christmas '12

This is what Christmas looks like in our household - unfortunately it was a rather subdued affair this year, though we tried our best to keep our spirits up, it's hard sometimes when a loved one is quite ill. My grandma was taken into hospital a couple of days before Christmas and is still there, so none of us were really in the Christmas spirit. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank-you to anyone who sent me nice messages on Twitter, there were a few of you who cheered me up quite a lot, so thank you, you are very lovely. 

Maybe I'll post a few pictures later in the week and show you what I've been up to since and what I received in the way of gifts, but I have so much work to do and have managed to avoid it all spectacularly over Christmas - which just sucks haha. It's probably a good thing that I have zero New Years' Eve plans apart from working, so I crack on with it without a hangover! 

I hope you all had a good Christmas, and it was much more enjoyable than mine. Best wishes for 2013!

frosty (the snowman)

Wow, I haven't posted in months! The other day I was catching up on some blogs and I realised I really missed blogging - university has very much taken over, and I assume the hectic pace and stress will resume in the New Year.. Anyway, I'm sat here on Christmas Eve, painting my nails a sparkly Christmas red in preparation for tomorrow and I thought I would take a minute to catch up with you guys! As you probably know it's been raining like mad the last week, but these photos are from a few days ago when it was all beautiful and frosty outside - I went for a little walk around the local park and it was so beautiful - they seemed appropriately Christmassy! Anyway, I just wanted to wish you all a happy christmas and I hope you're all spending it with your family and friends. 

Happy Christmas!

beachy times

Two or three weekends ago I was victim of a vicious assault... well, I fell over when I was drunk. I did my ankle in pretty badly, and it's kind of insulting that I wasn't even wearing heels. Anyway, feeling quite sorry for myself, I phoned my dad and he lovingly came and picked me up and took me home, I couldn't even drive myself! I felt pretty sorry for myself. Me and my mother were supposed to go out to Brighton for the day, but as I could barely walk, my dad offered to take us somewhere. I had this urge to go to the coast, so my dad drove us to Hayling Island and it was such beautiful weather, perfect for sitting in the sun with a jumper and scarf. Me and my mum had a little wander along the sand, and then sat and ate our lunch whilst looking for shells and pretty rocks. I ended up filling a jar with lovely coloured stones, and it made me feel so much better. I've been feeling pretty stressed with a lot of things recently, and looking at pictures and memories like these makes me a lot happier, so I thought I would share them here to maybe cheer up someone else. 

I know I'm still quite absent, but some changes have happened that I know I'll need to get used too, and trying to do all this with uni stress bearing down is challenging, but I'm doing alright. I've started to lose a few followers in my absence, but I hope a few of you loyal ones will stick with me until I'm back to normal! 

busy bee lifestyle

Firstly, I have to apologise for a distinct lack of posts this last week (apart from a sneaky scheduled one I did weeks ago and forgot all about!). I got really into blogging this summer - and really got out of doing work. Unfortunately, uni started again with a bit of a crash down to earth and it kind of hit me how much work I'll be doing this year! On a terrified scale of 1-10, I'm comfortable sitting around an eight or nine, with tens in the not so distant future. 

This is my roundabout way of saying that I won't be around too much in the coming weeks, particularly around dreaded hand-ins and dissertation deadlines, but I'll still try and post when I can - mostly when I feel inspired to at the weekends and such, but much less frequently than I have been this summer. Sometimes getting out of my uni-town and doing unexpected things is really lovely, and I think this blog will be a bit of a welcome relief, like a day trip or a sneaky dinner and a film. 

I hope you are all well, and I'll still be updating you with whiny, pathetic tweets over at my twitter, don't you worry! I'll also be updating my website with my current work, so feel free to check this out if that's your thing. 

Goodbye for now, but not for long.. 

(The picture above really has nothing to do with this post, unless you can think of some kind of metaphor for my university career and the open ocean... I can't right now. Answers on a postcard, etc.)

origins eye doctor review

Origins Eye Doctor, £26

I bought this a while back, and I had been meaning to do a review on it for about as long.. It was only when I started preparing the review-post for its replacement that I felt I should give you my opinion on this little pot!
I got this around my birthday.. basically I hit 22 and felt like I should be using an eye-cream. Sort of like a mid-early-twenties crisis, if you will. Or something like that. Anyway, I wanted to start using something on my eyes because even though I wasn't getting lines, per se, the skin around my eyes was starting to feel quite tired and not as 'fresh' when I woke up in the mornings. So I thought I would invest in this.
My initial impressions were good, it smells lovely. Like cucumbers or avocados? It's very soothing, and if you keep it somewhere cool, it's so refreshing on tired eyes. It's a nice, creamy consistency. Not too runny, not too thick. Nice to pat into the eyes and then let sink-ink, but not for too long. However, after using it for a little while, I felt like it wasn't doing that much to my skin. Then it ran out and I got another one, and realised just how much I loved it - you don't know what you got until it's gone could not be a more apt phrase!

Price: 2/5 - It is expensive for what it is! However, I get a sneaky £6.50 in John Lewis, so I can't complain too much!
Packaging: 5/5 - I really love the little blue pot.
Product: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
Would I repurchase this product?: Yes, yes, yes. 

What do you think of Origins eye-creams, have you tried them? Have you hit a mid-early-twenties crisis or are you still young and fresh-faced?!

weekend wanderings #11

(images from witandwhistle.com, theclotheshorse.com and spoon-tamago.com)

• This amazing 'fish-tail braid' manicure from lucystash.com just looks so pretty! It's definitely helpful to have that step-by-step tutorial and it would look really cute in varying shades of the same colour, like a matte, glossy and glitter - I really want to try it. 
• I was feeling a little bit delicate and sad this week, and I saw this post and whilst I'm not saying I cried, I definitely got a bit teary-eyed. The story is about a dog that has stayed at his owners graveside for six years and there are pictures and oh gosh. 
• I follow a lot of architecture/interior-design blogs (and even run one!) and sometimes I see a house and I stop everything and it makes me want to go live in the wilderness in a giant glass box and become one with nature.. ahem. But basically, this house makes me want to do this, it's stunning. The post talks about "rooms that follow the landscape" and that is completely what I am into, I adore it. Houses that are built and orientated around the world are my favourites, and I think thats how housing should be.
• These photos of teddy girls over at The Clothes Horse are really amazing. They remind me my mums amazing photo albums of my gran and her sisters in their outfits from this age, even though they were older, I really think they're amazing.
• I've posted before about DIY glass votives, but this post at Wit & Whistle (a lovely blog!) tells you how to make little soy-wax candles in vintage tins, which are absolutely gorgeous. I think it's mostly down to the beautiful little tins more than anything, but my mum uses a similar method to make candles in tea-cups and it's really cute.
• My current love is Minnamayblog.com - Minna's photography is stunning, and I love the simple elegance to her posts, everything is clean lines and pretty photos, I really love it. She also sells beautiful jewellery over on Etsy which I want to own (all of it), and it's everything I wish my blog was! #cheese

fake outfit v2

Blue Geometric Patterned Dress, £19.99, New Look

Another cheating-ootd, I couldn't be bothered to set my camera up all properly, as I was running late, so I just snapped a few pictures in my mirror! My brother recently passed his exams and got into uni (Cardiff, to do Maths!) so we went out for dinner as a sort of celebratory thing, also because my older brother wouldn't be able to see him before he went off to uni, due to work and such. 

I wasn't originally planning on getting anything special to wear, figuring I would just dig something out of my wardrobe, but I went shopping that day with my friend Gemma, and saw this dress. I was drawn to the print, immediately - I love a good print, especially anything geometric. And you can't see them (because I stupidly threw a cardigan on) but it has adorable little puffy cap-sleeves, which are really sweet. The elasticated waist is not my favourite, I'll admit, but it does sort of suck me in!

Also, because I'll probably get asked, my lipstick is Dior's Dolce Vita Red (which may be overtaking Russian Red as my favourite mid-tone red.. I have a serious problem, I'm willing to admit that).

weekend wanderings #10

(images from theatlantic.com, shelllipbalm.co.uk, and riflepaperco.com)

• I find things like this pretty cool, for example, I adored the old Olympic posters they dug out for the 2012 Olympics, I found some on birthday/greetings cards in Harrods and I really liked them. Anyway, 100 Ideas that changed Graphic Design have some awesome vintage posters and design things that I think you guys will like.
• I start back at uni next week. Well, sort of. Classes don't start for a bit but basically I'm back! I saw these beautiful gold foil notebooks somewhere around the internet (I can't remember where, I'm sorry!) but I immediately fell in love with them. I couldn't get them though, I tend to destroy all my notebooks by spilling ink on them or letting that banana at the bottom of my back rot all over it...
• Whilst I don't find this particularly useful, I thought this would be a great thing for fashion bloggers - if you don't want to have a boring white wall behind you - this blog at Pugly Pixel shows you how to replace it with a pretty pattern.
• These lipbalms in a shell were featured over on Pixiwoo's blog and oh gosh, I really just want one. I know a friend or two that would love them too, so I'm thinking it might be a sneaky Christmas present for all of us! They're a little pricey for lipbalm, because of the shell I guess, hence them being a present I think.
• Is it winter yet? God, I hope so. Here's a list of 50 Things to do before Winter Ends that I saw linked over at Rachel Phipps' blog, and I love it! I've even started a few of them..
• My favourite blog this week is a both a blogger and a youtuber: ChelseaWears. I discovered her Youtube first but her blog is just as good as her videos! She has a really awesome sense of humour and personality and I like that she doesn't seem to take make-up too seriously, because lets face it, it's not! I also adore her sense of style, it's what I wish I looked like.. sigh. See here, here, and here. She also loves bright lipsticks, which makes her cool in my book.

very merry berry picking

I had some other blog posts lined up for this week.. but they have been shunted in favour of these photos! As I went back to uni this week, me and my mum decided to have a few afternoons together before I left, and we decided to go for a walk and see if we could find any sloes and blackberries. We used to go blackberry picking every year when I was little, but we've stopped as we got older, but it's a memory I will always hold onto, just because it's one of those weird, idyllic memories of eating all the blackberries from my mum and dad's pots..

Anyway, we did not find any sloes, unfortunately. I really wanted to make some sloe gin, sadly that will have to wait a couple of weeks because they weren't ripe. Anyway, we did find an awful lot of blackberries, enough to make two big blackberry pies, at least, even though I dropped about half a pot at one point... I took a bunch of photos, because, hey, that's what I do, there are few more but I think I'll save them for a rainy day. The top photos are elderflower berries, so you need to look out for these if you want to get the flowers to make elderflower cordial and such, I thought they looked pretty, though.

And yes, I did eat most of them whilst we were picking them, to my mum's annoyance, hence the stained hands..!

Have you ever done this, or do you grow any of your own fruit? I joked on twitter that I'm turning into a middle-aged woman, because I came home, cooked dinner with my mum and sat on the sofa to do some knitting afterwards... I'm basically dead. 

(The post title is awful, I can't even judge whats good anymore.)

packing woes

I'm not doing one of those 'what you'll need at uni' posts because well.. I would have a list as long as me - and I'm a tall girl. I'm also not one of those people that jets off on three holidays every summer, and then once or twice every term, and have only been abroad three times in my life, so I can't pack. 

Because I live very close to my uni (about a half hour drive, if that) I made the mistake last year of going "Well, I can just drive home and get anything I've forgotten." Cue me going home every weekend for at least 2 months to bring things I forgot! Not to mention get more jumpers, scarves and hats when it got cold. So I'm trying to be more efficient this year! But that involves me just taking everything. 

So far I have a suitcase full of clothes, and I haven't even put underwear in yet, except for the odd bra. A huge Ikea bag just for jumpers.. I can't even justify this in my head, let alone on paper. Anyway, I thought you might like to hear some of what I'm taking, so clothing wise, here's a run down of things:

• At least 7 jumpers. The studios can get cold!
• Lots of underwear, I hate washing it!
• One going-out dress - I so very rarely go out so it's not necessary to take more.
• Lots of leggings and tights, one pair of thick leggings, one pair of trousers, one pair of jeans.
• 4 pairs of boots, including two old scabby ones for when I'm printing/in the studio, one nice pair, one everyday pair.
• 3 pairs of hand-knitted (by myself and mama) of big woolly socks for around the house and inside boots.
• In the way of cardigans/jackets, I'm taking 2 black cardigans, 1 thick flannel shirt and 1 shirt each of cotton, linen and corduroy.
• 3 skirts, one red knit, one white knit, and one pleated grey one.
• A few simple, plain coloured skater dresses, vest dresses and basic tops from H&M for everyday wear/wearing with skirts. Also those £2 Primark vests are great for layering on hot or cold days.

Phew. It sounds like a lot but I really hate washing, and there isn't a great deal of space to air-dry clothes in our house, and we don't have a tumble-dryer. Also, I'm indecisive. 

Other things I'm taking (this is obviously tailored for an art-student, bear that in mind):

• A couple of new sketchbooks.
• A big back of ~art materials~ including a red box filled entirely with pencils. Not even colour pencils, sigh.
• Clothes-peg thing, the only way to dry socks and underwear in my house.
• Candles, even though we're not technically allowed to have them.
• A few books (I need to not let myself get drawn into ASOIAF until my dissertation is handed in!).
• Lots of DVD's for relaxing and gorging myself on, also we don't have a TV.
• 3 big ringbinders - I'm sure I will need them..
• A couple of new mugs, you can never have too many!
• A hot-water bottle.

There are probably more things but this post is so long already so I'll stop here. Are you returning to uni this year, or just starting out? There are lots of more informative posts out there on the useful things, like pots and pans and plasters and fancy-dress.. I'm not so helpful. (: 

Anyway, I have a dentist appointment this morning and then I'm dragging all of this back to my house at uni, sigh, so I better go!

illamasqua rare nail polish review

Illamasqua Nail Polish in Rare, £13.50

Rare has been sitting in my nail-polish collection for a little while now, and it has a very special place as my new-favourite-neon. Every time I would go to Illamasqua I would admire this lovingly, then always thought better of it, because neons often have a shitty formula, and I didn't want to be disappointed in spending so much money on it and hating it. 

However, I am pleased to say that it is actually one of the best neons I have tried, although it is not fault-free. It's still a little bit streaky if you're not careful, though it has a nicer creamier formula compared with the likes of China Glaze and such, which are much thinner. I still like at least two-coats, though, but it's still amazing. Also, it's proper, beautiful highlighter, blinding neon yellow... and it's this that I love about it. 

I generally just rate Illamasqua polishes, and I think they're amazingly affordable. I know there are a few readers that probably look at me like I'm mad - £13.50 is still expensive, but it's not really on par with Chanel's £18.50. I like the simple design of the bottle too, and they used to have the two-part cap which I loved, it gave you a lot more precision, but I think they might have stopped that now.

Price: 5/5
Packaging: 4/5
Colour: 5/5
Formula: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
Would I buy again?: Yup.. I want the green neon..

weekend wanderings #9

(images from abeautifulmess.com, thelifestyledblog.com and foxtailandfern.com)

• I'm putting my favourite blog first this week, because I love it so much, I don't want it to be a last-minute read! It is Jazzy's blog, Hivenn. Her blog is full of her beautiful photography (and it is gorgeous) and if you ever talk to her on twitter or instagram (something I seem to do a lot) you'll see she's very funny and lovely (and shares my love of Suits!). Gushing over, but her blog is great and you should check it out.
• Burning Man has always sounded insane, to me. Butttt something about it being in the desert and the, obviously, burning of things sounds kind apealing to me at the same time? I don't really know anything about it, though, but seeing these photos from it are crazy! Particularly the aerial shots and you can see the crazy scale of it all, and the weirdly perfect radius around the central point. I kind of want to go even more, now!
• It feels like I haven't gone out for a good drink in a long time. And, not that I'm an alcoholic or anything, but sometimes you just need to let your hair down. Most of my friends, and myself, have worked like mad this summer so there hasn't been much time for socialising. Anyway, when I saw this recipe for Moscow Mules on thelifestyledblog.com I really just wanted cocktails. All the cocktails. Anything green and spicy and limy.. I want it! Preferably in those beautiful glasses.
• These home-made photo-filters at abeautifulmess.com are one of those DIY's I see, and I know for sure I'm going to try out. They look so easy, how could I not? I hope they give as beautiful an effect as their photos.
• I love doorsixteen.com, and I love photos of beautiful, unaffordable houses that I can live vicariously through. When I saw that she was doing a new feature, Yeah I could Live There, I knew I'd be hanging on every word.
• I saw these photos of Baddesley Clinton from Foxtail & Fern (one of my ultimate favourite blogs!) a little while ago on my dashboard, but I recently went to Hever Castle and it reminded me of these pictures, so I hunted them down to have a look, and now I just really want to go there. It looks so picture-perfect.

a world of birds v2

A few years ago I took a trip to Birdworld, and I really loved it (I used to go when I was little, but hadn't been in a long time!), it cheers me up no end to see all the birds and make friends with them. Recently my friend broke up with her boyfriend, and I thought a little day out would make her feel a bit better. We had been planning to go for a while but I think the trip came just at the right time! It was a sunny day, we took some sandwiches and had a nice gossip and I hope she felt a bit better at the end anyway! I thought I would show you some of the pictures I took, because I really do adore birdy-friends, and I thought you guys would, too. How cute are the penguins at the Macaws? They were so sweet!

illusion delusion

I wanted to do a weekend wanderings post today, but I am afraid I am simply too exhausted and I work all day tomorrow, so there won't be one today! Apologies. I went for a little day trip and I'm just really sleepy now, so look out for a bumper edition next week! I really enjoy the weekend posts, and I think they will become more frequent as uni starts up again. I don't think I'll be able to keep up a steady rate of posts once third-year is upon me!

Anyway these pictures have been sitting on my desktop for a while, and I thought I would show you them as a little ~filler~ post when I'm too tired to take photos!  I bought this on a whim a little while ago, and it was genuinely a complete luxury purchase, and at the time I really needed that little treat. I kept picking this up and looking at it as I passed through John Lewis and it was so shiny and so beautiful.. I just had too! It's one of the Chanel Illusion d'Ombre cream eyeshadows, in the shade  Mirafique. I have some high-quality photos which I'll post next week or something, but I wore it out last night, with bright orange-red lipstick (so pretty), and I remembered that I hadn't posted about it. 

What are you up to this weekend? I'm currently watching the X Factor, even though I hate it, the remote control is allllll the way on the opposite side of the room. That is a good three metres and I'm exhausted! Haha. Hope you're all having a nice evening!

weekend wanderings #8

(images from roostblog.com, sfgirlbybay.com, and witandwhistle.com)

• Six-year-old judging books by their covers. Does exactly what it says on the tin, but it's amazing!  I also really like looking at the different covers. 
• One of my favourite bloggers, Rachel Phipps, posted a couple of weeks ago about making these great Innocent Smoothie ice-lollies. I used to love experimenting with ice-lolly moulds when I was little, I'm so tempted to dig mine out and give them ago. I feel like the Americans have some amazing 'popsicle' recipes out there (like these watermelon mojito ones over at Roost) that are just begging me to try them out!
• I've posted a lot of things from the sfgirlbybay.com blog (because I adore it!) but she posts houses and interiors that are my style, right down the plant-pots and cushions. I adore her taste and her eye for detail as well, I don't know where she finds the beautiful images, but each of them make me want to scream. I adore succulents in teeny plantpots, giant windows, sixties dressers, huge pot plants, amazing prints on the walls.. ugh, can I have my own house already?!
• Getting over it is something I need to start grappling with. I am fed up of not feeling confident in my abilities! There is a similar article to overcoming self-doubt at Uncluttered White Spaces.
• Some more interior-decorating for you, but how about a sweet window-art DIY for your consideration? This looks amazing, and all you need is a chalk marker! I have a huge window at uni, I'm definitely going to give this a go.. 
• Amanda over at makingniceinthemidwest.com has such an adorable blog, I can't believe it's taken me this long to post about her! She has amazing posts about clothes and crafts, and lots of tutorials for DIY's. My favourite's though are her Movie Monday posts, where she shares synopses of vintage movies accompanied with beautiful screen-shots. Really perfect for Monday's! 

easy portuguese tarts

The other week me and my mum were eating Portuguese tarts in Cafe Nero and we thought that we should be able to make some. Cue us googling recipes on her iPad.. and we found this recipe which is apparently Bill Grangers, but we kind of adapted it to suit us because we were in a bit of a rush! My brother and his girlfriend were coming to stay, and they are big foodies, but my brother really loved them, so I think this is a stamp of approval! Even I liked them, and I usually hate shop-bought custard tarts, because they're too eggy and claggy and weird.

Anyway, check the link, I take no credit for these but I'm going to repost it here! 

3 egg yolks
115g/4oz caster sugar
2 tbsp cornflour
230ml cream
170ml milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
300g rolled puff pastry (one block)

1. Put egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a saucepan, whisk together, and add cream and milk until smooth.
2. Over a medium heat, stir until the mixture thickens. Take off the heat and add vanilla extract. Cover and leave to cool whilst you roll out the tarts.
3. Preheat oven to 200c, grease a muffin/cake tray. The link says to use an 80ml but I you need to make sure that they are not too shallow and deep enough to hold the custard. You could put little foil trays in if you have them.
4. Roll half the pastry block out into a rectangle (we sprinkled the sheet of pastry with cinnamon to give a bit of taste) and then roll up tightly to create a log shape, like you would if you were making a swiss roll. Cut the pastry into 1cm-ish rounds. Using a rolling-pin, roll each round out until it's thin and flat, about 10cm in diameter. If this is confusing, see the original link, they have good pictures detailing the procedure! Press the pastry rounds into the tin, and sort of ruffle the edges. (We gave up this method on the second batch and just used a regular pastry cutter on the rolled out pastry. These worked fine, except the pastry around the edge wasn't quite as fluffy/rustic-looking.)
5. Poor custard into pyrex jug or something similar and pour into the pastry cases. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Let them sit in the tin for about 5-10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

Whilst I want to say that my photos completely washed these out, they were not that pale in person but I don't think we cooked them quite long enough. they weren't as golden-brown as I would have liked. I would've liked them to caramelise a littttle bit more than they did, but they still tasted amazing! I definitely recommend try these out, and if you don't want to worry about all the faff with the pastry, just use a cutter.

Have you tried something similar? Let me know! 

peaches and cream

Having suffered from acne-prone skin for most of my life now, compliments on my skin is not something I usually recieve. However this week, I have had three! So, this is a huge step in the right direction. Above is just a sneak preview of the new products I have been testing out, on the recommendation from Caroline Hirons (I do SO love her blog and her way of saying things!). I've also been taking fish-oil tablets daily, so I think it is a combination of these things that are helping. I don't want to speak too soon though, so I am going to wait another week or two before giving you a full review! 

Anyway, I'm off for lunch at a friends today, can't wait to have a good gossip!

weekend wanderings #7

(pictures from frecklednest.typepad.com, doorsixteen.com and sfgirlbybay.com)

• I know the Olympics are over, but I'm still obsessed with them..I found these floating around the internet. One has those amazing pictures that Usain Bolt took after he won his race when he nicked a photographers camera (scroll through the pictures, sorry it's in Swedish or something!) The other is comprised of my love for 30 Rock and the athletes; how hurdler Lolo Jones is an Olympic version of Liz Lemon.
• Ombre hair might be over, but the trend is still going strong within clothes. I saw this the other day on tumblr and traced it back to a blog that I read! I think the ombre-drawers are such a great way to brighten up a cheaper set of drawers and add a bit of subtle colour. 
• I posted in an old weekend wanderings about decorating jars with images, but how about making cute hanging lanterns? I think if I was planning a special evening outdoors, these would be so beautiful. I'm not fond of the little beads or the lettering but it's a good DIY that shows you how to make the hanging loop.
• Someone tweeted this this week (I can't remember who, I'm sorry!) but it gave me a good laugh - How to Name Your Fashion Blog. I think I have a pretty weird and unique blog name, but you do see some reoccuring themes, is all I'm sayin'.. 
• I have seen lots of things about juicers, fruit diets and juice detoxes recently and I'm really intrigued by them! Laura at Belles Boutique did a post about her juicer (I've been contemplating getting a blender for a while but a juice seems more practical!) and then I saw this post over at Door Sixteen about a juice detox and I don't really know if they're that sensible, health-wise, but I really love the idea of doing one. 
• Cheating a tad with my blog of the week and it's a tumblr, called Humanae, but I think it's really cool - they have matched peoples skin-tones to pantone colour swatches. It seems to go on forever and it's weird how similar some are. 

seat, dresser, trinket

If you follow me on twitter, you'll know why I've been rather absent from my blog this week - I have been doing the week-from-overtime-hell (official title). I've been getting up at 6/7AM every day this week and I am beyond exhausted now. I had an early start today and then came home  and had a little (well-deserved) nap. I have tomorrow off and then I am back in on Sunday. At least the weather has brightened up for me! It's supposed to get up into the thirties here tomorrow and I'm quite grateful, I want to lounge around in the sun, my body is craving ittt (I'll factor it up though, don't you worry!).

After work (and my nap) I popped into town and had lunch at an awesome little Italian deli/cafe nearby which I adore - it also sells all my favourite kind of fruit drinks from Italy - and then wandered around the charity shops and found an amazing 70's telephone seat going for only £10! They said they would try and save it for me for tomorrow but it's so cool, I think it will look awesome in the hallway at our uni-house where our phone is currently on the floor and we have to sit there to have a conversation! My mum said everyone used to have them in the 70's but I've never seen one. It looks a bit like this, but more solid, and the seat is a bit different. When I've bought it and got it in the house, I will take pictures for you.

But these pictures above, are, as you can probably tell, of my new dresser. I got it from Ikea (because I need cheap furniture!) and I got the mirror there too, and the blue cloth, and the little plant. I kind of threw everything together when I got home but I really liked how it looks. I've had this little gold enamel bowl for a while and I use it to store my jewellery in at night so I don't lose it, and I also have my most-reached for perfumes. Generally, I really love it and feel all ~grown up~ with a proper dresser! I really want to get a vintage glass trinket box to keep some earrings in and then I'll be completely happy with it.

weekend wanderings #6

(images from thelooksee.com, spoon-tamago.com, and seachant.co)

• Let me just throw this out there - I love plants. They don't always love me, but my idea of the perfect bedroom is like, a greenhouse. Haha, whatever. When I found that there is a Plant Journal, it just made me want it so badly. Garden/plant magazines are generally pretty hideous, so this is just right up my street. It looks beautiful! 
• Born in 1990, I feel like a true 90's kid. Being born in like, 1994 doesn't make you a nineties kid! If you don't remember this shit, you're not! 
• Fictitious dishes from famous novels.. is simply awesome - I wish there were more in the series. My favourite is Catcher in the Rye, because I simple adore that book. 
• I discovered An Ode to Summer made by Sea-Chant for Kinfolk magazine via the Creature Comforts blog (that is a long sentence! haha). I'm seriously considering shelling out for the magazine, because it's beautiful, but oh gosh, the video is perfect, I urge you to watch it! It's just.. everything that is lovely about the summer in one video. And it makes me yearn to live in a place where we have proper summers and I can enjoy them fully. Sigh, it kind of makes my heart ache. 
• These furoshiki scarves are one of the most stunning things I've ever seen. I'm a bit of a print-making nerd and I wish I had maybe done something more textiles based with my printmaking, BUT that is beside the point, these are so beautiful! You can actually buy them on the Link Collective etsy page, and they're not extortionately expensive, I think I'm going to get one..! 
• Roost is my favourite blog at the moment, the combination of beautiful photos and amazing food, just makes my mouth water!

you can't always get what you want

grey jersey knit boxy tee, £16

navy jersey knit boxy tee, £16

charcoal knitted cocoon top, £18

white knitted cocoon top, £18

dark blue and burgundy jumper, £14.99

true black pure body scoop gown, £24.95

heather grey pure pullover hoodie, £29.95

russian navy pure pocket v, £24.95

black eva ballerinas, £30

black patent loafers, £25

I'll state it right now that I am just fed up of this summer. As someone who really craves sunshine, the rain is mostly doing my head in. I went shopping on Monday and I think the shops know that I am fed up. They were full of light knits and plain, simple, oversized shirts and vests and things that make my heart sing. I just want all of it.. I don't think that's appropriate. Here's a list of things I found that I adore, I'm really lusting after simple, oversized silhouettes in basic colours. Grey, navy, black and white. Pair with black leggings or jeans, and shiny patent loafers or flatforms and it looks really classic, in my opinion. 

I want all of this! Unfortunately I don't have £230 to blow on it, sigh. In fact, I barely have any money. I think I'm going to bribe my mum into getting the loafers for me (for uni..) and one of the dorothy Perkins boxy tee's (the grey). 

I went into Gap the other day (something I very rarely do) and I really enjoyed their selection. I snagged a super comfy white jumper in the sale for half price, and having a look online, they have some things that I really enjoy - like their Pure range which is just a load of oversized basics which is what I'm after.

As for the shoes, although I love the flatforms, the loafers are way more appropriate for uni, cheaper and something I've been after for a couple of weeks! I found some beautiful ones in Russell and Bromley, Kurt Geiger and Dune, however, they're all shite in that they don't go past a size 9. I messaged Dune on Twitter about this, and they said there is "no demand", which is, frankly, bullshit. I know many girls with feet larger than mine, and to say there is no demand is pretty stupid. I didn't even dignify them with a response because they obviously didn't take me seriously. THAT however, is beside the point. I found these pretty loafers from Next, which are in my size, and much cheaper! I think they'll be good for uni, so I'm excited to get these.

Have you picked up any bargains recently? Let me know!