In which there is soppiness, sunshine and a shoe rack

I don't think that me and Andy have ever taken so many pictures as we did on this day. I have a folder full of them because Andy seemed more than ever before to be delighting in capturing pictures of me. Perhaps it was the weather and the getting out of work early, but we were in one of those giggly silly moods. Perhaps it was that we had just had milkshakes.

The sun and the still air reminded me of America. 

Although I often am very critical of American politics and such things, the times the two of us spent there were wonderful. I love the food, the feeling of being miles from home and leaving every bit of responsibility behind, but I especially love the smell of the still warm air we had in Texas (and the ability to go into a pool when it got too much). Any moment where I get that scent of Summer brings back all those feelings of escape and happiness.

As I blogged a while ago, and any picture of my hand reveals, Andy and I are engaged. This means that at any moment of boredom or lull in our conversations we fantasise about the wedding, discuss plans, do invite sketches and talk about how much we cannot wait to get married. I really can't. I love how much we are doing it together and how much fun that day is going to be. 

It sometimes feels like there are two worlds. The real world and the one the two of us inhabit inside our bubble. We really have plenty of life issues going on with jobs at the moment and I suffer from a lot of self-esteem and anxiety issues. Sometimes I get completely overwhelmed by a sense that I have failed at life, but never at our relationship. It means everything to me and even if I never get to fulfill my dreams and ambitions and even if feminism winces at it, the two us together means I'm never failure.

/soppy

Back to the real world! These outift photos are me daring to do something different with my hair. I having a strangely round head like a ball so I always keep my hair down to try and look like I have a reasonable shaped face, but here I am giving it a go for once. Expect a return to hats.

Dress: Camden market; Shirt: Andy's; Monopoly Neckalce: Made by me/Eccentric Accessories;
Hairband: Ditto; Shoes: Asos; Socks: Topshop

Elmer bag! I love Elmer. Got this from a book fair. It came with Elmer books.

Handmade hairbow by me. I went through a period of making ribbon bows all day. I have loads of these at our house from running craft fairs for Eccentric Accessories

Scotty Dog Monopoly Piece necklace. I have one of these in my shop.

Shiny nails!

Side story: I made this. Yeah! Absolutely super proud of this bit of home DIY. It's a shoe rack. And I totally made it. I did the drilling and the screwing and everything. Andy just held the pieces together. (Obviously that was a Very Important Job). I am PROUD.

So was that too many pictures? Too much soppiness? If you made it to the end and my random shoe rack story -thank you!

In which I love Elmer and Spirograph

I have so many childish things that I love, many of which I have mentioned here before (oh so many times). I love playmobil and lego and comics and children's books. I often think that I want kids one day just so I can read out loud to them. In fact I read aloud to my boyfriend on occassion. I have read most of Howl's Moving Castle out loud as a bedtime story for both of us and before we were even 'dating' I read him a story I had written out loud.

So anyway I recently bought this amazing thing. A bag of Elmer books! Lots of books and an adorably cute bag that I can use to carry books around in! It came with 10 Elmer books, which I have kept to give away whenever there is an opportunity to give a child I know a book. I bought the whole set of books though just for this bag.

I decided to theme my outfit today around my love of the childish by also wearing my 'spirograph' dress. I don't know if you had spirograph when you were little, but it is a very inventive toy. You get little cogs with holes in them the right size for a pencil point and a toothed circle with paper underneath. Depending on which hole you have placed the pencil in, as you move the cog around the teeth it draws interesting patterns. My sister had a little travel set and I would actually go buy another one just for fun, to keep in my handbag and play with on trains.

(Dress: Desigual, Shoes: Next, Jacket: XXI, Earrings: EccentricAccessories, Bag: Book company)

I don't know if my love of childish things is just too immature but I like to think of it as being partly a good sense of nostalgia and partly a good sense of fun.

p.s. I dyed my hair! It's now mahogany rather than drab brown.