temptation in my inbox

The summer sales have kicked off. And as I'm signed up to a good few newsletters, I get reminders from a number of online shops several times a day. I admit that I've taken a sneaky look. But so far, I've resisted temptation. Instead, I've started my next sewing project: my first dress! Fabric is all cut - let the sewing begin!

Update:
Dress is done and given it's my first attempt, I'm relatively pleased with it.
But I've also given in to temptation after all and bought a denim dress at Oliver Bonas. It was reduced to £25!!! Photos to follow...

Good news re my laptop: I got all my files back! But I will be buying a new laptop. Just need to decide which one.

bloody technology...

My laptop died last weekend. At least so I think. A's brother is very kindly having a look at it and the great news is that all my files and photos (which OF COURSE I hadn't backed up anywhere...) have been recovered. The jury is still out on whether or not I will have to buy a new laptop. Which I am not too bothered about - not least as the broken one was a present and I like getting new and shiny things :-)

But for a little while it will probably be more quiet on my blog.

Until then - enjoy the summer!

a new home for my shoes

Not sure whether getting an ebay account was a smart idea... Well, with my growing shoe collection, I really did need a bigger shoe rack though as I had started keeping some shoes in a big pile as I had run out of space.

It's just as flimsy as the previous one, so I am a little worried that it will collapse shortly. But it does hold more shoes and the black looks nicer, too:

As you can see, it's full already, so my self-imposed shoe-shopping ban continues.

And let's not talk about yesterday's footy match: Germany vs Ghana (2:2; well, I suppose we were kind of lucky to manage a draw!),

The Mentalist at the Gherkin

I'd been to a meeting at the Gherkin last year, but last week, I got to enjoy a lovely dinner organized by Visit Belfast. My phone unfortunately doesn't take great photos (as you know) so I can't really share the amazing views over the city nor the absolutely beautiful sunset.

After dinner, we were entertained by David Meade. I have to admit - I had never heard of him. But apparently he's had a show on BBC for five years. And while I was relieved not to be picked as a volunteer, his show (imagine Derren Brown) was really fascinating. And randomly ended with a dance group dancing energetically to Pharrel's 'Happy'.

Yummy duck starter; better than average chicken; and donut for dessert? lovely!

I lost it

My voice, that is. And it's quite weird. I've of course had a hoarse voice before, but not to this extreme: by the end of today, I was really struggling to get a sentence out. I can usually speak to my boss across the office without getting up from my desk - but couldn't raise my voice sufficiently.

Interestingly, I am feeling better than I did at the beginning of the week. My husky voice is a result of my cold, exacerbated by the dinner I attended last night, where I had to shout at the lady sitting right next to me, because of all the noise in the room...

Bring on the weekend! Time to relax and re-energize.

Sailor dress

I searched for 'sailor dress pattern' on ebay, and got myself this:

3-2-1: Mine for £7.49 :-)

Pearls of wisdom

who is Tom????