It’s Coming!

If this doesn’t put you in the Christmas mood, I don’t know what will.

Charity Swim

This is Curracloe strand in Co. Wexford, Ireland and the location of an annual charity swim on St. Stephen’s Day (December 26). 

The reason I’m telling you this is because my brother and I have signed up to do it this year.  Usually, we go just to watch and show our support for a very worthy cause, the Wexford Hospice.  It can even be pretty cold cheering from the side-line, dressed in layers of our best thermal-wear.  This year, I’ll be wearing a bikini.  A small one.  The same one I wear regularly on the beach in Abu Dhabi.

I have mentioned before that I live in one of the hottest climates in the world- to which my general body temperature adjusted a little too happily.  I feel cold now when the temperature drops anywhere close to 20°C.  I can’t even imagine what the Irish sea will feel like in December. 

It is going to be tough.  But wait, who was that person who said the best things in life are also the easiest?  No one.  People don’t say that because it’s totally not true.  This is not going to be easy. No siree.  But, will it be totally and completely worth it?  Of course it will.  I’m pep-talking myself now.  Feel free to pep-talk me too.  Or, if you happen to be in the area, come along in a month’s time to take on my usual gig as cheerleader.

P.s. This is part of my Day Zero List.  I’d love to know how you’re doing with yours?

Thanksgiving

A short list of things you cannot buy- and also things to be truly thankful for.  Happy Thanksgiving y’all, have a lovely weekend!

If…

Another Dinosaur Joke

It’s becoming my thing- I’ve even created a new tag for it!

Etiquette

I found a book on etiquette once that belonged to my mother when she was in school.  They had actual classes on it!  Can you believe that?  Most of the material in the book was out-dated and somewhat pretentious- one of my favourite parts referred to playing with your hair in public as “unsightly” and “an indication of inferior intelligence”.   Guilty! 

I know some people think of etiquette rules as uptight and constricting, but I’ve always felt the opposite:  In most social situations, particularly ones that make me nervous, there is a comfort and even a sense of power to be gained from knowing the absolute right way of doing something.  I’m fascinated with etiquette guides and read them with the aspiration of knowing the appropriate action for every situation that might present itself.

Needless to say, I was excited to come across this site: The Mistress of Manners: periodic tips for modern manners.  This is as close as I’ll get to life’s instruction manual!

Also, kudos to The Urban Etiquette Project, yet another initiative attempting to restore politeness in our modern world.

“Table Manners” illustration by Gemma Correll for Cup of Jo

A Christmas Card (from me to you)

I love you.  Really, I do.  I love that you care enough to click on my links to see my pictures and read my stupid stories and tolerate my stubborn opinions.  I love that you offer words of advice and a good book recommendation when the occasion calls.  I love that I keep writing this silly blog and for some reason, you keep reading it.

I want to say thank you.  I want to package up the love and send it to you- but I don’t know how to do that so I thought perhaps you might settle for a Christmas card instead?  Can I send you a Christmas card?

Here’s a commitment I’m making (it’s rare, it’s special…): 

If you email me your address (or the address of someone you think would appreciate a Christmas card from me), I’ll send a card.  No catches.  No stalking (promise I won’t use it for anything else).  Just a Christmas card.  I’ll feel good.  If you’re anything like me about getting mail, you’ll feel good too. 

I’ve stocked up on stamps and supplies.  I’m ready.  Emails to thelmafrayne (at) gmail (dot) com.  Let’s go!

Clever

The people at Wideroe created this.  Clever people they are.

Thing #83: Take my parents out to dinner and pay for it

Ask me my age and 90 per cent of the time I’ll hesitate before answering.  Not because I’m embarrassed to admit the number- I’m 26- but because I have to think about it to make sure I’m getting it right. In some ways, I feel like nothing in me has really changed since I was sixteen.  Where did those ten years go?  And why can I still not see myself as a grown-up?

Back when I was 16, as chairperson of our school’s branch of Toastmasters International (yes, I still had friends!), I wrote and delivered a speech on Adulthood as part of an end-of-year concert. I spoke about being in that key stage of transition between child and adult, but the speech centred around a bunch of seemingly ordinary things that in spite of how I thought I had developed, I couldn’t see myself doing anytime soon. They were things that, to me, only my parents did: budgeting for health insurance, procrastinating over floor tiles,  incorporating all the major food groups into an evening meal, scrubbing the toilet… I remember my father cringing at an acute description of my mother fishing a stray spoon out of the rubbish bin with her bare hands!  Things like that, I admitted, were still foreign and to me, what symbolised adulthood in a real, everyday sense.  Once or twice recently, in the midst of a Saturday-afternoon hoovering frenzy, I’ve stopped myself to acknowledge that ‘Yes!  I am indeed growing up!’, but for the most part, the sentiments in that speech still apply today and I find myself caught in limbo, waiting for my grown-up instincts and sense of responsibility to kick in.   

That’s why I put this ‘thing’ on the list- part because I wanted to prove to myself that I have grown up in the last ten years, and part because if I haven’t, its about time I did.  Taking your parents out to dinner- instead of the other way around- is a big step towards adulthood. In my books anyway.  My 16-year-old self would have neither the money nor the inclination to do that.

We all went to Friday Brunch (an institution in Dubai) at the Rotana on JBR when my parents came to see me earlier this year.  The rite of passage I was expecting by completing this ‘thing’ was underwhelming but the food served was out-of-this-world good.  Friday Brunch in Dubai could be a ‘thing’ all on its own.  We left groaning after grazing for almost four hours on some very beautifully-presented, coma-inducing food, served alongside bottomless alcoholic drinks!  A combination I could easily adapt to.  As for my own development into adulthood, I guess I’ll have to work on some of the icky spoon-in-the-garbage-type-things too.

€5 has been donated to UNICEF Ireland for the completion of this ‘thing’.  Click here if you too would like to donate online.

Best of… October 2012

A little late, but here it is: the best bits from another month of fashion-blogging.  Where does the time go?  October seemed to evaporate before my very eyes.

I can’t stop thinking about THAT Celine bag!

 

I’ve joined the rest of the world in this oxblood craze – it really is everywhere right now!

From the top:  Images 1-2 via Because I’m Addicted;  Image 3 via Express-o;  Image 4 via Facehunter;  Images 5-6 via The Sartorialist;  Image 7:  Sincerely Jules;  Images 8-13: Fashion Toast;  Images 14-17: We Wore What.

More on pinterest.

Creepy Puppet Doll

That was my impromptu Halloween costume choice this year.  I learned that if you really want to spook people, blood and gore isn’t the way to go. For whatever reason, people are much more afraid of different forms of children’s entertainment: puppets, dolls, clowns…

What did you dress up as this year?

I love to sit in silence

- Anon.

Sometimes

More wisdom from Marc Johns.  I couldn’t agree more.

How to write

What a genius looks like

Fun fact:  Einstein wore fluffy slippers.

Probably completely unrelated:  So do I.

Best of… September 12

September is a busy busy month.  For everyone.  Even if you’re not going back to school.  Something about this time of year reminds us that we can’t live our whole lives sipping cocktails in denim shorts and tank tops.  As much as we’d like. 

The seasons are changing and you have to move with them.  I’m not saying its easy.  I arrived in September all kicking and screaming, but I’ve started to focus on the good stuff- September brought with it fashion week and transitional dressing- that’s trendy fashion blogger talk for clothes that straddle the seasons.  I’m down.

via Sincerely Jules

Oh, and its totally okay to wear all-black outfits again! Yay!

via Stockholm Streetstyle and Because I’m Addicted

Black and navy is cool too.

via Because I’m Addicted

If you’re still not keen, bright sandals and bags work well to wean you off Summer.  So do torn jeans, prints, stripes and that denim-on-denim thing everyone seems to do so well.

via Cocogroove, Sincerely Jules, Hey Pretty Thing and The Sartorialist

These pictures = proof that double denim is still on-trend. The Gospel according to Scott Schuman (and Jules Sarinana). Good enough for me.

via Express-o

Diana did a post on the peter pan collar trend. I filed these pictures under: transitional dressing, done well.

via Express-o

And finally, some coats/ jackets I’m already eyeing for Christmas in Ireland.  Oops- did I just type Christmas in October?  I’m sure that’s illegal or something.

via TKOW and We Wore What

Anyway- peace out!  As always, more on pinterest.

What I need

It is more than a little strange that lately, every time I find my mind drifting to how I’ll spend the few days off we have coming up, I imagine the picture above.  I’ve never been one of those low-maintenance, back-to-nature sorts, so perhaps its a reflection of the chaos that is my classroom.  I’m craving a small cabin in the middle of the woods (with just the basics), a comfy bed and some time alone.   It feels like a small ask, but I’m almost certain there are no forests within a couple of thousand-miles radius from where I am right now.