G is for Glamour with Groupon

For anyone who has not yet discovered Groupon, it is well worth checking out. Every day, they offer deals on such things as restaurants, beauty treatments and leisure activities in your chosen city. As much as I love the big discounts, what I really love is the email popping up in my inbox giving me ideas of things to do that I might otherwise never have thought of.

My husband also gets the emails and when he saw a deal on a Boudoir Photography Session, he bought it for me.

When he told me about it, I wasn't sure whether to be excited by the idea or run screaming. It was definitely something well outside of my comfort zone - I am usually the one firmly on the other side of the camera taking the photos!

In the spirit of embracing opportunities, I bought myself some gorgeous new underwear and tried not to dwell too much on the fact that I am 47 years old and have had six children.

We decided to wrap the Boudoir shoot up in our G Alphabet Date (it was purchased from Groupon and it was all about Glamour - perfect).

The day before our date, my husband took care of the kids and cooking the tea while I had as long as I liked to pamper myself with a relaxing soak in our recently mended whirlpool bath (I have really missed those bubbly baths in the years it has been non-functioning because a tiny plastic pipe had slipped off). I  applied numerous lotions and potions, painted my nails and did my hair (by "did" I only mean wash and brush - I am not very good with hair!) I felt great to indulge my girly side.

I got my different sets of underwear ready and packed shoes to complement the different looks.

My husband had presented me with a large gift box tied with an ivory ribbon. I was nervous about opening it because I struggle to ever buy lingerie for myself that fits so how on earth could he possibly succeed. In the past he has bought me clothes that, to my complete surprise, have fit perfectly. This time, his luck had run out. The item he had chosen for me was black, lacy, gorgeous and in my size but looked hideous on. It wasn't just a little bit wrong - it didn't fit anywhere! I felt guilty that his efforts had been wasted and bad that my body was so freakish. However, this was not the time to start being plagued with negative body image thoughts so I did my best to get over it. He had bought me some lovely seamed stockings that would fit fine and saved me a frantic trip out on a  hosiery hunt.

The photo shoot was booked for 10.30am and it was over an hours drive to get there so an early start was necessary to make sure I had time to put my make up on. Despite being bleary eyed, I did enjoy the excuse to get glamorous.

I will write all about the Boudoir shoot in a separate post when I have the photos but for now I will just say that I spent two very interesting hours under the guidance of a lovely lady who put me at ease, shared a joke and certainly seemed to know what she was doing. During this time, my husband was amusing himself nearby getting his car washed, having a haircut and playing a game of snooker. He was ready to pick me up once I was finished.

It might seem a bit odd to go on a 'date' where you spend such a big chunk of time not actually together but it gave us plenty to talk about when we met back up. We drove with the soft top down on the car and the sun shining (that always makes me feel carefree) and stopped for lunch at a country pub. We didn't manage to find a pub that began with G to fit in with the alphabet theme but there was Good food, Good company and a Glass of beer. Who could ask for more?