My Weekend with Michelle of MyFashionable40s and a Thrifty Sunday!!

Hi everyone!! I hope you've all been having a great week, the time seems to be flying by and I'm so behind with catching up with my favourite blogs! I hope to remedy this over the next couple of days as I'm not working so should have time to make overdue visits to you all!!

This weekend was an absolute scorcher weatherwise and for me a really fabulous one too as I finally got to meet a wonderful blogger friend- Michelle from MyFashionable40s. We've been in contact with each other for a while and our day on Saturday has been a few months in the waiting and we met at Paddington station and immediately went into the nearest bar for a glass of prosecco and an eagerly awaited chat!! Fast forward nearly two hours later we decided to jump on the tube to Kensington for shopping and firstly lunch at Cafe Rouge. We started off sharing some pain a l'ail, which is rustic bread served with garlic butter and we were very good for our mains as we both had Paysanne salades, which was a chicken salad with bacon, egg, avocado, tomatoes, french beans and parmesan, soo delicious!! I had martini and lemonade and Michelle had prosecco to accompany our meal and after we were delightfully replenished we decided we had to check out the shops along Kensington High Street. Sadly, we both pretty underwhelmed by H&M, Uniqlo, Zara and Topshop- not for the want of looking, we just didn't really see anything that got us swooning. Just as we were about to leave Topshop, I did spy these slides and for £22, I did indulge as they will be very handy for Summer:

We then decamped to the nearest pub for some much needed liquid refreshment and sadly had to make a move so Michelle wouldn't miss her 8:30 train back home. As I had known I was seeing Michelle for a couple of months it gave me a chance to put together a goody bag of thrifted bits and pieces for her that I'd seen over the last few months. I was over the moon when she sent me these pictures of her looking fabulous in this Celia Birtwell for Uniqlo dress I'd found for her:

Plus these gold Gizeh Birkies which she manged to wear whilst out and about this week!

It was testament to what an awesome day we had as we were both as bad as each other in that we never got any obligatory blogger shots of us together, our outfits or our meal, hehe!! It was too much chatting, laughing and enjoying the day which was top priority and Michelle is such a wonderful kind lady who is now a very lovely and good friend indeed and we've already made plans for future visits this year- I so cannot wait to see her again!!

So after having a fabulous Saturday I was up and out early on a gloriously hot Sunday to the local booty, where I did quite well on the thrifting front. I'm into black for Summer and I found this perfect little black wraparound Broderie Anglaise sleeveless shirt by Ralph Lauren for just £2:

I also found a pair of black linen shorts for £1.50 which I'm so pleased with as I currently had only 2 pairs of shorts in my wardrobe- a pair of 7 For All Mankind denim cut offs and my Liberty print floral shorts:

After the boot sale I went into town for a much needed iced fruit smoothie and sit down in Costa Coffee and walking on route to the park I found these gorgeous Monsoon Fusion floaty bird print chiffon shorts for just £5.99 in the local Barnados charity shop:

I then went onto my local park and spent a couple of hours chilling out under a shady tree, watching the cricket and relaxing- a great way to spend a hot sunny afternoon!!

I had such a wonderful weekend and it was made all the more special for meeting up with such a lovely lady-thanks Michelle for a great day and a firm friendship-look forward to seeing you very soon my lovely!!

I hope you all have a good long weekend to come-it's a Bank Holiday here in the UK so fingers crossed we get a weekend weatherwise like last week! 

Thanks as always to you all for stopping by and catching up with reading my posts, it is very much appreciated and I look forward to visiting you all as soon as I can!! xx

Ralph Lauren Fair Isle and Some Musings on My Blogging Future

Hi everyone!! Please excuse my absence recently, having started my new role as a library assistant I have been learning my trade by being at different libraries within my borough as well as my main local one. I am so enjoying my new job and it's great to work in the serenity and quaintness of the smaller libraries as well as the ever busy main library in which I am doing so many different duties. Being away from work for over a year because of health issues meant I had quite a lot of time on my hands to go thrifting, read and post blogs and of course doing housework at my leisure- now time seems to be running away from me and although it feels work is coming first at the moment, I wouldn't have it any other way. It's great to be in a job that I actually look forward to going to and making a difference too-unfortunately my blog posting has taken a back seat because of this and also because I am enjoying my free time by reading more books and blogs without actually leaving comments.

My blog is six years old in March (!!) and it's been a real journey of building relationships and friendships and a labour of love of showing my thrift finds. I've been extremely fortunate this year to find some awesome items, such as my Chanel jacket and my MaxMara coat and I always get a buzz from finding designer and vintage pieces for next to nothing, but I admit to being disillusioned with the boot sales this year-I've had much more success at the charity shops and without the need to be up at the crack of dawn too!

 As I said before, I am in the process of re-evaluating my work/life balance and I'm not entirely sure how my blog fits in the equation at the moment. It may well be that as Christmas is approaching, like everyone else life and work are priorities but as much as I love thrifting, style and fashion I am not sure if the 'passion' is still there for me to carry on blogging on a very regular basis. I suppose only time will tell, but I think my blog posting will be more infrequent and sporadic for the foreseeable future. I do however really enjoy my blog reading regularly so I will be attempting to comment more regularly via bloglovin.

This may well be my last outfit post of the year, so I thought I'd share a recent look from earlier this week when I wasn't working in my regulation work polo tee and black jeans! I am wearing my thrifted Ralph Lauren Fair Isle tank sweater, Primark chambray shirt, recently thrifted wine colour River Island skinny jeans and black leather studded Dune ankle biker boots:

A close up of my sweater- it is a really cosy top and with a shirt underneath gives just the right amount of warmth on days that are not freezing cold!!

I would also like to say as a given that my blog would not be where or what it is without the constant support, friendship and readers that regularly stop by to either lurk, read or comment- I am so thankful and humbled by the amount of love that is sent my way via the blog and without any of you I would have stopped blogging a long while ago. Even if one person is inspired or enjoys a particular post on my blog that makes me feel so appreciative and thankful and it's honestly been the catalyst for me to have carried on posting.

I do hope to stay in 'blogland' for the forseeable future but things and life do have a habit of changing so it is much a scenario of 'Watch this space!'

I would like to take this opportunity of wishing you all a very Happy, Peaceful and Festive Christmas and a Successful and Healthy 2014, God Bless You All xxxxxxx

UPDATED TO ADD-All my lovely comments have inspired to share my post with the wonderful Claire Justine for Creative Mondays and I really want to say a massive big thank you for all of your kind words, support and comments!!

Thrift Inspiration.....Doing it Fair Isle Style- Ralph Lauren, J Crew, Boden, River Island and Matalan Way!!

Hi everyone!! I hope your week has been going well-I've fallen off the budget pedestal somewhat lately and will share my spoils of what I've been thrifting in future posts. 

I thought I would share a thrift find from last month which I've just been waiting to pair with the right shirt underneath and having just snaffled a light wash River Island denim shirt yesterday on a thrifting trip means I'll be able to wear my find below with it and also a white shirt too. As you can see, I've picked out my favourite styles of Fair Isle knits that are currently on the High Street at the moment. This style of knit is not only traditionally stylish, it surpasses current trends and will always look great in Autumn and Winter:

Ralph Lauren Sweater, now £200

Ralph Lauren sweater, £125

J Crew sweater £138

Boden cardigan, £79

River Island snood, £20

Matalan sweater, £18

As you can see there is a really great selection of Fair Isle items for all tastes and budgets and if sweaters aren't your thing then there are plenty of accessories such as hats, scarves and gloves on the High Street in a range of lovely patterns and colours. 

I was really pleased to find in my local Salvation Army charity shop this fabulous Ralph Lauren hand knitted sweater for a bargainous £3.99- it's as new and is also a longer length so ideal for wearing with jeggings or skinny jeans:

I love how the Ralph Lauren sweater in the first picture has been paired with bright colours and is a really fun and trendy way of wearing this style of pattern. Wearing Fair Isle means you can pick out different colours from your chosen piece to co-ordinate with the rest of your outfit:

I also love the cute little pockets on the front and the assortment of different colours in the knit-it will definitely be a versatile item to wear this season!

I hope you all have a great weekend and I'm also linking this post to the lovely Claire Justine for her Friday blog hop, take care all!!