My best Gizzi Erskine impression... dinner for the girls...

Two of my very good friends had birthdays last week so on Friday I did a birthday dinner for 7 of us...

Starter
Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
Antipasti platter including tomatoes with mozzarella and basil

Main
Chicken stuffed with garlic butter and wrapped in parma ham
Haloumi for the veggie
Dauphinoise Potatoes
Chipped potatoes cooked in rosemary
carrots and runner beans

Pudding
Lemon Cheesecake
Meringues with fruit and cream (for my friend who is gluten intolerant)


Everything was made from scratch by me. I love cooking, it was nice to have the time to do it and to set the table nicely, getting out all my best vintage crockery and glasses!! :)

 

 Vintage 60s dress from eBay, vintage apron from jumble sale.

 

Beehive... feeling like Gizzi! Oh how I love her! :)
Vintage bead necklace from a friend.

 
Cooking prep!

 
Yummy!

 
Flowers picked from my garden.

 
Scrummy!

 
Cheesecake!

 
Jug of Daiquiri! LOVE cocktails!

 

We are now enjoying a lazy Sunday after a very very busy weekend! #knackered

much love Jo

xoxo

Introducing Audrey...

I have an awesome new bike... her name is Audrey!

She is a hybrid. A little bit sit up and beg style but with suspension and mountain bike style wheels and lots of gears. Style and comfort.

I live in the countryside and up a big ol' hill so an old bike wasn't an option. Audrey has the best of both for me!!

I also have some lovely red cherry blossom panniers but Hubby hasn't got round to fixing the rack on yet!

Can't wait to go for a proper ride tomorrow!

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

XOXO

Hot and happy after a photoshoot in the big smoke...

So I have expressed on this blog my general dislike for having my photo taken. Something I am trying to get over... I am generally body confident and happy with how I look and I encourage all friends, family, random people I meet to express themselves how they want to with clothes etc and feel equally confident! I am a very firm believer that we come in all shapes and sizes and this should be celebrated!! ... so why am I over critical of my own pics??

Anyways, being in the spotlight for the wedding has forced me to get over it a bit but then I put myself forward for a project involving a proper photo shoot and was selected to participate... I went to London and completed said photo shoot today. I am not allowed to give any details at this stage but of course I will bore you with the pics when they arrive!! ;)

I apologise for these pics my hair and make-up was a little dishevelled at this point!

I thoroughly enjoyed getting my make-up done by a professional and they left my hair as it was as they liked the way I had done it!! #smugface :D

The only downside of the day was the heat... boy was it hot hot hot! we are finally getting a bit of summer in the UK.

I couldn't wait to strip down to my lovely vintage 50s slip! 50p jumble sale bargain1

I also came home to my new radio!!  Yay! Its just a cheap replica but its very cute. Its to leave on for our German Shepherd when we are out - she suffers from separation anxiety and tends to chew!

This little man has been enjoying the sun! :D

Hope you've all had a good day, my Mondays are not usually this good!

XOXO

Sorry another wedding pic!!

I'm not that keen on having my pic taken - but I do like this one!

I don't like pics but I do LOVE my wedding dress! I would wear it everyday if I could!!

xoxo

Behind the wedding glamour....

There was a lot of boring unglamorous jobs....

My fella and his friend built our giant cakestand and I added mini bunting made from scraps of fabric from our big bunting.

We collected hundreds of bits of crockery ready for afternoon tea and it all had to be washed ... before and after the day!!!

 Luckily we had some sunshine to doing the drying!! :D

Jumble sale plates + fella with steady hands and drill (wearing my crocs!!) + cheap ebay stand bits = pretty, unique, cheap as chips, cakestands, they work out about £1.50 each!!! :D

I still found time for fancy hair... I am rather vain, I have to have a fancy barnet!!



XOXO

Saturday night... off to twist the night away!

So here I am in my new dress off to watch a band...

I didn't look so glam at 3am eating a doner kebab!!! hehe!

Apologies for the miserable face, I was smiling but my fella takes so bloody long taking a picture, I got face ache!

*Original 50s dress from etsy (It has little white polka dots on it)
*shoes £10 in a new look sale :)
*Wicker basket from ebay
*hair flower somewhere along the way, I have so many I can't remember them all!
*My 1965 Hillman Superminx called Bluebell!!

xoxo

So before the wedding there was a hen do... or two... Part 2

Sorry another photo heavy post... I think the pictures speak for themselves!

Hen Do 1 was very chilled out... Hen Do 2 was a little wilder. Vintage bus into Oxford anyone?! :D

Warning: photos may contain willy straws!! :D

Hubby came to wave us off on the bus and bought us champagne... I knew there was a good reason for marrying him!!

I styled quite a lot of the girls hair! We had a fifties theme to honour my vintage dressing passion (made my life easy! :D )

My curly Lucille Ball inspired 'poodle do' survived the dancing very well!

I was a happy hen, a super happy bride and now I am a very happy Mrs. I am a very lucky girl with wonderful friends and family who have made this amazing for me!!

My hubby ain't too bad either!! :)

XOXO

So before the wedding there was a hen do... or two... Part 1 - yurt'ing

So for my first hen do (yes I was very lucky, I had two.. well almost 3! :D!!) my very nearest and dearest and I headed to Swanage to stay in a Yurt.


So it was just us girls apart from a special little man... Prototype. This little guy was the prototype groom knitted by my bridesmaid's mum for the top of a special cake being made just for the groom - his fav - millionaires shortbread!


Picture overload time....

Breakfast in our local pub to start off our trip...

The ferry was a tad windy...

The yurt! :)

There's a long story behind my knitted companions... they are very cute!

Yum!

Girls on tour!!! :D

Prototype!!

Steak dinner...

The great British summer!!

 Fishy...

 One too many...

 Lanterns!!

Cozy...

 cream tea...

XOXO