On Friday evening our oven unexpectedly gave up the ghost, just as we were about to cook our dinner of meatballs in tomato sauce! Yup, Friday night was meatball night in our house. Ee gads, what to do to save the meatballs? Our lovely neighbour swooped to the rescue, like a culinary caped crusader and very graciously cooked said meatballs in her oven, thereby avoiding ‘meatballgate’. Phew!
Fortunately, we were out for lunch on Saturday at friends, meaning we only had to survive Saturday’s dinner, sans oven. Sunday then turned into a mini oven buying day. We live life on the edge round our way!
Therefore my first outfit for The Seasonal Skinny challenge needed to be practical. A simple, put-on-and-go-out-to-buy-a-mini-oven, kinda outfit. As we’re in September, my first Seasonal Skinny is my Autumn pair of red ochre skinny jeans, which I teamed with a classic, navy & white striped t-shirt. You can read all about The Seasonal Skinny Style Challenge I’m doing here.
Striped t-shirts are such easy items to wear and are ideal staples for everyone’s wardrobe, including mine. They never go out of style and look good with everything from skinny jeans to swanky skirts.
I always think a stripe-y tee just cries out to be accessorised with spots of some kind. My polka dot tote was practically panting at the front door like an exuberant puppy, waiting to go out for walkies, when I donned my stripe-y tee. We have the very visually satisfying combination of blue stripes on white and white dots on blue.
I love this bag. It’s my I-can-fit-everything-into-it-including-the-kitchen-sink bag. You would not believe the stuff I can squidge into it. Most days it contains my Pilates leggings and t-shirt, spikey massage ball, umbrella, water bottle, lesson plan notepad, client notepad, A5 sized work diary (yes, I still use an old fashion paper diary), far too many pairs of glasses for various needs from sunnies to readers, as well as your normal handbag bits and bobs. It truly is a warhorse of an everyday bag.
I bought it two summers ago when we were ‘up north’ on holiday and by ‘up north’ I mean really ‘up north’, as far as you can in England, in Northumberland. We visited Lindisfarne, or Holy Island as it’s also known and on the island there’s a tiny National Trust shop. There, my polka dot titan of a tote was waiting for me.
The other accessory that strip-y tees love to have adorn them is abit of bling. And to tie in with the red of the jeans, I wore my Brooke necklace in coral, pink and reddy-brown. I also have the same necklace in turquoise, which I wore in my Floaty Watercolour Floral Shirt post.
It was a warm day on Saturday – no jacket required – but I felt I needed a little something else so I slipped on some blue bracelets. I did care that some of them are silver and the necklace is gold? Nah, because life is to short to worry about matching your accessories to within an inch of their lives.
It seems I’ve two pairs of cousins in this outfit. The first being the Brooke necklaces I own; here in coral, the other in turquoise. These sandals are the second pair of cousins. They are the blue cousins of the black ones I wore with my Seascape top last month.
I’m nothing if not a practical gal. If it works in one colour, snap it up in another!
I wonder if Sunday was one of the last sandal wearing days of this year or will the toes hold off from going into hibernation for a week or two longer?
Back home from our most exciting of shopping trips, where the goal of mini oven buying was far and away achieved and executed with military precision, it was time for a few snaps.
Here I am pondering all the culinary delights TallBrownFox will be able to create from our brand spanking, ever so shiny, new mini oven, until we decide upon the fate of the old knackered one!
Dorothy Perkins Skinny Jeans (preloved e-bay)
Warehouse striped t-shirt SS14
Gorgeous Statements Brooke Necklace. Nude colourway
National Trust Navy Blue & White oil cloth tote (old). Their tote in burgundy polka dot here
TLC Sandals (sold out)
In the meantime, I’m glad to report that the meatballs turned out just dandy. They survived being carried the distance from our neighbour’s kitchen to ours, making sure her two dogs didn’t knock me down on route, cos they smelled MEATballs. I didn’t trip over anything and send meatballs and tomato sauce flying everywhere. Years of Pilates practice has clearly prepared me beyond measure for the skill of meatball carrying. TallBrownFox was mightly grateful for this as he got to eat his dinner.
My tip of the week is… always live next door to kindly folk whose oven lasts longer than yours.
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Your story telling is spot on and made me laugh!! Did the said neighbor get to taste the meatballs? I'm so glad to see you wearing sandals still….I'm holding out also until it's way too cold!! I love your bling with the casualish shirt…my kind of style!!! jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
No, fortunately she had already eaten her dinner before we got to ours! I not sure I'll be wearing sandals for much longer – it's beginning to get abit nippy in the mornings and the temperature definitely drops in the evening.
Hahaha. Great story. It sounds like a Disney movie – "Save the Meatballs!" I dropped sushi all over my kitchen floor last night – maybe I should take up Pilates. I knew there was a deeper meaning.
Great cute outfit, perfect for oven-buying. I'm glad you are equipped once again. It's too bad that your bag won't fit your old oven to go with your kitchen sink, and your what-to-do problem would be partially solved. Haha.
I shall go away and immediately write the script for 'Save the Meatballs" and shall give you a credit of Associate Script Advisor!! Pilates would definitely prevent any further sushi escapades. Ahhh, you've highlighted the one tiny flaw with the bag – it's only a kitchen-sink fitting bag and not a kitchen-sink-and-knackered-oven fitting bag!
Great minds think alike – it was meatballs for us as well this week. Love the polka dots and stripes combination – looks great.
We were culinary twins then Antionette!
I'm glad they saved your meatballs or that'd be a disaster!!!! Loving your stripes!!! They are uber versatile!! The bag is brilliant, I delight in Mary Poppinsesque bags!! And Lindisfarne too!!! Blue surely qualifies you for TARDIS Tuesday even in bag form!!!Xx
You can't go wrong with a good stripe! Isn't the bag fab? I really do use it everyday and I think I shall have to retire when it wears out. It is so Mary Poppinsesque – what a great description. I'm not sure it would fit a coat stand though! I know, Lindisfarne was amazing! True, I shall have to TARDIS Tuesday!
Such a cute outfit, and love the colour of the jeans! #brilliantblogposts
I love the earthiness of the colour, so perfect for Autumn.
No oven = genuine disaster, I would certainly agree with that….especially with the clutch of squawking baby birds I feed on an hourly basis (ok, not hourly…but it feels like it!).
As for your oven-buying ensemble…..oddly enough, I am wearing almost identical trousers as I type this (mine are baby cord but the same colour), AND sandals (one last toe wiggle before the frost kicks in)…AND a breton (okay, mine is red and cream and worn as an under-top…BUT the jist is there!).
Great blogging minds think a-like.
XXX
Samantha
Fake Fabulous
Ha, ha, we're in tune! Yes, good to get one more toe wiggle in. I'm wondering if I might sneak in a couple more at the weekend! I have my bretons on standby for later in the month!
Ha ha! Oops. I don't know what I would have done with my meatballs had my oven failed. Mind you, I don't eat meat so just having meatballs would be a strange event around here. Glad that you avoided catastrophe. Hooray for good neighbours.
bisous
Suzanne
Good neighbours are worth their weight in gold!
How lucky you were to have neighbours who could save your meatballs! Love the colour of your skinnies and the polka dot bag is a real treasure!
She's such a lovely lady. We're very lucky.