The ILFWDA Show at London Fashion Week

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had the great opportunity to attend a show during London Fashion Week, but I've been a bit under the weather since and unable to share my experience until now. Sorry for the delay. I'm feeling much better now, so I'm excited to share some of what I saw.

I attended the Independent London Fashion Week Designers Association Show (ILFWDA) on Friday, February 16th, two weeks ago exactly. Even though some time has passed, I'm still relishing the experience as if it just happened yesterday. This was my first time attending London Fashion Week and I certainly hope it's not my last. I've loved fashion since I was a young girl and I've been wanting to attend a show such as this for a long time. Being there was definitely a full circle moment. It was the epitome of how I see my life now as I hold onto the many things that I've always wanted to do, but they seem to take a bit of time to achieve....I remember this...Delayed is not denied.

This experience has reaffirmed to me that it's never too late and that I just need to go full steam ahead with what I want to do. If things are meant to be, they will be, but if they're not I'm still going to be okay. Just because something doesn't happen today, it doesn't mean that it'll never happen. I just have to do my best, let go and have faith. Seeing the creations of the various designers was an excellent reminder that we are all here to give whatever our "thing" is to the world. We may be designers, writers, musicians, nurses, doctors, carpenters, etc...whatever we do, but we just have to show up and do our best.

The ILFWDA Show was beautifully varied and spectacular. I really loved the designs from Jeff Garner and NanaLola Couture. The dresses were so elegant. I also loved the jewellery by A Touch of Gems Wirral. Below are some of my favorite looks from the show from several of the designers. I liked so much of what I saw, but there's sadly not enough room to show everything here. You can see bits of video from the show on my Instagram account in the highlights section here  and a some still photographs here. I hope that you enjoy taking a look!

 

Delayed But Not Stopped

I haven't posted in a while because I've been a bit under the weather, with a nasty cold. Actually I've been sick as heck for about a week, but hopefully I'm getting out of the woods with it all. Fingers crossed.

Being sick arrived at the wrong time, although sickness is never a welcome guest. But on the day that I got sick, I was planning to share a great experience that I had the day before. I had the chance to attend a show during London Fashion Week! It was fantastic!!

Even though I'm a bit late, I'll still be sharing my experience at London Fashion Week here on my blog this week, along with some photos.

Also in anticipation of my upcoming 10th blogiversary coming up next Sunday, I'll be sharing a couple of special posts to mark the occasion. The first will be on March 1st and the second will be on my 10th blogiversary on March 4th. So I hope that you'll come back to check those out.

Have a great new week!

Hello Again

When I started my break back in October, I didn't know how long or how short it would be. I just knew that I needed to take a break because to be perfectly honest I didn't know what in the world to talk about anymore. Lol. I  was boring myself a bit, so I figured I was probably boring the heck out of those of you out there who were visiting me :)

So I thought that it was time to take a step back and then come back here with a new perspective and fresh eyes. I know that I did the right thing. When I took my break, I was also not feeling very well healthwise at the time. I needed to take a break to feel better and I do now. Thank you for continuing to visit me here even while I was gone. I appreciate it so much!

I don't know if things will be any more entertaining or interesting this time around, but I'm going to give it my very best try :) This time I want to have a more focused concentration on the things that I love, such as:

That list looks quite full, but I think as humans we're drawn to many things, so I'll be doing my smorgasbord blogging over here ;-)   If I were a tree and I was able to 'show my rings', these are the things that would show up within my rings. I love a little of this and a little of that, so I figure why not embrace that and celebrate the variety of life. Also, my mind wanders, so I need a few different places to wander.

Oh and I almost forgot...how dare I. I'll be sharing some of my photos from time to time. I just have to get back out there and take some new ones. (By the way: Yes, I forgot to put it on the image above. Oops! Lol.)

I know one thing though...I'm so glad to be back! I hope you'll come back and visit me from time to time.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Watching Royal Ascot 2015

Royal Ascot 2015 begins today and goes on each day through Saturday. You can find out all about it here. It's always fun to watch on television. I'll be checking it out this week here and there to see what's going on. I won't be able to watch every bit of it because I need to work on some things, but I'll certainly be catching what I can. In case you're wondering, I'm not really a big horse racing fan. It's interesting, but my main reason for watching is the fashion. What can I say? Lol. I've gotta check it out in person one of these days ;-)

I'll be on the lookout for headpieces like the one above or others that are much, much grander. Some people go all out so it should be fun to watch. Ladies Day will be especially good for fashion watchers like myself. There will be an array of colors and styles to see and I'm really looking forward to it all :-)

Fall and Arms

Hello there! :-) Sorry that I've been away from here, but I've been nursing a bit of arm pain so it's been hard to type. My arm is much better now. I had a Wii injury. I got a little bit overzealous and came away with a sore arm. I've learned my lesson though. When I play Wii now, I go at it with a bit less gusto, but I still have fun. LOL.

I can't believe that autumn/fall is officially only a few days away. This is definitely my favorite season by far. I mean, what's not to love with all of the different colors to enjoy and it brings sweater weather also. Yippee!! I love my cardigan sweaters and wraps! I'm not a real fan of winter, but I love the fall...just enough cool weather to pull out the sweaters, but not cold enough for me to have freezing toes ;-)

I was going to share a pic of one of our last roses around here, but something is up with the blog right now and I can't add a photo. I'll post it tomorrow. It's nice to have a few roses still showing up as we slide into a new season.

I'll be back tomorrow with another post because I'm inspired to blog again. I haven't posted here as much as I used to because I've felt that I don't have anything to say. Well I still don't know if I have anything to say ;-)  , however, blogging has been very therapeutic to me in the past so perhaps it can work that magic again. And I hope that you'll keep visiting me because I'm entering a chatty phase again.

Have a great day and I'll talk to you tomorrow! Thank you for stopping by!

~ Dori - From a Yellow House

Purple Deals

I mentioned in my last post that we had a calm Saturday and it was great. Lots of fun television :-) The weekend as a whole was nice and laid back…just like we like it. We did venture out once over the weekend though to the outlet mall in town. I like stopping by there from time to time because you can sometimes find good deals out there.

They have a good food area and lots of seats. I love to get the spinach lasagna out there and the pizza. There’s a trend here…cheese, cheese, and more cheese :-) I try to cut back on cheese, but it is one of my greatest temptations. This time though we didn’t have anything to eat since we ate before we went over…smart move ;-)

So when we got there, we took a walk around the home store and admired the gadgets. I tell you, when we get our house, it will probably be overrun with kitchen gadgets. LOL. Nah, we’ll control ourselves. We do love to cook though, so a few may make it into our home.

We then went into some of the clothes stores. The two main ones that we tend to frequent are the Next outlet store and the Marks & Spencer outlet store. They have marked down merchandise from their regular department stores. Usually one of us or both of us will walk out with a deal. Neither one of us is big on clothes shopping, but we have to clothe ourselves after all ;-) So this time we looked around and I was the one who came out with a bargain.

I got this shirt.



I love the deep purple color and I love the gathering effect that leads to the neckline. And the buttoning effect around the neck is cool I think, but it doesn’t feel constricting at all. When I tried it on I didn’t even feel anything around my neck and I usually hate turtlenecks and things if they are too snug. My favorite bit is that it has this little looped opening in back…sexy huh? ;-) LOL. Yeah right.




Anyway, the best part of this shirt was the price. I paid £3.00(about $4.94 today) for it and it had originally been about £15.00. It’s not a fabulous piece of fashion, but just a little shirt to wear here and there and I like that it's kinda quirky. The price sold me on this shirt though. I love getting a good deal :-)
Happy Monday!

Seven Things About Me

I’m trying to finally get caught up on a few awards and memes that I’ve received over the past while. I figure better late than never (smile). Anyway, this meme was passed along to me from Golden Prague – Expat Life. It’s one that asks me to tell seven things that you all may or may not know about me. I tell you, it’s hard to think up a list like this sometimes because you always wonder, ‘am I boring people with this?’… LOL. Here’s my list anyway.

#1 – My favorite color is blue.

#2 – The best steak that I ever had was in Paris, France. It was a bit rare and I usually run the other way from rare meat, but this was WONDERFUL!! It didn’t taste bloody at all. Maybe it was good because Brit Boy and I had just come in from dodging fierce bolts of lightning and I was so grateful. LOL. Nah, it was just delicious!

#3 – When I was about twenty years old, I stood in a boutique window and was a live mannequin for an hour. Hey, it was the late 80s and it was a good job for a student. LOL. I remember having on very bright clothes. My neck still gets stiff thinking about it. (smile)

#4 – I want to learn to play the piano. I figure that I’ve conquered playing the flute years ago and I’m quickly becoming a recorder playing superstar (wink) (laugh), so this is a good addition. Actually, I’ve always wanted to learn to play the piano, even before my flute playing days. Brit Boy shares this wish with me…he’d love to play too.

#5 – My toenails are painted red right now. I love summer! (smile)

#6 – I’m currently studying a freelance and feature writing course and it’s going along fine. I’ve always loved writing and I just want to get better.

#7 – I love researching things. The journey to find out about something always just gives me a thrill.

Well, those are my seven things. I hope that I haven’t repeated anything from the past. Please take this meme if you feel like it. I like this exercise because I can share more random things that I wouldn’t necessarily think to blog about. It was a good workout for my brain…I needed that. (smile) Have a great weekend everyone!

The Obamas in London

So I’ve been searching my mind for what to write about…anything that will get me out of the mini doldrums I’ve been in lately. In that vein of reviving myself, I immediately thought of one thing that’s brighten things for me this past week…the President and First Lady visiting London for the summit.

It was nice to see them when they arrived and to know that they were in the same country as me for a time. Once I saw them coming down the steps of Air Force One, I started to smile. It was like reminders of home came down those stairs with them. Sometimes I feel so detached from home here, so I was more excited than I thought I would be. I have of course never met the Obamas, but it almost felt like family was coming to visit. I hope that that doesn’t sound crazy, but that’s how it felt. (smile) As an expat, you sometimes find yourself clinging onto anything or anyone from home just to stay afloat when the outsider feeling hits. So I guess this is why it made me so happy to see them.

The coverage was generally positive. I wasn’t looking for endless perfect stories about them, because they aren’t perfect, nobody is. I was just looking for home and they represented that to me. I know that there was that whole story about the First Lady touching the Queen, but from the reports I’ve read, the word from Buckingham Palace is that it was no big deal to the Queen. And some even report that the Queen reached out first. But at the end of the day, as long as the Queen didn’t mind, the media should just leave it alone. And apparently the Queen asked the First Lady to keep in touch now that they’ve met, so I think that closes that case. (smile)

As I mentioned, the coverage was pretty fair overall. The First Lady charmed her way around London. She visited cancer patients and they were touched by her caring way and down to earth manner. She dished out hugs and just watching her made me proud that this lady represents our country to the world.

I did think it was interesting on the second day when the First Lady spent the day with the other G20 wives and the Prime Minister’s wife, Mrs. Brown. One report that I read that morning went on about the First Lady’s outfit that day and they did the same about Mrs. Brown. Why do women have to be judged by what they wear first no matter what they are doing???? Anyway, this reporter tore into both of them…this person hated Mrs. Obama’s blue skirt and argyle cardigan and Mrs. Brown’s fitted dress, but who cares (rolling my eyes). I love fashion as much as the next person, but enough already with the snarky analysis every day. By the way, I thought they both looked fine that day. (smile)

That day was probably my favorite day of watching Mrs. Obama. She kept her own schedule whilst the President tended to his work. She spent a good bit of time with Mrs. Brown and the other wives, but on the day when this annoying reporter raked her and Mrs. Brown over the coals because of their clothes, I thought Mrs. Obama came into her own on the world stage. She did a visit to a girls’ school in London as I’m sure many of you have read about. This touched my heart.

Mrs. Obama gave a talk to these girls, just as I’ve seen her do back home and it was a moment when I realized that borders are irrelevant when you talk from the heart. She had an emotional change in her voice as she told those girls that she understands the humble beginnings that some of them have had because that is where she started in life. She told them that education is the key to getting where they want to go and that the world needs more strong women like them in the making. It just warmed my heart. I kept thinking, if only I had heard those words when I was their age…who knows ????(smile) I was just so happy for those girls. They were so excited to see her and she passed out loads of hugs again. There were some waves of nonsense in the papers about her hugging, but the people that she hugged didn’t mind, and one young girl afterwards met her mom outside the school and they showed her screeching to her that she’d had a hug from Mrs. Obama. So I just say to the haters…back off. LOL. Those hugs were for those girls…our future women. (smile) Sometimes you just need a hug…I wish I had one right now. (smile)

This moment at the school touched me most of all, because Mrs. Obama could have saved all of that inspiration for our young people back home, but she didn’t and I love that. She shared her story with these girls and reached out for that common denominator, and left behind nationality, and inspired those girls who will always carry that experience with them. I was SO proud of our First Lady that day. (smile)

My other favorite moment of this visit came from the President. He was walking into 10 Downing Street with the Prime Minister and along the way he greeted the policeman standing at the door and shook his hand. I just loved that. I love it when people are decent to each other, no matter who we are.

The Obamas left London on Friday and I hated to see them go, but I’m glad that they came here and brought such a good vibe with them. Quite indirectly, they helped this expat touch base with the folks from home. (smile) I needed that.

Honkless, Showered, and All Shawled Up

Hi everyone! :-) Well I have better news today. I told you yesterday about Brit Boy coming home a little early and we were going to check out the whole alarm thing, well he came home and we went outside and gave it a once over. We tinkered with things a bit and then decided to wait and see if our tinkering helped. Then we headed off to the store to pick up a few things so that we could avoid the Saturday crowds. I love Friday night shopping and Brit Boy does too :-)

So we were in the vegetable section when Brit Boy’s cell phone starts ringing. He answers and it was like the clouds just parted. The landlord FINALLY authorized the fixing of our shower. Whoopee!!!! :-) The property management lady said that the contractors should be contacting us in the next couple of days to set up a day to start their work. So after many, many calls by both of us, we finally got a result. I tell you, we were so excited that we almost broke into a bit of celebratory break dancing right there. LOL. Oh boy, to have a shower again that works!

After that, we just kind of skipped around the store and finished our bit of shopping. And as a bonus, when we went back to our car, the alarm wasn’t honking or anything…so it was a great afternoon, after living through the night before. :-)Sometimes the simple things just make your day.

And I’m happy to report, we actually had a full night’s sleep with no honking to interrupt us. It was wonderful. We were a bit sleep deprived, so the full night’s sleep was just what we needed. We were both a bit anxious after the night before and separately wondered if it would happen again, but we confided in each other this morning that fatigue had taken over both of us and we went right off to sleep. So maybe hopefully our tinkering has helped and we won’t have any more alarm problems. Fingers crossed :-)

In other news, I got a package this morning that I’ve been waiting for. I had to send off to get a lingerie bag to wash delicate things. I couldn’t find one anywhere in the stores, so I ordered one online and it cost next to nothing. I ordered it because I wanted to wash two nice scarves that I bought in London when we were there in December. They were the pashmina-esque scarves (the real ones are cashmere as you may know but mine are so not). They come in all of those vibrant, rich colors and are so warm. I only paid £8 for two. They’re perfect for the winter we have been having. They come in gorgeous solid colors and patterned styles. I opted for a blue one, which is my favorite color and a patterned burgundy one. I plan to also have them to double for just a nice shawl when it warms up. Here are a couple of photos of what they look like. I love the rich colors.





I figured that I would wash them in a lingerie bag so that I would save some wear and tear on them.

So today has been a much better day and hey, the sun is shining and the sky is blue…here’s to a good day to all :-)

Tickled Pink

Yesterday, Brit Boy and I took a trip into town, and while we were there, I bought a very important shirt. I bought a Tickled Pink shirt just like I did last year. Here’s my shirt from this year. It has three quarter length sleeves and it was very comfortable when I tried it on. I’m so happy to have a new shirt to wear proudly.




And here is my Tickled Pink shirt from last year. It’s a comfy pink one and it used to have feathers adorning the drawn on feather on the front, but the feathers have fallen off over time. :-) It is probably my favorite t-shirt for two reasons…#1: It is really comfy and soft and #2: It is for a cause that is close to my heart and indeed to my breasts. :-) Please excuse the wrinkled appearance of both shirts. They were both headed to the washing machine.

October, as many of you know, is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As a woman, I am always doing my best to check myself regularly, but sometimes I slip up. Breast Cancer Awareness Month always brings me back to what I should be doing for myself and my health and also for Brit Boy’s sake too. I want to be around to hang out with him for a few more decades. :-) Life is so precious.

As I mentioned before, the Tickled Pink campaign is a great way to help to fund research into cancer treatment and there are many more places to find out about what is going on and also to lend a hand. Here are a few that I love:

Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Breast Cancer Care
Breast Cancer Campaign

So ladies, just a reminder from a friend, please remember to check yourselves and to take care. Please remind your mothers, sisters, and friends. And guys, please remind your wives and mothers and sisters that it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Also check yourselves because men can get this kind of cancer too. We all need to work together to take care of each other. :-)

The Weekend and Scary Fun

This past weekend was beautifully normal and quiet, which was good. It is great to get a breather sometimes. On Saturday, I went into town to have my last acupuncture appointment for a while. My back has been steadily improving, so I am going to stop the appointments for now. I am feeling pretty great. Also we need to cut back on things financially, especially since we are trying to rebound from our addiction to concerts. (laugh) I am doing fine though, so it’s all good.

I realized that it was nearly a year to the day that I first started on my journey with acupuncture. The first day that I walked in there, I was hardly walking at all. Brit Boy and I had a car accident at the end of 2006 and I was increasingly walking slower and slower, with lots of pain. I sought out traditional treatments also, but it took me a while to get in to see someone sadly, so things sort of deteriorated quickly. Thankfully I finally got in to see a physical therapist and I saw a chiropractor for a while. I was in the middle of my waiting around to be seen by someone and just happened to be peering into the window of the acupuncture shop. Karen approached me and I must say, I am grateful that she did. I shuffled into her shop a year ago, with not much hope that I would ever be myself again, and on this past Saturday, I walked out of there with a stronger back, a stronger spirit, a stronger body, and a new friend. I will definitely be dropping by there every time I am in town. As an expat you learn that you have to pull in every opportunity for friendship with open arms. (smile) I told her that I will drop by and pick up some advice from her on taking care of myself, so she will still see my face around there.

Karen didn’t do the actual placing of the needles, because Ta did that, but Karen offered a valuable piece of the healing too. She offered me the kind words that I craved when I was having such bouts of loneliness here, coupled with physical pain, and the only person I knew here was my Brit Boy. We shared stories of what life is like when you are trying to make a life in a new country. And sometimes, she was just a knowledgeable friend who helped me forget my worries. When I left her shop on Saturday, I hugged her. It felt so natural and she hugged me back. It wasn’t a shop owner and a patron hugging, it was simply two friends being friends. (smile)

After I left Karen’s acupuncture shop and found Brit Boy, we did our errands. They were having an Italian Market this weekend. A few months ago, they had a French Market where I sampled the French prawnies, but this time I didn’t get anything. The weather was a lot better for this market in comparison to the French one. During the French Market, it was freezing cold, but during the market on Saturday the weather was okay. I love these markets though, because they bring a bit of the tastes of continental Europe to our neck of the woods and it brings nice variety.

As we traveled home from town later, we came the back way home and it takes us through some of the most beautiful Wiltshire countryside. We could see that there was a storm brewing and it seemed to be following us home to our little village. I looked off into the distance, across the valley and I saw a huge black cloud hanging over town. It was an awesome sight to see the rain coming down back where we had come from, miles away, and we were riding along in partial sunshine. It was one of those beautiful nature moments that I love. The minute that we walked into our house, the rain did eventually find us too. (smile)

One of my favorite things to do on a rainy weekend afternoon, is to watch old movies. I grew up watching these and they still always satisfy. I love modern movies too, but there is just something about a movie from times gone by. Brit Boy was on the computer, so I had movie time to myself. I watched “High Society” with Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, and Bing Crosby. It was great. Grace Kelly had a fabulous wardrobe in that film…classic. Then I watched “The Last Time I Saw Paris” with Van Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor, and Donna Reed. I loved the fashions in this one too and it was set in Paris, so it definitely satisfied. Elizabeth Taylor was ravishing in this movie. She was at her absolute beauty peak in this movie. She looked beautiful in every outfit, but my favorite was her in this beautiful jet black gown. Her hair was cut short into a pixie cut at this point in the movie and she wore these beautiful diamond earrings. The sparkle of the earrings next to her jet black hair, all together with her gown, just made for a striking image. After all of the talk of fashion, I have to say, the movie was actually a very emotional one, with problems of drinking, marital problems, and jealousy. I really enjoyed both movies. It made for a wonderful afternoon.

On Sunday, I watched “The Bat” which was a great spooky movie starring Vincent Price. He was one of my favorites. I absolutely love spooky movies, so he is “the man” of horror for me and I’m sure many others. (smile) This movie was very campy, but I love a good helping of campiness every once in a while. It makes me think that it was probably a great movie to see during the era of drive-in movies. Love that Vincent Price! (smile) Some of my best Friday night movie nights are all owed to him.

Acupuncture and London Here We Come Again!

I should be packing right now, but I am procrastinating. Although, at least I have piled my clothes that I am taking with me onto our bed. And in a bit I am going to go downstairs and have a bit of lemonade and then I will do my packing. Here is my wardrobe for next week ... fashionable, huh? (laugh)



Yeah right. (laugh) Well, maybe not "fashionista-esque", since we will be hoofing it a lot around London, but I am leaning more towards "casual and slightly fashionable". I am packing my sunglasses optimistically in hopes that I will need them to shield my eyes from all the bright sun at Wimbledon. Brit Boy and I are so hoping that the rain holds off for the tournament. We had lots of rain last night and today it is sunny and clear and windy. So if we can just have sunny, lovely weather like this for the tennis it will be splendid. One other fashion note, I am NOT going to be taking my “blister-blooming boots” this time. If you are not familiar, please read my post from our trip to London in April…I limped for days. (laugh)

Brit Boy and I ate a big breakfast this morning, so we both may not be hungry until 9pm. (smile) Since we are going to be gone all week, I am trying to use the last of our perishable food so it won’t go to waste while we are gone. The last few eggs, last few pieces of bacon, a few pieces of bread, and the last of the orange juice have now been consumed so we are almost all set. Whenever we get a space in our guts for some dinner, we will have a baked potato each and some brussel sprouts…and then tada…no perishable food left except for a few slices of bread and a bit of cheese to make sandwiches to take along with us tomorrow and then our consciences will be cleared. Since food shortages and high prices seem to be the rule of the day, we don’t want to throw away anymore than we have to.

Yesterday, I went to my next to last acupuncture visit. Karen and Ta were kind as always and I had my treatment. Karen and I talked as Ta made me into a human pin cushion. (smile) After all the pins were in…about thirty…she placed three big sponges along my body to cushion so that she could place the towel over me and thus the pins would not get snarled up or go in even deeper with the pressure of the towel. So they leave me in the room, all Zen and stuff, with the lights out and lovely Chinese spiritual music playing in the background. Then within five minutes the fire alarm goes off in the shopping plaza. I’m not losing my mind, but instead of being scared, I laughed first that this was my current condition with all the pins and I may have to run for my life in my underwear. (laugh) But good ‘ol Karen comes into the room just as the alarm pipes down and she says that it was a false alarm. She said, “Don’t worry, we will take care of you if there is a fire or anything. You are our friend.” Then she patted me on the arm. I told her that I had no fear and knew that they would look out for me. I was the only customer in the shop at that time. Karen is a sweetheart and I told her so. I always feel very relaxed in that tiny shop. (smile) Even though I have my last treatment coming up in the next couple of weeks, I am still going to stop by and say hello every time I get into town, just to see my friends.

Well, I better get to my packing. Just one last quick note. I won’t be able to post anything from tomorrow (the 23rd) through Friday (the 27th) since I will be in London and away from my laptop. I will probably go into shock and miss my little green machine, but we are trying to pack lightly. (smile) But rest assured, I will be taking notes on what we see and do on our next London adventure and I will also be taking lots of photos to share with you all. Brit Boy and I will be doing the rounds of London this time for sure…Wimbledon, King Tut’s exhibit, the Victoria & Albert Museum to see some Supremes memorabilia, and then on Friday we have the Nelson Mandela concert. And I will also share wherever else that we come across on our latest trip to the Greater London area. It’s always a fun time when we take a trip there, so I look forward to sharing it all here with whomever takes the time out of their busy days to read my blog. Once we arrive back home on the 28th, I will start spilling my guts on all that happened. (smile) Thanks for visiting with me here. Until then…take care :-)

Style Icons and Creativity

This past weekend was good. It started for me on Friday afternoon. Brit Boy only worked half a day, so we had a “date” and went to the movies that afternoon. We went to see the new Sex and the City movie. I had told him that I was fine with going to see it alone if he didn’t want to go. And it wasn’t a case of me dragging him to see it, he was glad to go and see it with me, because many times when I am watching reruns of the show, he is there laughing with me. So he was interested to see how the movie would be. So off we went. I was expecting it to be me and my Brit Boy and all women, but actually there were two guys in there other than Brit Boy. I only say all of this about the male and female thing because I read and heard so much about this “just” being a “chick flick”, which so annoys me. Why is it that a movie with women in the lead roles always has to be marginalized? Anyway,enough politics. (smile) The fashions were great and it was a nice escape. Brit Boy and I both enjoyed it and the popcorn was good too. (smile)

On Saturday, I went to have acupuncture. I haven’t gone in a few weeks since I have been feeling fine and also I have to be frugal. Karen and Ta were there as usual and they were in good spirits. I asked Karen if everyone in her family was fine back in China since the catastrophic earthquake there. I hadn’t seen these ladies since it happened. Karen assured me that all was fine with her family and Ta’s. I was so glad to hear that. As a human being, the suffering there is so hard to watch, and on a personal note, I am just glad to know that Karen and Ta's families are okay.

Sunday was a quiet day for us. Brit Boy studied and I read and did some other things around the house.

When I woke up this morning, I heard the news about the death of the designer Yves Saint Laurent. It was sad news. In my teens and 20s, I was very much into fashion and had aspirations to be a designer myself or at least work in the fashion industry. I loved sketching designs and sewing and dreaming of a creative life. When I graduated from high school, I got accepted to study at an art school that was based in the US and then gave the option of studying in London for a time. But I didn’t attend and went ahead to regular college. I was talked out of going to art school by a well-meaning relation who thought that perhaps something more traditional was better to study and being so young, I took their advice. Incidentally, it wasn’t my mother. (smile) But it is all water under the bridge now and that was a long time ago. It is now just a footnote for me and I have moved on and discovered other loves now and I am happy with my choices. (smile) From time to time though, when things from the fashion world come across my attention, I always have a millisecond of thinking “what if?”. I used to have dreams of having a creative career and creating beauty in the world and getting to travel. Well, the reason that I don’t mourn the “what ifs” anymore is because I figure that I am still alive and there is plenty that I can do to be creative in my life and do good things in the world. I do creative work now, so that is a big part of what I wanted all along. I do what I can to bring creativity to my writing, gardening, painting, cooking and other things, and it is hilarious to me that I was going to come to London to study so many years ago, and now I live only a train’s ride away. So I got there in the end. (laugh) I have also traveled in my life, and I plan to do much more, so that dream has come true too. (smile) As I said, I am still here, so who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Yves Saint Laurent was one of my favourite designers when I was growing up. I loved the elegance of his work. And I have heard on the news reports today that he was one of the first designers to use black models on the runway and I said bravo to that. You’ve gotta love a person who makes their own rules and in doing so, does the right thing. (smile) I applaud the work he did and I simply say...well done and rest in peace.