Christmas cometh...

Oh goodness, it's only a week until Christmas - how exciting! I'm busy at work cleaning the gallery before I get the Christmas decorations out and this was my outfit of the day. 

Steve very kindly did the honours with my photos today which did incur quite a lot of hilarity. But it was good to be able to get some outdoors shots so that was another bonus. My outfit is mostly new or new-to-me. Gold jacket from Vinted, sequin jumper (ASOS) from Vinted and gold boots (Zara) from Vinted too. The black jeans are new, from Primark from my recent mainland trip.

Steve tolerates my bossiness re how to take the best shots, thank goodness. In addition he's prone to chucking in a few hints and tips, mainly ridiculous ones just to make me laugh. 

I'm happy to report that the fudge production is going well. I'm on the final stretch now, with only four more batches to make this weekend. I also hope to clean most of the house downstairs by the end of Sunday as I'll be working right through to Christmas Eve. 

STOP PRESS! I've just discovered this evening that the freight ship which is bringing my frozen turkey across to the islands, along with many, many other Christmas grocery orders has broken down and is returning to Penzance. This isn't the first time that Christmas has been blighted by freight issues - one year all of the frozen turkeys were left out on the quayside all evening and had started to defrost before they had even been put onto the boat. Ever since then I've always had a plan B. I now schedule two Christmas orders with Tesco's both with a turkey on them, but only two days apart. If my first turkey arrives, then fine I simply cancel my second one. Hopefully by tomorrow evening I will know whether to allow turkey number two to come or if I can cancel it. Turkey number two is a fresh one which will make life a bit easier too. Oh the joys of island life!

My gold coloured rings are both old, the flower one was a gift from a friend and the other a charity shop find. My sunglasses are old too.

And that pretty much winds things up for this week. Life is good, busy and slightly bonkers at times as I try to fit in the wrapping of presents, stirring of fudge and making list after list in an effort to feel in control as the big day races towards us. I'm sure we're all in the same boat and I love the idea of each little house being a hive of industry and stress too, but mostly full of the joy and anticipation of spending quality time with loved ones at this most special time of the year. I'll be back before Christmas with another festive outfit to share with you. 

See you soon!

Anna x

Driving down that cost-per-wear

The purchase of this leather jacket in February of this year was a heady extravagance while I was on holiday, but one which I knew I could justify. So here we have the peach coloured beauty lifting a run-of-the-mill dress out of the ordinary.

With the spring weather as unpredictable as ever, I'm pretty sure I'll still be wearing this little jacket for quite a few months to come. The neutral colour makes it so versatile as does the shape. I do have two other posts sitting in my draft box both showing this jacket too, so that makes the cpw currently about £50. Compared with some of my amazing charity shop finds I know this is pretty high, but this jacket is going to be around for many years. 

Talking of shops, at the time of this post going live, I'll still be on the mainland where I'll be attending the British Craft Trade Fair. This is my annual shopping trip for the gallery that I run. Hopefully I'll come back to the island laden with all sorts of wonderful gifts for the business. The BCTF takes place in Harrogate in Yorkshire which is quite a long old train ride from Cornwall; about a nine hour trip in fact. It's worth the effort though as one of the perks is that the ladies of Harrogate are very well heeled and donate some wonderful clothes to their local charity shops. At the time of writing, my suitcase is packed, but only half full in anticipation of my finds. In addition, I've added two soft holdalls in case my loot is extensive. Yes, yes, yes - you don't need to remind me of my resolution to have a mega clearout this year. But my logic is that by introducing some new bargains, I'll be ready to get rid of some of the old, well worn pieces. This kind of logic will be very familiar to other clothesaholics and fashion bloggers. Laugh all you want - it's what makes me happy. I'll be sharing my spoils with you on the blog soon. Watch this space...

Jacket: DSquared at TK Maxx. Dress: M&S (charity shop). Boots: River Island.  Necklace: Phase Eight. Tights: Dorothy Perkins. Watch: Michael Kors. Gold bangle: Kate Spade New York. Rings: charity shop.

Heels or flats?

Mornings seem to be such a rush for me. No matter how early I get up, I'm always rushing when I finally get dressed. I wish I could be one of those very organised people who get their prep done the night before. The idea of laying out my clothes in the evening seems like a great plan, but it doesn't work for me. I really like to wait to see the day before I commit. Once I've come back from swimming I have a better sense of what the day ahead will be like weather wise. Yes, I know that British weather can be so changeable, but at least I can make a better stab at it in the morning. 

And this is where the outfit goes wrong to my mind. Much as I love these shoes and was delighted to get the tartan tights out for their blog debut, it didn't take me long to decide I wasn't happy. By lunchtime I needed to get our of these crazy high heels (so impractical for work) and that's what I did.

My gold boots were instantly an improvement, and dispensing with the patterned tights in favour of the block colour also seemed like the right move. In addition, I could actually get up and down the ladder at work which is pretty important when it comes to moving artwork around! Dressing up for work is great, but sometimes I forget the need to be functional. Thank goodness I live only 200m from work making this quick change at lunchtimes an easy task. In fact I sometimes have to change my entire outfit because the temperature has risen so much by lunchtime. The huge gallery windows offer a great view, but can act as a greenhouse too, meaning a cosy outfit for the early morning start can cause meltdown by midday.

On a fine evening this is my favourite spot to watch the sun go down. 

Jacket: TK Maxx. Skirt: Mounts Bay Trading Co. Shirt: gift. Belt: old. Burgundy shoes: charity shop. Tartan tights: eBay. Gold boots: River Island. Cobalt tights: eBay. Necklace: Charlie Dodge. Pink ring: gift. Blue ring: charity shop.