Big bright flowers and an Easter beasting

Evening. Don't be alarmed. When I say 'beasting' I'm being over dramatic. Easter has kicked me clean off the healthy wagon and I am huffing and puffing behind it, trying desperately to get back on. But I figure, whilst I'm off that wagon and hiding indoors stuffing my face with Celebrations and tea, I might as well hop on the blogging wagon. Make good use of my time and whatnot.

To catch you up: I joined Weight Watchers a couple of months back and am doing so-so with it. It's dead easy and actually makes good sense and seems to be encouraging a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating, as opposed to some unsustainable ideal. However, what I wish to do, is incorporate said healthiness into my actual life in a way that lets me have... an actual life. I'm never going to be the chick that won't go partying or have a nice gin because she's "on a diet" or who won't go out for tea or cake for fear of what'll happen to the waistline. Equally, I don't want to be fat and unhappy but claiming to be 'enjoying' myself because I eat and drink what I like. There's more to life than the eating and drinking after all and I know, when I feel overweight and bloated it makes me unhappy. So I'm doing weight watchers. And the weight's coming off slower than it might if I stuck rigid but...see above. Plus, I have been gyming it dead diligently of late. I'm going to a big mix of classes and trying new stuff and mainly liking it. I've started (with the notable exception of the last few days) to look forward to my classes, whether it's sweating on a bike or knocking seven shades of imaginary shit out of whoever's pissing me off, at Bodycombat. But Easter. Man, Easter has knocked me flat in terms of both exercise and eating well! However, I've decided not to let it bother me too much, to have this few days blow out and to climb BACK on the wagon before the weekend. And, frankly (and smugly), I'm plenty fit enough these days to catch it...

So today, in an attempt to convince myself that I should be getting back on the aforementioned four wheeled, horse drawn vehicle, I decided to wear a pencil skirt. Cause they're all sooky and unforgiving, like.

OK, so this one's stretchy, which makes it a wee bit more sympathetic but, silhouette-wise, it is not forgiving! I breathed in a lot today when standing! Haha! You try getting a non bespoke pencil skirt to fit proportions like mine. I love this skirt though. I got it recently in H&M. They've done about a hundred million things in the print (I've seen a shirt, t-shirt, another skirt, a dress, trousers - there may be more) so normally I'd steer clear but I just loved the big bright florals so I nabbed it anyway. I actually tried the trousers too. Step too far for the pear. Ah well, gawd loves a trier. In a sly attempt to cover le belly du chocolate, I wore it with a nice baggy leopard jumper:

Jumper: Primark

S'cuse the smug arse face. I have no idea what that's all about. But, look! I stood somewhere new for a change. Yup, ALL my pictures are usually in the hall because there's a nail on the bathroom door that allows me to hang the camera at a height that works for pictures and to get far enough back to get my full length. You see, the only person who's ever in when I do my pics is my lovely and awesome husband. But - 1) he takes crap pictures, 2) I feel like a giant twat posing, so I prefer to just DI-My and use the nail. But, I realised today that there's a pic in the bedroom with a nail at an OK height. Woop. Don't I just tell the BEST stories? Here's a close up of my stinking awesome £1.50ish Primark sale necklace.

And it's only right that we finish up with some shoe perving, non? These shoes are bloody awesome. One of my best pairs for sure. Amazing. They never fail to bag compliments and why should they? I nearly broke my ankle at the front door this evening. But that's by the by. If I had, at least my feet would've looked good...

Somebody stop me feat. Camilla Skovgaard

Actually, don't stop me. You see, the thing is, I seem to be developing a taste for expensive shoes. Oh, don't get me wrong, I've always had an eye for them but, like those posh pastel macaroons or tea time snacks from Fortnum and Mason (if you've never tried their Florentines, you should. They're hideously expensive for what they are but, oh, Florentine heaven. Heaven. For the record, the ones I tried were a gift.), I assumed they were for, well posh folk and TOWIE types and just a bit out of my price range. But then came the Louboutins - one of my shoe holy grails (I'm planning a post on my shoe bucket list...) - slashed in price on the Outnet. Oh the Outnet. It's basically like the designer equivalent of eBay but without the bidding process. You see designer shoes, you love them. You see the price and know they're a bargain (relatively speaking) and that there's only one left and it's your size. It's fate. But then comes the lightning fast mental arithmetic - has the money come out your account for shite you've bought in the last week, has your pal paid you for those train tickets, can you afford them, do you really need them, all the while knowing that some beatch could snap them out from under your nose as you try to figure out what £347-£124+£54 is... So, in summary, the Outnet and similar such sites make shoes you thought you couldn't afford more attainable. And this week, it happened to me again...a bucket list item (you'd never have guessed from the post title)

What could it be?

Oh Camilla!

Dust bag = poshness.

Plummy perfection. Oh, ok, I acknowledge that they look a bit dull from this angle.

But, the deep plum is so classic and just look at that doused-in-petrol effect heel!

Look, just look! It's all at once so pretty and so fierce!

And the box is like an architectural wonder of the world. Well, of the box world, maybe. I appreciate this detail.

BOOM! Not so boring now, eh? That's what I call a platform. Someone get me a field cause these babies are rubbered up like a mother effing tractor! Actual boring shoes can kiss their ass. Or their heel or something.

The thing is, designer labels have never really been my thing. I'll happily wear stuff from anywhere (that isn't on my customer service blacklist). But, oh, posh shoes. They just feel so decadent on the foot! The construction is so beautiful and they genuinely do feel more comfortable. And these: the nubuk upper is so soft. Butter, babies butts, whatever - doesn't cover it. Doesn't come close. Even boys in my office stroked them and cooed when they arrived. Such joy. And that's a little of why I shall save pennies to indulge my little habit occasionally...

#scottishbloggers meet for International Women's Day

Fancy dancy - I've never been to a blogger's meet up before. Or should I say I had never been to a blogger's meet before. Last Thursday, in honour of International Women's Day, Kirsty of Forty Four Sunsets, decided to get a bunch of Scottish bloggers together to raise awareness, celebrate the ladies of this world and to make some cash for Oxfam. And, amazingly, she ended up with around 50 responses and about 30 of us getting together!

The evening kicked off with a wee "Amazingly Awesome" quiz which Kirsty's lovely mum was handing out at the door. It was for a bit of fun and to be filled out during the evening, but it was also full of some pretty sobering and important messages - things like: "more women than men are killed during natural disasters" and "70% of people living in poverty are women". International Women's Day aims to highlight issues such as these but also issues closer to home such as domestic violence and male to female wage gaps. In it's simplest form, I take from it a feeling of sisterhood and looking out for your girls! And having a big get together with so many beautiful girls who were moved to be together for such a great cause was just wonderful. Here's a bit of what we got up to...

As well as the quiz, money was raised through a raffle. And Oxfam thought of everything in their IWD packs, right down the the beer mats and bunting!

You could also have your nails Shellac-ed by Rani of Cupcake Couture for a mere fiver! That money also went into the charity pot. I went for pink glitter with a teeny heart with a strawberry in the middle on my ring fingers.

Rani also baked for the bake sale - what a lege'!

The venue, Glasgow's Hillhead bookclub was friggin awesome. It looked amazing, the barmen looked amazing (what? I don't stop 'ppreciating dudes on women's day!) and their fried whitebait was to-die-for delicious! Oh, and their strawberry gin mojito (not sure how that works when it's rumless) wasn't too shabby either.

I caught up with my awesome (see, 'ppreciating the chicks too!) buddy Carol (My Stylisms)...

And found time to strike a cheeky pose myself...

We got a lovely goodie bag with some nice bits and bobs for the hair and I was lucky enough to win a prize in the raffle: an Elemis skincare set and a massage! Wowzers!

The fab news is that, by the end of the night, the grand fundraising total was £222.50! Given that this started as a tentative 'does anyone fancy...' and progressed to girls turning up from all over Scotland, this is brilliant! It was so nice to have an evening of chilling and chatting and we must give a huge thanks to Laura from Oxfam who came and did a talk on IWD. For those fancying a bit of inspiration, you can check out this post by Kirsty. In the meantime, here's a bit about the difference that ONE girl can make...

Polka dots, tigers and feathers: oh my!

I am as pear shaped as they come: my top half right now is about a size 10 but I often struggle to get into size 16 trousers - in fact I struggle to get into trousers full stop - and anything that involves fitting at the hips and waist: forget it. It ain't going near me. So pencils skirts have always been one of those no-no items. Those that fit at the waist laugh at my hips and those that fit at the hips are empty from the hip bones up. So when I first spied this I thought "no chance"...

skirt: H&M £14.99

But. The genius of this skirt is in the fact that it's thick jersey. So it's thick enough to contain my thigh-age (ish) but stretchy enough to hold onto my contours. Plus, it's dotty! And comes with a cute skinny belt (which, you guessed, was too big on the waist! I had to attack it with scissors before work). And it's so 50s lady pin up. I love it.

Prior to getting this pic, Mr Scribbler was mooching about and I like to do my pics in peace (I just feel like a bit of a dick doing it) and, when I asked him politely to 'shoo', he tanked backwards into a bookcase. As you would imagine, I was deeply sympathetic...

Tee hee.

At this point, I imagine you're a) wondering what the fuck my shoes are all about and b) thinking "ah, there are the feathers mentioned in the blog title". It's all in the detail. Here's what they're all about.

Electric blue satin shoe boots with chunky heel and platform, peep toe, mesh sides and marabou feathers running down the front and across the toes. They definitely fall into the so wrong they're...well, you make up your own mind whether you think they're right or not! I think they're, as my work buddy put it, ridiculous. But in a good way. And here's the killer. They were 6 quid in the Primark sale. I think they're worth their weight in Fools Gold.

They're a trashy delight! Maybe I shall describe them as electro-disco-boudoir. Really though, how could you fail to be happy with these on your feet?

And so to the tigers. If the shoes are electro-disco-boudoir, then the jumper is casual Versace-esque faux baroque. I saw this jumper ages before it came into Topshop. Needless to say, trying to track down any info on it through Topshop was like pulling off my own nails. However, I couldn't resist it's tigery tack and knew it had to be mine. I could only find it in the petite section but figured it could hover at waist height and, actually, it isn't that petite at all anyway. Grrr! Have a lovely evening x

A Brit of excitement makes things something of a Blur...

Yesterday was a great day. It was pancake day (I love pancakes and am the meanest tosser going. Fnar) and it was the Brit awards. Most years I mean to catch the Brits then don't but this year it was penned (not pencilled, penned) in my diary for ages in advance, on account of the fact that Blur were playing! Squee! I LOVE Blur. I'm that 90s kid who never moved on and still loves Blur.

As a teenager, my bedroom was a riot of indie band posters - Blur filled one wall, Oasis the other (I've always been indecisive) and the middle was a mish mash of the Charlatans, Ocean Colour Scene, Shed 7, Supergrass and whoever else I was feeling at the time. And I'm just not over it. These days it might be photos of friends and family on my walls and the odd nice picture, rather than posters and articles ripped from the pages of Big, Smash Hits, NME and Melody Maker but, oh those boys and their guitars are still in my heart. When Blur reformed for gigs back in 2009 I thought I might actually burst - especially when nearly all of them clashed with my hen do, wedding and honeymoon. Gutted. I managed the Newcastle gig two days before the wedding (and the day Michael Jackson died) and it was just amazing. So, post Brits I am hoping desperately that they tour again. What can I say?

Anyway, by the time I got to pancake flipping (like a pro. Did I mention that I toss like a badass?) and Brits watching I was in my pjs but here's what I wore earlier that day:

Dress: Tesco, Cardi: Asda, Belt and necklace: Accessorize, shoes Primark

 I hadn't realised til I came to write this that I was dressed as a trolly dash. I bloody love this Asda cardi though cause I've never seen anyone in the same, it has cute flower detailing on the buttons and it looks vintage. No-one has ever suspected it for a supermarket purchase. And now you know my secret.

My sister gave me this wee fella for my birthday

Here are the shoes (cause it's what I iz about, innit?). They were £6 in Primark's sale. I do enjoy a bit of orange and on a brogue it's freakin' awesome. And on that note, I bid you goodnight.

I'm back v LFW - this stuff looks goooood!

Hello. How's things? I've been away so long, busy, la, la, flah, flah excuses. Now that's done, and I hope you guys are well! I'm good - actually I have a super scabby knee [fell down some steps] and a manky throat but I have plenty to be happy about too - why sweat the small stuff?! - and have, as many folk will, been getting a wee bit excited about all the fashion week shizzle that's going down right now in London town.

When it comes to shit as serious as fashion week I should point out that, for me, it's not mega serious. I LOVE catching some of the shows and poring over the pics and, as a part high street shopper, it's unavoidable that I will be influenced by the trends that filter down etc. That said, I am not and never have been a slave to the trend and am happy to forge my own path, picking and choosing the right bits of trends for me. But, yeah, I love the shows! And yesterday was a biggie! So I thought, for your viewing pleasure should you care, (and for my own amusement frankly!) I'd make some super swizzy collages of some of my favourite stuff from some of my favourite shows (that I've actually seen bits of - don't judge me for being all big name - I'm short on time).

  Erdem


I always get my excited on when it comes to Erdem. And when I enjoy a designer, I always worry before the show that I won't like their new season stuff. Which, of course, would be a body blow to the designers, seeing as I am their absolute target market and probably in the upper eschelons of the 'best customer' ranks. With my spare millions. Sometimes I use 50 pound notes in lieu of post it notes just for fun. They don't stick too well but man do they feel extravagant. Anyway, Erdem can rest easy because I LOVED his show! Go Erdem! Plenty flowers for Llara and I adore the colour palette of sumptuous jewel tones with bright pops of pink and lime here and there. Divine! If I could have one piece, it would be the dress on the top right - beautiful. If I was all slinky of hip and could have another piece I think it would be the dress top row, second from left. It's just so pri-teee!

 Christopher Kane

 I like Christopher Kane. Him. Whenever I read stuff, he sounds like a dead hardworking and lovely fella. Give me that over some pompous diva any day. Anyway, this is purely superficial and it's about the clothes. I like slightly less here than I did at Erdem but, again, I have to nod to the gorgeous rich colour palette of purples (including a lilac carpet. Nice), broken up with bright violent shots of red here and there. Beautiful. It's all pretty sexy with the leather (I think it's leather) and lace (we used to have a sex shop up the road called leather and lace. They changed the name to "Fem 2 Dom". For real. They had another branch too which is now re-branded as "Adult Conceptions". I think there's a "least sexy sex shop name" award in there somewhere) and has an amazing rock 'n' roll vibe. I love the dress on the right and I'm a fan of the sloppy jumper flung over it on the left. Love a good jumper!

 Burberry

 I always feel a bit like I shouldn't like Burberry - it's so polished, blow dried and glossy - but I really kinda do. And not just because I wish I looked like Rosie HW or Cara D. Here's what I loved about their AW12 show:


* Owls. Owls emblazoned on t-shirts and jumpers. I'm all for a bit of cute in high fashion!


* Bows. On every waist! Thick belts over coats and skirts with chunky cute bows and skinny belts tied into bows. Bows are GOOD people, very good.


* Stripes - stripey tees, stripey slouchy skirts - love 'em all.


* Coats. These guys are pretty much the king of the coat anyway (arise sir Christopher, lord of coats. Downgraded from king to lord already, eh?) but this season encompassed so many looks: the trench (obvs), cropped little jackets, military style, gorgeous draped waterfall fronts and a beautiful knitted stole. With a bow. And the puffa. Yup, the puffa. When I started seeing tweets from people declaring that we'd fall for the puffa this season, I had a low down chuckle. However, when I saw 'the puffa' (top right), I must admit I swayed. The thing looks like an amazing petrol stained beetle-tastic piece of sleeping bag-esque warmth! This ain't no 'team with a scrunchie and get down to Iceland' affair. Still, I don't reckon 2012 will be the year I embrace the puff. You?

And finally - if you're gonna talk Burberry, it's only right that you have a quick perv at Eddie Redmayne. Hubba, hubba, swoon! You are welcome!

Could you be...the most beautiful boots in the world?

Look, I'm just gonna dive right in with this one. Check these boots OUT!

Boots Red or Dead @ Schuh

They're big, black, fierce, tall, spiky, made of super soft suede and covered in glittery stars! Even the zip has a star on it. What's not to love?

 Oh, and they're on a pink table. As with all good boots, these babies need to be worn. And wear them I have. Several times. This time with a black Uniqlo t-dress and a Monsoon (I know, I must be getting old, right?) jumper covered in teeny beads that look like bubbles!

Aah! Bubbles!

You should know though that this thing may as well be a real live cat, because it sheds on everything. Like a bitch. If you love having pale grey fluff on stuff though, it's a total winner.

And one last shot of the boots in action...

Should you so wish, you can get them here: here