Dabbling in Dating

Twitter followers may have been aware off this development, but the rest of you, not so much. 

I've left the world of online dating in a flurry of activity one night. I delete from at least 3 different sites which I've used in the past. 

It felt good, if I'm honest, to leave that environment, which based everything on looks. On a photo. The 'good' ones read your profile, and that was just about it. 

I would talk for a couple of days, messages flying backwards and forwards, and then arrange the date. No point wasting time on building a relationship and not meeting each other for months. The let down of meeting someone and having such a high expectation of them, is immense. They're never going to match their email / text persona.

As a result, I've been on countless dates. 

I'm probably classed as a serial dater. 

My longest relationship was 5 months I think? And that was long distance!

So moving off these sites was me taking control. Instead of passively searching for a face among many, I walked away. 

I'm in a challenging job, with a challenging home life (meaning the renovations). I don't need to think about relationships etc. I'm happy, confident and content.

Who needs to add that extra pressure?

We put this pressure on ourselves to find someone, anyone, to fill the 'void'. 

My Mam was married at 20, had me at 24, and at 28 was back in work and making a career for herself. She thinks this should have applied to me.

It's not the same time.

I'm sick of measuring myself by other people's standards.

By my standards, I'm happy. I'm in a good place. 

I won't be trying too hard from now on.

It will probably need to fall into my lap for me to notice!

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

Red Lust

A long time no blog, I know, and I'm sorry! You know I love you all, and I've been thinking about you lots, I promise!

A few weeks back, the lovely Sera over at http://www.theagoraphobicfashionista.com/, set us fashion bloggers a challenge - to find a red dress, worthy of a Valentines Day to remember, in the budget of £20. 

Now, I love a challenge. I love the idea of saving money. I do NOT love Valentines. I'm not going to go into the finer points of whys and wherefores. I reckon you can all guess. 

But this, I thought, this I can do. 

I found the perfect dress over at www.evans.com, and managed to google myself some extra discount, so my Valentines dress was £19, with free P&P. 

It is no longer available on the website, so I can't prove my bargain to you, other than in photo form:

Red red redddddddddddd! It is a sumptuous red, with lace overlay. The sweetheart neckline is flattering, and the length is Kathryn approved!

The sleeves are a great touch - perfect for those who want their arms covered, but adventurous for those of us who want to show off a little bit of skin!!

I was really concerned about sizing from Praislin, so sized up to a 22, and you can tell that it is not my usual nipped waist, but a sparkly belt will do just the job for that!

Just divine, isn't it?

Enough to say I've chopped the strings out of the shoulders, and I was all set for the office. 

Yes, you heard me, OFFICE.

I may not have a Valentines tradition of meals or nights out with other halves. But I wanted to road test this dress, see my true opinions on it. And I wanted to show it off!!

Oooh, this dress got some attention, I can tell you. All good, positive, complimentary comments. 

This is going to be worn again on Friday 1 February. Follow me on twitter, if you don't already, to find out how it goes ;) 

@kathroooon

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

Home Bird Update

The excitement of home ownership back in October hasn't dulled, but it has been a long and drawn out process. 

I am still living with my parents, although we are getting there slowly. I say we, because I couldn't have got to this stage without the help of Mam and Dad. 

My Mam even cancelled her birthday trip away this week to help get my bedroom painted. 

It's looking like my moving in date will be drawing near, so I thought I would give you a bit of an update on how things stand at the moment.

My front sitting room, which looked like this the last time you saw it:

Now has had a lick of paint on the stained, embossed paper, and gloss paint on the wood paneling. 

This room has been shut off for a while no, as it's been ready since before Christmas. Sometimes I stick my head in, just to remind me that at least one room is ready!

The main work has happened in the kitchen, as the old one was beyond cleaning and 'making do'.

Ever since the kitchen has been finished, I've been adding trinkets to my cupboards:

And finishing touches to my walls - even though they've not been painted yet!!

I am also rather looking forward to stepping into my house onto THIS FLOOR!

So, we're just waiting for my flooring to arrive for my kitchen and my bedroom. 

I know there is so much more to do, but it will be worth it when I'm in my 3 rooms (my bathroom just needs a darn good clean), and I can work on my hallway, back sitting room and landing. 

Eeeee, it's getting nearer and nearer - nearly all grown up with my own house to rattle around!

Much love my lovelies, 

K xx

3 months on

3 months ago today, I was being wheeled into the operating theatre.

Some may think that that is a morbid thing to celebrate, but if you think before 18 October, I was debilitated with pain, working part time hours, and barely functioning. 

Almost a month after the operation I was back at work, full time hours, and back in my usual office. 

I've hardly rested since!

After getting used to working 9 - 5:15 again, I settled into a house routine at weekends, for stripping wallpaper, skirting boards, and moving furniture. I've returned to choir as well, scaring the old men that women will be taking everything over soon (my tenor voice is quite controversial). I even curated the People Of UK twitter account!

Look back, I've no idea how I managed to recover so quickly. I suspect it may have been due to the fact my life was pretty much on hold for the months of March - October, and my body wanted to hit 2013 running. 

But mainly, I think it is my mental attitude. I woke up one morning, after struggling post-op with infections, pain, lack of sleep, and no voice due to my intubation, and I thought: I've had enough. 

I got up with a determination which surprised me. And when my boss phoned that afternoon (he was ringing me weekly to see how I was), he was astonished with the change from one week to another. 

My positive mental attitude has stayed with me since (for the most part), seeing the positive in most of my interactions with people, keeping my family calm over the festive period, and now, trying to keep this theme running through 2013.

I treat each day like it is going to be my last pain free (ish) day. It is possible as flare ups and an eventual repeat operation will be required. So every day is precious, and I am trying my hardest not to forget it!

Much love my lovelies

K x

It's A Man's World...

Can't beat 'em, join 'em!

Back in April, I had the pleasure of attending the launch of the first ever Jacamo store, and whilst there, couldn't help myself! I ended up buying this shirt:

Similar here

And I'll be honest. I've not actually worn it yet!!

I've looked at it. I've pulled it on. But always changed my mind. 

I don't know what was different today. 

It might have been my general 'try more combinations' attitude, or the fact that I now have the perfect jeans to wear it with!

Back before Christmas, Rosie and I had a clothes swap. She had a pair of jeans she thought I should try, so I swapped her for a tunic. 

These arrived and I LOVE them:

They are long (they actually are a little too long, where they're keeping most of my feet warm!), they're tight fitting (but still fit), and they're comfortable! WIN!

Now then, being a little ample in the rear department, I am often worried that I get the 'gaping' moment with the waistband - and as you can see from this picture - gape free!

I think what works with this, is the tightness of the jeans is down played by the looseness of the shirt. I could belt it, if I felt the need to, but in this case, I think the shape of the man shirt works!

So, my Joe Browns shirt, coupled with my Rosie jeans, does a happy Kathryn make. And it is a little adventurous, and away from my usual style, so what is not to like!

Have you played with men's clothing? What did you think?

Much love my lovelies, 

K x

Fat

fat fat fatty fat fat

Honestly, a year ago I would never have dreamed that I could write that word, never mind use it in conversations, and identify myself as being... Well, FAT.

I used to cling to the euphemisms for all I was worth: voluptuous, curvy, full figured... Slowly I started using plus size. 

And then the amazing Cynthia, over at http://newlifeofcyn.wordpress.com/, was talking about the Rad Fatties of the Yorkshire (I think...?), and I suddenly found myself identifying at a rad fattie, but only in certain circles. 

Slowly, step by step, I found myself dropping the F Bomb everywhere! I use it at work, at the hair dresses, at parties. Everywhere. I don't aim to use it to shock people. I'm claiming that word back. It's not a harmful word to me any more. If anything, the word 'obese' strikes more pain in my heart than the little word 'fat'.

I call myself fat - it just trips off my tongue now. I don't mean it as 'Oh my, I'm so FAT and I hate it'. It's just a descriptive word. "I'm too fat to shop there, but I have some great fatty friendly shops I go to".

See. There is a difference. 

Now, I'm not saying this word doesn't have a lot baggage attached to it for me. But I've pushed that to one side, and I now find it funny when being called fat on the street - cos you know what? I am. And I'm happy. 

Really though? That is all that matters. I am fat and happy and proud. For the most part, that is down to this lovely blogging community and you lovely readers. 

For that I am thankful. 

Much love my lovelies, 

K xx

New Year's Eve

You may have noticed a lull in posts from me of late. I'm not going to apologise for that, but let you know that I was thinking of you all over the festive period, but the urge to write just was not with me. However, already this New Year I've got some ideas, plans and posts lined up!! 

It also meant that I could enjoy my festive break, for the first time in a long time, taking the opportunity to self care, listen to what my body needed, and, where I could, oblige! 

As you can imagine, my house has also taken up a lot of my time (as I knew it would), and I'll be updating you on how it is coming along soon!

New Year's Eve

In the past, this has either passed unremarkably, or with more drama than you can shake a stick at!

Instead of paying over the odds to go and queue for hours in a bar somewhere, we collectively decided a houseparty was best. Whilst I would have loved to have had people over to mine, it just would not have been ready!

Of the whole night, the easiest thing for me to decide on was what to wear, having ordered it as soon as it was released by Domino Dollhouse:

Sweetheart dress in Black/ Leopard Print

I learnt my lesson from past DD purchases, and carefully scrutinised the size chart. I went with a 1X, in the hope that the stretchy material would be forgiving enough:

Ta DA!!

It really was. 

The leopard print was stretchy, and VERY see through - and the black material was equally stretchy and fitted! 

The pockets are a great addition, but I do feel like it effected the way the dress lay... something which if it really bugged me, I'm sure I could sew the pockets up. Which I won't be doing any time soon!

So, with the dress sorted, I was keen to get off on my way to my friends, with my Christmas presents in tow (yes, I know they were a little late, but you try planning a meet up in the lead up to Christmas!?!).

And what presents they were:

I 'won' these in a competition, but had already bought one for the 6 of us. This now means we got 2 each!

As only Holly, Jackie and I were there, we only made the one, saving ourselves for when the gang gets back together!

What we were really surprised about was the fact they were actual crackers - I mean, seriously? Very cool indeed!

And in the cracker you got real cracker things, like the hat, the joke and, this was a really nice touch, a Tatty Devine box to keep your creation in!

Now onto the making!

It's a good thing we started these early on, as I'm not sure if post champagne we would have had the dexterity needed to assemble our beautiful necklaces!!

The finished article? Just as good as a shop bought one!!

Aren't they all just BEAUTS!

So, after curry, champagne and Jools Holland, we all went home very happy Tatty Devine owners, and having had a very Merry New Year.

May your New Year be filled with Sparkle and Smiles

Much love my lovelies, 

K x