I'm off to dance the lowland fling

My sister is coming over from Sweden for a few days and we are meeting up in Edinburgh tomorrow.

I've been running around like a headless chicken all evening trying to pack but failing rather miserably. I'm still not done! Now you may very well be wondering what the hell I am doing blogging when I should be getting on with the more pressing matters at hand but I just needed to take a break from it all. The flat is so cold that getting changed is something rather perilous, you are risking freezing your ass off within seconds of exposing naked skin. So I'm sitting here in front of my compy to warm up, I've got one of those synergy heaters next to me blasting out much needed heat but only within a very short radius.

 I know it is going to be freezing in Edinburgh cause I lived there for two years back in the 90s and I well remember the ice cold killer winds in the winter.

I'm thinking frocks teamed with a thermal vest, three pairs of tights, two cardigans, two scarves, thermal gloves, a wig & hat combo and that's just for staying indoors ;)

I'm sure I will be fine. I had just hoped for a slightly warmer Easter in one of the most beautiful cities in the UK.

We went for a super quick jaunt up to the park earlier to feed the birds and snap the daily outfit pics.

It may look as if I'm happy in these pics but truth is I'm almost crying from being cold.

If this crap weather carries on, we may very well have to start taking indoor pics.

Today I was wearing my Afghani dress, as it happens its last outing was also on a rather freezing day last year.

I guess I better get back to the packing, eh?!

Hope you will all have a lovely Easter weekend when it rolls around & I'll see you when I get back.

This post was brought to you by The Easter Hunny Bunny...I jest :)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

P.S. Thanks to Curtise for pointing out the musical instrument faux-pas in my last post ;)

Music to my ears

Last Sunday Leslie and I went to see her son Erik play at The Old Queen's Head in Islington. If you live in London or if you are visiting then I can highly recommend going to the Sunday Social. 

It is on every week and it's free. If you pace yourself and don't go totally bonkers at the bar, it's a very good value for money afternoon.  I couldn't get over how good all the acts were and it has totally reignited my passion for watching live music. 

As always I took loads of pics so that I can share some of my awesome day with you.

 Erik was first to go on and did a set of six splendid songs. 

I want to give you a taster of all the acts so here's Erik doing one of his awesome tunes...

Next up was a girl who totally gave me goosebumps when she started singing.

Her name is Hannah Rose Platt and here's one of her beautiful songs...

Third on was a brilliant duo Super Full Moon with Michael Palmer playing guitar and singing and Jozef Secnik playing an extraordinarily beautiful bass.

This song almost had me jumping up on a table to have a boogie but thankfully I restrained myself...

I just had to take a pic of Jozef's impressive instrument ;)

Next up was Eden Billy Simpson with the devastatingly beautiful Noelle on cello...

I just loved what this pair were wearing Eden's printed shirt and waistcoat combo and Noelle's fabulous vintage 80s secretary dress and slouchy pirate style boots, both of them looked impeccably stylish with talent to boot. 

Here's one of Eden's tunes...

The last act we had time to watch before moving on was the brilliant Spekki Chris.

As we were getting ready to leave I spotted these cool peeps and I just knew they were the next act on. 

I mean lets face it, you don't look this cool unless you're in a band...

I took their details so that I could check them out on-line and boy am I glad I did, they're AMAZING!

They are called Wyldeck and I will definitely go to one of their gigs in the near future.

Here's a fab video clip for their wonderful song Wolves...

Erik was doing an open mic at The Torriano Bar the same evening and as we were having such a fab time, we decided to tag along.

The Torriano is Leslie's local watering hole and it's a bar with an endearing personality.

On their site it says: 

"It's the kind of place you can walk into on your own and walk out at the end of the night with new friends"

Yup, totally true! A wonderful place run by some very lovely people.

Every Sunday they have open mic sessions open for anybody to part take in.

More talent was on the cards but unfortunately by now I'd had a few jars and even if I did ask people their names etc, in the morning that information was no longer stored in my mind.

Most of these acts are just starting out, so they are not at the calling card stage yet.

  However even if I can't remember their names or have any links to provide, I still want to share the pics that I took as they convey the wonderful vibe of the place and you'll just have to take my words for it, all these guys were amazingly good :)

I fell head over heels in love with The Torriano, it is such a fab, friendly and all-round awesome place.

Speaking of AWESOME, I'm so frigging happy that I met Leslie, what an absolute gem she is :)

Then it was closing time and after playing silly buggers outside the pub for a bit, Leslie walked me to the bus stop and off I went home after a day of more fun than you can shake a stick at :)

So that was my Sunday folks!

I couldn't really face blogging about it yesterday cause my head was just a wee tad woolly ;)

Hope you are all doing grand & not freezing to death.

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Atomic winter

I sometimes have the oddest thoughts! 

As I was hanging the washing out on the balcony the other day, freezing my fingers off, I started thinking...

"What if this is it, what if winter becomes permanent and this is as good as it will get temperature wise".

I know, the stuff of nightmares right?!

It is thought that the climate would be profoundly effected if for instance nuclear war was to rage across the planet or perhaps a supervolcano decided to erupt or a comet or an asteroid happened to slam into the globe.

The theory goes that if vast amounts of smoke and soot was to be ejected into the earth's stratosphere, the little spinning ball that we call home would be plunged into perpetual winter.

Horrible thought, eh?!

Of course the snow covered naked branches of the trees are pretty and create spectacular backdrop but I have to say that I am now officially fed up with winter and I want spring to march on in and sweep the bastard thing away once and for all!

I was very happy to see that the bird lovers had come out in force today,  there was seed scattered everywhere on top of the snow by the pond.

I'm not the only crazy bird lady around this neck of the woods, I'll have you know ;)

The other day this sweet little girl came up to me as I was hand feeding Lilo and asked if she could have a go. I lent her my "feeding glove" and she was absolutely ecstatic when the Lilo started eating seed from her hand, so sweet!

It's been snowing heaps here today and there's still some snow fall forecast for tonight.

When will this snowy madness end? 

Vintage coat by Spinney, 90s velvet catsuit, hooded cloak dress, Handmade African necklace  gift from my mum, DM boots, 99p stores snood, gloves, slouchy hat & Frocktasia earrings.

I'm playing catch-up with my 'daily ensemble' pics, this is what I wore to go and see Leslie yesterday...

My sister in Copenhagen sent me this awesome 70s bright red needle cord maxi skirt. I'm guessing that the flowers were hand-painted by Inger Leth.

The stunning necklace was a car boot sale bargain from last year, it's a really unusual piece. There's an inscription at the back which reads 'By Laurent Guinci'.

Vintage 70s cord maxi skirt, 70s suede lace-up waistcoat, 80s butterfly belt, 80s boots, 90s floral lace leotard, I also wore a great big faux-fur coat, a faux-fur hat, gloves and snood...it was freezing and damp outside yesterday.

Leslie sent me this pic from last months Can't Buy Me Love market...

There's me peddling my gear to a very dapper chappy. You can also spot  Mark looking on proudly as his wife gets into the swing of things & lovely Sara from Hello The Mushroom :) The pic was borrowed from the CBML blog.

I won't be there this month because my other sister is popping over from Sweden for Easter and we are heading up to Edinburgh for a few days which will be ever so splendid.

If you are in London on the 30th of March you can still go and see Jet-Marie, Leslie and all the other brilliant sellers that will be there at the Can't Buy Me Love Easter Special.

I'm hoping to return there next month, so watch this space ;)

Today's tune is Atomic by Blondie, enjoy :)

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Would you buy a used car from this woman?

It's gone all Baltic & dreich again but I'm keeping myself upbeat by looking at old commercials and comedy clips on YouTube. 

I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you :)

I remember being mesmerized by commercials when I was a kid. That was back in the day when you only ever saw them when you went to the movies. 

In Sweden we only had two terrestrial TV channels until 1994.
When I was growing up the programs would usually start at half past five and stop just before midnight. There would only be morning & late night telly at the weekends. 

Towards the end of the 80s commercial TV stations mushroomed when cable & satellite TV appeared on the scene.
When I talk to people in their twenties they find it hard to imagine a time before TV on tap and as for the Internet, how did humanity ever cope without it? 

It is quite amazing and perhaps a little bit scary just how important a tool it has become for most of us in such a short space of time. I know I would struggle to cope without it now. 

As for television, there came a point last year when we decided that our brains were cluttered enough without the constant tsunami of reality TV shows, celebrities acting like desperate attention seeking monkeys and commercials, so the old box was unceremoniously binned.

Do I miss having telly in my life? Not one single bit!

I can still watch comedy, documentaries and nature programs on YouTube, when I feel the need.

I have no interest whatsoever in celebrities or soaps, I'd rather watch paint dry.

How about you?

H&M tiger stripe rockstar coat bought in 2000, amazing vintage 60s psychedelic print dress that was a gift from my sister in Denmark, cropped lurex jumper, 99p stores snood, Repro Victorian lace-up boots, layered tights, velvet gloves, hat, faux-amber pendant & Frocktasia earrings.

 In other news...

Here is my favourite stateside boho babe Reva, sporting a fabulous Indian tunic dress that I sent her because I knew she would totally ROCK IT, as is blatantly obvious from these magnificent pics...

What a Babe!

If you are not following Reva already, then I have to say that you are really missing out big time cause she is a true gem in the blogoshere.

You can keep up with the lovely Reva on...

Her fabulous blog

Bloglovin'

Facebook

Twitter

This one is for you Reva...

and just because you are so AWESOME another one :)

I'll finish off with one of my all time comedy heroes Bill Hicks, enjoy ;)

Hope your weekend has got off to a brilliant start.

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

You make me feel like I am fun again!

Have I told you lately how fabulous you all are and how much I appreciate having you wonderful peeps in my life?

Yes, Jennie stop going on about it or we'll have to make the bucket beside us a permanent feature, K?!

It has to be said though, in the past few months my lust for blogging has returned with a vengeance & a cursory glance at my yearly blog archive spells it out...

...this years post tally is speeding past the previous years at a rate of knots.

I personally put it down to your encouraging continued visits to my little nook of the blogosphere :)

For a long time I isolated myself, I became the silent onlooker to a party that I felt unworthy of part taking in.

I watched you all being fabulous and having fun, interacting with each other and even though I wanted to join in I felt  too craven to do so. 

I felt that through my silence, I'd lost my place in the gang.

Then one day I started taking tentative steps back into the circle and was very happy to find that there were still people there ready to welcome me back with open arms.

Then all of a sudden I felt as if I was fun again!

It was like a flower bomb of colour and warmth had gone off quite unexpectedly.

I started commenting and getting comments in return.

I felt welcomed, encouraged, inspired & enthralled.

I felt like busting open the bags and diving into the drawers to unearth fabulous clobber to wear.

Thank you for rekindling a fire that had all but gone out and thank you for being there for me after my long absence, I guess that is the mark of true friendship, virtual or otherwise.

I just wanted to tell you how much you mean to me...gush over (for now).

Vintage 70s velvet psychedelic print maxi skirt,  60s lace panel top, 70s suede jacket, 50s booties, 60s velvet painters beret, opera gloves, brass bangles & Frocktasia 'Grumpy Suns' earrings.

 Today's tune is 'Lovesong' by The Cure,  enjoy :)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Addicted to stuff

Turquoise and red ochre paired together always makes me think of Egypt.

That magical country is never far from my thoughts at the moment, it will be a year next week since we were there and I can't wait to go back.

My dream trip to Egypt would include a train journey from Aswan to Alexandria...

...some time exploring the white desert...

...and to finish off we'd spend a few weeks in wonderful Marsa Alam by the Red Sea coast. 

There we'd hang out with our Facebook friend & diver extraordinaire Ahmed. 

I got to know about Ahmed when I stumbled across his fabulous blog last year and I would love to go diving with him in real life. 

Both Mark and I are big fans of him and his blog.

Maybe if I cosmically order a big windfall, this dream journey will come to pass ;)

 Anyway I was ecstatically happy to see a small scattering of holes in the thick blanket of cloud yesterday morning. 

The never-ending drizzle had dried up overnight and the temperature was slightly more agreeable so that I could bare arms and wear a low-cut cleavage dress...

...whilst basking in the glory of Ra ;)

It's not just the sun that brightens up my day though, you wonderful peeps spread love and light on to my screen as well. 

I'm humbled by each and every comment left & I love the fact that I can pop over and have a read of what you've been up to as well, it's blooming grand!

To my last post a few of you lovelies commented on how brilliant it would be to find bags of forgotten about clobber. Truthfully, it's a strange mixture of horror and joy. 

I was addicted to hoarding stuff for quite a few years and I am now dealing with the result of that addiction. I would just buy loads of  stuff every week,  wash & dry it, fold it away, stick it in a bag and forget all about it. If I was looking for something, it would often take me days to find it. Like most addicts I was living in denial and if you'd asked me a year ago to stop doing what I was doing, I'd probably come up with some lame-ass spiel about how it was the only thing that made me truly happy (cue the violins). A year ago I still wasn't quite ready to face up to my addiction but the thoughts were certainly forming in my head and shortly after our return from Egypt I decided that enough was enough. I had found something else that made me happy, something that enriched my life beyond my wildest dreams. Diving in the Red Sea was like my wake up call. All of a sudden I just wanted to sell & save so that I could go diving again. My Sunday morning trek to the car boot sale, the jostling with knife elbowed bargain hunters and the inevitable bringing home of yet another bag of stuff stopped at last, hallelujah!

In the past six months I've only been to three car boot sales and on all three occasions I've kept to a strict budget and I've only bought stuff that I know with get used or sold.

It feels great to be free of the buying demon and it feels great that the albatross that has been hanging around my neck for years is finally getting lighter.

Yes, of course I love finding forgotten about frocks but at the same time I am looking forward to a day when I don't anymore :)

I'm not sure if my hoarding addiction was about the need to own stuff or just to get that fleeting buzz from the thrill of the chase/purchase, probably a combination of the two.

It doesn't really matter now, what matters is that I've got a hold on the situation and that I'm working towards liberating myself from the result of years of  accumulating stuff.

I also love how getting dressed seems a thousand times more enjoyable now, mainly cause I don't have to spend  hours hunting down garments that I want to incorporate into an outfit.

That makes me very happy indeed :)

Vintage 70s coat by Spinney, 70s maxi dress by Richard Shops, slouchy hat, 70s boots, Frocktasia grumpy suns earrings  & Ankh necklace, a plethora of brass bangles, opera gloves and retro sunnies.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by having to much stuff in your life?
Hope you are all having a wonderful Wednesday :)

No tune today but here's the brilliant George Carlin on 'STUFF'...

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Diving into fun

Two posts in one day, how very extravagant of me!

Truth is I'm playing catch-up :)

Yesterday Mark and I went down to Dive Wimbledon to book me in for my Emergency First Response course. 

Mark actually took the EFR instructor course late last year but hasn't actually done any instructing yet so he's going to sit in whilst lovely Jon is doing the instructing to really learn the ropes. 

Completion of the EFR is a prerequisite for the PADI rescue diver course which is next on our diving to-do list.

So now I've got my course material to dive into over the next few weeks, not to mention my very own private, in-house EFR instructor, to help me along should I get that sinking feeling at any time whilst reading the book ;)

After my morning coffee yesterday I popped up to the loft and found yet another bag full of forgotten about frocks.

There are actually still bags up there that I haven't looked inside for yonks, bonkers!

Inside the bag that I brought down was this delightful crimplene creation from St Michael, I believe it's from the sixties...

Vintage 60s floral print crimplene day dress, 20s tail tux jacket, repro Victorian lace-up boots, tights, driving gloves, mohair hat, soapstone & macrame heart earings, Frocktasia horse-brass necklace & Lanta Animal Welfare tote bag.

Although I absolutely love its yummy raspberry colour and ditsy floral print, it is sadly just a little too large for me so it will be joining the cornucopia of fabulous frocks in my market stock, speaking of which...

I'm very pleased to announce that Frocktasia is now booked up to be a part of  the wonderful Dandy Lion family for three more months, yay!

The next market is on Saturday the 6th of April so a preview post is in the pipeline for that, probably just after Easter.

If you are thinking of coming along to peruse my goodies and have any special requests as to what you'd like me to bring on the day, please feel free to e-mail me with any suggestions or requests on frocktasia@yahoo.co.uk

I will of course also be telling you about my fabulous fellow sellers in a pre-market post cause they are BRILLIANT but not all pitches have been confirmed as yet, so that will be done after Easter too :)

Can't wait for this to roll around, it's so much FUN!

Hope you are all having a great week!

Today's tune is by Inner City....BIG FUN, enjoy :)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx