What I Wore

Studded Lace Top, Topshop  //  Leather Look Shorts, River Island  //  Sunglasses, Zara  //  Ring and Bracelet, Primark  //  Bag and Sandals, Brazil
(Sorry - only the sunglasses are from this year as everything I own is packed away for the move apart from a limited selection!)

Oh hey, hope everyone is having a great week so far. It's been a bit of an eventful one for us, as we moved out of our house on Monday and in with the hubby's parents for the next few days. We're off to stay with his sister and her family this weekend, and then we'll be back here for a few days before we head back to the UK. It's funny, but I didn't feel sad at all when we left our house. Packing was a nightmare, which I suppose did detract from the whole thing - imagine trying to fit the whole of two peoples' lives from the last five years into three suitcases that do not exceed 23kg each!? Not an easy task, I can assure you. To be fair, the hubby was done in a matter of minutes - it was mine that took at least a week of umming and ahhing about which clothes I could part with, and what I could do with the countless books and bags I'd have to leave behind. In the end, the clothes went to a local orphanage, the books to the language school I used to work at, and the bags to a friend. To be honest it was kind of a relief to get rid of them, as I'm looking forward to starting again in a new place, free of junk and clutter. I say that now, but we all know I'll have it full to bursting again before soon.
We haven't got much planned for the next couple of days, as the in-laws are homebodies and like to stay in most of the time. We'll probably be visiting some other family members though (fun fact: the hubby's mother is one of eighteen brothers and sister, while his dad is one of twelve. Can you imagine how many cousins that means!? Not to mention how many years his poor grandmothers had to spend pregnant....), as most of them live in the same town. We're hoping to go to the beach on Saturday with the sister-in-law, her husband and children, so that should be nice - if there's one thing I will miss about this place then it's the sun, although I can assure you that when you live somewhere where it's pushing forty degrees the majority of the time, you do get quite sick of it, just as you do with constant rain and snow! The sun loses its novelty before long, and there actually comes a point where you wish for it to cloud over, just to get a break. If you're on holiday then it's great, but not so much if you have to work.
I'll probably miss my hammock too - I loved lying in it with a good book as the sun was beginning to go down at the weekends, as at that point it was fairly cool and breezy in the winter (hotter than a British summer).
More than anything though, I'm looking forward to getting back to living life in my own language! And being close to my family and friends again, of course, but that goes without saying.
I'll probably pop a slightly more reflective post on my time here up either just before I go or once I'm home, as I think it's something worth addressing. It's changed me in so many ways, and it's been a real learning curve in more ways than I could possibly explain.
For now I'll leave you with my moving day outfit - not very practical, but as I say, our life is now inside three suitcases so there wasn't much to do in the way of heavy lifting!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far.

xx

What I Wore

Shorts, Miss Selfridge  //  Lace-sleeved top, Topshop  //  Clutch, Primark(old)  //  Sandals, bought in Brazil  //  Bracelet, Ebay

Oh hii, thought I'd pop up a bit of an outfit post today. This is photographic evidence of my new peach studded Miss Selfridge shorts' first outing, paired with a white lace-sleeved top from Topshop. I must admit, in retrospect  I'm not all that keen on this combo as I've since found that the shorts look a whole lot better against black, and accessorised with some golden goodness. Not too much though, as I think the stud detailing speaks for itself, and along with the studded sandals there's already a fair bit going on. You'll probably see what I mean soon enough anyway, as it's bound to pop up in another outfit post. Faux pas wearing the same shorts twice in OOTD posts? Oh well, I'm sure we'll all get over it. 

Hooray for it being Friday tomorrow! I don't know about you, but for me today is always the busiest day of the week. As I've mentioned before though, I do get Fridays off, so it's not all bad!

Last night was the hubby's night off from work, and I finish earlier on Wednesdays too, so we decided to have a bit of a film and foodfest at home in the evening. I whipped us up some homemade spicy chicken tacos with guacamole, followed by banana pancakes, as we had a ton of leftover bananas that needed using up quickly (any excuse!). Needless to say, we pretty much ate ourselves into food comas and collapsed in front of The Lovely Bones - a film I have put off watching for the longest time because it's one of my favourite books, and for me, the film adaptations don't usually make the cut. I have to say though, they did a pretty good job with this one, so there was no shouting at the TV as there was when I watched One Day or The Time Traveller's Wife (don't even get me started!). Anyway, it was quite nice to be a bit naughty and treat ourselves food-wise, as we are both healthy eaters the majority of the time. Saying that, I do have a bit of a tough time saying no to chocolate, but don't we all!? ;-)

Hope you all have a lovely end to the week!

xx

Collective Fashion Haul // A Video

Please excuse what a state I look in this video, I'd just got home and found myself alone in the house during daylight hours, so I had to make the most and film in a very short window of time! It also turns out that Revlon Photoready foundation is not actually all that photo ready, as it makes me look SO shiny on camera! I did notice this before with another couple of videos, and made a mental note not to wear it when filming again, but as I said, I was in a bit of a rush this time and didn't think of it!

I won't be doing a post on this haul as I just find clothing a real pain to photograph in all its glory. However you will, I'm sure, be seeing these pieces in upcoming OOTD/outfit posts, so keep an eye out for those.

Until then, I hope you enjoy having a little nose into the contents of my (new) wardrobe, and if you do enjoy this video then please do pop over to my Youtube channel and give it a thumbs up and subscribe. I must admit, I'm feeling a bit disheartened again, as while I know it does take time to build up an audience, and I do make these videos for enjoyment more than anything else as a bit of a side project as well as to compliment my blog, my views have really decreased since I started out with filming, and I'm not really sure why! If anything, I would have thought it would be the opposite, but oh well, such is life.

Anyway, hope everyone has had a good Monday! If you have a Youtube channel then do leave me your link in the comments below, I'm always on the lookout for new ones to have a watch as I seem to get through my feed so fast!

xx

What I Wore

Cullottes, Miss Selfridge  -  Monochrome colour block top, Primark  -  Bracelet, Ebay  -  Sandals, Brazil

Ok, I'm quite sure you're bored of seeing these sandals by now, but I'm not bored of wearing them yet. They are the comfiest pair of shoes I've ever owned, and they go with absolutely everything!

Today, we have just been for a bit of a wander round the shops in town, and had lunch, which in my case was a big chicken and avocado salad - yum! Sadly, I forgot to take a photo of it, which is a shame as I know how you all like to see pictures of food ;) Me too, actually. This afternoon, we're just going to chill out and do a bit of reading and coffee drinking in a coffee shop nearby, which seems to be a bit of a ritual of ours when we are both off work and there's nothing else to do. There's something so nice about sitting quietly, each engrossed in something different, but still together. 

I'm wearing Mac Vegas Volt today, which is by far my favourite lipstick for the warmer months, and I had been looking forward to cracking it open again this year! Now that I have, you can be certain you'll be seeing it on my lips a fair bit. The formula is lovely and moisturising, and doesn't feel heavy at all, which is a huge bonus for when the temperature heats up.

This evening is very much reserved for pampering and blogging, and catching up on the week's Youtube videos, and I can't wait to get all settled and cosy and lose myself in some of this week's posts on my Bloglovin' feed.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

xx

Topshop Baroque Jeans

I was absolutely in love with these jeans when they first came out in Topshop, but was never able to find them in my size, so I have been keeping my eyes peeled for a pair on Ebay ever since. Well, today was my lucky day (but not my bank balance's!), as I finally stumbled upon them in my size and petite length. Yesss.

I was going to wait until they arrived to show you, but I was too excited, and I've come down with a nasty cold today, so I'm snuggled up at home feeling sorry for myself and felt like doing an extra little blog post today. I will, of course pop them in an outfit post or two when they arrive, as it'd be rude not to, really.

I'm now trying to get my thinking cap on about how I'm going to style these babies up. I'm thinking I'll just let them do the talking and pair them with a pair of glads and a plain vest top. I'm still not entirely used to doing pattern on the bottom half rather than the top, so I feel weird seeing my upper body in plain neutrals. But it does mean that I can accessorise with one of my new spike necklaces (also from Ebay!) and some other bits, and I'll definitely be slinging my monochrome blazer on over the top on cooler days and for a bit of evening chic, as I think these jeans will definitely work forboth day and night.

So today was my first foray into scheduled posting, and as far as I knew, my last post on Revlon Photoready Foundation was posted successfully this afternoon. Er, not quite. Only as I was getting ready to post this one did I notice that actually, no, it hadn't been posted at all. The fact that I have been receiving comments on anything but that all day should have rung alarm bells really, but alas, it didn't, so I think I will stick to manual posting from now on! I even checked back to see the date and time I had selected, and everything was in order, so I have absolutely no idea what happened there, all I know is that it was a blogging fail!

Do you have any baroque or bold printed jeans? What do you style them with, and if not, how would you style these?

xx

Friday Favourites

Ahhh, late again with my Friday Favourites! Sorry about that, it seems that as soon as I decided to start doing the series, I suddenly found myself with loads to do on Fridays, and actually, coming towards the end of the week, I have been feeling a bit under the weather too, so that hasn't helped. Just a bit of a cold, but they can make you feel pretty rubbish, can't they?

Anyway, onwards.

This week's Friday Favourites is based upon my favourite finds from the 'New in' sections of the high-street stores' websites. Being the turn of the season, and that time when the shops are jam-packed full of gorgeous, colourful spring/summer attire, there was an absolute shed-load of things that I could have put on here, but I did try to restrain myself and keep calm! I am absolutely adoring all the gorgeous pale pastels and bold tropical prints in stores at the moment, not to mention all the different pieces printed with various little animals, which are just so cute and I could buy them all!

Pleated Scallop Crop Shell Top

£28, Topshop

Folly Metal Chiffon Sandals

£50, Topshop

Skull Wrap Ring

£6.50, Topshop

Lemon Broderie Tie Shirt

£29, Miss Selfridge

Tropical Print Shorts

£40, Oasis

Luminescent Floral Bikini Top

£14, Oasis

Balinese Border Print Maxi Dress

£55. Warehouse

Bonbon Birdie Clutch

£35, Accessorize

Capri Statement Ring

£15, Accessorize

Pearly Tweet Twoo Owl Brooch

£5, Accessorize

Pineapple Fabric Fan

£4.50, Accessorize

My favourite finds have to be the lemon broderie shirt and the bird-print clutch. I've already got the same shirt in white and it is so gorgeous and summery. It looks amazing with the coral crepe shorts featured in last week's Friday Favourites, and with a tan the whole ensemble will look even better.

Sadly, the sandals will probably stay on my favourites list but never be bought,  because despite the fact that I am constantly falling in love with flat shoes and sandals, I never actually buy them, because I know from past experience that I won't wear them! I'm small, and I feel that flats 'cut  off 'my legs and make me look even shorter, so if I do put a pair on, I ALWAYS end up taking them off at the last minute in favour of heels! I feel so much more in proportion with them on.

I am a huge fan of statement jewellery and am always on the lookout for chunky cocktail rings. If they so happen to be animal/insect inspired, then that's even better! Accessorize really do have a gorgeous selection in at the moment, which is no surprise. Every time I go in that shop, there's trouble!! I always see so many things that I want to buy, but I always feel that I have to keep myself under control because there are often cheaper alternatives elsewhere. If, like me, you get bored easily, then it's a good idea to stock up on loads of cheaper bits (charity shops, Primark, H&M...) rather than one or two expensive pieces, or at least, I find this to be the case. But it's definitely nice to sometimes treat myself to some things of higher quality I know will last.

That said, some of the gems you can find in charity shops and at boot sales are amazingly good value and last forever!

Which pieces from the 'New in' sections are you going to be treating yourselves to/admiring from afar this spring/summer?

What is your favourite spring trend?

xx

Dear Santa.....

Now, I don't usually shop at Dorothy Perkins, but I have to say, I am ridiculously in lust with this sequined Peter Pan collar blouse. It's absolutely gorgeous, and would look great this winter with black, high-waisted shorts, black tights and wedge shoe boots during the day, and can also be easily dressed up for night, thanks to the sequin detail. I'd wear it with a pair of black star foil skinnies from Topshop, and some seventies tan, knee-high boots for casual drinks with friends, or go a bit more glam with a high-waisted skirt and chunky, colour-block heels, with a faux fur gilet slung on over the top for extra warmth.

I'm also a little bit in love with a couple of other marvellous finds from Dotty P's, those being this lovely cream batwing jumper, which looks perfect for winter layering, and this dalmatian-print blouse.

I'm a little bit obsessed with blouses at the moment, mainly because I think they give a chic, elegant edge to any outfit, even when paired with slouchy hareems or, again, tucked into high waisted shorts, with a slouch cardigan thrown on over the top.

Actually, I should explain that I have been living abroad for a little while, so that means that I am absolutely raring to get to the shops when I arrive back in England a few days before Christmas. My winter wardrobe is severely lacking at present, and I just cannot wait to fill it up with some gorgeous sheer fabrics, chunky knits and LOTS of new shoes, boots and shoe-boots.  I do hope Santa is feeling generous this year though, because my bank balance is, well...not. As much as I love the sun, I have really missed layering and being able to go mad on accessories. When it's this hot (currently 34 degrees), you just want to be wearing as little as possible, and even then it feels like too much. When I first arrived here, I defiantly soldiered on, continuing to accessorise with waist belts, bracelets....you name it. In fact, I was really stubborn, and refused to let the weather compromise my style! Some time later though, I did have to give in slightly and embrace a more simplistic, 'less is more' way of dressing to get me through those unbearably hot days. But even in these situations, we can still find a way to 'own'whatever outfit we are wearing!