Yet more about the Royal Wedding!!

Well I'm not the biggest fan of weddings and I thought I would be making rounds of sandwiches & a proper Victoria sponge during the event.... however I watched pretty much all of it! Well as much as you can when your 3 year old niece is demanding attention and apple juice in Babycham champagne glasses - well gotta teach her young eh?!!!

Yes I confess to being very excited that Kate was wearing Alexander McQueen and it was rather Grace Kellyesque with elements of the Queen Mum's veil etc. As much as it would have been amazing to see a more flamboyant Sarah Burton creation, I suppose it just wouldn't have been right to go too far from tradition really. I mean some people have album upon album of wedding photo and possibly cringe at the 80's perm that was soooo fashionable at the time or bad choice of meringue and oversized bow on the bridesmaids dresses. But to think that this dress will be on plates, mugs, biscuit tins - hello?? And all sorts of other tat oh I mean memorabilia for decades.

Anyway all in all it was an enjoyable event to watch (and a good excuse to pop some champagne before lunchtime) & they are clearly very much in love.

And I've never wanted to be a bridesmaid before but seriously (Linda - if you're reading this) I'll be your Maid of Honor if I get to wear (and keep) an Alexander McQueen. I loved Pippa's dress and I would even take on that naff title - seriously Maid of Honor - who thought that one up. Makes you think of Old Maid & what's the honor - ok unless you get a fab dress, you have a potentially fussy bride to deal with, ears bleeding with wedding chit chat for months and endless hen events to organise in your spare time. (I've been reliably informed by a friend who had to deal with (I hate this term) Bridezilla!! That said - Linda I don't mind doing that for you m'darlin' he he bestest buddy of mine!!! You would be nothing but sweetness & light :) - enough creeping??!

Oooh wouldn't mind borrowing Prince Charles Aston Martin DB6 Volante either, not had a spin in one of those - yet!! ha ha

Anyway I hope you all had a lovely Friday whether you watched it or not. x

The Big Wedding and a day off

Well it's finally here and thankfully they are more organised than me. I invited a few people last night & shopped at 9pm in a busy supermarche - not the only disorganized party thrower then.

The sun is out in my little town and I'm going to get the bunting out, vintage china plates cups & saucers.... homemade cakes are on the way. (Last night's sponge was a disaster, clearly I've lost my skills!! But it's now turning into a trifle!!).

Anyway Royal fans or not, it's nice that so many people are getting together with some good old British spirit mmmm G&T for me please!

I was trying to find a photo of myself & my Brother at a street party when Charles & Diana got married. My mummy dressed us as the pair on their wedding day - hilarious. My brother, fittingly called Charles was about 3 and had to stand on a stool to be my height. This had a lable on it with "The Royal Box" on it and gold tassels on the corners!! My dress was a replica made out of curtain material. We won First Prize hurrahhh and had to walk through our village & into the next one. We made the papers too. Oh I wish I could find the photos. Anyway about 20 odd years later my friends & I went to Edinburgh Fringe Festival & bizzary bumped into some people from our old village. They remembered our parents - the parties and Charles (my flame haired brother) and I dressed as Charles & Diana. ha ha My mum was so proud!!!

Anyway I hope you all have a wonderful day, wherever you are, whatever you're doing.

I'm off to tidy the house, buy more eggs & butter, drink more rocket fuel coffee argghhh

then I have to decide what red white & blue I should wear!!!

I hope it's sunny for the lovely couple & all those crazy people lining the streets of London and all the street parties everywhere. None so small, last minute or disorganised as mine!!

xxxx

Art Deco Decadence

Well yet again I have been a bad blogger!It's been so busy recently and the blog has paled in priority - terrible news.

Anyway I have been doing some nice things too. All work and no play would make Claire a very dull girl indeed!!

Last week we had a fabulous Art Deco party at the boyfriends posh pad. He has the grown up place with antiquities and I have the eclectic vintage meets modern pad.

Lovely Linda & Hooray Henry

My Mummy glamming it up

Tina arrives dressed as an unflappable flapper!

Tina show gal & my Papa

Amazingly nearly everyone turned up in fancy dress & got on like a house on fire. It was a hilarious night and I drank far too many cocktails. Maybe that was why so many of my photos were terrible, I of course blamed my camera for the blur he he.

We made up names for the cocktails like Broadway Boogie, Roaring 20's, Champagne Charlie and Prohibition Punch. However I think it was the Cheeky Charleston - homemade lemon sherbet vodka shots that tipped my photography skills (not that I really possessed any before!!). ha ha

Ravishing Ruthie & Dashing Dave!!

Thankfully my bestest friend Linda saved the day & it's her collage of crazy snaps. It makes me chuckle every time I look at it. And yes, Sean the Sheep did attend!! Marcus doesn't like to go for the obvious - however as he pointed out, they did have sheep in the twenties!!

We have two very talented friends who can dance exceedingly well... and they did a demo of the Charleston and then taught all of us some steps. Well they had a good bash at teaching us anyway. The booze didn't appear to make us any more coordinated!

I love dressing up if you hadn't guessed by now. I have an old pirate style chest that was my Gran's - it's my fancy dress box and boy are there some memories in there!!

Yes I did have a hangover the next day too - serves me right!!

Brighton Rocks

This weekend I popped to Brighton for a couple of days. I hadn't been for years but it's such a great place I knew I would get inspired. I was going to see my lovely friend Ally who was having a jewellery party (like I need any more!) Lovett & Co vintage inspired jewellery and very nice it is too. What's so lovely is that there are collections from several different eras and plenty of gorgeous Mad Men styled jewels. oooh and there's loads of sparkle too, great for magpies like me.

I took the boyfriend to Brighton for company, plus it's nicer to share experiences and I get bored of my company after a while!! We stayed at a fab boutique hotel close to the sea Hotel Pelirocco. We had the Olivia room which was boudoir style & right up my street. The staff were super lovely & the cocktails are very good indeed.

The room was decorated with cute frilly knickers on bottom mannequins on the walls, old fashioned irons & a Singer sewing machine as accessories.

Above are the vintage light fittings made by Emerald Faerie which were embellished with antique crystals from chandeliers and old buckles & brooch bits & bobs. I thought they were great.

We went to so many fabulous and unique shops, ate far too much good food and so much booze I think I might have to detox this week. We had yummy fish & chips with a glass of champagne - it seemed a funny combination, so why not!

We had breakfast in bed with bloody Mary's too. It was great fun and nice to have time off from work and de-stress.

Another great place was a tea rooms called Metro Deco. We didn't make it for afternoon tea sadly but we did still manage to soak up the Art Deco atmosphere whilst having some breakfast. Anyway we were blessed with sunshine so it made the trip even better.

It was a lovely lazy time and done on a budget too.

I hope you all had a sunshine filled weekend too with some relaxation. xx

In the Mood

Well last night was the 1940's evening and incredibly it was in walking (ok staggering) distance of my parent's house. This and the fact my friend Max was available 2 hours earlier than planned led to a couple of cheeky Martini Rosatos with pomegranate juice, and a bottle of fizz before we left the house. However that, some upbeat wartime music, heated rollers & enough war paint to sink an enemy battle ship really got us into the mood.

We mucked about so much with hair, fascinators & taking silly snaps that we were only just on time in the end!! The first piccy is my Ma & Pa with the rather photogenic Max.

And here she is again with Foxy Loxy. Now Foxy didn't come out to play as we didn't want to offend or upset anyone. We don't agree with animals being killed for fur but Foxy was he Grandma's and we don't agree with landfill either. It's a quandary really when there are such beautiful furs around but my conscience is much happier with my equally gorgeous faux furs.
Blimey that was a bit heavy for a Sunday with a headache - ok it's a mild hangover. Yes I just watched Midsummer Murders in it's entirety whilst covered with a blanket and propped up by scatter cushions!! Please don't tell anyone!
This is she & me on a break from the dance floor. I decided that if I didn't know how to do the proper dance steps, then I should just make up my own. It was much funnier anyway!

The event was brilliant, all decked out with wartime posters & bunting. There were signs for air raid shelters & a NAFFI shop selling spam rolls!!

The Jonathan Wyatt band were incredible as always. We just couldn't sit still.

Yes father's RAF hat did the rounds. ....Much to their husbands' delights!

I think Tina won the best pin up photo.

Hope you all had a splendid weekend too - minus the headache :-P

xxx

Shall we dance? – in my case badly!

I’m off to a nice vintage event tomorrow night. Another Big Band evening but this time with dancing, that should be entertainment in itself!!

Three of us have been to an introduction Ceroc class and err that’s about it. All made better by another friend joining us who’s an ex ballerina and so good at Ceroc, Salsa (and everything else to be honest!!) that the room stops to watch (groans with envy).

We were laughing (mostly at our ourselves) about Ceroc classes last night, many more women than men at the one we went to. Trust me, most of the guys weren’t complaining. I have heard that this is a good place to meet potential suitors – opportunity for too many smutty one liners that I really shouldn’t mention!! Anyway I lost track of the times I was severely reprimanded for not letting the man lead. I put this down to the fact that a modern gal has to hold her own so to speak in business and life generally. I found it really hard especially when the guys freestyle & you’re supposed to “just know” what moves they are planning - well I just couldn’t manage to hold my crystal ball at the same time! I guess it gets easier with time???? I hope! Ha.

One gentleman told me “just let the man tell you what to do” I had to hold my tongue rather than inform him that was just one of the reasons that I wasn't married!! he he

I digress! It’s the Jonathan Wyatt band again and I’m dragging more friends along each time they’re so good. The night promises more Glenn Miller, a Frank Sinatra singer and plenty more war time music. Since it’s a 1940’s evening we are of course dressing up – any excuse to be honest! Hopefully my photography skills will be good enough to post our outfits and the hilarity had by all. I think my 3 year old niece Abigail will steal the show and the dance floor – definitely a diva in the making he he.

Wishing you a very splendid weekend xx

A nice new Shop in Aylsham

Last Saturday my friend Julie opened a gorgeous new shop in Aylsham (on Red Lion Street), Norfolk. Filled with locally sourced goodies mostly handmade things. Great for unusual gifts, gorgeous handmade jewellery (I’m taking about her jewels, I’m much too modest to sing Butterflies & Hurricanes praises) but we so have some nice things displayed there too. She also has bags and dresses made with vintage fabrics to painted T-shirts and baseball boots. Vintage inspired and made products make up lots of the loveliness from teacup candles & cupcakes to up-cycled chairs covered in a resplendent mix of fabrics.

Other reasons to visit Aylsham. Well you really need more that one reason to visit somewhere what with the price of fuel and the carbon footprint to consider.

There is a lovely tearoom called the Tea Rooms or something suitably similar! Good for morning coffee and a cheese scone or homemade cakes yum. A nice clothing boutique called Blossom & Green and a wonderful toy shop with really different toys, gifts and learning games.

It’s worth a browse in the charity shops too, nice for little vintage finds. I purchased a working Singer sewing machine for £12.00 in one and a Day Birger et Mikkelsen black silk dress (brand new) for £15.00.

After a little light shopping and lunch, there’s always Blickling Hall just down the road which has lovely gardens to walk around, tea rooms and the house is pretty impressive too.

Also Holt is just a few miles away with plenty more cute boutiques if the shopping bug has bitten. And that’s where I ended up and bought the ball dress & evening coat from my previous blog – like I needed either. Oops he he xxx