The Autumn Tag

I saw the Autumn Tag over on Carissa's blog Vanilla Crush and as we are entering my favourite time of year I thought I'd share some of the reason's why. 

1. What's your favourite seasonal drink from Starbucks / Costa / Cafe Nero etc
Gingerbread Latte's all the way and I'm not fussy where it comes from although I do always but the Starbucks Gingerbread Syrup and keep at home and work to use.

2. Accessories - what do you opt for, scarf, boots, gloves?
I'd say all of the above and have just picked up a lovely new pair of knee highed boots from Marks & Spencer for this Autumn. I do enjoy a pair of leather gloves although as an iPhone user they can make things a little difficult!

3. Music - what's your favourite music to listen to during Autumn?
Is it too early to start with the Christmas songs playlist?

4. Perfume - what's your favourite scent for this time of year?
Usually I don't tend to change my fragrances but for my birthday back in April Ben brought me Chanel Noir which was a little too heavy for the Summer so I'm looking forward to wearing that as the evenings draw in.

5. Candles - what scents will you be burning this season?
Having just visited the States I of course picked up my favourite Mahoganny Teakwood from Bath and Bodyworks and will definitely be enjoying that on cosy nights in.

6. What do you love most about Autumn?
So so much. From Halloween to Bonfire Night and then my nephews birthday which heralds the beginning of Christmas fun (we always take him to see Santa) there is so much to enjoy as well as crisp mornings. My favourite days are when there is a chill in the air but the sun is shining.

7. Favourite make up look?
It's only recently due to blogging I've acknowledged the changing of colours with the seasons. I have some lovely lipstick shades I picked up from the US drugstore last month which are perfect for Autumn and my shorter nails always look better when wearing Chanel Rouge Noir and similar berry tones.

8. What are you looking forward to most in Autumn?
I guess all that I mentioned in question six!

Feel free to put this tag up on your blog and don't forget to link me up if you do.

BEDM: Favourite Tradition

When I think of tradition it usually surrounds family and Christmas. Whilst I wouldn't usually dare mention the C word this early in the year it is where the BEDM topic for today has taken me.

From PJ's gifted on Christmas Eve, the local Christmas market, carols on the green and my favourite the day my family come over and help me decorate my Christmas tree. It's such a fun task trying to direct my niece and nephew to spread out the decorations, enjoying some baked treats or party food, Christmas music and movies in the background it's perfect.

Read more about my Christmas traditions here

BEDM: Best Friends

2 years ago I wrote a post about my best friends and I'm pleased to report that there are no changes in the friendship camp so rather than repeat myself I'm simply going to say click here and you'll be able to read all about them

BEDM: Pineapple and Flamingo Collections

Am I collector? I would guess I am but thankfully not like my younger days when I collected pigs and would add anything with a snout to my collection which took over my room with each new addition. I collect various bits and bobs, you'll have seen the collection of toys and childhood books in yesterday's post I have, you know I like my designer handbags; do we call that a collection? And then there are pineapples and flamingos. I'm not quite sure where my love or collection came from, maybe the pineapples from my love of my vintage ice bucket, but the flamingos; that one I have no idea!

Luckily enough both these characters are appearing more frequently in the shops making adding to my collection very easy and none more so than when I went to IKEA recently and saw the images they were using on this years Summer ranges.

Age and wisdom allows me to realise I only need to purchase items I actually like and will use and both flamingo and pineapple glasses were a must but I sensibly only purchased two of each. There were cocktail napkins which I stocked up on in abundance as I go through these quickly needing a coaster for my iced filled drinks. I'm also prone to lazy days when I want to avoid washing up so I popped some of the paper plates into my trolley.

My favourite purchase was the flamingo throw (I didn't like the female on the pineapple version) which I have no real purpose for but thought would be ideal for laying out in the garden should we ever get to see some sunshine this year.

I could go on and on and tell you about the two flamingo bikini's I have purchased and stayed tuned for later this week some more pineapple items have been added to my Summer wardrobe. I'm currently drinking out of my flamingo mugs from Lou Rota and I'm about to order some flamingo prints for my bedroom which I am very excited about.

Do let me know if you're a fellow flamingo or pineapple fan and I can't wait to check out your collections.

BEDM: Travel Dreams

I have been yearning to visit Hawaii for years and fingers crossed the dream will be coming true next year in celebration of my mum's 60th birthday. My friend claims it's only because of this film but the thought of stepping off the plane, having a lei placed around my neck, sitting on the beach watching surfers do their thing and a trip to Pearl Harbour sounds like paradise to me - not to mention the cocktails!

Have any of you been lucky enough to visit Hawaii? I'd love to hear your experiences.

BEDM: Favourite Social Media

image source 

Social media is a funny one for me, on one hand I love it and as a blogger it's an invaluable tool, blogging itself is a form of social media which of course I love but the likes of Facebook and Twitter are somewhat hard for me to dive into. I'm not very good in 'real life' at small talk and social media feels like that to a degree. I seem to always veer towards thinking who cares whether I'm at Tesco doing my food shop or whats to see what I had for dinner and is my life interesting enough for an instagram upload but on the other hand happily sit and blog about a recent shopping trip or my latest outfit choice.

All that said I have accounts on the various platforms and tend to have phases of love for each. Pinterest is ongoing, I mean what's not to love about looking at so many gorgeous images whether it's interiors, food or handbags and it's the perfect way to while away an evening. Instagram was a phase which petered off due to my faulty iPhone camera (subject to change now I have my new iPhone 5!) and of course the new A Beautiful Mess app.

Facebook I've never really been a fan of due to the variety of people I'm friends with, old school friends, work colleagues and family members and what status might be appropriate for one is not for the other and Twitter seems to find that balance as it's not as widely used in my real life circle. I'm new to Twitter in so much as previously it was something I dipped into now and then, followed a few celebrities and rarely tweeted. Now I'm realising the possibilities of it's use as a blogger, making new friends and the simple pleasure of having a tweet retweeted or favourited. I'm still apprehensive about whether I'm tweeting to myself and should I continue but I feel like it's here to stay - it's quick, simple and more importantly I don't think I would know half of what is going on in the world were it not for my Twitter timeline.

And this post wouldn't be complete without links below to my pages on the net!

Twitter

Pinterest

Facebook

Instagram

BEDM: First Job

Many people are either shocked when I tell them I was once a chambermaid or if it's a male, well you can imagine! The reason for this shock is I'm not the worlds biggest fan of cleaning, I hadn't used a washing machine until I moved out of home and even now I employee the services of a cleaner.

Believe it or not I actually didn't mind at the age of 15 cleaning rooms of hotel guests at The Roebuck Hotel (which is now flats and makes me feel very old!) maybe this was because I was employed with a friend and we were able to work together... we actually had a lot of fun. Ok maybe not quite what we were employed for but we got the job done. We would arrive on a Saturday morning and be assigned our list of rooms to clean, pick one and set up camp, indulging in tea and free biscuits watching Live & Kicking. Then before our shift was due to finish we'd whizz around the rooms bringing them to the standard required.

Even more surprising - or maybe disappointing - we never came across any scary sights nor have any horror stories, certainly none that I can remember today. I actually continued working at the hotel long after my friend took another path, taking on extra shifts during holidays and on the free days from college and enjoyed the freedom my earnings gave me. Sadly I left The Roebuck to become a Donut Queen which you can read more about here if you wish.

BEDM: Pets

This is a difficult post for me as I’m not a big animal lover and haven’t really had many pets. Yes there was the obligatory goldfish of my youth originally called “Goldie”. We had two cats as children, Napoleon and Josephine although I only remember Josephine and a pleasant cat she was not.

My brother during his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle phases had terrapins, Munchalina(!), Pebbles and Bam Bam which stunk to high heaven and there was a snake called Suzy which resulted in mum having to call in a neighbour when she escaped from her tank one evening.

For as long as I can remember I have wanted a Chihuahua and during a sulk that my parents wouldn’t buy me one I brought 3 goldfish. Unfortunately this wasn’t quite the same and instead I had one serial killer fish who ate the other two believe it or not.

So I think it’s safe to say I leave any animal activities to visiting the local zoo and feeding elephants!

BEDM: Fit and Healthy

I must confess being fit and healthy are two things I am not particularly good. I am a smoker; I enjoy a drink (or three!), eat too many takeaways and have rarely exercised but this year I started making changes to try and better my lifestyle. The changes started when my friend Ben took up a 5 stone weight loss challenge for charity (you can read more about it here) and I decided that I was not going to be the “fat friend”.


Usually I would dive straight into whatever idea I had to reach my weight loss goal without making sensible changes which I would be able to follow long term so this time I decided to take things slowly. First step was to think about getting active. Aside from my short walk to and from the station and maybe a spin round Westfield I would drive everywhere but I also knew that joining gyms or attempting long runs were not sustainable for me. Ok it may be an excuse but it was an excuse I would make and I need to find a way of exercising without really realising it and build up from there.

I started walking the “long way” to/from the station from home. Whilst I’m only talking the difference between 4 and 7 mins it was something more that I was doing than before. Next I decided to start walking into my local high street. Every Saturday unless I have plans which took me further a field I would pop into town for a trip to my local library and pick up the weeks batch of books and dvds I’d ordered. Unfortunately the first time I decided to do this I was visiting my brother for the day but when I returned home an hour before the library was due to close I decided it was now or never. A journey I was prepared to take up to an hour I’m embarrassed to say took 10 mins! The positive of this was that I would only need a maximum 30 mins on Saturdays do to my library trip – again something I would be doing once a week on regular basis.

When the cold snap reached us there was more reason to avoid using the car in the snow and get my walking boots on. I began enjoying my Saturday trips into town, visiting the library and supermarket which due to carrying my wares I found I was less likely to buy unnecessary treats and stick to what I needed, thus assisting with cutting down on my food intake. I’m now at a place where walking is part of my routine and I will choose the option of walking rather than jumping in the car where possible.

Following a similar theme instead of jumping straight into a “diet” I started making sensible choices with my meals. As I mentioned in my typical day post I have a lunch allowance at work and a very inviting restaurant to use it in which has helped me pile on the pounds in recent years. Instead rather than choosing the full meal option I started omitting the carbs and sticking to protein and vegetables. I actually found this made me less sluggish throughout the afternoon and I could then enjoy a nice meal in the evenings. Whilst I’ve mentioned omitting carbs at certain meals I am not an advocate of Aitkin’s or cutting out carbs completely, I just now chose when to eat them and with what. For example if there was burger and chips available I would have the burger with salad rather than AND chips. Likewise my takeaway of choice is a chicken kebab, usually with a portion of chips now I will share chips with my friend rather than having to have a portion to myself. If I’m going to have chips it’s from the local chippie and far more indulgent!

These few little changes saw a couple of pounds drop off until I found I plateued and had to take the next step which was for me joining Weight Watchers. I followed the original WW plan over 10 years ago and successfully lost a lot of weight and whilst I’ve always had it in the back of my mind (I still cannot drink full fat Coke knowing it’s the equivalent of 3 points compared to zero point diet) therefore never going to far overweight it was time to get back to following it properly.

I plan to do some specific posts on WW very soon so all I will say for now is if like me you want to lose weight yet still enjoy your treats it’s definitely the way to go and so simple – especially with the iphone app. So far I’ve lost half stone and during that time I’ve still ate out, a few boozy nights with friends as well as my chocolate treat with a cuppa at the end of day – the difference is it makes me think about what to eat. Yes I can go Byron Burger for dinner but do I really need/want the chips as well or would I rather save those points for something else later that week.

Being on WW means I plan ahead, my freezer is stocked with microwave meals, not something I’m a big fan of but it removes the excuse for reaching for a takeaway menu if late home. If I want to indulge in a burger from Patty & Bun or Byron I can but need to make sure I’ve stocked up on my fabulous low cal Mexican chicken soup for the rest of the week.

With Easter, my birthday and Bank Holidays I’ve found that my weight hasn’t budged for the past 4 weeks so it’s time to get serious again and I think I need to take my exercising to the next stage. I’ve discovered a woman’s only swimming session locally on a Sunday evening which I intend to start attending. Hopefully if I get into the habit of going once a week I can build this up to a few extra sessions. Wish me luck!

You can also see more weight loss style posts here

BDEM: My Typical Day – Part 2

I didn’t really think through my plan to take a photo every hour for my post on a typical day in the office firstly because there’s not really anything worthy of taking photos and I struggle to get friends and family to understand why I’m taking a photo of my lunch to blog let alone explaining to my colleagues why I’m reaching for an iphone during a meeting. So instead please get yourself comfortable and I will talk you through my typical day…

My (first!) alarm of the day goes off at 7am and I instantly hit snooze. I rouse myself from bed and get myself ready in a semi conscious state. Boy do I miss the days of living at home when one of my parents would bring me a cup of tea in the morning.

I’m lucky to live minutes from the local station where I jump on the underground and even luckier to be first stop so I get a seat and start by a combo of checking Bloglovin, emails and putting my make up on – yes I’m one of those people. My journey on a good day is 40 mins but inevitably there always seems to be some delay on the Central line but this is the perfect opportunity to do some reading, this week it’s Jenny Colgan’s The loveliest chocolate shop in Paris.

I work in the city as a project manager for an insurance company – glam stuff eh! All jokes aside it’s a job I was promoted to last year and I’ve been with the company over 6 years and I’m very happy and have a great working environment and made some fabulous friends.

Arriving at my desk I check my emails and tackle anything that’s a quick response. My OCD tendencies mean I do not let me inbox go over approx 20 emails as that’s the amount I can see on my screen without scrolling. I check the diaries of myself and colleagues to see what meetings are taking place and think about my day ahead.
My monthly report was due to my manager Friday afternoon so I spent my morning finalising the details of that in between other ad hoc tasks. My role is less insurance based and more organisational, working with all the individual teams in our department, assisting with events, training etc so it’s a nice varied role that keeps me busy and working with lot’s of different people which helps me from any monotony.
I usually take lunch at about 1230pm and we’re lucky to have an in house restaurant with a £3.30 allowance. The food on offer is a choice of hot meals and daily soups, jacket potatoes, salad bar and various other goodies – let me tell you it’s hard to avoid the gorgeous looking cakes and sweets on offer. Sometimes I’ll sit with friends, sometimes we’re indulgent and visit a local bar but lately I’ve been enjoying some time out at my desk, reading through blogs, twitter and doing personal “stuff”.
As it was a Bank Holiday weekend on Friday we were allowed to finish at 4pm so everyone was in a jubilant mood that afternoon. I spent the remaining hours finishing off my report and confirming invites for two events we have planned this summer and tying up loose ends so I could escape the office as soon as I was able.
My evenings vary from visiting friends, drinks after work or some shopping, often at Westfield. Exhausted and ready for the long weekend I instead popped to Waitrose on my way home, treated myself to a reduced Key Lime Pie and headed home. I put on a DVD (Jack Reacher, don’t bother!) and found myself falling asleep at 830pm so I decided to climb in to bed (unheard of at that hour) and get ready for the big Bicester Village shopping trip planned for the next day (post to follow very soon)
So there you have it, not very exciting but somewhat typical of how I spend my day.

BEDM: My Typical Day - Part 1

Dress: Tesco few seasons ago; find similar here or here

Today I am being asked to talk about my typical day, or maybe share some photos on the hour or simply sum up my day... 

I've decided to keep you up to date on my day at least every hour on the hour via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Then later today I will post back here a round up of all my snaps throughout the day.

I can't promise it'll be interesting but I do hope you'll join me, who doesn't love company!

Read part 2 here

BEDM: Introduce yourself in 5 lines

and include a photograph that you are proud of....

Before I launch into my 5 lines about myself (which I'm dreading... I'm AWFUL at describing myself!) I shall talk about the photo I'm proud of. This is my family and I at my cousins wedding last year. Those who are new to my blog, I am the butterfly covered lady in the middle. My brother and his wife are on my right and my parents on the left.

I don't think we have a photo of my dad smiling or one of us together as a family other than this one if I'm honest, my dad usually refusing photos or my brother absent from family get togethers due to first serving in the army and now a shift working Fireman. I must also give credit to the photographer, my friend Ben (who is furious he has not been credited in some of my outfit posts photography!!) as this was a once only attempt at a photo before my mum dived into the champagne and my dads smile faded.

And now please let me introduce myself.....

I am Victoria your blogger at Florence & Mary, so named after my grandmothers (you can read more here)
34 years young, a single fun loving gal (hmmm am I going into online dating territory now?!) who loves nothing more than either pottering at home or enjoying jaunts with friends, whether they're to a local fair or the Polo (you can read more about my days out here)
An ever optimist always looking on the bright side of life, easy going as often as not and annoyingly enthusiastic.
I have an obsession with pineapples and flamingos, wear Vivienne Westwood Boudoir perfume and cannot resist a designer handbag
And when I grow old I want to wear large hats every day, use a silver tipped cane and smoke through a cigarette holder...

This was my first post for the Blog Every Day in May challenge set by Elizabeth at Rosalilium, find out more here

Follow me on Twitter

Please do follow me on Twitter here. I'm slow to catch on to the tweeting world but I'm actually enjoying it's quick interaction, found so many new bloggers and a love of the hashtag!

An Easter Egg from Prada

Easter Monday I took myself on a trip to Selfridges and treated myself to a new bag from Prada. I have lusted after this bag for some time as it's likely to be the closest I'll ever get to the coveted style of Birkin from Hermes. Finally the time (and money!) presented itself to allow me to add this bag to my collection.

The bag had the seal of approval from my niece at the weekend.

I've had a few requests to see my bag collection before so I plan to do a series and will give you a more in depth review of each of the styles of bag I have which I hope you'll look forward to seeing and pop back to read.

You're having a Giraffe

When my brother suggested lunch at Giraffe for my birthday I jumped at the chance especially with these two for company (and he was paying!)

They do the best sweet potato fries which I had with a chicken quesadilla

After lunch it was straight to see mum for macaroons

and presents!!

The evening was spent in the company of friends on the sofa with a chicken kebab - pure class! 

Thank you for all your lovely messages yesterday, I couldn't have had a more wonderful day

It's my birthday....

and I'll poke my tongue out if I want to!

Birthday Gifts - Part 1

I was lucky enough to receive two of my birthday presents this weekend ahead of my birthday tomorrow. The first a much lusted after Michael Kors watch from my parents. As my dad is a watch fan and working tomorrow I was given it today to enjoy and wear. I love the rose gold shade and the size is the right mix of classic but casual so will be very wearable.

The second was Apple TV from my aunts and uncles who I spent the afternoon with yesterday enjoying The Grand National and Ben's homemade chilli. I seem to have become full immersed in the Apple culture lately so I'm planning on writing some posts for you on the various products in my collection and how I'm finding them so stayed tuned for those. 

Grand National 2013

If only I'd bet on Cappa Bleu each way... clearly gambling is not for me!

Did you have any success bets on this years Grand National?

Keeping Me Busy

I think I might have mentioned some de-cluttering I've been doing lately and renewed love of eBay?

Here is my current pile for listing!

(excluding my green Mulberry bag of course!!)Just one or two things!!

I go through phases of loving and hating eBay, I love the money side but hate the packaging of items etc!

It's a running joke at work now when they see my coming in with bags of parcels to drop to the post office

I managed a productive Sunday listing some of this pile and am already seeing the ££'s increasing which is always good and can start to see some end to the storage facility my spare room seems to be!



Joining Management

Another weekend has passed and with a family of Chelsea and West Ham supporters you can imagine there was smiling faces Saturday evening!

It might not be the champions league but I'm pleased to share with you that I have recently been promoted at workOver my working years I've gone through phases of following a career path or happily sitting back and enjoying the pleasures of an laid back secretarial role. I have been with my current company 6 years - the longest ever in one place - and my role as a team secretary has naturally evolved with more responsibilities as my knowledge improved and a role has been created for me to take that further

It's a great opportunity and I'm proud that my superiors have entrusted the role to me. The new team secretary has started with us today so I'm able to start passing some of the old tasks that were competing for my time and really get my teeth into the new challenge!