Wednesday 8 October 2008

Whiskers on kettles

...or something.

I have nicked this from Belgian Waffle because I feel crap and want to think about nice stuff to cheer myself up.

So. Favourite things....

Clothes shop: Used to be Long Tall Sally (due to my freakish height) but I have discovered several other shops that cater to ladies of a certain stature. And therefore the winner of this category is (fanfare) Monsoon. The clothes are usually pretty, but the reason they get my vote is this. I went on a clothes shopping trip to Salisbury a while back to get some confidence-building workwear for my scary new job. I went into Monsoon and looked sadly at the rails, thinking everything would be too short/too small/tou young for me, like I do in clothes shops.

An elegant and charming assistant came up and asked me if I wanted any help. I muttered "Nurrrr...sarrite, kthnxbai" at her and continued dejectedly looking at stuff. Eventually, I picked up a pretty black top, which I thought might be ok, and went and draped scarves over it to see if I could make myself look stylish*.

She came back and said "Are you trying to find something to match that top, madam?" I said I was, so she asked me what I was looking for. I (bravely, I thought) then told her about the impending new job, lack of funky clothes, and fear of ridicule from the chic city types when I wandered through London in my trousers held up with baler twine.

She asked me what kind of clothes I was planning to wear, so I showed her my smart work trousers (I was wearing them at the time, handily), and said I usually wore black. She looked at me appraisingly, looked at the top I had in my hand, then scooted round the shop picking up a variety of tops in all kinds of colours. She put them in the changing room, told me to go and try them, and handed me a few scarves to accessorise with. It was great. I ended up buying a load of great stuff, all of which looks really nice, and felt like a new woman. When I left, she and her colleague both wished me good luck with the new job and told me I'd be fine. So. Monsoon.

Furniture Shop: Multiyork. They make magnificent sofas.

Sweet: Depends. I like Montezuma's chocolate very much but not sure if this qualifies, really. So, favourite sweet, of the sort that you can get at a petrol station, I'd say was Toblerone.

Music: Love love love AC/DC. I go through phases, and at the moment it's Tom Petty. Because I am trying hard to learn a load of his songs, I am paying a lot more attention to how he puts stuff together. It's all in the timing. And I adore his voice.

TV Series: Futurama. Bender is my hero. But am enjoying watching Scrubs which I hadn't seen before.

Film: The film I will cheerfully watch on any given rainy Sunday afternoon...hm....probably the Emma Thompson version of Sense and Sensibility. Alan Rickman. Actually, love him in Galaxy Quest too.

Workout: When I actually get my lardy arse to the gym, I like using a cross trainer. I can waddle along for ages (listening to AC/DC on my iPod) and it doesn't feel like hell on toast, even though my legs are all wobbly when I stop.

Pastries: How European. Do pies count? And sausage rolls? If so, my home-made Christmas sausage rolls are in the top 3. Otherwise it's lardy cake, closely followed by the chocolate twist thingies they sell in the coffee shop** in Fish Row in Salisbury.

Coffee: I seldom drink coffee, not having much of a taste for it. I do like Lady Grey tea though, if that helps.

There. Now you know exactly how dull I really am. Enjoy.

*No, I can't.
**Might be Costa Coffee, not sure about that.

7 comments:

badgerdaddy said...

Freakishly tall, you say? How tall is that, exactly? I had my picture taken next to a Russian woman who I honestly would describe as... Well, unusually tall. Her legs came to my armpits, no exaggeration. I may have to dig the picture out and email it to you... But then, I'm only 5' 6". Ho hum.

livesbythewoods said...

hello there bd....I am 5 foot 10. Not excessively "Guinness book of records" tall but about 6 inches above average for a laydee.

And it used to make buying decent clothes a nightmare. Things have improved enormously in the last 10 years or so though, as people get taller.

Jon said...

I am 6'5" if that makes you feel any better?

livesbythewoods said...

Jon!! Hello! Yes it does...but in a bad bad inappropriate way.

How the devil are you? Why aren't you updating your excellent blog?

badgerdaddy said...

Hmmmm. Trophy Wife is 5' 8", and I am a mere 5' 6". It's ace. She tall and leggy, me short and round. Hehehehehe

livesbythewoods said...

Ah, I combine both looks by being tall and round.

The perfect woman. In my head.

Waffle said...

I wish you'd told me you'd done this, I had to come snooping round here to find all your loveliness.
Montezumas, yum. I lived in Spitalfields just next to their shop. They used to hide the tray of samples under the counter when they saw us coming.

Baler twine is very S/S 09 you know darling.