let's waste time chasing cars...

I'm off to see Snow Patrol in, literally, 15 minutes so I'm currently in a typing frenzy.
Firstly, I'm going to show you all my outift, including truly awful hair which I apologise for in advance.

ahahaha, I've just noticed the little kitty in the corner, how cute :)

I'm wearing the dress from Zara which I bought aaaaaaages ago and blogged about here, my favourite (ok, only) floral tights and my trusty Primark shooboots. Hmmm no jewellery, may have to put some on :)

Oooooh, that links really well to the next item on my agenda, this BEAUTIFUL new necklace from Funky Junk Jewellery. I love, and I mean really LOVE, snowflake jewellery. It's probably linked to my insane obsession with all things festive and pretty and just general adoration of jewellery. But anways, you should check out the website, because there are some truly beautiful items on it, including these two lovelies. The snowflake necklace is £6.50 and the phone charm bracelet is £8.

101 in 1001 challenge

Inspired by Tor's blog, that's peachy, I've decided to do the following challenge:

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).
Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.
START: 16 November 2009
END: 13 August 2013
Hmmmm as I have very limited resources I'll have to write slightly less ambitious tasks, but I'll be amazed if I'm actually able to complete all of these in the time.... good challenge though!




1) Go to Paris
2) Get a really good make-up collection
3) Sort out my bedroom (ie get rid of my rickety bed and replace it with a less dangerous one, keep it tidy most of the time)
4) Tell all my school friends about this blog (kind of embarrassed about it, but it will help with the next one...)
5) Keep up with this blog, and get over 100 followers
6) Experiment more with make-up looks
7) Buy some actual vintage clothes
8) Cook some really difficult recipes (successfully!)
9) Get really good at playing the piano
10) Watch some classic 20th century movies.... with people like Audrey Hepburn, Katherine Hepburn and Molly Ringwald
11) Get some earrings, and start wearing earrings more often
12) Pass all my GCSEs :)
13) Go ice-skating on Christmas Eve
14) Go to New York
15) Eat healthily (ie don't eat because of boredom, stop eating when I'm full, stop eating so much cake... ok, that doesn't really go with the next one...)
16) Get really good at making cupcakes
17) Go to see Muse
18) Go up to London for the weekend... without my parents
19) Go on holiday with my friends
20) Learn to ski
21) Collect some amazing jewellery
22) Go to the Clothes Show Live every year
23) Improve my sewing skills
24) Visit some different UK cities
25) Go to a proper, weekend music festival
26) Document a day in photographs, at least every two months (completely stole this one of Tor :P)
27) Watch every episode of Sex and the City (again, credit to Tor for this one)
28) Eat at a Michelin star restaurant
29) Get a cooking lesson
30) Get my own laptop
31) Make an item of clothing that I will actually wear
32) Spend a ton of money on Brighton Pier
33) Buy a Polaroid camera (stolen again (: )
34) Make friends with some people not from school
35) Enter at least two competitions a month
36) Win a competition
37) Go to more flea markets
38) Get braces... and get them out
39) Make some jewellery
40) Dye my hair... or at least get highlights
41) Do an internship, or work experience at a fashion magazine
42) Find a good cleanser for teenage skin, and use it regularly
43) Drink more water every day
44) Got to see 3 more West End musical
45) Go to see a comedy act
46) Go to watch Never Mind the Buzzcocks live
47) Go to watch Strictly Come Dancing
48) Meet a pretty famous celebrity
49) Work at a charity shop
50) Work at a nursery
51) Watch 5 very different documentaries
52) Watch 10 really good horror films
53) Buy an item that costs over £100
54) Buy someone a present for no reason (once again, credit to Tor for this one)
55) Watch Jaws
56) Go on a road trip.... preferably in a VW Camper
57) Go camping with my friends
58) Go to see 10 bands no one has ever heard of
59) Go out dressed up as someone else.... I'm thinking maybe be Blair Waldorf for a day, or maybe go all goth...
60) Go to a proper, full on house party
61) Do a sleepover marathon
62) Help my mum with the kittycats, even though they'll be almost elderly by then..
63) Get a regular job
64) Get some really good nail varnish, and wear it every non-school day
65) Perform in some kind of drama performance out of school
66) Learn to walk properly in heels
67) Get a brilliant, Carrie Bradshaw-esque shoe collection
68) Sell my Uggs (Cannot stand them now, reckon I could get at least £20
69) Learn to like coffee
70) Get an A* at GCSEs
71) Own one piece of really nice, expensive piece of jewellery.... which I haven't bought for myself
72) Get a brilliant selection of box sets (5, maximum of 3 can be sitcoms)
73) Discover some fabulous new music
74) Donate some proper money to charity
75) Go to a wedding, like a proper church wedding
76) Stand in the front row at a gig, and maybe even get pulled out
77) Go to Italy
78) Read some old novels.... Has to include Wuthering Heights
79) Get a charm bracelet... and fill it with charms
80) Customise some clothing
81) Get some really good quality pajamas
82) Find the perfect lip gloss
83) Get at least 5 pairs of completely of-the-moment fashion items
84) Go out wearing something that I don't feel at all confident in, even if I know it looks good
85) Start to label my blog posts... starting with this one :)
86) Watch a whole series of a fly on the wall TV show (either Big Brother or I'm a Celebrity)
87) Get my bronze Duke of Edinburgh award
88) If I see someone on the street wearing something amazing, compliment them and ask them where they got it 3 times (sounds miniscule, but I'm a very shy person)
89) Do a car boot sale to sell all the rubbish in my room!
90) Swap clothes with a friend
91) Go to an art exhibiton
92) Go to a fashion show
93) Buy a one off piece
94) Buy something designer
95) Build up a collection of quirky little bags
96) Stop using technology an hour before I go to bed
97) Eat all of my 5 fruit and veg a day, for a week
98) Do some kind of charity marathon or walk
99) Go to Wales and stay at a B&B
100) Get a fake "oops" style story published in a magazine (don't know why, but I've always wanted to do this)
101) Make a real effort to get on better with my extended family (ie grandparents, who I have issues with on both sides)


PHEW that took me a whole hour! It's a lot harder than you'd think. Argh, how am I going to be able to do this if I can't even write them all!
Speak soon xxx

YAY first exclusive discount!

Ok, just a quick blog post. The lovely Conny from Love Hearts and Crosses has just offered me an exclusive discount for you guys! Read more about her cute jewellery in my earlier blog posts here. As you can see, I'm quite a fan. Anyway, all you have to do is enter ELLAAPPAREL at the checkout for a lovely 20% off at Love Hearts and Crosses... you're welcome! It's a perfect opportunity for you all to get me my birthday presents :)
see you later xxx

MIss Dior advert

Ok, I do realise that I'm being the most stereotypical girly teenager ever, but does no one else just LOVE the new Miss Dior Cherie advert campaign? It seems to be in all the magazines and on telly ALL THE TIME but frankly I do not care because I never get bored of it! Watch the advert here....
ANYWAY on to more important stuff like MEEEE
Ok, so today my parents are off to some kind of 70s party and had to go in the loft to get their old clothes which excited me quite a bit with the hope of finding some gorgeous vintage stuff. Well, meh.... turns out my mother was a bit.... larger than she is now and most of her skirts I could wear as dresses (that's if I wanted a tweed fishtail knee-length dress) BUT my find of the day is this little orange lace scarf which quite excited me :D and for some reason which I cannot fathom, it appears to make me look older than I actually am: a rare occurance given my height. It was particularly exciting as their actual words were "Oh, that's a nice bow, actually you're whole outfit's nice, are you studying fashion?" which made me so happy I felt like jumping up and down! Ok, so my dearest father did some "I'm sorry I've been so horrible to you all while I've had man flu" shopping for all of us, which me and mum encouraged with open arms. However my sister didn't seem to quite get it and spent her guilt money on some sweets and a bath bomb... what a wasted opportunity. So this second picture is my outfit, and to be honest it's nothing new except from the slate grey tights which you can't even really see in this picture. Fact about me: my favourite colours at the moment are greys and dark blues.... but I'm kind of in quite a good mood in general at the moment. Hmmmm odd.

Anyway, so here are my purchases:

this is a man's tee, but look how prettyyy it is? It's got little diamante bits on it! Also, can we just take a minute to marvel at the unexpected beauty of the shoulders. They're just kind of baggy and weird but WOW they've got a tiny bit of elastic in so you can push them up and create the nicest, slightly power shoulder-y effect which is what makes it soooooo great. That was £30 from Amplified.

Ok, so the other thing is rather basic but I do love the grungeyness of it. Ok.... so I'm looking at the picture now and it appears to have come out rather grainy and odd. So basically it's blue and really really dark brown striped, with poppers all down the back. It was £50, but reduced to £20 (I KNOW! Such a bargain!) because of the smallest hole I've ever seen in my life be the label on the back which even I, with the worst sewing skills in the world, could repair. I'm also surprised about how much I like the length of the sleeves, because I usually just stick with short sleeves all year round and just layer up in winter, but these are quite nice... :D

BREAKING NEWS BREAKING NEWS
As I'm writing this, I have recieved an email from my beloved Love Hearts and Crosses. Look, I'm so sorry to be this repetitive, but you people have to buy me this stuff!! The latest collection has to be my favourite yet, and so I'm afraid I will have to comment about it.
Ok, so I'll try and be brief...

LOVELOVELOVE this cutesy camera necklace, especially the tarnished silver effect. However, top of my wish list is this actually amazing gold pocket watch. I love everything about it: the links to Alice in Wonderland, the fact it's so antique-style, the fact that IT ACTUALLY WORKS and the pretty little details on the front and back. And lastly are these cute little ice cream earrings. Ok, is it just me being a freak or is there some feeling of rebellion about wearing ice cream earrings in the winter? Hmmm probably just me. Anyway, I think I have probably written my longest post EVER now so I need to go and rest my arms xxx

BBC Switch Live post

This was the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life.... and also the loudest (yes, louder than Wembley Stadium) It was such a good day, but it's left us all exhausted. So, highlights of my night are the brilliant performance by JLS, Pixie Lott and the award ceremony which took place throughout the concert at various intervals, which included the one and only Fearne Cotton who won the award for most stylish human.  
Unfortunately the computer doesn't seem to be able to let me upload the pictures...

but here are my favourite outfits of the night. I love Fearne's oufit for three reasons; one is the jumpsuit which really suits her and is different, two is the gorgeous boots which I am ultra jealous of and three because I do just love her in general :)
Secondly, The Saturdays wore.... nice clothes, good for performing and practical and stuff.... but nothing especially WOW (though I do quite like the fringing on Vanessa's dress) except from the gift from heaven that is Una Healy's alphabet tights! And luckily I recognised them from an email I got from Urban Outfitters many weeks ago.... I was lustful then, but now I've actually seen them in real life I do actually HAVE to have them.... anyone fancy getting them for me for Christmas? :) Ok, so basically they've sold out in Urban Outfitters, but they're on Tights Please for only £10!!! And free UK delivery! I am in such heaven... I think it's time for some serious kissing up to parents :) anyway, I am babbling because I am actually excited about this discovery of a bargain, so I think I may have to change the subject.






























Also, new website alert: Pastiche Couture. It's a bit high on the price range, but stocks some great looking items. As usual, here are some of my favourites:

TUTUS <3

First things first, tomorrow I'm off to BBC Switch Live, and event for 14-17 year olds with a load of popular artists, including Black Eyed Peas, Pixie Lott and... Shaheen Jarfagholi (sp?) from Britians Got Talent.... Anyway, I'm going with three friends and our biggest concern (never mind travel arrangements, costs and how we're going to eat) is what the hell we're going to wear!! So, I will be documenting all our outifts, and if I can do some street style kind of thing with other people there I may well do that too :)

Ok, so for ages I've had a strong desire for a tutu, despite my friends constantly reminding me that I have little, if any, occasion to actually wear a tutu.... but I really don't care, it seems such a great wardrobe staple that you could dress up with heels and a fancy top, or down with a grungy t-shirt and my worker boots. So I've been looking online and in town and found the best of the bunch.... while trying to use less mainstream shops like Topshop. So the first tutu is from Very which you must have seen adverts for, unless you don't read any magazines or watch tv. This is the most tutu-like one of my top three, and further examination has shown that it's quite see-through... Also, for anyone who's lucky enough to live near a Beyond Retro, they always have loads of tutus like this.

This next one is from H&M, the only break of my vow not to just use the obvious choices, but it's soooooo prettyyy :) in the shop they had this in purple on a manequin with this cute little heart sequinned tee and a big studded belt and it looked amazing, and I do love this dusty pink colour.

Ok, so the last one is from s, Awear.com,  and I love this mink colour as well. However, as I'm a bit on the short side, this one may be a bit too long for me....

This leads me rather nicely on to my next point, about the wonderfulness of Awear. It first caught my eye when I saw my beloved Fearne Cotton wearing this cool dress from there, so I thought I'd check it out and found it was filled with some very different lovelies... please check it out, it's great and such good value. Sorry they're a bit small, but check out the website for a bigger picture :)

Late halloween post :)

Ok, so this halloween I was subjected to the torture of my goth auntie's 50th birthday, meaning that it was spent with my entire family and my cousin, who is also a major goth, and all of her scary friends.... Anyway, this time I decided I would REALLY dress up. I went all venetian masked ball-y, which was brilliant because it had the added benefit of disguising my face, however my mother was determined to make it more halloween like, so on the left is the finish article, complete with cobwebby stuff and white face make up, which seemed to satisfy her....

Also a new discovery- missguided it's not exactly groundbreaking stuff, but it's all very pretty. Anyway, here's a selection of lovely stuff that can be found on there. Firstly these surprisingly dainty worker boots are £29.99.

I also love this schoolgirl-style navy blazer, for £28.99, and this lace crop top is £14.99.

They're also great for rip-offs of more expensive clothes. For example, on our left we have a lovely bodycon dress from Topshop for £32, and on the right is a very similar dress from missguided, for £13.99. You get the idea, I'm sure :)
xxx