by Carla Louise | Aug 7, 2011 | Adventures |
With less than a month to go, we’ve both suddenly kicked into panic gear. For those of you uninitiated into the wonderful world of banger rallying, here’s the StreetSafari link which will tell you all about it…
http://www.streetsafari.com/ssaf.esp?p=about
There’s lots of lovely clickable links on there too, should you fancy delving further.
So… banger rally. This one’s to Romania, starting in Calais, in the first week of September this year. When I met Rob he was doing a UK one (Lands End to John O’Groats) and I thought it sounded like so much fun I told him to call me if he ever needed team mates. I was not expecting the call, six months later, to ask if I fancied doing this one!
However, I thought it sounded bloody brilliant and signed up on the spot. We had a weekend of preliminary planning in May, and then have been flat out busy with work and stuff so haven’t given it any more practical thought. After CAE we realised we needed to get a wriggle on, so Rob duly bought a car the following week for us to rat. Here she is, the affectionately named Slag-una…
(Photo courtesy of Rob, I haven’t actually seen the car in person yet)
Yeah… she’s in such good nick it’s almost a shame we’re going to rat her! The theme of the rally is Rat Look, so we’re looking to make her along the lines of this, ideally…
(photo from http://www.ratroduniverseblog.com/?p=354)
Rob’s servicing the Laguna this weekend, and starting on the paint stripping – I’m on the hunt for roof racks, tricycles, random crap to bolt onto it and cameras to film the trip. Keep an eye on this blog – updates will follow 🙂 (and I’m intending to blog the trip day-by-day while we’re out there, too).
by Carla Louise | Aug 7, 2011 | Adventures, Photography |
Bit of a late post, but here goes…
So first of all, CAE stands for Camping Auto Extravaganza. Which should give you some idea of the type of event it is. Last year was the third, and my first. And the first time I’d met the majority of the club members, even though I’d spoken to them all online via the club forum.
In the intervening year, friendship and bant has developed and I now consider them all to be friends and some of them to be close friends.
I had Friday off to get ready and get there, and Brad suggested I join their convoy from Birchanger Green services. So I got there ridiculously early and sat and sunbathed and read a book in the sunshine (and had a sneaky KFC for lunch!) while I waited for him, Jim & Karine and Nigel to turn up.
(Can’t find a pic of my car in the car park )
As it happened the traffic was completely horrific so I had longer than planned to read and chill out, but eventually got a call saying they were there and to head off, and they’d catch me up. Knowing they were all in turboed cars, I did.
And spent the next 30 miles driving as slowly as I possibly dared, letting trucks overtake me and desperately looking in my mirrors for signs of MR2s coming over the horizon! Eventually decided to go off at a junction and over the roundabout to delay myself – got back on the sliproad and they all shot past me! But I beeped and they’d seen me so I caught up, and then the drive got fun! (the traffic was stil horrific and there was lots of stopping and starting, but it’s fun driving in convoy with friends. Jim & Karine livened up the journey by dropping back and chucking jelly babies at us – hit my car but not me, sadly, but the thought was there!
We arrived in Peterborough about 4ish I think, although I was so excited to be there I didn’t actually look at the time. The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of chatting and hugging and catching up with people, it was so lovely to see old friends, and be introduced to new ones! It was also fantastic to finally meet the people behind the usernames I’d been chatting to for so long J
Michelle and Ian’s place is beautiful, with space for us all and beautifully put together both inside and out. The pool was warm, the hot tub was warmer and they had two BBQs and several fridges for all our drinks J and a BAR!
Friday night was spent munching takeaway, deciding on treasure hunt partners (for anyone curious, this is the closest we got to keys in a bowl, lol – just names in a hat for who drove and who navigated the next morning!) and then drinking, dancing, swimming (Anna and I got in the pool at stupid o clock) and talking. I even braved the hot tub. I drank far too much, to the point where I flashed my floozies (only a little bit!) for Rob and Russ (and Luke – who I then spent ages trying to convince I was normal. I hope I succeeded!) and had an unexpectedly fabulous time – much better than every time I go out clubbing and try hard to have fun. I think I eventually went to bed about 2am, and did that really annoying thing where you try to be quiet and make more noise than you would have done normally. Oops.
Saturday morning was a convoy of all of us, which definitely ranks among the most exhilarating experiences of my life – was such a kick to see so many roadsters and other toyotas all together, revel in the looks we got and know that every car contained a friend of mine J (yeah, I’m a sappy idiot, lol).
My Poppy is the car on the very far end 🙂
Then the treasure hunt was on, and we all met back at the house for a photoshoot and lunch. Look at the pretty cars…
(this pic courtesy of Luke Abbott – I failed to get a decent pic of all the cars together)
Took the opportunity to get a new profile pic too..
Saturday afternoon was really chilled, involving chatting, playing pool, reading magazines and in my case napping *blush*. I came back outside blinking at about 6ish and asked if I’d missed anything. Someone said ‘yeah, you’ve slept so long Amy Winehouse is dead’. Which obviously I dismissed as the usual bant. Then realised it was true and was actually quite sad!
The chilled vibe continued into the evening, only with added alcohol, and I remember sitting at one point by the pool, lit by candles, laughing at something ridiculous (I believe spiderman pants and a drawing of thongs and mankinis were involved) with some of my favourite people in the world and just being the happiest and most content I can remember for ages.
L-R Me, Rob, Wills
Hou in foreground, Anna and someone headless in background
Then we had dinner, then we drank and danced and talked some more, I dropped my duvet in a puddle, we realised it was actually quite cold and broke out the sleeping bags, and I continued drinking and got sleepier and sleepier. We had some ridiculous but wonderful conversational moments (and ahem, educational too) and I gave up trying to stay awake and went to bed somewhere between three and half three.
L-R – Jim, Luke, Wills, me, Beka, Karine, Brad
Anna and I having a silly moment in the hot tub
L-R Brad, Luke, Jim
L-R Jim, Brad, me, Beka
Sunday morning… was mostly full of people ambling around sleepily, talking about the weekend and their plans for getting home. We had an amazing full English breakfast, then people started to wander off. Which made me really sad, actually.
So we said our goodbyes and promised to get on facebook/keep in touch/do this again really soon, and then Anna and I went and spent the afternoon sat in a pub garden talking about how lovely it had been.
Returned home, helped my housemate pack some of her stuff, and then settled down to the flurry of photos, new friends, messages and comments on facebook. Turns out that this year, it’s not just me that’s soppily nostalgic about the weekend and would much rather it hadn’t ended. Everyone’s struggled to get back to reality this week. And I’d like to think that we’ll all stay friends for a very long time, having experienced it together. There’s not many groups of people I could have an entire weekend with without getting seriously cross with some of them at some stage. And I’ve never in my life met so many new friends at once!
Best. Meet. Ever.
And I really hope we do another big one before next CAE – I can’t wait a whole year to see these guys again!
*apologies to anyone reading this who went, my words and photos don’t do justice to how awesome it was.
**apologies to anyone reading this who didn’t go, who is probably bored senseless. But really – if you do one thing this year, buy a Toyota and join us next year!
by Carla Louise | Aug 4, 2011 | Books |
On reading the blog of a dear friend who I’d entirely forgotten had a blog of her own (that’s been going six years! SIX! I’m so impressed…) I found her words rang incredibly true, and just had to share them…
“To me, my blog is almost like a patchwork blanket that I work on from time to time. There have been times when I have not posted as often as I would like to, but having a blog never really goes away. I like that it is never finished, that I am always adding a little bit more here or there to it.”
This is a wonderful way of describing a blog, and indeed is how I feel about this one – I want it to be like a patchwork blanket of memories so I can look back on my life and see what I was doing, loving, thinking, making, creating 🙂
Her gorgeous blog is here Little Sips of Tea. Go and read 🙂
xx
by Carla Louise | Jul 30, 2011 | Books, Collecting, Photography |
So I mentioned this briefly in a previous post and promised a more in-depth look at it. It was a complete impulse buy, Lou and I wandered into this bookshop (shamefully I don’t remember what it was called, although I could walk you to it) just before we left Brighton (me to depart for Heather’s wedding, Lou to head home on the train). I wasn’t even looking for a book (inasmuch as I wasn’t looking for a specific book – I’m such an addict that I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for new books to read and to add to my collection).
We gravitated towards the fashion/design/craft section, as we always do, and spotted this.
I ummed and aahhed for about two seconds, then realised I had to have it, it was one of those kind of books. Gorgeously put together, interesting and informative, and actually relevant, I’ve been thinking about expanding both Ducking Fabulous and Checks and Roses to handmade floozy knickers for ages now. I say expand… I need to actually fill the shop up before I can talk about expanding. Anyway.
So inside the book are interviews with lots of contemporary lingerie designers from all over the world. The interviews are interspersed with fabulous photographs, sketchs, inspiration, mood boards and so on which gives what feels like a real insight into the design process. Obviously more detail would be even more fabulous, but a book containing the level of detail I’m after would be about 1000 pages thick!
For obvious reasons (the skates… the SKATES!!), this is my favourite page of the entire book. But here are some more (gorgeous) spreads to give you an idea of what it’s like inside – for more you’ll have to buy the book!
I’ve found it incredibly inspirational from a business point of view as well as a designing-pretty-things-and-knickers point of view. Would love to know if any of you have also read it and what you thought, or if there are any other similar books out there – either around the same subject, or a similar layout and approach but a different subject!
by Carla Louise | Jul 28, 2011 | Adventures |
This is really all about CAE – the happiest weekend I’ve had in a very long time.
Meeting up with old friends and making new friends
Swimming and hot tubbing at daft o clock in the morning
Laughing – I giggled so much last weekend
Driving with the roof down
Driving to the weekend in convoy and chucking jelly babies between the cars, while singing at the top of my voice
Having my best friend in the car with me for lots of the weekend
Driving with the roof down in convoy with 30-odd other cars filled with some of my favourite people in the world
Realising I’ve achieved a lifetime ambition of having waist length hair
My new vintage-style swimsuit from Floozie
And then after the weekend…
Buying a car for the rally – we’re definitely,actually, really going! It’s a 1996 Laguna – squee!
Impromptu shopping trips with Julia to buy exciting stuff for our new flats (well, mine’s the same flat, but you know what I mean)
Work is improving – I feel less out of my depth and more like I belong.
by Carla Louise | Jul 21, 2011 | Acquired |
I was looking for printed skirts. I failed, apart from one…
*pic – pink and black printed skirt*
But did manage a fair bit of other shopping…
A dress, which is one of those ones that looks much better on than on the hanger. But don’t you love the print and the colours?!
A whole bunch of strappy tops, of which this is easily my favourite:
Cardigans (I love the kitschness of the hearts and the retro appeal of the spots. And the orange one weirdly just looks awesome on)
Also a couple of comfy yet stylish stripy jumpers, shoes which I’ve already blogged about and some vintage goodness. Happy days!
by Carla Louise | Jul 19, 2011 | Acquired |
So Mum and I went shopping today. Oops.
In my haul for the feet:
Zip heels – these are mad, but gorgeous and surprisingly comfortable so far – we’ll see how they stand up to a day at the office and a night out!
Vaguely vintage boots
These were definitely my bargain of the day, at £7 it would have been rude not to by them!
Sigh, I do love shoes. So much.
by Carla Louise | Jul 18, 2011 | Collecting, Thrifting |
A mixture of locations this week, I snuck into town while the boys were out playing golf just once during my time at the Open, but in the couple of hours I was there found an utterly gorgeous green tea dress with laced detail back. It is so unassuming on the hanger that I’ve failed to get a decent picture of it, but will put it on and shoot it soon 🙂
I also nearly bought a 50s tablecloth with pub signs on it from Vintage By The Sea, but couldn’t justify £25 on a tablecloth and the proprietor’s attitude changed a bit when she realised I was uncertain about buying it, which put me off. The shop, on the other hand, was so pretty I had to take photos (not very good ones, I admit):
Then while I was out with Mum on Saturday, I found:
Polka dot work dress:
Donkey cross stitch kit
Vintage glass jelly mould – which is going to look awesome in my kitchen!
Sewing book – this is both wonderfully nostalgic and completely hilarious, it has sections in it for things like ‘The Tummy-bulge Type!’ and ‘The Half-size, or Diminutive Type’ which cracked me up!
Inside detail:
I’m going to try and make something from this and see how good their advice is – it was published in 1958-1960 so will be interesting to see what’s changed (if anything!)
Also picked up a couple of particularly pretty scarves:
and of course there are my bottles and tin from Brighton. A good week for thrifting, I’m sure you’ll agree!
by Carla Louise | Jul 17, 2011 | Acquired, Books, Collecting, Thrifting |
I adore Brighton. I don’t go very often, but whenever I do I bounce around like a lunatic before the trip, and I’m just so excited while I’m there. It’s full of the most gorgeous shops, people and things.
This time, as before I went with lovely Lou, who is also fabulously inspiring. We had somewhat of a pin-up inspired day, and I came home with three prints and two sheets of wrapping paper covered in vintage style pin up ladies (my three prints are all Gil Elvgren, I have a book of his which I also adore). Photos of these are being withheld until I’ve finished redecorating my flat in August, as they feature quite heavily!
Following the theme, I found a beyond gorgeous book just before we left, about lingerie design and construction. Which sounds quite weird, but with Floozie Friday and all, and having a couple of talented sewists in my circle of close friends, I think it’s high time we branched out into making knickers! More of that to come… but here’s the book and its amazon link, everyone who loves sewing should own a copy. It’s almost like a blog in book form, beautifully put together.
Longer review to come 🙂
We found a cat in a (different) bookshop, too:
We did some of the antique/flea markets too (although I could happily spend six weeks doing those, I swear… I never see everything!) and Lou found the perfect vintage dress, while I found a fabulous tin that once housed saddle soap, and a collection of old glass bottles (which I really hope have survived the journey home from Brighton via Kent to Essex :S) Planning to display them in my living room, possibly as vases, possibly on their own. 🙂
How was I supposed to resist a glass bottle that said ‘Princess Alice’?! (centre of bottom row)
by Carla Louise | Jul 17, 2011 | Adventures, Photography |
Definitely one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve been to. The ceremony was small and intimate, and we were invited to the reception to help them celebrate. Hevs said she was looking forward to celebrating ‘with all my favourite people’ which I thought was really lovely.
Here are the bride and groom, my first glimpse of them together, cutting their (completely amazing) giant cupcake on top of the stack of Mr-Whippy-style cupcakes (complete with Flake in each one!)
And the obligatory (but very lovely) kiss:
Heather’s dress was Biba, and the whole wedding had an incredible vibe. It was held at the Bluebird Cafe in Ferring, between Brighton and Worthing, right on the sea. They arrived and departed in a sky blue VW campervan, which they are currently honeymooning in at a selection of festivals.
And with the gorgeous bride (left to right me, Heather, Janine)
Their guestbook was a selection of postcards with a box to post them in and a line at the window with little pegs to hang them all. I know mine was fairly sappy, but I didn’t record exactly what i wrote.
They had the first dance, with a live band and singer, and then we all joined them in dancing the night away and taking photos and generally having a wonderful time!
I took a lot of pictures, and will link to the Flickr album when I’ve had a chance to edit and upload them all!
And just to top it off, I got to rollerskate along Worthing seafront AND meet Janine and Sean for a long lazy brunch the next day before heading off to work. Utterly, utterly wonderful weekend. Congratulations Mr & Mrs Tilley – I’m proud to have been part of your celebrations!
by Carla Louise | Jul 14, 2011 | Adventures |
It’s strange – I was dreading this week, so much so that on the drive down I nearly had to stop to be sick, I was so nervous. I didn’t really know what to expect, I wasn’t massively fancying spending an entire week in close proximity with my boss and some colleagues, all male, who I don’t know very well, and there were the usual concerns I always have about my eating issues and sleep talking.
And yet – despite the unbearably sad news I got on Tuesday, in every other respect I’ve surprised myself enormously by really enjoying the week! The people at the golf club we’re staying at are lovely, my colleagues have been lovely (three of us went out for dinner and drinks last night and I feel more like I belong now) and I’ve totally unexpectedly fallen in love with this little section of the Kent coast. It’s beautiful.
I will be sad to leave this evening – but I know I’ll be back, it just won’t be for golf next time!
(Photo posts to come – internet’s been a bit intermittent and I’ve been much shorter of time than expected!)
by Carla Louise | Jun 22, 2011 | Books, Photography |
Stumbled across this, through an email I get to my work account updating me on stock images and illustrations.
The first photo, of the caravan and the horse, blew me away… the illustrations and other photos are also fabulous.
I *really* hope he has a blog!
Meet a Shutterstock Contributor: Binkski.
