Catching Flies

"I am shocked to have gone as far as I have gone"  Steven Patrick Morrissey

I was up at 7.37 today. That might be normal for some people but this is coming from a girl who at the start of the year was getting out of bed at 9.15 and starting work at 9.30 with a 12 minute walk to complete as well. Early rises to me are always associated with going on holiday but sadly this is not the case.

I wouldn't get out of bed for just anyone. It would have to be a pretty special person to get me to open my eyes & that special person was Miss Jenny Curran. For nearly two years, I listened to the tap tap tapping of Jenny's computer keys as she wrote her articles for The Sunday World in the bedroom beside me. ( I heard other noises too especially every sunday at 10am but I won't go into that) so it is an odd sensation to be a subject of Miss Curran's stories. It's an odd sensation as I have said before that anyone wants to listen/read about my blog.

I have lovely journalists like Miss Curran who's ears have pricked at my blog and my challenge contacting me. I also have my own monthly column in a local magazine, Local Woman, I am working with one of my favourite company's Ikea and their "make room for your life" campaign, I am running a clothes swapping event at Belfast Fashionweek and in May I am attending a bloggers conference to discuss my blog. (More on each of these things later!) And to top this all off, I still haven't bought any clothes for the last two months!!

My first column in Local Woman!

I am astounded, shocked, perplexed, amazed, stunned, astonished and overwhelmed. (That's all the adjectives that I can think off at this time in the morning.). Who knew.

I really am actually finding the no clothes shopping pretty easy if I am honest. I haven't worn the same thing twice and I have re fallen back in love with my wardrobe. It's made me appreciate fashion again and taking the time to put some thought and effort into the way I present myself. Granted my hair is still greasy and my nails are always dirty and I still wear mis-matched socks but at least my outfits look well! My dad says that I probably will be the cause of the triple dip recession due to my lack of spending in the shops though.

But I can't wait to see where else this blog brings me! So keep tuning in! It is only February like, I still have 10 months to go so it might all go downhill soon!!!

Furry Friends

"Animal are my friends, I don't eat my friends" George Bernard Shaw

 Asos owl jumper-alternative here

Topshop Striped pencil skirt - similar here  

Warehouse Black waist belt - similar here

No! When I say furry friends, I am not talking about my legs!! I am of course talking about the animal jumper motifs that seem to be everywhere at the minute! Kicked started by Burberry this time last year at London Fashion week for Fall 2012 (seen below for the gorgeous models wearing a twit too owl jumper)

If you follow the big blogs, you will have seen that all of the girls have the Kenzo tiger jumper. Here is one of my favourite bloggers, Chiara Ferragni wearing hers.

Of course, before Christmas I was lusting after one of these so that I could be one of the cool crowd but with a hefty price tag of £165, I re thought about it. But I still wanted a jumper with a furry friend on it. My wantings were answered by one of my Santa's aka my step mum. Got my own little owl! Kate bosworth, eat your heart out.

This photo was taken on the last day of my romantic holiday away with my other half over New Year's Eve to Paris. This orange juice cost 9 euros!! It was delicious though.  I put this photo in as my hair looks lovely and washed and with no roots.  Basically to remind myself that it needs done badly. Also, I got slagged for not making my bed for my photos so Mr Mark Ginley, the bed is made especially for you.

Here are some of my favourite animal jumpers!

Topshop Tiger Jumper £45 

 Sugarhil Kissing Squirrel Jumer £39.57

New Look dog Jumper £20

 

Dorothy Perkins Bunny Jumper £28 

What goes around, comes around.

"So soon that a fashion is universal, it is out of date" Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach

 White Shirt

True Religion jeans 

Topshop studded pumps 

Sandwich Scarf

The secret to fashion is that nothing really ever goes out of fashion. Everything is always coming back into trend, maybe years, decades or even a century in time. This was the highly intellectual conversation that my friend Zoe and I were having on Sunday night after we had been to the pictures to see Tween rom-com Beautiful Creatures. (a movie not to drag your boyfriend to ladies, that would just be cruel.) Here are a few of my favourite recurring trends that I want to recreate over the next few weeks. It can be a game, guess what trend I am wearing today!

Trend number one

Monochrome: striped, checked, different sleeves, different trousers legs. You name it, if it is black and white, it is bang on trend. As seen previously in my blog, I have achieve the monochrome look without buying anything new this season. I'm down with the kids.

Trend number two

Shift: no this is not slang for kissing someone (to shift someone is to kiss them right?? Or did I just make this up??) Shift clothing is a box shaped like attire for example shift dresses. I don't really have that many shift style clothing items as it doesn't really suit my shape as I am so small and it drowns me. But I do have a few shift shirts that I like to tuck into pencil skirts or skinnies. Totally rocking the swinging sixties. Especially if it is a bright colour, far out dude. Check out this shift dress from Asos

Trend number three

The nineties: think spice girls, think all saints, think b*witched and their double denim. C'est la vie! The nineties are back although it seems only yesterday that they were actually here. Back in the day I was rocking my Adidas poppers (aw remember these, the tracksuit bottoms with the buttons the whole way up them) but this trend is truly rocking the doc martins and dungarees look! I'm not sure if this one I am going to be able to achieve or even pull off it without fully looking like I am my 12 year old tomboy self again.

Trend number four

Flares: omg, can it be true?!? Bloggers from all over the world have been working the flare wide leg trousers for the past couple of seasons but flare jeans are finally coming back into fashion! Spotted on the catwalk at New York Fashion Week, I will be dusting off my denim flares that have been huffing with me at the back of my wardrobe for the past couple of years. No more skinnies which are a nightmare to get off. Sexy undressing in these is impossible. It has gotten to the point where I try not to wear skinnies if Connor is coming over to my house to stay if you know what I mean ;)

Rebecca Minkoff at New York Fashion week

Yeah so, trend spotting for 2013 by wearing fashion from previous years. This can't qualify as vintage can it?!?

My heart will go on

"You shine up like a brand new penny" Molly Brown, Titanic

You know when you say your friends are crazy. I love my friends but Jesus Christ they are crazy. I had a very relaxing and lovely weekend, something I have been craving for! Friday night, I created a food baby with Connor where we couldn't even move as we ate so much. On Saturday, I had a fun day of visiting the Mac, Belfast's new arts venue to see the Andy Warhol exhibition. After something so serious, you need a bit of fun so we went ice skating. Fell on my ass but let's not talk about that.

Now to get to the crazy friends. As last week was Zoe's birthday, Jenny and I had promised to take her on a sexy date to the Titanic museum! Newly opened in Belfast last year to mark the 100years since the sinking of the ship Titanic, it has been widely popular with visitors from all across the world. Now I had text Jenny earlier in the week to say that I was going to be blogging about it so make sure to wear something nice. It was a JOKE Jenny!! I had all good intentions but then I am extra lazy on the weekends and I like to take a break from blogging and effort so my hair went up and I slummed it in jeans. So my darling friends turned up and here is what my crazy friend Jenny turned up in

Yes, people that is what you think it is. Jenny turned up as if she was boarding the Titanic itself, in a formal dress. So what was meant to be a prank where the two of them turned up in formal dresses as a laugh however Zoe had slept in (chickened out I honestly think & no one can blame her) and didn't wear one. Instead she wore a gorgeous Zara coat that I kept casually stroking in lust and Jenny in a formal dress. Absolutely crazy. And the funny thing was no one noticed!!! No one even batted an eye lid, granted it could possible pass for a maxi dress but with a low cut back and a diamanté halter neck, it's a pretty fancy maxi dress for an outing to a museum. I love her, it made the whole trip so much more entertaining. Only Jenny could get away with it. So my fashion lesson of this blog is don't wear a formal dress to a museum unless you are the delightful and gorgeous Jenny Curran as you just won't get away with it.

As for me, my lesson is even with greasy hair and one of the geek t-shirts from Topshop that every teenage girl is wearing with denim shorts, tights and converse, (You know exactly the one I am talking about I am sure) you can still have a beautiful Jack Dawson moment. I'm King/Queen of the world!

Full moon, half moon, total eclipse

"It's an extraordinary thing, this tiny little province of Northern Ireland, where carnage happened. And I was a part of it.  I grew up in it." Liam Neeson

Primark Stripe top -similar here

Coral caridgan Therapy- similar here

Ladies navy chinos

This weekend I am backing Belfast!  If you haven't guessed by now I am from the lovely country of Northern Ireland.   I don't know about other bloggers who are reading this but I am fascinated by the views I get.  I am constantly refreshing to see how many have viewed it since I last looked. The amazingness of the internet is that you can track where people are viewing your blog from.  This week alone I have had viewers from New Zealand, Hong Kong, Poland, America, France and Germany.  It is unbelievable the power of the internet.

 View of Belfast from my balcony

So I wanted to do this post (and the next one on monday) as a review of Belfast as sadly it has been getting some bad press due to a small minority of people.  There has been a massive drive across Northern Ireland lately mainly focusing in Belfast to "back Belfast."  Due to the protests and the fact it was a very cold and long January, people have been mainly staying at home.  Understandable but it has been affecting business across the province.  Also, many visitors have been put off coming to Belfast due to what they are hearing on the news.

To be truthful, it doesn't affect my life if they fly a flag or not over City Hall in Belfast city centre.  But to some people it does and that is fair enough.  My take on it is that when I am 85 or whatever age, lying on my death bed, I won't remember the day that they decided not to fly the flag over city hall.  I will remember my family and friends,  my wedding day, giving birth to my children, their 1st smile and loving my grandchildren.

I am "half a Jaffa," as I like to call myself.  I was brought up half protestant, half catholic.  My mum was a catholic, my dad a protestant.  I went to a very protestant primary school where I wore the red hand of Ulster on my chest via my school jumper.  We said the Lord's prayer each day with the added doxology (that's the bit at the end of the Lord's prayer that protestants say).  When I was eight years old, I did my First Holy Communion and I brought my Communion dress into school for show and tell.  I didn't know that I was different, I wasn't treated different, I wasn't brought up to think there was any difference.  I just wanted to show off a dress that I had worn at the weekend.  I then attended the most catholic school in the area with nuns and everything.  Of course, I had no idea.  I just loved the school, the teachers and it was my choice.  Religion was never mentioned.  That was until the first day and we said the Lord's prayer in Assembly and I continued on at the end.  I had no clue why everyone stopped.  Call me naive, call me silly but honestly, I think my parents did a great job bringing me up not to judge people or know there is a difference between the two.

I have always got on with everyone, none of my friends care what religion I am.  I have attended mass and church.  I know the name of my family's priest and I know the name of my family's minister (I even fancied his son at one point).  Belfast is a beautiful city and I honestly can't see myself living anywhere else.  Sure, I want to go travelling and possibly live in another country for a few years but I will always come back to Northern Ireland to raise my children.  It's my home.

View of Belfast from my balcony last month

So this weekend, my schedule is jammed packed! Well tonight I am travelling to the boyfriend's house which is about half an hour outside Belfast and having a lovely home cooked belated Valentine's day meal.  Tomorrow, Connor, Connor's little brother, Harry and I are going to the Mac, Belfast's brand new arts venue.  They are showing an exhibition on Andy Warhol, the first time any of his work has been showing in Northern Ireland!  Then on Sunday, I am having a girly catch up day with my two best friends, Zoe and Jenny.  We are going to have a day of fun!!! Plan is to hit the Titanic museum which is unbelievable, ice skating, dinner in Victoria Square and who knows where else.  Probably Lisburn Road too for ice cream and a cup of tea.

So tune in Monday for lots of fun photos, reviews and what I was wearing over the weekend!

Lady and his Tramp

"Anyone can be passionate but it takes real lovers to be silly" Rose Franken

Dear spaghetti kiss (of Lady and the tramp movie, it's a metaphor post people, do try to keep up)

You highlight the way a Valentines dinner should be like. The little sigh expelled at the end when they do kiss properly truly is sweet and innocent. It represents everything that love should be. So cheers to you spaghetti kiss. Thank god you exist.  But how did you worm your little sigh into my life?  Lets begin as everything should start according to me as I am a control freak.  Let's begin at the start and go step by step chronological order.

You began as most relationships do, in very special places. Ba ba ba ba baaaaaaaaaa I'm loving it, and you. You played Lady to a T, the shy guy hiding behind his floppy hair, just like when her coy smile peeked from behind the fence in the movie while I was loud, chatty and apparently according to you, had great breastage that night.  Just like Tramp, stuffing my face with mcnuggets. We parted ways, no spaghetti kiss just yet.

Oh we tried, just friends, that was it cause I was picking up my pieces.  Ok honestly, we didn't try that hard, we meant well but please its very hard, you are very distracting.  So my tummy rumbled for you.  Cue the soundtrack and the serenade. The will they, won't they?!? Connected by that string, that piece of spaghetti. Yummy.

 

It was a lovely bella notte when it happened.  My breath smelt like alcohol, yours, well I don't quite remember as I was quite giggly ie. tipsy. Finally the spaghetti kiss! It has everything, romance, humour, impromptu musical performance, meatballs, everything I have ever wanted. I hope you know how sincere I am spaghetti kiss! You make me feel warm and fuzzy and my tummy completely full.

Ps. Happy Valentines day everyone!!! Please ignore my soppy metaphorical post that has nothing to do with fashion at all.  Here's some fashion info though. I am wearing a red dress that has been in my wardrobe for the last 3 years, yes I really said 3 years and I have never worn it!!! This again clearly highlights why I need to do this challenge!!!

New Eyes

"The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust

Jumper orginally from Primark -similar here

Asos Berry midi dress

You know that feeling when you are so busy that you look at the date and you are like how the heck did I get here???  I did that this morning.  13th of February,  how did it get to this date?  How did it all of a sudden become 2013? In my mind I am still lazing on the sofa on a Saturday afternoon in my pyjamas during summer 2012. I feel like I am constantly playing catch up.  Catch up with my blog, catch up wit my friends (in the sense of hey! I haven't seen you in ages, we need a catch up!) to catch up with my life.  The massive pile of dirty laundry in my utility room is calling my name.

I am loving doing the blog though. As I said when I started this I wanted to do a fashion/style blog for a while now.  I actually started one, posted up one post then my mind went completely blank.  Didn't know what else to write and I didn't have the confidence to post another one, I just assumed that no one rarely cared what I thought.  I still think this but I'm basically sticking my middle finger up to my nerves & going with the flow.  The no buying clothes for a year is basically a challenge for me but it was also a wee sneaky PR stunt to get your attention (I did PR at Uni so please excuse that naughty tactic).  I wanted people to read the blog and be like hey what is this crazy girl doing, then fall in love with it & empathise with it and hopefully come back to read it again and again.  Well that and my spending on clothes was getting a absolute joke.

I am re falling in love with my wardrobe and fashion in general.  I am dressing better than I ever have as I am taking the time to have a good look at what is in my wardrobe.  I am putting items together that haven't seen the light of days for ages and I am loving what I am doing and how I am feeling.  I am not promoting to anyone that you shouldn't buy clothes for a year, I mean you must be crazy to do that!! But I want to promote a smarter shopping world.  I was buying clothes for the sake of it.  I bought this gorgeous sequin top from Asos in September of last year (here it is if you want a nosey Asos sequin top), I loved it and snapped it up the minute that I saw it.  Now I still haven't worn it, please someone invite me to something where I can wear it!!!! All girls have said, OMG I have nothing to wear before a night out.  That translated is basically OMG, I have nothing new to wear.  But you don't need something new.  You just need new eyes.

My above photo,  if you are an avid follower of my blog, you might recognise that I wore this jumper last week?  It's ok, I won't judge if you don't pay that much attention to the photos and are like what is she talking about. However, it looks a completely different jumper with a dress than it does with a shirt and skinnies doesn't it? I hear your yes's through the computer screen. Thus, my point is proven and my work here is done.