A Day out in London in Bonmarche.

Hiya, how are you?

I've had a busy few days over the weekend and have thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Friday the usual dancing into the weekend finishing off the waltz I started learning the week before.  As a young child I loved watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing across a huge stage with fabulous backdrops and often wished I could dance like they did.  I went on to learn ballet, tap and modern dancing and loved every minute of it.  I was involved in shows and taking exams, but rarely entered any competitions.  Since beginning Ballroom dancing a few years ago I've wished I'd have learnt earlier than just over fifty, so I'm having to make up for it now and look forward to Friday evenings with excitement.

Saturday night hubby and I got to enjoy a long awaited Christmas present from the kids.  We had a voucher to sample the tasty cuisine at The Fordwich Arms which is not too far from us. Do have a look at this post to see what we ate!

Sunday was spent in London.  My husband and SIL went to watch football at Arsenal - not something my daughter and I really enjoy so we spent a few lovely hours shopping and having a snack.  We did the usual Covent Garden and surrounding area, and had wanted to see a show but the times didn't fit for us.  It was nice to just talk about all sorts - her baby is due in November & when she finishes work I'm sure we'll have a bit more time to catch up before baby arrives - then she won't have time to think let alone talk eh!

I opted for comfort over a dressy dress, I would have preferred to flounce around in one of my buffet dresses, but the weather hinted at rain (which we got) so my jeans and trainers were a more suitable substitute.

Items marked with * have been gifted to me, however these are 100% my own honest comments.

At Home With ... Hilda - #Chiandstylish #LINKUP

Hello and welcome my lovely friends.

How's it going in your neck of the woods?

After a busy weekend with the family, it's been back down to earth with the usual spin classes and general household duties.  

Yesterday I caught up with a friend for a nice lunch in our local Zizzi, we had planned to visit Prezzo that was over the road, but it was closed!  Think this covid 'pinging' is affecting everyone in some form or other.  Our restaurant had run out of wine, they literally had two to offer due to lack of deliveries.  I've noticed shelves in some supermarkets have been empty of random items - it's a crazy world we are living in!

The weather has still been so changeable, I started off in jeans, and ended up in a dress with boots, does it feel like Autumn is just round the corner?  I've even put the duvet back on today - maybe that will entice an 'Indian Summer' to appear! 🌞

Today I'm lucky to share enough fabulous blogging friend with you for my At Home With .... series.

I'm so pleased to welcome Hilda - Over The Hilda to the blog - I wonder what secrets and helpful tips she may have to share!

White Horse Energy - BBQ Time.

Morning everyone, how was your weekend?

Mine was fabulous.

All the family round for dinner yesterday as Hubby and I prepared Beef Wellington with Dauphinoise Potatoes and a mixture of veg followed by fresh fruit with marshmallows and dipping chocolate.

I love to have all the family round, but it isn't always possible as some have families of their own to think about.

I also had a family gathering last week and enjoyed a BBQ in the garden with some of the kids, I'm trying to make the most of any snippet of warm weather as I'm afraid Autumn will be upon us soon and we'll be thinking of getting all snuggly indoors with the heating on!

Where do you get your BBQ supplies from?  Have you heard of White Horse Energy?

I've been excited to receive a box of EcoBlaze Charcoal Briquettes* and EcoBlaze Natural Firelighters.* from them and am thrilled with the results.

White Horse Energy supplies wood pellets, kiln dried firewood and wood briquettes nationwide, with blisteringly quick delivery times and a commitment to exemplifying all that customer service should be.

Items marked with * have been gifted to me, however these are 100% my own honest comments.

Mellow Yellow Maxi Dress - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Hello there my lovely blogging friends.

How are you all doing?

It's been lovely to enjoy some warmer weather over the past couple of days, even had the roof off my car and soaked up the sunshine whilst I was driving around.  Hubby bought me a new car for our anniversary last month and my convertible has been a joy to drive, I must admit I am a very spoiled & lucky lady. 💕

I've also been lucky enough to style another item from the Bonmarche website too!  Take a look at this super classic maxi dress.*  I seem to be drawn to a yellow maxi dress as I've got two in my wardrobe already!  See this one I wore to the beach in the UK and one I wore in Spain.  To me a sunny lemon shade brings on the sunshine for the dreary days we often have in the UK, and I adore wearing it on holiday too.  I do hope we can start getting away safely soon, I can't tell you how much I long to get away, I'm sure I'm not the only one.  Have you booked a trip abroad yet?

Items marked with * have been gifted to me, however these are 100% my own honest comments.

Styling a Shirt Dress from Bonmarche.

Morning my friends.

How are you all getting on?

Another weekend with changeable weather - hasn't the rain been absolutely  brutal!  On and off leaving outfit picking an absolute nightmare.  It's still warm which makes wearing anything that gives coverage in wet weather awfully sticky.  Hubby and I went out to look for a new sofa (I know we're still looking) and ended up sitting in the car until the rain stopped.  I wore this nice new shirt dress from Bonmarche - which sort of kept me dry with the addition of my faux leather jacket.  I picked mules which did make my feet get wet, so maybe I should have worn the second choice you will see below - my trusty trainers!

Do you have grand-kids?  I'm so lucky to be a nanny to five little darlings 💖 (and another due in November) and I enjoyed a sleepover with my grandson on Saturday night.  His sister was also on a sleep over so we decided he could come to ours on his own as he's usually shares with her - he felt very big and grown up and was a pleasure to have around.  

Have you been watching Love Island?  I'm hooked on the program, although I hate watching it - it's something I love to hate, what do you think of it?  It's not aired on Saturday night, so we try to enjoy a good film and a takeaway.  

So here's my weekend look.  I'm obsessed with this black and white check midi and it's one I'll certainly be wearing again and again come the next few months, hope you don't get bored of seeing it! 

Items marked with * have been gifted to me, however these are 100% my own honest comments.

White Midi with Black Additions - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Morning my friends.

I do hope you are all doing well.

Writers block has hit me today, I'm finding it hard to write anything really!  It's a hard time of the year with memories of loved ones who've passed away in this month - it proves to be a tough time for all the family.  It's something we all have to come to terms with isn't it, but I have a good strong family around and I find talking really helps.  

I also think I've just about had enough of Covid and all it has brought with it, but I do feel things are very slowly beginning to settle down.  Masks have become second nature and I feel quite naked when I don't have one on when I'm anywhere near the shops - lol.  How are the Covid restrictions where you live?

What I can tell you about is something I've been enjoying styling and wearing recently, and honestly who doesn't love a white dress
If you follow me on IG you might have seen me styling this white dress a few different ways - here's a link if you'd like to see it.  I had lots of lovely comments and found that most of you favoured the same one that I liked the most.  It's just a black and white combination, and doesn't disappoint in the fashion stakes. 

July Review.

Good morning my friends.

Wow August already .... It's crazy to think we've arrived here, sad to think Summer is beginning to ebb away, I've even had mushrooms pop up in the garden - a sure sign that Augutmn is just around the corner.😢

With torrential rain at times over the weekend I starting to think Winter isn't far away - I've still got plenty of Summer dresses to wear and a host of BBQ's to enjoy.  I actually had to sit under my fur blanket yesterday and was very nearly tempted to put the heating on!

Friday night at ballroom dancing we learnt a new dance, the Samba!  I've never tried it before and simply loved it!  I picked it up really well and felt like I'd danced it previously, (I think I've been watching too much Strictly Come Dancing, and often secretly dance when nobody is watching). 🤣

We'll be finishing off the sequence next week before moving onto a new dance - but I'll keep practicing, well you never know SCD may want an over fifty blogger to compete one day!!!! 😉

Saturday morning I went with my Daughter-in-law to help look after my grand-daughter whilst she ran around with my grandson at his Little Kickers session - he spent most of the 45 mins running off in the other direction!  It was set up really well getting the little ones to collect cones, balance them whilst walking around obstacles and then following an obstacle course which ended with them kicking the ball into the goal.  All the kids loved it, but I think the most fun was had by my DIL ....😉



As it's the beginning of the month it's time to look back on July to see what I was doing and catch up on any post's you may have missed. Welcome to the ....

July Review.

Well it's been quite a busy month for Mummabstylish - way back at the beginning of the month we were celebrating my son winning the Doggett's Coat and Badge.  His hard training over the past couple of years paid off and we couldn't have been any happier for him.  Do pop back to read about our special day on the River Thames with our family and friends.  In support of his chosen colour we all wore white outfits.

Bonmarche Gypsy Skirt - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Morning my lovely friends.

How are you all doing today?

Seems I've missed a day, thought I had another one to prepare today's blog post!  My reason for being late is that it was my daughter's birthday yesterday and the time just flew by!  I mowed both front and back garden by lunch time, then we had a stream of family and friends visit to wish her well on her birthday - but as they say "better late than never" eh!  She had a lovely day as I did too and it was so nice to catch up with family who I'd not seen for a while.

Today I'm trying out a new-to-me gym class .... Body Balance!  Anyone heard and tried it?  I'll let you know who it goes, I've also booked a spin class straight after so wish me luck ... 😅

I try to wear dresses in the summer, but I'm also smitten with a skirt, and if it's a swishy, twirly version then I'm all over it, just like this one from Bonmarche.

Items marked with * have been gifted to me, however these are 100% my own honest comments.

Style Not Age - Jackets for July!

Hi there my lovely friends.

So pleased you could join me today.

I've had a fantastic weekend, which started on Friday when I had a trip to the seaside with friends.  My Abu Dhabi ladies decided to catch up for an afternoon of fun and laughs, reminiscing about our previous holidays and the possibility of planning another when we can get away safely - who knows when that will be!  We're all wanting to get away as soon as we can and feel, like everyone, that we took going away for granted!  

We took the train to Broadstairs and found our way (via a gorgeous boutique - and yes I did buy a dress!) to the little Italian restaurant which overlooked the beach.  After a delicious meal and a couple of bottles of Prosecco we moved onto an outdoor bar for cocktails and more laughs and chatter.  It was so nice to actually feel free and normal.  I hadn't realised just how different and restrained I'd felt.  We had a couple of Porn Star Martinis (my favourite) and felt even more relaxed with the great company and enchanting surroundings. We made our way back to the station and then back home, all feeling happy and content with the meet-up and looking forward to doing it again. X

Saturday was a spent in the garden cutting yet more hedges ... seriously who needs the amount of garden and hedges we have!  😖  

If you're lucky enough to have grand-kids you'll know how fun it is to have them for a sleepover.  It was my daughter's wedding anniversary so whilst they celebrated with a night out having dinner - we had McD's and a house full of children (3 to sleep and 1 more for dinner)  It was bedlam, but they all had fun bounching around playing with toys, hide-and-seek and generally being loud!  I got them settled at a reasonable hour making way for a film and a glass of chilled rose - well maybe more than one glass was consumed - ha ha!

Okay I'm going to pull myself away from the weekend frolics and talk about the July Style not Age challenge which was set by me!

Jackets for July.

I felt this title would give a wide scope for everyone, and with the weather being so changeable it would be the perfect prompt to cover every eventuality.  I had a few ideas for today's outfit, but settled on this new number from Bonmarche.

Items marked with * have been gifted to me, however these are 100% my own honest comments.

Vibrant & feminine OTS Dress - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Hi there my friends, hasn't it been scorching weather recently?

I must admit to finding it a tad too much at times - I'm sure it won't last too long so I should just try to enjoy it. Trouble is doing everything I want to do makes it twice as hard when it's hot!  I've still been to gym classes and have done work in the garden, but it's totally taken it's toll on me!

The garden is looking really nice now, I'm keeping on top of the grass cutting and with the flowers blooming everywhere, it's a real joy to sit outside.  Today I've planted some wild flower bombs - I can't wait for them to grow and I'll be putting them near my little bee hotel - think that might be quite helpful to them. 

On Tuesday I joined my daughter and mum for an afternoon tea.  It was actually my mum's present from my daughter for Christmas, but with covid and lockdown Tuesday was the earliest opportunity to go.  They invited me too which was so lovely - I really do enjoy an afternoon tea and had fun spending the whole of the afternoon with them both at our local  nearest Cafe Rouge in Bluewater.  We dined on sausage rolls, quiche, ham and lettuce rolls followed by my favourite ... Scones, jam and clotted cream, Fruity Carrot cake, Billionaire torte and Blackforest mousse.  We drank endless amounts of tea, but I just had to add the optional glass of Prosecco to my meal, well would have been rude not to!

Yesterday I did a lot of 'getting things done'  I tend to leave things to the last minute & if they don't need doing I wont start them ... my mum calls it 'finding it hard to get to first base'  my daughter spurred me on and I got about 3/4 of the list completed.  Not big endless tasks, just small things like arranging a carpet cleaner and sewing part of my ripped gazebo.  It's quite refreshing to finally tick them and a few other jobs off my list!