Carpe diem


Yesterday was most definitely a seize the day kinda day, when all plans for housework, paying of bills and worst of all, some in depth troubleshooting of poorly laptop had to be set aside in favour of a bit of messing about in boats. After a quick gathering together of the basics for a picnic, Steve and I took off in the boat and headed out to find a beach to ourselves. 


The sunshine and that end of summer feeling had brought the locals out, all wanting to enjoy the islands before autumn truly takes hold.



We moored up in the bay at Tean and crossed the narrow neck of land onto a sweep of beach which faced out into the Atlantic affording us the most idyllic view.




Round Island Lighthouse looking very majestic.



We drank in the view which was populated by the occasional boat sailing by.


Never one to miss a photo opportunity, I just happened to have the perfect late summer outfit ready for the moment. (Technical issues however abound currently with both camera and laptop, so apologies for the slightly fuzzy photos!)







Full marks to Steve for his creative eye with the setting for these shots. Low tide isn't always the prettiest to photograph, but the boy done good, don't you think?


Windswept hair and no lipstick has a real back to basics look for me in these shots. My beach dress was a sale purchase last summer from Sainsbury's, sunnies are my ol' faithfuls by Quay, necklace is by Charlie Dodge and bangle is preloved.


And finally, the news is that my modelling debut is on the news stands! The October issue of Woman and Home features adverts for the new "I AM" campaign for JD Williams. I'm thrilled to have made the cut and still can't quite believe it. The full story along with more shots are, of course, going to follow, but I just couldn't keep quiet for any longer.



Thanks go to my son Jamie for lending me his laptop otherwise there might have been a long blogging break while mine is being looked at by the IT doctor. I'm missing some of the technical help that my own laptop offers, so do bear with me if things are not looking quite the same as they usually do.

Wishing you a fab week!

Anna x

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My new Marks and Spencer blouse


Good morning my dear readers and how are you on this fine sunny day? If you live in the UK you'll be getting used to this weather being more of a constant than the fleeting promise that summer used to be, and oh how grand it is to be able to rely on the sun showing its face day after beautiful day! The Isles of Scilly are looking mighty fine at the moment and are teaming with happy holiday makers who can't believe their luck.


I want to share this fabulous floral blouse which is NOT preloved and that I bought a couple of weeks ago from M&S for £19.50. I've just done a search to find that it's on sale now at £12, but sizes are going fast! Get yours here. Anyway folks, it's a lovely shirt, cool and easy to wear and has been an asset over the past week when I seem to have worn it at least three times when travelling and generally out and about. 


The fabric is modal which I had to look up as I wasn't sure what that means - 
Modal is a type of rayon fabric that is made from the fibres of the beech tree. Oftentimes modal fabric is blended with cotton, spandex, and other fibres because it is very soft, resists creases, has a very smooth finish, and drapes well.


The fabric does indeed drape well and the fit was loose and cool for this current spell. I chose a size 10 which fits as expected; one point that I must mention is the magic button - that perfect placement of the button at bust level which stops the blouse gaping and revealing the bra. I've washed and worn it a couple of times and the colour is holding fast too.The compliments came thick and fast when I wore this outfit. The jeans (charity shopped) are by Fat Face and this is the first time I've worn them, also they have a bit of stretch making them perfect for everyday wear. 


These cute little slingbacks were from Topshop a few summers ago and are still going strong. The colour is a great match for these cotton jeans and they are super comfy leather too which has moulded to the shape of my (broad) feet. 


This sunny outfit was completed by the addition of my Candy Bag by Furla. A search for this has taken me to a rather fabulous pink version of this bag which has me in a quandary as it's on sale too! The best thing (for me) about this spacious bag is the fact that the semi opaque finish means that it's flooded with light when you peek inside meaning no more scrabbling about in the dark trying to find wallet and sunglasses in a hurry. I took it with me on my recent trip to the mainland and it was like a miniature filing cabinet just by the very nature of its shape - everything sat static inside allowing me to have a place for everything and everything in its place. I like to feel organised when I'm off the island and this bag really helped me with my control freak tendencies.


And here I am, on my travels last week. I hooked up with this gorgeous group of ladies (now friends) on a wonderfully exciting project, a modelling job in fact. I'm contracted to say nothing more until it goes live in the autumn, but suffice to say it was great fun, a fabulous opportunity and something which was a huge learning curve for me. I'll have lots more to tell you in due course and hopefully my photos won't end up on the cutting room floor!

In the meantime I'll leave you with a couple of shots of the islands as they shimmer in the summer heat. 




My dear friend Kate was here recently giving us a couple of days overlap before I scooted off to the mainland. We had two early morning swims down on Appletree Bay and put the world to rights at the same time - such are the joys of friendship!


Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Anna x

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Brooch pile revised

One of the downsides of being a perfectionist is that I'm always in competition with myself. I know I can always do/be better and this reaches into every corner of my life. Take my brooch pile jacket from earlier on this summer see here. I was delighted with how this came together, but after a couple of wears I felt it could maybe benefit from a tweak or two. So here we have the new, improved version...









I wore the jacket on the mainland recently and it really drew quite a few compliments. The jacket dazzled and shone and I basked in its reflected glory. The need to improve it has passed now - it's as perfect as it needs to be. My shrink will be impressed with my progress.

Jacket from Gap, dress from TK Maxx as are sandals (these are nice). Watch is by Michael Kors and sailors knot bangle is by Kate Spade New York, rings are all gifts. Sunglasses are from Quay Australia.

Linking with
Dawn Lucy of Fashion Should Be Fun 
Anna x

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