tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8788968014522050072024-03-13T20:31:02.548-07:00Adventures of LexingtonLexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-74431093276377843852016-07-07T10:48:00.001-07:002016-07-07T10:48:20.777-07:00Alice tattoo 5th sitting, and maybe a little life updateI'm neglecting my poor blog again! And I feel like all I have done this year is repeat myself about how I need to blogore often! But there it is. Life just happens sometimes and I need to stop beating myself up about things I do/don't do/feel like I should do...<br />
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When I last mentioned what's going on in my real life, I mentioned my PMDD and anti-depressants. I had a little review of the treatment last week, and whilst I felt like the medication was helping, I still had an awful couple of days when I was ovulating, so my doctor recommended that I take them every day instead of just 10-14 days out of the month. I'm actually ok with it. If it's what I need to do to feel better and to be the best possible person (mother, wife, friend) that I can be while I am experiencing this difficultly with my hormones, then I am all for it.<br />
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I think maybe I will do a wedding preparations post, because I am supposed to be going shopping for craft supplies with my auntie next week so we can sort out all the DIY decorations I have planned.<br />
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Onto the most dramatic change then, I finally have Chess coloured in!!<br />
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Safe to say I am pretty much in love with him. I like to imagine Stephen Fry's voice on my arm like some sarcastic guardian angel.Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-47213802775080199462016-06-03T15:12:00.002-07:002016-06-03T15:12:31.157-07:00Alice in wonderland sleeve tattoo: 3rd and 4th sittingsSo I thought I would post some update photos on my Alice in wonderland sleeve tattoo, of the last two sessions because I didn't post about it the last time. The main reason was because normally the artist takes the photos when we finish for his Facebook page, and then I just save those for my own purposes, and last time he didn't take any because there wasn't too drastic of a difference that could be seen since the last time because a lot of the session was spent doing black shading between the hearts and a bit of colouring in the tree branches and mushrooms. First I show you a before picture from the second sitting.<br />
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I'm more than happy with the way it's going, even on the first sitting it was better than I could have ever imagined and it just keeps on getting better. It's funny because this time around Rob had to work so I was there on my own (Rob normally comes in with me even though he gets bored, he just really likes being in tattoo shops because it's such a familiar atmosphere for him, ha) and I really enjoyed it. It was two hours that were purely self indulgent mummy time, spending money on myself and getting to just sit there happily swimming in my own thoughts. I think the hair metal Ben was playing definitely lifted my mood though... lol. I just really enjoyed the sitting this month. Anyone else out there find their pain place a nice head-clearing place to be?Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-41952150593124808412016-05-18T16:23:00.000-07:002016-05-18T16:23:22.525-07:00Up and down...I just can't seem to get it together with blogging this year. Since the puppies were born I just sort of dropped off of my blog and for that I apologise. The last of the puppies went to their forever homes two weeks ago now, excluding Odin because we are keeping him, so since then we have been transitioning him from being a litter member to a family member of the household. And for some reason I decided it was a good time to potty train Reegan so I have not only been running around after a toddler but a mischievous puppy too, feeling like I'm just trying to get everyone in the house civilised enough not to poo or wee indoors. Lol.<br />
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In my last post I mentioned that I am currently very happy. That is still the case but it's just a little more complex than that. For five years I have lived without sleeping pills or anti-depressants and I was feeling pretty confident in my abilities to function without them. But lately my cycles have been pretty intense, causing erratic and shocking mood swings. In the throes of these negative waves I have frightened and shocked myself. I have felt the urge to self harm and behave in other self destructive ways, feeling as though I should punish myself to gain control over these emotions. The thing is, when I'm fine, I'm completely fine. When I'm not I'm at rock bottom again. In one of my more severe mood swings I called my mother in a panic and she drove and hour to me just to get new to stop crying, and convinced me to go to the doctor. Who thinks I have PMDD - pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder- basically a severe form of PMS. So I am trying out just taking anti-depressants during my PMS symptoms to see if that helps. <br />
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Who knows. I'm writing this in the middle of the night because I have a stinking cold and my dear other half is snoring his pretty nose off. Good to be back though.Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-51054865925179736332016-04-22T13:30:00.000-07:002016-04-22T13:30:25.986-07:00Running away from meI don't know how it's suddenly almost five months through the year, but here we are. Time really has run away from me ever since we moved into our own place, probably because I'm feeling more contented and fulfilled in my life than I ever have before. I do have a lot on my plate still, and obviously life isn't perfect, but as I like to say about my Sunday roasts it's a constant evolution towards perfection. My own peculiar perfection that is.<br />
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Already the puppies are five weeks old and in only three short weeks they will be leaving us. The thought of letting them go fills me with so many emotions. Ultimately, I will be sad to let them go because I love them all dearly, but we are happy to have found nice families for their forever homes. They have all come into their own personalities so much the past two weeks or so, to the point where when two of the girls aren't wearing a collar I can tell them apart by personality alone. Well, I can because I know my babies better than anyone else does! Poor Inca has had enough of playing mummy now, they are almost fully weaned and she only spends time with them at night (although if she can drag her bed out of the puppy pen she will!) and when they go outside together she has started to show interest in playing with them. As soon as they go for her nipples she doesn't want to know and makes a quick exit.<br />
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The beginning of April marked my 22nd birthday, which actually I wasn't all that enthralled about. I felt like it was crossing a line into true grownuphood (yes I made that up) and I don't think I like it!<br />
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This week we had a meeting with two wedding vendors about the food and the marquee, which has made me feel a lot better about how close the wedding is getting. October 1st is looming and by the time Rob and I are married we will have a two year old daughter. Reegan is only just 20 months now but she just seems insanely grown up all of a sudden. Her vocabulary is expanding daily, her sponge like little brain learning new things constantly. She can count to twelve on her own, and grasp concepts like the weather and communicate her feelings about it. Example, "Raining mummy! Stop rain! No! No rain!"<br />
I was having a bit of a mood swing the other day and when Reegan saw me crying she said "Sad!" And gave me a hug. Needless to say that was all I needed to cheer me up!<br />
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Funny story, we took her to the amusements when we were on holiday, and when the whack a mole game thing she was playing finished she said "Ah fucks sake!" Completely of her own initiative. We do try to mind our language around her but nobody's perfect! LOL.<br />
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I'm really enjoying parenting a toddler now, but having such an independent child is tugging on my ovaries a bit. I'm really wanting to have another baby soon, but we are set on waiting until we are married now, for a few reasons. I have a friend and a family member who have both recently had babies and it's making my broodiness so much worse! I joked when the puppies were born I was going to start lactating again. Maybe it's the lovely fertile spring behind all these feelings? Who knows!Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-26899440777676090872016-04-07T13:18:00.000-07:002016-04-07T13:18:01.344-07:00I'm back!I felt like after nearly four weeks away from blogging, I have really missed writing. I kept getting this niggling feeling, this itch I couldn't scratch, a feeling like there was something I should be doing but couldn't remember what. I realised that itch was blogging, even though after the puppies were born I made an unofficial decision to take a break for a little bit. Taking care of all of our dogs, as well as my almost-two-year-old (when did this even happen?!) and all of the other things I have on my plate this year. I still have a lot of wedding planning to do, as well as a reupholstering project I'm doing for the pub on the side of my part time job. I was supposed to be taking my theory driving test soon but I lost my provisional licence so that's going to have to be put on hold too. That and I've barely done any revision whatsoever, I've always found it difficult to motivate myself to study.<br />
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So everything I've been juggling has been getting on top of me just a little bit. I haven't been leaving the house much because I can't leave the dogs unattended for too long, so whenever I've actually had to go somewhere Rob has taken a half day at work or one of our friends had come to sit with them for me. As a result of not leaving the house so much, I've been relying on the TV a lot more to entertain both me and Reegan, which in turn makes me feel like a rather lazy parent. I also haven't felt like wearing makeup or clothes other than leggings because I feel as though I have to reason to bother making an effort just to do housewifey shit. All this just means I haven't had as much to blog about in my life in general.<br />
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I've rediscovered a little of my inspiration now though, and I'm hoping to get right back into blogging now! I feel like I've missed a lot of other people's stuff going on, so I'll try and get reading and commenting now!Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-70618549622192957582016-03-17T08:28:00.003-07:002016-03-17T08:28:59.503-07:00The puppies are here! A first time breeder's experience...As most of you know, we (well, fh decided to really) made the decision to breed our Doberman bitch Inca finally. To be honest it's something we have been considering for a couple of years now, and since she isn't working anymore (who knows we may start again) it seemed like a good time. We waited months for her to come into season (by normal standards she was due in October but she seems to have a longer cycle than most) and she finally came into season in January. We found a lovely stud dog to mate her with and she happily obliged (lol).<br />
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So after five weeks of waiting we got her an ultrasound scan last month to discover four perfect sacs each with a wriggling puppy bean inside. Little did we know there were three more hiding in there! She's been behaving like she might go into labour since last weekend and every night last week we went to bed betting there would be puppies by morning, so Monday morning I really wasn't expecting it to happen because it was daytime. We were just pottering about our daily activities and I popped my head into the dining room where we have the whelping box set up, and there Inca was with a look of terror on her in her eyes and the head of a puppy protruding from the birth canal. So I instantly went to sit with her and made a hasty phone call to Rob to come home immediately, I was shaking and adrenaline was pumping! It took a further ten minutes for Freyja to be born, and although Inca cleaned her up quick and nipped the umbilical cord she wasn't that interested in her until puppy number two, Helga, was born. Then she had a little while snuggling with the two of them until she was ready to birth the next pup.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black pup Freyja, brown pup Helga</td></tr>
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Then Ziggy came along, another black female, with a tiny bit of meconium staining coming out with her waters. I was a little concerned until two hours later puppy four, Odin was born breech. So that explained the longer gap and possibly meconium so I felt ok that he was born safely. Unfortunately I was not prepared for the devastation of the next male, Bjorn to be born dead. It was awful. He also came out breech and I had to gently help him come out as he seemed slightly stuck. As soon as he came out, his mouth tongue and nose pale and white, we knew he was gone but Rob still tried his best to revive him. He wanted to bury him immediately but I didn't want to bury him at all. I sat there cuddling him on or kitchen floor, sobbing, trying my best to love him as much as I could before he had to be buried. I just needed to feel like the tiny pup had experienced some sort of love before we laid him to rest. <br />
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After Bjorn came little Lagertha, the brown runt of the litter. We were surprised for her to be born because it had been another two hours in between births and we were starting to wonder if she had finished. Suddenly though we noticed more contractions and suddenly she popped out like a little furry lightening ball! Another twenty minutes or so later and the seventh puppy Ingrid was born, also quite quickly with only a couple of pushes.<br />
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I have to say, I'm feeling quite proud of Inca, for birthing seven puppies in as many hours, with a relatively straightforward labour. She stayed relatively calm and quiet throughout the whole thing and as you can see from this photo she was positively glowing.<br />
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We had some teething troubles getting her not to sit on the puppies and crush them, as well as some gentle encouragement to feed them because she's the type of dog that prefers to curl herself up into a ball to sleep. For the first two days we supervised them all almost constantly and it was bloody exhausting, but gradually she has been getting better. Until this morning when we came down to find poor lifeless Freyja had been squished. We had been up with Inca several times in the night and thought she was doing OK, but accidents do happen I suppose. I just can't get over the guilt of feeling like we could have done more to prevent it. We buried her next to her brother Bjorn without Inca noticing.<br />
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So evidently it has been quite the emotional roller coaster for us the past four days or so. I'll post more updates soon if you guys would like that.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting them all to feed at the same time was quite the victory.</td></tr>
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<br />Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-3689337091520221712016-03-01T07:53:00.001-08:002016-03-01T12:44:41.366-08:00Makeup rules? Eff your beauty standards! For most females, beauty and cosmetics is something we become aware of from a very young age. When it comes to wearing makeup there are so many things that people say about it, from your grandma to your older sister to beauty magazines there's always someone trying to tell you what to do or that you're doing it wrong. Regardless of their intentions or their credentials, who's to say they're right? Alternative and goth subcultures specifically are known for rule bending looks on the more extreme end of the scale with heavy coverage foundation and dark rimmed eyes, black lips and shaved or extremely manicured brows. Not to say that everyone belonging to those subcultures will be sporting those looks mind you, because whilst makeup is a big part of thelse kinds of looks in isn't the defining factor of identity for goth etc. <br />
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So I thought I would do a little debunking of these so called rules, just to let you all know that you can carry on expressing yourselves no matter what the world is telling you. Because obviously you need me to tell you that. </div>
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<b>Eyes or lips. </b></div>
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It's like the old "legs or boobs" rule, you can only get one out or you risk looking like a slut. I don't beleive in either of these viewpoints, because, hey, people should be able to express themselves however they see fit. I mean picking eyeshadows and lipsticks that compliment each other can be intimidating but when all you're wearing is black you can't go wrong, right? </div>
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<b>Match your lipstick to your nail varnish</b><br />
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Who in the real world has the time for this much thinking ahead?! Get real.<br />
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<b>Don't tweeze above your eyebrows, only shape underneath for a natural brow</b><br />
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Personally, my natural eyebrows are pretty horrific. They are huge and messy and have long coarse hairs, which I trim with scissors and then pluck the shit out of them, top and bottom. I feel like there is a huge obsession with eyebrows in the mainstream beauty world at the moment, and it really really baffles me. Ten years ago thin brows were fashionable and sought after, and now you will see articles slating the thin brows in favour of youthful bushy ones. Each to their own I suppose, but again a lot of goths tend to shave their eyebrows and draw them on everyday in fun shapes so as to make upkeep easier.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XJJ9Cn5oHVA/VtWI6IZbsHI/AAAAAAAAKMM/6aL4VFehKDw/s1600/54ab81cc2750c_-_elle-02-kate-hudson-h-elh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XJJ9Cn5oHVA/VtWI6IZbsHI/AAAAAAAAKMM/6aL4VFehKDw/s320/54ab81cc2750c_-_elle-02-kate-hudson-h-elh.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <a href="http://www.elle.com/beauty/makeup-skin-care/tips/g8444/celebrity-eyebrows-then-and-now/">link</a> for this picture is actually from one of those eyebrow articles</td></tr>
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<b>Only wear warm or cool colours based on your skin tone.</b><br />
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Argh makeup is supposed to be about freedom and creativity why must we impose so many rules like this?! I don't actually know if I have warm or cool skin, nor do I know how to tell for someone else's skin, so I think most people are highly unlikely to look at your average Jane on the street and say "wow that eyeshadow is NOT working for her warm skin tone at all". I think everyone should be free to experiment with colours and not be restricted by skin tone, eye colour or any other classification that means green eyeshadow is off the table for them.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bK7dqntxKN8/VtWwP1Y-TZI/AAAAAAAAKMc/hNe2BhvcIas/s1600/Screenshot_2016-03-01-15-01-28-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bK7dqntxKN8/VtWwP1Y-TZI/AAAAAAAAKMc/hNe2BhvcIas/s320/Screenshot_2016-03-01-15-01-28-1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apparently <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/nairn3119/skin-undertone/">this </a> is how you would know which one you are</td></tr>
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<b>Don't wear eyeliner or mascara on your bottom lash line</b><br />
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OK, I don't know who the hell thought this one up. Without eyeliner on at least my top and bottom waterline I feel naked, and I tend to put a lot of black on the bottom lash line to match the upper lash line or it feels unfinished. According to some beauty know-it-all's it can make your eyes look tiny, but without mascara on the bottom lashes I feel it can look very top heavy. Some people like heavy eyeliner ok!<br />
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<b>Stay away from dark eyeliners</b><br />
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Well we don't want to risk looking goth now do we? How tacky. If you really must wear one make sure it's only at night time on a very special occasion, during the daytime just cover your eyes in glitter instead for a lovely fresh disco ball look.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A5gGTGLZdv4/VtW0cCVN33I/AAAAAAAAKMo/Agj4NP4Bamo/s1600/Screenshot_2016-03-01-15-24-18-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A5gGTGLZdv4/VtW0cCVN33I/AAAAAAAAKMo/Agj4NP4Bamo/s320/Screenshot_2016-03-01-15-24-18-1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://m.favim.com/image/2629294/">Source </a></td></tr>
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<b>Avoid false eyelashes for everyday use</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Sorry to say, false lashes are just too much for daytime wear. Only the very skilled in false lash application can get away with it, and even then individual lashes are vastly preferable to strip lashes. Well people, I must respectfully disagree. In my opinion, mascara just doesn't do much if you have average eyelashes. False Lashes just add so much more dimension to a look. They just make it so much more awesome. Can you tell I'm an addict?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-goM7Rz73RAM/VtW4xqU5FcI/AAAAAAAAKM0/CkHCpjDKDkk/s1600/Screenshot_2016-03-01-15-44-00-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-goM7Rz73RAM/VtW4xqU5FcI/AAAAAAAAKM0/CkHCpjDKDkk/s320/Screenshot_2016-03-01-15-44-00-1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.falseeyelashessite.com/2013/02/">Source </a></td></tr>
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<b>Heavy foundation is not for every day</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
So they say that full coverage foundation is just for night time and special occasions (again with the special occasions!) It is recommended you use a foundation that is a shade darker than normal to accommodate your (gasp!) suntan. Some people have skin issues and things they want to cover up, and personally I like pale foundation with full coverage to cover as many of my freckles as possible. Most people that work at beauty counters in shops try and match me a foundation that is much to dark for me because they are going for the freckle shade and not the colour underneath. Surely if my whole face looks tanned my freckles will dissappear? Ha. No thankyou sir. Not quite your white grease paint but not far off.<br />
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In conclusion, please don't tell me I'm wearing to much makeup. Sit the fuck down and let us paint our faces.<br />
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Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-48267422665062626572016-02-26T02:00:00.001-08:002016-02-26T02:00:33.002-08:00Alice in Wonderland sleeve tattoo: second sittingSo I've been a bit absent from blogging this month. Sometimes life just gets in the way I suppose. We are quite busy at the moment preparing for a litter of doberman puppies who will be joining us in just about 3 weeks or so, that's right, our dog Inca is confirmed to be carrying at least four puppies in her squishy belly right now! We took her for a doggy ultrasound scan last weekend, and straight away we saw four perfect sacs each containing a wriggly little puppy bean. So I can't leave the house too much at the moment because firstly she is very emotionally needy at this stage, and secondly because we have now adjusted her diet and she needs to be fed roughly every 3 hours during the day time.<br />
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The other issue I've been having is my wisdom teeth again. Last weekend the pain got really bad and I ended up not really eating for the best part of three days, so I had an emergency dentist appointment on Tuesday (after being miserable at work on Sunday and Monday much to my co-worker's disappointment). I'm on antibiotics for my gums and cheek issues and I'm waiting for my referral letter from the dental hospital so they can hopefully take them out for good. Yay!<br />
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My latest tattoo sitting was this week also, as those who have me on Facebook will have seen. (If you don't have me on Facebook come find me!) To be honest, even though this time around was only a two hour sitting, normally well within my tattooing tolerance timescale, I found this sitting not so enjoyable. Not that being tattooed is ever that enjoyable a process anyway! I think just physically and mentally I was a bit too stressed out to deal with it this week. But enough of my moaning, take a look at the progress!<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3fz5PIbSj80/VtAhDpZOYgI/AAAAAAAAKLE/fJ8KhiosppY/s1600/FB_IMG_1456479631269.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3fz5PIbSj80/VtAhDpZOYgI/AAAAAAAAKLE/fJ8KhiosppY/s320/FB_IMG_1456479631269.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OAqJVoj24Ns/VtAhGxW0LxI/AAAAAAAAKLI/v6Ss__1KxmU/s1600/FB_IMG_1456479637842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OAqJVoj24Ns/VtAhGxW0LxI/AAAAAAAAKLI/v6Ss__1KxmU/s320/FB_IMG_1456479637842.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vfdwle5S_KM/VtAhKVZT-OI/AAAAAAAAKLM/xZ48M8L6998/s1600/FB_IMG_1456479640823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vfdwle5S_KM/VtAhKVZT-OI/AAAAAAAAKLM/xZ48M8L6998/s320/FB_IMG_1456479640823.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wc2PFJPVIEE/VtAhPthtGiI/AAAAAAAAKLU/yHzHEWGvdVI/s1600/FB_IMG_1456479650227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wc2PFJPVIEE/VtAhPthtGiI/AAAAAAAAKLU/yHzHEWGvdVI/s320/FB_IMG_1456479650227.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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This sitting was just adding in some heavier blacks and shading on top of what was already there, but it's made a big difference to the detailing. Ben also took a couple of closer pictures of the inside of my arm even though he didn't work on it this time, but you can see the white rabbit and the bandersnatch in better detail in them.<br />
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There's another post I've been working on for nearly two weeks now, I'm aiming to get it out soon! Bye for now!Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-52184519577005969202016-02-06T12:52:00.001-08:002016-02-06T12:52:47.248-08:00Outfit post: Victoriana Frock CoatAs most of you know, I've recently moved house and still haven't properly organised everything yet. It's only been three months.... ha! One of the great things about finally having our own space is finding old stuff that has been sitting in storage forgotten about, and remembering how in love with said stuff I was and still am. I found a big box of old clothes that I packed away when I was pregnant with my daughter, back when we lived in a caravan. Sigh. I miss that little thing! Although some of the items I found were (and probably will forever be) too small, I'm at peace with that and have a lot of clothes to donate to charity shops. I hope someone else will find them, fall in love and wear them with pride.<br />
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One of my best re-discoveries was my Spindoctor frock-coat. It's a tough one to wear though, because it's not quite warm enough to wear as a coat and much too warm for the summertime, so I wear it most in Autumn and Spring when the weather is milder and I can get away with just wearing it as a jacket. When it is really cold though I can wear it underneath my long coat.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--s756UmTxjk/VrZbhk2BImI/AAAAAAAAKKQ/hdeXgSbzWhY/s1600/20160105_120801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--s756UmTxjk/VrZbhk2BImI/AAAAAAAAKKQ/hdeXgSbzWhY/s320/20160105_120801.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why do I always do photos BEFORE hair and makeup?! Don't even ask about the socks...</td></tr>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mbgb8Qc3Eb8/VrZbl-XnasI/AAAAAAAAKKU/wW5FWi748eQ/s1600/20160105_120819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mbgb8Qc3Eb8/VrZbl-XnasI/AAAAAAAAKKU/wW5FWi748eQ/s320/20160105_120819.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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It's quite the statement piece on it's own, so normally I would wear a short skirt and simple vest underneath. In fact, I think I actually wore it over this outfit here:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PW5KvGjFKXc/VrZcSVOmXEI/AAAAAAAAKKY/Gaqj5hAeNIo/s1600/20160105_190730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PW5KvGjFKXc/VrZcSVOmXEI/AAAAAAAAKKY/Gaqj5hAeNIo/s320/20160105_190730.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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You can't even see it really but it is just a velvet mini skirt and vest. It makes a nice update on Reegan though, who is now one and a half. What! I have a toddler now apparently. Things have been difficult with herthe past couple of weeks, while she has quite a good vocabulary for her age and I try my hardest to always listen and understand her we are struggling with communication and boundaries at the moment. It's only natural but it's still challenging!Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-49625508467703620302016-01-29T03:00:00.002-08:002016-01-29T03:10:02.788-08:00FOTD Friday: earthy eyes Lately I have been doing a lot of wedding makeup practice, because even though I think I'd like to have it done professionally on the day I need to know exactly what it is that I want. I think I'm going to be very fussy about it... Oh dear! I need to look my best but also need to look like myself, and feel comfortable in my own skin. So most of my practice runs have been some sort of smokey eye with Matt colours and no glitter. I love glitter but for some reason I just hate the idea of having disco ball eyes in my wedding photos.... I have no idea.<br />
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So here's the look! A brown smokey eye using colours from Urban Decay Vice pallet and Younique Addiction pallet no2.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zmwKAb30wJw/VqtE5jiYSTI/AAAAAAAAKJs/34gr5ttDyaI/s1600/20160104_181452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zmwKAb30wJw/VqtE5jiYSTI/AAAAAAAAKJs/34gr5ttDyaI/s320/20160104_181452.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Product list:<br />
Urban Decay eye primer<br />
Urban Decay Vice pallet<br />
Younique Addiction pallet number 2<br />
Remington naturalites doll lashes<br />
Lancome Teint Idole foundation shade 005<br />
Younique concealer shade Scarlet<br />
Natural Collection blush shade Sugar Plum<br />
Pretty Zombie matt lipstick in shade Dahlia<br />
<br />Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-65291515790489284252016-01-28T02:25:00.001-08:002016-01-28T02:25:14.900-08:00Alice in Wonderland sleeve tattoo: first sitting I remember as a young teenager always watching shows like LA or Miami Ink on a Saturday morning with my friends, and I couldn't wait to be old enough (and out of school) to be able to get tattoos and piercings and look like Kat Von D. I got my first tattoo booked a week before my 18th birthday and my best friend sketched it up for me. I've been pining after a sleeve tattoo for years, specifically of the Tim Burton aesthetic, and the when the Alice in Wonderland film came out I knew that was what I wanted.<br />
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I booked the tattoo on Halloween last year and yesterday was my first sitting. I am so incredibly happy with it already and can't wait to see what it will look like finished, it's already better than I ever dreamed it would look.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wc5qWjPRke4/VqnrD5IWeeI/AAAAAAAAKJA/wxGR7LTylIQ/s1600/FB_IMG_1453976349762.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wc5qWjPRke4/VqnrD5IWeeI/AAAAAAAAKJA/wxGR7LTylIQ/s320/FB_IMG_1453976349762.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I had it done by a local artist called Ben Boston, he drinks in the pub where I work, he's a lovely guy and super talented. The sitting was 2 hours, with 30 minutes to draw it all on freehand (except for the white rabbit which he stencilled) and then an hour and a half to tattoo it all into place.<br />
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And yes, it will be finished in time to ruin my wedding photos ;)Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-26074950718792709292016-01-26T02:13:00.001-08:002016-01-26T02:13:29.287-08:00Proper English Tea etiquette: my way vs the High wayAs I like to think of myself as quite the English Rose these days (albeit a spiky-thorny black one) Afternoon Tea is a most fitting passtime. What many people don't know, however, is just how many unspoken rules there are when taking your tea. Now I know most of them I don't feel I can ever take tea in public again. I've compiled a nice simple list for you so that you will behave most appropriately when attending an afternoon tea, as opposed to the most rude mistakes I have obliviously been making my entire life.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://redrabbitsteaparty.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/a1035fd2dd7943e2183c775de0baa797.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://redrabbitsteaparty.com/gothic-tea-party">Source</a></td></tr>
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<b>Just where do you think you are going? </b><br />
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Some say High tea, some say Royal tea. Some say three o'clock or four o'clock tea. If I am quite excited I will say we are having <i>tea </i>in a fancy voice, to indicate that we aren't just having a cuppa. In fact, just Afternoon tea is the correct phrase. High tea and Royal tea are popular with tourists, but high tea was only for servants, who would dine at 6pm after the upstairs had been given their Afternoon tea. So unless you want to be dining with the servants on ham and ale down stairs you'd best be calling it Afternoon tea, and if you're having Champagne only then may you refer to it as Royal tea. The best kind of tea is tea with alcohol obviously.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0258/8175/products/DSC_0041_e26e5bbc-5049-4c9c-b9e6-487ee77b23cb_1024x1024.jpg?v=1389894058" height="285" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.toastedglass.co.uk%20images%20may%20be%20subject%20to%20copyright./">Source</a></td></tr>
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<b>What on earth are you wearing?</b><br />
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I think most people know that the dress code is smart casual. Smart jeans or trousers and a shirt are recommended for men, and apparently it's the perfect excuse for a lady to dress up, as long as she's not in evening wear of course. Heavens! I'd usually be dressed to the nines in a corset and lacy blouse with a victoriana skirt, and probably some sort of headdress, looking most improper of course, but not at all scruffy.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smart casual? From my point of view. </td></tr>
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<b>How do you pour?</b><br />
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Personally, I pour my tea first after brewing it for as. Long. As. Possible. I like a builder's brew me. Ahem, daintily of course. And just a smidge of milk to lighten it. My MIL likes to put the milk in first and then the tea, which just makes for some milky ass tea all round. It's great if that's what you like, but apparently this practice is also wrong. Milk first marks you as a commoner because the milk would have to be used as a coolant before pouring boiling tea into cheap clay cups, thus causing theme to crack. Fine porcelain and bone China would not require such measures.<br />
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<b>Holding the cup</b><br />
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Sometimes I like to hold my pinkie in the air and pretend I'm posh, you know like you used to do as a child messing around? Wrong. Sometimes I like to hook my middle finger into the handle and act like a one handed professional tea drinker. Sometimes when I feel like I need a hug, or I'm cold, I feel that it is ok to wrap both hands around ones drinking vessel. Also apparently unacceptable behaviours, you know you are supposed to meet your thumb and index finger in the handle of the cup and try not to drop it. Right.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com%20images%20may%20be%20subject%20to%20copyright./">Source</a> </td></tr>
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<b>Stirring one's beverage</b></div>
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Rather than plopping in your sugar and frantically stirring until the tea splashes and your spoon has it's own clinky beat, one should consider sacrificing dissolved sugar in favour of a simple back and forth swishing motion from 6 to 12 o'clock. And for goodness sake, do not let your spoon touch your cup. NO LILLY NOOOOO!</div>
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<a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/robinedds/the-most-british-gifs-on-the-internet">Source </a><br />
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I hope you enjoyed my little tea how-to!</div>
Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-72647761095031940082016-01-22T03:13:00.002-08:002016-01-22T03:13:54.598-08:00FOTD Friday: red and black Christmas eyesI have a little stash of makeup photos built up so that I always have something to post about. This one is the look I wore on Christmas Eve to go shopping in, with that long black velvet dress featured in the outfit post with the belt.<br />
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I used two of the Sugarpill pressed eyeshadows, Bulletproof (black) and Loveplus (red), with a shell-pink to blend out with and highlight my brow bone. For some reason I didn't wear lipstick that day, which I regret now because I think it would have looked better!Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-64976813829024562432016-01-13T02:11:00.000-08:002016-01-13T02:11:10.481-08:00Outfit update on that belt you've been looking forJust wanted to show you guys the final outfit I talked about on my previous outfit post <a href="http://adventuresoflexington.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/outfit-post-belt-youve-been-looking-for.html?m=1">That belt you've been looking for</a>. I showed the belt and the dress separately and a couple of days before Christmas I wore it out on a shopping trip and this is how it looked:<br />
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Just like I imagined. Woop woop!Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-68519780397246226082016-01-09T02:50:00.001-08:002016-01-09T02:50:46.286-08:00Bring on the new yearIt's finally time to come back to blogging now that the holidays are officially over. I have missed writing but I do like to take a break from technology etc at this time of year, to just fully immerse myself in my friends and family and focus on the love and laughter around me. It was our first Christmas spent in our own home so it was a really special year for us, and we hosted a few people for dinner and friends for drinks later on Christmas day. I still can't beleive I managed to cook a roast for eight people and the only casualties were the three wine glasses I smashed when trying to serve prosecco.<br />
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Reegan is finally understanding the whole concept of presents and unwrapping them, and after every gift she would demand 'open!' And insist that the toy needed to come out of it's packaging. We are usually quite minimalist when it comes to birthdays and Christmas with her though, for various reasons but she seemed to really enjoy her little green ride on tractor that her daddy picked for her.<br />
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After all the madness of food and family and presents, we drank even more and spent hours playing Cards Against Humanity. If you haven't played it then I strongly suggest it, it's hilarious and very offensive at the same time. Perfect for our bunch. New years eve was spent with a friend and her boyfriend, our first proper couple friends who we tend to double date with often. We ate cheap party food and played Settlers of Catan,which I haven't played in years and since I was the only person present who had played it before and couldn't remember how to play properly it took us about two hours to really get into it. We did some small fireworks in the garden and even though poor Inca was safely locked in the front room she had a bit of a panic and tried to dig under the Christmas tree. It's odd because she's never had much of a problem with fireworks before (hot air balloons are her nemesis) she also calmed down pretty quickly when the last of the neighbourhood fireworks finished.<br />
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So now that it's all over I'm diving headfirst back into wedding planning because our wedding day on October 1st is looming. So far I have left to book a marquee, a bar, the food and then just DIY bits and bobs for decoration. We also have to save up twice as hard because we could be faced with eviction in September if we don't have the money to buy the house we are living in. So it's all stressing me out a bit at the moment. I kind of wish we could just skip straight to the wedding and be done with it.<br />
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I'm starting a new tattoo this month though so I have that to look forward to. Happy new year everyone, who's ready to take on 2016?Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-11775825118865814782015-12-16T09:05:00.000-08:002015-12-16T09:05:08.916-08:00Outfit post: The Belt you've been looking forAbout two years ago, I purchased a long black velvet dress from a vintage shop for an absolute bargain, and whilst I love it, it has always felt as though something was missing. It was just a bit... plain.<br />
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I paired it with big hair and a long statement key necklace, and still felt as though I was missing something. Until I found a belt in a charity shop that was just what I was looking for, after only two years of looking! It was only £2.50. I haven't managed to wearing it with this dress yet but I have paired it nicely with a high-low skirt and leggings.<br />
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Yes, that's my daughter there trying to eat a shoe. But I felt like the chain link silver belt had just the right sort of hippie feel to it for the skirt, and it will break up the plain dress nicely. And please ignore my awful hair here!<br />
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Outfit:<br />
Black leggings - H&M<br />
High-low skirt - Ebay<br />
Vest - H&M<br />
Bolero jacket - Necessary Evil<br />
Belt - charity shopLexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-24588661465437641812015-12-15T03:31:00.000-08:002015-12-15T05:00:24.076-08:00A late Gothidays postI didn't manage to post in time for <a href="http://thecuriousprofessorz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/gothidays-2015-day-6-decking-halls.html?m=1">The Curious Professor Z's</a> week of Gothidays but I still wanted to contribute a little!<br />
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<a href="http://thecuriousprofessorz.blogspot.com/search/label/Gothidays"><img height="392" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-01sLlKnCP7w/Vk31M9lWi6I/AAAAAAAAGWk/BVxq1apgD5g/s400-Ic42/Gothidays2015.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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We got our tree up right on time which I was very pleased about because I was worried we just wouldn't be organised enough to do it until right before Christmas and I wouldn't get to maximise the festivities in the house. It's our first Christmas in our own home, so apart from a few choice items that I've had for years most of our decorations are brand new, which is very exciting for me.<br />
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Our large tree all squished up in the corner of the living room, it covers the storage box so Reegan can only play with the toys that are currently not in the box until she gets new ones for Christmas. She doesn't seem to mind.<br />
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Some cool key ornaments from Ikea, they caught my eye because they look like they are made from bones.<br />
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This clock doesn't really match anything else I have but it's a little Steampunky so I couldn't resist.<br />
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My old faithful who has been with me for years.<br />
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At the moment this is out tree topper because we haven't got any else that Rob deems Pagan enough to replace it. He wants to honor the origins of the holiday.<br />
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<span id="goog_1793059270"></span><span id="goog_1793059271"></span>And finally a candle lantern also from Ikea. It gives off a lovely glow but it was a complete nightmare to assemble! Apart from some food and present shopping experience are almost prepared for the holidays now. Yay!Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-25631793126266456152015-12-03T05:53:00.002-08:002015-12-03T15:50:19.049-08:00Outfit post: an under-appreciated old dressSo hopefully I can commit myself now to an outfit post each week. I didn't manage to post my face of the day last week because my plans went kind of wrong. It was my little sister's fifth birthday on Friday, so we went up to my mum's house to stay with them that night. We went out for a nice family meal and spent Saturday morning playing with her new toys. For her birthday I gave her a face painting set and thought it would be a great activity for us to do together and would make for a cute FOTD post, so I sat down and let her paint my face ENTIRELY pink.<br />
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After a few minutes it started to feel itchy and crusty so I had to wash it off. It turns out that my skin didn't agree with the face painting and I ended up with a splotchy red face for the rest of the day.<br />
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So onto my outfit, the main piece of which is a little skater dress that I got from Primark three or four years ago, and I have swung back and forth on liking/disliking it and actually almost threw it out on more than one occasion. I recently just started wearing it again and have fallen back in love with it. I think it definitely had something to do with one or two compliments that I got wearing it.<br />
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I wore this outfit (minus the nbc socks) to an appointment with the dressmaker who is making my wedding dress, she is wonderful at her job and I have known her for six years now, so I trust her opinions when it comes to fashion. She complimented me on the outfit and it really boosted how great I feel wearing this dress, and I wear it a lot more than I used to. When you feel comfortable and confident in what you wear it makes such a big difference. I actually love the silhouette so much that I'm planning on using this dress to make a pattern for another one.<br />
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I'm also wearing a crushed velvet bolero with bell sleeves, the cuffs featuring laser cut velvet and lace trim, floral patterned fishnet tights and a black belt. I'm not wearing shoes because they are not allowed in the upstairs of the house, especially not on the precious black bedroom carpet! But I was wearing my patent black docs.<br />
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Who else has varied relationships with old items of clothing?Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-51644096889789786762015-12-01T08:17:00.001-08:002015-12-01T08:17:16.451-08:00Dracula and date nights We have been very fortunate in the past couple of weeks to be able to go on a couple of date nights without our toddler with us. The first was when we went to see a theatre production of Dracula at Arnos Vale (yes, we have been visiting there alot lately, they have a lot of events going on! Although I still haven't taken the official tour...) it was supposed to be a partial outdoor performance, starting at one building to begin with, and travelling to another during the opening scene. The weather, however, had other ideas, there was a big storm that night and the wind was atrocious. It made for the perfect atmosphere though!<br />
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The cemetery cafe was open so I treated myself to a nice cup of hot mulled wine whilst we waited for the production to begin. I was a little nervous about whether or not Rob was going to enjoy it, because if he hadn't of wanted to accompany me I was planning to ask a friend along as it's not really his sort of thing. I was mortified when he told me during the interval that he had fallen asleep and the person behind him had kicked his chair, but he does have difficulty staying awake at the best of times. He can't help it, he just falls asleep ridiculously easily! Excepting that little incident I think he had a good time. I really enjoyed the evening as I haven't been to the theatre for years, not since my mum used to take me when I was still at school. It was a very small cast of eight members, with a couple of actors playing multiple characters and they performed an adaptation written by Scottish playwright Liz Lochhead. There were a couple of deviations from Bram Stoker's original that bothered me a little, such as changed character surnames and the fact that Lucy and Mina were portrayed as sisters in this version. But that's just a fan being finicky.<br />
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The final scene was performed outdoors in the end and it was quite wonderful.<br />
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Our second date night was last week when we had our appointment to give notice of marriage at the registry office, and since it was in the city centre at six 'o clock we took the opportunity to go out for dinner with friends on a double date afterwards. We went for steaks at a grill house, and it was two for one on cocktails too. Yum!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ammaretto peach sours! My favourite </td></tr>
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I had steak with fries and blue cheese sauce, and tiger prawns and calamari with chilli and tomatoes to start. Blue cheese and seafood are probably my favourite foods. Apart from chocolate. Obviously. The double date part ended up being spontaneous because we spotted my friend'stating boyfriend driving infront of us on the way into town, and it turned out that he was picking her up from work so it was perfect timing on all parts!<br />
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Anyone else ever been to a theatre production of Dracula?<br />
<br />Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-66510804318560805452015-11-27T16:43:00.002-08:002015-11-27T16:43:54.415-08:00The gothic housewifeSince we moved into our own place two months ago I have gone from young mummy living out of one room and hovering awkwardly in my boredom in someone else's house, to full time housewife with a million things to do every day. I must say I only work two days a week so shout out to all you mamas with full time jobs - I bow down to your multi-taskedness!<br />
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Whilst we are STILL unpacking and getting things in order I will never feel at ease and like I have gotten everything done. There are shelves and furniture items still required to finish things off, for example the cabinet for my teacup collection needs to be assembled in order for me to unpack them all. I have been quite hard on myself about not having a perfectly clean house too. When I lived with the inlaws their clutter drove me mad, so now that it's my clutter it's obviously my fault. I know it's silly, and I am recognising that I need to be kinder to myself but I never really realised just how houseproud I seem to be!<br />
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Perhaps what I'm finding the most difficult, however, is how I really don't fit the stay-at-home-mummy mould at all. I have struggled a lot with 'mummy friends' because when my daughter was born I was floating in the horrid middle category of being too old at 19 for 'young mum' support groups (and all the other help that goes with it) and being much too young to fit in with the other mums, who were in their 30's and even 40's . They were career women who left having kids quite late. They were all married with 'good' jobs and mortgages and great maternity pay. I was a blue haired teenager shacked up in a caravan with her previously married boyfriend. Talk about unconventional.<br />
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Don't get me wrong, I really love my life and am very grateful to be able to spend so much time at home with my child. I just feel a bit alien about it all sometimes. I rock up to a mummy meetup in my tattoo t-shirt and bat leggings, sporting freshly dyed hair and false eyelashes and I can feel all the unmade up faces following me across the room. They are all so very mumsy. And I, I am so very un-mumsy. Apart from the women I already know, I can't talk to anyone. I am terrible at making friends. I want my daughter to make friends and have fun, but preferably not whilst I'm feeling so uncomfortable surrounded by so much normalcy. I am so self conscious that people are staring, judging, wondering could I even be this child's mother? I don't look outwardly maternal.<br />
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But then there is the passionately maternal part of me, who co-sleeps with her child and is a huge breastfeeding advocate, secretly I love to do things the hippy way. Mothering is the best job in the world. It comes so naturally and is so rewarding. I love babies. I love being pregnant. I love all of it. It is so empowering to make these offbeat parenting choices amidst opposing opinions and to feel like I am the best parent I could possibly be because of it.<br />
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Some days are wonderful, I feel satisfied and productive and some days I feel trapped inside my own house, not contributing anything meaningful to anyone. On those days I want to be able to be my old self, wear totally impractical and completely beautiful clothes, and craft all day long without interruptions. I haven't crafted at all since we moved and I need to fix that. Things will come in time, I hope.<br />
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<br />Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-16542820270159266402015-11-21T13:22:00.000-08:002015-11-21T13:26:54.994-08:00FOTD Friday: conservatively gothic Apologies for posting a little late, but my little baby bean picked up some sort of plague from a play café last week (more on this alien experience soon!) and has passed it on to me. We have spent the majority of the past two or three days snuggling on the sofa during the day and I have had to work the past two nights. I am quite enjoying having something regular to post about each week, so that when I have no other inspiration I still have something to write about. I'm thinking of doing some more regular themed posts so if anyone has any ideas please let me know!<br />
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On to this week's look, conservative (in my book at least) goth makeup that was inspired by youtuber ReeRee Phillips and her corporate goth look tutorial video.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who knew cars were so good for selfie taking?! Am I last to the car selfie party?</td></tr>
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So it's basically a pale peachy and white eyeshadow base, with reddish pinks blended out from the crease and topped with cat eye style eyeliner and white eyeliner in the inner corner. I have become rather fond of white eyeliner on the waterline and the inner corner, it allows me to wear my favourite heavy eyeliner whilst still opening up the eyes. I finished the look with my usual Vamp matt lipstick and light cheek contouring. I had also just washed my hair and let it dry naturally. </div>
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I could comfortably wear this look in a formal environment and feel put together. (work doesn't count I wear whatever the hell I want to work!) What are everyone else's 'corp goth looks?</div>
Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-77976891843641208042015-11-13T12:22:00.001-08:002015-11-13T12:22:14.864-08:00FOTD Friday: twin buns hairstyle and Red Cherry lashes review So this week's look is equally about hair as it is about makeup but I didn't think anyone would mind! It was a very red look, as I incorporated the colour into both my eyes and my lips, and as my hair was relatively straight and smooth I thought I would try a twin buns hair style.<br />
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As you can see, I sectioned the hair into top and bottom layers and put the top half (excluding fringe) into pigtails, which I then wrapped around my small bun inserts. I felt like my hair looked shiny and healthy that day, but it's still so thin that I had to back comb it to make sure the bun inserts were covered up completely! I don't think my hair has completely recovered from post natal hair loss yet... hahaha!<br />
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For the makeup I used my usual Vamp matt lipstick from Pretty Zombie, with black eyeshadow on the lids blended out to red. I also got a new foundation from Lancome, which I am seriously obsessed with so I might write a review on that later. In this look I'm wearing a new pair of false eyelashes that I got from a UK website called False Lashes UK, but they are Red Cherry lashes imported from the US. I have heard of people on YouTube and such recommending these and seeing as the website I got them from were so cheap and had free postage I thought I should try them. Plus I needed a couple of new pairs because I'd gotten rid of some older heavily used ones recently.<br />
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I purchased two pairs, numbers 43 and 218, in this look I'm wearing 43 but both pairs are fairly similar.<br />
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What I love the most about them is how comfortable they are to wear, which is because of the style of the band, which as you can see is very thin and the lashes are attached in small sections rather than all the way across. The thinner lash band means that the strip is much more flexible and therefore easier to apply, so you can glue it closer to your natural lash line which makes them bled in and look much more realistic. Because they are also real hair they are not shiny and plastic looking like some false eyelashes, which I really hate the look of. I like to try and find that balance of lashes that are long and shapely but naturalistic at the same time. I would really recommend these to someone who is new to false eyelashes or isn't very confident applying them because they are so easy and comfortable. Also to anyone who lives in the UK the site is well worth buying from because they were only £3.50 each with free postage. I haven't stopped wearing these since I bought them... That's how great they are.Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-22425397849142722152015-11-06T13:23:00.000-08:002015-11-06T13:23:44.618-08:00FOTD Friday: a pastel goth lookSo to get myself back to regular blogging again I'm going to start at least one weekly feature: face of the day Friday. It will also encourage me to do more makeup posts because I haven't done many of those lately.<br />
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I realised recently that I don't really own any pink eyeshadows that aren't neon, and when I found this little trio of pearly pinks discounted in TK Max it seemed like perfect timing. Whenever I go with such soft girly colours on the eyes I like to balance it out with dark lips, which works well for a pastel goth look. Paired with the eyes is a matt black lipstick from limecrime, and short spiky lashes that remind me of the Japanese gyaru makeup style. I actually used three eyeshadow colours but they are all very similar looking, with the lightest shade at the inner corner, the medium in the middle and the darkest in the outer corner and blended into the crease. I used white eyeliner in therror bottom inner corner to open up the eyes and only a little black on the bottom outer corner, with a very thin line of eyeliner along the upper lash line just to help the false lashes blend in nicely.<br />
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Before I go I also wanted to share this video with an old favourite youtuber of mine <a href="https://m.youtube.com/user/SebastianTheGirl">Sebastian Columbine</a> because it really spoke to me on an emotional level. The wording explains exactly how I feel about wearing makeup, and for any girl who loves makeup or has found herself defending her use of makeup to anyone it is the perfect argument. It is the way any woman should see wearing makeup.<br />
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Happy Friday everyone! X<br />
<br />Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-60014101828665590022015-11-05T02:35:00.002-08:002015-11-05T02:40:20.200-08:00October updateSo as it has been pretty much a whole month without me posting, I will write a little update on the whole of October. We are pretty much settled in the house now, although the living room and spare room are still full of unsorted boxes. I'm trying to get through them but it's slow going when I have so much washing and other housework to do because drying clothes is a task when you don't have central heating. Whilst it's good that I'm almost never bored anymore, I don't really do much for myself anymore, like blogging or crafting. I even bought myself a beautiful old writing desk to do crafts on, and I haven't had the chance to use it yet. Also because Reegan took the handles off of the doors and tried to eat them.<br />
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There she is sitting behind the living room door. See that lovely ornate black door handle too? Rob wants one on every door in the house, but they are quite expensive so we are stuck with just the one for now!<br />
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I really wanted to decorate the house for Halloween but things are so disorganised that I don't know where all my bits and bobs are and couldn't really justify buying new ones this year. I carved my pumpkin into Mr Oogie Boogie and had a string of wooden black bats in the window and that was it. But I had a fairly busy week for Halloween which was nice because normally I just do whatever my other half wants to do as his birthday is November 1st, and usually he just wants to stay at home and relax and maybe have a meal with friends.<br />
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On Thursday night we went to an outdoor screening of The Addams Family at a local cemetery, which was a lot of fun. We had pulled pork from a BBQ van and I drank cider for the first time in a long time.<br />
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My outfit, if you can see the Addams Family t-shirt, and my Necessary Evil fishtail skirt. I finally have a good place to take outfit selfies!<br />
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I kept stopping to take photos as we were making our way through the cemetery and Rob was getting impatient with me! It's just so beautiful there.<br />
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The only thing is that there wasn't any parking available, so we parked at the top outside the gates (it is situated across a big hill) and had to walk all the way back up in the dark afterwards. Creepy.<br />
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Saturday morning was spent queing like a true Brit. Basically there's a tattoo artist I know who drinks in the pub where I work, he's done work on a few of my friends and is quite sought after so he only takes bookings on one day of the year. We got up and out of the house for 7.30 am (for me this is a massive achievement!) And out of 110 people booking tattoos in I was there early enough to be number 10 in the line. He was also giving away merchandise so I got a t-shirt and an a3 print, which I'll show you guys when it's up. I booked in to have a half sleeve done, which I've been pining after for about two years and I'll be having work done once a month from January to August (so it will be done before our wedding which is October 1st). I'm after a Tim Burton Alice in wonderland theme and I can't wait to get started!<br />
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After we finished at the tattoo shop my friend, her boyfriend and I went out for a full English breakfast before scouring the charity shops for Halloween costumes, completely last minute but it was a lot of fun. My mum was babysitting my daughter for me the whole weekend so I spent the rest of my day doing housework and all the other little jobs that are difficult to get done when Reegan is around. I put two heaps of washing away in thirty minutes when normally it takes me two days. I felt so productive!<br />
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We went out for a few drinks that evening but nothing heavy.<br />
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If you can tell my costume was a ventriloquist dummy then I did something right. If not... Haha. If you can see my friend wearing the Frankenstein mask behind us, let me just tell you that his costume looked amazing. He is a very tall and broad man anyway but he had inflatable shoulder pads in his jacket to make him look bigger and the effect was quite authentic. I helped my friend in the Cruella wig with her makeup and we were pretty pleased with our efforts. </div>
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I was proud of myself for waking up on Sunday without a hangover, so when my mum brought Reegan back to my house I was ready to take on the day! I made Rob a big breakfast for his birthday and we spent the day together just the three of us and went out for a curry with friends that evening. All in all a most enjoyable week. Did everyone have a good October? </div>
Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878896801452205007.post-58987070262829577112015-10-16T15:48:00.002-07:002015-10-16T15:48:10.445-07:00The Big MoveJust a quick update to tell everybody that we are finally in. It has been one of the most physically and emotionally draining weeks of my life. Second only to when my daughter was born. I have been yearning to write about it all week, but I either haven't found the time, or when I find myself with a free hour or so I just want to switch off and chill out. We did all the moving on Sunday and by about 5pm that day I hit this wall of exhaustion and pretty much just shut down. I was able to take care of Reegan and that was all I could do without just passing out.<br />
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There's still boxes and crap strewn about the house, but it's MY crap, and it's in MY house, which in itself makes me feel so much better. For the past three years Rob and I haven't had anywhere stable to call home, so my life has been packed up into boxes and scattered amongst various family members's storage spaces. I have found a new level of peace from knowing that we are here settled and all of my crap is sitting under one roof here with us rather than worrying about finding this or that from who's spare bedroom etc.<br />
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We are having our first social gathering at the house this weekend. It's a kind of freedom I haven't felt for a long time, because you can't invite people over to visit an already crowded house which isn't even yours. I used to feel so isolated not being able to have friends and family over, especially after having a baby so young when most people my age are out partying. Before we had our daughter Rob and I both worked Friday and Saturday nights so I was never alone. I only work two days a week now and not those evenings because Rob does and it's hard to get childcare all night long on a Friday! <br />
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Whilst Reegan hasn't settled in yet and has been very hard work, our dog Inca has made herself right at home in her new bed under the stairs. Surprisingly well actually considering how she is still recovering from a little accident last week. She caught one of her claws in her cage when she was running in and out and ripped it clean out of her poor little foot. It bled heavily and we had to take her to the vets for emergency treatment. It was so bad they sedated her and cauterized it, but luckily she got to come home that night. The whole thing was pretty distressing and I nearly lost it but I'm proud that I managed not to have any tears, and Inca was back to her usual greedy self the next day. We are now waiting to see if her claw will grow back or not. <div>
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Here's some new house pictures to nose at while I get things looking pretty enough to take more! </div>
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This is our window storage box, which we have since stained dark oak and added black ornate hinges to the lid.<br />
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Our unfinished kitchen.<br />
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Our bedroom colour, which does NOT look like it did on the tin. At first I hated it but I've warmed up to it now.<br />
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Finally, my controversial living room colour choice. I love it, and Rob got his 48" TV he wanted, so we're even!</div>
Lexington the 1sthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13943902109024256924noreply@blogger.com4