Tuesday 9 April 2013

All dressed up with somewhere to go



Any of you who have followed my blog for a while will know that I am far from a domestic goddess.

I cook pretty well, feed the family perfectly respectable meals, and deal with the 
mountain of washing and ironing generated by a household of five in reasonably efficient form.

But cleaning... No, I am not good at cleaning. 
Housework is a pointless, thankless chore which I avoid as much as possible, until the cat hair and crumb levels threaten to overwhelm us, and the appearance of unscheduled visitors has me hanging my head in shame and refusing to answer the front door.
 
And I don't remember where I put things. I am not good at that kind of efficient household organisation either, we constantly seem to swim along at the outer edges of a chaotic whirlpool of randomness.



 
Unnecessary vintage glamour - that is something I am good at. 
 
I had a mini tidy up today (yes, visitors were scheduled) and this seemed as good an outfit as any.
 
 
 
 
1970s angel sleeve maxi dress - Ebay (£1)
Sequin top - jumble sale (25p)
Sunglasses, gold leather belt and shoes - charity shopped (50p, £1 and £5 respectively)
1950s carpet bag - flea market (£15 - blew the budget...)
Frida pendant - handmade gift from darling Tamera (we are all sending love to Miss KaeKae)
 
 
A pretty cheap outfit then (apart from the bag). 
 
Ridiculously inappropriate for shopping at Lidl and then hoovering, but never mind.



 
During my mammoth clothes-putting-away session, I found myself left with these;



22, yes, 22 odd socks. All kids'. A range of sizes. All in want of a partner.

How does this happen? Where are the other 22 socks? I know I am untidy and inefficient and domestically challenged, but seriously - where could they be? 

Anyone know? If you do, you must be a genius, it's a total mystery to me.
 



I had to go into the garden and take some photos to soothe my puzzled and irritated mood. 
 
 
 
 
 

Something else which will improve my mood immensely is another blogger meet up.
 
I know, two in five days - hurray!

Anyone in Walsall tomorrow - look out for this posse of poncho honchos!
 
 
 

 
I am looking forward to it so much, I fear I may explode with excitement.

What will you be doing tomorrow? Whatever it is, we will raise a glass to you in Wetherspoons, I'm sure!

xxxx



51 comments:

Becky said...

I LOVE your dress and sequin jacket!!! How do you get such good Ebay deals? I have horrid luck on Ebay and basically hate it now. My house runs very similar to yours... The sock thing is ridiculous and I have a huge pile of constant singles. WTF socks!
So jealous of your blogger meet up! Can' wait to hear the details,
Becky :)

List Addict said...

I love your dress. It is sublime. And it looks amazing with the gold belt. I don't see 22 single socks, I see 11 pairs of socks where the commonality in each pair is the loss of its partner. I myself have quite a few pairs like that and they are some of my favourite pairs! Cleaning - phhh - is a total waste of time because it just gets dirty again. Thanks for sharing!

Vix said...

That dress is gorgeous! If you wear that to Lidl what on earth are you going to wear tomorrow?
Love that bag and the gorgeous cape sleeved cardi over the top, I bet you caused a right kerfuffle in the cheese aisle!
How many odd socks? Those kids need to start making sock monkeys!
That picture is brilliant! I can't wait till tomorrow...what am I going to wear? xxxxxxxxxxx

Connie said...

I actually think I may have some of your socks! I was looking at my kids' pile of singles and I do believe I saw a few matches. So you know what they say, "a clean house is the sign of a wasted life."
Love,
Connie*

Ivy Black said...

FAB! I've got a pile of single socks too but mine aren't as colourful.
I'm crap at housework...can't stand it. Just about tidy up in the form of plump up a cushion or two and get the cat off where she's not mean to be.
Have a wonderful time tomorrow and give everyone a big squeeze from me. Bargains from Second to None I hope and lots of laughter.
XXXXXXXXXX

citizen rosebud said...

I am excited with you!!! For you! I love your poncho posse collage- you are all so awesome!

And the garden blossoms and you- such a beautiful bouquet.

PS: I know where the odd socks go. I know! Alternate universe hanging with Jim Morrison and Elvis. It's also where your house keys go on vacation.

Unknown said...

What a beatiful dress! Love and want it ..
Housework .. bah .. such boning stuff .

Rachel said...

Another blogger meet up! Can't wait to hear about it & see the shopping spoils. I will be mostly WFH, so at least not IN work. But shopping would be better.

Have you seen the Eddie izzard sketch about odd socks? He believes the washing machine god eats them with chopsticks. I am inclined to believe him.

Love the colours in your outfit today, better to hoover glam I say.

Louise Mc said...

What a gorgeous dress! I hate cleaning too, and regularly wear odd socks... life is too short for matching socks. Have fun tomorrow xx

OP SHOP MAMA said...

Hee hee I want to be a poncho honcho!!!
I'm with you on the sock thing - I HATE the buggars. I just chuck them all in a bag and if my kids want socks they have to go and find a pair. Bad mother.
I LOVE that dress. 1 pound!!! Score!! x

freckleface said...

So exciiiiiiiiitttttiiiiiiiing!!!!! :)

Sorry. I lost control for a second there. But it is! I adore that poncho picture. It keeps making me laugh out loud.

You look a million dollars! I love you in that outfit. You are obviously practising how to look amazing for tomorrow.

Unscheduled visitors. Possibly the two most terrifying words in the whole of the English language. Urgh. I don't answer the door either when the boobs are hanging low, the teeth unbrushed and the house in a state of revolting chaos...

Hasta manana chica! xxxxx

Pam @ over50feeling40 said...

The dress is beautiful...I love how it flows at the bottom. Great look!

Anonymous said...

You look gorgeous in that stunning dress, another fabulous ebay treasure!! The bag is awesome too and the whole outfit is mind blowing! Oh! I finally know where my lost 22 socks are, it happens so often to me even if I try to put them in a special place waiting for their partner to come out from the laundry, but it doesn't work! I'm so excited for your bloggers meet up, I wish to meet you all sooner or later, tomorrow I'm sure it will be epic! I love the poncho gang!
xxxxxxxx

Flora Cruft said...

You're all meeting up?? Ah I'm so excited/ jealous for you, it's going to be fantastic! Poncho heaven.

Talking of heaven, you look wonderful in that maxi dress with the angel sleeves, and it's my idea of heaven alright, such a gorgeous timeless dress.

Like you I am terrible at cleaning. But I'm great at cooking, and my partner loves to clean the house (I know, what's wrong with him?) so we even eachother out pretty well. My inspiration is Joan Rivers: "I hate housework! You make the beds, you do the dishes and six months over you have to start all over again."

Anonymous said...

You look so wonderful, you non-Domestic Goddess you. I love the frock and the bag - now it's my turn to ask for a close-up of the bag! I also love that 15 pounds is high-end for you ... so jealous. :)

The sock thing is a universal mystery. There is a black hole somewhere, where they all end up and mate or something.

Have a farbulous time with the gals tomorrow! Of course, we expect to hear all the juicy deets and see many a pic! xoxo

Gracey the Giant said...

So jealous other bloggers get to meet you.

I love this outfit. The dress is so great and the sequins just make it that much better.

I hate cleaning as well. It drives me crazy and makes me tired all at once.

Helga said...

O, FARK, you're looking divoonly bored and GORGEOUS!!!! Perfect frock confection, and I love the jackety sequin top with it! I'm rediscovering those types of bags, I know I have a few stashed away, must dig them out!
I just ehard about this blogger meetup last night, and I am MOST peeved I can't be there.......but Sarah and I will be having our own, shortly!!! So I'll just get excited instead of being peeved! I can't wait for pix, and O, you're meeting that gorgeous Tania!!!! SQUEEEEEEEEEE!!! You biatches will have SUCH a grand time! What ARE you all going to be wearing?! My head whirls!
LOVE YOU!XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anonymous said...

Utterly splendid you are. My odd sock solution is only a practical one, although I do like Vix's suggestion of dock monkeys. Leave them in a tub or container and any other odd socks you come by just throw them in there and then once or so go through and see if there are any new partners. Alternatively just make the kids wear odd socks.

I always love pics of your posies in the garden, how can it not make any one happier and lift the spirits. Enjoy you blogger meet up, I'm looking forward to this weekend as a few bloggers have hinted they drop by our first market stall and say hi.

Miss Simmonds Says said...

wait.... I have some of your socks in my place too, lurking in the airing cupboard. Your dress is beautiful! Such a riot of flowers. We have a cross stitched sign in our kitchen that says "An immaculate house is the sign of a wasted life". It's true. Have you planned your outfit for tomorrow? I have, I think we're going to be EXTREMELY bright tomorrow. Hope you like your CD too! xxx

Loo xx from Jumbles and Pompoms said...

Socks dont have to match you know. That's what I constantly tell my family and I'm sticking to it. Your frock is superduper - love it. I'm also liking the idea that a cleAn house is the sign of a wasted life. So damn true. So many more interesting things to do like staring into space, oh and going on boggy meet ups. Have a fab time tomorrow and dont forget to take lots of pics. Xx

Veshoevius said...

What a beautiful maxi and sequin jacket! Love this look!

Kylie said...

Ooooh! You're getting to meet LOVELY Tania! Give her a big kiss and a hug for me Curtise.
No need to say I hope you have a good time, I KNOW you will!
(kiss to you too)

Sheila said...

What a fun outfit! I also loathe cleaning and avoid it whenever possible. We usually tidy up when we have a party, making us the only home that is cleaner AFTER a party than before.

Have fun at the meet-up! I will be working. Boo.

Anonymous said...

What a gorgeous dress, and no snow in sight! How lovely to have daffodils instead.

It's funny about socks, isn't it? Jerry Seinfeld did a routine where he speculated that they clung to the side of the dryer until the coast was clear, then they'd head off and try to make it on their own. And you know when you see an odd sock laying in the street - that's one that couldn't make it on the outside.

Loved your picture of your sister in your last post - same hair, same nose. It's uncanny!

Patti said...

gorgeous dress!! Housework seems so meaningless, no? One never really *finishes* it. Love the pic of all the orphan socks. Did the others run away from home? A mystery.

thorne garnet said...

I'll be at work :( have a drink (or 3) on me.

That dresses is crazy, I love the way the print changes on the way down. Crazy how socks like to play tricks. I sometime wash them safety pinned together....and I still lose them.

joyatri said...

That bag was well worth it. Have we seen it before?
I think the comedienne Phyllis Diller's comment applies here, "Cleaning the how while the kids are still growing is like shoveling snow while it's still snowing." (Or something like that).
That would be really cool if you were all wearing ponchos tomorrow, but you're just joshing us, right? Have a fun-filled day and remember to take pics.

Sara said...

Have so much fun tomorrow!!! How exciting! This maxi is sooOoOOooOoo beautiful, and looks heavenly with the sequin top. You look so wonderful! And that bag; take another little piece of my heart now, Baby.. :)

I think socks get sucked into the time space continuum, and float forever in some parallel sock space. They leave their other half here with you to fondly remember them by..of this I am mostly certain. ;) I can't tell you how many times this happens to me..lol

Garden photos are lovely. Purple and yellow together are a dream. Oh! And re: Disney..I could never, ever, ever hate you forever! lol It certainly wouldn't do for us to all be the same! Jungle Book is a great one--one of my favorites, too! XOXO

Melanie said...

You are the perfect role model and domestic goddess - emPHAsis on the goddess part. You can't be one without gorgeous maxi dresses and suchlike. Absolutely regal.
I think your last photo is genius! Wouldn't I love to be there!!
As for the missing socks, I spotted a couple in a local park. When I chased after them they hopped behind a tree. One of them has run off with a knee high.

Vintage Bird Girl said...

Oh don't tease me with the news of a blogger meet up. I'm green with envy. Even I would pull out my meanest poncho to come. That frock is so pretty. I love the colours & the print. My husband is a sock Nazi. He even takes his pairs out into the sunlight to sort the navy ones from the black. I couldn't care less if they match up or not! Xx

two squirrels said...

Oh we all go rats!!!! We all want to be at a poncho blogger playtime!!!!! Tee Hee imagine about 50 poncho wearing fabulous poppets all meeting in Walsall. EPIC.
Anyway I will stop daydreaming and have to say I am so in love with this dress, eeeekkkk the pattern is just gorgeous.......you look truly pretty in it.
Yay Spring......Spring clean and a mystery sock stealer. I would blame the cats or a pixie.
love V

Fiona said...

Cleaning is SO boring, I had a framed cross stitch which read 'dull women have immaculate homes', plenty more interesting things to do.
Love today's frockage, so pretty and no doubt the Lidl shoppers' day was brightened by it.
You lucky sod, another trip to Walsall what I wouldn't give to have a rummage in Second To None, reckon I'd be in there all day. Have fun and we look forward to hearing all about it. Regarding the sock mystery, there'll probably be about five behind the tank in the airing cupboard.xxxxxxxxxx

VAL said...

Thats a gorgeous dress, I cant believe it was only £1. I am in agreement on the cleaning front 100% lol And sorry, I cant solve the sock mystery, we have the same spooky goings on here lol. Have a fabulous day with the gals.
V
xxx

Lucys Lounge said...

how i'd love to see you shopping in my lidl in this outfit. i would push your trolley for you. you are a queen after all. what a bargain hunter too. such impressive style at a very tiny price. i think somewhere there is the sock mountain where all the odd socks escape to. there is also a pen mountain. when i find it i'll get your socks!!

Indigo Violet said...

What a delicious dress!
I clean my house every six months whether it needs it or not, but here's a piece of advice: if you clean in your pyjamas before you get dressed it doesn't feel like you are really doing it. It's weird but it makes it seem not quite so boring.
And I so agree with you about the unscheduled visitor thing. Use the phone first people!

Betty Bombshell said...

I LOVE your dress, beautiful. Socks made me chortle. Enjoying your blog, just discovered it a few months ago!

Pull Your Socks Up! said...

I fecking love you more than ever after your session in today's confessional. Yesterday I swept the floors and did the dishes. OMG I also did two loads of washing and changed two beds. I spent the day in my pyjamas and turned the phones off. That's it for me for the week. Twenty-two socks? Aaaaah well, I have long given up stressing about such heinosities. You look WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too glamorous to worry about housework. Don't you know by now the most boooooooooooring people on the planet have spotless houses? Course you do! I'll have you know that when I get a knock on the front door I cannot hide because it's a fecking seven-metre wall of glass!!!!!!! It's taught me not to care;) I will be thinking of you and the poncho pals honey!! xoxoxo

Megan said...

I too couldn't give a shit about cleaning. Now that I'm moving into a small apartment maybe I'll have to rethink my "cleaning is for people who have no lives" philosophy.

Beautiful dress!

Jean at www.drossintogold.com said...

You look perfect. Yes, perfect. Maxis are forever and ever. I'm ecstatic for you about the blogger meet up, and utterly crushed for me because I can't be there. I love the poncho pic, too. That's another item that I will love forever!!

Shhh...you mustn't tell, for fear someone will steal my idea, but I have a little notebook where I keep random creative ideas. Last year I decided to write a children's book called The Secret Life of Socks. You see, for all of us, young and old, it's a mystery as to where they go!! I can't divulge the answer, but don't feel bad. They're quite ingenious with their schemes. :-)

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY AND GIVE EVERYONE A HUGE HUG FOR ME!!!

Rose&Bird said...

Fabulous dress, can't believe it was only £1! I can't be bothered with cleaning either (though with JB2 crawling the vacuum has to come out pretty often!). I've got loads of odd kids' socks as well. Hope you had a great day today x

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silvergirl said...

my new favorite saying, " chaotic, whirlpool of randomness"
brett

Unknown said...

Forty fourth!!!!!!!!!

Darling, you look AMAZING in that gorgeous maxi - and Tamera's amazing pendant is DIVINE and JAYZUS WEPT, THAT BAG IS EXQUISITE.

22 odd socks. Bloody hell, don't ask me. I can barely manage to get dressed and eat breakfast on the same day and I haven't bushed my hair since the 80s.

To me, you are a total domestic goddess.

Love yer bits.

Sarah xxx

Trees said...

That's going to be one HELL of a meet up! So much fun! I love your pretty frock and I am not sure how you end up with 22 odd socks, when I was a kid my mum would often end up with the same thing. There must be a black hole somewhere full of odd socks....

CityScape Skybaby said...

I totally sympathise Curtise, I'm crap at housework and always feel really sad when I have to do it, like my life is wasting away. Poor Pat does his fair share I must admit, but I think it's mostly because he can't stand the squalor he would have to live in otherwise. Hope you all had a great day yesterday! xx

Señora Allnut said...

such a pretty floral dress, it's perfect to run some errands looking fabulous!!, love all that floral photos!
And I'm sure that 22 lonely socks are living in a parallel universe, indeed!
besos & socks

bonsaimum said...

Ah, the missing socks dilemma. Seems we are all afflicted. I have given up looking. I wait a reasonable amount of time, and if the recalcitrant items don't return, then it is curtains for the remaining partners.

Melanie said...

Lovely dress :) It reminds me of one I saw last year though the one I spotted was modern. It was awfully pretty, I liked the dark background with the light flowers xxx

Unknown said...

Late getting in on this one but LOOOOVVVVVEEEE the flowered maxi. I want one.
Also I love you for your understanding that cleaning is not the be-all-end-all of womanly activity. Lunching, going to museuems, drinking wine and playing with cats is better. Yes.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous outfit for housework - that's definitely what a Domestic Goddess should wear.
I have started wearing odd socks but I can quite see that children might not like that.

Mrs. D said...

Housework is boring, there are so many more interesting things to occupy your time with? I think that when I'm on my death bed I won't be thinking 'I wish I'd cleaned that cupboard a bit better' haha.
that is a cheap (and chic, to quote that other famous fashion brand) outfit. I'm always in awe of the amazing prices you find!
Much love to you xx