The Winter Coat

Almost every winter I have a debate with myself over the (very serious) matter of winter coats. Do I continue wearing my beloved but worn number, or do I begin the long task of finding the 'perfect' winter coat? (or at least one that doesn't make me resemble the michelin man...)

This is last year's winter coat:

I got it from the petite section in Topshop for the reasonable sum of £70. It definitely served me well and I still wear it when I want to feel snug and cosy. 

This year, I wanted to go for something slightly more sophisticated. Actually, it was inspired by a woman I saw in Starbucks. She was wearing a sheer shirt, so sheer that you could see her bra! I mean, seriously! Aside from that, she was wearing a sophisticated black coat which looked rather lovely. Don't know what taking fashion inspiration from a lady that feels the need to flash says about me, but whatever. It was a nice coat!

Probably because I had a coat style in mind, I found my perfect winter coat in a flash (ha!) I went into Zara and found this straight away. 

 

This was £109. Slightly more expensive than my last, but there we go. It's not the thickest of coats, which personally I like. However, you can crank up the warmth factor with a big old snuggly scarf, like so: 

 Have you managed to find your 'perfect' winter coat yet?

Our Little House

We've recently (as in, a year ago) moved into our own little place. It was a blank canvas, so how to decorate it was entirely up to us. Now, I'm pretty awful when it comes to buying furniture...I flip between wanting something modern and antique and become fairly attached to objects pretty quickly. So when we went settee shopping, I wanted the first one I sat on and enjoyed because I got used to it and felt...that it belonged with us. Like I didn't want to leave it behind. Haha, you can see how easy it would be for a salesperson to get me to buy something.

Anyway, we ended up buying an apple green settee and cuddler (big, squishy chair that spins around, very cool) which is very comfortable, but I'm not sure I like the colour now. It somehow feels a bit too...happy for winter. As you walk in it seems to scream 'helllllllo, I know you've just had a wonderful day, why don't you share your joyous news with me as you rest in my HAPPY green arms!' Not really, but it's clear I let my furniture affect my mood far too much!

We didn't have a bed for about 3 weeks, so we slept on the floor until we finally decided on one. I very nearly purchased a big old (expensive) bed from Dreams because I felt sorry for the salesperson (duh) but luckily S made the final decision there and we bought a much cheaper and still comfortable one from Ikea. Oh, we've had many a trip to Ikea...

So yes. I'm not sure whether I like everything (will I ever?) but it's our little space and I do love it. I'll stop waffling now and show you some pictures.

 

We try to collect paintings/posters (usually the latter, for we are not rich) from our travels to make the house a little more comforting. I think my favourite room is actually the spare room, which is where the rail and desk photographed above are kept. I retreat there to work, test out outfits and run on my treadmill (not often enough). 

So there it is. Our little space.

A Walk in the Woods

I do love going for a walk on a Saturday, especially when it's Autumn and the wind is slightly blowing (not too much though, those scarves are a bugger to keep in place) and the streets are a carpet of yellowy brown leaves. Today we went to one of our usual spots, Hampstead Heath. I was clearly dressed for the occasion:

 Autumnul hues are my favourite. And oh, here I am wearing one of the scarves from yesterday's post. That's our plant, Esther, in the photo. First plant that we have kept alive for more than, oh say, 3 days. Pretty good for us.

 

Can't go to a forest without posing by a great old tree. 

As well as enjoying a therapeutic pound in the woods, I love looking at the twee houses on the way. I am pretty happy with my little lot, but it would be wonderful to be able  to afford one of those frankly stunning  houses. I always have a nose through the windows and see the ornate frontings, floor to ceiling bookshelves, huge paintings and quirky ornaments and imagine that I live there.Sigh. Here is a photo showing me looking and probably sighing, ha.

However, I didn't covet this....thing. You are a house, not a ship! 

So yes, that was our day. Oooh, we also purchased some MULLED WINE to have this evening. Oh yes. I love the sweetest, usually cheapest mulled wine in our normagiant wine glasses (seriously, those things can carry half a bottle of wine...for those 'but I only had 2 glasses' excuses). 

Happy weekend. What did you get up to? 

Scarves, scarves, scarves.

I do love a scarf or two. Or threefourfive. Especially now that it's the time of year where you can mention Chrismas and all of the cosiness that it implies...eee. The snuggly socks, the hot chocolate (Earl Grey Tea) by the open fire (central heating). Ok, so it's the idea of winter cosiness that I like. And scarves definitely play a part in that snug as a bug feeling. Shame I'm too scared of my beloved scarves getting wet most of the time to actually wear them, as I almost always forget to bring an umbrella. But that can change...

On to the scarves, of which I own rather a few I realise. Apologies for the rubbishy lighting/set up. I left my camera at work and getting an ipad to stand up by itself is a task and a half!

Scarf #1: Tartan. Zara. 
 Huge scarf that can double as a picnic blanket. This thing is so soft and warm and snuggly and, if you care about those things, right on trend what with the tartan and all that.

Scarf #2 Mustard. Zara. 
I'm loving this colour at the moment, which may have something to do with all the pretty leaves on the ground. Another cosy scarf that goes well with my mostly monochrome wardrobe. Slightly thinner than the tartan blanket of a scarf.

Scarf #3 Pink Splashes. Topshop. 
Sorry for this terrible pic, which isn't showing the scarf too well. This is much thinner than the other two, and is something I would wear with an LBD for a more sophisticated feel. I love the look of this and how swishy I feel when I'm wearing it, but I struggle to keep these things on all day. How do you do it?! Safety pin? Brooch?

Scarf #4 Sea. Primark. 
Playing around with the filter on this one. This scarf is pretty thin, another one that I'd wear to jazz up a little black dress. I should wear this one more often actually, it stays at the bottom of my scarf basket most of the time. Will add a splash of brightness in the winter months (well, with my closet it's always the winter months...)

Scarf #5. Pink Ruffles. M&S. 
This was a gift from my fiance's sister (still feels weird typing fiance!) last Christmas. At first I wasn't too sure about it, what to style it with, yada yada, but actually, it's quite pretty. Will experiment with this more soon...

Scarf #6 Colourful Blotches. Primark.
Another 'spruce up your LBD' scarf.

Scarf #7 Gold Patterned. Monsoon. 
So when I purchased this I had an image in my head. Long black Laura Ashley Dress. Oversized sunnies. Black court shoes. And this golden scarf for a touch of class. Worked in my head but I never got round to creating that look in reality. YET!

My cute little teddy bear hat for good measure. I see children in this. Not the look I'm going for, but comfy all the same.

Do you have baskets full of scarves? If you do, show me! I love a good nose.

New month, new goals...

 Hello there.

Last month feels like such a blur. I've been so busy, which I secretly love (spare time scares me) but I have realised just how much better I feel when I take a rest and exercise and eat well. Surprise that, eh? Hmm. Towards the end of last term I felt so run down and ill, never rested, that it became the norm. There are certain things I can't change...working full time, doing a masters, tutoring and commuting for over an hour to work and an hour and a bit back each day can't be changed. But my eating and sleeping habits and general attitude can! Oh yeah, so enthusiastic there.

So this is what I aim *vow* to achieve this month:

*Exercise
Yesterday I went for my first non-forced run (ie, I didn't feel like I was about to fall asleep on the treadmill) and it felt SO good. I stepped off feeling nice and energised, like I could take on anything, which is how it should be. That was also due to listening to Hairspray songs and belting out 'Good Morning Baltimore' a hundred times. So yes. Exercise being helpful= acknowledged.

Next month's exercise: 

*I know I'm late to the bandwagon, but I want to try Jillian Michael's 30 day shred. 
So that, every day.  

*Using the treadmill for at least 30 mins 3X a week.

*Swimming once every 2 weeks.

*Food
Now I'm going to be a bit wishy-washy on this one. Basically, I want to eat a diet that looks something like this:

B/f: Big bowl of bran cereal to fuel me for the day.
L: on the go...so a marmite sandwich and apple (was having protein bars)
D: I always struggle to think of ideas...but variation of tuna/broccoli or sweet potato and cottage cheese.

Possibly a few snacks too. We'll see how this goes, but I want to eat more healthily than I did this month!
  
*Read
I have a long commute so I get to read a fair bit. I want to start enjoying reading on the train again. At the moment I have been resorting to my course textbooks and Jacqueline Wilson books for comfort! I have a whole stack of books waiting for me, I just need to dare to delve into them.

*Clothes
I want to experiment with my outfits. I have a whole lot of clothes and usually stick to the same old outfits. Blogging here will help me to document/get inspirations, and my 'clothes for the week rail' that I purchased last week should help too (see below)

Do you have any aims for next month?  

 

Update/Photos

And so I flip flop back here. Looking at my previous post...why did I think that focusing on a food blog would be my kind of thing?!! I never cook and eat on the go most of the time. So fickle.

Anyway, I've missed this little space, and now I've got a bit of time/am ill (holiday flu, yum) I'd thought I'd update/catch up with you lovely lot.

Apart from working like a mad thing, here's what I've been up to in my absence:

I'm a very lucky lady. In the Easter hols my partner (should I say boyfriend? sounds too young!) whisked me away to New York, which was amazing, to sum it up. Whilst we were there we got engaged. This is how it happened: we had been looking around museums all day and decided to walk through Central Park before going out for supper. Suddenly, something bashed me in the leg. I looked down, and saw a dog on a skateboard. No word of a lie, a DOG on a SKATEBOARD. At first I couldn't see its owner, so this dog cruising past with its tongue hanging out was the most hilarious thing I'd ever seen. I watched the dog skate around for a bit (no, he didn't have the ring in his mouth, ha). I'd insert a pic (he's actually quite famous, I looked him up on youtube after!) but my computer is being as slow as death, so I'll let you use your imaginations.

Anyway, after dog viewing, S suggested that we go to sit on a rock overlooking the park. I saw the rock, thought it was far too small to fit both of our bottoms on and suggested a much larger rock further down the hill. S agreed...little did I know he wanted the smaller one as a) it had a better view and b) it would be easier to get down on one knee! Oops. We went to the big rock, where I proceeded to take off my smelly shoes and rub my sore feet (ever the romantic) and then he got down on one knee (with difficulty) and asked me to be his wife. Anyone who still wants me sans shoes is a keeper! I don't like getting soppy, but let's just say it is one of my best moments ever. Well done bf/partner! I can say fiance now ;)

We also went to Pisa/Florence/Venice. What can I say, we (usually) make the most out of our holidays. I love Italy in general, but I was a bit overwhelmed by Florence (art, beauty...who said I wasn't a romantic?) and didn't feel settled inside until I got to Venice. There is something about being beside water that I find so calming. I could say so much more...maybe I'll do separate posts later, but I'm trying to keep this 'hey I'm back' one short (ish).

I'll leave you with a few recent photos. The 2 below are from a Beyonce party I went to.I was supposed to be Bey, but I was told that this was more of a Lady Gaga look...which I can see is definitely the case. Well, it's pretty hard to dress as someone who only wears bikinis and tiny shorts when you live in a cold and rainy Blighty. That's my excuse anyway. Still, I quite liked this outfit. 

And last but not least, I treated myself to some furry, wine coloured shoes. Lovely.