Perk me up buys

Phew, last post in the month of February! I have to admit I'm glad it's over, it's been quite a difficult month for me: I had quite a lot of free time on my hands but didn't manage to do anything substantial, my health wasn't at its best, but most importantly, I felt rather lonely and missed hubs unbearably.

So, I'm really hoping March is going to be so much better. To match those higher spirits, I got myself some things that make me feel like spring is getting closer every day.


Those ballet flats were a total bargain and they match perfectly a brown beaded top I have for summer. Great shoes to pair with some simple, but bright colored clothes.


I also got this vest at H&M to wear with basic tees and jeans. It reminds of one of Serena's outfits from the first season of Gossip Girl and honestly, it was the main reason I bought it. I feel like it's one of those pieces that give a twist to a very casual outfit.


Last but not least, I brought this scarf from the mountains where I went with my family last week. Those of you who come from a Slavic culture will instantly recognize the traditional flowery pattern, which I think is absolutely beautiful. I love how these look paired with jeans, it's a combination of folk and modern elements. And those colors, they scream spring and summer!

How did you fare in February? Have you made any spring purchases? xxx

WANTED: Fashion advice

This time, instead of giving advice, I'm going to ask you, lovely peeps, to give ME a hand in a delicate yet difficult land of fashion...


So here goes the story. I was given this crazy purse by my brother 2 years ago for Christmas and I still haven't figured out how, when or where I could wear it. I can honestly admit that I'm not a huge fan of Uggs and I haven't got a faintest idea as to how on Earth one can make a tiny furry golden purse wearable. I mean, I like how different and quirky this is (that's precisely why my brother got it for me in NYC), so I'd love to make it work, but how? Ladies, I'm begging for your tips!


Actually, there's more to my brother's gifts. Last summer I was given this top, found in some vintage store in Williamsburg I assume, together with a matching shopping bag. No, scrap that, there's Jesus on the bag, and my bro searched the States high and low to finally find in New Orleans. He said it was a witty postmodern reinterpretation of the myth, or something among those lines.

However, no matter how long I look at it or how vehemently I'm trying to convince myself I'm being tolerant, it seems more like a... blasphemy to me. Besides, I'm living in a 98% Catholic society, I'm pretty sure wearing this would be simply suicidal. Certainly Poles don't envision Virgin Mary wearing seductive red lipstick and sequinned crown.


Still, I would have no problem wearing these Sacred Heart earrrings I found at this Etsy store. What is it then? Is it a matter of scale, obviousness, choice of particular religious symbol? Probably all of the above. What's your take on this? Do you ever wear religious symbols? Would it be ok for you to sport the top my brother gave me?

Have a great Sunday evening everyone! xxx

Outfit of the Day

I just couldn't help myself and when I saw this skirt at H&M I knew I had to have it!

I love everything about it: a midnight blue fabric with tiny silver sparkles, the high-waisted cut and the flowiness, the bow at the front and my favorite 60's feel! It's the only skirt I have which you have to wear with a top tucked in, and ironically, I really like that, even though I hated this when I was a little girl :)

As you can see, I paired it with a burnt orange top from Orsay I've had for ages, new black and white disc earrings, my favorite shell cuff and strappy sandals I bought some two weeks ago from C&A for only 55 zlotys or 11 pounds, if you like (these two former elements were added later). This outift proved perfect for the weather outside, as it's scorching hot at the moment!

What's your favorite summer outfit?

New cocktail dress and cleavage

Sorry for the short break in blogging, but I was very busy with work this last week, then away in Łódź visiting my grandparents, plus my wireless Internet service has been playing awful tricks on me lately.

Last Friday I was supposed to have a wedding dress fitting, but it turned out I must have the shoes for it with me. Of course, a lovely lady from the shop hadn't even mentioned it in the telephone conversation before, and the last time I saw the dress was in February, so I didn't even have a clue what color should I look for. Nevermind, instead of the fitting, we went shopping with my mum and managed to buy a strapless bra for the dress and a cocktail dress for the day after the wedding. In Poland, it's traditional for the wedding reception to last until dawn, and then (after getting some sleep) the guests are invited to a late breakfast. This is what I needed the dress for :)

Looks a bit unimpressive on the rack...

The dress is from Simple, a Polish high-end clothing company that's often awarded for its unique designs. It's 100% silk, and it was 50% off! Otherwise, it would probably be way too expensive for my pocket... When I put it on I instantly loved it, it feels so me... It has a distinctive 60's feel, the bow at the top is super cute, and the black lace detailing at the bottom makes it one of the kind. It had to be mine!

It is strapless, so I was a bit worried about wearing it, but it fits like a glove!

You put it on... and voila, welcome sexy curves! (also thanks to the new bra)

I also needed a cream colored strapless bra for the wedding dress, but before I had never found one that would actually stay in place. As it turned out, the reason was... I was matched with a wrong size. So on Friday, my cleavage went from 70C to 65E (which is UK 30DD or US 30D), and the bra fits perfectly! I find Polish companies have very nice lingerie designs now and a wider range of sizes, unlike what I remember from 5 or 6 years ago, when the only '65' was cup A. The design of this one is very feminine... and I'm proud of going from cup C to E ;)

Has a similar 'bra size story' ever happened to you?

Dressy haul

So that's the last haul I promised; again, I got these clothes more than a month ago, plus they're all gifts :) My mum brought them for me from Poland when they visited, and I adore them!

First, she bought me this poppy-print dress from Orsay (a popular, trendy store with reasonable prices, based in Germany). It's made of a fabric reminding me of silk, so it just glides on your skin and fits like a dream! In the photo, I styled it with a red cardi from H&M and red leather shoes from Ryłko, a Polish shoe producer. These shoes are actually one of my favorite pairs, they're so elegant!

Almost like Polyvore ;)

Then she also brought a present from my future mother-in-law. This two-layer top from Promod (another favorite store, this time French) can be worn with dark wash jeans or leggings and some bold earrings and bangles. It's perfect for summer!

Sorry for the messy background, the photo was a bit hurried...

I also got some other little gifts like an adorable tea pot, but I'm not sure if this would be of any interest to you :) What are your recent summer buys?

Working girl

In two weeks time I'm going back to Poland... and back to work. I'm an English teacher in a private language school in the centre of Warsaw. Basically, we only teach very small groups or even individuals, so the atmosphere at the school is quite relaxed and friendly; in terms of fashion, you can get away with practically anything you want, as long as you look polished and decent enough. Today I've been thinking of a work appropriate outfit which would be trendy, comfy and feature similar clothes to the ones I already have in my wardrobe. As a result, I came up with this set on Polyvore:

I'm a complete Polyvore beginner, so excuse me if this seems a bit naive :) My favorite color scheme for this summer is anything in the coraly/ peachy family, so I chose this V-neck top, ballet flats and bangles to match. I'd pair the top with straight leg, dark denim jeans (I look terrible in skinny jeans) and add a nice big handbag with flowery patterns. The bag adds a bit of a hippie feel to the whole, which is emphasized even further by the chunky wooden necklace. In terms of make-up, my latest lemming is MAC Costa Chic lippie.

On a different note, today was my and fiance's 6th anniversary of being together, so we went out to celebrate it by some lingerie shopping and eating out at our favorite Mexican place. I also talked the fiance into buying Yes! Yes! Yes! lip butter for me and I can't wait to try it; in terms of smell, it's already a summer favorite!

Hope you all had a wonderful Sunday and thanks for stopping by! xxx

Outfit of the day: brown and teal

Some time ago I asked you if you'd like to see my outfits too, and Steph encouraged me to do so; well, here goes my very first OOTD! Sorry for the too bright photo, my camera often freaks out like that, if you haven't noticed...

What I'm wearing today:

Teal T-shirt and leggings from H&M

A-line khaki skirt from Autograf (available in Poland at Galeria Centrum stores)

Brown velvet jacket from Orsay

Vintage leather bag (originally my mum's, she used it when she was a student, so it's probably at least 25 years old)

Necklace made from an earring (check out this post for more info)

Brown leather shoes from Bullboxer

Wooden beads bracelet brought by my parents from their trip to Egypt

Hope you enjoyed that and have a wonderful weekend!

Clothes and accessories haul

Hi my lovely bloggers, I hope everyone's having a really nice day, like I am...

Yay, I finally went shopping today! Just on my own, in no hurry, very relaxed and all... I thought if not Zara (Monday's failure), then maybe H&M :) And yes, I liked a lot of stuff there, and I have to admit H&M is my favorite store ever for nice and simple cardigans in multiple colors, which are something I wear very often and still need more of.

So I got sort of a brick, orangey red cardi and a cute tee with flowers & birds print. I couldn't decide which color combination I liked more, because they had this and also turquoise-navy blue one and I feel both looked equally good on me, but well...

Here's the t-shirt on paired with a charm necklace I bought at Claire's. 

I also got these earrings there, I think I saw very similar one's on Hele's blog, and I liked them a lot, so that's probably why I got these. They're very Indian in style and I didn't have any dangly earrings in gold...

I also got another pair of earrings at H&M, but I think I'm going to take them back to the store. There's something wrong with them and I can't put them on :(

Lastly, I got these two scarves at Stitches, they were having a 2 for $15 offer, so I couldn't resist. I actually spotted the pink one over a month ago, but was hesitant, so today was a good opportunity to buy it :) I love the pattern and the colors! The pink one is a square, and the yellow just a regular, longer scarf, so they look very differently on. I was very adventurous with the yellow, it's the only yellow thing I have in my wardrobe except for old yellow pyjamas... I feel it would be great for summer.

That's it, it was actually a big shopping spree for me... Hope you enjoy to see my clothes too, not only make-up and cosmetics. Have a great one, everyone!

Name day treats

As I mentioned in my last post, me and my fiance went shopping yesterday to get me something for my name day. I was quite excited about this and chose to go to Zara, since I haven't been there in ages and I envied Hele for her picks...

So we decided to take a walk to Robson Street, where Zara store is located, because it's always a great problem to find a parking spot anywhere near this area. It WAS cloudy, but we didn't expect major rainfall, and that was a mistake; we were soaked by the time we got home!

Once at Zara, I picked about 30 different pieces and started trying them on. I don't know why Zara has this policy, but my fiance was denied acces to my changing room and each time I wanted to show him my outfit, I had to call at him and he would peek from the distance and tell me if he liked it or not. Quite annoying, I have to admit; the staff wasn't too friendly or helpful.

The bottom line is that finally, 10 minutes before the store closed, I picked one grey t-shirt, really nothing fascinating or unique; but the truth is that it was the only thing I liked from the pile! Here it is, paired with an old necklace from H&M.

I felt really disappointed, I wanted to pick something nice so much... But that's always the case, once you decide you're saving for something, the stores are filled with beautiful clothes, and once you go and really need to buy, let's say, a cardi, they're all in ugly colors and don't fit at all.

But I didn't give up that easily! By the time we left Zara, the stores at Robson were closing in 5 minutes, but I spotted a Lush store very near and dragged my fiance there. I probably managed to do the fastest Lush shopping ever and together with my love we picked a couple of items, which I am very happy about (did I mention this was my first trip to Lush?). I was very surprised that my fiance participated actively in choosing the stuff, I thought he would be bored to death (he even got pink glitter on his nose by checking the bath bars out)... Anyway, here they are together with Stephanie Meyer's "The Host" novel, which we bought next.

In the photo, top to bottom, left to right: Candy Bar ("Sweetly scented vanilla & cocoa butter to soften your skin", my fiance's top pick - it's not butter, as it says in the description, but more like a bath bomb that makes millions of pink bubbles), Mange Tout massage bar ("Lickabley sensual, for a honey & white chocolate massage", my favorite scent so far), Ma Bar ("A comforting chocolate & honey bath for all the sweethearts", looks like it has a cane sugar cube in the middle - yummy!) and Soft Coeur massage bar ("A smooth, sensual, honey & cocoa heartbreaker of a massage bar" with a chocolate piece inside) in a tin which was free with a purchase of two massage bars.

It's funny, I actually thought I might buy some soap and I smelt Honey I washed the kids a couple of times, because so many girls on Youtube rave about it, and I really didn't like it! Maybe the scent got mixed up with other soaps, it's so difficult to choose something in the store because of too many smells...

Yesterday I tried Soft Coeur after exfoliating my body in the tub, and it glided smoothly against my skin, leaving sort of a rich, oily layer. It felt extremely moisturizing and smooth and of course I smelt amazing, like a cookie! I don't know if you've noticed, but all of our picks at Lush have almost the same scent theme: honey and chocolate. My fiance liked the feel of my skin a lot and became very 'hugable', which definitely proves it's something worth to try :) I reapplied a little bit on my shoulders this morning, because I like this smell so much... It feels very comforting and... surprise, surprise, lush!

I am defo going back to Lush in the near future to pick up some more stuff. What are your favorite Lush products?