The grass is several shades of blue

 Cardi: Gap. Top: Dorothy Perkins. Jeans: TopShop. Shoes: Dune. Necklace: www.mockinghorse.co.uk

I seem to be embracing the yellow lately, don’t I? Must be the signs of impending summer

Over the weekend, I was rummaging around some old photos (On the hunt for formal pictures and pictures of my teenage years, both of which are rather light on the ground, between lack of occasion and detestation of having my picture taken. And viewing the resulting images.) and stumbled across this one:

    This is me, a bit over ten years ago, on my 24th birthday. Celebrating in style (erm) in Pizza Hut with my then-new colleagues, including the person who that weekend became my other half. I’ve never really thought it’s a particularly great picture of me – and I actually prefer the way I look now – but it’s a fantastic picture of the moment.

Funny how you can see energy in a still image sometimes, isn’t it?

I lost my ignorance, security and pride

 Cardi: thrifted. Top: Wallis via eBay. Jeans: TopShop. Shoes: Dorothy Perkins. Necklace: Tatty Devine

I seem to be easing myself into heels this week, for some reason. Another one of those weeks where I’m glad I work somewhere that allows for a greater range of clothes than many – it allows for the following of moods as well as different expressions of self. And there’s enough facets of me that I never talk about (I guess we’re all the same in that respect) that somehow, it feels satisfying to be able to express at least a few of them visually. Not that I really know what this outfit says to the outward observer – any volunteers for interpreting it?

It doesn’t fit my plans but I’ve got that taste in my mouth again

 Jumper: Dorothy Perkins. Bra: Ariza Poppy by Panache. Yeah, these don’t normally make it on show but what the hell, I’m at home! Jeans: TopShop via eBay. Slippers: buggered if I can remember

Guess who’s working from home today? Still, nothing wrong with a little bit of slouchy jumper and messy hair action once in a while I think, and it’s quite a novelty to be able to blog conveniently at lunchtime. Bar the slippers, I’m still on a par with what most of my colleagues wear on a daily basis anyway – although I normally make an effort to hide my bra at least! Still, I’m sure the birds don’t care.

So, this weekend was a bit of a strange one for me. I actually finally made it along to a knitting group, having found one a while back that met at convenient times for me (bit like when I looked into martial arts classes – they all seemed to be either close to work but hours after I finish or close to home about 5 minutes after I finish work, thus wildly inconvenient!) and plucked up the courage to go along. I’m not very good at New Groups Of People. I tend to find I can get along with pretty much anyone, but for all I expect it would surprise a few people I’m very definitely an introvert – I need time alone to recharge and find excessive social contact, however dearly I love the people involved, leaves me craving an hour or two alone and meeting new people en masse is nervewracking as well as exciting. Getting over that initial hurdle of Scary New Thing is fairly difficult for me – I’m sure I looked deeply awkward wandering over to them and saying ‘hello! you must be the knitterly types I’ve come to meet!’. Of course, as is usually the case, it went brilliantly – everyone was lovely, the conversation flowed, and I’ll definitely be going back.

It’s one thing I lack, really. I have very good friends, but they are geographically rather scattered and between that and them starting families we just don’t see each other often enough. Same goes for my other half’s friends, with whom we used to hang out more than we do. I miss ‘em, but I also miss just having a natter with people on a fairly casual basis. The thing with being an introvert is that it’s my instinct to retreat protectively into my head rather than reach out to people, and then any lonely feelings end up getting compounded. So, I’ve been doing my best to counteract that lately – to explain and own my feelings instead of burying them, to seek out what I need instead of retreating from it, to, well, deal basically. And it’s working. I’ve never actually felt happier or more confident about myself, I feel like I know myself and my capabilities and needs really well now.

Now all I need is for circumstance and the rest of the world to catch up…

Atom to atom

Top: thrifted. Jeans: TopShop. Shoes: Jones via eBay. Belt: H&M. Necklace: Anna Lou of London

How is it that the day after an extra long weekend seems longer than average? Still, the bank holiday weekend involved the strangeness that was a local May Day festival (I do love all the pagan-influenced weirdness that still happens in small communities around this sort of time of year. Bring on the morris dancers!) and much entertainment seeing the Avengers Assemble film at the pictures, so I’m happy.

The hand of fate or devil’s claws?

 Cardi: Gap. Top: Miss Selfridge via eBay. Jeans: TopShop. Shoes: Jones via eBay. Necklace: Anna Lou of London

Yeah, today felt like a jeans sort of day.

In true catching-onto-trends-ages-after-they-begin style, a friend and I did some trying on of things we wouldn’t normally wear over the weekend, which means you might be seeing some paperbag waisted peg trousers (I know! But trying on a pair revealed they actually really suited me – they’re high waisted, which does tend to work for me.) and coloured capris on here at some point, when I find variants that I prefer to the proof-of-concept ones I tried on, and when weather permits.

I have two shopping styles for bricks and mortar shops. One is the super-speedy, on my own, in-and-out-quickly approach – I zip round time, try on only what I have to, and will be done within the hour. The other is the sort of day that’s more about hanging out with a really good friend than it is about shopping. It usually involves rather a lot of sushi, and we take our time and wander round looking at all sorts of things, usually without any particular agenda. I have one friend in particular who is awesome for encouraging me to try things I would never have thought to try before and providing honest and critical feedback. Y’need friends like that, especially when you’re feeling a bit in a rut. Thanks, Sarah, chuck!

What did you hear me say? You know the difference it makes.

Jumper: thrifted. Jeans: TopShop. Boots: Dune. Necklace: Next

Maybe it’s the looming full moon or just the Mondayness after a weekend of work, family amusement and beautiful snowy blankets (hence the sensible flat boots – there was a few inches of snow on the ground when I left my house, though half of it has melted now), but today was a decidedly, well, meh sort of day.

I said early on that the needle on my foolsufferometer was clanging around in the orange section, and while I hung onto my temper I did have cause to issue a mild rebuke or two in different contexts. All with positive results, fortunately.

One really heartening thing was in realising for the thousandth time just what good friends my, er, good friends are. Thank you, m’love

I was born tired. I never got rested

Top: F&F via eBay. Jean: TopShop. Boots: Duo via eBay. Necklace: www.mockinghorse.co.uk

Giving myself a break from clothing-relating conundrums by pulling on a not very interesting outfit that at least had the virtue of being easy and comfy – well, half of it is cashmere – a sensation-fiend like me can’t help but enjoy wearing that!

The thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing right within your heart.

 Cardi: thrifted. Blouse: New Look via eBay. Jeans: TopShop. Shoes: M&S via eBay. Necklace: www. mockinghorse.co.uk

Last Thursday was our office Christmas party, which involved us shutting up shop a wee bit early (We have an on-call rota, incidentally, and the relevant people stayed sober so any emergencies would still be covered. Fortunately, of course, there were none.) and descending on a city centre establishment en masse (all fifteen of us, since one person was off sick) for a few hours of free-but-slightly-substandard meal and free-and-plentiful drinks, which combined to make much laughter.

Ours isn’t really the sort of gathering where anyone is likely to behave in too shocking a fashion, and there aren’t really any out of bounds topics of conversation, so I’m not quite sure what the three relatively new people made of it all but I think everyone had a good laugh. And I manage to surprise one person by revealing my sex toy sales past (Everyone else already knew this, but he had formed an opinion of me as, and I quote, ‘a coy, Laura Ashley type’ based solely on my wardrobe. Ahem.) and vegetarian present, a few others by revealing my Skyrim-playing habit and used-to-fiddle-with-programming-back-in-the-days-when-it-was-all-BASIC-and-tape-drives past, and cause someone to feel an urge to buy a PS3 by revealing that Final Fantasy VII is available on the Playstation Network. Job done, I think!

Slightly odd being on a bus home by 7.30pm and curled up with a cup of tea and Skyrim by 8.15pm though!