OMG!

I'm not sure what's more shocking - the fact that Britain has FINALLY emerged from recession or that I've actually got around to updating my blog!

Where have I been? What have I been up to? Working hard to pay the bills mostly. Boring - I know - but sadly essential. Here's one of the more exciting highlights from 2009 - a 60ft abseil down a viaduct which I did for charidee last year. You know what they say - do something that scares you. Well I did & it was fab!


More soon... xx

Bargainous Bulge Busting

Joined the gym yesterday. Yeah, yeah I know that's not very recessionista of me. But I think you'll be impressed...

By enrolling at my local council run leisure centre as a 'pay and play' member I get access to a fab range of cardio and weights machines and pay just...

• £10 for the initial induction
• £10 for a fabulous electronic key device which records my progress
• and, then, only £5 for every time I want to work out there.

Granted if I was a regular gym bunny that would work out pretty expensive, but as I'm looking to combine gym going with some Wii action and some running to keep the muffin top under control, £5 per session works out much cheaper than paying a monthly fee at a private gym and then only going occasionally.

I must admit I was sceptical that a council run gym could compete with a private club, but it's actually really impressive. There are loads of machines, it's clean and bright and the staff are knowledgeable and friendly. I used to be a member of one of the more prestigious clubs and actually think the council run facilities are better!

Combining fitness & financial savvy? Bonus!

Invest in your wardrobe wisely

August Bank Holiday and the end of summer is nigh. Not that we'll be able to tell much difference between summer and autumn this year, but that's not to say that the with the advent of golden leaves crunching underfoot we won't all be clamouring to update our wardrobes. The new season's fashions are cropping up in stores already (despite the fact that it was impossible to find any opaque black tights in M&S yesterday - hello buyers, I know it's supposed to be warm in August but it's not, so please stock your stores accordingly, thank you!).

Rooting through my magazine stash the other day I unearthed a supplement from an old issue of Eve Magazine, entitled Forever Fashion, it suggested that in these credit crunch times rather than buying cheap, we should be looking to save for investment pieces which will see us through this recession, the recovery, and gee, maybe even into the next credit crunch. Their notion is if you buy something cheap (think Primarni) you're likely to only get one season out of it before it either a.) goes out of fashion or b.) falls to pieces. They muse that investing in timeless classics is the sensible option as they'll never age and, you would hope, are made of stronger stuff and therefore will last, greatly reducing your cost per wear.

Carla Bruni in Chanel? Nope, Sam & her
cankles in good ole M&S

Makes sense, but, with Eve being a (now defunct) glossy magazine they suggest that we head to Selfridges and Harvey Nics with our bulging piggy banks. In an ideal world I'm sure we all would. If I could I'd certainly stash the cash and bag myself a Burberry trench, some patent Chanel pumps (a la Carla Bruni), a sharp white shirt courtesy of Thomas Pink and a gorgeous Dior suit. However, as I do live in the land known as reality I will instead be looking for some key investment pieces courtesy of the High Street. Therefore, this Autumn I'll be checking out Marks & Spencer, Oasis and French Connection for my key items with visits to New Look and Primark to add some 'this season' frosting to my look with some affordable accessories.