Sparkle and Shine

Dress - TFNC £35 // Cape - Vintage

Happy New Year! I had many blogging plans over the festive period but somehow they failed to come to fruition. My two weeks off instead alternated between cooking, drinking and lounging. In fact the majority of my December has consisted of cooking and eating; hence the large amount of winter weight I am carrying (and trying to tackle with Weight Watchers, which I will post separately on). The above pictures are from New Year's Eve and my bosses 1920s themed fiftieth birthday party respectively. I was lucky enough to borrow my friend's grandmother's sequined cape and considering said friend is in her sixties then the cape was truly special! I bought the TFNC dress from a new boutique that has opened up in my town called Maggie's Farm. They sell a mixture of new, vintage and reworked items and have stores in both Dunfermline and Dundee. Their items are very on-trend, stocking a number of web based brands such as TFNC and Love. It's really refreshing to have a boutique like this open in a town where there are a very limited number of fashion stores.

I have a few new posts up my sleeve; lots of things I want to say and wished I had said over the past few months so hopefully the new year will bring me the time and the thirst for blogging again!

One Shirt, Two Ways

Shirt - George // Cardigan - Vintage £15 // Culottes - Charity £4 // Earrings - Charity £1.50 // Gold Necklace - Gift //
Lips - Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stain in Honey

Excuse the "Instagramed" photos but the quality of my pictures isn't that great today. (A rushed shoot in between work and a dentist appointment and very poor light). If I'm quite honest I like the vintage haze it gives the photos due to the slight blur! I wanted to show this shirt in a contrasting outfit to yesterdays post Chain of Fools. Today I teamed it with culottes I got from my local charity shop and my favourite cardigan which I have worn to work every week without fail since I bought it over a year ago. I like the clash of prints here and the granny chic look of the mismatched colours and textures. 

P.s. Excuse the "baby-hair" fringe. It appeared a year ago and is the bane of my life ha!

Chain of Fools

Coat - Charity Shop £10 // Shirt - George // Shorts - Market £5 // Belt - Primark //
Loafers - River Island // Gold Necklace - Gift

It's been a lovely Sunday. My sister, my mother and I went to a local vintage fair called Gin in Teacups (I got some lovely items but will post about them separately) and took a trip to Matalan. It started off a miserable and "driech" day but turned out rather nice by the afternoon resulting in lots of squinty-eye pics being taken. Despite the sun, it's still very cold in Scotland which means I can crack out my winter jackets including my old Barnardo's favourite.

Where Have You Been...

Where indeed have I been? A paltry three posts since my return from Thailand. Excuses...

1) Well I've been working on an epic Thailand post which seems to be taking forever to compose.

2) I've also been really busy at work. The first term's always a busy one; finding your feet and getting back into the swing of things after six weeks off. (Don't all feel sorry at once!)

3) I've lost my resident photographer as my sister has moved in with her long term boyfriend.

4) Last but not least I have been completely and utterly preoccupied with the purchase of my first flat! It's taken me over a year to reach a stage in my life where I feel confident enough to make such a big decision but I think it's the right time and I've found a gem of a flat. I move in in less than two weeks and am beyond excited. It's a beautiful old building, late Victorian with feature fire places in every room and my own patch of garden. I've been obsessed with gumtree and eBay the past few weeks looking for furniture and items to decorate the home or should I say "my home".

So there are my excuses. Quite valid I think! I've shared some of my latest Instagram pictures (excuse the list but I am posting from my phone) including a shot of my new flat, some daily outfit shots, DIY projects and some shots from a few nights out. I hope you are all well and I can't wait to share some "home" posts with you!

1. My new flat!  2. Blazer - Topshop // Shoes & Belt - Vintage (£4 & £2) // Necklace - Forever 21  3. Clip on earrings as collar tips  4. Scarf & Cardigan - Vintage (£2 & £15)  5. DIY studded jacket  6. Mascara - L'Oreal Double Extension Beauty Tubes  7. Disco Pants - American Apparel // Shirt - Vintage (£1.50) // Necklace - Forever 21  8. Wool Blazer - Vintage (£12)  9. Dress - Forever 21  10. Camisole - Forever 21  11-13. Shirt - Vintage (£9) // Necklace - Primark

Some Like It Hot

I thought I would share my favourite perfume with you... Givenchy Hot Couture. I just finished my latest bottle so if anyone feels like replenishing my depleted perfume stocks (hint, hint). Perfume is not something I generally buy for myself, however, I might just need to have an indulgent moment and waltz into Boots this weekend!

Launched in the year 2000 the perfume has top notes of citrus, raspberry and nectar, heart notes of magnolia, pepper and vetiver and base notes of sandalwood, amber and musk. It's a warm, spicy almost woody scent and is very long lasting; it is always commented upon when I wear it. The Perfume Shop compares it to Boss Intense which funnily enough is my other favourite (I must be very predictable!) and Caroline Herrera 212 Sexy. 30ml EDP will currently set you back £24.66 from Boots. Did I say hint, hint?!

A Leopard Can't Change It Spots

Dress & Necklace - Forever 21 // Nail Varnish - Barry M (Coral) // Shoes - Dorothy Perkins

The dress and necklace are two of the lovely items I purchased during a cheeky wee stop over in Dubai. Forever 21 is yet to come to Scotland so I tried to restrain myself when let loose in their massive Dubai Mall store. I walked away with two dresses (both leopard print), a black camisole top and three necklaces. The necklace is fast becoming my new favourite. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find either on the Forever 21 UK site however, I did find a similar dress for £18.75. This outfit was for a night out in Edinburgh where a lot of Grey Goose was consumed. It was my first time on the "Goose" and I woke up the next day hangover free - success all round.

Don't think. Just do.

I am chronically indecisive. I like to weigh up the pros and cons before committing myself to something. I spend hours reading reviews. (I suppose that's why I like beauty and fashion blogging so much!) I wouldn't say I was a worrier per se but I definitely like to be positive about the decisions I make in my life. Whether that's choosing the right facial cleanser or skinny jeans, or buying a house or starting a new relationship. I suppose I have high expectations or set ideals of how I think my life should be, which is strange considering that a year ago this month I shattered those very ideals by giving up my carefully considered life and moving back in with my parents.

I've learned a lot of things this year. For one thing, life doesn't necessarily work out the way you thought it would... I was doing an exercise with my students today. They had to write a wish list of things they wanted to achieve by the time the were 30. I thought about what my list would have looked like at 13. I think, looking back, my 13 year old self was more ambitious than my twenties self but I can safely say that I got a little bit of that 13 year old back this year. On reflection, that was part of the reason I changed things so drastically a year ago. I was busy over-thinking when the right time in my life to become pregnant was and whether I'd be able to get married and buy a bigger house and produce said child before I was 30 and then, from somewhere deep within, that little 13 year old voice inside me said "Who cares... I want to go to Thailand... I want to fly a plane... I want to move to London" (or whatever your little voice says inside you).

So don't think. Just do. A motto I've been trying to apply to life which, as I said, is difficult for an indecisive person who loves nothing more than a deep and meaningful discussion. I suppose one area I've maybe failed to apply this motto to is my love life. This is an area I definitely tend to over think... However, it has been a challenging year romance wise with many a lesson learnt. I am definitely much wiser and loathe to say older!

I think when I sacrificed what I had, which was quite a beautiful and precious thing, I had to be certain of what I wanted in the future and this has perhaps meant I've treated future relationships like I treat buying a new object; reading the reviews, weighing up the pros and cons and analysing the results. In doing so am I taking the enjoyment out of things? Am I thinking instead of doing; instead of living? I'm currently "mid-experience" which is challenging me not to think so much. To do and in doing enjoy. Next week I'll have quite possibly cracked my pros and cons list out although I'm trying desperately to limit that to house purchasing and beauty buying.