I had a book review lined up to post today but I had to share this little gem instead. I popped to the shops yesterday for some control underwear (sad, but true) and of course ventured into every other shop in sight. In my opinion Zara consistently have the best sales and I was not disappointed - not that I was even intending on buying anything! I saw the most gorgeous pair of yellow crochet-style shorts that unfortunately didn't have my size and it wasn't until I was on my way out the store that I even spotted this jumper. I probably didn't need any new knitwear - England is being suspiciously sunny at the moment - but I can guarantee I'll get a lot of wear of out it later on in the year. I lived in jumpers this past Autumn and Winter!

 

From £36 down to under £9.99, it was impossible to resist and the colour was right up my street too. The lovely women who served me even commented on what a good sale find it was! There were at least five other colours in store of similar jumpers and I very nearly bought a second in a creamy-beige colour but I figured one sale splurge was enough. Especially with my graduation and grad ball all happening next week - need to save some pennies for then!

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I'm procrastinating. Surprise, surprise! To be fair, I'm suffering a little bit with what I'm (not so) fondly calling "Final Year Fatigue". It's really just general all-round tiredness and feeling a bit rundown but I love me some catchy alliteration! So instead of tapping away trying to redraft my essays whilst I'm not feeling 100%, I thought I'd turn my attention to some things far less academically tiring (and, if I'm being honest, much nicer to look at than articles on sonnets!)

I've been quite good with purchases recently and have been trying not to spend too much money on clothing for myself with Christmas just around the corner. Still, I am finding myself being drawn more and more to the collections of long line necklaces every time I have a quick browse online. Now I love high, chunky necklaces. I think they're so versatile and great to wear both during the day and out at night. However, I also love a collar and recently I've been feeling that a longer style necklace would just revamp a couple of my favourite shirt/jumper combos. So I've browsed around and found a few of my faves. 

Now I love all of theses a lot but I feel like the Zara necklace needs a special mention (and also a special place on my dressing table!) because I don't think I have ever wanted to buy something more in my life! It has everything I love in life: the classic pearl, the mix & match colour scheme, the edgy impact of the skulls, spikes and pins.. what more can I say? I think I actually love it! I'm even considering asking for it for Christmas!

Jade :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firstly, you might be aware of how much I raved about British band Bastille all the way back in April 2012 (click for full-on fangirl-ing) and now, almost a year on, I think I love them even more. If you haven't heard any of their stuff yet (if not, why not?!) go and find them on Youtube. The first song of theirs I heard was Flaws and it sounds just as flawless (sorry) as it did then.

 

Moving on from flaws to claws, it is no secret that I'm a fan of all things animal print. And though I'm currently feeling a little depressed from days of job hunting and CV sending, I'm not going to let a little thing like the lack of money stop me from lusting after things I probably will never be able to buy.

1. I like, foolishly, to think that this America ram tee from New Look is a bit of an edgier take on animal print (and yes, I'm applying the word edgy because there is a skull involved. It's been a tought week, let it slide.) Plus it's in the sale at a bargain price of only £4. Not to be missed.

 

2. As for this swimsuit, there are no words that I possess in my vocabulary to describe just how much I want this. But thanks to my lack of money, a holiday seems unlikely and since the British weather isn't known for being swimsuit friendly, I can't currently justify buying it. Sad face.

 

1. Another great find from Zara, I love the colourful tribal print on this rainbow giraffe tee and is perfect to brighten the bland British weather.

2. This is a white tee with black print AND it's a cat with a moustache. Perfect if you: a) like white tees, b) like cats c) are a hipster wannabe or d) just really like moustaches. Asos, I think I really like you.

3. This final tee from Asos is also very nice, with its almost tye-dye base and cute tiger overlay.

In my opinion, Zara currently have the best selection of animal-enhanced tees and they're so bright and lightweight that it's making me even more eager for summer. As you may know, I also have a petite penchant for wearing men's clothes and I'm happy to report that boys can get in on the animal loving too (which is good to know as my brother has got to the age where he's started to wear printed tees. And I for one am not keen on him parading around with scantily clad women on his tops. The bro should have better fashion sense than that; he's related to me. I KID.)

 

I'd definitely wear this black tiger jumper - it would be great layered over a collared shirt and thrown on with a pair of skinny jeans and black boots. A standard lecture outfit of late.

 

As for this wolf tee, I perhaps wouldn't personally wear this but I do have a wolf tee of my own from (the female section) of Zara and I love it. Wolves are cool.

This last item intrigued me because it's quite an odd design to have such a large animal form a print on a shirt but I kind of think it works. Check it out on Topman for a few similar items of animal print goodness.

I don't remember many school assemblies but one always comes to my mind at this time of year. I must have been between 14 and 16 because it was an assembly on exams it was definitely pre-A Levels (for reasons which will shortly become clear.) My school, not unlike myself, was a little results-obsessed.

 

They weren't dictators though and I remember that the lighthearted message they wished us to take away was to not get too stressed (easier said than done.) To calm us down they reminded us that if you write stressed backwards it spells desserts (see? Pre-A Levels) but to this day I use this knowledge to fuel my revision-driven comfort eating. And it fuels a lot of comfort eating.

 

In case it's not clear, it's assessment time at university. I have two essays and an exam to complete before the 18th January so these next few days will be spent writing endlessly. I know I want to be a writer but this type of writing doesn't sit particularly high on the enjoyment scale.



 

I did take some comfort in renewing my love for my distressed jeans however. The weather has been pretty mild and I don't have too many lectures to attend so I'm not having to wrap up in my winter warmers as much. (The gloves are still out in force though, it's not Spring just yet.)

 

I wanted to use a picture of the rips and tears but a few months ago my knee feel through one of the distressed section and consequently I now have a larger-than-designed hole residing atop my kneecap. And that somewhat ruins the image.

 

 

But mostly I wanted to write this as a source of procrastination as a way of sending out my shared sympathy to anyone any age who is sitting exams, completing university assessments or just really hating January. (I've come to the conclusion January is my least favourite month. Sorry January.)

 

As promised, a quick look at a few of the things I've bought in the last week or so.

First off, my newest perfume. I adore perfumes: I love buying them, wearing them and keeping the bottles afterwards. I do tend to go through perfumes pretty quickly but I don't mind because I love going out and picking a new one to try. I very rarely go for the same one twice (especially not one after the other) but I will be making an exception for my "special perfume." After waiting and saving for a Chanel perfume, I was lucky enough to get given one for Christmas last year and I absolutely love it. It's Coco Mademoiselle and I will 100% save up to buy it again once I've finished it. I do, however, only use it on special occasions and is not by any means my everyday perfume.

Which is where this one comes in:

After to-ing and fro-ing between this one and Zara'a Rose fragrance, the design on the box tipped my decision and I'm so glad it did. This is probably one of my favourite every day perfumes I've had in the past year or so, mostly because it's so light and fresh and is not intoxicating like others I've used previously. Definitely worth the money.

Also worth the money was this cheeky little sale item I stumbled upon without even meaning to. Mum and I were just about to queue in New Look when we saw a bunch of bags in the sale and after being taken with a cute little black bag, I saw this sequin number and there was no way I wasn't going to buy it!