Driving in my car

Since I got my shiny cherry coloured new car, I’ve barely taken it out on the roads. First I had the huge pregnancy bump to contend with, then six weeks post Caesarean where driving was verboten, then after very nervously taking it around the block, I decided to set myself an ambitious walking target every day which meant it sat in the drive as I strolled everywhere.

But now the sun’s no longer shining, I’ve got less motivation to schlep around under an umbrella if I can avoid it. And with the finals of the MAD Blogs on Friday (where I’m up for an award. Did I mention that? I did? OK then…) I needed a new dress.

This wasn’t just a great excuse to go shopping, this is the fact that I still don’t fit back into my dressiest dresses – and the awards ceremony is definitely a dressy dress affair – and as I spent my entire pregnancy in jeans, I was pretty much out of options. Which means a mission to find something… and that meant driving (there are shops in walking distance, but not many were likely to have what I needed).

Luckily, with my mum staying, I had someone to sit in the back and keep an eye on Minnie, as I was worried about her distracting me as I drove. Then I gritted my teeth, discovered that thankfully there was petrol and I didn’t need to negotiate that particular hurdle, and apart from a wobbly moment on one particularly nasty major roundabout nearby, we all made it in one slightly panicked piece. I’ll gloss over the number of times I stalled while trying to park.

I don’t think I’ve ever taken so many lifts before – another new baby lesson as I tried to get around with the buggy – but as well as surviving the single baby changing room in the toilets, accosting another mum at lunch to ask about her baby carrier cover, and feeding Minnie as various shoppers cooed over her, I found a dress.

Breathing/eating may have to be limited but after a depressing few moments trying on options two sizes bigger than normal and finding I still looked like an overstuffed sofa, I feel a bit more yummy and a bit less mummy in this one. Obviously, I want to make an entrance on Friday (ha!) so I’ll be keeping it under wraps (or a cardigan) until then, but I promise pictures before too long.

Image: Cyberesque/Flickr