What I Wore Wednesday: Cybher

This past weekend I was honoured to be part of the amazing team that put on Cybher, the first all inclusive female blogger event of its kind in the UK. It was a hectic few days but it was an amazing day and I'm really happy with how my two sessions--I ended up running a feminist panel in addition to my Apps presentations--went. The vibe on the day was so positive, inspiring and uplifting and since I am the one reading the evaluation results I know I was not alone in feeling that way :)


So here is what I wore to the most stylish blogger event of the year:

Grey Dress- Cynthia Rowley

Black Cropped Blazer- HM

CybherUK necklace- My Name Necklace

Silver and Pink Fiji Bracelet- Monica Vinader

Black Hoop Earrings-Walmart

Patent Leather Black Dr Martens Heels
Platinum Black Nails-Sally Hansen

What didn't I tell you I'm the new Edie? What do you mean Desperate Housewives is cancelled? Aw crap.  Don't worry I'm not delusional, well not totally; one of the stands had this super cool green screen where you could whisk yourself to Wisteria Lane. Pretty cool right?


In the end I didn't end up wearing my skull bracelet because my good friend, and Cybher founder, Siân gave the team these amazing Fiji Friendship bracelets--in Cybher her pink natch. Since I'd been sick the week before I didn't think I could wear heels all day so Siân loaned me her kick ass Doc boots, too. 


I found this Cynthia Rowley dress at TK Maxx the day before I got sick and really loved it. It has pockets (something I really love in a dress right now) and you can't tell but a really cute zipper up the back which at least in the UK is bang on trend. It was more than comfortable to run around in all day and I think it looked professional yet stylish.


I have to give a big shout out to my Apps co-presenter Biba who was didn't just do an amazing job for a 10 year old but did an amazing job full stop. Huge thanks to Cat and Lori for stepping in last minute to sit on the feminist panel with me and MASSIVE congratulations to the rest of the team Claire, Erica and of course the maven behind the madness Siân. Thank you for believing in me and believing in Cybher. 

What I Wore Wednesday: What Should I Wear?

So here's the craic, I'm sick. I caught Blondie Boy's crud and my American immune system doesn't handle European bugs that great so it's resulted in me being on antibiotics and well basically looking like a hot mess. So there is no what I wore this week because I've not left my bed--and my hair would scare you.


What I do need is y'all's help. This Saturday is Cybher and I'm crazy honoured to be speaking.  The thing is I don't know what I'm going to wear; I got two dresses but I'm just not that sure about them. I know I want to wear a skull bracelet I bought in Mallorca but that is it and I kinda need a bit more coverage.


So be my stylist---please! What would you pair this bracelet with for my speaking engagement?

I have the hot pink rope and purple skullie (I think, I'm too tired to go dig it out of my suitcase--don't judge me for not unpacking) by Amima. I found it in a wee jewellery shop in Palma and it turns out Amima are a Mallorcan jewellery company so how cool is that? It also seems I've made a bit of a trend of buying skull accessories while on holiday so we'll have to see if I can keep it up!


So what would you pair this bracelet with? Bonus points for links!

What I Wore Wednesday: Mallorca

I don't think I mentioned it here but last weekend I took a mini-break to Mallorca for some sun and relaxation. For those who don't know Mallorca (also called Majorca-the spelling I defer to is the Catalan while the one here is Spanish) is the largest of a group of islands called the Balearics off the east coast of Spain in the Mediterranean sea.

I got mega-crazy cheap flights as well as an amazing deal at the Barceló hotel in Cala Viñas which is a really beautiful and quiet part of the island. It is close enough to "livlier" areas if you are down for that sort of thing and only 20 minutes from Palma and 25 from Palma airport-- hiring a car again was mega cheap.

I usually don't like going back to the same place twice but I'd really love to go back with NotBlondeHusband and Blondie Boy. It is only a 2 1/2 hour flight or so from Glasgow so it really is an ideal short-haul journey. That being said the lost cost airline I took out was a freaking nightmare--not because of the staff, but because of the other passengers; that is another story for another time.

I refuse to pay the crazy prices low-cost airlines charge for checked luggage so I had to limit what I brought with me. Here is what I wore on my mini-break to Mallorca:

Flying Out: Note to self- White Top and Black Cardigan makes my boobs look even more ginourmous than normal-- avoid! I always like to wear layers on flights because planes almost always end up cold when in the  air. I ended up losing the scarf and sweater when we landed as I was roasting even though it was 9pm!

Skull Scarf- Chelsea

White Top- Dunnes

Black Oversized Collar Cardigan- Banana Republic

The Flirt Jeans-Old Navy

New Balance Gym Shoes-Zappos

Site seeing around Palma: I went with a tank top and jeans. I was tempted to wear a sundress but I just thought I'd be more comfortable in jeans and I was right. It was a little hot but not sweaty hot and as there are lots of winding streets it was cooler in the shade walking around.

Aviators-  Supermercado Jañez SL  
(that's basically the 7-11 next to the hotel)

Pink Shell Top- Land's End

The Flirt Jeans-Old Navy

Purple Old Navy Flip Flops

Chilling on the Beach: My mother-in-law brought me back this sundress back from her honeymoon in Florida and it made the perfect beach cover-up since it also didn't look out of place sitting at the beach bar having a daiquiri either! I'd normally never pick orange for myself so I was pleasantly surprised that it worked!

Aviators-  Supermercado Jañez SL

Black Swimsuit- BhS 

Orange Sundress-Calvin Klein

Purple Old Navy Flip Flops

Dinner: I busted out my favourite maxi dress for dinner and made the most of the sea air (with the help of my curling wand) and went for beach waves with my hair. Can you tell I liked this bridge between the building my room was in and the one the restaurant was in for photos?

Black Feather Earrings-Monsoon
Black Bag- Coach
Multi Coloured Maxi Dress- Barbara Hulanicki for George

Purple Flips Flops-Old Navy


What kind of wardrobe do you take with you on vacation? Do you have any tips or tricks when dealing with limited luggage allowance?

What I Wore Wednesday: NotBlondeHusband's birthday

Last week was NotBlondeHusband's birthday! The lucky birthday boy got two dinners out but I of course forgot to take a picture on his first night but I did manage to get him to take a photo on his actual birthday before we went to Scott's in Troon. If you've not been before and you are in Ayrshire I totally recommend it as it has amazing views of the harbour.

I'm still in a bit of a funk so I focused more on my hair than anything else and attempted to try and make it something other than just straight and hanging there. The last time I used my curling tong I gave myself a nasty burn on my eyebrow so I'm pretty happy I ended up with sorta cute hair and no major injuries this time!

Ruffled Black Top- HM
The Flirt Jeans-Old Navy
Swarovski Tennis Bracelet
Black Sparkly Flats-Chinese Laundry

I've always really liked Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt's hair where it is loosely curled at the ends so this is my vague attempt at that. Not perfect but not that bad!  I normally complain that NBH will only take one photo of me each week; well this week he went all paparazzi on me and the result is what you see below.

We had a really nice dinner out (a new Cars magazine, colour changing Ramón and iPhone apps thanks for entertaining Blondie Boy) and the birthday boy was even treated to a sparkling fountain in his Baked Alaska! I'm not sure which boy enjoyed it most!

Frankie & Benny's New Menu

I used to hold a major grudge against Frankie and Benny's after I had a bad experience at one at Stansted airport. I would straight up refuse to go there but now that we live less than two minutes from one I've let go of my grudge. The food has gotten a lot better and their new menu is no exception.

We went to check out the new menu a few weeks ago; the first thing you have to know is the portions are INSANE. Frankie and Benny's isn't actually an American restaurant (my MIL very sweetly took my Mom there after Blondie Boy was home because she thought she'd know it and was a bit embarrassed to learn it doesn't exist in the US) but the portions are giant American sized. NotBlondeHusband and I both had starters but we could easily have split one as neither of us finished our meals.  So what did we have:

Starters:

Breadsticks and Cheese Dip

Calamari

We'd had the breadsticks before and they did not disappoint. We tend to get them because we know Blondie Boy can munch on them too since they are egg-free. I was really impressed with the calamari; it is really easy to mess up but this was light and fresh.

Mains:

Kid's Margherita Pizza

Chicken & Prawn Alfredo

Double Philly Stack

Bacon Cheese Fries

Blondie Boy's main actually came out with our starters which from a Mom point of view is great. It means he can take his time (as toddlers do) and doesn't get frustrated that we are eating and he is not. The kid's pizza was huge; two children could easily split it.

Alfredo is my favourite pasta sauce and you don't really get it in the UK. While this version was not the sauce I was expecting it was still good and I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of prawns and chicken in the dish.

NotBlondeHusband isn't exactly a small guy and he could not finish his burger but really enjoyed what he could manage. It was huge as well! I think if we both knew how big portions were we'd have split or skipped starters all together.

I'm a glutton for punishment and fell for the card on the table advertising the new cheese fries-- I freaking love cheese fries (not the same as chips and cheese) and you don't really see them in the UK. They did not disappoint and the crispy bits of bacon were a nice touch; I really wish there had been ranch dressing to dip them in to complete the Americaness.

Dessert:

Vanilla Ice Cream

NBH and I had no room for dessert but Blondie Boy's kid's meal included dessert so we decided to let him have a treat and try some ice-cream.  Frankie and Benny's passed the allergy test and the waiter brought me out the tub of ice cream to read the ingredients to double check there wasn't any egg in it. I'm always happy when servers go that extra bit to make sure something is egg-free.  He LOVED the treat and got a little bag of buttons we took home for later.

Frankie and Benny's menu has something for everyone and great value for money when it comes to portion sizes. Right now you can get £10 off the new menu with this voucher when you buy two or main courses! 

Transatlantic Blonde were provided vouchers for our meal but the opinions are our own.

I Hate Captcha aka 1-2-3 Tutorial to Turn Captcha Off

I always make a concerted effort to comment on every post that links up to What I Wore each week. I love doing it but I hate, hate, HATE Captcha. What's Captcha? It is that pain in the arse word verification thingy that is meant to stop spammers but really just annoys the shit out of everyone. 


Captcha is now on as default on new Blogger/Blogspot so a lot of bloggers don't even know they have it turned on or that it is annoying everyone (who does it not annoy?).


So here my friends is the world's easiest tutorial on how to turn word verification off on your Blogger/Blogspot Blog. Three Simple Steps:

Click to enlarge

1) Go to Posts & Comments under Settings on your Blogger/Blogspot Dashboard
2) Choose "No" under Show Word Verification
3) Save Settings


See? It was easy right? Barely qualifies as a tutorial :)


So make it easier for your readers to comment on your blog and please turn off word verification. Blogger already streams off spam comments for captcha really doesn't' do anything other than annoy us all. Pinky swear!

What I Wore Wednesday

If you read my 3 F's post it won't come as a shock to you that I don't have a photo of anything I wore this past week. Yesterday I wore my size bigger jeans and a man's sweater (too small for NBH but too big on me)--it's been dire y'all. I'm currently sitting with shampoo and Vitamin-C concoction to strip my hair so no last minute photo in that.


So this week here here is me from the MAD Blog Awards last year. Y'all were nice enough to nominate me last year and I had a great time attending the awards and rocking this amazing outfit from John Lewis.


If you like my blog and feel so obliged you can nominate it or any other eligible UK parenting blog until 5pm Friday; just enter
http://transatlanticblonde.blogspot.com in whatever category you choose. There are lots of categories to choose from but you do not have to nominate in them all. I'll leave it up to you to decide where I fit!

Black Feather earrings- Monsoon

Black Leather Biker Jacket- Oasis (John Lewis concession)

Purple Leopard Print Rachel Dress- Coast (John Lewis concession)

Black Diamante Shoes- J by Jasper Conran