RECENT PURCHASE | 50mm Lens

Sometimes good things come to those who wait, or rather those who limit themselves from impulse purchases. My self-imposed spending ban at the beginning of this year meant I could finally buy myself a new lens for my camera, something I've been wanting for about a year. I've been playing around with it for a weeks now and thought I'd share a few pictures I've taken. (This is not to say that I think I'm any kind of camera whizz. I certainly do not/am not. I just learn by trial and error and mess around with it when I feel inclined.)

Recently I've been trying my hand at cooking. Sometimes what I make is even edible, which is a plus.

Sometimes I wake up early enough to wear make up, something else I'm not the best at doing despite the ridiculous amount of it I own.

Also I've started using Bloglovin' a little bit. I'm still not sure if I prefer it over Google Reader but it seems pretty popular. Follow my blog with bloglovin'!

OUTFIT | #18

The past few weeks have been very hectic. On top of coursework, trying to figure out what I'm doing with my life, relatives I haven't seen in years visiting and getting a stinking cold, posting once a week kind of went out the window. I won't bore you by blathering on about it though.

cardigan, belt: Topshop, tunic: H&M

Here's a quick outfit shot from just before I got super busy and had no time to think. No, it's not very exciting, but I do have several ideas for more interesting future posts that I should be getting around to shortly.

nails: No7 'Totally Teal'

In case you weren't convinced about just how busy I've been, here's a picture of me looking pensive and thoughtful. Hopefully that helps. In the mean time, I'm off to tackle my Chinese History coursework. See you in a week.

OUTFIT | #17

I've had exams for the past week and a crapload of school stuff to contend with. But despite being busy, I am trying to update once a week so here are a few pictures from the past couple of days.

(cardigan: River Island, blouse: Topshop)

(dress: New Look, watch: ASOS)

(boots: Dune)

Not included:
-Seeing Black Swan and loving it, although I knew I would.
-Becoming obsessed with pretzels and hummus.
-Revising in sweatpants and oversized hoodies.

OUTFIT | #16

So you may recall from my previous blog entry that I went a little sale crazy and am now on a self imposed spending ban. It's going well thus far, although I did nearly cave when I found the most gorgeous pleated skirt on ASOS. I have a will of steel though and for now, I'm sticking to 'shopping my wardrobe'. Plus it's all worth it when I look at these gorgeous boots I got from Dune for an absolute steal.

cardigan, blouse: Topshop, skirt: H&M, watch: Swatch, tights: White Stuff, boots: Dune

I can already tell they're going to be the boots I wear to death next Winter.

(Oh and I finally have a tripod again! It's so much sturdier than my last one too, which is always a plus.)

RECENT PURCHASES | Shopping Diet

I've done a lot of shopping lately. There seemed to an inordinate amount of presents to buy for other people over the holidays. I got roped into more 'Secret Santa's than I care to think about and on top of that at least five people I know had birthdays. Even when the shopping for other people was finished with, the sales had begun and I had all this extra Christmas money and my December paycheque burning a hole in my pocket. Resulting in more new clothes than I buy all year being accrued in a matter of days.

Needless to say, I'm not buying any more new things for a while. Even if I wanted to, I feel so drained after all that bargain hunting - my wardrobe looks fit to burst! Plus VAT just went up to 20%, a sign that the time to stop spending is nigh perhaps? I'm going to play more with what I do have instead.

I did get some lovely things though. More of the silk shirts I've been so fond of lately - a third off in the Topshop sale, no less! A gorgeous pair of boots ready for next winter that aren't pictured in this post. I even branched into colour, something I rarely do, with these peter pan collar dresses from New Look. Leopard (or is it cheetah?) print and bright coral? Very unlike me, and a nice change from the uniform of grey, navy and black I wear day to day.

jacket: H&M, dress: New Look

This post is starting to feel like a glorified 'haul' so here's a few quick shots I managed to get of what I wore out with a friend a few nights ago.

dress, shoes: New Look, tights: White Stuff

Thankfully my new tripod arrived this morning so taking outfit shots should be much less tasking in future!