Five days of Festive Frolics - Part 1.

Days 1+2: Christmas in Glasgow!


Eeeeee it's December :-D yay! Happy December everyone! It's a really cold, crisp, clear day today and I am super excited about whats happening this month. Yay! So much so I seem to forget that I don't have a job.... We 'Christmassed' up the flat the other night and it looks so festive and lovely :-D yay! This is just a low res camera photo just now, but I'll put up better ones later. We were worried we wouldn't be able to use our huge tree from last year and have to buy a scrawny new one, but that super smart man of mine figured out a way around it :-D It's a really stunning tall tree that fitted so nicely into our huge living room in our old Dundee flat. This is our third year of having it and there was still a lot of life in it so we really didn't want to have to get a new one. Stu's brainwave was to just put up the top two of the three stem sections, effectively third-ing the height and base width - and it totally worked! Now its a table top tree! Yay! Isn't it pretty!

So yeah anyway.... days after we arrived back in Scotland I went through to Glasgow to visit one of my oldest and dearest friends. I love her so much, she is so special and we always have the most immature, inappropriate giggily fun :-D I went through to accompany her to see Breaking Dawn part 1 (cringe indeed, but I actually quite enjoy the movies, a bit of easy going fluff) and to stay in her and her fiance's new house. It was really nice being the guest for once, it's normally me hosting so it was really nice to be on the receiving end.

In the (HUGE 18 screen 6 floored) cinema foyer there was a nice wee dedication to the new Chipmunks film and me being me, encouraged by my partner in crime Sarah.... joined in:

I'm so down with the 'munks. So street! Just seem to be too wintery dressed compared to the Hawaii look that's going on here. I got some very strange looks from the other cinema-goers, but it was totally worth it. Ah we just become so silly together, it really is such fun! I'm not quite as relaxed and free with anyone else, we can just be so natural and enjoy our time together. And no matter how long it's been since we saw or talked to each other, as soon as we meet up again we just click right back where we were before :-D I just hope we don't ever lose our connection.

We called into Primark after our dose of vampires and warewolves, to check out the bargain knits. I really miss it since moving to Edinburgh, I didn't even shop in it that much in Dundee near the end, but just because there isn't one here I have a longing for it. But woo! It opens here on Saturday, yay! But we called in and Sarah spotted a woman carrying an awesome snowman jumper, we went on a scavenge hunt. Turns out it was in the menswear department and was super cheap, so naturally we both tried it on! Festive Frolics indeed!! 

Just look how AWESOME it is! How good do we look?! Although I still think Sarah suits it better than me. It also made me realise just how great the height difference between us is. I've always known I was smaller, but it's not something that I've ever really thought about (I just assume I'm smaller than the majority of people I meet), but when we're standing so close, wearing the same sized jumper, it really becomes obvious. I'm so small! Regardless.... I bought the jumper, I thought we both were, but Sarah backed out last minuted; she appears to be more sensible with money than I am. But I LOVE it! It's just so cosy, and it's ideal for hiding layers underneath, which is great for this cold weather. I've been wearing it a lot recently so it will probably appear lots on here, but this is the first photo of it :-) yay!

Primark have also started to do ski-wear! So we tried some of that on too :-) again with the funny looks, and the security guard keeping a close eye on us. But it was so much fun and so worth it! These things were HUGE and really heavy! It was like wearing a virtual reality headset - except it was real life, did give it a surreal side though. We didn't buy these.

 A few more shots of Glasgow looking all pretty at Christmas 
:-) yay!

Eeee and the most exciting part! I get to see her again this weekend :-D yay! Stu is banishing me from Edinburgh for the day so he can Christmas shop for me without me stumbling across anything and ruining my surprise. Yay! He's even paying for my train ticket through to Glasgow :-D It's kinda romantic I think, maybe not in the traditional sense. But I'm so excited to spend more time with Sarah!

And I think I have a sneaky peak where Stu is going on Saturday - hopefully to a couple of my new favourite sellers. The lovely and talented Miss Katy Cupcake and her wonderful new shop. Ooh it's such a lovely space, she's decorated it so well! And I love EVERYTHING in the shop! Especially the tea-plate clocks! So fingers crossed. And the beautiful Savy Sailor. Jen is so beautiful and so gifted, and I definitely share her obsession with buttons! I luckily stumbled across her page after a routine Facebook stalking adventure, and I'm so glad I did, her jewellery is so unique and fancy! I saw her at the 2D/3D fair last weekend and I'm so hoping she's at it again this weekend because I didn't have the time to stop and buy :-( But again, fingers crossed!

Anyway, off to job hunt again. Just a quick excited Christmas post. Oooh I'm going to listen to 'Now Christmas' :-D and encourage my festive spirit. YEAH! Hope all your feelings are festive just now and the rush isn't getting you down. Oh and the snow isn't holding you up too much, we've yet to get any and I think we're the only place in Scotland that isn't white. Mum and Dad have loads at home, and Dundee certainly has some. I'm still immature enough to want some too, until it comes and I have to navigate my way through it, then I want it to leave. But right now.... I WANT SNOW!

Last Day, Last Swim.

The last holiday post, for the last holiday day. We chilled this day and enjoyed the last of the sunshine by the awesome huge pool our hotel had next door. It's great because hardly anyone seemed to use it, was always half empty when we were there. Managed to get the same two sunbeds each day we used it. In fact you can see our stripy blue beach towels in this photo.

It's a shame the clouds are so dark here - each day they seemed to spring from the volcanic hill behind our hotel, then when they moved away they dissipated into nice light fluffy wisps, which was great for sun bathing, not so good for photos.

The pool was so good! There was 2 pools, a free form circuit with a sunbathing island in the middle, connected by the wee wooden bridge. And an infinity pool a little higher up, complete with 2 jacuzzi pools, and 2 strange jacuzzi things that you lay on in the pool and the bubbles came up and around you - was very strange, and I didn't really like it very much. You can see it at the bottom corner in this one ->

You can also see just how large the free form pool was - a whole circuit of it was quite tiring!

But oh my! It was so lovely to be warm enough to swim OUTSIDE! It's one of my simple pleasures which I love, but only at the right temperature. Wonderful!

A few pre-swim poses - complete with flip flops and bikini top showing. I've got my linen trousers on again, so comfy! And a favourite cotton top of mine, its one of the only 2 things I've bought from Mango (normally out  my price range) and it's quite old, and a losing its shape slightly, but I do still love it. It's got lovely lace detail at the bust.

More pool photos - I'm slightly obsessed with it, in case you didn't notice. I really love that the water comes right to the grill edge too, just adds a bit of class I think. And the nice gentle steps - easing you into the, at times, chilly water.

You can see the lovely pool house in the background behind the bridge. And the wall of the infinity pool. It was really nicely done, the water lapping over the edge of the infinity pool created a nice waterfall feature below it. 

In the afternoon it seemed to get even emptier, and suddenly a family of sparrows decided to go for a wee swim too. Was really adorable to see but I don't think the pool water would have been very good for them. Managed to get a few photos before they good frightened off, this is the best one.

After our day of lounging and swimming, we went up to the roof top solarium to catch the last of the evening sun and one final dip in the hot tubs up there. I like this photo. It shows the view from the roof, with all the other hotels, and both of us. Shame you can't see my face, but Arty! YEAH! There was another pool up there too, much smaller and much colder, and loads of sun beds for people to relax on. They were actually the busiest places in the whole hotel. Sometimes really difficult to get a bed.

Sunset of the day, and the last of the holiday. It was actually a very sad sunset, beautifully sad. I realised that it was the last time I'd feel any warmth in the sun for the rest of 2011. A sad moment indeed. And I knew that it would very soon be back to real life again - and the inevitable job hunting that I just kept putting off (and now, this long after, I'm still hunting, with no success :( there are just not enough jobs for the people looking, and I'm a little sad). I also realised I had to pack up all my clothes again - and that I had worn only a fraction of those I had planned to wear, every year I pack too many and this year I promised I'd wear all of them.... but didn't. One of the reasons behind Brag Doll actually.

I love the colours in this one - sunsets are so pretty. And I love the Island ferry coming back for its last run of the day. It traveled to and from Tenerife and La Gomera several times each day, we could hear the horn occasionally from our room. Would have liked to have visited La Gomera, but I priority this holiday was to relax after the hellish year we had both had, so that's just what we did. Wonderful!

One last one of the side pool that we could see from the side of our balcony. Another free form lap-esque poll. Didn't venture in this one - but you can see the pool house of the lovely neighbouring pool near the top of the photo.

Homeward bound. Somewhere over Spain/Portugal I think.
It was a strange route home we took apparently, to get the best air currents I guess.

Such a fantastic time, and really is just what we needed. I feel much more able to survive winter having been away. Winter always seems so long and harsh, it always gets me down, but since coming back home it seems to have gone by so fast, which is fabulous! Bring on 2012!

I've also realised that I put up too many artistic photos and not enough outfit posts. I've still not comfortably found what Brag Doll is going to be - a mixture of arty things, outfits and general diary goodness I think. I'm a very creative person, and part of that comes out in my photos, so I think it's inevitable that they appear quite often on here. Just need to find a happy balance I think.

What do you think? Should I focus on just one aspect instead of trying to cram too much in? Should I leave each post with only one theme - photography in one, outfit posts in another? It's all very new to me still and I'd really value some feedback or pointers from bloggers that are more established and experienced.

Perfect Day for a Wander.

So it's been a while since the last post. Still got a few holiday poses I'd like to put up, although they are a bit old now. But once they're up I can become a bit more current and start getting into the festive frolics that have been happening recently.


Wow! I can't believe it's almost December already. When these photos were taken Christmas, December and cold weather were so far from our minds, and now it's here. Wowzers! I'm sitting listening to Buble's Christmas album and the songs just don't seem to go with the pictures. Never mind - they will for my next post, I'm excited to get those photos up :)

Beautiful blue water and crisp clear skies. You can see the Island of La Gomera in the distance. The water gets super deep real fast too, see all the sand churned up in the waves.

See how busy the beach gets on a sunny day?! So much pink!

So it was another really gorgeous day - roasting hot! But I had begun to look a little red so decided to cover up for most of the day. The downfall of being very fair skinned and light red hair - I tend to turn red in the sun.... but then when I get home again the red fades to a nice healthy brown, so it's not all crash and burn. It just means that I've got to cover up more often than I would like, especially when it is so hot as that day was.

We decided to venture further afield and walk to the neighbouring tourist town of Las Americas. Lovely walk along the promenade and through the town.

It's Christmas time? Really?

Walking through the town we ended up on the main street of Las Americas which was full of hotels, bars and restaurants. The whole place was full of Christmas decorations too - it just didn't seem to go. Christmas is always associated with cold in my mind, I have no other choice being a Scot I suppose. I've always wanted to go to Oz for Christmas so I guess I have a wee insight as to how it would feel to have it in the heat..... strange and disorientating. Especially when you come across a massive Christmas pine tree alongside the various palm trees.

But round the corner from the big tree we stumbled into a cactus filled crazy golf course.... so decided to use it as another Canarian photo op. Yay!

A prickly backdrop :) It was really nice but very hot in there!

Chillin' by a fountain in the 'Cactus Course'.

Close-up.
Can see my red skin, but my hair looks nice :)

Baggy but cool in the heat. Standing above the water was really cooling too.

I LOVE these shoes. They're the only kind that don't hurt my feet. I have terrible luck with shoes, but these ones have always been faithful. I've had them for years and years.... but they're falling apart. I'm so sad! I've bought a pair that I think are the modern equivalent, but they're not as flexible or comfortable. They seem really heavy too. But for the mean time I shall continue to wear these for as long as they stay alive.

These linen trousers are really comfortable too. I completely forgot I had them, bought them at the end of the summer last year for a very cheap price (bargain, yay!) and put them in my summer drawer. Just as well I had a rummage before we left. Perfect for covering up during the hot days.

Love the background on this one.

 Cardigan: Fashion Union

Top: H&M

Wide Linen Trousers: Tesco

Purple Shoes: Hush Puppies

Saw this thing at the entrance to the 'Cactus Course'. Think it got a little lost on its route.