Sunday 29 April 2012

My week 17

More rain yes, but on the bright side - it's almost May! I spent my weekend enjoying driving my car around, eating and failing at thrifting. 

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*A morning of madness where it was actually sunny and warm outside. Took this on my way to the post office to post my first order ever to Japan!
*Vintage Bally boot on my shoe calendar
*Ate at Giraffe for the first time on Saturday at the Trafford Centre with the bf. We were loving our starter of baba ganoush (nom!), hummus and pitta. 
*My beloved iPad next to my beloved Alexa. I'm feeling rather spoiled this year. It's great to be able to properly catch up with my blog reading on my lunch break. 
*Macaroons! Another first this week. I had never actually tried them before so I thought why not and got them from The English Rose bakery in Selfridges. One word: Delicious!
*My quesadillas at Giraffe
*Went for a sunday lunch at Wetherspoons. 
*The bf's burger at Giraffe.

I had quite a busy weekend. Went to Ashton on Saturday to look in the charity shops (found nothing but did buy some buttons I'm going to make into earrings) and met up with the bf and his family. The trip to the Trafford centre was spur of the moment on the way home when we were both hungry. I'm glad we stopped.

Sunday, even though it was raining - I dragged the bf to a car boot (indoor) and it was a bit of a bust but I did find a couple of things. We then had sunday lunch with front row window seats to a car getting a ticket for being parked on the double yellows. 

Gonna relax with a hot drink now and catch up on my internet rounds (yes this is what I call answering emails, blogging, reading, listing stock etc).

How was your week? Wet?

Thursday 26 April 2012

Outfit post: You can't wear skulls to work!

Oh but I do anyway. This is not one of my parent's favourite shirts on me but I love it.

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Shirt: Zara
Cardigan: New Look
Skirt: Miss Selfridge
Tights: Primark
Shoes: New Look
Hairband: Primark

I like how I can mix and match different bits in my work wardrobe so I don't get bored which I think can be quite easy when working in an office. I like to look smart, but I love fun outfits. This isn't massively colourful but I think it's a keeper. I got this leather midi skirt from Miss Selfridge in the sale - reduced from £50 to £22! It was out of my comfort zone but I thought it was a classic shape so definitely worth the money.

I was boring and just paired it with my black cardigan (why is it still cold?), black tights and my favourite black lace up heels. Yeah that is a lot of black, but the tan skirt helps me escape from the goth look.

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Finally managed to get my hair cut last weekend. I just told them to keep chopping as you can see. Still feeling a bit doll-esque but I like having shorter hair again. My hair grows ridiculously fast anyway so it'll be long again in no time. The only thing I miss about my long hair is my swishy ponytail. I think I'll live.

Do you stick to the same/similar hairstyle or do you randomly chop off a load of your hair like I do?

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Top 10: Week 7

It's that time again. In honour of my iPad which I got on Saturday, I decided to do my top 10 on iPad covers. I like unique things, so I headed to Etsy to see what I could find:

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So many pretties. One of them even has the same style as the Apple cover where you can stand your iPad up. My geek side is loving the space invader one but it's also saying is that laser cut design practical (like there's loads of holes in the case)?

Paris and Chevron are both from the same shop and I like how they have a little pocket for your iPhone or papers etc. Overall, I think I would prefer to have a cover in the stand style as not only can it turn into a stand, but you can still use the iPad while it is covered and protected. The sleeve styles, though are all very pretty (squeeing over the owl one), are not very practical for my needs. I'm on the go a lot so I need something that is physically attached to my iPad so I can't loose it!

So, if you are reading this any of the above shops: Please make all these pretty fabric sleeves into stand styles!

Which one is your favourite?

Sunday 22 April 2012

My week 16

This week appeared to drag a bit didn't it? Just me? I blame the rain. 

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*My awesome cloud nails.
*Axl doing the creep. If you don't know what the creep is then educate yourself. Nicki Minaj makes a cameo in it! 
*1960s shoe on my shoe calendar. Is it a heel or is it a wedge?
*The view on my train journey to Sheffield to see my family.

I had a lovely weekend. I saw my parents, brother and grandma on Saturday which was great as I hadn't seen my mum for a month and a half and my dad for about 3 months. Went to meadow hall but didn't really buy anything. But, I did get my early birthday presents. I got my dad's professional camera that he doesn't use and an iPad 1 (I love my family's hand me downs)! My brother also gave me his old bamboo tablet that he doesn't use so I can get my drawings onto my laptop. Don't even care that I won't have anything to open on my birthday which isn't until June. So excited. I is spoiled.

Today, I planned on hitting 5 car boots to get some vintage stock for my shop. I ended up going to 6 and only 3 of them were open because of all the rain. It's really hard to find a decent car boot in Manchester. Is it just me? I prefer the ones in the countryside like the one near my family home. I've only been there once but I got some amazing things. Particularly the brooches. A cameo, hot air balloon, bicycle and some army style wings. All of those sold straight away and I haven't been able to find a car boot that great since. Still, I got a few bits today. Take a look:


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Sorry for the bad photos - I just got some quick snaps before I went to the bf's house. Not a bad haul anyway I think.

How has your week been?

Saturday 21 April 2012

Don't Play It Safe

One of my new mottos. You can apply this to any aspect of your life. I am personally talking about my career. I have basically found out that I was downplaying my talents. Instead of going after something I was passionate about and pretty good at, I settled for something else. And now I know that I wasn't giving myself enough credit. So, don't play it safe.

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Underestimating yourself wastes time that could be spent working towards something you love. But sometimes, you have to do the "wrong" thing to realise that it's the wrong thing for you. You learn with every step you take and you get closer to finding out what you want.

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I personally haven't got a clue what my next step will be. But I know what I don't want to do and that's a start. I want to do something more creative. So that's what this blog is for. It's my way of expressing my creativity and a place to be myself. 

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I'm not going to play it safe anymore. I'm hoping that by taking a leap and being myself, I'll find out what I'm here to do. 

Ask yourself.

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Do you play it safe?

Thursday 19 April 2012

Outfit post: Actually wearing shoes

Look! I finally remembered to get some pictures of my outfit before taking off my shoes! Well done me. I wore this to work yesterday:

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Dress - Primark
Belt - New Look
Shrug - Next
Tights - Probably Primark, they're only plain
Shoes - New Look

I love this shrug. I got it in the sale at Christmas just gone. It's so easy to just chuck on over an outfit. I especially love how it looks with long sleeve blouses. It's definitely my go to item this week.

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Nails: Models Own

And check out my cloud nails! I'm really proud considering I mess up just painting plain nails. 

What has been your go to item to wear this week?

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Top Ten: Week 6

Another week, another top ten. The bf reckons you could get away with wearing all of this at once. I'm not convinced. 


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I always feel a bit funny now when searching for bags for my top ten posts. Kind of like I'm cheating on my Alexa. This suede and leather bag looks perfect for spring. It would brighten up any outfit. Plus, it's a good way of pastel shy people (i.e. me) to follow the trend without literally wearing it. I like pastels on other people, but they just don't look right on me. 

I really don't know what it is with me and chevrons at the moment. They seem to have been subtly showing up everywhere ever since I made them my blog's background. I am loving them though. And speaking of patterns, how cool is this Miss Selfridge maxi? I only wish it had two straps - being a big chested lady (*giggles*) I really need two. I don't like having to rely on using clear bra straps, I gave up on them years ago. Ah well.

Have you seen anything nice this week?


Sunday 15 April 2012

My week 15

Kind of an uneventful week with rather few photos, but I was really put down by the rain. My oh my it was a lot of rain! 

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I had to laugh when I saw this. Anywhere else get this much rain this week?

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*I am quite a clumsy person but I have never had a bag of sugar fall from the top shelf onto me. It was everywhere - I was still finding sugar in my bra hours later!
*A drawing for the bf: I love you like this koala loves that tree. Made him smile which was good since he wasn't feeling very well. 
*The house search begins. Looked around 4 places this week. It begins apparently too early according to the estate agents as all their properties are available now and we're not looking to move until the end of June. And I thought I was being quite organised. Ah well, will resume the hunt in a month. 
*Bank holiday Monday was lovely. I used the entire day to work on my shops. It was really enjoyable and I wish I could spend everyday doing it. Got a sale on each shop this week. See what happens when I actually work on them? Must work harder. 

I was planning on going to a few car boot sales today but I must remember to find them earlier than the night before. I stayed up so late looking for them that I was too tired to get up at 6 this morning to go. Very silly. Will make sure that I go in 2 weeks when I'm next free. 

How was your week? Hopefully less rainy than mine!

Saturday 14 April 2012

Charles met an elephant

I don't think he's too impressed.

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But at least the elephant thinks he's pretty tasty!

Hope everyone's having a nice weekend.

Thursday 12 April 2012

Outfit Post: Back in the day

An outfit reminiscent of my old school uniform - the colours at least. Dug out this old button down Dorothy Perkins skirt I got in the sale for £7 forever ago. Still fits (yes!) unlike my old uniform.

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White short sleeved shirt - Primark (it's rare that I rave about the fit of something from Primark but omg I love how this shirt fits - so much that I have bought a few of them)
Jumper - Espirit 
Belt - New Look
Skirt - Dorothy Perkins
Tights - Primark I think? Who cares, I ripped a hole in them so they had to put them in the bin anyway
Shoes....er they were New Look when I was wearing them. Really need to start remembering to take photos before I take off my shoes!
Nails - Models Own - Jade Stone

The maroonyness that is my tights - imagine that colour on a skirt! Maybe one day if I am pestered enough I will dig out a photo of my old school uniform because it truly was a crime to fashion. Boxy red and grey striped blazer...nope no more, the pain is still too fresh!

I now have a side fringe as I am a) too skint and b) too lazy to go get it cut. Soon my poor hair, soon. Think I'll be chopping the rest of my hair a fair bit shorter too. I prefer it shorter, it bugs me less. 

What was your old school uniform like? Bearable or horrific?

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Top Ten: Week 5

I love doing these! It gives me an excuse to window shop online.


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I adore this ice cream print blouse from Topshop. So summery! I'll just ignore the rain outside, shall I? The zig zag dress had me on the fence a bit because of the shape, but I just love the pattern. Maybe it's one that would look better on? The bow pumps are on sale from £45. May have to sneak the black and white pair in my basket if they're still there come payday.

A couple of years ago I had a Dear Sukie wallet and unfortunately lost it (along with everything inside!). It was beautiful and so different to anything on the high street. This one is just as pretty so maybe one day I'll have another one. 

Have you seen anything nice in the shops recently? Are you already shopping for summer clothes and ignoring the rain like I am?

Monday 9 April 2012

My week 14

Really need to get myself out of this twice a week post phase. I feel like all I'm doing is one post, then talking about my week. This needs to change. Today was a great start as I committed myself to spending the day working on my two online shops Random Quirks and Toast Rack (shameless plug! :P). Didn't get everything done that I wanted, but I did power through a lot of my to do list. I'm feeling inspired. 

Following on from my inspiration post last week, I am up and running with Pinterest and have finally given myself an easy weekly schedule to follow so I can keep up to date with everything. More on that later this week - we'll see if it works first! 

Anyway, on with the photos of the week:

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*My dinner one night this week. Beef tomato pasta with sugar snap peas, baby corn and feta cheese. Nom!
*My lovely tights that are now RIP. I am such a klutz! 
*At work on Good Friday. Not many offices were open, but we were on of them. Got some sugared quail eggs (cool points if you know what I'm on about) and had a laugh at the shoe of the day. It's a cat! Looked more like a dog to me at first, but I can see it now.
*Went to the Vintage Village in Stockport yesterday to sell my stuff. It was a great day as I sold well and I had the bf and Claire with me :) It was so nice to have company for once. I usually go to these things solo.

Hope everyone has had an amazing easter weekend! Did you get up to much?

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Inspiration!

Why is it that inspiration strikes at the wrong time for me? When I didn't work, inspiration struck whenever I laid my head down to sleep at night. Now, I get ideas at work where I can't put them into action until I get home. And by the time I get home I'm too tired to do anything particularly useful. So, there's the problem, now how do I fix it?

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I think the trick is finding a way to inspire yourself when you're feeling the opposite. Surround yourself with inspiration. Ask yourself what inspires you and put it all in once place, maybe a notebook, so you can flip through whenever you want to get something done. You could do it with anything that needs work to get done. 

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For me, it's a combination of my blog and my two online shops that I need to work on more. So I want to gather together things to inspire me. I'm a very visual person, so my inspiration notebook will be filled with photos of fashion, craft rooms etc, articles about successful businesses and inspiring quotes. 

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More of a digital person? Do it online. Pinterest looks like a great way to gather inspiring things together in one place. I just got my invitation today after a few weeks of being on the waiting list so I can't wait to get started. We'll see how it goes.

What inspires you? How do you inspire yourself when you feel lazy?


Monday 2 April 2012

My week 13

Ok, serious lack of photos from during the week. I was not well at all on tuesday and had to stay home from work for the first time with this job. I never take sick days so this was for a good reason. So we will have to make do with what I've got.

The bf had the same virus so couldn't come over to take care of me but my housemates' cat Rose was my nurse instead. 

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Her idea of taking care of me was to head-butt me in my face, walk over my stomach (ouch) and stick her nose, then her paw in my ear. 

She was also very sweet and curled up next to my head and a bit underneath. Kinda like a furry pillow. I am so getting my own cat one day :)

I had to take some photos of her, even though I look as awful as I felt, since she looked so cute. Covered it up ok with a filter though, ha ha.

On Sunday, I went to a car boot sale and got:

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A teapot shaped like a carousel! - £1
2 Harry Potter board games in perfect condition - £2
A tea set where the tea cups have feet! So cute! - £1 for 4 teacups and saucers
2 films - 30p and 50p I think.

How was your week?