Baby Socks

It's not surprise, given Ross' love of socks that Linus is amassing quite a collection.  Ross is in charge of baby sock procurement and has done an excellent job.  There are just so many cute options out there for baby socks.  I mentioned to a friend the other day that socks may be the only baby item category where boy stuff is cuter than girl stuff.

Patriotic Socks for the Jubilee

Socks that look like sneakers

Linus has socks that go with just about every outfit he has and we quite enjoy putting together his daily "looks".  I figure socks aren't a bad indulgence to have since they are rarely more than a couple of pounds for a pack and he doesn't outgrow them too quickly.  In fact, some of the cutest socks we have for him are from Primark (a bargain clothing store here in the UK).  This little bin, usually in the dresser drawer, hold his sock collection:

my hand included for scale

It may not look like much, but when socks are that tiny, a little bin holds a LOT of socks!  In general, I find that the UK has much cuter socks than the US.  Now that might sound weird, but it's definitely true of men's socks.  Trying to find brightly coloured men's socks in the US is nearly impossible.  You can find some if you order on the internet, but they aren't found in the average department store like they are here.  Ross would always be sad when we visited Target and saw the fun women's socks, but not a bright color or pattern could be found for the men.  I'm not sure if it's true of baby socks too, since I haven't looked at baby socks in the US that extensively.  What I can tell you, is that we've procured the cutest baby socks ever.  Behold:

Beefeaters, Royal Guardsmen, and Bobby Socks

Do you have any baby socks that could rival these?  Seriously, if so tell me so we can get them too :)

What's your accessory weakness?

Cheerful Sunday

Father/Son matching socks for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee are very cheerful indeed!

Word of the Week

Suspenderbraces

I'm gonna go ahead and get you another copy of that memo...

Definition: An accessory connected to ones trousers and going up over ones shoulders, generally made of an elasticated material

Used in a sentence:  I used to work as a waitress at Copeland's of New Orleans and I can tell you for a fact that big boobs and suspenderbraces are an awkward combo.

Word of the Week

Zipperzip

Goal dress for post-pregnancy?

Definition: a type of closure that involves interlocking teeth and a pull, often used on clothing, accessories, and sleeping bags

Used in a sentence:  If the zipperzip on a pair of pants is broken, you may find yourself over-exposed.

Word of the Week

Waistcoatvest

Lliam shows me his Rock Star waistcoatvest

Definition:  a sleeveless item of clothing that buttons up the front, generally worn over a buttoned shirt and under at coat as part of men's formal wear.  may be worn in other manners.

Used in a sentence:  Mr. Schue from Glee likes to rock a waistcoatvest with jeans, a dress shirt, and tie even though it is a tricky look to pull off.

Cheerful Sunday

These fuzzy warm socks that my brother gave me for Christmas a few years ago always make me feel cheerful!

Word of the Week

Runladder

Oh no!

Definition:  (not to be confused with ladderladders) the name of a tear in fabric of tights, stockings, or pantyhose; generally caused by a snag

Used in a sentence:  I prefer tights to pantyhose because they are less susceptible to runladders.

Cheerful Sunday

These adorable shoes make me smile.

So cute. So pointless.

Ross and I noticed these adorable shoes in several shops on our recent trip to Canada and New England.  They are too cute for words and I'm fairly sure they will end up being our son's first pair of shoes.  I mean sure baby shoes are pointless, but if they are this cute they're hard to resist.  So tiny!  So cheerful! Strangely I've found them from several sources in the US, but not in the UK.  Lucky for us, we have some connections.

Word of the Week

DinnerSuitTuxedo

Definition:  The accepted attire for men on a formal occasion.  There are many variations, but are generally black with satin accents.

Used in a sentence:  Most men, including my husband, look very handsome and dapper in a dinnersuittuxedo.

Target Dreams: Maternity Style

You all know already of my deep and abiding love for Target.

Since I've been pregnant, I've lamented the loss of my beloved store all over again.
I've always thought the maternity clothes available at Target were an awesome combo of stylish and inexpensive.  As the weather turns chillier, I'm dreaming of cute and cosy new clothes.

This sweater dress is so awesome!  A sweet ruffle detail makes it special.  A wrap design makes it practical.  And hot pink makes it fun, fun, fun!  Perfect for looking dressed up and being cozy all at the same time.

Fun and Flirty Pink Sweater Dress $29.99

I'm totally in love (no, make that luuurve) with this sweater.  It's so cheerful and cute and if you can't wear horizontal stripes when you're pregnant, when can you?

Super-cute Yellow Stripe Sweater $24.99

And yes, I realize shoes aren't technically "maternity clothes", but how adorable would these be with the sweater above?!  Besides, flats become more and more necessary as pregnancy progresses, so that sort of counts, right?

Cheerful Yellow Flats $17.99

You'd think maternity coats would be everywhere, living in a colder climate like England, but I haven't found that to be the case.  For now, my old coats are working, but I'm not sure how long that will last!  I could channel my inner Little Red Riding Hood in this bold jacket.

Sporty Red Jacket $44.99

So far, my maternity clothes have mostly come from Next which has gotten the job done.  It's pretty frustrating to me the lack of brick and mortar maternity clothing stores.  It's hard enough to order clothes online usually, but when you're pregnant you really do need to try things on to see if they fit!  There are a couple of places, but the have a small selection and tend to be expensive (Mamas & Papas, I'm looking at you!).

And finally, I'll leave you with something else from Target.  Perhaps little Baby Ameringlish needs this for the nursery to remember where mom comes from!

USA! $29.99

Did you have a hard time finding maternity clothes?

What are/were your favourite places to find cute clothing?

Oriented to temperature

Back when I worked in mental health, one of the first things used to assess patients who came in for evaluation was a quick examination of their physical appearance.

I would make note of how the person presented themselves in my write up of the evaluation.  Not like a fashion critique.  Like how well groomed they were and if their clothing was appropriate to the season.  It was worth noting if someone was bundled in a sweater, coat, and scarf in the heat of Dallas summer.  Or in a flimsy t-shirt when it was sleeting out.  To be fair,we didn't get people this severe in very often.

But as I look around Manchester town centre, I wonder if maybe some of these people would benefit from a little evaluation.  I'm not talking about obviously, mentally ill people either.

Ross and I often joke that if you took a picture of a variety of people seen in town on any given day and then showed these pictures to a third party and asked them to describe what the weather was like that day from looking at the pictures alone, they'd be fairly stumped.

Now I'm not very good at taking unobtrusive pictures of strangers so I know present you with a selection of photos I found on the internet that are representative of actual outfits I saw this afternoon.

Brrrrr!

Cravat-tastic!

Yes, we actually saw a guy wearing this.  He was also wearing slim cut black trousers.

One of my favourite looks.

Bonus points if the control tops extend beyond the bottom of the shorts.

No man looks good in cropped pants.

Especially if they've got a dropped crotch.

Breezy

Tracksuits

Somebody forgot their pants!

I hope you've got your tickets... to the gun show!

What do you think the temperature/weather was?
(And no cheating with the internet!)

Word of the Week

sweaterjumper

Classic Dad Look

For some reason I found this picture way funnier than I probably should have.

Definition:  an item of clothing worn on the top half of the body, generally knit, worn for added warmth.

Used in a sentence:  What ever happened to that awesome 80's look of wearing a sweaterjumper casually draped over one's shoulders with the sleeves knotted in front?

Word of the Week

Dungareeoveralls

Love that vintage style!

Definition:  usually made of denim, these are pants that have a bib with straps attached to the top; not to be confused with overallcoveralls which are generally worn over other clothes to protect them whilst working in a dirty environment
Used in a sentence:  Did I ever tell you the story about how my husband once peed his pants because he was wearing dungareeoveralls on a field trip and couldn't get them off?  No?  Oh.  Ok then.

Make me blush

I've now made it through the supply of blush that I brought with me when I came to England.
Who knew that a little container would last so long?
Also, do you call it blush or blusher?  Ross referred to it as blusher the other day and it sounded strangely old-fashioned (but sweet).

Rosy cheeks are purty!

I generally use Bare Minerals make up.  Bare Minerals is available here, but I'm not sold- both because of the fact that it has a staying power issue and the fact that it's a bit expensive. And so, I have been keeping my eye out for a new blush(er) for some time now...

What I've used up

 I'm not a label snob by any means.  I'm happy to use drug store stuff or whatever.  As long as it's a good color, good quality, and good price, I'm on board.  So when I'm at a grocery store or drug store, I usually take a gander at the make up section- just to see.  I've still got one travel sized inferior blush that came in a set with other make up that I'm using for now, so it's no huge rush.  

But I've started noticing something.  Apparently, British women don't love their blush as much as Texas women.  I see the familiar displays for Revlon, Max Factor, Rimmel, and then some other ones that are different in name (but hey- it's all the same crap, right?).  I see rows of foundation, mascara, lip gloss, nail polish, eye shadow... wait.  Where's the blush?  Oh, I see.  There are 2 choices at the bottom of the display.  That's it.  Seriously?  Where's the whipped blush creme, the cheek stain, the 10 different shades of pink to choose from?  I know these things are available in the UK.  Don't get me wrong, but they sure as heck aren't in the regular displays with the volume that they are in America.

What's up with that?

I guess I've noticed that, teenage girls in particular, tend to focus more on the heavy foundation and bronzer look.  I don't see many rosy cheeks out there on the streets of Manchester.  They're all opting for a more pallid, often orange cast to their complexions.  It makes me feel like my G'ma- thinking that these girls would look so much better with some color on their cheeks.  But they would! 

They really would.

Cheerful Sunday

My £5 gold sneakers

Meg in Hats

So, I'm going to introduce you to a side project of mine and Ross'.

Meg in Hats

My current favourite, in TK Maxx

So, as you may have gathered, Ross and I are major nerds.  

This blog is pretty self-explanatory.  It's pictures of me.  In hats.

Kilgore tartan in Oxford

This started as a Facebook album, but a blog can be shared with the entire world.  And obviously, the entire world needs to see pictures of me in hats...

Ghetto-fabulous in a pound store

I've always enjoyed trying on hats in stores.  If there is a hat rack, I'll find my way over to it and try on a few select chapeaus.  I was engaging in the activity one day and asked Ross if my chosen head covering was cute.  His response was a resounding "No."  When I expressed disbelief, he took a picture of me in the hat so I could see how right he was.  

Crazy eyes in a cowboy hat at ASDA

Thus began "Meg in Hats".  Now, whenever we see a worthy hat out and about, Ross snaps my pic and uploads it to his Facebook album.  We're gradually sharing the fun with our new blog project.  One of my proudest moments was when my best friend from college uploaded a picture of herself in a fabulous Kentucky Derby-esque hat- inspired by me.

My own Kentucky Derby-style in M&S

So what about you?

Do you like to try on hats, or am I alone here?

Or do you have some other odd, but satisfying hobby?

Random thoughts on TV

1.  The other day we were watching TV.  A trailer came on for the miniseries The Kennedys.  It looks pretty good actually.  My mom and dad watched it when it aired in the US and says it was enjoyable.  

Soon to air in the UK

But the actual miniseries is not what I'm going to talk about today.  The trailer in the UK, features the song High Hopes.  I don't know if you've heard it before...

A sweeter side of The Chairman

Ross wondered aloud about the song choice.  He said that, other than the title of the song, the lyrics don't seem to apply to the content of The Kennedy story that much.  Then he thought about it some more and said, "No... the BBC wouldn't do that..."  When I asked what he meant, he walked over to the shelf in our lounge and pulled out a DVD case.  

Personal Picture

This is the movie that the song High Hopes comes from.  

So is this some sly joke (of questionable taste) from the BBC or an awkward coincidence?

2.  This commercial has been airing on TV lately.

Marks and Spencer Swimsuit

The woman in this ad is Lisa Snowdon.  She is a 39 year old British model.  Though you might not call her a supermodel, she's certainly a big-ish deal.  Americans might know her name from her 5 year (on-and-off) relationship with one George Clooney.  If you do an image search, they mostly come up of her in various states of undress.  

My point is this- the ad seems a strange marketing tactic.  The message appears to be "Buy our swimsuit.  It's so good that even a gorgeous model feels confident whilst wearing it."  I mean she looks nice in this one piece, but for the point of the ad to be valid, she should look mind-blowingly awesome looking in it (or they should have- shocking!- used someone who actually needs a body boost to illustrate their key marketing point).  Maybe M&S is going for the very narrow niche market of ageing models?

3.  The second season of So You Think You Can Dance UK ended tonight (I'm writing this Saturday night).  I'm only slightly gloating (I'm not sure to whom since the only person I talk to about this- or actually most things- is Ross) that my absolute favorite and top pick from day one- Matt Flint- won.

He CAN dance!

As I said before, this season was a million times better than last.  There were some really good dance numbers.  A few that even gave me chills.  That said, I feel like I'm missing out.  Whenever I see a status update about SYTYCD on Facebook from one of my friends in America, I'm sad.  I felt moved by the American version way more often.  I'd guess that I had chills at least once a week.  As much as an improvement that this season was- it still wasn't enough.  I'll take that back.  The boys were pretty darn impressive.  Here's the Paso Doble featuring the top 3 boys from last week.  HAWT!

3 Shirtless Boys!

These three guys had totally different styles and physical attributes but they pull it together and gel as a group- something the girls never quite managed.  The girls had much more similar styles and bodies, yet always looked a hot mess whilst dancing as a group.  I'm all for girl power, but in this instance- BOYS RULE!!

That's all.  

Word of the Week

Meg's note:  Apparently I'm on a shoe kick.

Sneakertrainers

Awesome Kicks!

Definition:  The kind of shoes, generally lace-up, that one would wear for athletic activity, because they look super-cool, or simply for comfort.

Used in a sentence:  I wear my sneakertrainers when I work in our warehouse so that I don't loose a toe.

Word of the Week/Cheerful Sunday

Meg's note:  I'm doubling up since I was travelling this weekend.  Pretty, cute shoes make me cheerful!  


Pumpcourtshoes

Classy Platform Pumpcourtshoes

Definition: Women's shoes that are low-cut in the front, usually with heels.  In Manchester, the height of the heel generally has a direct correlation to the shortness of the skirt.

Used in a sentence:  I hardly ever wear pumpcourtshoes anymore because I'm afraid I'll break my ankle on the cobblestones.

Anyone know why?

This may or may not become a series... where I ask for help or insight from my readers.
We'll see.  I make no promises.  I'll do what I like! ;)


So I was out shopping today.
(You guys- I actually tried on jeans!)

I was in Peacocks, which is a pretty inexpensive store.  Their clothes skew a bit young and cheap, but you can sometimes find a good deal.  As I was looking around I wondered, not for the first time, about something...

I thought maybe my loyal readers could help me out with the wondering that a wondered.

The question is to do with tops like these:

Long sleeved T

Cute Tanktopvest

Adorable Ruffled Cardigan

(Yes I've posted this before. What?  It's super-cute!) 

In America, generally, these kinds of shirts would have letter sizes.  Like S, M, L.

In England, they've got number sizes.  Like 8, 10, 12, 14, 16....

In this case, the American way seems a lot smarter- at least from a retailer's point of view.  Fewer variations of an item means more profit, right?

So, any ideas?
Why is this random thing done differently?

What weird little differences have you noticed?