Sexy socks...!

Mmm, lovely...! These are my new compression socks, which I tried out on last night's run. Compression socks are meant to be good for giving extra support to your leg muscles, reducing fatigue, and helping with recovery. I do find that I get tight or tired calves after a run, especially if I've been running on uneven ground, so I thought I'd give them a go, and I have to say I think they worked really well! I ran a very hot and very slow 10 miles last night - the first time I'd attempted anything like that sort of distance for about a month - and my calves didn't feel tight afterwards at all, and this morning I don't seem to have any muscle soreness. So far, so good!

Now I'm just waiting for my new trail shoes to arrive so I can try those out on Saturday's 12-mile off-roader!

Let's talk about bras...

For one reason or another, bras have featured quite heavily in my life just recently! We had a thorough discussion about bras and bra fitting in the office the other day, and that spurred me into making a trip to Rigby and Peller and buying a couple of new bras that actually fit, rather than the pre-weight-loss, decidedly baggy and old, ones I'd been wearing for shamefully longer than I should have!

First things first - the majority of women out there are wearing the wrong bra size. Women have a tendency to think that they can't possibly be 'that big' in the cups (fuelled, I think, by the stereotype of the 'DD cup' Page Three girl) and that they can't possibly be 'that small' around the back (because we always think we're fatter than we are). Too many women also rely on those old-fashioned calculations that tell you to measure round your back, then measure round your boobs and work out your cup size based on how many inches' difference there is - but I'm afraid that just does not work. For years, I went by what I was told by a bra fitter in a well-known British shop - she said I was a 34B, so a 34B is what I wore. Even though the straps fell down and the cups gaped. Then one day I was at a friend's house and the conversation turned to bras, and she actually laughed at me when I told her what bra size I was wearing. She told me in no uncertain terms that I should get myself to R&P for a fitting - and lo and behold, I instantly went down a back size and up two cup sizes! Plus, I ended up with two lovely bras that felt comfortable and fitted in all the right places.

Since then, I've become something of an evangelist when it comes to the subject of getting properly fitted (as you can probably tell!) Yes, bras from places like Rigby and Peller and Bravissimo are more expensive than high-street bras. But they fit beautifully, and with just a little bit of care and attention they'll last absolutely ages. I'd rather spend £100 on two well-made bras that make me look and feel great than spend £100 on five ill-fitting cheaper bras that dig in and gape and generally annoy the heck out of me. And no, the people who do the fittings don't maul you like Trinny and Susannah! So if you haven't done so already - please, go and get yourself a proper bra!

Tea and pampering...

I've had the nicest couple of days! I had two days' holiday from last year to use up, so I sneaked them over into this week and I'm halfway through a fabulous four-day weekend. Yesterday, my mum came up to London (it actually worked really well, as my dad had meetings up this way as well, so they drove here and back together and we all went out for Thai food and lots of wine last night) and we made use of a brilliant LivingSocial voucher we'd snapped up last year. It was for a massage, facial and champagne afternoon tea each at the Hilton Park Lane, and we were seriously impressed. The massage was wonderfully relaxing, the facial - with Dermalogica products - was amazing (we couldn't stop going on about how plumped and soft and brightened our faces looked and felt afterwards) and the tea was utterly delicious.

We started with a peach Bellini each and some beautiful little open sandwiches - I had prawn, smoked salmon, egg and cucumber, and my mum had the same but with a ham one instead of one of the cucumber ones.

Then we had tea - I had jasmine green tea...

...and THEN, the tower of cakes and scones and pastries came out!

There was a plain scone, a raisin scone and two chocolate chip scones, with strawberry compote, cream and chocolate ganache...

...mini cupcakes, which we cut in half and made into hybrid Frankencupcakes (this one is half raspberry and half lemon)

...and an amazing selection of little chocolates and pastries and things (the tray they're sitting on is made of chocolate too!)

We did our very best and ate everything apart from two cupcakes and two chocolate things, but we got to take those home with us in a little box! After all of that we had a lovely walk in Hyde Park, where we saw swans and daisies (in January!)

Then this morning we popped to the shops, where I bought some new bras (I've been wearing the wrong size since losing weight *slapped wrist*) and a couple of jumpers and a gorgeous blazer from Zara, and Mum bought some lovely jumpers too, and then we had lunch and then I saw Mum off to the station and went and had my fringe trimmed! It's been a thoroughly brilliant couple of days - and I've still got the actual weekend to come! Hoorah for days off!

My new toy...

Yes, I've finally joined the world of 21st-century running! I'd been thinking about getting a Garmin for ages, but I'd always been put off by the price, and I've never really liked tracking my pace while I'm running. I prefer to do a run, see how I feel, see if I can push myself a bit, and then see how fast I ran when I finish. But seeing as I actually want to attempt to run a sub-2hr half-marathon at some point in the near future, I think it's time to brave it and actually start keeping an eye on how fast I'm running - and on how that compares to how fast I should be running!

So when someone on the running club's Facebook page alerted us all to the fact that Sweatshop currently have the Garmin Forerunner 110 for only £74.99, I decided to go for it. I haven't actually used it yet - it's charging at the moment - but it sounds perfect. It's not stupidly complicated but it'll give me all the information I need and I'll be able to track my progress online. So we'll see how it goes!

A week out and about...

It's been a busy one!

On Tuesday, I came back from lunch to find two of the girls I work with discussing getting tickets to see Manon at the Royal Opera House that evening. I'd never been to the Royal Opera House, so I ended up deciding to go along with them, and it was a brilliant impromptu night out!

The Royal Opera House is beautiful and even though I'm not a ballet buff by any stretch of the imagination, I really enjoyed the performance.

Then on Friday, my mum made her annual trip to London for Christmas shopping! Yes, I know Christmas is still weeks away, but it was the only weekend we could both do! I'm lucky enough to finish work at 4pm on a Friday, which meant we could hit Westfield nice and early and get plenty of shopping done before finding somewhere to eat. We started off with our traditional trip to the champagne bar, where I had the most amazing cocktail!

It was called a 'Gold Chocolate Cocktail' and, with Frangelico, Creme de Cacao and champers, it was basically a Ferrero Rocher in a glass. Incredible!

I used the trip more as a scouting mission for present ideas than an actual shopping trip, and (true to form) the only things I bought were for myself! I ended up with some socks, some hair grips (I'm growing my hair and my fringe is driving me absolutely mental) and a real bargain of a jacket from H&M. It's this one, but in a lovely camel/tobacco sort of colour, and it was half price - £17.49!

Luggage bargains...

If you're lucky enough to be jetting off on holiday in the next few months, I thoroughly recommend checking out the Debenhams sale for all your holiday bargains!

I needed a large holdall for a week's break - I had weekend bags and suitcases, but nothing in between. And I found this - a bargain with nearly £60 off - and then happened upon this, which had an even more impressive saving!



That's £235 worth of luggage for £70.50 - not bad, eh? I could have gone for the medium-sized suitcase, but the large was only £3 more and I thought 'Well, my current suitcase is massive, so it can't be that big...'



Er...yes. That's my old and battered suitcase on the left. So I certainly won't have any trouble packing for my holiday this year! The only slight issue is that my new suitcase won't fit under my bed, which is where my suitcases live...so I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to put the damn thing!

My name is Allie...

...and I have a problem with shoes.

This is my shoes-and-coats wardrobe:



Whenever I have to look for a new flat to rent (which I hope with all my being I won't have to do again anytime soon) one of my top priorities is to make sure it has enough storage for shoes. My previous flat had a cupboard in the hall that was just perfect, and my current flat has three brilliant built-in wardrobes.

I was beginning to despair at the state of my shoe cupboard, so I've just had a bit of a tidy and a sort-out. With the exception of a couple of wet weather staples, I've put all my wintry shoes in the boxes at the top of the wardrobe, and I've moved my sandals and more summery shoes to the more accessible boxes at the bottom of the wardrobe. I've also thrown away a few pairs that were on their last legs...and there still isn't room for everything!

Shamefully I also rediscovered a few pairs that I'd completely forgotten about - and that made me realise that I must stop buying new shoes (honestly, I have shoes in every possible colour and shoes suitable for every possible occasion - I do NOT need any more!) and wear the ones I have instead. Because despite having an entire wardrobe of shoes, I find myself sticking to the same few pairs. At the moment I switch between my tan flat brogues, my leopard-print flats, my tan strappy sandals and a couple of other pairs. Boring!

So I'm starting with these:



I bought them in New Look at least two years ago, and I can only remember wearing them once since then. I'm wearing them around the house this evening to see if I can work out what the problem was (did they hurt my feet? Give me blisters? Keep falling off?) and if I can't work it out, then I'll have to wear them more often, because they're really nice! They've got a little wedge heel and they look fab with skinny jeans.

Miserly May: Week One

I suppose I should get this out of the way at the beginning - week one of my Miserly May effort has not gone well!

My frugal plans were scuppered by a trip to Bristol with some friends, which was great fun, but sadly the shops were very tempting! I held out for a couple of hours, insisting that I was just going to window-shop and help the others find the things they were looking for, but then I spotted a fab grey jumper with black birds on it in Primark, which was 'only' £14, and I couldn't resist. I know with Primark that if you see something good, you have to grab it! I also bought their bold stripy midi dress, but I'm going to return it because it's too big. Which is a shame, because I haven't seen it anywhere in the next size down!

I also spotted these amazing pink wedge sandals in New Look - I never, ever wear heels, and certainly not ones as tall as those, but my friends persuaded me that they were suitably fabulous and that they'd be really comfy and easy to walk in thanks to the wedge. I nearly bought them in Bristol but resisted, and felt very smug until I went to Taunton with my mum on Monday - as soon as I pointed them out to her, she said I had to buy them! Now I just need to get up the courage to actually wear them, although I can already think of lots of things they'd go with. Skinny jeans, cropped trousers, cute summer dresses...if the weather holds out!

So not a fantastic update, really - it's turned into more of a 'my recent purchases' post than a Miserly May post! However, this week I am determined not to buy anything else. And technically it isn't May yet - I could always just write off this week and carry on for an extra week to make up for it. Tune in next week to see whether I keep to my resolution!

All of a sudden I love Oasis...

I have a love/hate relationship with some shops, and Oasis is definitely one of them! Occasionally I'll love something of theirs, but more often than not I find their clothes to be very expensive for the quality you actually get. So while I sometimes pick up the odd Oasis gem in the sale (like my grey three-quarter-sleeve long cardie, which I've worn to death over the last year) I'm not usually very inspired by their range. Until now - I currently have a £123 fantasy order sitting in my online shopping basket, with these little lovelies: