Summer is on the way and that means a great excuse to dress up #AD

**Posted in collaboration with Very**

When the sun finally makes an appearance, we have to make the most of it, as the Great British weather can be so unpredictable.

Finally, we have started to see better weather, and we all know it isn’t a given that will last. As such, we will be heading into our gardens to give them that much-needed tidy-up ready for family garden parties and BBQs, as we have to get outside as much as we can when the sun decides to put its hat on!

Over the next few months, we will have lots of upcoming occasions that will give us as a family the opportunity to dress up. Although who needs a special occasion to do that – we should all grab the chance to do it whenever we can.

I love being able to ditch my usual jeans, t-shirts, and trainers, which I wear daily for school runs, supermarket shops, and being comfortable while working from home, in exchange for smarter and dressier clothing. Of course, I wouldn’t wear these daily as they aren’t as practical, but I enjoy those special occasions that call for a complete change from the norm.

We have a few special occasions lined up in the next few weeks and months, including my Mum’s retirement party, Harry’s school prom, my great nephew’s christening, family garden parties, and just-because get-togethers. We also have birthdays and anniversaries, Harry leaving primary school, and then going forward, there is my Dad’s 70th birthday early next year and many other events.

Whatever the occasion for dressing up and ditching the jeans and joggers, Very has everyone covered this summer with its summer dress range, which suits everyone. With dresses, teens will love, and their mums will be trying to steal when they aren’t looking; yes, that means I have been trying on Emmy’s new outfits and have even worn them out (there have been so many years where she has stolen my clothing, payback had to come eventually!).

Of course, she also steals my clothes too. But I do not mind; in fact, I now only choose accessories and outfits which she will love as much as I do. Surely, that is one of the joys and pleasures of having a teenage daughter.

We had such a great evening together looking though all of the dresses available on the Very website and picking out some together, of course, with a funny movie on in the background and armed with sweets to keep us fuelled on our sofa shopping evening.

As much as I love a shopping trip, fitting one in around the kids school and after school events can be tricky, so sofa shopping suits me down to the ground, and delivery from Very is also super fast so we didn’t have to wait more than 2 days before we were able to try on all our outfits, Harry included as we couldn’t leave him out as he loves to dress up just as much as Emmy and I do.

With it being half term this week, meant it has given us a chance to ditch the school uniforms, put on our new clothes and spend some time with the family outside enjoying the nicer weather while we have some.

Clothing featured above:

• Blue Floral Mess Wrap Dress
• Black Kiss Cross Sandals 
• Ribbed Mini Dress
• Chino Trousers
• Oxford Shirt
• Trainers

Eating outside and just spending time outside makes us all happy, especially after all the rain we have had recently.

Of course, I had to choose a jacket and a new bag to wear with my new outfits. I have to have somewhere to keep my keys, phone and purse, and of course, once the sun finally goes down, it certainly does get cold.

I chose faux wrap-style dresses for myself as they suit me well. Two of these are short ones, probably shorter than I would wear on their own. However, teamed with leggings or shorts, they are just perfect. This also means Emmy is able to wear them without them being too big on her.

The white denim jacket I chose is just perfect, not only for garden parties but can be worn every day with jeans and a t-shirt or over dresses. Emmy also has her eye on it so I may have to hide it away if I want to wear it myself this summer.

Do you have any weddings, christenings or summer garden parties planned yet?

I can’t wait for the summer holidays so we have more chances to dress up and enjoy the nicer weather (hopefully), but even if it does rain we will still dress up and head outside as much as we can.