An Admission of Guilt

I decided that it is time to admit that Instagram is a much more efficient way to document one's daily outfits than blogging. I've been working on my translations and "slaving away" at the shop five or six days a week and even though I took pictures and thought of ideas, I never seemed to carry out the actual writing and posting. Basically I'm admitting that I am guilty of instant gratification-type behavior - take a picture, post it on Instagram, get likes, be happy.

It doesn't mean that I'll stop posting here. It's just going to be even more sporadic than before. Oh well, I am doing it for myself after all.

So if anybody is actually visiting this page, here are my favorite outfits from the last couple of weeks.

All black with a huge necklace (is that a scientific term?)

A coral dress from our shop

with the same huge necklace 

Polkadots

Beige and blue

H&M snake print jeans

and fringed top

H&M kitty-cat t-shirt

and GAP sexy boyfriends

The last outfit was worn today with high wedges from Steve Madden. I survived a 6-hour shift during which I was mostly walking around the shop and ventured out on errands twice. And at the end of the day I was still standing. I took spare flats with me but didn't feel the need to change. That says something about the shoes being comfortable. Or about me being stoic. I don't know.

Anyway, it's really late and I'm going to bed. So that tomorrow I could do it all over again - translate an episode of the poor dome survival TV series and work evening shift at the store.

Good night, everybody!

Last Week

Last week was a blur. Work, home, translating, work, home... I don't know where it all went, but I didn't post anything at all. So now I'm trying to catch up with a whole bunch of OOTD photos.

I feel like I totally forgot about my peplum tops, so last week I wore two of them. 

If I look pregnant in this picture, do not believe your eyes! 

Golden leather slippers were OK but not super comfortable. Probably not too much arch support. My feet were quite tired at the end of the day.

This is better - no huge stomach.

I bought this jade bangle from a street vendor at the Ashdod beach. It has a very nice feel to it. I should wear it more often.
The nail polish is OPI You're Such a Budapest.

Next outfit - the good old floral H&M pants that were oh so popular a couple of years ago.

Worn with my cheap but loved asymmetrical Zara top that I bought on super clearance.

And black ballerinas with studded bows.

Here you can see my other peplum top (H&M) and the first purchase at my new place of employment. The "fire in the jungle" pants. They are extremely high-waisted and guess what! I had to get size zero. Zero!

 Zara purple slippers, very comfortable.

And finally what I wore to work today. Golden Aldo-birkies were a must because my back is killing me!

And without the jacket.

That's it, folks. New week is upon us and I'll try to keep up.
See y'all later.

Striped Maxi

This dress traveled to Turkey with me but never got taken out of the suitcase. The weather was too hot, the setting too casual, everything was too something else and I didn't wear it even once. Then it hang in my closet because again, it was too hot, I was home most of the time and didn't fancy wearing it to a supermarket. But yesterday I finally pulled it out and wore it to work. 

It still had that "new dress" feel and smell and I loved wearing it. It requires a strapless bra because of the mesh on the shoulders.

My navy blue sandals are perfect for a 6 hour shift on your feet.

I wore my huge pearl necklace (a version of a Zara one that keeps popping up on lots of fashion blogs) and a Zara pearl ring. The nail polish is Essie Sunday Funday. It is very slow to chip.

Later in the day it got cold from all the airconditioning and I put on this holey cardi from the shop I work at. It worked well with the dress.

Now the weekend is upon us - I don't have to go to the shop till Sunday. I do have a certain Hamptons medical TV show to translate but other than that I'm free. I think I'll go visit my fave secondhand store which is about to close down for some floor repairs. I sure hope they reopen. And in the meantime, I have to go and use my store credit before it's gone! Wish me luck and have a great weekend, everyone!

Back to Work

The ceasefire seemed to be holding, so I got called back to work. Let's hope it stays that way.

I've been working mostly evening shifts this week. Here is what I wore to work two days in a row. We don't have to wear what we sell (I'm size zero in this shop! Zero!) so I can finally wear the stuff that's been sitting in my closet.

This is my Zara top, Mango pants and Aldo metallic sandals that I snagged at 30% off.

The sandals are half a size too big but it doesn't matter. They are so comfortable! Six hours work and my feet were perfectly fine.

And yesterday it was pink and black kind of day. Someone once told me that pink and black are "emo colours". I don't exactly know what it means but I like the combination. And no tears were shed during my shift.

I love these old H&M trousers. They are a little loose in the waist so I needed a belt. The top and shoes are from Mango.

This was my first wearing of the shoes and they did OK.

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to take a large mirror selfie.

Working evening shift again tonight.

Turquoise

At the moment my life is quite boring and predictable. Get up, walk the dog, work, have lunch, go for power walk in the evening. That's it. Going grocery shopping on Friday seemed like good reason to put on something nice. I pulled out this top which is a nightmare to iron, but what the hell, right?

I almost always wear it with these ballet slippers and some kind of white pants. Mind you, in the past I paired it with mint jeans and orange shorts. But it really pops with something white in my opinion.

The slippers are nice but not as comfortable as one might think. Definitely not a 12-hour shoe.

I wanted to take a picture of Norman in his summer house on the balcony but he wasn't too cooperative, so here's a shot of his stomach. He has grown so much, I don't think he'll fit in his winter terrarium anymore.

Lulu is chillin' alone.

Or with Boomer, like this.

Such is life at the moment. Last night I walked just over 6 km (about 4 miles). Power walking is one of the few things that keep me sane at the moment.

Bright and Cheerful

Yesterday we had some chores to do and it seemed like a good reason to wear a dress instead of traditional shorts and a tank top. A bright and cheerful dress, as you can see. I bought it a couple of months ago at my friend's shop. At first I had some doubts, is it too tight, is it too short? But when I put it on, it made me feel so happy that I took the plunge and brought it home with me.

This is definitely the most visible dress that I own. I couldn't get hit by a car even if I wanted to.

The sandals are by far the best shoe purchase of the season. They are by Moretti (do we see a pattern over here?). These go with almost everything, even with dresses. I was afraid they would visually shorten my legs but I don't think they do. On the contrary, the stripe has an elongating effect.

I was told that they flew off the shelves and my local branch of Moretti had to restock them. And yet, I haven't seen a single person wearing them, which is great.

The jewelry was simple. No big necklace as it was too hot. But I wore a bigass bracelet instead. It was the first of chunky bracelets in my "collection". It's too big to wear with anything else. I wore the ring on the other hand. I love the blue stone. It catches and reflects light just like a swimming-pool.

And this picture made it on Instagram as my "car selfie". Yes, it's a baseball cap worn backwards. The windows were rolled all the way down and I didn't want my hair to fly away.

By the way, I'm wearing Clinique CC Cream in Light. This is my face after three or four sweaty hours in hot and humid weather. I think it held up very nicely. It's a much lighter coverage than a BB Cream I was using before (by Sebocalm - it's a local company that makes skincare for sensitive skin). It's perfect for me in this climate. And the lipstick is MAC Creme Cup or what's left of it.

Went for my power walk in the evening and after that... Pigged out on pizza! I do this roughly once every 6 months or so. I'm not even going to admit how many slices I had! It's a shame really. So today I'm back to my "usual programming" and will have a tall glass of yogurt for dinner after another walk.

That's it, folks!

Feel Good Stripes

Happy Saturday! It was a quiet night and I'm grateful for that.

I'm glad to report that my weight has shifted slightly down which makes me feel even better. I've tweaked my eating habits a little bit. I eat my major meal in the middle of the day and try to limit supper to a large glass of 1.5% fat drinking yogurt. That plus some exercise (my power walks in the evening) produced some results. I was finally able to wear this dress I bought last year in a secondhand store. It still had the tags on, it's size XL (seriously?) and it used to be a little tight in the middle.

Well, here I am wearing it yesterday to the local grocery store. I look pregnant for some reason but it's just shadows. Honestly.

Here is a slightly better shot. The stomach doesn't look as huge. The face though...

These Zara sandals turned out to be a great buy. Comfortable and go with everything. I hope they live long enough and I won't be sorry to see them go.

This is my new Pastel Ombre bracelet from HRH Collection. Two weeks ago Alex announced a special Instagram sale of these bracelets and I was lucky to grab one. It's chunky, lightweight and it goes perfectly with all the summer outfits.

A week ago I promised to write my opinion on L'Oreal Miss Manga mascara. Well, I didn't wear any makeup for a week but the other day we did a supermarket run and I decided to give it a try.

There will be no pictures of me wearing it. I looked in the mirror, liked what I saw, took photos and had to delete them all. I'm not the greatest master of close-up face selfies. Let's leave it at that. But in a nutshell, I like this mascara. It goes on well, you have to put on a couple of layers to achieve a bolder look. The brush is good (I'm used to Cover Girl Lash Blast huge brushes so it took a bit of getting used to). The mascara is relatively easy to remove, it didn't leave any residue. All in all, it's a good budget mascara. Too bad they don't sell it here yet, but there is always ebay.

I leave you with Lulu. Doesn't she look happy and not harassed at all?

Have a great weekend. everybody!