As the tide begins to turn

Last week I tried my very hardest to spent as much time outside as possible. I spent days by the coast; cliff walking and lunching, and nights walking with a friend and her dogs. While this was my ideal week activity and weather wise, it was also not the most productive of times. The sun does not inspire much sitting inside and studying/reading, which is what I really should be doing. I have now finished Jane Eyre (review to follow, needless to say i loved it) and I am trying my very hardest to get into Charles Dickens' Dombey and Son, not easy to say the least. I know I will enjoy it, Great Expectations was completely not what I was expecting (see what I did there?), and I ended up fully engrossed, but Dombey ans Son just looks so depressing, and long.  I will do at least an hour a day. I will.

Here are some Instagrams from September, I now have fully developed obsessions with nail art, neck ties, floral tea dresses, and my heeled brogues, which I finally caved in and bought. Best purchase EVER. Anyway if you are on Instagram and fancy following me I'm @elrowe17. 

Back to school

Dress: River Island
Shoes: Topshop (via ebay)
Tote: Idlewild gig
Watch: Casio (via ebay)
Lipstick: Revlon stay matte, strawberry red (discontinued)

There is a story behind this dress that I cannot be bothered to tell, but lets just say I was pleased when it finally arrived (yet not so pleased when it shrunk in the wash). I'm not usually a fan of the mini, but I got all caught up in the print and cute pockets, and now I'm hankering after some more mini shift dresses to wear with tights. It also gave me an excuse to wear the Topshop Kerb-t shoes I posted about oh, so long ago, they turned out to be pretty comfortable, if slightly childish, like the shoes your mum bought you for going back to school, that you were so excited to wear on the first day of term because you'd been made to save them until then.

Talking of school, I begin my degree again in about a month, and it looks pretty reading heavy (of course it is, it's a literature degree), with this in mind I think I think I'm going to start posting mini book reviews as I go along. I've been thinking about creating some regular features, and my degree is such a large part of my life yet I never talk about it, and this is something that will give me some focus, which frankly, last year I lacked.

So sorry in advance, I'm about to get pretty bookish on you...

Far From the Madding Crowd

Dress: New Look
Necklace: Adapted from an earring
Hat: Vintage, thrifted
Belt: Vintage, thifted
Satchel: Vintage, charity shop
Shoes: Gift from my girl
Nails: Models Own
Lips: Revlon Stay matte, smoked peach

We took another walk along the saltwater marshes, met a cute little stray dog who was very keen to play ball, and I got a little sun burnt. All in all a good day.

I love this dress, it was an impulse buy, but it was like I'd been looking for it all my life. The print is the perfect mix of kitsch and modern, and the fit makes it look like I actually have boobs. Amazing. In the winter I'm going to wear it with black tights, my leather jacket, and head scarf to toughen it up a little.

 Tough is a good word, and recently I feel like it's what I'm lacking, and hence my recent pause in blogging these pictures, and others. I haven't really felt comfortable in my choices. My wardrobe is too child like, full of animal prints (see post below!) and 'little girl' skirts. I find all I want to do is return to the days of old, when jeans, stripes, white hair, and red lipstick were my items of choice. Today I took the first steps and had my hair bleached, again. It felt good.
 The hairdressers is my weakness, I love going to the salon and deciding on a colour and cut, then seeing it created in front of you. I think hairdressers are truly underrated, perhaps if I had my time again it's something I would think of doing.

Sunshine memories...

So after reading Vivatramp's holiday post, and looking at pictures full of beautiful weather, and good food I got all nostalgic for sunshine, beaches, sorbet, and tacky holiday gifts. So, I dug out some photos from last years holiday to Portugal, I wont pretend we spent the week in the lap of luxury, but what we did have was amazing heat, blue seas, interesting people, a great photography exhibition, and better hair. I miss that hair.

I wont be going on holiday this year, I don't think funds will allow (although I do really want to go to Iceland, anyone want to give me a free holiday?) but with two long weeks off the daily grind coming up I would like to do something a little exciting, I'm just not sure what yet, maybe a trip down to Cornwall or Somerset, or a weekend in a city? I don't care really, as long as the SUN COMES BACK! I need that vitamin D on my skin.

Life Blood

Blouse: Primark
Dress: Topshop
Loafers: Topshop
Necklace: Homemade
Bag: Charity Shop

I was feeling a little homesick, so we went for a walk through the woods in my home village. I used to walk this way almost everyday, the mixture of dense woodland and sea views makes me feel so content, the absolute quiet is the perfect place for thinking and dreaming. I miss that. Because I am a total dork I forgot to put the memory card in the camera so these were taken on SLR, it seems kind of fitting to the surroundings don't you think?
 It was a pretty hot day so I dressed for comfort rather than style. I pulled out my old Topshop, chambray dress, tied a blouse over the top, and stuck on my trusty loafers, which were a bit of an investment, but so very comfortable, and worth every penny (or rather pound).  I've had this little floral blouse for years, I have it in two colour ways, this one for summer and one for autumn which is more purple and plum (slightly obsessive) and I wear them both a lot, I do that with a lot of stuff, bad habit. Maybe it's time to mix it up a bit...

Estuary Waters

Top: Topshop
Skirt: River Island
Belt: Vintage
Bag: Thrifted
Shoes: Topshop
Sunglasses: H&M

I love walks along the beach, there is nothing like the seaside to make me feel at home. The sound of the waves, and the feel of the sand are some of my all time favourite things. I guess it comes from growing up next to the sea. The rest of the day was spent baking a traditional potato pasty for my dads lunch visit and having a little nap in the sunshine. Pretty excellent.

Everything I'm wearing here is pretty old by my standards. I picked up the skirt in the River Island sale last year for £5, it was low waisted, but with a little adjustment I made it high waisted so I could belt it with one of my trusty leather belts.
  The bag is an old fishing tackle satchel that I found it a charity shop for a couple of pounds, it's one of my favourites, it fits pretty much everything including the camera, which is a winner in my book.
 With all this heat we've been having lately I've taken to wearing my Topshop sandals that I bought last year on for my holiday and never wore, I'm so glad I've rediscovered them, with a little wearing in I think they'll be perfect. It has made my itchy for another pair...

Moving On

Top: Vintage (thrifted)
Skirt: Topshop
Belt: Vintage
Bag: Vintage (thrifted)
Shoes: Vintage (gifted)
Necklace: Vintage

So the big move has taken place, and now it's all finally started to take shape at home we took Sunday off from house duties and went for a long walk in the sunshine. After our long trek to the beach we stopped for a little picnic of Hummus and carrot and then after a stroll along the beach we went into the Retro themed tea shop for some cold refreshment. It was a pretty perfect day. Since it was so beautifully hot I took the opportunity to wear the new rose print crop top I found in a charity shop last week. I was really lucky and found a few great things when I was in there, including three ceramic swans for my bathroom, a cute lace collared sleeveless blouse, a yellow tailored skirt (which needs some adjusting), and a little woven footstool for my lounge. Recently I seem to have had a bit of luck when it comes to thrifting, yesterday I found a great little printed t-shirt and a 'B' shield badge. Hopefully some of these will feature soon...