High Tea and elderflower scones

When I'm distressed about my professional life, I tend to retreat into the all my favourite sections of my closet - lace blouses, pastel skirts, bows, and of course anything pink. They all remind me that the dry, cubicle-ruled parts of my life aren't everything.

I was forcibly transferred to a new office this week. My old project was discontinued and it's funny how much I already miss working on it in my old office with old coworkers and we haven't even said our final good-byes yet. We started the send off with an informal cook-off party, giving me an excuse to do the other thing that keeps my mind off the world: baking. I made elderflower orange scones, and served them with fresh blueberries, vegan "clotted cream" and strawberry jam.

High Tea & Elderflower Scones;
Outer: Leifsdottir cream ruffle coat
Old Navy pink ruffle cardigan
Accessories: Juicy Couture pink bow scarf
Disney Couture gold Alice silhouette necklace
Anthropologie Rippled Ribbon Belt in sky
Urban Outfitters metal flower hairband
Hue opaque tights in black
Top: Anthropologie High Tea Blouse
Bottom: Anthropologie Sagebrush Skirt
Shoes: Madden Girl black patent heels
Bag: Coach Madison Sabrina in pink

Pride & Prejudice

I'm still soldiering on without a camera of my own, so thank you to all my readers for bearing with me! I've finally been able to borrow Boyfriend's to try and get back in the outfit of the day groove.

I wasn't expecting to love the First Hints blouse before I tried it on. I ignored it on the website despite the beautiful print since I figured it would be shapeless on me. I was surprised by how much I loved it, despite the shapeless drape. I was partially swayed by how many outfit ideas flew into my head once I had it on.

I've put on some winter pounds, so I've stayed away from some of my favourite pieces that I felt showed off the gain. My menswear shorts fell victim to that, but I knew this blouse was meant to be paired with them. I put aside my insecurities and proudly wore this spring ready outfit today.

Pride & Prejudice;
Top: Anthropologie First Hints blouse in ivory
Bottom: Urban Outfitters menswear tweed shorts
Shoes: Chie Mihara Alegra platform mary-janes
Bag: Coach Madison Sabrina in pale pink
Accessories: Hue opaque tights in black
Forever21 layering camisole
Forever21 drop charm necklace

P.S. I want to thank a local Anthropologie SA, Anna, for being so cheerful and sweet on my last visit into the store! Hopefully I'll get a chance to try on the Overwhelmed Aster Dress she recommended soon!

Dogs & Prairie dresses

2011 had started rough for my family and it seems it's determined not to let up yet. I've spent the last week wading through intense uncertainty my job. Everything has been, to say the least, unpleasant. On the bright side, it is amazing how much troubled times are soothed by coming home to a cute puppy.

Boyfriend and I took my new family dog, Ben, out for a walk at a nearby park this beautiful Sunday afternoon. He's a rescue who is part Black Lab and, we think, Border Collie. We couldn't have asked for a sweeter dog.

Dogs & Prairie Dresses;
Dress: Anthropologie Plains & Prairies dress
Top: Miss Selfridge pink and cream polka dot shirt
Shoes: Anthropologie Winding Ruffle boots
Bag: Coach Madison Sabrina in pale pink
Accessories: Urban Outfitters leather waist belt
Urban Outfitters metal hairband
Forever 21 pink songbird necklace
Betsey Johnson floral sunglasses

The Plains & Prairies dress was not something I initially coveted when I saw in last year. I found it alone in the sale room a bit after it was marked down and tried it on for fun. I was amazed and delighted at how well it fit me. The one complaint I had was that the top was a bit immodest on me. The adjustable straps help, but overall this was an item meant to be layered with a shirt. I barely ever wear the dress without this polka dot top under it.
The dress lightly lined and a bit long, making it perfect for spring. I love adding sleeves to make my dresses a bit more spring seasonal - the perfect thing to throw on without a cardigan for breezy, dog-walking days.

50s frocks for spring

If you're shaped at all like me, the current 70s trend that retailers like Anthropologie are embracing for spring doesn't do a thing for you. Sure, it's beautiful in theory, but put those looks on my wide, short, curvy self and it's a non-starter. Thankfully, one of my favourite UK high street chains, Monsoon, has some ultra feminine frocks to thrill me for spring. They're embracing the 50s housewife silhouette, which is a look near and dear to my heart. I hope for those similarly unsuited for the 70s boho look, this list provides a little eye candy for the season.

I'm currently hoping to indulge in some of these beautiful things;

Rosie Dress, £85

Posey Prom Dress, £65

Dot Spot Cardigan, £48

Hazel Peeptoe Shoes, £55

Juniper White Leather Bag, £65

Fusion Peony Dress, £65

Mint Ruched Sleeve Cardigan, £38

Meadow Dress, £95
(Oh how I love thee!)

Mia Dress, £180
(If not for the unfortunate price tag, this would already be mine!)

Spring Opener

Well here we are at the end of March and I'm still without a properly functioning camera. It's time for me to get low-fi and creative around here.

I've never had a more appropriate spring day at work. Signs of the season were everywhere, brightening an otherwise humdrum day at the office.

baseball season, blooming into view

weather clear and beautiful enough for a silk, floral frock...
(Anthropologie "Tuileries Dress")

...and bright pink heels

(Seychelles "Woodpecker")

the cashier ringing up my lunch stopping to tell me, "your bangs are perfect."

(Urban Outfitters metal hairband)

a coworker (and friend) bringing me a beautiful, seasonal treat
(桜抹茶 cherry blossom green tea)

Thank you to all my followers for sticking with me through the silence. I hope you're out enjoying spring!

MIA, camera woes

Welp, my trust little pink camera has decided to get fussy on me the past week. I was hoping to be able to update with new reviews and OOTDs but without it, I am useless. Hopefully it's something simple or I can borrow a replacement camera for a while. Until then, I'm going to be missing in action.

Stay pretty, lovely ladies!

Reviews; Picked Plaid Skirt (with petite comparison), Back Porch Blouse

Here's another entry in my experiment with Anthropologie petites. Sorry for the extended delay! I had have the petite sized clothing shipped to me (obviously, as I've yet to ever see it in stores) and the package took nearly 2 weeks to get to my door. Sometimes Anthro is lightning fast, but I guess this order drew the short straw.

For this petite review, I took on the Picked Plaid Skirt ($98). This was one of my favourite items from the March new arrivals and I couldn't wait to try it.

I decided to stick with ordering my true size 10 for these review sets just for simplicity. I'm almost always a 10 at Anthropologie. Here I've got the regular size on the left, petite on the right.

This skirt has some negative reviews on the website, and trying on the regular size, I see why. The length combined with the fullness of the circle and the mixed pattern print is way too much. Sitting about an inch below my knee, the regular dips into frumpy for me. There's a lot of extra fabric at my wasit so it looks oversized which is never comfortable.

The petite however, hits all my buttons. There's less fabric around my midsection, giving far less of a pooch outward. When put above my knee, the full skirt turns adorable. I really love the crazy print of this, which is just folksy and sweet enough to keep things casual. The petite is a keeper for me and recommended for those unhappy with the length of the standard size.

In my mind, I paired this skirt with the Back Porch Blouse (also $98).

In theory, I love this top. It looks beautifully constructed and the sleeves are adorable. Maybe I just needed a size 8 instead, but this top was not doing anything for my figure. I was swimming in extra fabric everywhere but the very bottom snap at the start of my hips. That was so tight, it popped open. For that reason alone, I don't think I could size down. If you have narrow hips (or a flatter stomach), you're probably alright to size down, but this goes back to the store for me.

That's all for now. Thanks for bearing with me and the delay. I received a lot of positive emails and comments about showing off Anthro's petites, so I'm happy to say I'll have more petite reviews of two dresses later in the week!