Monday 2 June 2014

A grand day out


I had another child-free day out at the weekend.

I went to York with my old friend Patsy.
 


Selfies in the Museum Gardens!

My 20+ year friendship with Patsy is very forthright and honest. We have been taken for a lesbian couple on many occasions, which I think is because we do that affectionate bickering and teasing in which couples often engage.
 
And of course we laugh uproariously whenever that happens.
 
 
 
We've been on some great trips together over the years too. These photos are from holidays in the USA (1997) and Greece (1998).

 Saturday's location might not have been quite as far-flung, but York is still a fine place to visit.
 
 

There are beautiful sights and incredible buildings at every turn. 
 









Of course, the Minster is spectacular.


 
We enjoyed strolling the streets along with the many, many tourists, but really, we were on a mission.
 



Did I mention York has a lot of charity shops?

They're a bit pricey though. Out of nine - count them, nine - shops, I only bought one thing, a replacement sequin beret (my old one is getting decidedly ratty and I am thinking ahead to autumn.)

But I promised the nice man in the vintage section of the Sue Ryder shop I'd give them a mention. They have an upstairs room which is just like a vintage shop really, not ridiculously expensive, and very well stocked and displayed.
 






 The nearest I'm ever going to get to a wedding dress!
 
Now Patsy was kind enough to buy me an early birthday present from this shop;
 
 
 
and since I am impatient, I am wearing it today.
 
 
 
 
A delicious 1970s cotton dress in great colours and contrasting prints. I love it. 
 


 
And because Patsy is ridiculously generous, she marched me into Fenwicks to try on bras, and bought me this one. 
 
I do like a decent bra. 
 
I nearly flashed a little boy in the changing rooms, could have scarred him for life.
 


I had a really lovely day.

I was wrapped in a bubble of good humour and affection afterwards, sufficient to allow me to smile indulgently at all the extremely drunk people at York Station when I caught my train home. There had been a race meeting, and there were a lot of very rowdy folk, most of whom seemed to pile on my train. No one was being aggressive, it was all good-natured enough, but it's a good thing that I am not offended by swearing. 

Mind you, I have had previous experience of York station on a race day. I was with the kids, and we watched in amusement when a woman flashed her be-thonged backside at her friends who were on a departing train; in return, one of the women on the train then lifted her top and squashed her bare bosom against the window.

My kids' eyes were out on stalks. Mine too, actually. 

 

 
And I was worried about that little boy in the Fenwicks' changing room; in comparison, I am the epitome of ladylike dignity. 
 
 
 
No. You're mistaken. That's not me.
 
xxx

52 comments:

Fiona said...

I don't know about a lesbian couple, I reckon you two could be mistaken for sisters. York looks a delight, never been there but it looks remarkably like another cathedral city 'darn sarf', Canterbury. That too has a plethora of chazzas, also on the pricey side but one does find top class schmutter. The Sue Ryder shop looks a real Aladdins cave of vintage lovliness. Your new frock (and bra!) rocks and look at you with bare legs and everything...it must be summer. xxxxxx

Fiona said...

First !!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Ooh, I do love York, haven't been in ages! I'm still wearing a t shirt I bought in one of their charity shops 20 years ago! (Is that vintage now then?!) Looks like you had a fab day out too! Love your friend's crocheted top, and your dress is beautiful, that big blousy flower print is so nice. How kind of her to treat you to a dress and a bra for your birthday!

Mrs. D said...

You know, it's situations like that that make the fetishists of tomorrow. Oh dear!
I'm glad you had fun - I've been meaning to visit York for a while now, looking at your photos I am now sure that I will love it!
Loved the charity shop shots, so funny!
Hugs

SAra

freckleface said...

Saucy! I was once mooned by a coach load of men on the motorway. They did it in a Mexican wave! So funny. What a wonderful dress from Patsy! It looks fantastic on you! And cotton too, what a bonus. Do you have any more new dresses that you need to model? ;) Yes, York has a lovely feel to it with all that wonderfully historic architecture and the river. Eagle eyes here has spotted you in jeans! Looking hot hot hot! Thought you said you didn't suit trews? Looks like you might have been mistaken. Get those flares made! Xxxxx

bahnwärterin said...

first - i lovelovelove that dress you´r wearing to york!!
patsy is just lovely, cute smile and style and what a great birthday dress and chic bra.... aaaww - to have a friend like her. it must be ages ago that i had fun with a woman - i´m too strange and weird for most people i guess.
xxxx

bahnwärterin said...

p.s.: york is a beauty - lots of old world charm!
and the shop looks like paradise :-)
xx

Krista said...

I love Patsy's sweater!!!! You two are so cute today and I really dig seeing all the pictures of you guys over the years. This is gonna be me and Cristi :) The dress she bought you is really sweet and another Birthday sneaking up.....cool!

York is where My Dying Bride reside so it has always been on my list of places to see in the UK, thanks for a sneak peak, it's beautiful almost as beautiful as your friendship with Patsy.

Train rides with drunk folk, I even got a taste of that when we were there, but butts smashed on the glass why I just might have joined in:)
LOVE YOU!!!
XXOOOX

Autumn said...

York looks just like England should to me, how lovely.
Looks like a splendid day out, with pretty dresses galore.

Asparagus Pea said...

Girls days out - good for the soul. Laughing and clearing your head of all the daily clutter with people who really get you (and have seen all one's bad behaviour and foibles a million times before). Looks like you had a lovely day xxx

Vix said...

You look so alike, more like sisters than a couple I reckon!
What a fabulous day out.
Love Patsy's jumper, your frock and that gorgeous selfie of the pair of you!
I haven't been to York in years - I don't remember the plethora of chazzas, just the pubs.
Weren't you tempted with the wedding dress?
Love the birthday dress and the snazzy bra, come on give us a flash!
Love you! xxxxxxxxxxxx

at my dressingtable said...

I love the selfies , what a great friendship you have , lovely dress Curtise ! thank you for your comments you leave me xxx.

Mrs Bertimus said...

Love York!
Such fab photos full of friendship and charity shopping joy! X

Unknown said...

Love that birthday dress! That last photo looks like an add for the musical "All That Jazz"! :)

Anonymous said...

Aw, it looks like you and Patsy had, and always have, a total blast. I am so loving the dress she bought you - it's just stunning on! I'm looking forward to exploring all these places when we return to the UK. And I don't mind being called "love" at all now - after yearning for the UK for so long, I'd better not! Xoxo

Jayne H said...

What a lovely, generous friend - a new birthday frock and bra, both gorgeous. Looks like you had a fab day out. xx

Natalia Lialina said...

I can get used to it - first Shawna's strip show, now your coquettish photos of gorgeous bra and AMAZINGLY beautiful body, just look at those legs and the tiny waist! Thank you, and I vote for more of such on your blog! :)

Now serious stuff. She seems such a great loving friend! Thank goodness for such sweet innocent moments of life which we can share with kindred spirits. I don't know why but women's friendship is important. So happy that you have it in your life, Curtise!

The dress is very pretty, and York is beautiful, I would just get lost in these cozy streets for days...

Love xxx

Ivy Black said...

Ha! Don't know about a lesbian couple, you two look like sisters. I bet you do have a scream. York is such a beautiful place. I haven't visited in 20 odd years...gorgeous cities up north there are.
The boys always used to moon at us gals on the school bus after we'd got off! Many a buttock was pressed up against the back window...ah memories.
Love your new birthday frock and I too am waiting for the bra flash.
Love yer bits.
xxxxxxxxxx

Sheila said...

Aw, that sounds like a lovely time indeed! I adore girlfriends that are more like sisters. York looks amazing.

Unknown said...

York York Ball of Chalk as we Yorkies were apt to say in 1980something. I have no idea why, but we did. I had a magical sort of childhood living in York for 15 or so years. A small town is very freeing for young people, everything is within easy reach. We did lots of hanging out in the museum gardens or at the Theatre Royal cafe, or by the riverside. I recently went back for a visit and walked around feeling like one of many ghosts. When the sun is out though, there isn't a more beautiful place... Just don't go there for charity shopping.

Goody said...

Better they learn about boobs in the fitting rooms of Fenwicks than on the streets (or railway platforms).

Suzanne said...

That sounds like quite the party train! Not as much fun when you haven't been partaking in booze though.

What a brilliant birthday gift! Sounds like the perfect girlfriend's day. The bra is sexy.

I think it is hilarious that people thought you were a lesbian couple. A cute lesbian couple. Not a butch lesbian couple. LOL

When I go shopping with my girlfriend (she is 9 years older than me) we often get asked if she is my mother. This makes her feel very angry and me feel very happy. LOL I think it is just because we both have red hair.

bisous
Suzanne

Emma Kate at Paint and Style said...

You make a lovely couple!
Nice to see all the pics of York. I'm blinkered to all the prettiness and history when I'm there on my chazzing missions! I may have stroked your new dress when I was there last week! xxxx

Shawna McComber said...

Of course you are all ladylike dignity! I knew it all along!
Okay, I would have said, no not a couple just sisters and then you got out the wedding dress. Since you got a new outfit-with a bra I am most envious of-I think you shoudl give me the dress you wore that day because I am seriously coveting it. What's that you say? Not my size? Oh darn.
York looks delightful. I am so envious of this European just hop on a train thing. Not to mention the quaintness of these streets and buildings. Here, if you want quaint you have to go off and find some shack in the wilderness and there wont' be any charity shops there!
So glad you had a good time and Patsy looks delightful. She doesn't look a bit old!
;-)
xoxoxo

Melancholy and Menace said...

I've never been to york, but it does look bloody gorgeous. You always post such gorgeous images on your blog. Your friend could be mistaken for a sister as you look so much alike. I think you have the same smile :)

I love that York has so many charity shops. There's a little town near my own that has quite a few, I try to go there every few months for a wander around.

I hope you're having a brilliant week xx

Melancholy and Menace said...

Last!!! (for now)

Patti said...

It's good to expose one's children to the spectrum of human behavior! Love all the pics of you and Patsy, and your day out. You look wonderful together! xoxo

Angels have Red Hair said...

What a gorgeous colourful couple you make ;0)
xx

Forest City Fashionista said...

How important it is to have friends that you can banter with, argue with, laugh and cry with. I'm sure some people think that my friend Heather and I are a couple as we often finish each other's sentences and we hug often.

I love the dress Patsy gave you, and that is a very sassy bra. I'm sure the boy in the change room sustained no damage. They can see bare breasts pretty much anywhere now.

Helga said...

O, jaysus, I REALLY want to visit York! OMG, so much gloriarse history!!! And a pile of chazza shops?! Yes please, even if they are pricey!
YAY for a splendid day out with an old friend!!!You're a pair of BABES! The early birthday frock is gorgeous!!!
Loving YOU and yer BUM!
XXXXXXXXXXX

Pull Your Socks Up! said...

What a fantastic day out with your wife!! I would love to visit the York chazzas, it sounds like they're very well attended by visitors though judging by the steep prices, oh well as long as the money is going back to charity that's the main thing. I love your new frock and what a glorious bra!! The dress fabric details are amazing! Yes, one MUST have good bras, I'm having such a struggle trying to find well-fitting and pretty bras for bargain prices, it seems it is not to be on my current budget. I love seeing pics of you from past shenanigans and goodness I remember the mooning/boobing story very well! I'm sure the boy would be fine if he did indeed cop and eyeful. The trials and tribulations of a boy's life ;) xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Olga Rani said...

How wonderful it is to have a friend like this! Lucky you both! Love your friend's crochet top, very beautiful. And the dress she gifted you is very pretty too, not to mention the bra - what a lovely floral print! I have not been to York yet though some people advised me to go there. Must be on my "to do list" for my next visit to the UK.

Vintage Bird Girl said...

Isn't it lovely to have those friendships that span many years. I love that dress on you, and that bra is spectacular. Will we see you modelling that one??? Xx

Connie said...

That's so sweet that you went wedding dress shopping with your girlfriend. Then she bought you a bra. And you are mistaken for a lesbian couple. Hmm...can't figure that one out. Actually I have a friend like that. But she has never bought me a gorgeous 1970's housewife dress like yours. Your girlfriend is better than my girlfriend.

Anonymous said...

Aren't they the best friendships with your girlfriends the ones we're you're mistaken for lesbians or sisters. This post made me smile and miss my closest girlfriends. You look as though you had a wonderful day and the dress Patsy bought you is gorgeous I love, you look amazing.

Peaches McGinty said...

York is gorgeous! I've been meaning to go there for years - lesbians haha! people say funny things don't they, you two look like great mates, which you clearly are, and what a generous gorgeous friend too! the dress is fabulous! and the bra, so what if you nearly flashed hehe, these things happen in a ladies changing room, your saucy pics are a delight too you gorgeous woman! look at your fabulous legs!!

Miss Magpie said...

Clearly I had a very sheltered upbringing, I don't recall any mooning incidents until I was at college! I agree with every one else you look like sisters.

Unknown said...

Hi Curtise,

Catching up a bit - Your friend looks lovely and very pretty
Old friendships are the best really -
York is fantastic, love what you are showing us - I love it when you show us beautiful England - I'm always amazed on how many many charity shops you have in England -
I read that Vix iq 120 votes ahead, that's great! Hope she wins, she's the best in her class!
How's the kneck? ok now?
Lovely outfits you are wearing
What nice gifts you got from your friend
Lesbians? who cares? Let them talk

Take care

One of those days i will be back blogging full time!

Arianexo

Sue said...

You sure thats not you in the last photos!! Bare boobs on train windows?? OMG!! I love your friends crocheted top, yes I do. Oh and I so love all the photos, of all those fabulous old buildings. And I love your new frock!! We all have a friend that others think is our lesbian partner. Let them think I say!! Love it all!!

mispapelicos said...

Wonderful York pics, and the two of you make me jealous, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

Becky said...

So fun to hang with friends! Your gift of a dress is so so good!!

silvergirl said...

love all of the pictures of the architecture
and your friends top is adorable
Brett

Anonymous said...

My eyes!!!! But I won't be scarred for life by your lovely rear end. Nice to see you again!
True story when I was 18 and worked in a department store there was a young boy whose mother was in the dressing room trying things on and he kept crawling across the floor into the cashier area trying to look up my skirt! I was scarred for a bit I tell you!
Your hair is lookin' so cute too Curtise.

Señora Allnut said...

oh yeah, that's a great day out, your friend looks awesome (love her colorful crochet top!), and you make a fabulous couple so you can take those comments as a compliment!
And York looks like a fabulous place to visit, so beautiful pics!
Obviously love those contrasting prints on your dress, and it fits you like a dream, so cute!!
(and a train stuffed with drunk people can be a neverending source of flashings and shocking anecdotes, oh yes!)
That gorgeous lady in the last pics looks really sassy!!
besos

Unknown said...

Thrilled for you and your day out with a bestie! What a pair of beauties, you and Patsy. Great place to spend the day, just mooching around ... I'm dying here!
You! In trousers ... or jeans, it's not clear which, but what is clear is that you look so great in them. So Emma Peel! Just saying.
No expectations of you suddenly showing up in skinnies, but you'd look good if you did!
I'd think that if you didn't give a second thought to the successful wearing of a nightdress down the high street, you wouldn't quail at a repurposed wedding dress like that one ... I see you in it for a lot of non-matrimonial events!
Such a pretty dress Patsy bought you. She does get you, doesn't she! Lucky you, both of you!

Caroline said...

I love that dress. Gorgeous!

I love a good day out with a girlie friend.

RetroStreetStation said...

such a lovely post :)
Would you like to follow each other on GFC, bloglovin or facebook? It would be great, just let me know :)

Kisses,
Maria
http://retrostreetstation.blogspot.de/

Penny-Rose said...

Curtise you have the most amazing dresses - the one you are wearing with your friend and the one she bought you as a gift. Deep sigh. The lovely photos of York brought back a few fuzzy memories. Nine charity shops in one day! You and Patsy look fabulous and what a wonderful history you have together.

Trees said...

A day out with an old friend really is the best! Also that birthday dress she bought you is so PERFECT! York looks like an incredible place to visit too - take me there sometime? :D

Indigo Violet said...

I've been to York many years ago. Actually some of my ancestors are from Batley in Yorkshire, where they were stonemasons, bricklayers, dyers and weavers. It's a really beautiful place, thanks for the wonderful photos.

Melanie said...

My, York looks pretty! I'm glad you had such a nice time with your friend. And what nice gifts xxx

Melanie said...

My, York looks pretty! I'm glad you had such a nice time with your friend. And what nice gifts xxx