Vintage Actually: vibrant retro & recycled furniture and homeware

There was a flurry of house-related activity yesterday: we signed all our contracts and my new (old) office desk was delivered.

The contracts have yet to be exchanged, and the desk is yet to be refurbished by our furniture restorer friend, but we're edging ever-closer to the end game.

So much so, in fact, that I have dared to start dreaming-up what other furnishings we'll choose for the house...

Marvellous cream lace maxi dress

As the house buying/selling process grumbles on (still no exchange of contracts in spite of all my best efforts = ie. moaning at people), all I can do (to avoid overdosing on valium) is listen to the new Daft Punk album and dream of one day lounging around in a garden of my own wearing this marvellous, embellished cream lace dress with cap sleeves and tons of beautiful charm...*big sigh*

Miss Selfridge, £49

Images from Miss Selfridge

Doctor Who crazy (and David Tennant/Matt Smith interview)

I'm devoting this post to El who, after turning nine on Thursday, picked up a nasty bug and spent much of Friday night/Saturday morning throwing up in the sink. Nice.

The poor kid was so hot, weak and generally crook yesterday that he missed his beloved Stagecoach session - and we had to cancel the birthday Laser Quest adventure we'd booked for today.

The new X Box 360 he bought with his birthday money certainly softened the blow. And then there was Doctor Who...

Win festival tickets with boohoo.com

I LOVE a good festival - being a birrova 60s/70s nut, that's no surprise.

Oh, to have been at Woodstock, barefoot, flowers in hair, chipping around to hippy sounds and indulging in free love...how cool would that have been?

My own festival-going past has been something of a mixed bag, from a man throwing up on my trainers in the first hour of arriving at the V Festival (I decided at that moment that I would never stay in a tent again) to pogo-ing around in front of the Foo Fighters at Leeds; from having a member of Blur fall into my lap (literally) backstage at Reading to taking El to his first ever festival at the age of three (I can see him now, singing along to Kasabian at the Vieilles Charrues festival in France. He was by far the youngest fan in the 200,000-strong crowd: what an exemplary parent I am).

That's the great thing about a festival - you never know what you're going to get (well, you usually get rain in this country, but let's not dwell on that).

And what has changed massively, in the years since I first went to a festival, is the fashion...

Making money out of moving house

Finally, eight months after our flat went on the market (and they say London is booming), we are discussing an actual date for completion/moving with the Leagle Eagles. Scarily, it's two weeks today.

Contracts are being signed, but not exchanged yet, which isn't doing much for my sensitive complexion. But with only a fortnight to go *furiously touches wood* I am thanking my lucky stars that we decided to get the house sorted weeks ago...