there's plenty of craic in dublin

the streets of dublin, the river, trinity university, chairs in a hotel, the zoo house, coloured parliment doors, shop signs, the temple bar, buskers, an art cafe, my luggage tag, waiting for the flight home

dublin was amazing, i hope it comes across in the pictures.

zipped capes & 11 year old mistakes

left: marieclaire.co.uk, right: fashiontoast

last year I really wanted a cape coat for winter, but unfortunately they weren't 'in' quite yet so it wasn't really possible! obviously they've been all over the catwalks this season though. i prefer zipped capes over all others - both for the praticality and because i have a weird love for exposed zips. not a fetish though, don't get ideas ;) ! the catwalk image is from giabattista valli's a/w paris show, j'adore. it's not actually zipped, it's buttoned, but it's the similar idea of the line down the middle that i like. however somehow i imagine it'll be out of my price range, though. the picture on the right is of rumi neely from the amazing fashiontoast (does she mind people using her pictures? i really don't understand how and where copyright applies - i hope i don't get sued for this :Z) to see the original post, see here. it's from february this year, as soon as i saw it was love! it's vintage (of course) so no hope there either... i think i'd have a heart attack if i was flicking through a charity or vintage shop rail and found something like this. which consquently will be unlikely as all the ones near me are godawful.

on a semi-related note, i would also really like a poncho... don't shoot me! the last time i had a poncho i was in year 7 (7 years ago). it was too big (as was everything on me in those days) white and wooly with a fringed trim and a folded over neck. it was hideous but i thought i was well good in it.

however, i won't be revisiting that... i've seen one on h&ms website (HOW exciting is it that h&m now have an online store. took them long enough!) thats like thinner wool and camel coloured. and £15, beautiful.

also concluded from this post: i use too many brackets. oh dear, cringe at my writing style. i did maths and chemistry guys, i never claimed to be able to write! :)

so i was looking for a scanner on amazon. you know, so i can scan meaningless and unimportant things such as scribbles and pretty sweet wrappers whenever i feel like it, and then occasionally use it to scan in magazine editorials and the what not. er, that'll be £50 mate? yea i didn't really have an idea about the cost of them in my head before i actually looked but i'm not impressed. maybe tesco value will have one gathering dust on a shelf somewhere for a tenner...

i feel like posts aren't really real posts unless they have photos. but it's not as if there would be a photo to accompany this post. unless you all want to know what a CanoScan LiDE 100 looks like. yea didn't tink so.

bad news - the topshop faux fur coat is sold out online in my size :'( which sometimes does and doesn't mean it's sold out in the shops. not that i can afford it anyway, without breaking into savings. so this is probably a very good thing.

but on a better note, the dublin photos are now on the laptop! looks like after dublin posts there won't be any other photo ones for a bit, until i can sort this space issue out or get an external hard drive or something. really awkward, but of course this is me and technology we're talking about. so anyway, massive post soon - don't say i didn't warn you :D!

a/w topshop picks

clockwise beginning left: ruched sleeve shrunken blazer, sheer airtex tee, andi clog stirrup ankle boot, short sleeved shirt, embroidered tunic, knitted crop jumper, ruffle shift dress, check swing coat, faux fur 3/4 sleeve coat

i'm going to go against widespread belief here but i really am not big on this seasons catwalk collections. many magazines are raving about how it's one of the best a/w's in a long time... i don't see it. which means it is then bizarre that i love topshop's collection this winter - seeing as i'm normally as massive on them as most!

 i've been wanting some black winter boots - i'm not sure these shoe boots are really appropriate, but i love them anyway. except for the name! it is an inside joke with my best friend about my absolute loathing for clogs (she actually wanted some, but thank goodness got some fabulous surface-to-air style black strappy wedges in their place) and we have laughed many a time about high street stores trying to push for the even more hideous 'winter clogs'. (please, never buy these). however i saw these shoes before i saw the name - but after i found it out, i asked her if i could still like them? she said no XD. it is in my opinion that they are not related to clogs, because they are amazing.

so i'm still sticking to my usual ways with what i've picked - neutral colours, simple lines. some black kind-of-leather-looking shorts should have been on here too but the picture wouldn't show up :Z there's quite a few others as well - mainly big chunky knits - but they wouldn't fit on.

not that i will actually get any of this - maybe one, at a push two - but a girl can wish!

and when i see you i really see you upside down

imgs from various sources over the years - sorry!

some of my favourite images of the band that for the past three years have been there for me every day, comforted me on the lows and brightened up the highs... :) cheesey i know, but they are basically my life soundtrack, i love them more than i have ever loved anything of this type! they have a sound like no other band and ben gibbards voice is just so pure and haunting - argueably a very 'arty' band with both their AMAZING lyrics and album covers. the boyfriend got me the narrow stairs album on vinyl for my birthday, the cover is beautiful :) it's likely they'll feature in many posts to come!

i've never been able to see them live - in the time that i've listened to them they've only come to england once, two years ago and i couldn't afford the tickets :( they were only £16 as well, which these days seems like nothing. i had a conversation with my best friend a few weeks back where we arrived at the conclusion that i would pay up to £150 to see them if they came back, without any hesitation. maybe one day i'll just have to fly to seattle and see them there...

computer problems, already

i hate this thing.

apparently my disk is full so i can't upload my Dublin photos - which was amazing, by the way - but I don't want to do a post on it til i have them! so it'll be postponed. i'll delete this ugly filler post when it's up and sorted again :)

slattery's and packing for dublin

Went to the Slattery's today for brunch with the girls. If you haven't heard of Slattery's, it's a gorgeous chocolateir and patisserie... they do the most amazing cakes! I stupidly didn't get any photos of the shop itself, but I got a couple of the food that we had... The third photo is my friend Crystal, who has mushrooms on toast. I mean, really Crystal?!

She also has funny bandy arms :)

The last photo is just one of me sat in the new Topshop Manchester changing rooms. Despite it being horribly hot and humid (so much so I would rather have just not put my jeans back on ;)) I'm so much happier with the new curtains, seeing as they actually cover the whole entrance, unlike the others. Which frankly, were crap.

What I tried on. I really want some leather shorts - however, when I typed 'leather shorts' into ebay, I got things completely different to what I hoped! I'm not big on tight and short - with a £40 price tag at that! I love the brown swing coat and the bottle green peter pan dress in the last photo.

I'm going to Dublin tomorrow! For three days, with the boyfriend. I have to be up at five tomorrow morning, it isn't going to be pretty. I'm awful at packing, so I always do it last minute - I hate having to decide what to wear in advance! So I've just thrown stuff I like into my suitcase in the hope I'll style it when I get there - here's what I'm taking:

A close up of the crazy yellow smock thing which I don't wear nearly enough -

I'm taking quite a lot of different patterns which is odd for my normal basics-with-a-twist style, but it should be alright! I'll be back on Saturday so won't be able to post again til Sunday at the earliest. Have a good week!