Make do and mend day

One thing I've found myself doing a lot during this 30 for 30 is repairing, or making little changes to, some of my items. With a limited number of things to wear, I guess I've become conscious of things like holes in trousers, belts that are too thick and general non-fitting-ness, and forced myself to do something about them. And then there are the boots, of course - the biggest repair project of the lot. I'll probably finish them (if I even manage to do this) the day before my last day or something! Which is Wednesday by the way. My last day. And you bet I'm looking forward to that!

  Case in point: this outfit would've been so much better with my plum cardigan. I eyed it hungrily this morning, when it randomly hung next to my navy blue bow top. But it wasn't on the list, so I had to let it hang there. Sadness! Still, it's not too bad with the black cardigan, either. (Today is also black cardie comeback day.)

Anyway, I wore my Springfield flats for when we went out for breakfast and groceries today. But on the way home, I stepped in a puddle (and holy Batman, was that cold!), so my shoes were soaked through. That's why I'm posing in sheepskin slippers. My mother bought me those for Christmas last year, and they are the comfiest footwear in the known universe.

Freezing? To death? Who me? And to think we had blue skies and sunshine this morning, too... And now I have to go finish taking the elastic out of the sleeves of my red stripey top, or I won't have anything to wear tomorrow. It's like wartime rationing, I swear!

Orange copycat day

So today I slightly copied this outfit. It's not like I've run out of ideas, just... steam. But hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? Well, unless you're Diane von Furstenberg and you're suing Forever 21, I guess... And yeah, I realise I've worn the green shirt with the orange cardie and the orange cardie with the grey skirt - but I've not worn those three items together before, so that makes it a new outfit.

The main reason I wore this is that I wanted to continue my love affair with my green John Travolta top. It's one of those items I've had forever (bought on sale, of course), that I've rediscovered, as it were. See that look of rapture on my face, as I close my eyes and just revel in being close to my frilly green Anthro shirt? Now that's love. It's a very comfy shirt, okay? And it's a US size 4, which of course is an instant confidence booster right there.

Anyway, you come to realise certain things when you're only allowed to wear three of your skirts for one month. Like how one of these skirts is actually way too big for you. Either I just assume that I'll need bigger sizes than usual at UniQlo because they carry Japanese sizes, or I've lost weight since I bought this. (That would be nice, eh?) This skirt used to be one of my default go-to pieces when I was in a hurry because it's a) neutral and b) doesn't actually crinkle. At all. It's like magic. But still, if a skirt doesn't fit, it sinks down and looks unattractive, and this is one of those unbeltable monsters, too. Maybe this old gal has overstayed her welcome in my closet? We'll see, I guess...

Vietnamese Surprise day

Taken five minutes before the light disappeared, and ten minutes before I dived out the door to meet Victor out for our date (which I was late for), these photos aren't exactly crystal clear. I may retake them tomorrow since they're slightly blurry and my hair looks stupid (thanks for nothing, dry shampoo).

If you're wondering why I'm not actually sitting in this wicker chair, just hovering around it - well, it's been out in the rain. And we have had a lot of rain. I'm betting if I set it on fire, it probably wouldn't burn. But hey, if it did, posing next to a burning chair would be pretty rock-n-roll of me, right?

The title of today's post comes not from what we ate that night, but from a conversation Victor had with two of his co-workers - one Chinese (Kenny), one Vietnamese (Vu). They were talking about how they met their wives/girlfriend etc, and what their wives were like. As a person, not... you know. So anyway, Kenny, is marrying his Chinese girlfriend this year, and Vu has already married his Vietnamese girlfriend. Vu then asks Victor - "So, is your wife also Chinese?" "No," replies Victor, "She's Norwegian." Now, Victor's known Kenny for ages, so Kenny has already head about me - but the Vietnamese guy was speechless. For several minutes, before he blurted out: "You mean your wife's... Caucasian?"
Yeah, man, I sure am. Welcome to 2011, buddy.

Goth beat-poet day

Today, I finally decided to wear my goth beat poet outfit, which I've been wanting to wear since before day one of this remix. Oh life, says the goth beat poet. Oh death. Oh... stuff!

And for extra French-inspired 70's protest song cool, I decided to add le hat! Voila. I just have to add that yes, I bought it at Primark for maybe £3 before I found out how unethical that company is, and that I am in fact ashamed that I ever shopped there. I'm not even kidding, the bastards people who run Primark should be tried before the Human Rights tribunal. Sub-minimum wage and deportation threats do a very nasty cocktail make.

Anyway, I'm sitting here singing along to Heat of the Moment, thinking about how you can go from being in the absolute pit of depression one day, and then just... get over it, until you find yourself dancing around your flat to cheesy 80's rock. Oh well, I guess that's probably a good thing - so instead of feeling sad that the story I wrote got us nothing but remaindered comics and DVD's, I will post it up here and say; Check out this comic that I'm pretty proud of! Yeah, that's what I'll do.

Professor patch day

So this is what I wore today, mainly to stay warm, though maybe it's also my subconscious trying to emulate Lana from Archer with the whole big belt thing. Only seven more outfits to go! ...and I still haven't managed to fix my damn brown boots, hence the lace-up black ones.

Absolutely not the best outfit of the bunch (where did my waist go? I swear I had a waist the last time I checked!) but probably the comfiest. Observe the addition of cute frilly socks with bows on to try and girly up my boots. As if the sparkly laces weren't enough! Oh well, I wore it, so on the blog it goes!

Tomorrow's outfit will be better - it's got to be, with only seven left!

Old favourites day

So today I sort of randomly put on three of my favourite things from my remix - and I think they worked pretty well together:

This yellow skirt is probably my most-used item. And recognise the belt? It's the same one I wore yesterday, except the other way around. Buckle facing forward, I mean. I nearly donated this belt around week one of my remix, because it was a hand-me down that I'd never actually used before, but luckily I decided to try it on with the yellow skirt first, and realised that I actually loved it. Whew!

Eight outfits left! Also, today was my final attempt at staying friends with the brown jacket, but as you can see (and I hope you appreciate me posting this ugly-ass picture for your edification here) it didn't work out.

Still, I'm not sad, because this means I have a reasonably nice (on anybody but me, anyway) item to take to a swishing event! Swishes are events held in pubs on certain days, when you trade in your unwanted clothes for coupons you can use to buy other peoples' unwanted clothes. I've never been to one before, but it sounds like good fun, so I definitely want to do this at some point.

Reverse stripes day

So I discover that I have brought the joy of remixing into the life of Poli! Are those cool beans or what? Her first outfit is so gorgeous, and if your're reading my post you might as well click on this link and check out her outfit, too!  Anyway...
 This morning I was totally lusting for one of the cardigans that I'm not allowed to wear. It's beige and has little army-style buttons and things, and it would've gone so perfectly with my outfit... but then I tried on my green cardigan, and it turns out that went pretty well with it too - even if I've finally given in and done that thing of wearing reverse stripes. I stupidly included lots of stripey items in my remix, so it had to happen sometime...

That necklace, by the way... I thought I'd be wearing that necklace practically every day of my remix, but this is only my second time, and I'm on like, day 21! What gives, self?! The necklace was  a Christmas present from my mum - the really awesome kind, you know, the kind that you get to pick yourself? It was on offer, too, and it was the last one in the store - it's like it was waiting for us there, rattling itself to get our attention and whispering my name. My mummy heard it too, she can totally vouch for me!

Nobody swooned in shock at my reverse stripes, by the way. Maybe it's a totally done thing, and I've just not seen all the other reverse stripe people out there? I like this outfit anyway - it's one of my favourites out of my remix, actually, and I never would have worn these things together if not for the remix, because of the whole reverse stripes thing, so yeah... go 30 for 30! I love how it's forcing me to be creative.

Cosy stay-in-together day

We didn't really have anywhere to be today, but rules are rules, and I must say it's nicer to bum around the apartment in a semi-cute casual outfit than in track-pants. This is what I love doing on a Sunday, just staying at home with Victor. Drinking tea together while we share a blanket on the sofa, catching up on housework and playing Okami.

I'm on day 20 now,  and just this morning I came up with four different ideas for outfits I could wear today, out of my 30 items. I'm getting better at this remixing thing, I think! Only 10 more outfits to go - and then I can wear whatever I want. That idea is pretty exciting right now. Not to mention that in 10 days I'll be able to buy stuff again, yay commercialism!

No, I'm not constipated - I'm cold! The balcony wasn't exactly tropical today - it hasn't stopped raining, and it's freezing out. Just as well to stay snug under our blanket! I just have to add that I had salad for dinner today, and a wholegrain bagel for breakfast. Am I a good girl or what? Do I totally deserve to buy new jeans in 10 days time, or what? No, you don't need to answer that...

Celeb-spotting day

So I saw Kevin Spacey on the street today! I was walking out of a tube station, and he was walking in, and I got a good chance to stare look at him from up close. He's a lot taller that I thought he was, but it was definitely him, with his distinctive chin and widow's peak. Thank you, Kevin, you totally made my day.

Yeah, you might not know this but Kevin spacey lives in London now. He bought the Old Vic theatre a couple of years ago, and apparently he's running it better than it's ever been run. So you see, I'm not making this up!

Anyway, today I was planning to wear my pretty dress and sort of forcibly cheer myself up, but it rained. And rained and rained. So I just grabbed the first three of my 30 items that looked vaguely okay together, and I think the result was a bit meh to be honest. But then, I'm a bit meh these days. I'll dress better tomorrow!

The jumper is my "day to night" upgrade, by the way. (Obviously I'm not counting it as a separate outfit.) We're going to the cinema later, and I don't want to freeze to death in there. I love the professor patches, that's me proudly showing them off. Every time I wear this, Victor starts calling me Professor Rabbit.

Big fat loser day

So today, I wore two outfits. I had to, because I was worried about getting my white skirt-suit dirty. My first outfit was something I arrived at rather randomly, but was really happy with - I'll definitely wear these things together again. I think the orange cardigan makes a nice contrast with the black and grey.

Even though I had today off I still had errands to run and a doctor's visit scheduled, and I guess the main point of the outfit was to make it easy for the doctor to examine my leg. Or, as I told him, "To facilitate my doctor looking up my skirt." Hey, it made the doctor laugh.

Tonight was the ceremony for that competition I mentioned way back, when winners would be announced and prizes handed out etc. I wanted to look kind of done-up and professional but still look like me, if that makes sense - hence this outfit, which I think actually makes me look a little bit like a female John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever.

I also tried it without the belt, but in the end I decided to let the belt stay.

Turns out I shouldn't have bothered dressing up, though. Our entry only came 6th. To be honest, I feel pretty bummed out and humiliated. I'm sure tomorrow will be a better day, but right now, everything sucks.

Fox-magnet day

Sometimes I hate this city. Case in point, I am posting yesterday's outfit one day late because our ancient transport system broke down - again. I was forced to walk home, and by the time I got there, it was already too dark to take pictures. Luckily I had the chance to retake them this morning, so this is what I wore:

While I was having lunch in this outfit, sitting on a bench behind a pub, a fox appeared! At first, I was like, "Ah, how magical!" and expected him to keep his distance. I was happy viewing him and his pretty orange coat from a distance. Then he came closer, and I remembered that documentary about the girl who survived rabies. "What if he tries to bite me," I thought, staring fixedly at the fox. Who came closer. 

I realised that staring straight at any canine animal might be one of those dominance, "so, you wanna fight me then", kind of things, so I looked away. Then I realised that the fox was walking around me and my bench - and then behind me. I couldn't not stare at him, could I - what if he dived in and bit me from behind, right? I was getting ready to grab my handbag and run. However, the fox loped off into the bushes - and my mother, when I told her this story, pointed out that he was obviously just hoping I'd feed him something. Duh!  

Intrepid spring flower day

It turned out to be a really beautiful day today. And even if it's still freezing, I found a little park near my work today where there were actual flowers foolish enough to pop their heads out of the ground. I took pictures of them, so I have proof: spring is here! (Well, sort of.) Not sure what tomorrow's outfit will be - except that it won't include this cardigan - not three days in a row, I've got to let that baby rest!

I also wore the cardigan open at one point when the office was quite warm, and then I moved the belt around the skirt - I think I like this version better...

 Today was Day 15 for me. I guess one  thing the self-imposed shopping ban has done for yours truly is make me really appreciate the stuff I don't have to pay for. Like listening to internet radio (let's hear it for RockJam!) or reading the book Ruby posted to me last week (The Plague by Albert Camus, which is a fantastic book by the way) or the meal Victor treated me to for Valentine's day. Three of my friends phoned me after work today, and just being able to talk to people you care about, even though they are miles and miles away from you (and even if you do end up discussing a certain controversial case, and disagreeing) is just such a gift. And okay, so phone-bills aren't free, but you know what I mean. Feelings are free!

...I know what I should do when my current temp job comes to an end. I just realised: I should write fortune cookie notes for a living. I'd be fantastic at that. Because feelings are free!

Arthurian cardigan day

I'm on my fourteenth day of my 30 for 30 - nearly halfway, yay! - and I think I've now worn all of my items (except for the damn boots) at least once. This frilly cardigan was the last piece I hadn't worn yet - which I find kind of strange, because I really love it. I mean, that's why I included it in the first place. 

 

It's from the post-Christmas Anthropoligie sale - I wasn't even planning on buying it, I was just going to try it on. But then it sort of whispered to me in the changing-room, something about how it was made for me? Well, I checked the label, and for whatever weird reason this design is called "Guinivere". And since my name is Gwen, people have been calling me "Guinivere" since forever (they seem disappointed that my parents didn't go the whole hog and give me a name that would not only get me bullied, but regularly drowned in the school toilets), it really was like that cardie had my name on it.

 

It's amazing, the difference it makes to your body temperature whether you wear a cardie open or closed. I do make a rather rubbish Norwegian, because as you can see, I clearly am not impervious to the cold. In the end, I settled for wearing the cardigan closed, with the belt around it for good measure - just to make sure it wouldn't accidentally blow open or something. 

Hot-plate Valentine's day

For me, Valentine's day began early in the morning, frantically wrapping a present for Victor in the toilet - so as not to wake him up with the sounds of crinkly wrapping paper. (Our flat is tiny. And I mean tiny.) I'd just managed to slip it into his coat pocket before he staggered out of bed half asleep - and nearly peed himself in shock when he came face to face with me. Romantic start to the day, no?

I gave him a fluffy white rabbit plush, in case you were wondering. It can keep him company at work now, and give his colleagues something to tease him about. (I'm not the only person in this relationship who's obsessed with cute rabbits. Oh no.)

This morning I realised there are still a few items in my 30 that I haven't worn yet! And I'd actually been thinking of doing the shirt-vest-black trousers thing for a while... However, I knew that Victor and I were going to Benihana for teppanyaki tonight, so I couldn't wear anything that wouldn't survive the five consecutive spin cycles it might take to get the smell out of it. Hence this, but I think it was okay. Also, here's the outfit without the jacket:

And yes, I was freezing when I took that. Free-zing. I should also add that I wore the brown coat on top of the jacket - that's how cold it was today. And even with four layers on (count 'em: purple shirt, black vest, white blazer, brown mega-coat) I thought it was a bit nippy. So yeah - spring! Now! Please? 

Coat-related epiphany day

So this is what I wore today, mainly to drag the recycling out and go to the supermarket. I had a bit of a realisation while we walked down there; I don't like this jacket, and it doesn't suit me - something to do with the shape, and the puffy shoulders.

This jacket gets one more chance to convince me that it deserves to stay in my closet, and if it fails, it's straight to the thrift store box, 30 for 30 or no. The main reason I included it in the first place was to see if I could get used to it and make it work with my other clothes. This sometimes happens with things that people re-gift to me, I take the item home, and then realize it doesn't suit me, or I don't like it. Or both. Oh well, it's not like I paid for it!

On the other hand, I also realised just how much I love this brown J.Crew top - especially when I pair it up with those jeans and that scarf. So this outfit was far from a total loss. Also, Victor found the spider behind the U-bend and killed. Now I don't have to fear for my life every time I go to the bathroom, so yay! That thing was the size of a small mouse, I swear.

Yellow skirt and purple tumblers day

I'm a day late blogging this outfit, but Victor took me out for an enormous lunch and we only managed to stagger home well after dark. This is the first time I've worn my yellow skirt, my 29th item - I picked it up at the post office late the night before, and spent the evening trying out different combinations of what to wear with it, just like a little kid. Only to not go with any of them the day after - except for the belt, I like my zebra belt with this skirt.

It was a slightly surreal day, because he wanted to go into town - "There's something I want to buy," he said, in a sort of stern and frowny way. Then he led me down Regent Street, past Anthropologie ("Be strong, honey", he said when he caught me looking through the window) and into a home store called Habitat that was having a closing down sale. And then he picked out the most gorgeous fauxthropologie tumblers in the whole shop - saying he'd been in to look at them before, too!

Not weirded out yet? Well, here's the thing, Victor claims to hate Anthropologie, and makes long-suffering man noises every time I've dragged him in there. (Didn't stop him getting me a gift card there for my birthday, but I guess that's love for you. ) Anyways, we lined up for about a year, and after he'd paid for them, he looked at me and said, "Those tumblers kind of look like something you'd get at Anthropologie, don't they?"
So maybe this means I've subverted him into actually liking Anthro now? I wonder...

Beholdens! Our kitchen counter, in all its messiness. Complete with rice cooker, bananas and random Tupperware lid. But aren't the tumblers all pretty? Turned out the main reason Victor wanted to get them (and man, they were cheap - £2.10/ $ 3.36 per tumbler, baby!) was apparently that he passionately hates our other tumblers. So there's man-logic for you. I don't care though, we have brand new cute tumblers and I didn't spend a penny on them!

Green-shirted 70's day

So I scrubbed the bathroom down this afternoon. Not just the toilet; not just the floor, everything. I even got on a stepladder and scrubbed the walls and part of the ceiling. (And nearly died of shock when a huge lump of dust fell into my ear - ugh.) The results are in - Gwen 1, Mold 0. However... I also discovered that there's an enormous spider living behind the toilet. And I am terrified of spiders. Of course it managed to scurry away before I could kill it, so now every time I go in there, I'll know it's lurking behind the U-bend. Anyway, this is today's outfit (and yes, I changed out of it to clean the bathroom, but that's not cheating, that's being sensible!)

I was going for a sort of 70's look with the belted denim flares and (sort of) frilly shirt. The belt is a bit big though, so I'm debating with myself whether to actually cut some bits off the side to make it slide through the hoops more easily - that would also mean I could holepunch some more holes into it, so I could tighten it properly. I'm worried about destroying the belt, though... Dilemmas, dilemmas.

See, this outfit would have been much better with my Clarks boots, but they're still down one zipper. The guy in the repair shop said the cost of repairs would start at £35 (that's $ 56!) and seemed to think they would skyrocket from there, so I took the boots back home, and now I'm thinking of trying to fix them myself. They sell some pretty long zippers at John Lewis, and I think I'm allowed to buy a zipper for my boot, right? Anyway, this was my post-mould-scrubbing snack - that plate just makes me smile every time I use it.

Happy rainy day

Today was rainy and grey, not to mention cold! Not insta-freeze cold, more like the cold that slowly creeps into your bones and permafrosts your internal organs. As you can see from my outfit photo:

But still, it was a lovely, lovely day - because I got to meet up with some of my former colleagues for lunch. (I got to sneak around the remodelled offices too, and things sure have changed there!) It was all hugs and cuddles and squeeing over new haircuts - and I got some compliments on my outfit, too! The colours went so well together, they said, and my earrings matched my cardie so well, where did I buy them? They didn't show up in the pictures, hence this:

Why, from the etsy seller here. Click on the link, and you too can own these gorgeous earrings that seem to change colour from yellow to orange, depending on what you're wearing. No, they didn't pay me to say that, but their stuff is gorgeous, so I'll say it anyway. :)

Interesting story about that cardie, actually, because when I ordered it I thought it would be yellow! Like burnt ochre yellow, like my Anthro top. Possibly the name, "Burnt Cinnamon", should have given me a clue, but then I am a special girl. I also thought it was on sale, and only found out after my friend had bought it from me (yeah, I had to have help buying it, since they don't accept paypal at J.Crew) that it was actually full price. Like I said, I'm a spesh. But I like this cardie anyway - in spite of my evil face in the picture above -  it's sooo soft and comfy. And I'm not even going to look at what other colours J.Crew do it in, and not just because it's a shopping-free month - no way could I afford another one anyway! Just as well I thought it was on sale, really...

Belted dilemma day

I finished the Sutra scarf! I'm so happy I could cry. By then, the lovely people at John Lewis (where I got the yarn for said scarf) had managed to remainder all the colours I was using, and it was only by a miracle that they managed to come up with one single ball of the white for me, when I realised I would run out of white. It wouldn't have been the end of the world, but it would have been a much shorter scarf. Instead, it looks like this:

I sure hope the asymmetric look is all the rage in Japan right now... The stuff I've done with the red yarn is vaguely based off a photo of a sutra that I found on the internets:

 While I was knitting the green bit at the very bottom, I also ran out of green yarn. Literally while I was tying the loops closed. I was forced to cannibalise the loose threads from the scarf itself (the ones left over when I'd  changed to a new ball of yarn) - cut them off with enough left over to fasten the thread, tie it in a knot to the "main" thread, and keep on working with that. I had to do that three times! But it worked, so yay!
Also, here is today's outfit - and I realise I've probably copied a certain famous style blogger's outfit from a while ago, but I blame my creative failure on the knitting drama of the night before.  

I couldn't decide whether I liked this outfit best with or without the belt, so I tried both. Actually wound up not wearing the belt in the end; I thought it made the whole outfit too busy. The scarf is from the same store as the pink one - Toku Home Store, I think? I had a third one, a gorgeous brown and orange one, but wound up

giving that away to a friend - and I'm not sorry, she loves it way more than I ever could.                                                                                                                 

Anyone getting tired of the fabulous view of our balcony yet? I take my photos early in the morning, since it gets dark so early here, so there really isn't anywhere else in this tower block where I can go outside and have privacy... Hm, maybe downstairs by the recycling bins? How glamorous would that be!