fawned

hello all ♥

2010-08-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

i'm a different person now than i was when the blog began, but i was beginning to think it's kind of unfair to just leave you guys without an explanation note, so here it is!
this blog is now finished. i've loved it, you, everything, but there will be no more updates.
thank you for support & kind words & company -- it's meant the world :)

be brave, be beautiful, be you.

love, holly ♥

stolen cardigans & summer shorts ♥

2010-06-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

I found this cardigan at the back of my wardrobe today, and I'm pretty sure it belongs to my friend Hazz - and no, Hazz, if you're reading this, you cannot have it back :)
The weather's been beautiful this week but I've been stuck inside revising - booo! So today was my first time to exercise a summery outfit with the handy excuse of my cousin's 18th birthday dragging me away from the books.
I'm loving shorts-that-look-like-skirts at the moment, & this lovely pair was bought by my Mummy from River Island :D
I'm really really loving River Island at the moment - I never used to due to their incessant need to over-embellish everything, but these days it's a shop I get more excited about going to than even our beloved Topshop!
How have you been enjoying the sunshine?

Love, Holly ♥

shorts & sunglasses: river island
cardigan: gap
top & belt: h&m
necklace: accessorize

summertime ♥

2010-05-23T01:59:00.000-07:00

I'm really sorry for my over-a-month long absence, but it has been kind of necessary.
My boyfriend's mum recently passed away so I've been spending a lot of time with him & with his family,
but on top of that I've also just spent a lot of time trying to figure out whether or not I really want to keep fawned running.
You're all such wonderful people - I'm always boring my friends with talk of how lucky I feel to have such fantastic people take the time to read & comment on my little blog,
but this time of year always makes me yearn for the outdoors, and so the internet - blogging included - falls to the side.
I'm not giving up on fawned, but posts will be very very less frequent in the coming months.
I have the best boyfriend, and both he & I live in such beautiful places that it's hard not to spend every second of every day outside.
I did, however, make a resolution not too long ago to take more pictures - so what I'll probably do is just more posts like this one.
I do hope you're all alright, & thank you so much for supporting this blog.
Now get out & enjoy the sunshine :)

Love, Holly ♥

moony & wormtail & padfoot & prongs ♥

2010-04-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

There are a few things on this blog that don't need repeating. The first: I'm so sorry about my lack of updates. The second: I love you all of you lovely readers so bloody much, and am racked with guilt about my crappy inability to comment back. And, the third: I'm really really into Harry Potter.

I got this amazing new t-shirt from evietees - an etsy site that has all kinds of lovely fandom-based treats, for those among us who can't seem to let go of their childhood loves. Safe to say, this is my new favourite shirt :)

I hope you've all been splendid! I am so sorry for not having updated or commented any of you beautifuls back - it's a crappy excuse to say that I'm insanely busy at the moment, but I'm afraid it's the truth. We're back at school & I have my A-Level exams in 5 weeks time, so it's pressurepressurepressure and workworkwork for me right now! On top of that I work the evening shift at my local supermarket every Wednesday & Thursday, I usually spend Friday-Sunday with my boyfriend, and Monday & Tuesday nights are therefore the only nights left available to actually get on with some schoolwork! But I promise that as soon as these silly exams are out of the way I'll have all the time in the world and - providing this beautiful weather sticks around! - I'll be updating a lot more :)

Stay magic.
Love, Holly ♥

denim dress & overworn shoes ♥

2010-04-10T10:07:00.001-07:00

First off, I suppose I should (once again!) apologise for my predictable absence. I can't even blame school, as I've had the past 2 weeks off! But those 2 weeks have been full of work work work or drama drama drama, and this Saturday has actually been the first day that I've had completely to myself.
It's been a perfect to have just for me though, as the sun has finally decided to show it's face in Blighty!
I spent the morning in the little town where I go to school, looking for presents for my friend Megan, who turns 18 next week. It was busy & bustling & sunshiney - as you can see from the pictures, I actually took my cardigan off for the first time this year! I bought lots of presents for her, some adorable shoes for myself that you'll see soon, and then treated myself to some art by Chris Schinder. I've never owned actual art before, it's terribly exciting :D

Ooh, and speaking of purchases - along with some wizard rock albums (honestly, it doesn't get much cooler than me) - I recently bought Rufus Wainwright's new album, 'All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu', and it's a thing of absolute beauty. Give it a listen - I'm sure you won't regret it.

But anyway! After my morning in town I came home about lunchtime and, after writing pages and pages in my journal, decided I'd go for the walk that I used to go for every day last summer - and thought it was about time I paid this blog, and you lovely readers, some attention!
Turns out I've missed the woods alot more than I thought.

I hope you've all been well, and that your day was as lovely & quiet & much-needed as mine :)

Love, Holly ♥

dress: topshop, last year
shoes: primark
satchel: asos
cardigan: george @ asda

what to wear on trains ♥

2010-03-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures last Friday, before I went to stay with my boyfriend for a bit. I meant to post them sooner, but this week has just been about coursework, coursework, coursework! It's out of the way now & I've got two glorious weeks off now though, whew :)
I always have a bit of a dilemma about what to wear on trains -
I know it seems a bit weird, but I don't generally like to wear my usual white tights because changing at different stations & sitting in different cafes & running about (which I inevitably end up doing on my journey) runs a fairly high risk of getting them dirty. Skin coloured tights are of course an option, but often attract some unwanted attention..!
Also I feel like you should always wear more on trains, because then you have to pack less!
Anyway this is what I wore last time I went. I don't know why I went into that much detail about my decision process, but there you go :)

With the exception of the necklace, which my Mummy bought me from Accessorize, this entire outfit is from New Look! Haha, not intentional of course, but when I think about it it seems that quite a lot of my wardrobe is composed of New Look things. Not because I'm a particularly adamant fan of theirs (though they have stepped up their game lately), but I suppose that's what happens when you have a New Look right next to your school!

And speaking of school, I confirmed my university choice earlier today, so as of September this year, I'll be living in St Andrews :) Scotland! Exciting exciting exciting.

I hope you're all had a great week! I'm feeling in a bit of a funny mood due to being absolutely exhausted from coursework week, so sorry if this post is rambly! :)

Love, Holly ♥

cupcakes! ♥

2010-03-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my friend Hannah's 18th birthday, but being the poor little student I am I couldn't afford to get her anything much until payday (next Friday! yay) - so, until then, I thought I might make her some cakes!
(Cause who doesn't love cakes, right?)
Anyway, this recipe works time & time again for me, so I'm sharing it with you loveliest now. Aren't I sweet? ;)

♥ Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (355°F).

♥ You will need...
- 100g (3 and a half ounces) of self-raising flour.
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder.
- 100g (3 and a half ounces) of butter.
- 100g (3 and a half ounces) of caster sugar.
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten.
- Drop of milk.

♥ And of course, don't forget the crucial baking playlist. Dancing around and singing at the top of your voice is a key ingredient in the creation of wonderful cakes - I always find a mix of Taylor Swift and the Glee soundtrack works perfectly :D

♥ Add the butter to the sugar.

♥ Then whisk! As you whisk, gradually add the egg. What I usually do is crack the two eggs into a mug, beat them together there, then slowly pour them in.
Oh, and the dress I'm wearing here is from Miss Selfridge :)

♥ Sift the flour & the baking powder together, then whisk it in with the butter, sugar & egg.

♥ I use medium sized eggs, so I like to add a very small splash of milk at this point. If you're using large eggs, this shouldn't be necessary.

♥ Spoon the mix into cake cases til just over half full. I managed to make 16 cupcakes with my mix, but I do have quite small cupcake cases.

♥ Then (my favourite part!) feel free to lick any remaining mix of the spoon :) Mmmm!

♥ Bake for between 15-20 minutes. I always find that 16 minutes is the perfect amount of time for me, but remember, every oven will always be slightly different!

♥ Once the cakes are done, remove them from the oven (and please don't forge to use an oven glove!) & poke them with a knife. If the knife comes out clean, they're done.

♥ Leave the cakes to cool for as long as they need (10-15 minutes should do it) and then, enjoy! You've got just enough time for a cup of tea whilst you're waiting :)

Love, Holly ♥

school uniform & satchel ♥

2010-03-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

Finally, it seems, the long lost sun has remembered Britain!
It's still not warm enough to go without jumper or tights (I'm wearing two pairs of natural-coloured ones here), but it's definitely a nice change to not be wrapped up in layer upon layer of scarves, sweaters & coats.
Anyway, this is - as you can probably tell - my school uniform. I've wanted to make a uniform post for a while (after all, it certainly gets more wear than most of my clothes!), and I'm in my last year of 6th form - which means I'm off to uniform-less university in September - I figured it was about time I got round to it!
Our uniform at my school consists of plain white shirt, plain black shoes, plain black jumper & plain black skirt. Naturally, I interpreted to include a navy & white striped jumper :)

I got this jumper a month or so ago from our beloved Topshop (♥), and I've worn it almost constantly since. It even came with me to Poland, which I visited on Thursday for a trip to Auschwitz. I was going to write about that trip here, but I don't think I'd feel comfortable writing about such a subject on this blog, so I'll nothing more about it. Needless to say it was a truly horrible experience, but one which I firmly believe we all must undertake in our lifetime. If you get the opportunity, go. It's so, so important.

But anyway! Onto a happier subject :)
Tuesdays are always brilliant days because I finish early, so since taking these pictures on my arrival home I've made some cupcakes (which you'll hear all about later!), and am now tucked up on the sofa watching Bright Star. Perfect!

I hope you're all having a magical week!
Ooh, and speaking of magical, you'll notice that my satchel has a clear square space in the front. I didn't want to leave it empty but was at a loss as to what should go in there - so, typical me, I opted for cutting out a section of what is quite obviously the best series of books ever, Harry Potter. Serious bonus points if anyone can tell me which book this is from!

Love, Holly ♥

jumper: topshop
shoes & skirt: dorothy perkins
satchel: asos

Oh, and P.S. Yes, my gate is falling down, and yes, we like to leave the labels on plants. :)

summer dress & mothers day ♥

2010-03-14T10:33:00.001-07:00

Boring boring outfit, but I've spent the day doing family duties with family members I don't see very outfit, so a particularly 'exciting' outfit wasn't on the cards!
These photos sadly don't do a very good job of showcasing this lovely new dress from New Look, that I bought only a few weeks ago.
I can't wait to wear it in the summer with bare legs & bare arms - I wasn't even brave enough to take off my cardigan, let alone my tights!

But, anyway! Look! A post!
Prince Antoine has been returned to his rightful throne, and thanks you all for your warm wishes in his absence.
Posting will resume as normal (hopefully) now, and honestly thank you all so so so much for your patience :)

Love, Holly ♥

dress: new look
cardigan & shoes: topshop
tights: accessorize

sorry! ♥

2010-03-01T09:50:00.000-08:00

Terrible news, lovelies! My beautiful laptop, Prince Antoine, has broken :(
I'm using my Mum's very very quickly just to let you guys know - I'd have posted sooner but I was in Devon this weekend and oh, it's just been manic.
I am both very very gutted and very very sorry - it'll hopefully be fixed soon (which is no fun for my bank account! ouch!) and I'll be back to you all soon as I can.
OH, and just to say, the comments you left on my last post were so so so lovely - you remain the nicest things ever. I just wish I deserved it!
Back soon, beautifuls, I promise :) ♥

vlog! ♥

2010-02-23T12:38:00.000-08:00

Hello lovelies! Guess what? Today is the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of fawned! How exciting! I sort of feel like I should change the title from 'fawned' to 'deered', cause we're all grown up, now :D
I wanted to do something actually GOOD to celebrate this one year anniversary, like a layout change or something, but I'm bad with the whole HTML business and decided it was probably safer to not.
So I vlogged! Because lazing about the house in my Gryffindor jumper doesn't make for a very exciting outfit post, and I couldn't think of a single thing else to do :D

But, guys, important question time.
What do you want to see more of on fawned?
Because honestly, I love every single one of you 48 followers and this is a blog for YOU, so tell me what you want! Outfit posts? Vlogs? Questionnaires? Advice? Tips? Long rambling essays on the various things that I know? I'm quite happy to talk about anything, absolutely anything at all, so don't be shy :)

And thank you all so, so much for coming back to fawned time & time again :)

Love, Holly ♥

fancy dress! ♥

2010-02-19T11:02:00.000-08:00

I own a ridiculous amount of animal ears, and so whenever an opportunity arises to wear them without looking completely insane, I grab it :)
Last night, my friend Georgia had her 18th birthday party. The theme was film & tv, so, naturally, I utilised the adorable white cat ears that I bought from H&M (yes, the childrens section) a few months ago, and went as Marie from the Aristocats!
It wasn't the most imaginative of costumes - admittedly, I pretty much dress like this anyway - but, oh well.
My friend Hazz dressed up as one of the Brokeback Mountain boys, Hannah in the long white dress was Belle from Beauty & The Beast, and Susannah - obviously - was Minnie Mouse. My friend Megan, not pictured here, dressed as Holly Golightly and looked amazing - I so wish I'd thought of that first!
But my favourite costumes of the night were probably the girls dressed as the 118 men, that you can see above. Amazing :D

I've had a restful day recovering, and am planning to spend the weekend being just as lazy! What about you? What are are your plans for the weekend?

Love, Holly ♥

top, skirt & ears: H&M
cardigan: USC
tights: topshop
shoes: sugar

my favourite coat ♥

2010-02-17T03:13:00.000-08:00

I'd been dreaming of this French Connection coat since last September, but at £180 it was just too much money for poor little student me - heartbreaking!
Then a few weeks ago I went shopping with my Mum, and when we met up at the end of our shopping trip, I found SHE had bought it! In the sale it had been reduced massively from it's original price to £75 and, naturally, she snapped it up. Of course I was a little bit gutted that my dream coat now belonged to my Mum, but then as soon as we got home she realised that she'd picked up the wrong size (MY size), and since you can't take sale items back, she gave it to me! :D

Living in Britain, having lots of coats isn't a luxury, it's a necessity. I own an absolute tonne of coats (I dread to think how much I've spent over the years!), and though I love all of them, this one is by far and above my absolute favourite. The shape, the fabric, the colour, the hood! I'm such a sucker for fur hoods, and this one is so fluffy and thick that it makes me feel like an eskimo. I love it.

I've been meaning to show you lovelies for a while, but, well, I'm lazy :D
I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! What did you get up to? Mine was lovely, and thank you all so much for your lovely comments. I read every single one, and always try my hardest to reply. I'm constantly amazed by how lucky I am to have such wonderful readers :)

Love, Holly ♥

EDIT: I almost forgot! I'm selling one of my very favourite satchels on ebay. You can check it out here - it really is very sweet, and I'd love it to go to one of my readers. Unfortunately, I don't ship internationally :( Sorry!

♥

2010-02-12T08:48:00.000-08:00

Hello beautiful!
I have a week off school now, so until Wednesday I'm going to be internet-free Devon, with my boyfriend, who I am currently waiting for to pick me up from the train station :)
I meant to blog before I left but ended up catching a much earlier train, so had to panic & do lots of rushing around this morning.
As soon as I come back though, expect lots of exciting new posts - including me selling some of my stuff!
Have a wonderful weekend, let me know what exciting things you get up to.

Love, Holly ♥

polyvore! ♥

2010-02-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

Jumping on the bandwagon about a billion years too late, I finally caved & got myself a polyvore.
For those of you who aren't aware, though I don't expect there are many of you, polyvore is basically an uncomplicated website with a billion different articles of clothing that allows you to make your own little outfits & show them off to other polyvore users. As my friend Harriet asked, "what's the point?". Well, as with most good things, there isn't one - but yay for pretty things and procrastination! :D
Most people who use polyvore are far more talented & creative than I am, and so if you do happen to visit you'll find tonnes of beautiful inspiration 'mood boards', but I spend too much time fawning over the clothes themselves.
I've been thinking lately how I have pretty much a standard uniform - white tights, ballet flats, a button-up cardigan and some sort of cutesy little dress, generally in grey or some kind of muted pastel colour. Although I obviously wear lots of other things too, this is the basic uniform I revert to on those awful days when nothing in your wardrobe seems to work.
Do you have a basic, standard uniform? Do you think this is because you simply don't have the funds to wear a different outfit today - or do you think that, with all the money in the world, you'd still dress how you do today?
These are a few of the looks I came up with, if I had all the money in the world :)

You can find a link to my polyvore at the top left of this page :)
Love, Holly ♥

♥

2010-02-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

This dress, known by my boyfriend as my 'carousel dress', is my absolute favourite - I can't believe I've never shown it to you guys before!
It's made by a brand called Yumi, an inexpensive brand that makes the sweetest little dresses - so they're perfect for me! You can find them at USC in the UK, or Forever21 in the States.
To be honest, any dress I find that has bunnies, ducks, ponies & bears on it pretty much has my entire heart, immediately - and combined with it's gorgeous indigo colour, silky shimmery fabric and a floaty, whimsical shape that's somewhere between a school uniform and a classy-but-casual evening dress, I completely fell in love. It hangs on the front of my wardrobe (so you may have seen it from bedroom photos!) and I love it just as much as now as I did months and months ago, when I first bought it :)

Anyway - I'm so so sorry for my absence! I've been a bad blogger and will burn in internet hell, I know. It was my boyfriend's birthday not too long ago so I've been spending alot of time with him, English coursework is due in very very soon and - my usual excuse! - I haven't had access to a camera. I'm sorry :(
I promise to make it up to you! I've done a LOT of shopping as of late, and as such have all sorts of little treasures to show off, such as 2 new dresses, a new jumper, and - my very very favourite thing - my terribly beautiful & terribly exciting new coat.
I hope you've all been well! What have you got up to lately? And what's made you smile today?

Here's a picture of some pink cupcakes to make up for it :D
Love, Holly ♥

inspiration post ♥

2010-01-26T11:30:00.000-08:00

I have absolutely no idea where any of these images are from - I'm constantly saving inspiration pictures from tumblr & various blogs & what have you, and I'm one of those dreadful people who never remembers to make note of who the images belong too!
But if anybody has any idea where that beautiful snowflake collar is from, let me know? Because I need it in my life.
I hope you're all having a magical week -
Let me know, do you like these inspiration posts?
Smile, you're lovely ♥

♥

2010-01-24T13:59:00.000-08:00

Having a boyfriend who lives over 100 miles away is certainly not fun, though in the 6 months we've been together I've become very accustomed to trains :)
It's a good job I love train travel - and believe me, I really do love train travel. I think there's something very romantic about trains - it's a style of travel that, although has progressed a hell of a lot since it began, has been around for a long time, and a history geek like me just adores that.
Although I've been 17 (legal driving age in Britain) for a while now, I've never seen the appeal in driving - both because it costs so much and because I'm really quite content with public transport. I know alot of people fear it like the plague, and it's certainly quite annoying when it gets delayed, but I'm generally a fan. No matter how many times I travel by public transport - which I do, alot! - it always feels like an adventure.
How do you feel about public transport? Love or loathe?
I hope you all had a magical weekend :) ♥

my favourite shoes ♥

2010-01-17T04:30:00.000-08:00

I've always had a penchant for anything girly, ridiculous, slightly tacky, and pink. These shoes tick all of those boxes :)
I found them in New Look for only £5, the last pair left and they fit perfectly - fate!
I wore them to dinner & dance (basically, prom) with a bright pink dress that I'm sure will make it onto this blog soon enough, and felt like Malibu Barbie! Elle Woods would've been proud :D
I'm aware that to many people they might seem completely ridiculous & tacky, but I've never had much of an aversion to the ridiculous!
I love the colour, I love the height, I love the shape, I love the saccharine bows - I love them!
They're the sort of shoes that you put on and go, 'Oh! Hello legs!'
What are your favourite shoes? ♥

top: topshop
skirt: primark (i know it looks polka dot, but they're actually little hearts!)
necklace: vintage
tights & shoes: new look

♥

2010-01-14T07:26:00.000-08:00

Hi! I was tagged by the lovely Krissie of the lovely Owl Diary tagged with me the '4 things' meme.
Unfortunatley none of my 4 things are very interesting - as neither am I! - but it's a snow day, and I've spent all day in bed feeling far too lazy to think up 4 interesting facts about myself :D

♥ number one.

I prefer my cat, Lady Tinkerwhatsit, to most people. She's 2 now, but still only a little bit bigger than a kitten, and absolutely totally gorgeous. I know alot of people don't like cats as they're the complete opposite to dogs (who I also love!) in their independence and what can be viewed as hostility. But I'm a cat person through & through - I love that they chose to move in with us, rather than us choosing to domesticate them. I love their affection, and how they seem to be more like people than any other animal. Yeah. I'm definitely a cat person :)

♥ number two.

I write in two things every day -- my journal, and my little book of daily to do lists. I try not to make my to-do lists too ambitious (as I know my own laziness very well!), but without them I just get incredibly restless - but I'm not too worried if all of the little hearts don't get filled in. I'm quite bad at journal keeping - I always start them and end up giving up after a month, but this one is so pretty that I think it'll be sticking around for a long time yet. It was a Christmas present for my Mum :)

♥ number three.

I am a complete necklace fiend. I have tonnes of necklaces & am always looking for more - I don't believe you can ever have too many, and they're the perfect addition to any outfit. This necklace that I got from Accessorize is my current favourite - I really, really love it. It's so pretty! But I own necklaces of every kind - from delicate pieces like this to chavvy silver things that say 'Sexy'. I'm really not fussy!

♥ number four.

As of September, I'll be going off to study History of Art at either Glasgow, Nottingham, Edinburgh, St Andrews or the Courtauld Institute of Art. I can't make up my mind! But I love art, absolutely adore it, and can't wait to spend the next 3 or 4 years of my life completely immersed in it's history. I'm very very excited, and I picked those universities as almost all of them feature a Surrealist module, and the Surrealists (such as Salvador Dali, above) are my very, very favourites.

So there you go! I hope that was of interest to somebody :)
In return, I'm tagging...
♥ Suzannah, from The Sea Ghost
♥ Aimee, from Honey Bees & Cherry Trees
♥ Kate, from Teenage Caffeine Addict
♥ Lindsey, from Blood Like Milk.
And you should all go visit their blogs, as they're all completely wonderful.

♥

2010-01-12T08:31:00.000-08:00

Helloooo :) Happy Tuesday!
I came home early today after only two lessons. As I was walking to the bus stop I accidentally happened to wander in to New Look (something I 'accidentally' do quite often), and fell completely in love with this dress.
I also fell in love with the price tag - £10! Unusual for New Look. Is it me, or are they getting really expensive lately? I think I preferred it when we were in the recession, not coming out of it!
I always get really slack with outfit posts during the winter months because I like to make my pictures out in the woods - but when it's below freezing outside, the woods aren't quite so tempting any more. One of the benefits of moving my furniture around is that I now have lots more space in my bedroom to take outfit posts, so hopefully you'll see more of them in future.
These shoes are my new favourites -- they're authentic ballet shoes with a sole stitched on to the bottom so that I can wear them outside. Predictably they're not the most practical of shoes and I imagine I'll be getting through a few pairs (and at £16 a pair it won't be the cheapest of habits..), but I love them so much. They're impossibly sweet, and really make me wish I was still doing ballet.
Speaking of which, I think I'll be going to see the Russian Ballet perform Swan Lake in Bristol sometime soon :) Exciting!

Today I also did something that I've been meaning to do for a long time but, for various reasons, haven't been able too.
I vlogged!
Please watch, and please let me know what you think :)

dress: new look
tights: accessorize
cardigan & shoes: topshop

EDIT: youtube's being horribly glitchy lately - so if it doesn't start, just check back later and hopefully it'll have sorted itself out :) follow this link if it doesn't work ♥

♥

2010-01-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

Hi! Sorry for my sudden absence -- it's been snowing like crazy here in Blighty, and so Thursday morning when I saw that it WASN'T snowing, I seized the opportunity and got the first train I could to Exeter, to see my boyfriend. I took the above picture on the train home :)

I'll be back soon, but if you want to see what I've been doing this morning you can take a look at the entry I posted this morning on the 'ourbedrooms' community of livejournal, here ♥

♥

2010-01-03T11:42:00.000-08:00

today me & my family went on a long & snowy walk over some of the valleys and mountains of south wales, which i'm fortunate enough to live near. and when i say snowy, i mean very snowy - it was right up to my knees! we had a race down a hill that was coated with snow and i was the only one left standing :) winner!

i'm loving your response to my formspring by the way - i wasn't really expecting anybody to have any interest in me at all! if you do have anything to ask please feel free, no matter how personal/random/general/specific/whatever - i'm perfectly content to talk about myself as much as you want :D
the link is at the top left of this page.

it's back to school for me tomorrow, so i'm soaking up the final remainders of christmas spirit by listening to fairytale of new york by the pogues, my very very favourite christmas song. what's yours? ♥

a year of fawned ♥

2010-01-01T02:12:00.000-08:00

happy new year!
how did you celebrate?
i spent mine with my friends :) ♥

why i love the holidays ♥

2009-12-29T09:02:00.000-08:00

♥ staying in bed all morning with a cat & a book...

♥ wearing my new favourite dress just to laze around the house...

♥ pretty decorations still up...

♥ working my way through my christmas present...

♥ eating whatever i want...
(pasta & cheese - my specialty dish!)

♥ walking the dog through wintery woods...

♥ and a warm cup of tea when i get home...

what's your favourite thing about the holidays? ♥

dress: USC
cardigan & coat: topshop
tights & boots: new look
hat: accessorize
necklace: vintage

EDIT: also, i got a formspring! if anybody is even vaguely interested, do feel free to ask me anything :)

♥

2009-12-27T04:39:00.000-08:00

happy christmaaass! a few days late :)
christmas this year was spent with family, which is always interesting,
but it was generally alright :)
i was a very spoilt girl! i had my laptop back in the summer as an early christmas present,
so i really wasn't expecting anything,
but ended up with perfume, underwear, chocolate (om nom nom) & some very sexy new ghd stylers,
which - as you can tell - i've been playing about with already :D

i hit the christmas sales yesterday (eep!)
but luckily it wasn't anywhere near as busy as anticipated.
i bought lots of lovely things which i'm sure you'll see soon --
i also finally caved and bought this coat,
cause although it's been all over the blogosphere lately, i just couldn't resist :)
and my boyfriend said i look like a sailor, so that's just swell.

my mum bought this dress for me -
it's not the kind of thing i'd pick for myself (far too grown up!), but i liked the ruffley collar,
and i'm certainly not one to turn down free clothes!
it's definitely growing on me, and i love the vintage feel it has when paired with white & lacey tights.

what did you all get for christmas? have you braved the sales yet?!

♥

dress: next
tights: accessorize
necklace: santa :)

EDIT: although i still don't have a camera, mum's become a lot more flexible letting me borrow hers as of late, so hopefully normal posts will resume soon :D thank you all for being so lovely & patient!

♥

2009-11-30T12:55:00.000-08:00

christmas is comingggg! :D
it's without a doubt my favourite holiday -
no matter how old i get, i'll never be able to fall asleep on christmas eve :)
here's my christmas wishlist!

the funny thing is, this year, i don't really want anything!
of course, i wouldn't mind any of these lovely things,
but i think the best part of christmas is giving gifts, not getting them,
so i don't really mind what comes my way!
it's about boyfriend & baking this year ♥

what's on your christmas wishlist?

(everything above is from topshop, past times, amazon & modcloth.)

♥

2009-10-21T13:06:00.001-07:00

hello, all. i'm aware that it's been a dreadfully long time since i've blogged, and rest assured, i miss it.
i've been dying to get back into blogging, but i still don't have a camera -
and it doesn't look like i'll be getting one any time soon :(
i should have one in a few months though, hopefully, and i promise i'll be back & better than ever!
i'm also going to try to make an effort to blog a little more here, too, even if it isn't outfit posts.

BUT! in the mean time, i finally caved and got myself a tumblr :D
and yes, i am already completely addicted!
so whilst i'm not blogging at least i'm tumbling, & i'd love it if we could all tumble together. aww.

alyeska.tumblr.com - it's the aluet word for alaska, which i'm absolutely obsessed with right now.

so yes! i promise to be back soon, and i swear i still read all of your blogs on a daily basis --
and i'm so sorry for not commenting - i promise i still love you!
i'll be back soon. i hope you're all loving this new cold weather as much as i am!
big jumpers, wooly tights, bright yellow duffel coats, sequinned hats, lace up shoes, BOOTS - oh, i love, love, love it.
♥

(p.s. my livejournal is alaskaxyoung.livejournal.com for those who were interested)

hello!

2009-09-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

hello, faithful readers, fellow bloggers! i've not been about for a while, as you can probably tell, and this is for a number of reasons.
one! very good summer in which i have been VERY busy and done lots & lots of things! yay!
two! i'm really into dailybooth & livejournal now.
and three! this is the main reason for my lack of posts - my camera is broken D: it actually broke when i was in jamaica, so i don't know why i haven't mentioned it until now. so yes D: that's not very good at all!
(and for those wondering how i did the below video without a camera, i actually made that video forever ago, and just got round to uploading it.)

SO. YES. I don't reeeeeeally have the funds for new camera buying lately, and, much as i love you guys, i haven't really missed blogging at all. i never really thought of myself as much of a fashion blogger, and i got into this really unfortunate habit of commenting purely for the sake of getting comments, and that's horrible, and i don't like it, so i won't be doing that any more - it was a timesome, weird little hobby, so, yeah.
BUT! but, rest assured that i do still read all of your blogs, and i do still love them & it's not as if i'm turning my back on the fashion blogging world by any means -- i'm just letting things sort of, happen :)
um! but what else?

oh yeah. I really really like dailybooth, and i totally think that you should all get it cause it's great :D and hey, you can still see my lovely face! you lucky, lucky things.

also, i'm really into livejournal these days, because i've got really back into writing, which is fab, but i know that lots of people who i know in real life read this blog, and i do not want them reading my livejournal! so if you are one of my excellent internet readers & want to be all nosy & have a peek around my livejournal, just comment & i'll get back to you with the link.

but yes! dailybooth! it's the way forward :D
click click it's great click click click!

aaaand that's all for now, folks. i hope you've had an awwwwesome summer :D and i will be back soon, i promise! i just... don't know how soon :D

byeee! ♥

♥

2009-08-15T02:59:00.001-07:00

gloucester, cathedral, my friend's house.
a day in the life ♥

♥

2009-08-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

so as you all knowwwww, a week ago i was in jamaica!
i didn't take a bunch of outfit posts cause, y'know. jamaica.
but i had the best time :)
i swam with dolphins, which was predictably phenomenal.
all the hype that surrounds it is totally deserved, and it's well worth the money.
i also visited bob marley's house, climbed dunn's river falls, went kayaking...
went horseback riding into the sea, river tubed, visited ocho rios & the mountain cities...
just, loads of things. it was literally amazing, one of the nicest places ever.
so! yes!
though there's still many photos to be uploaded & sorted & whatnot,
these are the main ones --
and i'll upload the others as soon as i get them :)

♥

♥

2009-08-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

hello everybody!
i got back from jamaica yesterday morning, & i'm still in the process of sorting out pictures and stuff.
in the mean time - have a random inspiration post!
i'm really looking forward to having a major blog-reading session,
so i'll be commenting you all back & everything soon :D
have you had a good 2 weeks? i know i have! ♥

i always find it easier to get inspiration from pictures like these rather than actual fashion pictures - what about you?
oh, & how do you feel about posts like this?
i have a huuuge inspiration folder, so god knows i could do a few more!
let me know what you think :)
♥

♥

2009-07-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

Off to Jamaica :)
Have an awesome fortnight, & I will post about my adventures on my return.

Byeeee! ♥

♥

2009-07-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

I suspect you all may have figured this out by now,
but I'm a pretty huge fan of Harry Potter. It's basically the reason I breathe.
So! In honour of Half Blood Prince being released at the cinema on Wednesday,
I dressed like this! Pretty much the most awesome outfit I've ever worn, I think you'll agree.
Also, these shoes make me feel like I'm 13 again, and I appreciate that wholeheartedly.
I think I'll probably make a video blog soon about what I thought about HBP & whatnot --
I made one the other day for about 20 minutes, then realised my camera wasn't recording! Argh!
Oh wellll :)
For those of you that have seen Half Blood Prince, did you like it?
And those that haven't, are you going to?
Hope you're all okay! ♥

jumper: www.alivans.com
shirt & shoes: primark
skirt: urban outfitters

♥

2009-07-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

Since I wasn't home for my actual real proper birthday,
my friends organised a mini birthday celebration for me last weekend :)
It was entirely awesome, filled with Doctor Who/Pirate/Horse themed stuff (all my favourites!)
And my present was an AWESOME lifesize cardboard cut out of David Tenant as the Doctor :D
Literally the best present ever.

We also went out for a meal at Pizza Express, did lots of laughing, blew bubbles out of the window, got caught in the rain & generally had a really great time :)

dress: glastonbury
shoes: faith

gloucester cathedral ♥

2009-07-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

a thousand million years ago, i posted this, about the city of gloucester, which is near where i live
i mentioned it's loooovely cathedral, & the fact that some scenes from harry potter were filmed there
a few of you asked to see more pictures &, rubbish blogger that i am, i haven't been able to provide them!
but, on sunday, i finally visited the cathedral (and spent far too long in there!) and managed to snap some photos for you
i had to do it secretly though, there were no cameras allowed that day! shhh!
but anyway, i hope you enjoy them.
i absolutely love this place -- it's so staggeringly beautiful, & it's no surprise to me at least that a few scenes in hogwarts castle were filmed here :)

(sorry this was so image heavy! ♥)

♥

2009-07-05T06:25:00.000-07:00

i've had this little tub of bubbles hanging about in my room for over a year
& i decided a few days ago that i might as well use them up! :)
it is really difficult to photograph bubbles though, my god.
& i only had half an hour to take these!
oh well, hope you like.
this is my new playsuit :)
it was £40 from topshop - £40 that i cannot afford to spend, really!
but i absolutely love it, & it's perfect for summer.
speaking of summer, the weather here has finally stopped being insanely hot! yay!
i'm going out for dinner tonight with my friends which should be lots of fun
& i'm going to wear my new red shoes!
i'll take lots of pictures, for sure.
what have you been up to this weekend? ♥

♥

2009-07-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

helloooo :)
this is actually a 'what i wore' from yesterday, seeing as today i went to school
but yesterday i missed school due to a doctors appointment
& used the rest of the day to go shopping!
i spent a lot of money on a lot of unnecessary but lovely things
such as this hat! which you'll be seeing lots of this summer.
my purchases also included the most impractical (but also the most fierce) red shoes.
i'm sure i'll show you all soon :)
also, film recommendation --
i just finished watched imaginary heroes for the second time,
& am just as in love with it as ever.
it was made in 2004, but if you haven't seen it already, you MUST. it's amazing.
anyway! hope you're all alright.
what are you up to this weekend? i'm working! boooo! ♥

dress: h&m
hat: accessorize
belt: new look
shoes: primark

♥

2009-07-01T12:14:00.000-07:00

i bought this vintage Girl Guides dress at glastonbury for £5
i really love it :)
it makes me feel like i should be baking brownies or something, haha
today i taught some year 10 lessons on the BNP & political awareness
it was amazing how little they knew about politics!
& even more amazing that some of them didn't know what the holocaust was.
oh well, hopefully i've "enlightened" a few now, haha :D
it's been so hot here lately!
i don't really like it. it's the sticky kind of hot. booo :(
hope you're all having a great week
what did you get up to today? ♥

listening to: what will you say, by jeff buckley

dress: vintage, glastonbury
shoes: primark
hair flowers: accessorize

glastonbury! ♥

2009-06-30T03:16:00.000-07:00

hellooooo :D
muddied, sunburnt, blistered & aching i return from glastonbury
as you might expect, i had an absolutely incredible time with my 2 best friends
we met lots of new people & i turned the grand old age of 17!
and yes, it probably was the best birthday ever :)
i was an incredible lucky girl because three of my favourite favourite favourites --
jason mraz, pete doherty & bon iver
-- were playing this year, & i got to see them all!
jason mraz was very exciting because i was stood right at the very front, directly opposite him
& the entire gig had such an amazing, feel-good vibe to it
at the end he sang 'every little thing is gonna be alright', & people were still singing it on the way out!
when bon iver played i was again right at the front, directly opposite him
& it was the best hour of my life, by far.
i had a tear in my eye the whole time, & when he played Re:Stacks, i wept like a baby! :)
it was absolutely phenomenal.
pete doherty was of course wonderful (other stage was a bit too big for him though, methinks)
& i also saw florence and the machine, regina spektor, the streets, black eyed peas, scott matthews & good old tom jones!

see how close we were?! very exciting!
i took lots & lots of pictures
but there aren't many of me -- or at least, not ones i'm willing to post here! haha!
as you might expect, i wasn't in the best state most of the time :D
so i don't have many pictures of what i wore, or what other people wore
but i can tell you that flower headbands were very popular indeed!
i usually just matched a dress with a pair of knee high socks and wellies
& i was much too busy having a good time to worry about what i looked like :)
let me know what you got up to this weekend!
i hope you all had a really time
i know i did :) ♥

♥

2009-06-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

things continue to be hectic, busy & very surreal!
it feels sort of like i'm watching my life, rather than being in it?
oh, i don't know :)

i'm off to glastonbury now! all packed & excited, eeee.
i'll be sure to take lots of pictures, & normal posting will resume as soon as i get back :D

have a great weekend! ♥

oh, p.s! watch this video i made :D
i've been meaning to make something like this for a while
& am planning on making lots more soon!
the song is tuolumne, by eddie vedder :)
hope you like!

♥

2009-06-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

weirdest week of my whole life.
wearing a whole lot of purple, lately.
back soon ♥

♥

2009-06-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

hellooooo everybody!
sorry my posting has been so sporadic as of late
& i've been so terribly, terribly useless at commenting back D:
i promise i do read all of your lovely blogs, though!
unfortunately my posting will continue to be kind of on and off for a while
as i recently broke up with my boyfriend
& am spending most of my time being glum D:

in slightly more exciting news, clothes! yay!
i bought this soft soft soft oversized jumper today
the moment i saw it i knew it'd be perfect for cuddling up in on cold summer nights :D
&, i know that wellies are not perhaps the most fashionable of shoes
but i'm trying to get used to wearing them because i'm going to glastonbury soon!
yaaay!
i'm very excited.
i'll be there for my birthday!
which is in a whole eleven days. i'll be seventeen! that's massive.
anyway i hope you're all alright :)
i promise i'll get around to commenting & what not soon ♥

jumper, shorts, tights: new look
wellies: who knows!

♥

2009-06-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

hello everybody! today i went on a school trip to caerleon - the best preserved roman barracks in europe :)
which, for a history geek like me, was very exciting!
this is what i wore :D

top & sunglasses: primark
cardigan: h&m
trousers: topshop
shoes: dorothy perkins
bag & necklace: vintage

♥

2009-06-08T14:33:00.000-07:00

now this isn't the sort of thing i usually post on my blog, preferring instead to stick to happier subjects.
i'm not sure if you're aware, international readers, but there was a recent European Election in the United Kingdom.
The BNP won 2 seats, and gained large percentages in council elections - 10% in Yorkshire, 8% in the North West.
If you don't know who the BNP are, I suggest you check out this fantastic video for more information.
to summarise, the BNP are a descendant of the vehemently racist late 70s 'national front'.
its leader is nick griffin, a holocaust denier, who several years ago attended a KKK meet in america.
the BNP has a multitude of homophobic, anti-semetic, anti-islamic members in its ranks.
for all their shiny suits and school boy vocab, make no mistake, the BNP is a racist party
having admitted that the eventual aim of the BNP is the forcible removal of all people of colour from the United Kingdom.
....i don't even really know what to say to that.
the idea that the BNP were even CONSIDERED from the European Elections is utterly absurd.

however, i'm entirely pro-democracy and would not want the BNP to stand down by any means --
freedom of speech and what have you --
but i mean, REALLY, britain?! come on.
one of the saddest things is that the BNP were able to gain the majority because so few people voted.
now i'm 16 & won't be 17 til june, which unfortunately means that i won't be able to vote in next year's election - thus, i won't be able to vote until i'm about 23.
the right to vote is an INCREDIBLY important thing,
and you should count yourself so phenomenally lucky to have it
thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people throughout history have died for your right to vote, your right to complain, your right to choose the future of the country you live in
& in not voting not only do you leave room for fascist party majorities, but you completely undervalue that.
now there's every chance that a british general election will be called in the near future
and i am begging you. if you can vote, vote. even if it's a vote for the BNP! just VOTE. your voice is more important than ever, and don't underestimate it's importance.

& please, don't be taken in by the sickening lies of the BNP.
they are racist. they are xenophobic. they are discriminatory. they are homophobic.
they do not represent me and i hope, at least, that they do not represent you.

for more information you can check out a range of places such as www.bnp.org.uk or RE:Brand's 'Naziboy' documentary, which you can find on youtube.

♥

2009-06-07T08:38:00.000-07:00

hi everybody!
today i went shopping for the first time in a long time, & bought lots of clothes for summer :)
this is what i wore!
in typical topshop style, there aren't pictures of either the dress OR the trousers i bought today on their website
i also bought two new bikinis & a pair of fab gladiator sandals from newlook
aswell as pretty hair clips from accessorize!
i'll take some pictures to show you soon, i'm sure :D

it's back to school for me, tomorrow
which i'm surprisingly excited about! my new english lit course sounds fab & it'll be great to see everybody again :)
speaking of literature & what not, i'm thinking about doing a vlog series
all about my favourite poems!
but i'm toying with the idea of doing it in blog format, instead.
i'm just not sure!
let me know what you think :D ♥

dress: hoi polloi
tights: topshop (one day i'll wear something else, promise)
cardigan: h&m
shoes: dorothy perkins

♥

2009-06-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

hello! i haven't posted in ages! what a bad blogger i am.
last weekend was spent preparing for exams, which finished last tuesday :D!
having only had 40 minutes of sleep the night before (6 hour exam on 40 minutes sleep? eep!) i spent most of wednesday sleeping, and then on thursday i had the nicest nicest nicest day ever when, as an early birthday present, my Boyfriend the Magnificent took me to bristol zoo!
the weather was lovely, he was lovely (as always), the animals were adorable, public transport was surprisingly excellent, we had sweets and ice cream and and and eee :)
it was just the best. really. the nicest.

so life is basically lovely right now, and i'm just taking the time to enjoy it :)
books (i can read again! and not feel guilty! YAY!), films, boyfriend, bed.
it's wonderful.
stay wonderful, you :) ♥

♥

2009-05-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

isn't life just kind of better when it's warm?
scraped knees, bare legs, plaits & dirty shoes.
hello summer,
missed you :) ♥

top: matalan
shorts: dorothy perkins, 2 years ago
shoes: matalan
necklace: ebay

(2 outfit posts in 2 days?! madness!)

♥

2009-05-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

hello :D
today was spent with My Boyfriend the Excellent, doing lots & lots of revising, obviously (erm..)
we also went for a walk in the woods, which was very nice :) the weather's wasn't warm or cold, but it was just about right.
i hope it warms up again soon though -- i'm trying to get used to hot weather before i go on holiday to jamaica!
eeee :D i'm very excited. it's all booked!

since i last did a proper sort of photos post, i've had two exams,
english literature & classical civilisations!
english went okay (i think - i hope!), but classics was by faaaar the most difficult exam i've ever done.
i'd rather do another maths exam than do that one again!
& i really, really hate maths.
still, history & philosophy to look forward to now! hurrah!
what've you all been up to? :) ♥

jumper: h&m
shorts: peacocks, i think?
tights: new look
necklace: accessorize

♥

2009-05-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

this is not the sort of post i usually do, but i am so ridiculously inspired by these annabel mehran photographs i couldn't not share :)

summer summer summer, please look like this :(

♥

tagged! ♥

2009-05-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

8 things I'm looking forward to:
1) Jamaica! eeee :D
4) finishing exams.
5) exam results day (erm, sort of).
6) my birthday!
7) pre-birthday trip to the zoo :D
8) Christmas. I am in a permanent state of being excited about christmas.

8 Things I did yesterday
1) the most horrible awful terrible exam of my life. eww, classics.
2) read 'looking for alaska'.
3) stayed up really late reading 'looking for alaska'.
4) revised classics. um. sort of.
5) plaited my hair (this is exciting).
6) made my boyfriend drive me home :D
8) had milk and oreos for the first time ever. incredible.

8 Things I Wish I could do
1) art.
2) maths
3) fly
4) not worry.
5) go to hogwarts
6) travel in time and space
7) write books
8) nothing, but still have loads of money :D

8 Things I watched recently
1) pans labyrinth, which i didn't really like all that much.
2) coraline, which was baaaad.
3) QI
4) narnia (♥)
5) merlin
6) o brother where art thou
7) legally blondes
8) queer as folk

8 Things I Love
1) :D
2) comedy
3) books books books, a thousand times books :)
4) poetry
5) music (specifically, jeff buckley, the libertines, bon iver, rufus wainwright, damien rice, etc etc..)
6) nature
7) chocolate milk
8) art

Tag 8 people
1) Lindsey
2) Daisychain
3) Muchlove
4) Gracie
5,6,7,8) Anybody else! :)

how to revise ♥

2009-05-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

so as you all know, seeing as it's all i ever post about, i have exams really soon! in precisely 3 days, actually! so of course i am doing the most sensible thing possible in a situation like this -- blogging. :D

make sure you have a clean & tidy revision space to work in - and work where you feel is best. for me it's my bedroom floor :D but see what works for you! my advice is to make sure it's somewhere near a window, for some kind of natural light, in a place that's relatively quiet. :)

i like revising with the radio on! i can't listen to music or be watching TV/film or anything when i'm revising, but things like podcasts/radio can be great for background noise (so you don't go insane!).

my favourite bit! revision foooood :D this acts as a great incentive to work! plus it's helpful to pick away at bits & pieces when you're trawling through notes as it prevents you from getting bored, AND (science!!) chewing stimulates your brain so you can work more efficiently, for longer :D

make a colour-coded revision checklist, so you can fill in what you've done, and what you've left to do. i've also got the dates of my exams on mine, which 1) makes sure i don't forget, and 2) means that i know what needs doing first!

buy nice stationary! having pretty things around you makes you feel better about yourself & your work, and nice colour coded things makes sure that you don't get lazy and sloppy - which are bad things to be when revising!

make sure that all your notes for your subjects/modules/whatevers, are clearly divided up. again, mine are colour coded :D make sure they are kept labelled, organised, and stored somewhere SAFE.

reading essays is great! particularly for subjects like english literature or history or whatever, where scholarly interpretations are important to include in exams. plus you can steal lines, heehee! :D

and stick little stars by the lines that are most important :)

and finally, do some practice exam questions! time yourself to ensure that you have a good grip on what you're gonna have to do in the time allocated -- which is always horribly harsh. also, if you're like me and you write crazy fast in exams, make sure that you take time to sloooooowww down, so that your handwriting is actually legible! :D

and there you go! i hope that was of some use to a few of you :)
now, if only i could stick to my own advice... ♥

♥

2009-05-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

this morning, before cracking down to some revision, i took my dog for a walk :) it was so lovely in the early morning light, & although i missed the main part of the fleeting bluebell season, there were still plenty around to take lots of photos in!
you should also know that it was freeeezing cold! but i braved it for you guys. aren't you lucky? :D

cardigan: ban
dress & tights: topshop

p.s, there's a couple extra photos on my flickr! check it out! :)

♥

2009-05-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

back to revision for me, you guys!
i've done nothing but read & revise seamus heaney literary critique today (fun times), and i'm so so so busy that i'm not going to have a chance to reply to your lovely comments. but honestly, i am so so so grateful, and so so so lucky. you're all lovely, & i'll do it ASAP!

unfortunately, business means no new blog posts for a while (I expect), unless i end up doing a 'how to revise' one, which I might.

in the mean time... vlog! yaaay!

p.s. i have twitter! follow me! :)

♥

2009-05-07T09:50:00.001-07:00

1. A picture of yourself, in your room.

2. A picture with someone you don't actually like.

3. A picture of you on your birthday.

4. A picture of you when you were younger.

5. A picture of you in one of your favourite outfits.

6. A picture of you making a goofy face.

7. A picture that you miiiight have edited to make yourself look more attractive.

(so old! i don't even own photo-editing software any more.)

8. A picture of a night you regret.

9. A picture of you truly being yourself.

(...awesome.)

10. The most recent picture of you.

11. A picture of you being absolutely ridiculous.

(i just get sexier & sexier.)

12. A picture of you showing off something new.

13. A picture of a time in your life that's over, but you wish it weren't.

14. A picture of a time in your life that's over, and you're so glad it is.

(just because i was really ill when i took this!)

15. A picture of you when you were anything BUT happy.

(note the bleach blonde hair!!)

16. A picture of you that you had no idea was being taken.

17. A picture of you when you were a different person to who you are now.

(...i just have different hair. this was hard!!)

18. A picture of you with someone you love.

19. A picture of how you'd like the world to see you.

20. A picture that describes how you'd like to spend every day.

21. A picture of a time when everything was changing.

22. A picture that makes your heart hurt.

(missss her.)

23. A picture that makes your heart smile.

24. A picture of one of the best days/nights of your life.

(both 23 & 24 were from the same day - the last day of school! it was the most gorgeous day. we finished compulsary education & had this big great glorious summer stretched out in front of us, the fair was in town which was so much fun, we played in the river - with disastrous consequences! - and it was just the most wonderful of days. everybody was so nice, and so happy, and it really could not have been more perfect. and it was exactly a year ago, now! crazy days.)

25. And finally, your very most favourite picture of you.

:) ♥

♥

2009-05-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

do you ever have those days where you get dressed in the morning, and it's just right? today was totally one of those days :D
it was a really lovely day as well. i went into town in the morning in hopes of getting michael mcintyre tickets, but the queue was huuuuuge! and unfortunately they were sold out before i reached the front D:
but it was okay because then i spent a really lovely day with my very best friend, before going shopping! i bought plenty of books & dvds, as well as a really cute bikini (c'monnn, summer!) & a cute little nightie from topshop :)
unfortunately, it's back to work tomorrow! boooo!
i hope you're all having a lovely weekend --
what did you get up today? ♥

shirt: matalan
shoes & jumper: primark
tights: topshop
skirt: urban outfitters

♥

2009-04-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

hi everybody! having been in need of some good old fashion retail therapy for some time now, today i did exactly that, & went shopping :) i spent pleeeenty of money on lots of lovely things, which i'll show you all very soon. i was also incredibly tempted by a pair of £55... trainers?! trainers?!
i know. skate shoes, too. so 2005 of me!

anyway! here i'm wearing an absolutely gorgeous necklace sent to me by the absolutely lovely Raquel, who has fantastic style & is genuinley one of the sweetest people i've ever met. if you haven't already, you simply MUST go & check out her blog. it's wonderful, you won't regret it.
Thank you Raquel! :)

i hope you've all had a lovely weekend.
i'm off to watch history boys now - good night!

(p.s, these sunglasses cost 20p. bargain!)

cardigan: h&m
tights & shoes: primark
dress: new look
sunglasses: matalan
bag: no idea
necklace: raquel

♥

2009-04-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

i got the sleeps real bad, you guys!
i.e, i am utterly exhausted, & so i won't be writing much right now :)
as usual let me know what you think & thank you for being so nice to me. much appreciated.

(p.s, totally into this vlogging thing.
i've made about twelve.)

♥

2009-04-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

hey guys! last saturday it was my good friend megan's birthday. so me & my other good friend harriet decided to organise a whole day of birthday fun for her :)

we started by having her show up at harriets house. made it pitch black inside of harriet's bedroom, then strung up fairy lights & put tealights all over the place. we stuck pictures of her & her life up until now all over the walls, and set out a huge picnic of all of her favourite foods (cost a fortune!), and played her favourite music :) which was ever so nice.

we then went out into the town, & it was lovely and sunny, and tried on all sorts of silly clothes in all of the shops in town, and had a really nice time just laughing and talking and wandering about lazily in the sunshine.
even if my heels were pretty painful. ouch.

when we came back, we watched madagascar 2! haha. we then went out for a really lovely meal.
after that, we invited a few more of megans best friends to come over, which was really nice. we played lots of nintendo snes & had some pretty intelligent & insightful conversations about body mutiliations.
to be honest, it wasn't really my sort of thing, but megan had a really nice time, which the most important thing!

i didn't take many photos, unfortunately, but here's a few of the few that i did!
i hope you're all okay. what did you get up to this weekend? ♥

(from left to right: megan, me, harriet.)

dress: USC
shoes: faith

vlog ♥

2009-04-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

hi! so, basically, for a long time now i've been wanting to introduce some talk about books & history & politics & philosophy and all of that dorky stuff into my blog because, love fashion as i do, i love all of that stuff a whole lot more.
however! i know that, regrettably, not everybody is as big of a loser as i am, and so have been trying to think of a way to make it, well... optional, i suppose!
i've also been wanting to do a video blog for a long time now, & so, genius as i am, i have decided to combine both :D i am going to start doing video blogs focusing on literature and history and classics and alllll of that sort of stuff that i love so much.

and here is the first! in which i discuss oleanna & the point of higher education.

i would reallyreally like to apologise for the quality of this video. clearly i am a newbie to the world of vlogging because i did this with very very poor light, horrible hair, no make up whatsoever and youtube quality is pretty rubbish as it is. however! i have already recorded some much much much better ones, which i did in the LIGHT OF DAY, so you can actually see me! and i don't look so orange, and i don't know why that happened, because i'm actually pale as death.

but yeah, i figured i'd post this all the same, as an introductory vlog, i suppose :)

um! and yes. please please please give me some feedback, it would be most certainly appreciated andddd yeah! let me know what you think :)

thanks guys! ♥

♥

2009-04-14T13:45:00.000-07:00

yesterday, i had a very rare & very lovely day off. the weather was absolutely beautiful, so i made myself a picnic and took myself on a very long walk down to the quarries. it's a beautiful beautiful area where i live, hidden away. it's not even on council records, that's how few people know about it :) but it's beautiful, utterly utterly beautiful & had a stillness and magnitude and beauty about it that, of course, my shoddy little 7.2 megapixels digital camera doesn't quite manage to capture :) i tried my very best though, & there are lots more photos on my flickr if you'd like to take a look.

i'm so ridiculously lucky to live where i live. it really is incredibly stunning, in ways i'll never be able to photograph or describe, & i love it ever such a lot. i've always loved the forests - they're incredibly beautiful places, and i think it's something about how old they are, how long they've been there, that makes me feel incredibly safe. silly though it sounds, i sort of know who i am, in the forest :) i'll be very sad to leave!

i'd also just like to quickly say how ridiculously lucky i feel to have such lovely readers. i appreciate every single one of you (even if i'm terrible at showing it!), i really really do, & you're all so incredibly, incredibly lovely.

right, silliness over! back to work. i'll post again soon, i promise! ♥

cardigan: george @ asda
skirt: urban outfitters
tights & shoes: topshop
vest: h&m

♥

2009-04-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

gryffindor sweater.
best purchase ever made?
um, blates.

www.alivans.com

♥

2009-04-10T02:12:00.000-07:00

hi everybody, sorry for my absence. school finished for two weeks last fridayyy, but that unfortunately means back to work! so i've been working all day every day and haven't had a chance to take any pictures or do anything worth blogging about. i did have the day off yesterday, and i went to cabot circus with my mum and ended up buying two new skirts from urban outfitters, which i'm sure i'll show you soon :)

everything'll be back to normal soon, i promise. sorry!

♥

2009-03-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

on sunday, i went to the city of gloucester, which is a few miles from where i live :) it's only a very little city, and it isn't very fun or exciting, but neither am i, so i like it alot :D
it has all the necessities (topshop, primark, h&m..) & isn't crazy amounts of big, so that's good. it's also very historical & a billion pieces of literature allude to it. you might remember the beatrix potter story, the tailors of gloucester? from your childhood?
anyway :) my favourite part of gloucester is the beauuuutiful cathedral - where parts of harry potter were filmed! so that's exciting, as i am a harry potter nerd through & through. it's totally lovely, and i intended to take lots & lots of photographs for you all, but unfortunately it was shut to the public for some military service. boo! :(
oh well, next time perhaps!

this outfit is exactly the sort of thing i used to wear, back in the day :) & it took me wayyyy way back to the good old days (libertines fans will understand this) -- of which, of course, there were none.

i apologise profusely for the awkward posing in the pictures - i'm terribly camera shy when it comes to taking pictures of myself in public!
as you can see, i did some shopping. mostly presents for two of my best friends (who very inconveniently decided to be born within two weeks of each other), but i did buy a really cute hairband & jumper for me - which i'll show you all very soon!
♥

babyshambles top: glastonbury
cardigan: h&m
sunglasses, shoes & tights: primark
shorts: new look
ring: topshop

♥

2009-03-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

fun times :(
well, here you have what i've been up to this morning!
& the reason for why my posts have been sporadic at best as of late, and will continue to be for a few weeks yet.
i have exams in only a few weeks time, & it's safe to say that i'm starting to freak out!
so i've been revising full-force &, unfortunately, blogging has taken something of a back seat.
hopefully it'll all be back to normal soon, & i promise i'll keep trying to steal a few hours off from revision to take some lovely photos :) i am going shopping tomorrow (teehee! naughty!) so hopefully i'll take some pictures then that are a little bit more exciting than these :)
i hope you're all alright - and have a great weekend.
♥

♥

2009-03-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

hi everybody!
just a quick update today.
i actually took these pictures a biiillion years ago (as you can tell from the fact that it's my old bedroom!), but i haven't shared them til now.
i don't know why, i absolutely adore this coat :)
anyway! i hope you're all alright & have had a lovely day.
i'm off to watch a film called 'imaginary heroes' --
have a great evening! :) ♥

coat: muu-baa
t-shirt: next
tights: no idea
shoes: primark
shorts: new look

♥

2009-03-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

sorrysorry for my absence! i am awful, i know D:
but as you may or not know, i've redecorated my room! i got very impatient waiting for my curtains to arrive so i could photograph my room, so i just took some pictures without them :) so you'll need to imagine that there are lovely pink curtains rather than horrid brown blinds by the window, & then you'll have a better idea of what it actually looks like :)

why yes, that is four copies of 'a picture of dorian gray'. all entirely neccessary :D
anyway! hope that insanely image-heavy post makes up for a severe lack of posts as of late :( hope you're all okay!
if you'd like to know where anything's from, just let me know :) ♥

♥

2009-03-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

totally loving all this warm weather at the moment, but not quite ready to give up on my jumpers just yet :)
have a great week! ♥

jumper: zara
dress: h&m
tights: new look
shoes: primark
necklace: gift :)

♥

2009-03-15T12:51:00.001-07:00

today, the weather was really lovely & sunny & warm, so i thought it was about time i wore something other than pyjamas/my school uniform & some photos! i went for a big long walk in the woods and wrote a little story, then when i came home i made some apple & cinnamon biscuits (questionable at best) and then watched 'scenes of a sexual nature', which i haven't seen since last year, so that was nice :) & now i've just come back from visiting my grandmother.
i remain a billion miles behind on schoolwork but, heck, i had a nice sunday :D
what did you get up to this weekend? ♥

necklace: debenhams
dress: oasis
vest: h&m
tights: topshop
shoes: primark
bag: vintage

♥

2009-03-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

i'm all sorts of sorry for not writing or commenting lately :( i've been ever so busy painting my room & then discovering i'm allergic to paint fumes. work seems to be piling piling piling up & i have to admit i'm finding it all a bit overwhelming at the moment, and so have retreated back to childlike comforts. at the moment, my life looks like this --

i'll post soon, i'll post soon, i promise :)

♥

2009-03-09T13:21:00.001-07:00

sorry i haven't posted lately! i've had the most horrible of weekends :( & i'm afraid normal posting may not resume for a while as i'm busybusy redecorating my room! which i am so excited to show you, when it's finished :)

anyway, i took some time out of my busy busy schedule to make some cakes & take some photos :) i hope you've all had a lovely weekend! :D

dress: h&m
cardigan: bank
tights: topshop
shoes: primark

♥

2009-03-05T08:54:00.000-08:00

today, i didn't go to school! heehee! instead, i decided to indulge in the far more important & neccessary habit of shopping. me & my mum went to cribbscauseway, and since that's inside i decided i didn't need to dress up warm & could instead take my new dress out for a walk! it's totally lovely and cute, and with the childish ankle socks i felt about five years old. i was going to add a penguin backpack, but thought that would probably be too much :D

below is what i bought! the bag is for school, & it was from topshop. the cardigan was frommmm Bank? i'm not sure, some chavvy shop, but it was too cute to resist, and the top is Tommy Hilfiger, in order to satisfy my inner prep. i'm not sure if you can see, but i also bought some white gold earrings, and a cute little fluffy bunny pen. oh, and, yeah, the box, which doesn't go with my room at all but i totally love.

dress & shoes: topshop
cardigan: h&m
socks: marks & spencers
necklace: claires

♥

2009-03-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

i wouldn't be able to class myself as truly british unless i got abnormally excited over the slightest amount of sun.

also, i really like ridiculous, tacky, cheap necklaces :D

cardigan & top: h&m
long shorts: river island
'sexy' necklace ;D : new look
shoes: primark

dress up sunday ♥

2009-03-01T06:01:00.000-08:00

today is a sunday, and sundays are days designed for playing dress up! today was the turn of maria merryweather, the 13 year old protagonist from one of my favourite novels, The Little White Horse.
one of the reasons The Little White Horse is such a delight to read is Elizabeth Goudge's dreamy and detailed descriptions of every little aspect of Maria's enchanted existence at Moonacre Park, including her clothes, which are always made of lovely fabrics in lovely colours, with gorgeous details.

a huge lover of horses, Maria Merryweather often has lovely riding habits laid out for her in the mornings, and it was these that I decided to focus on to create today's sunday dress up outfit :)
now i have to admit, i wasn't quite sure what a riding habit was until i googled it this morning! unfortunately i don't own anything quite so lovely as maria's clothes, but i did the best i could with my measly wardrobe, and tried to recreate a riding habit that would be suitable for both me, and Maria Merryweather :)
as you can see, i did take quite an equestrian approach!

blazer: vintage
shirt: next
dress: new look
leggings: h&m
riding boots: mummy's wardrobe
bag: vintage
hairband: claires

a day in the life ♥

2009-02-26T10:40:00.000-08:00

i spent the morning with two of my friends, bethany (blonde) and harriet (freckles!), as we attempted to get harriet's EMA payments sorted.
this included lots of rambling back & forth to the drama department, with plenty of gossiping and bitching on the way :D

after my first lesson, classics, i went down town to visit the lovely new chocolate shop, where i bought a little bag of milk chocolate for £3.90!
very very worth it though, it was delicious :)

i then popped into my local oxfam, who are having an 'old and interesting book sale' until the beginning of march. i didn't buy anything, but the other day i bought a beautiful copy of hans anderson's fairy tales for only £2! :)
this is exactly why i love charity shops.

afterwards, i visted my favourite little cafe at the top of town, where i drank tea, ate chocolate & read some of the little white horse :)
which, by the way, is just one of the loveliest books in the world.

unfortunately, i then had to finish a very dull ethics essay on embryo research and utilitarianism :(
zzzzzzzzz.

then i walked back to school through the churchyard :)

now i'm off to make cupcakes!
i hope you've all had a very, very lovely day :)

♥

2009-02-24T09:22:00.000-08:00

new hat, and new dress! :) i felt very odd taking advantage of such beautiful sunset lighting in the forest with an outfit so city-ish, but light doesn't last forever!! anyway. so excited so be wearing knee-high socks again, i lived in them last summertime. felt weird to be wearing this much black, though :)

it's pancake day today! i don't like pancakes very much, but i celebrated today in the appropriate style all the same.
have you had your pancakes, today? :)

dress: hoi polloi
cardigan: h&m
socks: primark
shoes: new look
hat: accessorize

♥

2009-02-23T09:42:00.001-08:00

hello! this is my new blog. i'd been wanting a big change for a while, and so i tried to change the layout of the old one, but it all went horribly wrong & so it seemed much simpler to just create a new blog! i chose the name because i wanted something youthful and cute, and because i saw a big herd of deer on my way home today, and so it just seemed to fit, all nice and snug.

these are photos from a family walk i went on on the weekend! up skirrid mountain. it was sunshiney and there were a few families in sunglasses and boots. i didn't have the sunglasses, though. the pointy mountain in the background is the sugarloaf, which i have already conquered :)

the view from the top was beautiful, as any view from any top so often is, and the steep climb was only difficult in places. worth it, though.
these pictures below are of keepers pond, a lake halway up mount blorange - which is the only word in the english language that rhymes with orange! exciting.

shirt: vintage
t-shirt: primark
shorts & tights: new look
hat: accessorize
coat: animals
wellies: faith