Monday 20 April 2015

A Sunny Cotswolds Outing and a Bit of a Shopping Frenzy.

This gorgeous weather has been hanging around hasn't it? Soo and I were long overdue a get together and we decided an outing was in order.
It was Soo who picked Cirencester from the list of possible options because I have never been any good at making a choice.
It's somewhere neither of us had been before and visiting in the glorious sunshine certainly showed it at it's very best.

The shops are an interesting mix of expensive boutiques, independent, charity, and just a smattering of high street chains.
Indeed many charity shops had 2 branches in what is not a huge town centre. The prices were higher than your average, but then this is an expensive/touristy area.

Cirencester also gave me a few firsts.

One of them being in all my years of chazza shopping, never did I think I would ever find myself singing along to The Sisters of Mercy whist rooting through the rails!!
There was also a woman in the Red Cross shop who was so damn rude we very childishly flicked v's at the shop when we drove past it later. Nothing like being a mature adult hehe.


We had been recommended 'Handmade By Bob' for lunch but it was packed and with a queue so we carried on shopping and stumbled across 'The Cotswold Artisan Coffee Shop' in the Bishops Walk arcade.
What a find! The ciabatta's were delicious, but the star of the show was the chocolate and salted caramel brownies, handmade by the lady who runs the shop with her husband.

Dear.

Lord.

Above.

I don't think I will ever be able to eat another brownie again, nothing could possibly compare to the sheer heaven of this chocolaty caramel filled delight.

I liked Cirencester, and what was really lovely to see was the sheer number of independent shops and things like good old fashioned greengrocers and butchers, this was most definitely not a high street in decline.

On the way home we decided to stop off at Bibury.
Tiny, very beautiful and overrun with tourists!

There was a wee antique shop run by an elderly couple who clearly just buy bits and pieces at jumble sales and flog them to tourists for a decent profit.
Mind when we went in the lady was having kittens at the fact a young German couple were looking at teapots for the girl to use for flower arranging and NOT drinking tea from!?!

So what did I buy on my lovely day out? A couple of floaty tops.

A starfish sunburst brooch.
A cheeky blue cat for a pound.
A lovely patent kelly bag that turned out to be real leather and came up beautifully after a good polish.
and a couple of sale necklaces in Dorothy Perkins £3 each that I couldn't resist.


Ok, ok I know you all really want to know about the shopping frenzy. I've been going a bit mad, I don't really know why but on the whole it's been bargains and I'm pretty darn pleased with my purchases.
There been the nautical


There's another striped top but that is in the wash.

The floral 


The bardot top
Elephants!

and finally this gorgeous waistcoat from Kinky Melon (aka Vix) which I am doing battle with Himself over.
The best bit? Not a single item cost more than £20 and most cost significantly less.




 



 

     


10 comments:

  1. Good picks!! That Bardot top looks so cute! I need those damn brownies in my mouth plzzzz What a good day. What is flipping v's? Is it like flipping a bird?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Haha, I was in a charity shop last Monday that was playing SoM and I commented that I hadn't heard it for ages, and the guy behind the till (who was the right age to have heard about them back in the day) said he'd only just discovered them. Cirencester looks pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I remember going to Cirencester with the Sixth form as part of our A Level Latin studies, there's some amazing mosaics there, aren't there? UIt looks a blinking gorgeous town and even as a non sweet eater those brownies do sound rather good.
    Great purchases, you are on a roll. Did the Sisters of Mercy help with the bargain hunting? xxx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Isn't it nice when you go somewhere for the first time and the weather is so lovely. Cirencester sounds lovely, though I can do without rude charity shop woman.

    I really love the blue nautical top with the anchors on the collar x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Some old friends of mine used to live in Cirencester so I have visited a few times, years ago. Very pretty place, as is Bibury but yes, those chocolate box Cotswolds towns get sooooo busy.
    Lots of great finds, you are the Queen of Shopping! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, bag envy! I've never made it to 'Sooster' (as the locals call it) but really ought to, it looks a very pretty place.

    That elephant dress is SO YOU!

    ReplyDelete
  7. That Red Cross shop always used to have a good book selection! They were always very nice when I was there, so I hope it was just a one-off that the lady was rude to you. I do like Ciren, and I miss it now I'm a bit further away.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Costwolds towns are lovely and it always surprised me how busy they get.
    Look at all your finds...you are on fire. Love the Bardot top and the elephant dress is defo you.
    xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've never been to these places either but fancy a jaunt there after this post of all your lovely finds!! I love the blue dress, and the anchor top, and the glorious bag, and those necklaces are pretty too. I love, love, love seeing other people's charity shop finds! It's so fun.

    x

    ReplyDelete
  10. You were not far from me in Chelters then that day! I'm planning to nip out to Cirencester soon for a quick look around the chazzas. You're right about them being a bit more pricier but I've had some good buys previously - non-vintage though. Did you find the vintage clothing shop 'SheUnique'? Its down an alley from the church. If not, let me know next time you go and I'll point you in the right direction.

    I love your dress with the ships on it, that's really lovely and something that I would wear too.

    ReplyDelete