to my blog rather than having to switch on the laptop, wait an age for it to boot up, fiddle around trying to get the camera to download the pictures, connect to Internet and then post.

I then realised that the full length mirror isn't that great because it's at the end of the hall. There is a flight of stairs going down to the basement so I can't move back far enough to get my entire body in the picture. Also our mirror has its frame decorated with pictures of friends and family. This makes the pictures take on the look of some bizarre photo collage.

I guess I'll have to make an effort to display outfits on my dress form and go back to the drawing board for live shots!

What's in my lunchbox this week?

I looked forward to eating this all morning.

clockwise from top right:

Lemon spinach - a Linda McCartney recipe that was soeasy I can't think why I've never bother before. In fact cooking spinach is so easy I can't think why I don't have it my box more often especially as the perpetual spinach is still merrily growing away on my allotment.

A mix of soy sauce and wasabi - I like to mix wasabi into my soy sauce so that come lunchtime you get a dipping sauce that brings the two flavours together. I think I might use a slightly smaller squirt of wasabi in future though. The sauce that didn't get used on the sushi got added to my spinach.

A piece of dark chocolate

Sushi rolls - filled with Umeboshi. These were so good. Sushi is really filling so five rolls was plenty and I managed to cook the rice perfectly for once. I need to make the rolls a bit smaller in future as the these were only just able to squeeze int the dipping sauce pot.

Pear - Getting bored of these - thankfully the Rhubarab on my allotment is coming along nicely.

I've totally failed at organising anything for breakfast this week. My pathetic excuse is that we had Dear Heart's mother over for Mother's Day. So it'll be toast unless inspiration strikes!

What I wore 13th - 20th March 2009

The warmer weather at the start of the week was so misleading. It made me think that soon my (often) sleeveless clothing wouldn’t be a problem. Alas the cold wind still cuts.

I bought two belt this week from charity shops. I have belts in my wardrobe but they don’t fit (i.e. they are much too big. I keep thinking that I should fine some way of making them fit better, but what I really need to do is add the to my charity shop bag. The thing that really inspired me to buy them (not Michelle Obama, honestly) was seeing an old Levi denim shirt I have in my wardrobe on a vintage clothing site selling for £40! It had a big belt around it and I loved the look and hope I can make it work on me.

I’ve spent a bit of time working on a Mod outfit for Saturday night’s Mods and Rockers party. I found a Lambretta shirt in a charity shop and I’m using it to add a bit to the bottom of a black tunic/dress and make it decent! Photographs may follow!

Friday
Black leggings, black vest, green knitted dress, black and green necklace, black boots.

Saturday
Black suit with small stripes, blue ‘guild of militant, anarchist warrior librarians’ t-shirt, black double buckle DM shoes.

Sunday
Exercise clothes
Mens jeans, black vest, black Indian cotton top

Monday
Allotment clothes
Old jeans, bleach stained black tshirt, sarong worn as turban (hair dyeing clothes).
Old jeans, black vest, chunky sage green belted cardigan.

Tuesday
Exercise clothes
Green patterned wrap dress, white vest, brown boots.

Wednesday
Mens jeans, white vest, lavender cardigan, black buckle boots,.

Thursday
Black v neck t-shirt, emerald green cardigan, black and white flower skirt, black leggings, brown buckle boots, black and green necklace.

Things I Love Thursday

*Unexpected produce – I just love it when I stumble across some potatoes on my allotment that have been unharvested, survived the winter and are ready for eating. Or garlic. Or spinach. Well, you get the picture.

*Making lists – Making a job list always makes me feel good. Even if I don’t get round to doing the stuff on it for ages, the very act of making one and I suppose planning for the future makes me feel good. Clearly the increased light levels have woken me up and I’m writing down all kinds of things to do.

*Realising that practice is all – and that most of practice is taking a risk and getting it wrong and trying and getting it wrong again. And even if you think you’ve got it there’s always more to learn.

*Treating myself – I arrived somewhere very early for a meeting the other day and usually would have wandered around trying to kill the time. Instead I went into some lovely tea rooms, was greeted by a very nice smiley man and had a pot of Earl Grey and banana. So I arrived at my appointment (a) on time and (b) feeling refreshed. The cost? £1.50. why aren’t I nicer to myself like this more often?


Also: Twice baked potatoes, making decisions and deciding the world won’t fall apart if I don’t do something, sunny days, postcrossing, sewing inspiration, putting loose change into bags and taking it to the bank.

What's in my lunch box this week?

Following last week's selection of foods that seemed to feature an above average amoputn of peanut butter here's the choice for new week:
(Clockwise from top right)
Tofu fish stick (from The Vegan lunch box - only I used frozen tofu whoch looked freakily like fish when I was dipping it in the mix)
Pear
Polenta fries (from The Vegan lunch box - do not make this when you are (a) tired from working and marathon training, (b) have just worn self our further bashing lumps out of white sauce and (c) without following the instructions for ratio between Polenta and water). They should be more fry shaped but they tate delicious anyway!
White cabbage, spring onions and radishes with a hint of rice wine vinegar.

Breakfast has been a bit varied this week as I was able to eat at home for two mornings and there are enough left overs in the fridge to provide me with variety. Likewise I find myself having a number of afternon appointments which distract me from the need to nibble midafternoon.

Expect something sushi like next week - I've got all the bits in the apntry jsut waiting for me to use them.

What I wore 6th - 12th March 2009

I have a dream that one day (a) there will be more hours in the day and (b) I will actually post some photographs to go with this list!

Meanwhile I'm still on the hunt for the perfect Mods/rockers outfit. My parents were very helpful and I've got Quadrophonia to watch tonight. The only snag I find with fancy dress parties is an urge to them incorporate the outfit into my daily life.

Friday
White cupcake eater tshirt, fuzzy green cardigan, mens jeans, brown boots.

Saturday
Exercise clothes
Black lame leggings, grey pillowcase top, grey shrug, black lace up boots, black velvet jacket, multicoloured knitted scarf.

Sunday
Allotment clothes
Old lounging trousers, bleach stained black tshirt, sarong worn as turban (hair dyeing clothes).
Blue pyjama trousers, love 2 sleep top and waffle robe

Monday
Black lame leggings, grey dress (newly converted from an old pair of trousers), black buckle boots, green and black necklace.

Tuesday
Exercise clothes
Black and white floral skirt, black t shirt, emerald green cardigan, brown boots, green and black necklace.

Wednesday
Green velvet jacket, black leggings, short black skirt, grey v neck t-shirt, black buckle boots, black and green necklace.

Thursday
Mens jeans, turquoise vest, grey wrap cardigan, brown boots.

Things I love Thursday

Growing stuff – Things seem to be going quite well on my allotment. I’m doing good on preparing the ground, the spinach and celery survived the winter and I got my first lot of potatoes in the ground last week. Today I bough Raspberry canes from the market. I love raspberries and have been meaning to grow some for years so I was so pleased have purchased these. Also looking forward to laying out my seed packets and sorting out planting plan.

Lamé leggings – I bought a pair of these from American Apparel in December because my Grandma gave me some £ and wanted me to treat myself. I’ve worn them previously in a non-noticeable way as pretty much as replacement tights. Last weekend I wore them with my grey woolly pillow case top and black buckle boots and felt totally rock and roll. I’ve been doing enough exercise to justify showing off my legs after all.

Purple sprouting Broccoli – I’ve had this in my lunch box every day this week and think it is so yummy.

Vegan cheese on crackers spread with vegan mayo – Holland and Barrett had a three for two on vegan cheese which means I’ve been eating loads of this high fat stuff. I’ve been justifying it to myself that I need it to off set the broccoli and moonwalk training! The offer is now over so I might start restraining my urges for this delicious combo.

Honourable mentions: Tapas with friends, packed lunches, reading the original book the film/tv show was based on, keeping a good average time per mile while walking, cooking leftovers, a possible date for the UK Lady bloggers meet up, rearranging furniture.

Right I'm off to read other TILTs across the web

What's in my lunchbox this week?

Here we have my lunch (clockwise from top right):

Tiny tub of sesame peanut butter sauce (mix peanut butter, soy sauce, seasame oil) and two dark chocolate hearts

Pear

Steamed Purple Sprouting Broccoli

Quinoa with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Beneath the lunchbox are:

A tub of peanut butter and jelly bars - just like the mixed berry one I made the other week only with peanut butter and grape jelly in the middle. These came out a bit firmer than the previous ones; it must be all the sugar binding them together. They remind me of Pop Tarts!

Caraway scones - these came out very light and make a nice mid afternoon snack.

For my next trick I will change a pair of trousers into a dress

Stomp, stomp, think, think
One of the advantages of the training I am currently doing in preparation for the Moonwalk marathon in May is plenty of time to think. Saturday morning’s ten miles was spent thinking mainly about my new sewing projects. Hence on my return I was all ready to get started.

I had three pairs of grey trousers that had worn away in various places. My usual thoughts would be to turn these into long skirts but I was in the mood for something different. Two of the pairs were a light summer fabric and I’ve gotten a little tired of my usual summer uniform of long linen skirt, t shirt and cardigan or light jacket. Instead I plan to turn all three pairs into dresses.

The first pair are a heavy flannel fabric that I made myself. The great thing about these is that they had no real waist band; the top had just been turned over and hemmed. I ripped the inner leg seams, took out the side zip and ripped a similar gap in the other side seam. Then on my mannequin I pinned the sides of waist band together on each shoulder and pinned the inner leg seams back together. A quick stitch across the shoulders and down the back and front and I was pretty much done. The only other thing was to create a v shaped neck by ripping out part of the seam running down the front and folding it back on either side. I ran up a simple tie belt with some spare fabric to give the thing some shape. Next time I really must take some photographs to illustrate my efforts.

I’m now working on a pair of dark grey linen/cotton trousers with an unusual weave. I paid a pittance for these on New Look some years back not realising a0 the waist is strangely high and b) the fabric is very delicate. They have a really wide waist band. I removed this and am thinking of simply hemming the bottom of it and using it as a belt. The remaining fabric will probably get a similar treatment to the first pair of trousers.

This might have to go on hold for while though as I need to make a costume for a Mods and Rockers party in a few weeks. I’m a bit uncertain about what to wear. I think that as I tend towards a casual (OK scruffy) look that rocker would be better, but my Internet research seems to suggest that female rockers simply didn’t exist! I do have an old black cotton mini dress (I’m assuming it was intended as a dress although I tend to wear it as a top) that I could extend to make it slightly decent, but I’m not sure about shoes…

Any suggestions are very, very welcome.

What I wore 27th– 5th March 2009

I’ve been delivering lots of training this week and yesterday there was a big launch event at work so dressing in a relatively smart way has been a must. Jeans really were not an option. It looks like next week might be heading in similar direction.

Actually this has been an exceptional week smart wise, for the first time ever I actually took two minutes to iron a top before going to work. The fabric is stretch but it’s a heavy stretch cotton and it just creases so beautifully.

Friday
Grey v necked tshirt, bottle green velvet jacket, black tights, short black skirt, black boots.

Saturday
Exercise clothes
Mens jeans, refashioned ‘crowning your beautiful life’ t shirt, grey shrug, brown boots, black velvet jacket, green and gold scarf.

Sunday
Allotment clothes
Old jeans, black vest, sage green chunky cardigan.

Monday
Black lame leggings, turquoise vest, grey knitted dress, black buckle boots, green and gold scarf.

Tuesday
Exercise clothes
Grey skirt, grey pillowcase top, green velvet jacket, brown boots, green and black necklace.

Wednesday
Black and white floral skirt, black t shirt, emerald green cardigan, brown buckle boots, black and green necklace.

Thursday
Fitted suit jacket with floral weave in fabric, green galaxy top, long black fitted skirt, black tights, black lace up boots, green and black necklace.
Old jeans, white vest, sage green chunky cardigan.

Things I Love Friday

Yesterday was totally crazy so here are thing I love Friday and you know what doing something on a different day is fun. I love routine but change is fun too!

*The Heroin Diaries soundtrack – I loved the book and finally got round to buying this amazing CD last week. It all sounds so good, but my favourite track has got to be Life is beautiful – an early runner for song of the year.

*The end of an busy week – being busy is better than not and it’s great to be able to look back and think of all you’ve done.

*Booking V tickets – It only took half an hour and I’d set up the thing with the right card and so we’re going - yipee.


Also: the sound of fingers on guitar strings, the prospect of a day at the Vitality show, this fascinating piece of research, three for two vegan cheese, home made scones, a nip in the air, blue skies, the colour green.

What's in my lunchbox this week?

This week I have:

(clockwise from top right)

Carrot sticks

Cheezy chickpeas (cooked chickpeas baked up with oil, nutritional yeast, chillies and salt), green tea pumpkin seeds and melon seeds

Apple

Scattered sushi (sushi rice cooked and mixed with vinegar and salt topped with spicy kale from a sachet I found lurking in the pantry)

I so love looking in the pantry and thinking 'I will use that up this week' rather than 'I'd better save that - it's too good for me to eat'. I've gotten rid of that attitude with clothes so why do I do it with food sometimes???

What's for breakfast?

Ok, it's a terrible photograph, but just try and over look that. On one side are sun dried tomato scones and looking slightly paler and just in front are plain scones. These are going to be breakfast and mid afternoon snack this week. The recipe is from Rose Elliot's Vegan Feast and they are so quick to make I'm wondering why I haven't done it before.

The plain ones are fine but I think the recipe is better with some 'bit' in the mix. There's so little in it (flour, water, baking powder and tiny amount of margarine) that it needs a bit of substance.

They've done the job today providing me with breakfast and stopping me from going on a junk food hunt mid afternoon!