Thank goodness for roast chicken!

I am on a very steep learning curve at my new company and I am finding that I'm so tired by the time I get home at night that all I want to do is crawl into bed and fall asleep! So with me having used all of my energy up at work and Eady having had a day best described as annoying, I made an executive decision to buy a roast chicken for dinner to avoid either of us having to spend time in the kitchen. Of course this meant I also had to buy roast potatoes (although I am sure that "deep fried" potatoes would have been a more accurate description) and a giant bottle of Pepsi Max, neither of which are all that acceptable given that it is currently Diabetes Awareness Week across Australia. But despite exercise and healthy eating having fallen by the wayside of late, it is not all doom and gloom as I can honestly say that I am still making an effort with my work outfits...which is lucky given it is only Day 3.

Today's outfit consisted of an LK Bennett dress, a brand that is thoroughly endorsed by The Duchess (and therefore me) which was accessorised with a patent leather belt from Cue and my Bianca Spender jacket.

I have already started to think about what to wear tomorrow which is going to be a "pants" day (as per my one day pants, next day skirt rule). I haven't quite decided yet what the final outift will be but I do know one thing, it needs to be very warm to keep out the winter chill!

Presents for Cole!

My Mum has recently returned from London after visiting my sister and her family. Although Mum was fairly unperturbed about being over there during the RW (I am sure her one and only true princess is Diana hence the lack of crazy levels of excitement like yours truly), one thing she did get very excited about was the shopping on offer in ye old Blighty. Luckily my sister is quite the fashionista with a detailed knowledge of the whos, whats, wheres and hows of shopping in London and is quite partial to a bit of shopping herself - the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree after all. Usually my Mum is quite happy to discuss things that she has bought herself and has been known to discuss not only the item in question in detail but also how she would wear it and when. When I asked Mum what she had bought herself whilst on holiday she was a little bit cagey and didn’t really answer the questions directly, employing all the usual diversional techniques we did as teenagers when she would question us about what we had got up to the night before. Knowing Mum like I do, this probably means she hit the shopping jackpot and is no doubt cleaning out one of our old bedrooms to house all of her new goodies. Woo hoo! I think I am going to have to fly down and visit her soon just so I can see her new things for myself.

Apart from Mum having a lovely time with my sister, brother-in-law and niece, one of the personal benefits for me was that I got some belated birthday presents! When Mum arrived home from the UK, she promptly posted the presents interstate and let's just say, I am one lucky b'day girl...Firstly Mum bought me a lovely jersey dress in a beautiful purple colour and when I tried it on I felt very much like Ms. Joan Holloway of Stirling, Cooper, Draper, Price from the Mad Men series (minus the boosies of course).

The really cool thing is that the dress can be worn back-to-front should I feel the need to be a little more saucy. I just know that this dress will become a staple item that I wear to The Office. It is by L.K. Bennett which has The Duchess’ seal of approval too. Bingo.

Mum also bought me a gorgeous high-waisted, tulip skirt which emphasises the waist whilst making the width of the hips seem like it is due to the folds and darts in the fabric (as opposed to real hips due to cupcake consumption). The skirt is from the Marks and Spencer Limited Collection range and will easily take me from a work day in heels to a weekend in ballet flats and even to a night out thanks to the subtle metallic sheen on the fabric. From my sister and co. I got a lovely scarf which is beige with pink and blue strips. It matches the skirt perfectly which is super clever present giving from them. I wonder if my little niece chose it? Not only is she very clever but pink and blue are her two favourite colours. Thank you Little Monkey, Big Monkey loves it very much. 

As for my last present, how sweet is this? It was a Christmas present, Christmas 2011 that is! Mum sent it up to me with a little note saying that although it was a Christmas present, I should open it now and enjoy it. I was very impressed by her organisation and when I unwrapped the gorgeous Soma London cardigan, I was very impressed with her choice too. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this cardigan and I am so pleased that Mum gave it to me a whole 7 months early!