new year, old things

already we're eleven days into the new year, yet my resolutions feel weak and unmotivating. the usual 'be nicer' and 'do more' are floppy, vague promises, hard to quantify while i'm in the mood for tangible results.

so i AM going to do more. as stiflingly unimaginative as it is to set personal goals at this time of year, i'm going to embark on a little adventure:

from today, 11th january 2010, to 10th january 2011, i will not buy anything from the high street.

doing so will, i presume, make me feel better (more smug?) about my spending habits while simultaneously saving enough money to counter all the good work in a massive january sales binge this time next year. or, y'know, put down a deposit on a car, or a nice flat, or something actually useful.

obviously there are exceptions to this resolution, else i might go spare. there are challenges, and there's needless suffering. so i'm allowed to do the following:

1. buy presents for others. who genuinely appreciates half-arsed, slapdash homemade gifts from someone with zero creative ability? no-one, unless they're 100% nice (rare). at least my family and friends won't have to endure kirstie allsopp-esque thriftmares.

2. indugle in essentials. essentials as defined by me, not by, say, the people who run brat camp. so decent shampoo and conditioner, black/sheer tights and soap. i refuse to smell for a year for the sake of my moral fibre.

3. charity/second/hand/vintage shops. i suppose the 'high street' aspect i'm getting at consists of the big guns, arcadia, department stores, and anything else found in the shiny halls of consumerism in town centres. but this need not include shopping second hand.

ok, so i do most of my shopping in this environment already. which to some might suggest i'm not taking this challenge seriously. it's what you're thinking, isn't it? well you're wrong, because despite this get out clause, i'm going to limit spending in these environments to a frighteningly low £20 a month. why? why the hell not.

4. work clothes. cv and interview success willing, i plan on spending some, most, or all of this time in work. where a uniform isn't needed, i'll be after something to wear for this. i think, with all reasonableness, that this should be another exception, particularly where strict rules apply. for the purposes of clarification, i'm allowed a white shirt, a work skirt and work trousers, one of each, twice in the year. and only if i'm employed.

5. a new phone. for november onwards only.

so that's it. goodbye high street indeed. watch as i fail spectacularly in week three!

snow days

as you may have noticed, we're currently snuggled under an icy blanket of frozen water. many, many people are complaining, sporting fractured limbs and smashed cars and chilly houses. i on the other hand am in seventh kidult heaven.

being as i am unemployed and penniless, the snow and its various associated funtimes instantly transport me back to being seven years old. freezing as i slip down the huge hill of my local park, or packing ice into monolithic structures vaguely resembling friends, or encountering mild frostbite lobbing lumps of solid freeze at my dad's head. as i've grown up and the epic snowfall of my youth has become more and more infrequent, any opportunity to enjoy it is welcomed with open arms.

so i spent yesterday, with the first serious deposit of the season, on the park, twatting my chin on passersby as they lingered stupidly at the foot of the hill. i've a hilarious but hideously sore bruise on my chin as a result. but i still kept it together in order to make a snowcat in my garden. with nowhere to go and no important appointments to keep, i hope it lasts!

christmas wishlist!

i LOVE christmas! it's pretty safe to assume any time specifically designated for excessive eating and drinking, parties and sharing nice things with each other will always go down well in my world, but there's still a magic to the season that hasn't yet been clouded by all the cynicism and bitterness that has become routine alongside it.

now it's officially christmas (yay!), i've drawn up a wishlist for the parentals to peruse, and despite knowing full well that most of it will remain locked in the realms of fantasy, my enthusiasm for coveting trinkets hasn't subsided. there's probably a lesson in here somewhere about craving too many luxury goods at a family time but as far as i'm concerned, christmas is a safe haven for magpies and treat-lovers like me. long may it's opulence reign!

so this is a condensed version of my 2009 list - some of it realistic, others so unlikely there's really not much point including them, save for a desire to share common lustful grounds. enjoy!

polo boot, £295, toast (toast.co.uk)

in my quest to find a pair of solid, hardworking winter boots i've come across a few beauties (most notably, a lovely pair of tan knee-highs in monsoon of all places), but none have ever (ever) compared to these. the whole toast a/w 09 catalogue is divine anyway but oh, everything about this pair makes me cry a little inside at their unattainability.

emerald suede bayswater clutch, £495, mulberry (mulberry.com

if only. i've tried telling myself that my purple patent bayswater-esque bag of joy from tkmax is decent enough until the happy day i can afford a real one arrives (it will come, right?), but it really isn't sufficient. sigh

christmas candy gift box, £16.50, lush

mm, lushy goodness. we're slightly more in the realms of possibility now - at least smelling nice isn't hugely expensive!

studded leather driving gloves, £28, warehouse

as i near the end of my driving lessons (test in january, eep!), i'm thinking more and more about saving up for a car of my own (where i'll get the money from is currently beyond me, however). and this means thinking about driving accessories! gloves are of course an essential part of the modern lady's motoring paraphenalia, and who could resist a lovely pair like these? (or, y'know, they're nice to look at and will keep my fingers nice and warm while waiting for the bus)

screen burn, £4, amazon

holiday reading from the master of funny is a must!

and not forgetting a load of socks and sweeties for good measure! i can't wait!

vintage shoes in large part one: the red pair

finding a pair of vintage shoes in good condition and the right size will always be difficult, but for the larger-footed lady the challenge is all the greater. it's hard enough to find new shoes to fit big feet, let alone the perfect vintage pair!

but despite being a size 8, i've been lucky enough in my thrift shop hunting to find several pairs that fit. so here's the first of a series of posts designed to prove that lovely vintage shoes in bigger sizes can be discovered among the plethora of size 4-6!

80s russell and bromley, ebay, £30

what a gorgeous colour! i'd been after some red shoes for ages and these lovelies, in leather with suede bow/heel detail, stood out a mile. ironically for such a post, these are just a pinch too small, so i'm having to sell them on! but it doesn't stop me fondling them on a daily basis...

check out the super cute suede bows on the back!

these will be heading back to ebay in the next week - i'll post the item link here when they're up.

marcasite and me

over six months without a post! sadly, when you have a dissertation followed by a full time job and a festival to organise there's little time for musing on pretty things. but now i've graduated, and ended my temporary job, i have plenty of time and even more to talk about!

i have an enormous mug of hot tea in front of me and a story to tell about my love of marcasite. once upon a time, dawdling about in a local antiques fair, i caught a tiny flash of something glinting beneath a pile of costume jewellery. on closer inspection it turned out to be a lovely little squirrel, bedecked from his neck down to a gorgeous curled tail in shining, sparkling marcasite. i couldn't resist him, and have been collecting bits of jewellery in the stone ever since!

this lovely swallow was a gift from my mum, and sits happily on the lapel of my green coat throughout the winter. perhaps it's the glimmer it adds to an otherwise dull outfit, but it always cheers me up when i glance down and see him there.

i had lusted after this perfect fleur de lis for months before i finally caved in a bought it. i think everything about it is wonderful - from the carefully chosen stones, graded so perfectly, to the delicate silver piping around the edges. to make it even more covetable (to me at least!), it dates back to the mid 1800s, and would have been worn for dress by french militia. it's possibly the favourite of all my jewellery, for its understated glamour and the simple but beautiful design.

but the best thing about this stone is the price. though undergoing something of a renaissance in the antiques world thanks to high street imitations having a moment, there are most definitely bargains to be had at fairs - the most expensive of the above, the fleur de lis, was £22. for a piece that will last another hundred years at least, the cost-per-wear is unbeatable, not to mention the shine!