Paris baby!

Today has been mainly sunny and breezy and the husband was playing football in the garden with the children when I updated my blog and cooked a quick chicken stirfry.

Then we had a quick walk before I dropped him at the station for his shift in London. He won't get back til 1am and nearly always disturbs me when he climbs into bed. It's been this way for years and years and whilst I am used to it, I get lonely from time to time as am on my own most evenings and every other weekend. Well not on my OWN as always have the children of course, but I do miss the adult company in the evenings.

I'd love him to have a 9am-5pm job but it simply won't happen. And as he points out, he is often here during the mornings and so we have those moments together that other couples won't necessarily have. And I guess I can watch all the programmes I want to in the evenings, so it has its pros and cons.

Today, on the charity shop front,  I would like to talk about my plum ra-ra style flouncy skirt.

I bought it in a charity shop in Frome, Somerset, and it cost £2.50. It had been sitting there a week apparently and no one had even picked it up. I spotted it instantly and love it so much.



I wore it to Paris in October and felt tres chic

 We only went to Paris for one night when I wore this fab skirt and my parents stayed to look after the children. We had such a gorgeous time and our hotel was fab. A boutique hotel in Marais and very trendy. It was one of those detox hotels where the bottled water in the room came from icebergs and you could get massages in your room. We didn't bother with that, we were on limited time so decided to see as much as we could. We had been to Paris together once before but I'm a bit more familiar with it than the husband I guess.

I went to Paris a few times as a teenager, to visit my friend Dominique who lived near the Eiffel Tower. My memories are fond.

I remember being there for Bastille Day and drinking champagne with her and friends under the shadow of the tower. I remember going to a late night party and wishing my French was better, I remember shopping and being in awe of the boutiques and high fashion. I remember the intense heat of the apartment in the summer months, eating peeled cucumber soaked in viniagrette and walking round the Chateau de Versailles - the air filled with the scent of fresh roses. I remember the nights spent watching all the cool Parisian boys skateboarding at Trocadero with the Eiffel Tower glittering merrily in the background. I remember my crush on the son of one of the ministers of Monaco who Dominique and I went to the cinema with. Paris is always in my heart.

And returning there with the husband was fab - we really want to go back soon, it's not that far. So when I wear that skirt, I think of our time in Paris, and then that takes me back to my earlier years in Paris.