Coconutty...

I have had this girl saved on my computer for a while now. I realised the other day why I love the outfit so much and that is because the outfit is me all over. Shirt check, beret (albeit an average sized one) check, belt check...

So for a bit of fun I decided to put my version together. Haha I felt so silly wearing shades and my beret indoors!

Shirt (Topshop) Belt (UO) Beret (Oasis) Sunnies (UO) Tights (Topshop) Shoes (KG) Bag (Marc B)

I also discovered some Coconut Jam in the house today. I was unsure at first but it is like spreading coconutty caramel on toast. Really yummy!

Who says you have to be a child to eat Chocolate Lollys?

I bought some of these for my dad to take to Hong Kong recently and after work, I had a sudden urge to bite into one of these chocolate lollys from Hotel Chocolat. These 'frowny licks' look sad because my sister and I are about to gobble them up greedily. Though, I think they look more angry than frowny. Nonetheless, they are yummy! You can just about read the crappy joke attatched, 'What do you call a fish without eyes?'

The answer was 'Fsh' if you're interested (It was shockingly bad I know).

'Scuse the rubbishy appearance. I just arrived home and slung on my Evergreen AA sweater. It's weird, all my AA sweaters have a slightly different fit, this one is the slouchiest one of the lot! Anyway, comfort is key after a day standing around and telling customers that it is store policy for them NOT to try on the tights which is obviously for hygiene reasons. I spoke to the customer for like 2o minutes about it and I'm glad that she left a happy customer (with new tights in tow to boot). Sometimes I don't know where I find my patience!

Oh no I hear thunder....I think the heavens are about to open! See, sunny days in England don't last long at all.

Food and Shoes!

Bit of a food review today! I went to an all you can eat buffet at The Mailbox in Birmingham for only £10 a head at Shogun Teppanyaki. It is a little further out from the centre of town but only about a 10 minute walk.The food was lovely and like my favourite Japanese restaurant in town (Mount Fuji) it was authentic. Fresh hand rolled sushi is so much nicer than the machine packed Sushi found at the likes of Yo! Sushi (don't get me wrong, I still love that place). However there was little choice and even though it was yummy, the service wasn't that good. I was quite put off by a guy who appeared to be the floor manager. Upon returning with my mum's refilled green tea, I asked if I could have mine refilled too. He answered with an unsmiling face, "Why did you not tell me?" and looked quite annoyed. It would have been fine if he had said it with a smile but it came across as unfriendly and lazy. It's a shame because the food was really good but that one small remark really tainted my visit and I doubt we would venture out there for Sushi again. Perhaps their other restaurant in town (Brindley Place) will prove to be a better experience as I really want to try the teppanyaki that they offer too.

After, we went for a browse around the shops and both my sisters came home with new shoes. Becky scored some silver flats from Topshop for £10 and Hailey bought some killer heels which my mom disapproved of...believing she would break her ankle in them. Here they are, I think they are quite gorgeous and the platform means that they aren't nearly as high as they look.

I really liked these too and I am hoping that these will eventually come in black rather than the orange.
Apart from Becky (far right) these are a bunch of my cousins who randomly all showed up at the same time at our house. The house was suddenly full of screaming kids, all competing to be the loudest. I'm quite surprised I managed to get them to all sit still.
My youngest cousin, Harry is completely adorable. Awww.

Becky and me! She's 11yrs old and soon she'll be taller than me. I will have to take to wearing heels permanently soon.

Becky; Cardi (HK) Hello Kitty Tee (HK) Skirt (Adams) Shoes (Topshop) Bow (Brick Lane)
Winnie; Tee (H&M) Skirt (UO) Cardi (Topshop) Shoes (KG)

Hailey couldn't help herself and bought a dress for her law ball a few days ago. Normally I am not keen on Lipsy dresses but this one is really cute and I like the origami pleated detail. Plus teamed with her new heels. It's a perfect combo!
Dress (Lipsy) Shoes (Topshop)

Wow this was a mammoth post. I'm off to catch up on my crazy google reader which has far too posts I have to read. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Off to the Pub...

A casual outfit to see some friends at the pub. I always feel more dressed up when I'm in a dress or a skirt so this was definitely a dressed down day when I chose to wear these jeans. I wore my hoody which was my favourite companion during flights to NY and HK last year. I wish I was going on holiday this year. It doesn't help matters when my dad has jetted off to HK for a few weeks to see my grandparents and aunts!

Hoody (Once Upon a Time for Topshop) Bow (Accessorize) Bangle (HK)

The only things in my dad's luggage seemed to be chocolates from Hotel Chocolat and various biscuits that are not avaliable in Hong Kong, which were requests from my family in HK. I'm not sure if this is allowed anymore but once my dad even bubble wrapped a bunch of apples which was super random. We all joke that he should become a proffessional courier because the apples arrived unbruised and more recently, the chocolates remained intact!

I've asked him to bring me back some Japanese magazines but I am beginning to wonder if he will be a little lost in the bookstore among all the girly fashion magazines!

Tee (The Mountain @ Asos) Cardi (UO) Jeans (Topshop) Shoes (Topshop)Bag (Vivienne Westwood)

I only have one more week of my shopping ban left. April was a long month and I did break it , once when I got that lion tee (still, totally worth it) It's only been a month but it's definitely been a great experiment and one that has definitely helped me get some perspective on shopping. It has made me realise how many of the things I bought were just frivolous buys!

Right I'm off to watch some brainless TV...ANTM? Gossip Girl?

Pass me a biscuit...

Source

So if you're a regular reader you'll know that I am rather fond of all things cake shaped...but in this case, Biscuit shaped. I love a bit of kitsch and find all the cake trinket boxes and strawberry shaped plates in Urban Outfitters hard to resist. Luckily, everything is so damn pricey in there!

These little ceramic trinket boxes are replicas of some classic family biscuits. Robert Archard is the designer who created these fun boxes which would be great to hold earrings or special little things that can be kept in these boxes disguised as the UK's favourite family biscuits. My favourite are the Bourbon Creams (the chocolate one) which I used to love as a child. They are kind of like Oreo cookies, except not as soft and chocolate filled instead.

The Beyond the Valley online store state that these are designed to hold a single biscuit of the according design this however, is sadly not the case. In person these trinket boxes are a tad too small and are rather, the same dimensions as the actual biscuit. It is definitely a nice idea and how they are photographed on a little plate, is exactly how I envision them if I were to own a couple of these, each filled with a tiny little treasure or two. These kind of satisfy my love for kitsch and food....

Fun Prints

The weather has been strange. One day there is a terrible thunderstorm and then the next minute it is lovely and sunny. Still at least when it's rainy I can use my umbrella. It's actually lasted me for a good two years...which goes to show that Accessorize umbrella's aren't just pretty, they can last too!

One of my favourite shops to look for gifts is located down one of the Victorian Arcades in the city, Piccadilly Arcade. The Arcade itself is really lovely with a painted ceiling. Unfortunately apart from an antique jewellers and my favourite, Smithsonia (which sells gifts and jewellery) the other shops keep closing and reopening. A fairy themed shop now sells urban street wear.

Over the weekend I went to a little Japanese restaurant called Mount Fuji. The staff are super friendly and even better, it is a genuine Japanese restaurant rather than the less authentic Yo! Sushi chains. The staff are so friendly and when we left the restaurant, almost all of the staff shouted goodbye and thank you, which is always super nice! I had my favourite, yummy Chicken Karaage Bento.

After, I stopped in River Island and tried this dress on. I had to pull the dress up and belt it because it was so long. I love the print and the 50s vibe. I told myself I was on a shopping ban and it stayed in the shop. It's pretty but I can live without it.

Becky my youngest sister, was lucky enough to score these boots from New Look. They are similar to a pair that TopShop did in the Winter but were a huge £60. For those with small feet, I'd advise you to shop in the teen section of New Look. In the normal shoe section, these STILL sold for £30 but in the kids section, these were only £15 but had reduced in the sale to a bargainous £5!! I still can't get over it. Luckily we share the same shoe size so I can borrow these!

We ended our day out with some yummy Baklava from one of the stalls in the shopping centre. So much honey but so good once in a while!

My dreams pulled me from the ground

I keep meaning to post this but on Easter Sunday, I went to the Birmingham Town hall to see Bat for Lashes on her sold out UK tour.

It's a fantastic venue with great acoustics and even better that it's a grade 1 listed building which originally opened in 1834. Charles Dickens famously gave his first ever public reading of the Christmas Carol here, in 1852. Also, if you were wondering about the Iron Sculpture, it is 'The Iron Man' by the fantastic Anthony Gormley.
The building itself has spent the most part of my memory growing up, under scaffolding. This was because it underwent a £35m renovation moving from a blackened building to the pearly white facade we can see today. This Neo-Classical piece of architecture is definitely something that stands out in the architecture of Birmingham, along with the famous and very contemporary, Selfridges building. How different these buildings are and only a stones throw away from each other.
Moving back to the music...Bat for Lashes were fantastic. Natasha Khan has an amazing voice which is even more stunning live. I really can't say enough as to just how good she is. Very talented and she deserves all the success she's been receiving lately.

I'm sure you've all heard her latest single but here is the video...

Denim Jacket (Asos) Tee (UO) Skirt (AA) Leggings (Topshop) Scarf (Oasis) Shoes (Faith)I have to admit I was a little naughty last week. I broke my ban and bought this tee. It's over sized with a print of a ink-sketched lion. It's long enough to wear just with leggings too. Even though I broke my ban, there was a marked change in how long it took me to buy this tee. I went into UO on three separate occasions and tried it on, only to buy it on my last visit. I never do that, so this in itself was a marked accomplishment! I'm definitely thinking more on the lines of, 'do I love it?' rather than 'I want it' which obviously is so much better for the longevity of a purchase. It's not too long until the end of my ban now (until May) but I am back on track...i think!

I really loved reading what books you were reading in my last post! Lots of variety! :)

Just Right.

I met my friend, Hannah for some food at Wagamamas (fusion Noodle restaurant) and I had a yummy Yasai Katsu Curry. Afterwards, we decided to wonder around the local town centre.

We ended up walking through the church which dates back to medieval times, marvelling at the beautiful Celtic tombstones.The bell ringers were hard at work and we noticed a door that had been left open. Hannah was very curious.I found a door that seemed to be the perfect height for me. I love how this door makes me look average height, I'm really not as I am about 5ft. It was like Goldilocks discovering her bowl of porridge that was 'just right'. Hannah said very seriously that they were that small because people were a lot shorter hundreds of years ago. I suppose I might even have been considered tall then!Skirt (Good One) Boots (Blowfish) Denim Moto jacket (Pepe Jeans) Bag (Marc B)We ended up at the park reminiscing about the old times we used to walk through the park to reach our sixth form college. However, we had to make a quick get away because it began to pour down with rain!This book arrived for me today, I love receiving nice new books in the post and even better if they are free! The book is YiYun Li's, 'The Vagrants'. I'm quite excited to start reading it because she has had such good reviews for her award winning collection of short stories, 'A thousand years of good prayers'. However I already anticipate this first novel to be rather bleak seeing as it is based on true events in 1979 surrounding Communist China. What books are you all currently reading?

Monkey Business

My sister is off for a shop in London town today and It reminded me of these photos I snapped a while ago. I like how this bit of graffiti found on Brick Lane is completed with the help of the locals. I've no idea if this is a Banksy or a copycat.

**After a little bit of googling I found out it's by a French graffiti artist who goes by the name Jef Aerosol!

I just wish I snapped a photo of a guy who was browsing some yummy Thai food. I did wonder why people were giving him so much space and walking around him carefully. The reason? He had a unique take on a backpack, an antique birdcage with rope attached as the straps.

I remember vividly that inside this genius idea was a single, shrink wrapped lettuce! Haha, it makes me smile just thinking about it...

Crazy Cupcakes

Bit of a random post today. I didn't get up to much on Saturday so no interesting outfit posts...just a photo of me about to leave for the supermarket to grab some ingredients to make some cupcakes! At least I look happy!

Scarf (gift) Coat (UO) Jeggings (Silence and Noise) Boots (Red or Dead)

I took some photos of some bright coloured flowers on my way...

When I returned, I succumbed to some tasty Cheese twists. I happened to watch a weird Chinese version of Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the stars. The dances were all themed with lots of props, my favourite was the hilarious mission impossible themed one with red ribbon as the 'laser beams' guarding a diamond necklace. Also, one of the contestants got to wear a bright pink wig which was a bit bizarre. I'm not actually a huge fan of the original shows but when I was at Uni, my housemates used to watch them religiously.Using some Easter chocolate and cake decorations I made Chocolate cupcakes with pastel coloured buttercream icing!Oh the anticipation....

My youngest sister and I got pretty crazy decorating the cupcakes. I think sometimes less is more, but nothing could stop us piling on the sprinkles, icing flowers and pink icing balls.

They looked so good I didn't want to eat them...but of course I did! The 'ball bearings' may look pretty but they're a bitch to eat. Luckily no chipped teeth!

My Sister's Shopping Spree.

My sister, Hailey returned home from a shopping spree and after very little persuasion she agreed to let me photograph her for the blog. I got stupidly excited seeing all her new things! Almost everything she is wearing is brand new...apart from jacket, belt and earrings.

I really love the jacket she is wearing. Bought from a little boutique from Causeway Bay it's perfect for milder weather and it looks great with this outfit. I'll have to get a better photo of it another day. Jacket (Hong Kong), Top, belt, jeans, Sunnies (Topshop) Shoes (Faith)

Shirt (Superdry), Jeans (Topshop) Flats (Faith) Necklace (Topshop)

I'm off to meet some friends now, hope you all have a great Thursday!