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