How Did You Know

Enter another post full of recent bundles of greatness which have caught my attention.

I used to have a thing against wearing sneakers when you're not running, but in my humble opinion Nike frees are a very stylish exception to this. They just finish off this particular outfit perfectly, and in addition, they look about 10000x more comfortable than the kinds of shoes one might normally choose...

One word: fig jam. Okay, I lie, two words. But in the absence of any summer fruit, we've made a bunch of this fig jam and I might be addicted...have it on homemade banana bread (which I love so much that I'm definitely going to make a recipe post for) at any time of the day, and I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

^ Short video to provide theme song for these crush post things

Churros and Chocolate

Happiness is not a state of mind. It's what happens when you eat churros with no regrets. San Churro, while perhaps not the most authentic of options, never fails to deliver in terms of deep-fried, chocolate-covered goodness, right when you need it most.

Skiing + Really Good Food

This post is a couple of days overdue, for which I apologise. My trip to NZ was literally amazing - only read on if you can deal with me gushing about the place for a few paragraphs.

We arrived at the airport at 10 PM, 5 hours later than scheduled. Excellent start. More delays meant we sat in a massive group in the corner of our terminal eating ice cream and reading trashy magazines until past midnight. There was a long sprint with our bags between the international and domestic airports in Auckland for our connection flight, but we did make the flight (we also made the attendants pretty annoyed).

As soon as we got into Queenstown, the first thing that I noticed were all the cafes! Most of our group sat in Starbucks all day purely for the wifi, and as much as I tried to resist, I couldn't help dropping in for a chai latte and 15 minutes of instagram...the best place I got around to trying had to be Ferg Burgers, with honorable mentions to Patagonia (best churros mmm), Winnie's pizza, Cafe 111...actually, everything was great and I'm fairly positive I've missed something out here.

Skiing? We were at Cardrona, and what can I say...this was my first time skiing and I'd like to think I'm not too bad. My friends are all basically professional, and I was talked into a blue run on the first afternoon...there were a couple of pretty impressive stacks there. It's the best feeling though, when the wind is rushing past you and you feel completely in control. Unfortunately, the control part could definitely do with some work on in future! Staying on the mountain was absolutely brilliant - you could literaly walk downstairs, put your skis on and go. All the other groups were staying in Queenstown or Wanaka and had a 45 minute to an hour drive up to Cardrona every morning!

I will admit that getting up at 5 on the last day to for the drive down the mountain was pretty unpleasant. Our taxis were an hour late and the 30 of us were huddled together, shivering while we waited for them to arrive. That day was a complete emotional rollercoaster  - one taxi got a blowout and the rest of us arrived at the airport just late enough to miss our flight anyway. I thought I might be saved when half of the group, me included, were able to fit onto a second flight back to Auckland...but no, due to bad weather that was cancelled too. We were all stir crazy by this point, until finally we were herded back into Queenstown for lunch, some aimless wandering and then dinner.

Having an extra day actually turned out to be great! The next morning I set off with a group of friends with the intention of playing mini golf before our flight home at 3, but when we found the cutest cafe - Cafe 111 - at the very top of town (with an amazing view, of course) we ended up sitting on their couches for hours with the most delicious muffins and hot chocolate. They even had magazines from 2003! It felt very much like an episode of Friends.

The plane to Sydney ended up being delayed as well, meaning we had to do another run between flights but we (thankfully) just made it. It was certainly an experience, but aside from all the connection issues I had the most brilliant time!

I hope you all had amazing holidays, winter or summer, wherever you are,

Em xxx

An Opinionated Umbrella

Skiing, swearing umbrellas, beautiful body butter, coffee and more coffee. Here's one of those posts where I bombard you with what I'm crushing on (or already addicted to). I'm afraid this is also me saying ciao to you all for a week - note the Cardrona (New Zealand) ski slope in the background, which is where I'll be flying off to in less than 20 hours! I have no idea how I'm supposed to concentrate at school tomorrow...oh wait, isn't that me all the time?

My friend bought me some of this amazing Mor basil and grape body butter and the smell is just divine, do yourself a favour and pick up a pot. In the middle of winter, everyone should be able to let the world know what they really think about the weather - I'm definitely on the same page as this umbrella with "Shit, it's raining!"

Waking up at some ungodly hour to get to school music groups might not be your idea of fun, but it definitely seems much more attractive when you have the promise of coffee or hot chocolate awaiting you, and finally: I have been in love with this absolutely brilliant Free People jacket for a while but, as with some of my last list of wishes, it's way out of my price range...maybe one day.

That concludes my last post for 10 days, but I promise loads of fab photos will be heading in this direction. If you happen to be an expert on the best places to eat or shop in Queenstown, don't hesitate to drop me a comment!

Have an amazing week everyone xxx Emily

Corridors

Online shopping tends to be 90% guesswork, and sometimes leads to me buying things that look fabulous on the model in the photos, and I wish would look amazing on me, but don't seem to work exactly as planned. Maybe it's because I'm short - I tell myself that - or perhaps it just wasn't meant to be. This dress was no exception: initially, it came to about knee length, and as much as I adore this pattern, it seemed to go on forever. In any case, with homework put on hold so I could chop a couple of inches off, I think it actually turned out pretty great! Might I just add that the only reason I was willing to take out the scissors and have a bit of an edit was because it was only $35 - I would never normally even consider it, but last night I just thought why not?

As a little sidenote, why is it that my mum has better shoes than me? I'm in love with these ankle boots of hers, and so very thankful that our feet are the same size!

Corridors dress from Princess Polly

Catin boots from Country Road

PS excuse the terrible hair. I a) just got home from school with it up all day, and b) need a haircut so badly it's getting ridiculous...

Twice Shy

I woke up this morning wanting to make an outfit post, but the only problem was that it wasn't a very nice day at all, and furthermore, I had no reason to get out of my way-too-comfy trackies! However, I shall not disappoint - here are a couple of old photos which I had nowhere to post at the time.

Hunt No More shorts - one of my favourite things in my wardrobe, these are honestly nothing short of fabulous (no pun intended)
Once Bitten Twice Shy singlet by Paint it Red
Office London shoes
Jewellery from Vietnam
Watch from my lovely auntie

Surviving Winter

It's getting pretty freezing, and my pile of school work is reaching a new uninspiring heights. Sounds to me like the perfect time for a blog post! Here's a little collage of all the things I've developed a crush on in the middle of winter.

I'm looking forward to those fab Saturday night sleepovers with the gals, surrounded by millions of blankets and pillows. I don't know about you, but I'd pick a night in by myself (or with my closest friends) over partying all night at any opportunity.

In preparation for these sleepovers, and also for my emergency late-night study or assignments, I'm stocking up on my Greens and Black's dark chocolate - can't get enough!

This one is a bit of a long-term relationship, but I've been wishing for this amazing Michael Kors rose gold watch for ever; it's playing a little hard to get! If only I could spare over $300...but I have to say, it's pretty much perfection and would go with absolutely everything I own.
These fabulously versatile ankle boots by Lipstik would, again, look brilliant with everything. On top of that, they'd be perfect in summer with shorts, and complete any winter outfit. Another bonus: they're definitely on the more affordable side.
To finish, I'm about to go snuggle up with a good, familiar magazine. Recently I dug out my Oyster mag, Russh, and Frankie magazines from the end of last year, stirring up memories and nostalgia for the warmer months.

Why not treat yourself to a little retail therapy, or late-night hot chocolates with friends, to get you through the rest of the winter - I certainly will be. There's no way I could have fit everything in to one post, so expect more like this to come!

What are you guys crushing on?
Emily xxx