A Supporting Role

I've decided to join Weight Loss Wednesdays hosted by Jennifer at Rosey Little Things and rather than only charting my progress I will provide some tips and tricks that I find help me on my journey and hopefully help you too


My first bit of advice:

Have your bra size measured correctly

image: Ad Classix

It is quoted that approx 80% of women are wearing the wrong bra size so I will assume that not all of my blog friends are in the 20% that are

Aside from the obvious reasons for wearing the right size bra more importantly it will make you appear slimmer and if you look slimmer, you will feel slimmer - far easier to avoid reaching for the biscuit tin if you're feeling good about yourself

It is recommended you are measured once a year and yesterday I took myself to John Lewis and came home with a couple of these. They may be simple but I feel so much better in my clothes today

What are you waiting for? Go de-clutter that underwear draw of yours and reach for the tape measure

Dear Santa

Please, Please, Please....

can I find this under the tree on Christmas morning!

Isn't it perfect for snuggling on cold winter nights

Patriotic Christmas

Yes it's the C word again but look what I've found

Isn't it wonderful, I know this will be finding it's way on my Christmas tree this year!

Get yours here

Wordless Wednesday: Spotted in Covent Garden

Sew Proud

Finally my sewing machine has been taken out of its box!!

It was a gift from my Nan for my birthday back in April, which sadly she was unable to see me open. For the past 5 months it has sat in its box waiting for the time to spend playing with it properly

A couple of weeks ago I found myself with a few hours spare and decided to take the plunge! I grabbed my CK threads tin and set up my sewing table in the dining room

I actually made a cushion

It was only a practice run with one of my mum’s old shirts to see how the process works but it went better than expected and I don’t feel any fear now to try other things

With that in mind today I’ve booked a day off from work as I have a project in mind which I’ll be practicing (with old sheets) before tackling with the good fabric. Unfortunately I cannot divulge what the project is as I’m hoping it will be good enough to surprise this little lady with

Bittersweet Treasures

Another weekend has flown by and it's back to work tomorrow!

Kelly & I had great fun on Saturday with a quick bit of shopping at Tiger followed by some lovely BBQ food at the 1st birthday party

We rounded off our day with a trip to the cinema to see Dorian Gray

The film wasn't the best but I have a little soft spot for Ben Barnes so I was happy!

Today my family and I travelled to South London to clear out my aunts house and sprinkle her ashes

I was able to bring home some treasures which I will be able to remember her & my uncle by

I was overjoyed when I saw the NY tray and of course the red and white canisters are quite perfect right now!

My uncle who passed some years ago loved to paint and their home was decorated with much of his work. We each chose a picture to take home and this was my choice. I am told me it was actually his first painting which made me treasure it even more

It's such a shame that I've become interested in knitting & sewing and I no longer have my older relatives to impart their wisdom and learn their tricks and tips! I hope that some of their skill has passed onto me

I brought home my aunts knitting bag (and so many balls of wool!)

And look at these notions, I was overjoyed with these!

Patterns (and I've brought home loads of fabric and material - I never even realised so many of her clothes were hand made!)

There is so much more we were able to bring home which I will try and share with you and am so pleased that I love vintage style and will keep many things in the family (even if my dad is moaning "where are we putting it all"!!)

I hope you all had great weekends

Helpful Comments!

One of the fabulous things about blogging for me is that my ramblings are being enjoyed and read by someone and people are taking time out of their day to leave such lovely comments

I can remember how happy I was seeing the 9 comments I received for my first post over at Vintage Tea

I spend my lunch hour at work blogging the only downside being I’m tied to rusty internet explorer and have been experiencing problems leaving comments for some of you whose comment boxes follow on from posts

Rose’s blog was one of these so I had a little chat and asked if she could change her comment box to a full page or pop up window so I wouldn’t have to wait until I got home

Whilst looking for how to do this I noticed I too was an offender so have changed my options as I want to make leaving comments as easy as possible for you (and I guess if I’m having problems some of you might be too?)

Here’s the info if you’re interested in changing your comments section:

Settings; Comments; Comment Form Placement then choose the Full Page or Pop Up Window options

(I’m guessing “Embedded below post” is a default option as it seems to be how mine has always been laid out!)

Enjoy your weekend everyone, I’m off to a 1^st birthday party and the cinema today!

Happy Birthday Bro!

Yesterday was my little brothers birthday so last night I popped round with his presents


He's a very good artist so I decided to buy him some pens, pencils and a new sketch book which he promptly picked up and started using


I also included a copy of Wreck This Journal thinking it would be fun to do whilst on his holiday he leaves for later this week


I've told him to take photos of his work!

New Toy!

Look what I treated myself to at the weekend!!!

Kelly & I were out shopping and I popped into Curry's to look at cameras as I've been thinking of investing in something better than the one I have and was prepared to spend up to £500

The fantastic salesman told me I didn't need to spend that much for what I wanted to do and recommended this one for £200

I was so impressed with the photos he took of Kelly & I in the shop (yes... he took photos of us in the shop!!!) that I snapped it up straight away

I would love to show you some of the test shots I took Saturday evening round Kelly's but I don't think she'll thank me as we were slobbing out in our pj's so not looking our best (the downside of the camera being so good!!) but I can assure you it's fantastic!

Did you treat yourself to anything this weekend?

Calling all Goddesses

Kelly is having a fab giveaway at the moment - the book The Goddess Experience


Have you read it?

Or maybe the first book by Gisele Scanlon The Goddess Guide?


They are fantastic books laid out like journals with so many hints and tips for being goddess like and I would highly recommend them to anyone!

Check out this article in the Daily Mail and a video on You Tube and if you're inspired leave a comment for Kelly here to in with a chance to win a copy

The Seamstress

My Little Knitter has a friend.... please say hello to The Seamstress

I cannot remember how I found The Poppy Tree but I'm glad I did

Now if I can just get that craft room to display these lovely prints in life would be perfect!

Gone with the Wind

Nikki at The Scarlett Rose Garden is having a ball today to celebrate GWTW’s 70th Birthday so I thought in the spirit of my Wizard of Oz post I would share some facts on GWTW!

The movie's line "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." was voted as the #1 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100)

First colour film to win the Best Picture Oscar

The estimated production costs were $3.9 million

For the premiere in Atlanta in December 15, 1939, the governor declared a state holiday. Ticket prices for the premiere were 40 times the usual going rate

The first scene to be shot was the burning of the Atlanta Depot, filmed on 10 December 1938. If there was a major mistake during the filming, the entire film might have been scrapped. They actually burned many old sets that needed to be cleared from the studio backlot, including the set from King Kong (1933). The fire cost over $25,000, and yielded 113 minutes of footage. It was so intense that Culver City residents jammed the telephones lines, thinking MGM was burning down

In the scene where Rhett pours Mammy a drink after the birth of Bonnie, for a joke during a take, Clark Gable actually poured alcohol instead of the usual tea into the decanter without Hattie McDaniel knowing it until she took a swig

Vivien Leigh worked for 125 days and received about $25,000. Clark Gable worked for 71 days and received over $120,000.

Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to be nominated for, and win, an Academy Award.

To add to the publicity, fans were asked to vote for the actress they think should play Scarlett. Out of hundreds of ballots cast, Vivien Leigh got only one vote

Olivia de Havilland always meticulously researched her roles. As she had not yet had a baby in real life, she visited a maternity hospital to study how various women coped with the stresses of childbirth for the scene where Melanie has her baby. Off-camera, the scene's director, George Cukor, would occasionally pinch her toes to make her feel pain

Clark Gable disliked this, his most famous film, which he regarded as "a woman's picture."

Treasures from Blogland

I may have not had any luck with treasures at the car boot sales yesterday but I have had some lovely ones from my blogging friends

Kelly returned from Italy recently where she’d met up with Michela (which you can read about here and here). Michela very kindly sent Kelly home with a gift for me…. this gorgeous tin!Isn’t it wonderful! Michela certainly knows me well, it is exactly the sort of thing I would pick out myself

And that’s not all. When Beki heard how my sleepover swap had fell through she offered to do a swap with me. We chose a 1950s housewife theme which was so much fun to shop for

I so excited when I opened the box and saw red… florals and oh… feathers!!

Let’s rip all that wrapping off - sorry Beki I know you must of spent some time wrapping all the lovely things but some girls just can’t wait!

There were so many lovely things inside – watch out Vintage Kitten there’s a new cocktail maker in town!

And a CK letter writing kit… anyone want a penpal?!

And look… a CK mug, if you only knew how I’ve been coveting these and my tea just tastes so much better now!

My mum is very surprised to hear I’m offering to wash up with my new tea towel

Of course every housewife needs some pamper time

I loved EVERYTHING and it was so perfect, it’s lovely when blog friends get you so right!

I’ve been really slack this week and haven’t posted Beki’s goodies until today but I’m sure she’ll have a giggle at what I’ve sent as we keep saying how much we think alike!