the other woman

One more sleep to go.

Then I will be joined by none other than my best friend Becks and her lovely Fiancé Horse.  Horse has got a real name, but as I have never known anyone to ever call him by it, he shall (in this post and also life) forever remain Horse.

Becks and I have been friends from we were at school together, we were brought together in Art class and have since enjoyed one of the best friendships I have ever had. She is the one person I can talk to about anything. Even though I now live 162 miles away from her, she is still the person I turn to for love, support and advice, no matter what the circumstance. Sure I have my friends, but I would honestly marry this woman if I was that way inclined. We just get each other, and we always will.

Becks, Rachel and Myself donning random found Tina Turner-esque wigs

So, she is coming to see me! Excited! 

You see, Becks is one of my Bridesmaids and also in the early stages of planning her own wedding. So I am longing for some girly company to swoon over gorgeous wedding things with. In fact, we have a bit of a wedding day planned for Friday. Its goes as follows:

10:00am - Appointment at Emma Roy to try on my Wedding Dress! MY actual one that I will be wearing on my actual wedding day!! Super excited about this. Although my plan to be svelte has not really worked as I continue to eat all the pies.

11:30am - Go and see my reception venue The Caves. Take some measurements and run around quietly screaming inside about getting to show the venue to Becks.

Lunch somewhere lovely, yet to be decided!

2:00pm - See Ceremony venue Winton House and speak to new wedding planner (as the last one is all lovely and pregnant). Swan around feeling grand and imagining everything that will happen there in 6 months time. (Again... run around and quietly scream inside about getting to show the venue to Becks).

Also planned... will be getting Becks to try on her Bridesmaids dress, attempting to plan a hen do and discussing photographers for her wedding. 

The rest of the weekend will be a concoction of booze, food and mischief. 

Better get cleaning my flat. xo

what love smells like

Wow-wee.  It's been a while eh?

Well I'm back. And I dare say that I will be posting a bit more regularly in future.

So the latest in the wedding saga? Well, I'm sure there have been a few little stories but the one that I shall focus on today is going to be perfume. Wedding perfume to be precise. That sweet smell that you plan to exude on the day that will be bottled up in that gorgeous little glass diffuser, ready for the photographer to take the token 'here is a piece of jewellery casually draped over my chosen scent shot'. Because that's where we usually store our expensive designer bracelets.

Well, it's not something that I had really given much thought to. After a few brief flirtations with Issy, Coco, Dolce, Givenchy and an unexpected fling with Diesel... I always return to my safe and comfortable Donna Karan. Be Delicious to be precise, the one that looks like an apple. It's the perfume that upon a reunion with friends and family sparks comments such as "I missed how you smell", "I always smell this off other people and think of you" or the good old " You still smell like Naomi".  Now don't get me wrong, I am not swanning around constantly doused in a cloud of DKNY, but it has been my regular for about the last 5 years. So the thought that I would wear something else on my wedding day does kinda feel like I'm cheating on my favourite perfume.

DKNY Be Delicious

But to be honest folks, I haven't been sniffing around any of the recent newcomers for such a long time now, that I don't know what's out there. So I decided to reacquaint myself with the perfume stalls of a few department stores. Anytime I was passing, I would jump in for a quick chat and a few smelly sticks with designers names scribbled on them and would inevitably come out smelling of something foreign. A bit like when you wear someone else's scarf and are acutely aware that you smell like them all day.

So after a few of these express testings, I got speaking to a lady who got exactly what I was looking for. I said "fresh and clean with a slight hint of floral, not too sweet, bitter or musky." She said " I know exactly the one, would be perfect for your wedding". Out comes the bottle, a beautifully classic square piece of glass with a vintage looking metal tag label donning the word "Prada".  

Prada infusion d'iris

She refuses to spray a piece of card as she wanted to see how I would "wear it". Unbeknownst to me, perfume changes slightly depending on your body chemicals and temperatures. So I get dutifully misted, I pause for a moment and finally concede myself to the fact that I have fallen for another. Donna Karen is no longer my one and only. I am upgrading to Prada darling!

So after giddily agreeing that this would be my wedding day perfume and that I would buy the shower gel and body lotion also (to ensure that I was sufficiently wafting my new light and fresh fragrance to those in my company), I thought better and decided to let Gavin smell it. After all, this would be the perfume he would be breathing in as he leans to kiss his new wife. It should resonate with him as much as me and have him wanting to breathe me all day long, forever reminding him of the happiest day of his life.

I hastily drag him to John Lewis the next chance I get. I douse myself in a heavenly mist and walk towards him in a confident and sexy way asking him what  he thinks. He leans in, as if to kiss my neck, sending goosebumps all over my body, I can feel him breathing me in. He finally straightens up to face my beaming smile and says ... "smells a bit like disinfectant."

F*cking boo.