A treat for myself that helps me find my way home

I don’t know about you all, but I don’t really like getting money for Christmas. Getting a present from someone is so much more personal, and it means a lot to me. I only give presents to my family and my closest friends, and I know that they all know me well enough to get me something that I like.

However, my sweet old grandma always gets me money instead of presents, and I always just spend it on… yeah what? That’s the thing –you spend the money on everyday stuff that you don’t even remember. So this year I thought that I would buy something really nice for the money she gave me.

I love unusual jewellery. Earrings and necklaces. You can never have too many of them. I wouldn’t really wear bracelets cause of my tiny wrists, but I’ve got quite a collection of earrings and necklaces. When I was visiting my family in Sweden the other week I walked in to a shop and immediately fell in love with a necklace in there. It was a long steel chain with a clip on pendant in two pieces –a steel ring with the writing SWEDEN*EUROPE*THE WORLD on it, and in the middle is a little globe that you can spin. It’s a trendy designer brand called Rirem. I thought that this suited me very well, since I live abroad –and this is my way of thinking of the place where I belong. Cheesy, I know. But I like it ;)

My mum and I chose a similar necklace for my sister. It’s of the same design, with the steel ring and a ball in the middle. But hers was cerise coloured with the text “Don’t live faster than your angels can fly”

Witchcraft and fairytale boots

My best friend always comments on how many pair of boots I have in my possession. While she prefers to just have one pair at a time, and to wear them out completely before she buys a new pair, I love to vary between a few pairs. Just being able to change the look of your outfit with different boots every day –I love it! At the moment I think I own 5 or 6 pairs of boots (which I don’t consider very many at all) –all but two pairs bought this year. My newest ones are a pair of black, faux leather boots, which go all the way up to my knees, with a fold over bit at the top. There is a mini heel on them –just about 2 centimetres, and the style is a bit similar to the boots of ‘Puss in Boots’ (that’s what my dad has been calling me when I’ve worn them)

My favourite pair of boots was actually bought in the summer of 2006, when I was 20. It’s a pair of black ankle boots which look quite old fashioned -as if they belong in the 1920’s or something. They have thin laces at the front with little metal hooks, and a little heel. I use to call them my ‘witch-boots ‘. They’re not great for the winter weather, which is why I usually just wear them in the autumn. They desperately need re-heeling now after 4 years though. There’s no way I am getting rid of them!

Posing in my 'witch boots'

I bought a pair of chocolate brown high heeled boots last spring. I can’t really remember where I bought them, but I think it was at Clarks. It was so annoying because size 4 was a bit too tight (I could just about squeeze my feet into them) and size 5 was too big. I bought them in size 5 anyway, thinking that I would buy a thick sole at some point to put in them, but I haven’t done that yet. Silly me. I’ve worn them twice anyway, and they’re not comfy at all. I really need to buy some soles so that I can start wearing them properly once the snow and ice is gone. They’re so pretty!

My lovely purple handbag

So I got my handbag for Christmas. It’s the perfect handbag. My best friend really knows my taste! It is dark purple, made out of faux leather, and it has got little pockets and zippers everywhere. Instead of just describing it –here it is;

The bag is from Jane Norman -one of my favourite shops.

Thank you Malin! :D

All I want for Christmas is... a handbag

I bought my current handbag in a little shop in Mallorca. In a typical tourist village, where you don't see many locals, but just sunburnt englishmen. This was 2,5 years ago, so as you can imagine my handbag is long past its best days. The leather strap is well damaged, and some pieces are missing.
Even though I own a few other bags, this is the one I use the most cause the size of it is just perfect. It's great for everyday use, and fits everything I need for work. I use other bags for a day out shopping, or a night out, but this is the one I use everyday for the office -which might explain why it's so worn out.
Although, even though I love it and have done for so long, I have now realised that it's time to replace it with a new one.
One of the same size, and the same material -but perhaps another colour and shape this time.
That's number one on my wish list for this Christmas!

A non-leopard print prom dress

So, what’s up with all the leopard prints on every piece of clothing lately? I went looking for a prom dress (yes, prom dress! Imagine!) the other day –which wasn’t easy at all– and in one of the shops I went in to it was like going back to the 80’s or something –everything was just leopard print! I don’t know about you, but this kind of pattern just makes me think of tacky trying-to-be-sexy underwear and forgotten celebrities that were famous when I was a baby. Apparently it’s back “in style” again, but I can’t say that I like it. I don’t think that I could ever buy something with a leopard print on. And if I was forced to I guess I’d go for some discrete shoes. (I just remembered that I did have a leopard print umbrella a few years ago...)

Anyway, I found a dress at last. After walking around in the massive Trafford Centre in Manchester for several hours I finally decided to go for a long, black, one shoulder dress with pretty jewel decorations below the bust. I would say that it’s kind of a classic dress –which is to prefer, because that means that I can wear it for other occasions in the future. The dress is mesh draped in a Grecian style, with a thigh high split on the left side. The question is –do I wear it with black tights to make the split more discrete, or do I show off my pale legs?

The dress is from Jane Norman, and I fell in love with it at first sight. It was actually the first dress I tried on, and the one I went for in the end. I’m going to match it with some black (low) heels and silver and purple jewellery. I’ll put some photos up after the event.

I can’t believe I’m going to a ball!

My worst buy ever

You know when you go to a clothes shop you’ve never been to before, and you’re all amazed by all the pretty, shiny things in there... You find something that you like, and in the shop it looks like the most gorgeous garment in the world, but once you’ve taken that garment home, and the pretty shine that the shop lights spread over it is gone, you realise how very not pretty it is. Or how extremely uncomfortable the thing you just bought actually is.

My worst buy ever was a pair of shoes that I bought in a very trendy, urban fashion shop in Gdynia, Poland, where me and my family went for a holiday when I was 18. At the age of 18 I wasn’t very fashionable at all, but wore whatever I felt like –which usually was just a black t-shirt with some rock’n’roll motive and some ripped jeans. I saw these really cool shoes and thought that I would ‘style up’ my outfit a bit...

The shoes weren’t like any other shoes. I fell in love with them at first sight. In that shop they looked like the coolest shoes ever –but who said cool is comfortable.

Let me just say that I’ve worn these shoes about once or twice, for perhaps two hours each time. That’s how unbearably uncomfortable they are! But they’re pretty to look at... They make a nice little decoration in my wardrobe back at my parents’ house.

Five times pale

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I love skirts. I'm a total skirt freak. I don't know what's happened to me, but these last few years I seem to have developed some kind of obsession for skirts. This summer I believe that I have bought not less than five skirts. Five!!! Or is it six maybe...?

Anyway... what I was going say was that I usually wear leggings or tights with my skirts -especially now when the summer's practically gone. (Not that we really had a summer in England this year anyway, but still...) I looked in my wardrobe the other day and found that I only had a pair of black tights, and that is a bit too wintery, isn't it?
I went out on a hunt for some normal tights -you know the see through ones that your legs look really nice and tanned in. I went to Marks and Spencer’s since I know they have quite good quality tights (that's where I bought my old black ones which I've had since last December -a long time for a pair of tights)
It wasn't easy, I'll tell you that. M&S has a whole section in their store with just tights. After some comparing between them all I went for a 5-pack called "natural tan". I thought they would go really well with my autumn outfits.
The choice had been between them ones and some "normal" ones, which almost looked grey... Ew! Who would actually want to have grey, old lady-like legs?

I put the tights on this morning, and in the dim light of the bedroom it looked alright.
Although, when I stepped outside in the sunlight I noticed how horrible it actually looked!
The "tanned" tights made my legs look über pale!
My natural tan was actually darker than the fake tan tights -and my legs have barely seen the sun at all this summer, and are - according to me -the palest they've ever been.

Guess that's the Scandinavian skin for you!
English "tanned" tights -go hang yourselves! (Too bad I bought five pairs...)