One more chance

So a few weeks ago I had a garage sale in attempts to clean out my room. I sold some stuff, donated A LOT of stuff, but then still had some stuff left over that I couldn't bear to donate. These are the things I still love but just don't get a lot of wear from, so I thought if I can't wear them then the next best thing would be to offer them to my blog readers!

Everything I'm selling is in new or nearly new condition, and has only been worn a few times or never worn at all. This isn't my thrifted stuff either, it's all name brands including Cheap Monday, Irregular Choice, Boy London, and even Luella! To make things simple, I've included the shipping charge in the price listed, so all you have to do is email me with the item you want, and I'll send you a Paypal invoice for the listed price and nothing more! I've made a page with the despcription for everything, so go ahead and click below to shop my closet!

Just so I feel like there's some "real material" in this post, here are some pictures of the kind of outfit I wear on those crazy hot summer days. Usually my outfits are barely modified for the weather, but here in the praries it can get pretty damn hot sometimes and, well, something's gotta give... in this case it's my creativity. The only ounce of originality here are my "leopard print bike shorts", which were actually my favourite pair of tights that had a tiny hole which soon turned into a giant gash! My solution (couldn't throw them away, obviously) was to cut them and turn them into sheer shorts. Which actually have really come in handy to wear under my other shorts... my cutoffs tend to be veeeery short, oops!

UPDATE: Things are selling fast! The shoes, sunglasses, and sweatshirt are sold, but there's still a Cheap Monday dress, an American Apparel dress, a Topshop skirt, and a Luella top all up for grabs still! Check them out before someone else snatches them!

If I was your girlfriend

I've been in a bit of a style rut lately, wearing jean shorts and t-shirts every day pretty much because nothing else appeals to me right now. Not that I think my style is dependant on trends, but there's not really any particular style or looks that I'm really crazy about right now (in my own wardrobe or otherwise). On a positive note, I've wanted to find the perfect 90's floral mini dress all summer and I finally found it! I love how the skirt flares out a bit like a skater dress, but the best part is the lace-up detail on the back! Decided to get extra girly with braids and cat-eye sunglasses.
How's everyone's summer going? I've just been extra lazy, and since it's the first summer since 2008 that I haven't been travelling I can really feel my wanderlust slowly creeping back into my consciousness. Maybe I just need a project to get preoccupied with, something to really get excited about... who knows. But really I have been enjoying doing not very much at all, it's just the lazy hazy days of summer.

I wonder if someday I'll be good with goodbyes

Ok, let's finish this 3 part trip post garbage! We left London for Sweden on Monday the 21st early in the morning, and since it was only a 2 hour flight and an hour time difference, we arrived at the airport at about 10:30am and got to central Stockholm around noon. Arriving in Stockholm felt really comforting and familiar, not because I've been there before but because there was so much beautiful snow! I well and truly felt at home there, haha.


We didn't have much of an idea of what to expect of the city, nor did we know what we wanted to see or do, so after we got to our hotel we just wandered around the local shopping area. I went to Weekday, which had some great things, and planned to go back to try things on but sadly never made it. After some Thai food for lunch, we kept browsing the shops and then stopped for a coffee and desserts just before it started getting dark.

I tried to take pictures of my coffees and some meals during the whole trip because I think half the fun of travelling is getting to try new foods... so why not document it!

The next day we walked around the city a bit more in the morning, and decided that we didn't want to do the predictable tourist things like bus tours and looking at churches, so we decided to go a children's museum near the city's center called Junibacken. If you couldn't tell yet from reading my blog, I am basically a child in an adult's body. I don't think I'll ever fully "grow up" (whatever that means) and I love children's stories now as much as I did when I was younger. I also have a big thing for Pippi Longstocking (see my Twitter button on the sidebar!). Junibacken is a children's museum dedicated mostly to the children's author Astrid Lindgren, the author of the Pippi stories, but had all kinds of things to see that involved the characters and stories of other authors as well. This place was so magical, and I don't want to unload all the pictures I took here, so this is just a sample of what we saw there.









After the museum we headed back to our hotel, but I knew I HAD to visit Monki before we left the next day. We knew there was one not too far from the hotel, but had to hunt for a bit (and ask around) to find it. It was worth it! It was a smaller Monki store but still had a lot of great stuff. I just picked up a few things, which you'll see eventually!
We thought we had to be at the airport for 3pm the next day, but just as we were falling asleep my friend jumped out a bed because she remembered we were actually supposed to be there for 12pm! Good thing she remembered!
Airport coffee!

So after the flight it was straight to Paddington station to catch our train to Plymouth (going to stay at my friend's flat, who's there on a student exchance type things).
Train coffee!

Now, we ended up staying in Plymouth for the last 3 days of the trip instead of going back to London, because it was just nice to hang out with my bestie, see where she lives, where she works, meet her friends, etc. The last few days were really fun and just chilled out, so there wasn't much to take pictures of... we did end up going to see The Sats again though, haha!
Here are some pictures from the seaside when we walked down there one day. A really lovely scene, especially for a Canadian prairie girl like myself.




Let's sneak in an outfit shot to finish this up, shall we?

Wearing a cardigan from Monki, H&M circle scarf, thirfted creepers ,bag, and denim shorts, tights off of eBay.
The Monki cardigan is so great, with the loop fringe shoulder pad type detail... and it was on sale! This was actully my main Stockholm purchase, as I only brought a carry-on so major shopping wasn't in the plan!

So that's pretty much it! Hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of what I saw, but I also hope you're ready for me to get back to some regular posting... I know I am!

I'm good, I'm gone

The next 3 days of my trip most definately had the most pictures, as it was the most major shopping days AND we were in Sweden! This was my first time in Sweden, and even though it's not one of the most popular tourist stops for a Euro trip, I really wanted to visit and felt like I would really enjoy it there. We'll get to that in a bit, first I'll tell you about my last day in London...
The day before we left for Sweden ended up being our final day in London (as we decided to just chill in Plymouth for the final 4 days), but I made the most of it and it ended up being my favourite day of the trip. I ventured out by myself for most of the day, and although I already knew that I prefer going at things alone, that day I just especially enjoyed my freedom... just the chance to wander around, look around at the beautiful city, and do whatever I felt like doing! I was sent on a little mission by Andrew to hunt down and buy anything Boy London (remember my new biker jacket from a few posts back?) that I could get my hands on, so that was my only real goal for the day.
With a little internet searching, I found out my best bet to find some good Boy London would be in a shop called Sick in East London, just off of Brick Lane. It was a Sunday, so I decided to stop by Old Spitalfields Market first on the way over. I had been there before, but not on a Sunday (just to check out the Doc Martens shop) so I didn't experience the full chaos of the hundreds of stalls and people all squashed into one square. I didn't end up buying anything but it was still really enjoyable, and really half the fun is just the experience and seeing all the amazing stuff to look at...



(Didn't take many pictures, as a lot of the stalls didn't allow them)
Afterwards I headed straight to Sick, which definately not dissapoint in their Boy London selection. Most of their BL stuff was the new, re-issued pieces, but they did have a few originals mixed in.



I mean, really. I was dying. The girl working there was really amazing, and guided my through their BL stock. It was a small shop, but definately had a great selection. The top floor was like a Boy London museum with some select vintage pieces in the mix, while the floor below felt like the basement of your best friend's cool older sister, who has the most envy-inducing collection of clothes, knick knacks, and music paraphernalia.




These shoes!! I mean, have any of us really gotten over our Spice Girl obsessions? I don't think so.

Case in point:
ALSO!!

I bought a few things from Sick, which I'll show you in due time.
Next I wandered down Brick Lane for a bit and went into a few places, like Beyond Retro, but it was getting late and most of the shops close pretty early.




How cute are these animal charms I saw in a shop window?

There was a vintage market on an upper floor of some building, so I went for a wander before it closed up. Lots of good stuff, but I spent enough at Sick so I had to restrain myself...



Tiniest, cutest leather jacket I've ever seen!


Okay that was only one day and waaaaaaaaay too many pictures, so I think I should just put all the rest in the next post. Next up: Sweden and Plymouth!

Love, I don't get enough of it

Eeeeek, hey guys! It's been a while! At least this absence was pre-announced (unlike most of my lazy blogging breaks) and I know you all have been DYING to see pictures and hear about my trip.... right? Unlucky for you, I'm not the best at storytelling or recollecting details, but I shall do my best!
As some of you may know, this wasn't my first visit to England. I lived and worked in London during the summer of 2009, and last summer I went again to do the same kind of working holiday but decided to come home early. The main goal for this trip was 1) visit my bestie who's studying in England, 2) give my travelling buddy the full London experience, as he's never even left Canada before, and 3) To see the Brit-pop group The Saturdays... the last reason being the most shamefull, but hey, at least I'm honest!
This post will cover the first 3 days, the second with the next 3 days, and the final post will be of the last 4 days... just to let you know, it will essentially be a photodump as there's a lot to cover. I'll try and guide you through my trip day-by-day, hopefully without being too boring...

DAY 1
We left Winnipeg the morning of the 16th, then had a 6+ hour wait in Toronto before getting on the plane again for London. With the travel time and time difference, we arrived in London the morning of the 17th and we were, unsuprisingly, extremely tired. We took the tube from Heathrow to our hostel, and sat down for some good ol' English brekkie while waiting to get into our room.

It's funny, whenever I arrive back in London it feels like I never left. I get really sentimental about seeing all the familiar things, and the smells just take me right back to my first London experiences. I don't consider myself an expert on the city or anything, but I really do feel like London is my second home now... being in big cities can be quite hectic and stressful sometimes, but I love it all and I've definately caught the travel bug since experiencing living in another country... I want to see more!
Carrying on! So after we got into our room we ended up just crashing for like 3 hours. Got up, got ready, went to see The Sats! Let me just say I know it's extremely uncool to be in love with The Saturdays, but I really can't help it... I just can't get enough!
So yeah, this is what I wore: Boy London jacket, thrifted and chopped dress, tights, and H&M wedges.
As you can see, I decided I needed a bit more colour and FUN to this outfit... in the form of pink hair tips. I bought some spray in stuff and wanted it as baby pink as I could get it. It wasn't flourescent, but it wasn't really a powdery pink. Still, it was fun while it lasted!

The dress is actually pretty great, but you can't see it properly here so I took a quick snap of it at home today. It has sheer sleeves with this piping details on the neckline and shoulders, very Alexander Wang.

The concert was really good, but the crowd seemed a little less than enthusiastic, not sure why? I was jumping up and dancing the whole time, hahah. When it was over we pretty much went straight back to our room and went to bed. Again, we were tired.

DAY 2
Our second day I though we should hit up the Southbank, London Bridge, Big Ben, etc. I really love the Southbank area actually, it's so nice to just stroll along there on a nice day.



While planning the trip, we talked about maybe going to a TV taping to be in the audience. There are a bunch of sites that you can apply though to get free tickets to be in the audience of shows, so we just applied to whatever we could and crossed our fingers. Lucky enough we got a hold of some tickets to be in the audience of Peaches Geldof's new show OMG! with Peaches Geldof (which, according to their FB page, premieres tomorrow). I'm not particularly a fan of hers, but really we just wanted to go for the experience. The show was kind of like a loose chat/gossip/audience participation program, which was alright... I'm sure they'll edit it down to make it a lot more entertaining (they taped for about 2 hours!). Any Brits who want to try and catch the show and maybe see me in the audience, I'll be in the 2nd episode of the series, on ITV2!
The show's taping was at the ITV studios which was near Waterloo station, so the whole day was spent in that general area. I think it was almost 7pm when it was finished taping, so I assume we went back to our hostel and had dinner or something (I really can't remember!).

DAY 3
More touristy stuff on our third day. We decided to go to the Tower of London, which was fine by me as I never did much of this kind of thing when I've been in London in the past. Sneaky tourist/outfit picture anyone? Wearing thrifted hat, blazer, flannel, t-shirt, bag, and creepers. Gloves from Jacob, and jeans from Urban Outfitters.

Goth lollies in the gift shop

It was raining a bit and quite cold that day, so we didn't stay there too long. In the evening we wanted to get a start on our shopping and decided to go to Westfield mall. We went to Jamie's Italian for dinner, partially so I could brag about it to by baby brother who LOVES Jamie Oliver... oh who am I kidding, I love him too!


Excuse the nasty hair here, this was after a day of hat-head and rain!
Hopefully you guys feel ~well informed~ after this post, and are excited to see the next 2 posts. I'm going to try not to drag this out, as (tbh) this stuff is already geting pretty stale in my head (sorting though hundreds of pictures doesn't help, either). Come back for part 2 and 3 later this week!