That Sucks (or doesn't in this case)

It's rant about a big company time again: Curry's is in the firing line this time!

I bought a hoover last year when I moved over to York and I went for one of those little cyclone ones, a Hoover TFS 7202 to be exact, which seemed, according to the numbers/price to be suitable for whizzing around the relatively small house I'm in.

Well, it kinda worked okay but wasn't then best. Over the past 6 months we both used the hoover and each time we noticed more things that it wouldn't pick up and really how poor the suction was. To cut a long story short: I gave it a proper test and checked filters pipes etc at the weekend and came to the conclusion that it just wasn't very good. Maybe the design was faulty, maybe this hoover itself was just broken from the beginning, basically though I wanted to take it back.

So I tried. I was well past the 28days return period but I thought I'd simply ask to swap for a much more expensive one; after all Amazon sell alot of the same models for about £70 less so I reasoned Curry's wouldn't mind too much since they would have a happy customer.

Apparently that's not important to them, they have to follow policies and procedures and I had to phone up Hoover themselves and get an engineer to have a look at fixing it first. All this hassle for a £70 Hoover which I'm sure they must know is rather a low-end model (they don't sell them anymore). I pointed out that I could see nothing broken, it was useless from the start. No, no help at all. Even when I insisted and the customer service person went to talk to the manager, they wouldn't budge.

Very annoying in itself but really they just didn't seem to care, the woman kept saying she was sorry but that was their policy and there was nothing she could do. Why not offer to have a look at the hoover there and then and see what the problem is, maybe then deal with the manufacturer for the customer? Or at the very least offer to get the manufacturers service centre to phone me. Just anything to show that you aren't just being useless and apathetic towards your customers!

What really made this all the more laughable is that I phoned up Hoover directly, gave them the relevant details, explained the issue and they said I just need to provide a serial number and they will give me a code to have the Hoover returned to Curry's. I couldn't believe how efficient they were!

So, not shopping at Curry's again, they've annoyed me. Instead I'll just get my money back and I've already been to Argos to get the replacement cleaner: a Vax Mach Zen which seemed to work really well last night on it's first try! I now have really clean-looking carpets which has actually cheered me up a bit; I like having things nice and tidy and organised and the house was getting to look a bit of a mess. I suspect I'm going to be hoovering lots over the next month so I can really test the new gadget out ... as well as making sure the house is spotless!

Out and Out in Paris and London

I'm sorry, that is a really pathetic pun on the book Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell that I vaguely remember reading for English at school. I just couldn't resist the blog post title as, with the visit to a lesbian bar in Paris and then the brief look in The FairyGothMother shop it did feel like a bit of an 'out' weekend.

As I mentioned, the reason for being in London for some considerable time was because our train back wasn't until 10pm so we had some time to kill, which always sounds rather wasteful and, in fact we made good use of the time by meeting up with Misae Richwoods who I'd got chatting to on Twitter (@minxymoggy). She'd suggested meeting at Spitalfields Market which is somewhere neither Rachel and I had been before but once we got there we wished we'd known about it before.

Basically Rachel was in hog's heaven as the place is packed full of the latest bleeding edge style with market stalls for designers to sell their own creations. It really was quite inspiring and I wish I'd had the money left after the holiday to afford several things that I saw!

Anyway, I think Rachel managed to chat to quite a few people about photography and we also had some valuable help and advice from Misae as well as all three of us having a really nice meal and a few cocktails to boot (Happy hours is fantastic). Will have to head over there again when next time I'm down in London and maybe this time get to spend some money on some fantastic clothes.

Premier Inn

Thought it might be worth a mini review given that I just had a quick stop-over in the Trafford Centre West Premier Inn and thought it was actually pretty nice. I should say that I've also stayed at a nice Ibis hotel recently, the Docklands Ibis, which I would also highly recommend!

Anyway, the Trafford Centre West (there are two others in the vicinity as well) Premier Inn is basically a budget hotel but does look quite impressive from the outside and I actually didn't realise what brand it was until I looked more closely at the weekend (now I write this I wonder if it didn't use to be a Thistle hotel or something like that). Since it's not been around *that* many years it is very new, clean, tidy, and all the decore is pretty much modern and up-to-date albeit rather character-less I guess (not that that bothers me per se).

The room (double) was surprisingly big and the bed seemed huge, comfy and most importantly rather high! Plenty of plugs, deskspace and other bits and pieces around the room, though don't remember seeing a wardrobe now I come to think about it. The TV has Freeview! Now why can't all hotels do that? Just makes so much more sense!

Overall I was VERY impressed, the only slight criticism I have is that the water pressure and temperature in the, very spacious shower, is quite low which slowed down the rather long process of washing my hair. I did even tut a little at the "Danger Hot Water" sticker next to the shower as I had it turned up full!

Given that this hotel is, quite literally, within staggering distance of the Trafford Centre I think it's a really excellent place to stay if you fancy a weekend away shopping :)

Silver (black actually) lining

My posts have been a bit doom-and-gloom of late so I thought I'd try and even things up a bit with a little positive news.

Wandering around Canary Wharf on Sunday and we came to the shops under 1 Canada Square and happened to look in the Window of Hobbs, there I saw the most fabulous black, velvet, full-length coat (ably modeled by the headless plastic mannequin to the left).

Didn't think it would fit, it did (beautifully), didn't think I could afford it, I can't ... but got it anyway!

Not wearing it until the Christmas party and treating it with a certain degree of reverence because it was expensive, and I do think it is something special and I want to be VERY careful about looking after it properly so I can have the same fabulous and perfect feeling I had, when I tried it on in the shop, time and time again. I'll try and get some pictures of myself modeling the coat a the rest of my Christmas outfit after the party tomorrow.

I LOVE the Trafford Centre

I wish I could get commission or advertising revenue for this in some way though I suspect the constant references to the Trafford Centre either have no affect or are likely to turn some people off it!

With all the new job, moving, and of course not being as close as before I've not been to the Trafford Centre for a while and I guess seeing it with all the Christmas decorations also helped to give it a 'magical' air when I stepped into it yesterday.

I know that it may seem obvious that someone who declares herself to be a shopaholic would like somewhere that provided so many shops but that's not entirely it. It's how the place feels as well; exciting, happy and full of life. Again, some of this is down to the shopping experience itself but simply having a number of shops in one place doesn't a magical consumer paradise make. You need atmosphere, a clean, open, modern, and yet classic environment and decor. There are lots of shopping centres (and malls) that manage it but there are many I've been too that don't.

There are alot of arguments against consumerism and being materialistic but I think you'd have to unravel an awful lot of modern, western society to remove it completely and the success of shopping centres such as the Trafford Centre are a clear indication of this. Would I like the place if I had no money and nothing to buy there, well yes, I probably would. How it feels is enough to cheer me up, even without buying anything there myself.

Weekend

I'm still waiting to hear definitively about my job and it may not be until tomorrow now that the final decisions are made which isn't ideal. Feel a bit run-down and pre-occupied obviously so wasn't going to post anything but felt I should keep up with what's been happening - particularly after my comments about going shopping!

So, Friday I decided enough was enough, I wasn't going to wait until Saturday as planned but wanted to go look for a new suit as well as see the new Harry Potter film. Add to that the fact that I just love being in the Trafford Centre as it's so busy and alive, it's certainly better than sitting at home all alone with no-one to talk to (now if only I could be given an unlimited credit card to shop 'till I drop, I'd be in heaven - assuming someone else was picking up the bill obviously!).

Managed to find a suit in M&S without much difficulty at all - their clothes always fit well, look and feel good, and generally seem to be value for money as well as being perfectly acceptable in terms of you feeling like you bought something fashionable and not 'cheap' (yes, I know the stuff you can get from Primark can be just as good but there is just that fashion snobbishness that is built in by all the magazines, adverts and life in general).

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was a good watch. Certainly a long film, but that was to be expected, but it kept the pace up and the interest going - no clock watching for sure. The characters now are very well developed and everyone seems to be very natural, I loved the exchanges between Ron, Hermione and Harry and was really pleased to see Luna Lovegod being completely sureal and strange. Also nice to see an appearance of Tonks as well, I liked her in the previous film. Overall very good and I think I need to re-read the last two books as I clearly don't know them as well as the others, I got the feeling there were a number of departures from the original story with some being obvious but others I was less sure about.

Saturday I had laser, which was the penultimate one for this lot and at this late stage I have discovered about Emla cream as the beautician doing my treatment mentioned it when I asked about ways to minimise the pain (I'd heard of other places that used anesthesia of some sort). I was (very kindly) given a free tube of the stuff so I will give it a try for the last laser session and see how things go with that. I will certainly need more treatment in the future so worth experimenting now.

Rest of Saturday consisted of more shopping (get several suits and a new bag from the Next Sales) before finally going over to see friends for the evening where I got a chance to catch up on their life (they have a 4month old son who was very entertaining) as well as reminisce about past work places and colleagues. It was all really good fun and surprisingly I didn't have a hangover in the morning, even after downing a whole bottle of red wine!

So, all in all, a good weekend. And one final thing to make it better was that B phoned me about our son who is on holiday with his grandparents, seems he's having a fantastic time which is good to know and nice to hear about.

One of those "awkward" moments

I have been quite lucky regarding my ID, credit cards, and similar official or financial items, in the past I had a credit card in my 'new' name and didn't have to reveal anything else. Now almost everything is changed over, certainly covered all the really important documents (passport, drivers license, bank accounts) and anything else I'm either going to be getting rid of (old credit cards, previous utilities providers, etc).

There is one thing that I didn't get round to changing and that was my Costco card because I thought, first of all that people might just assume that it's 'me' dressed up and not ask, or alternatively that it was someone else's card and that would be fine, e.g. I was doing the shopping for that person.

Never had any problems until Sunday:

Assistant: "Is <insert my old name> with you?"
Me: "Erm, no"
Assistant: "I'm afraid you can't shop without the named card-holder"
Me: "Oh"
Me (leaning in conspiratorially): "Erm, well, actually it is me, erm ... I just haven't got round to changing the card yet, erm"
Assistant (being very nice and understanding: "Oh, don't worry, say no more, completely understand"

There then followed lots of hasty comments, hand-waving and general bustling of all concerned to mask the rather embarassing situation (sure I was glowing red at that point) as people do when they want to quickly move on and not make others feel bad. Another assistant was equally sweet and took my card and said she'd get it changed there and then. Only took a few minutes and now have a new card (yes, not much to see but the picture wasn't too bad!)


It's really nice when people are understanding and helpful like this, it really can leave you happy for days afterwards and make you pass on the same kindness and consideration to others. It's equally nice when someone is at least a little suspicious that the person in the old photo just simply isn't the one stood in front of them.

P.S. I just remembered another fairly recent occasion when I was overcome by how generous and thoughtful people can be. I was queuing for a space in a local car park and too be honest was resigned to the fact that I might have to wait or go elsewhere when an oldish gentleman waved at me through the window and, having opened it to see what he wanted, offered me his space and a parking ticket with 3hrs remaining on it!

I was very grateful, he didn't have to tell me he was going, nor give the ticket to me, he could have passed it to someone on the way out and still left with a clear conscience, but instead he was simply being thoughtful and considerate. I was sure to pass the ticket on to someone when I left as well (only seemed right) and it still had 2hrs left on it. One persons kindness at least doubled that day.

The weekend

Well, better late than never. It's taken me a while to get round to writing about the weekend and I've also got other things queuing up in my head that I want to get written down as well so I'll make this quick!

The weekend was FAB!

That covers it I guess ... okay, maybe a bit more detail:

I drove down to Lucy's on Friday evening, got stuck in lots of traffic but had a great time singing along to the selection of music I'd copied onto CD (I never have any decent things to listen to in the car so made an effort this time). Did get a few funny looks but frankly I prefer to be happily singing/wiggling along to music that sitting stony-faced and seething about the queue!

Had tea at Lucy's (was so nice that her Mum thought of feeding us - always made to feel welcome there) and then into Brum and the usual getting ready to go out routine which I'm actually not that slow at now!

The start of the evening was in one of the apartments that you can rent - think someone said for £70/night - and they are fantastic; two bedrooms, bathroom, lounge/dining room, basically the same as my flat! Anyway, one of Lucy's friends had put on a huge amount of food and drink for everyone which was pretty impressive when you consider that at least 25 people turned up!

[ As an aside, it just goes to show you how many trans people there are if that many turn up for one persons party ]

It was around midnight when we finally moved out of the apartment and onto a bar somewhere. I think by that point I was nicely merry and chatty and really haven't got much of a clue where I was going (not having been out in Brum - well the gay village bit - before). Think we went to the Loft and then on somewhere else.

I talked to lots of people and had a fantastic time. I even recall talking to a girl who was stood, looking rather depressed, waiting for her friend to finish some in-depth heart-to-heart with what seemed to be his current or maybe former partner. Anyway the poor girl looked so down-hearted that I bought her a drink. Turns out her boyfriend didn't want to come out so she was stranded waiting for her friend. I'm sure there are ways to 'pull' a girl in this situation but I have no idea what they are and I'm too nice anyway (this is not necassarily a good thing from my point of view!).

Also got dragged onto the dance floor by a person who shall remain nameless (but thanks anyway, I would never have got up there otherwise) and I don't think I fell over too much (though did feel a little wobbly) but probably still looked like a complete idiot.

Sadly the evening (well morning really, 4am!) did draw to a close and people wandered off and I found myself in bed (still always vaguely unsure of how exactly I get there but still not had any cause to suspect I had a good time in the process unfortunately!). I had a great time and talked to lots of fab people whose names, and maybe even faces I've forgotten (if you were one of them: sorry and thanks for chatting).

Saturday was spent recovering and shuffling round Brum - tried the slightly grungy, trainers-wearing look and really didn't like it at all! Live and learn. Sunday I was more awake and Lucy and I did some shopping - I bought a few watches and suspect I'm going to go mad for collecting these now as I got some really different looking designs and think they are fab!

Anyway lots of other stuff I could bore everyone with but I'll leave it at that. I was so sorry the weekend had to end because it was so much fun ... oh well, not long to the next one!

Not sure about this new outfit ...

You can find all sorts of things when you hit the charity shops. I was introduced to shopping for clothes this way by Deborah and so far I've always managed to find things that are quite impressive in terms of labels, condition, cost, etc.

I wasn't really convinced at first as I've always been a bit of a snob and maybe just not adventurous enough, but in the current economic climate and my situation it seems like a good move. Also every charity shop excursion so far has turned up clothes that I've really liked and have worn so it's clearly a successful way to shop!

Anyway, I spotted this outfit on Saturday and something about it just grabbed my attention and I had to get it! The size of the jacket/skirt was just right and well it just seemed too good to miss ... however I'm really not sure it's me nor have I any idea when I am going to get to wear it!
Certainly it's different to everything else I wear and it's going to need a bit of tweaking to get the right look - for example I'm not sure about those boots with it! Hmmm, definitely not my normal attire, really not sure about this at all!

Fabulous weekend!

Well, I got over the trauma of Thursday night with a combination of nerves, determination, and sheer naive stupidity (aka I pushed it out of my mind/forgot about it - I know this is not good in the long term but it works for now).

First of all I took a BIG step: I went into work fully dressed and made-up. This was a huge thing todo and, apart from the obvious reasons, I was using the practical excuse that I was driving down to stay with D for the weekend and wanted to set off mid-afternoon directly from work to make life easier.

I'd talked to N at work about going in as Fiona and she had had a quick chat with people there and they had said they were fine with it. Also checked with my manager to make sure there were no customers in that I might distract! Took me a while to get ready in the morning, obviously very nervous, but once I got to work everything and everyone was fine. It really felt quite natural and my co-workers were amazingly understanding and accepting! Can't really express how thankful I am!

Anyway, a long drive down several motorways (with plenty of traffic jams) later and I arrived at D's house (SatNav got me straight there - isn't technology wonderful!). D's husband, G, wasn't in until later so we had chance for a good chat and catch up which was nice. G didn't bat an eyelid when he did come back and was totally fine with me as Fiona - well actually I stuck to my other name for the weekend, no need to complicate things just yet.

[ Aside: I'm pretty much 'out' in terms of my choice of name but really I can't say I've ever been that bothered about how I'm referred to, I find that in normal conversation names don't get used that much and I'm happy for people to continue referring to me by my other name which can, with different spelling, be female anyway. I will correct people on pronouns though! ]

Saturday was shopping day! Decided to wear black knee-high boots (2" heel, quite comfy even after walking some distance), Brown loose top, and fishnet tights - okay, that last bit sounds a bit over the top, but it wasn't; this were referred to as "body-shaper" tights in M&S, they are just the holey (fishnet) variety which meant they were cool to wear but still stopped my legs rubbing together painfully and also kept them looking as shapely as possible. Practical rather than sexy was what I was going for.

We had some fun getting into London due to buses replacing trains for part of the trip so didn't really make it in until going on 12 o'clock! Got some nice chinese food and then headed into the main shopping area of London, Oxford Street. Actually heading for Selfridges as that is where I wanted to get my ears pierced!

Arrived, queued up, got nervous, wondered if I was doing the right thing, more queuing, decided what studs to get (just tiny 3mm ones), more waiting and finally .... ah, there was a problem. Apparently you need to have eaten within the last hour so that it minimises the risk of you passing out when someone shoves a stud through your ear (or other places I guess). So, had to go and get a KitKat to get a hit of sugar before carrying on!

OW!

Okay, they really didn't hurt that much but I did feel it! Was grinning form ear to ear (not a good look for me) when the girl let me look at myself in the mirror - I was REALLY pleased :D Another little step!

More shopping followed, but in charity shops! This was the main destination as D is an excellent bargain hunter and shopper and, sure enough she found me quite alot of really nice stuff (in very good, almost mint, condition). In the end I got 4 new skirts and a long slinky dress that I seriously need to lose weight (and gain bust) to wear!

Also had a REALLY nice chat with the girl in Barnardo's: she was really curious about me and asked lots of questions which I said I was happy to answer. She was so nice and really interesting herself! She was so nice and had a fabulous outlook on life that it was a shame to leave the shop.

We had a bit of a break and a drink somewhere cool with aircon, the weather had turned from grey and cool to bright and sunny! Then we tackled Primark! Bought some new PJs, belts, jewelery (necklace and earring sets - can't wait until the 6-8 weeks are up and the studs can come out), and a purse or two! It was madness in there!

Finally headed back home under the weight of our purchases and G was really sweet and came an picked us up from the station. Few glasses of wine proceeded an early night!

Sunday was more chilled with us all going out to All Bar One in Cambridge for lunch and then both me and D driving up north, I was dropping her with her sister near Manchester. Since the weather had really got out (well if couldn't really make up it's mind actually but was still warm) I even wore a skirt, with sandals and no tights - usually I want to hide my legs a little but (after giving them a quick shave) decided to show them off a bit! Oh, also we had a little detour to Tescos and I got some new nail varnish (3 for 2 offer); red, tangerine and black (always wanted black).

So overall all a very tiring weekend but absolutely fantastic, we had so much fun and bought lots of things and got lots done! And now I best get back to doing some real work in order to pay for the trip!

Today's pain and sucess

Well, it's been quite a good day today (helped even more by the fab pic of my friend's boots - see previous post) and I got a few important things done.

First of all I got some new shoes from Evans yesterday and, having waited in almost all day for them to arrive I discovered to my horror that they didn't fit! However they were too big rather than too small, the latter would have been a disaster, as it is taking the shoes back to get a smaller size is just an opportunity for a challenge so overall probably a good thing.

So, I got to the Trafford Centre early to avoid having to deal with too many staring at me, asked the nice lady if I could change the shoes for a smaller size ... and then asked if I could try them on to just make sure! I was quite pleased at my bravery and there wasn't even a flicker of surprise on the lady's face, nor on the girl that went to get the shoes and even got me a 7 just to make sure that I didn't need to go down another size. I was quite pleased with myself and now own a pair of these shoes:
Not practical in the slightest, probably won't go with any outfits at all but but I just thought they looked so fab and colourful I just had to have them (now I need to sell lots of junk on eBay to pay for them).

The other achievement today was with what I was wearing; white shirt (bob-mode, couldn't find a blouse that looked right), boot-cut jeans, brown ankle boots, and dark purple nail varnish! All of this was without make-up or any other attempt to look femme as I was going for the laser hair removal so nothing allowed near my skin. I got a few odd looks but nothing that really concerned me too much and managed to wander round the Trafford Centre, Costco, and Asda without any trouble.

Afternoon was the pain bit of the day, but thankfully it wasn't really that painful. This is my first treatment with the laser and I'm told not to expect any real results yet (though I can't help but hope when alot of the hairs apparently got zapped and burnt out already).

The sensation is like, as someone else described, being pinged with an elastic band, it is quite uncomfortable and the top lip is very sensitive, but it's still not real excruciating, eye-watering pain like plucking your eyebrows for example. Also it's over pretty quickly, I can only have been there 5mins maximum, probably quicker and that was for a full face treatment. I've got 6 more treatments to go, the next being in 4 weeks.

Overall, a good day, now time to get some sleep!

Trafford Centre

Well, I finally made it! It took an awful lot of psyching myself up and my heart was absolutely pounding when I got there but I managed to actually wander round the Trafford Centre!

First the bad bits - I took some pics of me before and after the little trip and some of them looked terrible, I look absolutely hideous! Also not happy about the make-up it definitely shows up too much against the very pale skin below my neckline - I either need different foundation, a sun-tan, or less make-up in the first place (hopefully this may be easier after IPL/electrolysis/whatever). Also felt a little bit of an anti-climax after wandering round for a bit which wasn't what I'd expected to feel but on the other hand, this is maybe simply because I have actually done plenty of shopping in the US/Canada and this experience does kind of merge into those memories. In fact I did have the spooky feeling of deja vous in some stores as they shops all do look alot alike!

So here's a pic of me before going out (I am a little more wind-swept on returning as the weather has turned cold/wet/windy:I haven't time for a full piuc of the outfit but it's a combination of things I've worn before, brown blouse top from Gap, denim skirt (knee length), brown Nine West boots. Also wore my brown cord jacket.

Got to the Trafford Centre and did for a moment think of just turning round and coming home, I really was very nervous. Finally convinced myself to get out of the car and walk in. Used my mobile phone as a sort of comfort blanket - staring at that meant not having to look around me. Gradually did this less and less as the reactions I got mirrored those in Canada; some people don't even notice, some look once but no reaction, some look twice but that's it and some stare a bit too long but will look away when you stare back.

Wandered all the way from John Lewis to Debenhams - that's the full length of the Trafford Centre, I'd decided that I'd try that for a start without doing anything more risky. Had a look at some clothes in Debenhams, nothing that interesting jumped out at me.

Did notice someone in the store who had a few tell-tale TG signs; they had quite sharp features, looked a fair bit older than me but dressed a bit OTT (sorry, that is a bit of a harsh thing to say but I did notice that but immediately thought - could be an RG they can over-dress too) I didn't look long enough to be absolutely certain - I know for a fact I don't like people staring at me so I'm not going to do it to someone else.

On my walk back towards John Lewis I decided to have a look in Dorothy Perkins as I wanted to see if they had any nice tops (though I guess last week was Summer and that's our lot now in terms of Sun). Managed to find a very bright dress (like one I already bought but a much brighter pattern) and they'd done the same thing again in making a top in the same material. Got that and also a brown/gold top that might go well with jeans for a clubbing night out :D

I did wander round John Lewis for a while having gotten quite use to being out and about and wondering what else I could do. Decided to go as it was getting near teatime and I'd achieved what I set out to do.

Got back to the car and the first song to come on was Take That's 'Rule The World' which is from the soundtrack to Stardust which was wonderful! They also had "Love it when you call" by The Feeling on further into the journey and I love that song as well - I was singing away with the radio at full volume!

I cracked!

I hadn't bought anything for ages, not a single thing, not so much as a lipstick! This is (was) a good thing as I really need to save money and cut-back completely on the the mad clothes shopping so that I can afford to live/eat/rent/etc.

But it couldn't last forever (particularly as my entire wardrobe is not with me at the moment) and I had to buy SOMETHING! The desire to spend was not helped by the fact I'd already seen what I wanted to buy in Tesco's (yeah, okay, I know, not exactly fashion central or anything but some of their stuff is okay).

So I ended up buying two skirts, one red, one black (high-waisted), and two tops, the first cream/white linen (goes with the red skirt) and the second a brown colour, slightly see-through. Sadly didn't have time/opportunity for pictures so I'll have to do some of those when I move in and have the full wardrobe to mix-and-match with!

Credit card test

Well, I had intended to go for an eye-test as it has been many, many years since my last one and I'm pretty sure that my eyes are getting a little strained these days with the amount of time I spend on computers and the ridiculously high resolution that I use (if there's pixels available, I'm going to use them!).

No appointments available yesterday (well it was Good Friday and the Trafford Centre was absolutely heaving!) so I'm going this afternoon instead.

Of course, the eye test, I suppose, was a bit of an excuse to get me to the Trafford Centre so I could look at nice things to buy. My wardrobe had been reduced to a bare minimum (yes, I know, that isn't strictly true, but everything is relative :D ) and I also wanted to look at some make-up, specifically non-powder eye-shadows, lip liners and the Max Factor mascara.

Since my wife had gone down to her parents this was effectively a 'free' weekend and time for doing some tidying up around the house as well as thinking time. Since I was pretty confused about the whole Fiona thing (not having done it for a while) I ... hmmm, look, I'm just making up more execuses here aren't I? Really, I am a shopaholic and just wanted to buy "things" ... I also was feeling a bit low from a sexy point of view and wanted some nice sexy undies!

Anyway, I found a dress, a nice sexy babyboll from La Senza as well as the make-up I was looking for (Max Factor is 3for2 in Superdrug at the moment). There are, as ever, many more pics of the dress and me on Flickr.

I was actually quite pleased with the make-up results that I got so much so that I decided to do something stupid and go to bed still fully made-up (Note: this is a bad bad thing and my skin will likely pay the price today). Surprisingly when I woke up the results weren't too hideous! I think that is partly as I buy "good" (well I hope so) make-up and also the fact that I don't seem to fidget in bed that much, once I'm asleep that's me for the night.

I best get on with some tidying up now.

From WOW, WOW, WOW to OW, OW, OW

High heels hurt! If you go wandering round for a whole afternoon in 3" heels your feet will hurt like goodness knows what! I speak from experience!

So, my plan for today was to go shopping and spend as much of the day in TGirl heaven as is possible! Well to be honest it takes me a while to get everything sorted out for a trip out so I had to do the following first:

• Bath, wash hair, etc
• Run the epilator over my legs (the first burst of pain for today)
• Make-up
  

I was actually quite happy with the make-up in the end, I had some sparkly eye-shadow from The Body Shop in a dark purple and also a bright silver. I also managed to get reasonably straight lines with liquid eye-liner (this is *really* hard to put on!) and I've got some nice Clinique mascara to finish it off properly. See what you think:
Then it was time to pick an outfit - that took a while as well! Settled on purple silk top, black skirt, brown boots. I'm still not sure about the skirt too be honest, not sure it looks that good really but it was the only decent skirt I had (the others were a little short).

Anyway, I wandered through the mall here, bought phone credit (silly phones over here actually time-out credit after 1month!), and then took the SkyTrain over to Metropolis (the big mall in Vancouver) and had a good look round there. The place was packed though and eventually had to try and get some food (yummy sushi).

Even by then I was getting tired - hard floors, lots walking around! Hadn't really found much to buy either - I think it really wasn't a good shopping day OR I needed a girl friend along to help! Anyway, finally found some things I liked and tried them on with 50% success rate.

Was going to try and find shoes to go with the outfits but couldn't see anything I liked in Nine West so decided enough was enough! Feet really tired by this point ... then I had to go to the grocery store on the way back to get more fruit juice (I don't drink anything else) and that was sooo much weight to carry back.

Finally got back to the hotel and just dropped!

Anyway, sucessful shop and now I need to get to bed (after removing the beautifully painted make-up) and prepare for a long bike ride tomorrow that will hopefully help keep the figure in trim!

Night, night all.

Oooooooo ... aaaaaahhhhhh

This was the sound I made when I just came back in after taking my boots off!

So here's a clever idea: stay out late with friends, drink lots, get to bed at a silly time, struggle to get out of bed, get into work (only 1hr later that my usual 7:30am), do a full day at work, come back (yawning all the way), get changed and then put on a pair of (nice Nine West) ankle boots with 3" heels, walk to Sky Train station (about 15mins), go to shopping Centre (Metrotown - only 15/20mins from Downtown), walk around for ages (buying several items from Le Chateau), then walk back to hotel.

Not bright really! Goodness, my feet ache! And my legs are pretty tired out too! I need a nice soak in the bath, which is exactly what I'm going to do now!

P.S. Pics of new outfits will be forthcoming when I get a chance to try everything on properly.

P.P.S If I keep mentioning Le Chateau and how fabulous their clothes are and how super-friendly all their staff are ... do you think I may get some discount or some free clothes? Anyone from Le Chateau reading this, please help a poor TGirl, I promise to give you lots of lovely free publicity!