Top picks: Week 16

Pretty dresses I've seen this week. Ah the pretties:

1. Pastel texture pinafore dress, £48 - Topshop

2. Bird print dress, £30 - Dorothy Perkins

3. Cream lace midi shirt dress, £35 - River Island

4. Black lace skater dress, £35 - River Island

5. Key print dress, £42 - Oasis

6. Party mesh dress with lace, £26 - ASOS

7. Lightning print dress, £38 - Oasis

8. Drum print denim skater dress, £48 - Topshop

I love the drum print on this Topshop dress. It’s so summery and I love the shape. And speaking of shapes, the other Topshop dress has a lovely one. It’s not a pattern I would normally pick but it looks so chic and I can’t resist a dress with pockets.

I’m still coveting a black lace dress having finally bought a cream one last month. Black lace is definitely a night fabric and I NEED one. The little lace skirt on the ASOS one is a style I haven’t seen before while the River Island number is more of a classic cut and looks like you could wear it as a day dress as well. Decisions decisions.

Still on the subject of lace dresses, but back to cream – I know I already have one similar, but I actually need this River Island cream lace dress. The length, the detail, the shape. I just want it. It’s another chic number to put in my imaginary grown up wardrobe next to the Topshop dress. Sigh.

What dresses are you currently coveting?

Mischief Managed

A fair bit overdue but I can finally find the time to show you a few photos from my birthday day out to Harry Potter studios. Only a couple of small spoilers here so if you want to see the entire thing then take a look at the flickr album here.

Me and the bf with our house badges

Bf eating action shot

Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans...Roulette. Always a good way to keep yourself amused on the train.

How tiny are the trio's hands? Mine were the same as Rupert Grints. The other two were way smaller!

Jumping FAIL!

Flagging down the Knight Bus with lipstick (well whats a girl to do when she hasn't got her wand on her?)

Have you been to or planning on visiting the studios?

Top Picks: Week 15

Say hello to my 100th post. I'm really proud I've been able to keep this blog running since December, what with my habit of leaving things unfinished. Woop.

So back to regular posting. I know these are usually posted on a Tuesday but what with it turning into my night to cook and go swimming I may have to rethink which day I post. Either that or I am going to have to get more organised. We'll see which one wins.

A few things that have caught my eye this week:

1. Skirt, £22 - River Island

2. Dress, £38 - Dorothy Perkins

3. Ruler Necklace, £6 - Accessorize

4. Dip hem dress, £35 - Topshop Concessions - Wal G

5. Satchel, £58.99 - New Look Concessions - Mischa Barton

6. Squirrel shirt, £35 - ASOS

Now I know the sun is just starting to show it's face but I'm still looking at more Autumn colours. This dip hem one is a gorgeous colour, but the shape is definitely a summer one. I am in love with the print of the birdcage dress but I have a bad feeling that my bustiness is a bit too much for that neckline. Definitely one that needs to be tried on. These necklines are hit and miss with my boobs.  

Ah ASOS, how you fuel my obsession for quirky printed shirts. This squirrel print offering is no exception. And how perfect is the colour of this satchel? I heart. Also loving the shape of the Wal G dress. I had never heard of this brand before so I will definitely be taking a look at what else they have to offer.

To be honest, the one thing that ruined this Accessorize necklace for me is the diamante's. In this case, less is more. It just looks a bit tacky close up. However, I am willing to see it in person before I make a fully fledged judgement. What do you think? Too much? Tacky even?

Have you seen anything nice in the shops this week?

Swiss cheese nails

Yes, you did read correctly. With a lack of inspiration in Jordan and a new yellow nail polish I wanted to use, the idea of cheese nails were born.

Apologies for the rubbish photos:

What's the weirdest design you've ever had on your nails?

P.S Huzzah! We finally have internet in the new house so regular posting will recommence starting today!

Food glorious food!

A tad bit of a cliché title post but I'm ok with that. 

Amman is a place where I go to eat. Hanging out with my family is an endless sea of lunches (if you can call it lunch if it's at 5pm), great aunties pinching your cheeks and force-feeding baba-ganoush down your throat. Then asking if you've put on weight and when are you getting married. 

Here's a few samples of what I ate during the week:

Lamb, rice and almonds. Simple, but oh so good! I love lamb and we definitely have a lot of it there. 

Dessert. There's always so many things to choose from that I take a little bit of each. 

Clockwise from top: Pumpkin jam and flat bread, sweet syrup cake with almonds on top, cherries, flat peach and apricot. Yum!

One night, my cousins took me and my brother to Sugar Daddy's; a sweet treat haven. Cupcakes and cakes galore.

I went for a slice of red velvet cake. They all came with two spoons. Ha, I'm not sharing. Though I have to say that I couldn't finish it! Wow, that was good. 

Apple cinnamon waffles, courtesy of The Bake House, found in downtown Amman. My cousin insisted on taking us and I'm glad she did as these waffles were amazing. My parent's had the pancake version and that also looked awesome. I really struggled to finish as it was a generous portion but it was so worth it. 

This lemon juice was beyond amazing. They add mint and sugar so it tastes really nice. I'm definitely going to be re-creating this at home!

Desserts table. Lots of mouths to feed you know? I had a little bit of cheesecake, chocolate cake and an arabic dish right at the end (the name escapes me). All delicious!

Needless to say, I had a bit of a food coma after this week. 

Have you eaten anything amazing recently?

Buttons and charms and chain (oh my)

Oh my indeed. While in Jordan last week, I not only added to my shop's vintage collection but also to my handmade jewellery one as well. One of my cousins makes jewellery as well, so she took me downtown to a few of her suppliers.

It was a whole different atmosphere to the areas of Amman I'm normally used to and the area was full of jewellery supply shops. I loved it.

This was the upstairs of the first shop. It was like an Aladdin's cave (or a hoard of lovelies as the bf suggested). I was in here for at least half an hour looking through all the little boxes. 

Button shop - walls and walls of buttons. How cute is this cash register?

I came away with one or two things perhaps...

Look at all the charms! I've already made 5 necklaces and 3 pairs of earrings ready for my fair on Saturday. It was great to find a few more unusual charms that I don't think I would have found in my usual charm search. 

Buttons! These are all being turned into stud earrings.

I think my next post will be a food related one judging by the photos I have left from my trip. 

Do you like unusual charms?

A vintage adventure

WARNING: PHOTOS A-PLENTY

Next month, it will be 5 years since my Arab grandmother passed away. When I arrived in Amman this week I found that the family were finally going through her clothes to give away. When my dad said take whatever you want, I couldn't believe how much stuff I found. 

Both my mum and my English grandma threw all their old clothes away so I was really happy to have something vintage that is actually from a family member. It means so much more. Since I am the oldest grand-daughter and the only one interested in vintage, I pretty much had my pick. After showing some stuff to my cousin who's my age, I'm happy to say she got on the band wagon as well.  Anything we didn't pick would be going to charity, so not only did I pick out stuff for myself but my vintage shop got a healthy amount as well.

A bit of background of owner: 

Grandparents on their wedding day (my grandfather passed away 11 years ago - he kind of reminds me of Walt Disney in this photo). They got married in the forties.

These two photos above I had never seen before of my grandparents - so cute!

Now on to the clothes:

This isn't even all of her clothes. I think I'm beginning to see where I got the clothes hoarding gene from....

I love the colour of this dress so I'm keeping it for myself. The triangle detailing is also pretty nifty. Will have to loose the shoulder pads though!

This dress is a tad (putting it lightly) big on me so it is currently at the tailors being taken in (which by the way is ridiculously cheap here - I'm talking the same price as a couple of Starbucks at the most!) I can't wait to try it on.

I am in LOVE with this sequin cape. I was going to donate it to Toast Rack but my dad said it's a classic and you never know when you might need it. Yes my dad encouraged me to keep it - I have an awesome dad.

These two tops were picked up by my cousin. How gorgeous is the detail on both tops? I insisted on photographing them before she took them. Sequins and pearls. I would put a couple more photos of them up but I think this post is already picture heavy enough. 

Packing to leave tomorrow, I managed to fill both mine and my dads suitcases (see? Best dad ever!) with all my new goodies. I mainly got a few blazers for myself and the shop got shoes, handbags, shirts, suits, a fur stole and a couple of dresses. I can't wait to go to my next vintage fair to see what awesome new homes they go to. And I'm finding myself hoping that the weather is still bad so I can wear my new dresses. They are long sleeved after all. I really want to find some more old photos of my grandmother so I can find one of her wearing the clothes I picked.

Have you ever gotten anything vintage from relatives?

Let's play catch-up

So the last you heard from me (apart from yesterday), I was about to move house. Well, we're all moved in now and I have to say I love this house. Yes there are a few bits and pieces that need to be fixed but it's ours and I'm loving all the space. If you're interested, I'll do a proper house tour when we've completely unpacked and got it looking all nice. For now, here's what I'd been up to last week (Jordan posts coming soon!):

*Flowers from work for my birthday

*My Harry Potter inspired nails for my birthday (still got to narrow down all the photos!)

*Birthday present from Claire - lovingly stapled

*Sinister owls made by Claire

*Rose and my laptop

*The cats trying to come with me, ha ha

*Axl being a softy.

*New house - view from upstairs at the back of the house

*Me and the bf's mahoosive bedroom

*The joys of moving - so much yoghurt!

*4th of July shoe on my desk calendar

*So.Much.Tea!

*So.Much.Bubblewrap!

*My nails for Jordan - spots and stripes

*My latest print - ice creams. My new desktop background.

*Upcoming prints.

Only two more days of being in Jordan. I can't believe how fast the time went. Do I have to go back to work? I'm really excited for all the new products for my vintage shop. I'll post about that tomorrow...

Any tips on getting myself back to the real world with as little pain as possible? :P

Outfit Post: Hello Sailor!

Rather than jumping straight into a catch-up post, I have decided to ease you in with an outfit post. Which I have to add is my first outfit post on my new (yes I'm still calling it new) camera!

I'm currently on holiday in Jordan visiting my family so I have to dress modestly and yet still keep cool as it is friggin hot here!

Blouse: Love culture - bought in USA

Maxi skirt: Next

Belt: My mum's (I always forget something when I pack!)

Earrings: Forever 21

I am in love with this blouse. I bought it while I was in Florida earlier this year. It's perfect for just throwing on with skinny jeans or tucking into a skirt. Plus the print is so kitsch. Now that it's gotten warmer, I dress it up for work. This maxi skirt is also a work and casual staple for me. I had been wanting to find a pleated maxi skirt for so long and this one is even more versatile since it has the shorter skirt underneath. The best thing about it is that the under skirt isn't too short for me. The majority of the maxi's I've seen in this style have a ridiculously short underskirt which isn't my cup of tea at all. 

As for my nails, I actually did them the night before we flew over here. I couldn't decide on spots or stripes so I did a little of both. It turned out pretty well - especially the stripes. This colour is such a nice shade. You can't really tell in the photo but it's like a champagne colour. And even better for my impatient nature with nails - it dried in an instant. I really need to start writing down the nail polishes I use when I do these posts. I left this bottle at home I think, so if you happen to be curious what shade it is, I will gladly tell you when I return to England. 

Anyway, there's plenty of fun posts coming up as I've been having quite the vintage adventure while I've been here in Amman. Plus I'll have to do a quick catch-up in photos as well. 

How has the past couple of weeks been for you?