Happy Birthday to Shoe!!

500 years of fabulousness apparently.

And I found this. Must try it!

Not Long To Go Now!

So, I'm still surviving the festival season in Edinburgh. Haven't punched anybody yet but I've been sorely, sorely tempted. I've even deigned to go and see a few shows, though most of them in the first weekend when everything is cheap. I still think they should have a cheap couple of days at the end of the festival, at least if you can produce your council tax bill!

The best thing I've seen this year was Fuertabruza in the big black tent at Ocean Terminal. I can't even describe what this show was, except for a sensory feast. Unfortunately Kirsi and I arrived late for the performance so we had to traverse the dark blackness ourselves, which was quite scary. We eventually found ourselves in the centre of the tent, standing with the rest of the audience, gazing up at what looked like a large tin tea tray with a man suspended on one side and a lady on the other. The tray thing was spinning around and the couple were... for lack of a better word - performing on either side. There was loud techno music and lighting effects as well. I'm sure it sounds godawful but it was one of the most mesmerising spectacles I've ever seen. The rest of the show was much of the same confusing spectacles for spectacle sake but I thoroughly enjoyed all of it.

Naomi and I went to see Richard Herring doing his show (see above) and I laughed my ass off. It's all about how he's reached 40 and is questioning how much longer he can get away with not growing up. A question I know I ask myself and I'm hoping the answer is a whole heck of a lot longer! He's got a blog that I keep meaning to check out but I haven't got around to it. Forking Facebook! Hey Nat, maybe you should check his blog out now that you need to find alternative things to keep you busy at work? He's very funny.

Shakespeare for Breakfast was up to its usual silly standard. The premise this year was a bunch of Shakespearean characters on a plane which has crashed on a desert island... Puck decides to cause mayhem amongst MacBeth, King Lear, Cleopatra (coming at ya!), Hamlet and the nurse from Romeo and Juliet. Hi jinks do ensue with Lear sporting a pair of donkey ears and Hamlet wandering around being indecisive (there's a surprise!). And there was, as always, the free coffee and croissant as a reward for dragging your ass to see Shakespeare (no matter how silly) at 10 o'clock in the morning.

Apart from that I've seen one film in the Film Festival, a proper festival experience at that. A low-budget Scottish effort called My Life As A Bus Stop. It's based in Edinburgh and is about several characters who are trying to make it in the movie business. A producer who has no script, a director who has no money and a couple of actors who have no talent. I did enjoy this movie but I think I would have been more enthusiastic if it had been based anywhere except Edinburgh. The horrible people seemed even more horrible because there was the slight possibility that if they were real you might run into them somewhere. Edinburgh is a very small place! Apart from that I am glad to have given my hard earned cash to support Scottish film makers. If I'd taken a chance on something else and had the same reaction I may have grudged the ticket money more. That's the trouble with the festivals - you are not guaranteed value for money. Sigh.

However, I have tickets to see Ratatouille on Saturday and Stardust on Sunday and I think it's a safe bet that I will enjoy both of those. Manolo the Shoeblogger gave enthusiastic praise for Ratatouille when he saw it and Stardust has Robert DeNiro as a flying pirate. Oh hells yeah! I'm sold right there :o)

Still Here... Just!

Sorry for not posting for so long, flipping Facebook is taking all my time now. Must... Log... Off...

Well, the Festival is in full swing in Edinburgh and we all know what that's like - Aaaaaaaaaaaargh! Get out of my city!! I almost punched someone this morning. 4 people walking abreast on the pavement... down Nicolson Street. In fact at the bus stop outside Superdrug. There's a freaking bus stop there you selfish fannies!!! You could go two by two and still keep group cohesion you know!

Sheesh.

What The Hell Is Going On?

http://iamfashion.blogspot.com/2007/07/too-short.html

Since being in Milan and seeing it for myself I am now more interested in what folks are saying of the World of Fashion. I've always thought I had quite good taste in clothes, though perhaps not the budget or inclination to be truly chic. A girl can dream though. One day I'll have a Chanel suit, one day...

I am heartened to see Prada getting a slating from other quarters, it backs up my opinion that at the moment it's all minging! Skinny men in micro shorts? Noooooooooo!

The shoes shown are an example. Horrible! And retailing at $338. What the...?

Eeeeeeeuuurgh!

The Devil Wears Prada?

Well, if he/she does then they have very bad taste!

Yes, I'm just back from a weekend in Milano and I must to register my aversion to what I saw gracing the windows of the Prada shops. It was hideous mes amis! Some horrible cheap looking plastic effect shoes and bags of this type. Here are the ladies version as well. Oh my goodness, aren't they awful? And the worst part? The black/grey version you see there is just about bearable. In the shops they had black/red/yellow that made me want to howl... or hurl. I'm not sure which!

Oh God! And there was something godawful going on with knee high ribbed socks with the toes cut out. I wish I had taken a picture for you will not believe me! I'm not sure if that was just so they could get the socks on the mannequins (unlikely) or if they are trying to bring in a trend for toeless socks. It was awful anyway! As my friend Ziggy came back from Venice with a photo of 'fashion' dummies similarly bedecked in wrinkly knee-highs I fear we may have a winter of disconent approaching. Well, I'll be wanting to slap anyone over the age of 12 that I see wearing ribbed knee-highs anyway. *whimper*

Life Begins At 30?

Well, the birthday weekend was superfantastic fun! We did watch Peter's Friends on Friday night, after a huge dinner of steak pie and mash, and I still like it. Barney hated it though, which was surprising. He's a funny bugger sometimes though so I didn't pay much attention. I think it was the 'luvviness' of the whole thing that got on his nerves, but I do adore the Emma Thompson character. How can you not love someone with a cat called Michael?? Never mind, the rest of us enjoyed ourselves watching it again.

On the Saturday I woke late and thought I'd be the last person to emerge... I was wrong! When I got up there was nobody stirring except for me. I was joined by Jasper the Cat (above) when I let him in from the rain and was most surprised when he didn't immediately start yowling for food. He's a proper cat though, he'd been out eating mice and things so he was more concerned about his tail being wet than getting a mouthful of Meow Mix or the like. After towelling him down he settled to sleep on the breakfast bar and purred and purred and purred. Wow! What a moggy!

Once the others had emerged and we'd scoffed the fresh duck eggs Chris had left out for us we took a wander into Crail and went to the pottery. Lots of lovely, lovely things to browse there. After that we went to St Andrews to get the finishing touches for the dinner. Dinner consisted of a lovely fish pie made by Cat and cranachan for pudding. Yumsle! Oh, and lots and lots of wiiiiiiiiiiiine. Hooray! There was general hilarity and the like until at around 1am Chris bunged on some Puccinni for me and we had a bit of a sing along.

Needless to say I had a bit of a head on me on Sunday. Uuuurgh. Hangover not fun! So much fun acquiring it though I didn't mind too much. Sunday was spent very gently recuperating and watching The Student Prince as I've never seen it before. A bit of silly old nonsense really but the music is lovely and Mario Lanza has one of those voices that just makes you go 'wibble'. After a late lunch and a cup of tea Jonny and I piled into Barney's car for the trip back to Auld Reekie. We only had to stop once to let me out for a breath of air and then again in Dunfermline for Barney to use the facilities. Not much but when you're hungover and want your pyjamas you really do wish they'd hurry up and invent transporter technology!

The Big Day

Happy birthday to meeee!

Happy birthday to meeee!

A very merry birthday to meeee!

Yep, the big birthday weekend is finally upon me. I'm off to sunny (??) Fife this evening for a weekend of food and drink and fun with friends. Chris has kindly agreed to host the kinder at his Crail cottage this weekend (don'tcha just love alliteration?) so hopefully we'll all have a jolly good time. It's not going to turn into Peter's Friends.... honest! How old were they all supposed to be anyway? Older than us surely? Cat and I were trying to work that out the other day. We have a sneaking suspicion the characters seemed so much older because that film came out when we were at school and our adulthood seemed so very far away... I'm sure it's still not got all of it's luggage in the door anyway. I still love scuffing through leaves and blowing bubbles in my lemonade. I don't think that's ever going to go away ;o)

Even though the big day is not yet upon me I haven't done too badly for gifts so far. My lovely, lovely colleague Susan gave me a bottle of champagne (which I shall have to remember to pack this evening) and lovely, lovely gorgeous, beautiful Nat sent me shoes. Oh joy! I'm telling you, receiving flowers at work is lovely - it's happened to me once and it was a most wonderful surprise but receiving surprise shoes at work is even better! My delight even infected the delivery man and cheered him right up.

The shoe joy continued further in the day. I was going to go for drinks with some of my colleagues but we were all too lame/tired/busy/out of the country to get our act together and actually go out. Instead I decided to take myself down to town for a little late night shopping. Naomi had informed me there was a sale on at Nine West and I decided to go and check it out. I almost didn't but I'm so glad I did because I found the Shoes That Got Away in the sale for £5. Five freakin' pounds sterling! Oh my goodness, how happy I am! I was so happy to spot them sitting very quietly on the shelf, out of the way, just waiting for me to scoop them up and take them home. I will admit to giving them the tiniest of surreptitious little hugs when I picked them up. You can't blame me, I have been longing for them for nigh on twelve months now!

See, sometimes dreams can come true.... and for the bargainlicious price of £5!!

The Fat Lady Was Singing All Right!

I went to see Scottish Opera's production of Madame Butterfly last night, which is great because I'd been wanting to see it ever since I found out it was on (way back in January). I had thought of trying to get a group together to go for my birthday but the logistics of arranging the tickets and getting a night to suit folk was too much for me to contemplate so I didn't bother. As luck would have it I received an email offer from those lovely people at 5pm.co.uk for stall seats at £10. Bargainous!

The seats we ended up with were pretty dang good as well, M 11 and 12. The supertitles on the near side were slightly obscured by the rails on the box but, as I don't need specs, I was fine. Kirsty was a little less fortunate because she forgot her spectacles but she's seen it before so wasn't too bothered. The lyrics are mostly mince anyway! As long as you get the gist of the plot you're fine.

So, the plot...

Madamemoiselle Butterfly is a noble hard on her luck who has had to turn to being a geisha to support herself. This could be true, it might not be - she sings about how everyone in Japan is from noble birth and she knows what it was like to be rich. I think she probably did because she's such an idiot really. Sorry to be blunt but she is. Anyway, she 'marries' this American guy - Pinkerton. He's under the impression it's a nice little arrangement with a geisha but she's looking at it as actual matrimony. She's only supposed to be but 15 years old you see. Heh, the lady singing the part was one of these large sopranos so when she sang that you kind of thought "15 what??? 15 stone?"

Anyway, despite the sniggering from the audience, she goes on to sing about how she's giving up her ancestors and becoming a Christian for her lovely American. So naturally, all her relations disown her. Bummer, but she's in love so she doesn't care. So her and this Pinkerton chap set up home after a lot of singing about moonlight and love and so on and so forth.

Cut to three years later. She's waiting for Pinkerton to come back... and there's a three year old toddler tottering about the place. The neighbourhood is rife with rumours that she's a big slut and nobody but her believes Pinkerton is coming back. The 'marriage broker' keeps trying to set her up with other men but she refuses them all. She sings the lovely aria about what it will be like the day he does come back and how she'll hide from him and when he finds her they'll be so happy. The audience are sitting there going 'Yeah right' and remembering the hara-kire dagger that she made a fuss of in Act 1...

So Pinkerton does turn up back in Nagasaki, with his new wife in tow. Dun dun daaaah! He didn't know she had his son but when he finds out it is decided that he and his new wife will take the child. The snivelling coward doesn't even want to speak to Butterfly and runs from the house leaving the new wife to speak to her about the baby. Butterfly realises what's going on, kisses her son goodbye, blindfolds him and then cuts her throat with the dagger. Pinkerton finds her lying in a pool of her own blood and that's the end. Not a terribly jolly story.

The opera itself is superb though. I didn't enjoy it as much as La Boheme and I didn't cry as much as at Turandot but I did have the urge to climb up on the stage and punch Pinkerton's lights out. I'm very surprised that the consul friend in the script was so tolerant of his terrible behaviour, especially seeing as it is made clear that he has a soft spot for Butterfly himself. The chap who played Pinkerton did get booed when he took his curtain call but he hammed up the villain pose for it so I don't think he minded all that much.

That Puccini's a geeeeniouuwse man!

Life Is A Cabaret Old Chum?

I went to the strangest thing last night, this cabaret that was part of the Leith festival. Now, I'm not entirely sure what cabaret involves but I've seen the film and it wasn't quite like what we saw! Admittedly they started with a burlesque stripper, but she wasn't very good. Give the girl her due though, she did get up in front of a room full of people and strip to "In the Navy" by the Village People. That's gonna take some balls surely - though not literally thank goodness!

Then there was a couple of African dudes that came on. One did a couple of poems but he lost me on the second one, my mind wandered and suddenly I had no idea what he was on about. Poetry's not really my bag baby and I get on with it even less when it's being spoken. I don't know why, I just do. Anyway, then they played "Music of the Ancestors" on some plinky-plonky instrument that looked like it was made out of a gourd. Um, very nice but it's not exactly the Weimar Republic is it?

After those fellows they brought out a Bavarian lady with an accordion. She taught us how Bavarians drink and sang a song about a pig. I think it was something to do with cutting up the pig. A song about making sausages perhaps? Eurovision hopefuls take note! Then she sang a song about a guy who tried to climb up a ladder into his sweetheart's bedroom but his rival knocked the ladder over and he drowned in the cess pool. Charming! She finished off by bringing out a buxom Bavarian maiden to teach us the drinking song that involves rocking back and forth and side to side. I suspect the Bavarians do this in order to get even more drunk even more quickly but I'm not going to knock them for that! I'm sure the songs sound a lot better through the ol' beer ears for a start.

After the fun of Bavarian drinking they calmed us all down again with a chap who does... I don't know what you'd call it. He played with balls I guess. Right, you've seen Labyrinth? Ok, pull your attention away from memories of David Bowie in those leggings... That's it, move your gaze upwards... He's the troll king and he's sort of juggling bubbles. See it? Clear glass globes that he's rolling around and running over his hands. Ok, the guy in the Leith cabaret did this as well, only he wasn't David Bowie in tight tights and he did drop them a couple of times. Give him his due though, he picked them back up, made a joke of it and carried on. The show must go on!

Just when I wasn't sure how much more I could take they brought out some Annie DeFranco/KT Tunstall wannabe with a guitar who sang about how rubbish it was to work for Standard Life. Bless her, no that's not what you went to university for. We went to university in order to avoid getting a proper job for a few more years, drink ourselves silly and hopefully get laid. However, when you come out the other end and realise everyone and their bloody dog has a degree you curse Maggie Thatcher (because that's what you've been doing your whole life so why stop now?), get a job and continue trying to get laid. Whiny guitar songs that use typewriters as percussion don't usually factor into it. And while I'm on the subject, the typewriter was completely out of place for that song because it was obsolete by the time I got to uni and I must have been a good 5 years older than that girl. I guess a laptop wouldn't give the same timbre though. God grief, I'm getting very bitter and cynical in my old age! Ah well.

By this point we weighed up the pros of staying and seeing what else they could wheel out against the cons of missing the last bus and being stuck in Leith. We were so near the docks you could smell the brine in the air - it smelled a bit like poo actually. The older and wiser side of us won the argument and we legged it during the interval. I guess life might be more like a cabaret than I realised - you expect it to be full of excitement and sex and really wild things and it turns out to be a Bavarian lady singing about a pig!!

WTF?

So, I get a lot of junk mail sent to my work account. The spam filters are rubbish so I'm always getting emails telling me I've won the Eurolottery or that somebody needs help to get $17 million out of the Ivory Coast or something. I generally just delete them straight away.

This morning I think I was spammed in the name of art. I got an email entitled Banksy: Manifesto which I almost deleted straight away. The fact that I recognised the name Banksy made me pause for a moment and wonder if that email was just straightforward spam? I could see in the reading pane that there was a link at the bottom so I Googled "Banksy Manifesto" and came up with several sites, the main one being this one:

http://www.banksy.co.uk/manifesto/index.html

Now, it would seem Mr Banksy is trying to make a point about... um something I guess. I'm not immediately sure what that is though. Call me a thicky philistine but I sometimes need pointers in my art appreciation. There was no information on the website about the point he's trying to make or why I got an email directing me to the site, and that's just annoying in my book.

What's even more flipping annoying is I just had a look at the rest of the site and I really, really like what I saw. Dang it! The drawing above, for example, just makes me chuckle and the Statue of Liberty one at the end is hilarious.

Well, he made me think anyway and must be applauded for that. However, if anyone can shed light on the email that started the whole thing I'd be most grateful!

Has It Been So Long?

Gosh! I haven't updated for a wee bit. Sorry fans!

So, long weekend. What did I do? Uuuum. I stayed in on the Friday evening cos the weather in Edinburgh was utterly crazy. At home time it was practically blowing a hurricane so I got stuck in the office until either the wind or the rain died down. It was nearly 7pm before the rain stopped but I found the wind so utterly freezing on the way home I thought "Leave the flat again? Fork that!!" I decided to lay low on Saturday as well, but by accident. I started watching 'House of Eliott' over breakfast and was so hooked after the first episode I sat on my ass all day and watched the whole first series. D'oh!! Oh, I had fun though. I was supposed to meet up with a couple of pals for a girly movie night but they were both in their jammies by 7pm too so the evening was cancelled. Oh dearie me, are we getting old? Noooo! We just like our pyjamas, there's nothing wrong with that - especially when the weather is pish. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

On the Sunday I got out of the house... and into a dark room. Jo and I went to check out 'Zodiac' at the cinema and I have to say I was impressed. It's a very long film (158 minutes) but you don't get a numb bum because it consistently holds your interest and keeps the plot moving along. Robert Downey Jr just keeps getting better with age too. Oy, he's a yummy man. In fact, I think we should have a picture of him.... Heh heh, if only the camera had panned to the right a little...

On Monday I started trying to spring clean. Oh God, it's going to take me until next spring to finish. This is why I've been putting it off. *whimper*

Then I'm outta here!! Loooooooooooooooooong weekend ahoy. I'll try and have lots of fun to write about.

Laters!

Fantasy Fairytale Shoes

Cinderella shall go to the ball!

These are the Shoes of the Day today and I love them!



They are by Stuart Weitzman and the style is called "Moonglo"

You'll be happy to know that they have perforations down the side so Cinders hopefully wouldn't sweat too much in them. Little farty sounds coming out of her shoes as she was whisked around the ballroom would be bound to put Prince Charming off!

I already have my Dorothy Ruby Slippers but I'm now coveting these. I really like the idea of a whole collection of Fairytale Princess shoes but I would have to get the frocks to go with them. Dorothy's gingham number wouldn't be too hard to replicate now that I've done my dressmaking course but a ballgown fit for Cinderella may be a little more tricky. One can dream a little dream though...

They're Swarofski crystals on the front by the way, not diamonds, but these bad boys still retail for $325. This is a little out of my price range unfortunately. See, some scoffed at the frivolity of the ruby slippers at the time but they only set me back 20 quid. When you put it in perspective they are bargainlicious baby! Plus, I still totally maintain that you are never too old to have a dressing up box!

I Didn't Expect the Spanish Inquisition...

This weekend I watched a few fillums. On Saturday evening I found myself in no mood to leave the house, and happily had absolutely no reason to do so - apart from hunting and gathering and that's why modern man invented Tesco. Once fully stocked with supplies I settled in to indulge myself in a bit of musical mayhem in the form of New York, New York with Robert DeNiro and Liza Minelli.

Ok, so I admit it was naive of me to expect simply a glorious MGM spectacular like my favourites of bygone days. You know the ones I mean - Singin' In The Rain, Guys and Dolls, Funny Face, etc. I mean I should have suspected something was up because Bob DeNiro is in it for goodness sake! I think I was telling myself it could be like Marlon Brando in Guys and Dolls though, an unexpected delight. Nuh uh! Martin Scorsese directed the thing and that alone should have told me that I wasn't going to get what I was hoping for.

Saying that though, the film is superb. It's shot like one of those fantastical old musical extravaganzas but the subject matter and characters belong more to the 'real world'. Bob's character is an asshole and poor old Liza puts up with it for as long as she can. By the time you get near to the end of the movie and Liza belts out the eponymous title song it really is an anthem of survival and success. It's one of those kick in the balls moments that just has you cheering at your telly. I think Liza's version is, for me, now the definitive version. Sure, ol' Blue Eyes did it well but he wasn't married to Bob DeNiro!

On Sunday morning I dragged my ass out to check out the latest in the Spiderman franchise. That'd be Spidey 3 for anyone not paying attention. I found this film to be... "fnyah" I guess would sum it up. The special effects are good, Tobey MacGuire camping it up for evil Peter Parker is hilarious and it's always wonderful to see Bruce Campbell on screen but apart from that it really didn't leave much of an impression on me. The two villain storyline makes it seem like they're trying to cram 2 movies worth of plot into one and I'm afraid I had a horrible attack of cynicism at the end. All in all, ever so slightly disappointing. I hope Pirates of the Carribbean is more exciting.

I'd gone to see one of the morning screenings of Spiderman so there was still plenty of time for a second movie when I came out. Gosh, I adore my Cineworld card! I couldn't bring myself to go see the movie with Kevin Costner cosying up to some single mother with 4 daughters (Bleeeurgh! I almost vomited reading the plot synopsis) so I decided to take a chance on Goya's Ghosts. I was apprehensive because Natalie Portman annoys me intensely. It's probably not the poor lassie's fault but episodes 1 to 3 of Star Wars and V for Vendetta all just made me quite angry. Oh man, as did Garden State - Stop whining JD, for Bob's sake!!

Anyway, never mind the rant - what about the film? I found this one odd, and interesting. I'm afraid I knew very little of Goya and Spanish history before I went into the movie so to find it set against the background of the late Inquisition was intriguing. Evidently the people of Madrid did not really expect the Spanish Inquisition anymore either as Natalie's character gets picked up and accused of being Jewish because she turns her nose up at roast pig in a tavern. Hideously enough I can well believe this sort of thing went on so the events that follow for her are even more shocking. As the BBC reviewer put it, this film is more about the history of Spain at the time than Goya and he is more like the ghost, observing events as they unfold.

I'm afraid to say I did spend most of the movie going "Hey, is that Robert Downey Jr?" and squinting at the guy who plays Father Lorenzo - Bardem Javier. Obviously he's not Robert Downey Jr but he's pretty dang close - and have a lovely Spanish accent as well so has the edge there methinks. I'm very excited to note that he will be featuring in a film version of Love in the Time of Cholera so I will have to keep an eye out for that. It is much better than 100 Years of Solitude, though a movie version of that would make the whole thing easier to follow - unless all the actors looked remarkably similar. Which they probably would, it being the story of a family. Aw man, they'd all have to wear different hats or something. This is probably why they are not making a movie out of that book.

There were 4 geeky looking dudes sitting in the row in front of me and I have a sneaking suspicion they were just there to see if they could get a swatch at Natalie Portman's tits. Natalie was naked in this movie, but she was covered in filth, sh*t scared and going insane in an Inquisition cell at the time so I certainly hope the little creeps didn't get their money's worth!

Tell It To Kenny Baker!

.... and really not very happy about it!

I'm Loving This Web Site!

http://www.overheardintheoffice.com/

Female clerk: When I get that drunk I always end up stealing something or get something stolen from me.
Male clerk: Maybe you shouldn't get so drunk.
Female clerk: I wouldn't, but I can't afford good coke with this shit job.

Oslo
Norway

Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! It's linked to the Overheard in New York site. Oh, it just makes me laugh so much!

Holiday Blog Updated, Almost....

I've been updating the Holiday Blog with my amazing adventures in Bahrain.

http://holidayblog-marj.blogspot.com/

You'll have to scroll down to the bottom to start at day one but I've almost finished. I just have to recount the horror of the return journey... but it's pub time just now so I'm off to get myself a gin and cranberry. Huzzah!

The picture here is of some modern art that was outside the Bahrain National Museum. I think my intellectual contribution to a critical examination of the piece was "Heh heh, he's got a willy!"

Noice!

I spotted this outside the cinema last night. Very nice indeed!

Shoes Of The Day

Well, after my holiday I got caught up on work things pretty speedily but catching up on my tinterweb passions has been a bit more furtive. I speeded through Manolo's Shoe Blog but hopefully I'll be able to go back and peruse what I've missed next week. He does post a lost of interesting miscellany (read 'shite'). One of the things I spotted on there was shoes made of chocolate. Now, if it were shoes made of crisps my waistline would be in much bigger trouble!

The Shoes Of The Day were easier to catch up on, though I skipped the little comments the blogger puts under each one. These beauties made my heart flutter though. Aren't they gorgeous?

Here's what was said about them:

Green Shoes from Jessica Simpson

In the shoe dictionary under the word "fun," you will definitely find a picture of this shoe.

With its 4.5" heel, fabric upper, and peep-toe covered in bow, the Pegeen in bright green is just wonderful.

Equally fabulous in scarlet, you might want to check that same shoe dictionary to see if this shoe isn't also listed under the word "flirty."

As Manolo would say "Super fantastic!"

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig.

I'm back in one piece from my jaunt to Bahrain and it's raining in Edinburgh. Ah home, what else could one expect really? Well, in April in Scotland you can probably expect rain, snow, sleet, sun, wind, clouds... pretty much anything except hurricanes and dust storms and I wouldn't necessarily rule them out.

I did type up a couple of blog entries while in Bahrain but didn't get around to posting them. Once I've got a few photos downloaded and Nat's emailed me the entries from her laptop I'll get the holiday blog updated. A potted version of events is that I made it through the hideous day of travel to get there, developed a stinking cold, shopped and then came home again. The travelling on the way back was much, much worse. I was so sleep deprived by that point the only thing I could cope with on the in-flight entertainment was Disney movies. Anyhoo, I'll tell you all about that on the holiday blog. An announcement will be posted when it's updated.

For now it's back to life, back to reality. Sigh. At least I didn't leave a mahooosive pile of washing up to welcome me home!