Are you ready?

Getting ready for Christmas means different things to all of us. To my mom and dad it normally means baking a poppyseed cake. For my friend's husband it's all about making sure that the traditional fish has been ordered in time. For my friend's daughter it means getting a new iPhone. For me, just in case you ever doubted it, it's all about THE DRESS.

One may think it's completely insignificant or even vain. You couldn't be more wrong. We put so much pressure on ourselves during the festive period. The gifts must be thoughtful (and with a receipt attached just in case it doesn't work out). The cards must be personal (or just signed as the mind-reading message is already inside). The bird must be succulent and juicy, be it goose or turkey (with clear juices coming out, just like when Mary Berry elucidates the word prefect and simultaneously produces a perfect smile on her face). The brussels must be tender and sweet (not like the usual overcooked bitter type that everyone remembers from Christmas before).

But what about ourselves? It we were lucky enough and remembered to make a hairdressers appointment back in August we have the roots sorted. If we focused enough by the end of October we managed to grow our nails by hiring a gorgeous looking teenager from the bottom of the road to do the gardening and adopting the yellow gloves into our family (of course one of them breaks a week before and we need to cut them all off with tears in our eyes and seek for a set of fake ones with loads of glitter). If all that, including loosing a few pounds just to have an excuse to put them back on, is in place and the fridge could not possibly stretch any more here comes the BIG QUESTION: what am I going to wear?

As much as Christmas jumpers are a great excuse to avoid this potentially stressful situation, certain ladies, like myself, like glamming up. Especially for Christmas, as well as for no reason at all. In life you can never be overdressed or overeducated. Since I have two MA degrees I must dress up to the standard, right? Or is this a poor excuse? The hunt for the perfect outfit started back in October. For some reason Topshop and all went all crazy with sequins this year. Maybe it's just me growing up, but I don't fancy looking like a disco ball and make all my guests at the table blink every time I move. I've decided to look for something classy.

As nowadays class is a rare quality to find, it appeared to be even harder to find it on the clothes racks. Dear high street, some of us are neither 4ft tall nor 14 and would like to wear a dress that covers a bit more than the bottom of our knickers. Also, not everyone looks like a boy. Hips. Remember hips? That sexy, curvy part of the female body than men are meant to adore? Yes, some of us still have them and would like to put on a dress that doesn't look like it's about to burst open when we sit down (or not go for 3 sizes up and ruin our self-esteem). Despite the lack of light in the tunnel, I am a woman full of faith and even in the beginning of December I still believed that I was going to find THE ONE.

And so I did. Found it. Right in front of me in the cyber digital world of online shopping. Perfect! I would not even have to leave my desk to get it. I couldn't be more wrong. The dreaded: Out of stock appeared in front of my eyes as they filled with tears. The world stopped for a second. My heartbeat went back to normal when I realised that I'm down in London in a few days for a work thing so I can nip out to this shop and pick it up myself. Ok, no need to panic. It turned out that I could be more wrong. They didn't have it. I had to go to another location to check. Still nothing.

But I finally tried one more shop more locally and, to my surprise, they had the last 2 in stock. I had to wait an hour for them to get it from the stock room, The longest lunch of my life! But finally, we found each other embracing in the changing room. I've found THE ONE and did not let go of it. Literally. All eyes in the queue at the checkout were on me. They were all screaming where did you find this? As proud as I was, the purchase has brought me comfort and piece of mind. I was ready. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the perfect little black dress. I hope you are ready too!

The perfect black lace bra.

Finally got it! And it was a bargain too! The black bra / bralette craze has been going on for a while. Margaret Zhang and other bloggers have been on the quest to find the perfect one for moths now. I have to admit that I was somehow reluctant to begin with as I'm not really into black underwear...

But this time it was different. I could not help but wonder what it would look like on me. And, as I suspected, it looks just perfect! It is by Lovaine - a young and fabulous young British shop owner who I have been following on Instagram for a while. If you're into beautiful jewellery you should check her out as well! (this post is not sponsored by her and it was not a gift. I simply love her designs!)

I shop in big high street chains most of the time. But little pieces from local(ish) designers are what does it for me. They usually are intimates that I do not share on my blog... But this time I made an exception. Have you got your yet? Roll on summer! I want to wear it under an oversized t-shirt showing off just the edges of my perfect black lace bralette ;) 

New in. Spring/Summer 2014.

Yes, I am biased. I have been shopping at Zara for years now and it's simply because I love their clothes. They are affordable, decent quality and beautifully designed. So.... after soaking up the fashion at London Fashion Week I rushed shopping to get some blush, mint green and white pieces. You saw my selfie wearing the matching set here. Soon (hopefully, if weather allows) you will be able to see all of them in a proper outfit post.

Pastels are definitely what I'm going for this season. Have you got any favourites? Anything you crave for? I am on the quest to get a perfect pastel pink coat!

New in. The best things come in plain packages.

Ok, I could not resist to get matching set from Zara. Crop tops rule! Now I just need to wait for warmer temperatures to wear it outside my bedroom. Hurry up, dear Spring! How are you going to wear your crop top?

New in. Coats, coats and more coats.

Ok, a little retail therapy won't do any harm, right? As I was unable to surface out of my bed for the whole of last week I've decided to invest some money in a nice and warm coat. How awfully reasonable of me, eh? Coats have become my obsession lately... Guilty as charged. I just took very seriously what the weatherman said - we are expecting a rather chilly winter this year. Anyway, any excuse was good to get this simple black coat from Topshop. It basically looks like an oversized jacket that someone sew out of wool and put into a woman's wardrobe by mistake. Even better, I thought. I hope you like it as much as me. As I am no longer horizontal, I promise  anew outfit post will be here soon!

New in. Getting ready for autumn.

The excitement about autumn has been building up since I received the August issue of Vogue UK. It was a bit early to get excited about shorter and cooler days in July, but I see no reason why we shouldn't be doing it in September! I am getting autumn ready. Looking for coats, turtle necks (soooo need to get one this season), boots and a burgundy handbag. I actually dug out y burgundy jeans out of the bottom of the wardrobe. I have missed that colour so much!

As I was just passing a casual H&M i spotted this fantastic military style coat. It has a fabulous neck line and these stunning quilted sleeves. For £34.99 it was a steal! Even though they happen to  compromise on quality, this coat actually looks and feels good. Cannot wait to wear it with jeans and burgundy boots! Dear summer please feel free to stay for as long as you like. But bear in mind that autumn will be most welcome too.

New in. Sales.

Whoop whoop the sales are on! This year I wanted to be wiser and wait for further reductions but as I saw stocks melt I figured out that there's no time to be wise at all! Better impatient than sorry - as I say. Even though my lack of patience (inherited, I think) usually gets me into trouble, this time it worked for my benefit. I managed to grab a few pretty cute tops off the hangers. 

Black and white are my all time favourites. I went for a 'casual' sweatshirt with a twist and a simple, minimalistic white top with sheer 'sleeves'. Two completely different pieces but I'm rather excited about wearing them both!

This off-white lace top has been on my mind since Easter. Too good to resist. I started panicking when it disappeared from the website, but luckily found it in my local Zara. Cannot wait to pair it up with some light blue jeans. Also, to break free from the blacks and whites, I chose a green scarf print shirt. Now that is a piece I never thought I would go for! It peeked at me when I was queueing. Right time, right place mr scarf print shirt!

My bike and I.

I know that I've been rambling on and on about getting my own bike but you have to realise that it wasn't so simple. It wasn't a matter of swiping a credit card through a magic machine and putting it in your boot. This bike has gone a long way from looking sad and miserable to looking happy and pretty. For the last two months Alicja has been loosing sleep over making it the best bike on the planet and, I can say with great confidence, she made it! It cost her a lot of thought, patience, blood and sweat (literally) so I couldn't be more greateful. It is the best birthday present ever! I hope you guys like it as well. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't merciful lately so we had to do a little photoshoot in our friends' shop. Thanks people of Landschaft for letting us move your furniture around!

Happy birthday to me! No I wish for sunshine to get on with riding that little beast. Everyone, meet Velo. Velo, this is everyone! Tonight we're jumping on a plane and getting back to the UK.

Photos by Alicja

New in. In black and white.

Bank Holiday is always a good occasion to shop. A Wednesday afternoon as well actually. Well... any occasion is good to shop. As I say: if in doubt, go shopping. Retail therapy seems to be working wonders! Especially when you get hold of items you have been looking forward to getting for quite a while!

I am sure you're all familiar with the white Zara shorts reminding my friends of a folded napkin. They appeared in Zara's February lookbook and sold out in seconds. Well, apart form this little pair hanging in my wardrobe now! It was the last pair in the shop so I felt quite lucky! I also managed to get the embellished jacquard top that has been on my mind lately. I love the fabric, the cut and the embellishment around the neckline. What's not to love about it?

I also went for a simple black tshirt with a lace back. Can't keep it too simple for some reason... Alse, as I mentioned in my previous post, I am soooo into strappy sandals. Maybe it's the fact they they are summery, maybe it's because Carrie Bradshaw used to stroll around NYC street wearing them. I'm not sure. But I couldn't resist this monochrome pair. My physiotherapist would kill me if I came to his office wearing them! I cannot wait to show you all these new clothes on the blog though!

New in. The coat.

Being in between seasons is like being in between anything - tricky. What about the days when it's too warm to wear your winter (who am I kidding... spring) coat and too cold to go without any outwear. Here comes the summer coat! It is a similar idea like winter shorts or a summer scarf - sounds like an oxymoron but actually makes sense.

In search for my perfect summer coat I was inspired by a simple cut, simple fabric and a simple colour that would go with anything. And here it is! As simple as it gets. As cute as it gets. As chic as it gets. Another item in your wardrobe that you can dress up or dress down. It's all up to you! I'm going to wear it with heels and with trainers. Since the line between smart and casual is very thin at the moment we have gained more freedom.

Is it practical? No. But who cares if I have to wash it every week. It's  t h e  c o a t  I've been looking for. And I wasn't ready to let an opportunity like that go pass me. Ladies and gentleman, say hello to my new coat!

New in. White brogues.

After weeks (ok, hours, maybe minutes) of searching I've found them. The perfect white brogues. The ones that go with everything. The ones that you can dress up or dress down. They are both casual and smart. How many shoes are like that? We tend to wear either heels (smart) or trainers (casual/new smart). And brogues sit kind of in between. They also have another extremely important purpose to fulfil in this world. They are the emergency shoes.

What are emergency shoes? First of all, shoes that go with anything. Second, shoes that do not give you blisters. Third, shoes that are flat but smart. A great rescue for tired, sore, full of blisters feet. Feet that need a pedi or feet that do not fancy being trapped in strappy sandals for 8 hours. Dear white brogues, welcome to my wardrobe! I'm looking forward to all the good times we're going to have together!

New in. The sweatdress & other stories.

How's your Friday going so far? I just got my re-useable cup from Starbucks that gives you 25p off your drink if you have it with you! That idea was introduced in the States quite a while ago and I'm soooo glad if finally made its way to the lovely island we live on. So if you're a Starbucks addict as well get your in your local coffee shop for just £1! Apart from that I wanted to share my latest purchases with you today. As I was just strolling through town earlier this week, I casually popped in to Topshop for some fashion chat and got talked into buying a sweatdress! I cannot wait to show it to you as well as wear it in general! It's one of those things that you can dress up with some heels and jewellery or dress down with a pair of white Converse and a denim jacket.

I have to say that sweatshirts of all kind kind of came out of the casual category and made their way up the style ladder. They aren't just something that you only wear around the house any more. They evaluated and it's now ok to style them with smart pieces of clothing like trousers and heels as well as statement necklaces and um-teen bracelets next to your shiny Michael Kors.

To add some colour to my life I went for a Sarah-Jessica-Parker-NYC-inspired pink and red lunch clutch. I am taking on all the new creations, am I not? First, this is a colour combination that I cannot possibly get out of my head. Second, the very concept of lunch clutches is just starting. I'm not sure what it's going to evolve into but I like it so far. It all started with the Jil Sander's one that actually looked like a brown paper lunch bag. Do not confuse is with an actual one! Lunch is the last item you want to carry in one of those! It's so last year to eat in general, isn't it? Stuff it with make up, coconut water, smartphones and unneeded receipts and voila! You're a fashionista!

Ok, just one more trend to go and we're done. The golden chain necklace. I've been looking for a perfect one of those for quite a while. How silly of me to not pop into H&M earlier? They are fantastic for trendy, cheap and cheerful pieces. £8 and it's all yours! It's the perfect colour, length and shape. Couldn't be happier about this one. Will I wear all these items together? Hmmm.... Maybe? Happy weekend everyone!

New in. Block heel in nude.

I opened this month's Vogue and found the trends that are meant to determine what we're going to wear this spring/summer described thoroughly. Metallic shoes - check. Neon - check. Monochrome - check. Stripes - check. Block heel - why haven't I ordered that yet? I've been thinking about this pair of shoes for a couple of weeks now and last Sunday I've decided to finally get them. That was one good decision in my life. I'm not a great fan of sandals - feet freak me out a little bit. Nevertheless, there's something about them. Is is the nude? Is it the white stripe? It is the heel? Not sure. But I'm sure I'll be wearing them soon. What with? You'll soon find out.

New in. Cosmic girl.

It seems like ages since I went shopping! Well, since it was bank holiday... I guess as an inhabitant of the British Isles I have to take care of its economy lol. Bank holiday apparently means that your bank statement is shrinking really... But I just couldn't leave this lovely pair of shoes on the shop shelf! They looked at me, I looked at them. It was definitely love at first sight and we couldn't help but unite with a swipe of a credit card. They are silver, they are shiny and, most importantly, they are mine. They aren't something I would normally go for and I guess that is what makes them special in my eyes. Not that I went shopping to get nude or green sandals or anything... And since I got the shoes I figured they would be awfully lonely without a clutch and a pair of light, skinny and slightly distressed jeans. What a perfect spring combination that is! Spring? Who mentioned spring? It looks like it has a massive strop... Did you manage to get anything nice this bank holiday weekend?