Rock a Lot of Polka Dots: A Wishlist

I love Jess from New Girl. And, like Jess, I like to 'rock a lot of polka dots'. Sadly, my darling polka dot dresses and skirts are all too big on me now, which means there is a severe hole in my wardrobe.

I've never done a wishlist post before, but I love looking at them, and considering how much time I spend browsing the internet for pretty things, I figured I might share some of my favourites with you.

1. Peg Trousers (ASOS) / 2. Pom Pom Ballerina Flats (London Rebel via ASOS)

3. Oversized Bow Headband (etsy) / 4. Polka Dot Hairwrap (etsy)

5. Button Spot Sleeveless Dress (Cath Kidston) / 6. Polka Dot Sun Dress (Yumi via Debenhams)

7. Coral and Cream Spot Bikini (Topshop) / 8. Spot Print Boxy Shirt (Cameo Rose via New Look)

9. Lilac Cross Body Bag (red herring via Debenhams) / 10. Polka Dot Playsuit (Love via ASOS)

Those peg trousers are definitely going to be an addition to my closet come payday! I saw someone sporting a similar pair from River Island, but they're not available anymore and I missed the one pair I found on ebay! I hope the ASOS ones will fit... I have a nasty suspicion that they might be too long for my (just under) 5'3'' frame.

I generally go for the safe colours when it comes to polka dots, like black, red and navy, but I am absolutely in love with the items 7-10 and will try my best to start incorporating more colours into my polkadot collection. I love the coral bikini to death, especially the way the top and bottom have reversed colour schemes! It's incredibly frustrating not being able to buy bikinis and swimsuits in normal clothing sizes, it restricts your choice so much.

I hope you enjoyed my choices, I had a lot of fun gathering together my 10 favourite polka dot pieces. :)

Until next time, Jenni

OOTD: Lighter

The weather in Aberdeen took a turn for the better just as I locked myself up in my room on Wednesday in order to start writing the last essays of the year. The gorgeously blue skies and sunshine seemed to be almost mocking me, as it turned out that it was impossible for me to even sit at my just cleaned desk, because the sunlight coming in through my doublewindows was simply too bright for me to even see my screen properly. So I ended up on the floor, which is where I usually have to retreat when my desk has become a storage space rather than study area (because there was no way I was closing the curtains).

These pictures are from Thursday, when I opted for a drawstring dress by Uniqlo (in collaboration with Celia Birtwell). It's perfect for warmer days, as it's very light. Besides Uni and work, I spent a fair few hours reading and writing again, so I wanted something I would be comfortable in, while still looking nice for when I had to bear the world outside.

I started working with RAW photos and haven't quite figured out how to do the colours yet. So somehow these two photos are completely different colour schemes.

I don't know what's happened, but my BB cream (Maybelline Dream Pure) is not working anymore. It makes me skin look all flaky. :/ Time to start browsing beauty blogs in search of something new. I've heard good things of the Bourjous Paris 123 Perfect CC cream, so I might try that out. Any suggestions?

And please, let's not talk about my eyebrows, I still haven't quite figured out what do to after my over-enthusiastic teenage plucking years ago. With dark hair I could happily draw fairly dark ones on, or fill them in with matte eyeshadow, but now that I am back to my natural blonde hair, I clearly need to invest in new products so I don't end up looking really harsh...

Until next time,

Jenni

OOTD: All Black

Somehow all the clothes that felt good today were black. 

I'm not sure why, but there you go. 

Dress: Republic, Shoes: Hush Puppies, Brooch: Gingerpickle, Earrings: Vintage

The dress actually has a cool cut-out back which makes it a bit more interesting, but obviously I forgot to take a photo of that. >_<

I am finding it really hard to take photos of myself. My glasses reflect light from windows (argh!), my face looks blotchy, my poses are awkward and I feel pudgy. In short, camera does not love me. Nothing like cold hard evidence to inspire gym sessions and healthy eating, right?

I don't know what happens to me in photos, I always have the weirdest expressions...

A close-up of my Gingerpickle owl brooch :)

I am so incredibly frustrated with Aberdeen weather. I wake up nearly every morning to bright sunshine, but by the time I've had breakfast, showered and dressed, the sky is covered with dark clouds. The rapid changes of bright sunshine and dark clouds continue throughout the day, ensuring that after the initial ballet flats and a dress excursion outside (which will inevitably end in chattering teeth), you will revert back to boots and a heavier coat — because it might rain any second.

In fact, it just started absolute pouring when I had taken these pictures — and I had a lecture to go to. So I arrived to the lecture with wet feet and frizzy hair. Currently I just want to stay in my room with a warm cup of tea and a pile of books, but sadly, I have the leave my warm and dry sanctuary yet again and brave the torrents.

Until next time,

Jenni

Busy as a bee

The breaks between my posts just lengthen and lengthen don't they?

I had a friend visiting me from Finland and I managed to get a job (for those interested, at Cineworld)... which meant entertaining and doing training shifts on the same week, while trying to keep up with course reading. Not an easy feat, let me tell you. Especially as I am still in process of recovering from a nasty cold (I miss the gym so much, you have no idea), and therefore am not feeling my best yet. Being ill, dressing up nicely and doing my make-up also haven't been my top priorities. Comfyness and minimal make-up have been the trend over the last few weeks.

It's finally quieting down a little bit, now that I've had my first proper shifts at work and I'm almost done with all course reading for my last week. The swing dance committee changeover is also done, so my responsibilites have been cut down slightly. The essays are however closing in, which means that from tomorrow on, a great chunk of my time will be spent locked up in the library with my laptop and a pile of books.

This blog is something I really want to do and I'm not sure how to tackle it right now. I think I'm going to give my room a big clean (it's such a mess again after I had my friend visiting!), so I can feel comfortable taking pictures here (and also create a calm working environment for the coming weeks) and set up my tripod in some corner so it's always easy to get out for photos.

Jacket: TKMaxx, Bag: H&M, Skirt: Pimkie, Earrings: Vintage (used to belong to my grandma)

I don't like photoless posts, so have a photo from my trip to Brighton with my boyfriend (who took the photo) in the beginning of April. My leather jacket looks really loose and badly fitting, especially the sleeves! I bought it when I was still a size 12 (it's a size M) but now that I've shrunk to size 10, it feels a bit loose unless I'm wearing a cardigan or jumper underneath. :/

Until next time,
Jenni

Easter Haul (and Stylish Surprise)

Here we go...! So, over the last week of Easter holidays from Uni, I had a friend over up here in Aberdeen. We both share the love of clothes, make-up, all things sweet, as well as tea. This all is somewhat of a dangerous combination, especially as the week had a sense of novelty in it, because we see each other so rarely nowadays and it was her first time in Scotland.
And so we hit the shops in hunt for bargains.

 

 

 

1) Midi Skirt £4, New Look, 2) Revlon Renewist Lipstick in Shade 200 'Red Reinvented' £1, Poundland, 3) Lace dress in Dusty Mint £5, Primark, 4) Clip on earrings £1, Primark, 5) Scented Candle £2, Primark, 5) Hush Puppies Lonna Heels £24.99, TKMaxx (currently £65 in Schuh!)

 Everything except the candle was found from sales or bargain shops, like Poundland and TKMaxx. :)

We both love charity shops, the mixture of quirky, old, pretty and downright dreadful. After breaking my beautiful glass teapot halfway through the week, we decided to go look for a non-glass replacement in the many charity shops Aberdeen has to offer. And found two. I am only offering photos of one though, as the other one (carved brass) is currently going through a thorough cleaning process to find out whether it is actually usable, or whether it will be strictly for decoration purposes.

 

As you can probably see, this beauty has some cracks below the glossy top. Which means that it does not have much use left in it. But it was far too beautiful for me to pass it by, especially at £2.99 (British Heart Foundation).

 We also had an indulgent Chocolate Afternoon Tea at my absolute favourite place in Aberdeen: Cup. When I say indulgent, I do mean indulgent. Extremely so. We had a stack of Nutella Toasties, Dark Chocolate and Banana Scones with Raspberry Jam and Nutella, Chocolate Dipped Strawberries, Truffles, Chocolate Macarons and Chocolate Traybakes. And of course, delicious, high quality loose leaf tea. No pictures though, as we are both frustrated with the photo quality of our iPhone 3GS's (but at the same time refusing the splurge on a newer model while these still still work) and neither of us had our DSLR's with us. And of course, the chocolate decadence in front of us had a very strong call. Needless to say, it was incredibly delicious.

When I got back to Aberdeen, I also had a parcel waiting for me in the flat. This parcel contained my Modcloth Stylish Surprise —for those unaware, Stylish Surprise is an event held a couple of times a year by US based website Modcloth, and the idea is that you pay $10-15 for a mystery apparel or shoes ($5 for accessories) which can be worth anything from $29.99 to $299.99. A gamble, in other words. My previous two attempts had ended with me receiving a dress completely not my style (5'2 and maxi dresses made for people a head taller than you are just not a working combination) or ill fitting (the dress was cute, but the top was horribly loose around the chest — being a 30F, I really have no idea how that is even possible). This time around however, the price of the Stylish Surprise had been reduced to $10 from $15, so I took the plunge again, hoping for the best.

I received this beautiful blue off-shoulder dress, which has fits me like a glove (not an easy task). The only negative about this is that it is not casual by any stretch of the imagination, so finding an occasion to wear it will take a while...

I don't know what happened to the colours when I downloaded these to Blogger — they look completely different on my photo editing tool.

I also received this incredibly cute pair of booties. They are not something I would have picked up on my own, but after I put them on, I fell in love with them. Somehow they manage to look really petite and cute on, rather than big and clunky, as they did out of the box! They feel really nice, but I noticed that the heel had worn off a lot at the back just after one use! Having only paid $10 for them though, I can deal with that and get the heels replaced.

 In other words, this time around the Stylish Surprise was a resounding success, and I can't wait for the next one, to grab more lucky bargains (especially shoes)!

Until next time,

Jenni

Mayday, mayday, it's May Day!

I don't know what happened, but it's suddenly May. All my good intentions about starting regular updates on my blog flew out of the window when the Easter holidays started and I was reunited with my boyfriend for precious two weeks (it had been three months). Then we said goodbye (until June), and I returned to Aberdeen with one of my best friends — and somehow another week flew by without me noticing. Then it was back to the hustle and bustle of University life, with two massive novels, Ulysses and Middlemarch, to wade through. Then came a dance weekend away in St. Andrews, which gave me sore fleet and a cold, which I am still nursing now.

But I decided that since it is May Day (which is a national holiday in my native Finland), I will make a post today, instead of finishing up Ulysses for tomorrow's morning seminar (what a way to begin a Friday, ay?). No outfit photos (though I do like my UNIQLO x Orla Kiely top and a midi skirt combo), as being ill means I look like death warmed up.

My three weeks off from Uni started off in a very controlled manner when it comes to shopping. During my two weeks with my boyfriend, I had only gathered the previously mentioned Uniqlo x Orla Kiely top (absolute bargain at £2.90), a red corduroy skirt (another £3 bargain), a pair of 'faded neon blue' (= light blue) Converse Lite's (a necessity buy, and also on sale, for £24) and foldover yoga capris from Forever 21 (£8.25).

Primark, £3

Uniqlo £2.90

I just love this print. While I do like to play with other colours too, the basic combination of red, black and white definitely has a special place in my heart. Also, anything a bit retro is a win in my book.

Converse Lite, photo from Office website. Because by the time I had been walking around in them in Brighton, Oxfordshire, London etc for a week, they aren't really in the condition to be paraded around this blog with close-ups. But seriously, 'faded neon blue'? 

When I say the Converse were a necessity buy, I really mean it. Here up north I was still wearing winter coats and so on, so though I had only packed lighter jackets for our Brighton trip, I still only had leather boots and a pair of heels for evenings with me. The gorgeous summery weather and my bare legs meant that my feet needed something fitting too. So off we went, to the first shop I saw, which happened to be Office. My boyfriend (who also kindly decided to pay for them, being in full-time employment) thought they were cute, so I chose these, as they were also more comfortable than the ballet flats that I had originally had in mind.

Mine are actually in reverse colours, the waistband is teal and the legs are black. Sadly I couldn't find a photo on F21 website that matched mine. Also, for some reason this picture looks really green on the blog, even though it's definitely teal on the website (and my yoga capris definitely have a teal waistband). But yeah. I love them. I have wanted foldover yoga capris with a coloured waist forever and I finally found a pair that I like that didn't break the bank. :)

So, only four things (apart from some bits from Whole Foods, which I couldn't resist!), despite touring my way through Brighton, Oxford, London and Strathford-Upon-Avon. This was mostly thanks to my boyfriend I think, as he's not a big fan of shopping, so there was only so many shops I could drag him into. :P

The last of the three weeks, with my friend? That is a different story, and most definitely needs its own post.

Until next time,

Jenni