The satisfaction of the sales...!!

I've been lusting after this Warehouse swallow dress for ages and ages:

Warehouse silk swallow print dress - link

I have already looked at the Warehouse sale and it is still full price so I was shocked to see it on ASOS at less than half price - £32! It was unavailable in size 8 at first so I stuck a 6 in my bag then had dinner and checked back and the 8 was available! They have a system where you can put something in your basket and it is reserved for you for a certain amount of time (2 hrs I think). This is great of course as it means you have time to think before purchasing but it does mean that "unavailable" doesn't necessarily mean permanently unavailable, I hadn't really thought about it before but it does make sense to keep checking back. I really really hope it is nice in real life!

Along with my utterly bargainous dress from ebay (£1.04 plus £2.75 postage - pics below), I will hopefully be sorted for patterned dresses. I'm not a big flowery person so I'm glad there isn't a flower in sight!

A bit of weekend DIY

This weekend, we have decided to paint the bannisters. They are in the lounge and at the moment are an ugly, rather dirty pine. They aren't very attractive as bannisters go, so I've decided they must be painted a blending in cream colour! Luckily, D has agreed with me!

This is how they looked before:

We painted (well, D did this bit!) first with primer and knot blocker stuff (otherwise the colour from knots shows through).

Then we painted in this colour:

B&Q Everywhere satin paint ivory - link

We wanted quite pale but thought white would make the carpet look even more dirty! 

Here is the finished product!

So, I'm really pleased with how they've turned out. Not so pleased with the painting blister I managed to pick up - D keeps laughing to himself at my having picked up a painting injury!

Black wedge boots

After lusting after some black suede wedge boots from Zara, which are now out of stock, I found these gorgeous black wedge boots on the Debenhams website. I love them, they make my feet look tiny and are really comfy.

Red Herring wedge boots - link

I think they'll look nice with jeans - skinny, straight-legged or bootcut or flared (for secret height boost!). Also with maxi skirts for a more dressy look than biker boots. They would go perfectly with this feather print skirt:

Warehouse feather print maxi skirt - link

At £36, the wedges are a great price so I should have enough money to buy another pair of sales boots. I'm thinking some grey low heeled ankle boots and love both of these from Carvela, I'm just hoping they are reduced after Christmas!

Carvela grey sooty boots - link

Carvela grey skin boots - link

I am hoping the height of these ankle boots would give me the illusion of legs long and slim enough to wear some skinny cargoes:

Oasis cargo jeggings in khaki - link  

Getting in the Christmas spirit...

Last week I went on a business trip to Germany. The work bit went well but wasn't all that interesting! The Christmas markets are amazing though, lots of Glühwein, sparkly lights etc. I'm still not feeling massively Christmassy but may get some Glühwein from Lidl tonight to see if that helps! Here are a few pictures (taken on iphone so not very good quality).

Cologne - a view of the Cathedral through strings of lights over the Christmas market.

A chocolate stand in Hamburg.

A Christmas market in Hamburg.

Father Christmas flying over the top of the Christmas market in Hamburg.

Christmas market in Hamburg.