Mr Fogg's Gin Parlour - #chicandstylish #LINKUP

Morning my friends.
How are you this fine morning?

I can't believe it's the last day of October already!
Remember I told you I was having a busy few days?  Well if you followed my IG stories you may have seen on Friday I was in London with some girl friends to celebrate one of their birthdays.  We caught the train to the capital to have afternoon tea in a pre-booked venue.  Said venue was Mr Fogg's Gin Parlour in Covent Garden.  We had two lovely hours in the quaint, authentic second floor parlour, being taught how to appreciate gin properly.  We had to take a swig and swill it around our mouth for a full minute, after that our mouths felt on fire!  This procedure lets the taste buds become fully receptive - boy can you then appreciate the full flavour of the gin - delicious.  Dainty sandwiches, cakes and scones with jam and cream followed, all washed down with a really tasty gin & tea cocktail served in a tea pot - very quirky and quite different.
Our afternoon finished and we then moved onto another unusual & sophisticated setting.  Archer Street Bar is situated in Soho.  It was perfect for entertaining our small group, but also welcomed couples too.  The bar serves a wide range of drinks and cocktails with a resident DJ playing hip and trendy music interspersed with spontaneous singing from the bar staff - truly a magical & entertaining evening that I'd thoroughly recommend.  I reckon they must be out of work musical actors, who worked their magic for our own personal enjoyment, if you're ever in the capital, do take a look - it's well worth it.
This is taken in Covent Garden, where they have some amazing flower displays that make awesome backdrops.

Style not Age - My Favourite Trend for Autumn ...Rust!

Morning my friends.
Hope you're all good.
I'm actually away with my mum and sister today - so had to plan ahead for this one.
With it being the last Monday of the month the Style not Age ladies are in charge of the post.  It's been my choice this month and after a few harder challenges I thought I'd try and make this one a little easier. So my choice for today's endeavor is.....

My Favourite Trend for Autumn .... Rust!

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

Once a month Hilda, Anna, Emma and I take turns to style a theme our own way, you can see some of our previous topics here for September, August, July and June.

Slinky Black Midi Dress. #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Hi there, how are you all?
Been a nice couple of days doing not a lot after a busy weekend.  Although there's another busy weekend on the horizon for me, so I'm making the most of the quiet, less chaotic time and just relaxing with the dog!
Friday I'm in London with some girl friends for an afternoon tea to celebrate a birthday.  I'm really looking forward to spending some time in the capital & hopefully having a bit of retail therapy too!  Sunday I'm away for a couple of days with my mum and sister, with mum's birthday whilst we are away so that will be really nice for us to be together.  We're going to stay in Rye - a place I've only driven through so It will be nice to see what the place holds for us - lots of lovely restaurants I hope, maybe the odd pub or two as well! 😉

Today's outfit is a more detailed look into the dress I wore for Esther's 'wig' party.  Have a look and let me know what you think about this slinky little number and what other ways it could be styled -I've got a few ideas rolling around my head already!

Style Steal - Casual Tiger Print.

Morning my lovelies.
What horrible weather to wake up to!  Windy and rainy, so glad I've not got to go out in it! Hope it will clear by the time I pop to the shops later!
What have you been up to this weekend?  Another whirl-wind for me.  Out dancing on Friday evening, catching up with hubby for a few drinks in the local.  Saturday I collected a few bits to bake for the Christening, then had my nails done in a striking bright red for our friends party that night.
Sunday I managed to get up early (really didn't want to after the copious amount of Prosecco I'd consumed) to bake what I was taking to the Christening.  Didn't seem that much but two hours later I have five platters of Sausage Rolls, Chicken Nuggets, Cocktail Sausages, Pork Pies, Spring Rolls, homemade Rocky Road & Profiteroles.  I hastily got ready in the dress I'd bought to match some elegant shoes I've been sent and will share with you soon, then we were off for the 12.00 Christening.
We had a lovely afternoon celebrating my grandson's special day and came home to a take out curry that I'd been longing for.  Has to be one of my most favourite dishes, but don't seem to have had an Indian for quite a few weeks and really savoured it!  Chicken Patia is my chosen love, what's yours?

So I'm digressing, it's the Third Monday of the month, so after missing last months edition, I best get started on this one.
Welcome to the October Style Steal.

Ten things you didn't know about me! #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Morning my lovely friends.
Hope all is well with you are in blogging land.
I'm feeling a little despondent of late, you know comparing, see what others are doing and wondering why little ol' me should think I can do this blogging lark.  I know I shouldn't compare myself to others, but my juggling skills just don't cut the mustard sometimes.  I'm trying to complete a marathon on all my social media sites and on the blog - visiting, commenting, and sharing seems to be all I do - but it doesn't seem to make a different, my numbers don't seem to be going anywhere!  If you have a secret answer, please pass it on!!!
A little late with posting today, had to rush out and get these photos done last minute, many thanks to my son who I begged to take photos before he went training. Hugs to you darling. x
So my #ootd for getting my fringe trimmed and looking after my grandson is this.  It's an old number put together through haste rather then knowing it would work, but I think I've just about managed it!

Do you all know Nancy - Nancy's Fashion Style she blogs about her fashion and lifestyle with many additions peppered throughout her posts. Recently she shared a fabulous one about herself.  She told us all about ten things we didn't already know about her.  Such an interesting insight into someone so imaginative and likeable.
So today I'm sharing my 'Ten things you don't know about me!'

Black Midi's, Wigs and a Poorly Doggy.

Morning my lovelies.
How you all doing?
Another hectic and rather worrying weekend.  I looked after three of my grand-kids on Saturday, so as you can imagine my house was turned up-side-down with stuff everywhere - food, toys, cups, plates, rubbish, toys, clothes, bags and more toys!  Hubby and I kept asking each other how the hell we managed to bring up five children! and still be sane (well sort of).
We took them to get a few bits from the supermarket, grabbing some sweets and crisps along the way.  Then we went on to a local indoor kids play center, my prince and princess loved it, running off to enjoy every slide, ball park, soft play area, climbing frame and tunnel, my younger grandson also enjoyed the baby area, although kept trying to crawl off chasing stray balls from the ball area!  I had a nice latte coffee as did hubby - although he would have preferred a beer if they sold them!  Coming home we were greeted by an unpleasant puddle from our little dog, who'd not been well for a few days, I ended up taking her to the vets where they checked her over and she was found to have Pancreatitis! A two night stay at the vets ensued which was the best place for her, but I did hate leaving her sorry little face looking at me saying "take me home please" 😢  Hope the outcome of this will be a positive, as I've missed her so much and hate for her to have to go through such an awful ordeal.
Sunday, after a late night at my god-daughter Esther's birthday party on Saturday night was very slow and rather lazy - feeling smug .com for bagging an invitation to middle daughter's house for a roast dinner - really nice not to have to cook, and even better to not have to wash the dishes!  Feeling sad and rather deflated when I returned to an empty house on Sunday evening, resigned to the fact I would hopefully be picking my baby up in the morning and that she'd be spending another night at the vets.  Imagine how happy I felt when the phone rang and the vet said Roxy had much improved so would be better off recuperating at home!  I swiftly jumped in the car to fetch her - delighted with the lively little doggy who met me, quite the opposite to the sad little waif I had dropped off.  (As I type this she's sitting next to me fast asleep) Bliss. 💗

What's the Oldest Thing you Own? - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Good morning my lovely friends.
How are you all doing?
I managed a little shopping last Tuesday, and picked up two dresses and a cute and sassy pair of trousers.  I'll be showing them in the next few weeks, so do stop back as they're all very stylish.
You might recall me saying I'd sorted some of my clothes, so whilst going through my drawers folding and sorting it occurred to me that one outfit in particular stood out for the fact I've had it so long! Which led me to this blog post .....

What's the Oldest Thing you Own?

LBT, Black Jeans & Shirt Dress with Cerise Pink.

Morning all.
Hope you're all okay.
I've had a quiet weekend.  Due to go out with friends but feeling slightly under par I didn't go. Hopefully it can be postponed - afternoon tea would have been right up my street, but fingers crossed I can go another day.
I was going through my jewellery box a few weeks when I was delighted to find the watch hubby bought me quite a few years ago - I'd spotted it in a shop window and recalled in detail just what the striking Dolce and Gabbana timepiece looked like - imagine my surprise when he presented it to me for our anniversary - it's quite noticeable and very unusual.  It needed a battery which I'd neglected and then forgotten to get, it's nice to be wearing it again - let me know if it's one you'd wear.
Later today I'm out with Esther taking photos, and I've got some great footwear to share with you along with an interesting pair of hand warmers too!  Do look out for them.

The Perfect LBT Again! #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Hi there my lovelies - how you all doing?
Summer seems a distant memory now, even though we've had a couple of days with the sun shining, it's still turned really chilly!  I've been wearing boots and jumpers and have even pulled on a scarf on a couple of days!
Guess what?  I've finally sorted out my wardrobe AND have a big pile of unwanted, over-sized clothes!  I need to either get them on Ebay or Depop, or put them in the charity bin - either way they simply won't be going back in my closet! 😉
Last weekend we headed out for my SIL's birthday party.  I had bought a new dress (to be shared next week hopefully) to wear and paired the navy blue crepe dress with nude heels.  I'm excited to show my new dress, although it's not my usual choice of colour or length for that matter, so will be interested to know what you think!
Sunday, after a long lay-in we popped into town to visit the annual Food Festival.  There were plenty of pop-up tents and marquees with mouth-watering food choices.  I started with a yummy pulled pork roll (didn't eat the roll) which was filled with pickle and slaw too.  Washed this down with a fast zero drink and went on to consume a delicious chicken curry, rice and salad.  With my dinner part full and my pudding side empty I opted for a latte - with a shot of Bailey's... well it is almost, nearly, not quite ... Christmas!!! My go-to drink for the festive season.  Finally I needed a sugar fix, so devoured a couple of Churros complete with Nutella - well it kinda had to be done.... right!
Today I'm sharing another outfit based around this cute little black top I picked up in Primark a few weeks ago.  You can see when I first styled it here with my white Bermuda shorts & long line jacket.