Fog and Basics (OOTD)

It's been a long period of physical and mental exhaustion. I accepted a full term position at a (very) well known and by some (very) well loved fashion retail chain in order to save up for a trip back to Tokyo. The price I paid in exchange for some money was high. It took a lot out of me, but gave me some useful utensils for life too.

I quit a bit earlier than I had originally planned because I couldn't justify the price any longer.
But it all had its purpose and I am so excited to be going back to Japan in July! I'll also be visiting my Dad in Singapore and making a small detour to Thailand... So looking forward to spending time in Asia again.

Yes… I've been feeling foggy for days. I think it's because suddenly everything is falling into place- When what you used to dream about turns into concrete reality (i.e. moving to London), is it abnormal to feel a bit foggy? Expect more content here, definitely!

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Ever since I got these amazing jeans, I have been wearing a variation of this outfit A LOT. The cardigan I am wearing has been on my lust-list for over a year. I bit the bullet and finally gave in to paying a slightly obscene amount for a cardigan. But it's not just a cardigan. When I have it on I feel like I'm walking inside a cuddle.

Jeans: Topshop

Crop top: H&M

Cardigan: American Apparel

Earrings: & Other Stories

Necklace: Gift from Singapore

Nails: Lapiz of Luxury by Essie

I am seriously loving Femme… I do love her just a slight bit more because she graduated from the uni I will be attending very soon… I think. Love her style and lyrics. Enjoy if you fancy!

I'm going to have my third coffee of the day now. See you soon! X

A Hasty Homage to Astrix Boots and AM

I am ill for the first time in months. It has given me plenty of time to lie around feeling sorry for myself, read Rivers of London and watch YouTube videos.

In between drinking loads of herbal tea (in that beautifully cliched way everyone does, or says they do when they're ill), I just had to pay homage to these these amazing new Astrix boots by Topshop. I have been eyeing them up for ages and finally decided to give in to materialism. They add quite a bit of height without being uncomfortable or heavy. They tick all my "Shoes Desirable to Short Girls Who Fancy Being a Bit Taller" boxes.

Floral dress, floral arm chair, floral cushion, flower on the windowsill, just pointing out that I am very aware that I love them florals.

I feel the need to stress that the new Arctic Monkeys album is gold; I would be hard pressed to not love any of their music because they've been my favourite since 2005, but I do really think it's gold.
The whole album will fill you up like a roast dinner for your ears after being out all night, lying somewhere on your own.
The album closes with the song 'I Wanna Be Yours', which is actually a poem by John Cooper Clarke they put to music. It will give you goosebumps every time you listen to it, even if there's nobody's you wanna be.

Whatever gal he's been phoning slash texting whilst drunk slash high, thank you so much.

Failed Cheesecake or Do it Yourself

Today I baked a delicious looking cheesecake, complete with enticing digestive biscuit base. Upon opening the oven however I remembered suddenly, that I had forgotten to add 200g of caster sugar to the mixture. I ate three digestive biscuits and threw the cake in the bin. Feel free to apply your own metaphor for anything here.

I spent my Easter weekend painting my bed and an old mirror white. It was satisfying but took (much) longer than expected. And although I locked Carl out when I started painting he has been wandering around with white spots on his back for a few days now.

Before. My mum DIYed the cover for the piano stool. This is one of the countless reasons I love her.

Masking tape. Now imagine me taking this photograph, it suddenly seems oddly ridiculous, right.

Moving, conscious, black furry thing which will remain celibate for life, called Carl.

After. It's one thing to have all these ideas in your head and another to cover your bedroom floor in newspaper and spend two days coating an ancient Ikea metal bed frame in paint. 

Also, I finally watched Perks of Being a Wallflower today. I read the book ages ago and remember not expecting it to affect me like it did. I also remember crying at the end and being dubious about the possible movie adaption.

But I really enjoyed it.

After gossiping for about two hours on my bed, a friend with excellent taste and I watched 201mins of Stephen Chbosky's creation which left me with the same warm feeling as the book. I can't find the right adjectives and nouns and verbs to string together in order to describe the book or the film, but I just hope that people in the future will read the book or failing that, watch the adaptation and feel something.

Also, I was pleasantly surprised by my realisation that Ezra Miller is more than mildly attractive.

(In German, the film is called 'Vielleicht lieber morgen' which translates roughly as: 'Perhaps tomorrow (is/will be/could be) better'. I have just realised how difficult it is to translate those three words. Nevertheless, I had to point out how amusing I find it and wonder how many people decided that that was in fact, the best possible translation of the movie title. How about 'Die Vorteile eines Mauerblümchens' which translates roughly as: 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'.)

Ezra Miller x Terry Richardson

Playlist if you fancy.

• French Kiss - The Teenagers
• Midnight City - The Knocks ft. Mandy Lee
• Lights (Shook Remix) - Ellie Goulding
• Second Chance - Peter, Bjorn and John
• We drink on the Job - Earlimart
• Sans Soleil - Miike Snow (live)
• The Walk - Mayer Hawthorne ft. Rizzle Kicks

Break

So this is summer. And I like it a lot. Who wouldn't enjoy days filled with friends and music and laughs and balconies in the shade.

Before I elaborate I need to proclaim my love for my first pair of Jeffrey Campbell Litas! I've been in love with these before I knew who they were by and before I could ever fathom owning a pair one day. So now I own the cliched Litas and am truly in love and so happy I could finally afford to order a pair off Solestruck. Getting them took weeks and a trip to the middle of nowhere to pay a helathy customs fee, but it was all worth it!

Here's a list, because everyone loves a list:

• One night last week we stayed up late and read horror stories about old ladies and dogs and dead dogs and murderers. We put on face masks took too many silly pictures and stayed up talking and rolling around until we finally weren't scared of murderers and fell asleep.
• Chopped some hair off on Wednesday.
• Still have not packed for England!
• Spent today eating soup with Anniman and laughing in Hugendubel ("Jeder von uns ist ein Engel mit nur einem Flügel. Und wir können nur fliegen, wenn wir uns umarmen.")
• I'm off to Albion the day after tomorrow and I can't believe it... I can't wait to: see smiling people, smile at people, see my family, spend time in London, go shopping, see the sea... (...), yet the return to Frankfurt will be beautiful too.

Taupe Suede mm, with these I finally have long legs!

Annika's jewelry and one of my bobby pins

Annika's hair and the best kitchen in Frankfurt (?!)

Bafta said that straws make everything taste better.

Music

Yum

I love this song and it's on repeat. I will write again after England and who knows what will happen, how we will feel, how life will feel- but I still have this warm feeling in my stomach that these holidays could be, will be, filled with memories that we won't want to forget.

June Showers

It rained all day today and I didn't have an umbrella. In fact, I think it's still raining now, but I am warm and inside listening to Carl playing with a hairband. It feels more like October than June and that's lovely.
In three weeks I'll begin my last ever summer as a pupil and once again embark on a trip to England which I am definitely looking forward to.

Did Zumba for the first time last night and I now firmly believe that everyone should try it out. Shake your behind around, sweat buckets whilst listening to cheesy music? Are you not even tempted?
(Also, the trainer was attractive in an odd way. Or was it just his enthusiasm?)

As promised, here are a few pictures that aren't part of the project but a result of two days worth of taking photos.

Much better than an outtake, which is why it's also on flickr.

To your left, Topmodel candidate Helena Klaric, to your center and right, me hanging on to people in a circle.

Mmm whipped cream and smarties. Delicious...?

日本人になってしまったんだ！(<-- evidence that I did, in fact, spend half a year in Tokyo.)

♥

I hope something exciting happens. Like meeting Noel Fielding in a lift in Frankfurt or winning a trip to Melbourne or perhaps receiving an anonymous parcel filled with chocolate and shoes and stories about elephants in India.
I like listening to this song, when I need encouragement.

The Seven Deadly Sins

Aren't 'the seven deadly sins' cliche but fascinating? I love what wikipedia says:

The seven deadly sins is a classification of objectionable vices that have been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct Christians concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin.


We do have a tendency to sin. It isn't difficult to commit all seven deadly capital vices in one day.
Annika and I defined a modern, minimalistic version of the seven deadly sins in the name of a school art project. It's probably (easily) the most enjoyable 'work' I've ever done for school.

Avaritia

Invidia

Luxuria

 Acedia

Ira

Gula

Superbia

Our approach was simplistic and I really like the results. We tried to use as little as we could to define each sin. Essential were the bare background and the few props.
All the photos were taken with my Nikon D40 and a Sigma 18-125mm lens.
Slight lighting adjustments, colour enhancing in post editing with Photoshop CS6!

We completed the project over the course of one week, including planing and editing. I'm especially fond of Greed, Gluttony (because it involved whipped cream and smarties) and Envy (because it was hilarious trying to get a good picture of our male stand in/good friend and I looking like a couple).

It's really made me want to start more projects! It's true that it's much easier to complete something if you're not alone.

I'm going to post some of the outtakes of the shoot in my next post!

You should listen to this song while letting the warmth seep through your skin, lying on a breezy balcony, even if you hate the summer.

Dripping Honey

The past few weeks have swept by almost with ease, even though they were filled with the final exams for this year. Maybe it's because the pain of imposing maths exams was numbed by two-hour phone calls the night before. Maybe it's because there's a lot more to life than school and consistantly trying to do your best- Definitely both.

It's been a long time since I let some thoughts make their way onto this inconspicuous place. My trip to England was perfection!
I stayed with my beautiful Grandma, in beautiful Canterbury. She told me about how she fell in love, resulting in me almost crying over my cup of tea because it was so ridiculously wonderful, she told stories of the Queen's garden parties and took me to the seaside to meet her mad, elderly, wealthy friends. It is worlds apart from seemingly dry Frankfurt but it was the perfect medicine for escape.

So aside from surviving school and dealing with some heavy disappointments outside of my control, somehow I have been rewarded with a warm feeling in my stomach at the thought of the holidays, England and the pair of Jeffrey Campbell Litas I'm going to buy.

I've been going out a lot more recently and on one occasion met the most adorable 15-year-old sunny boy at an eighteenth birthday party. He is to me what Justin Bieber is to many: the love of my life. I'm joking (I think).
I also had a 20-minute long nosebleed in my friend's cousin's house at one in the morning.

I'm helping Annika with an art project for school and the process is horrendously fun. I'll post the results here later when they've all been edited and approved! So keep your eyes peeled for a minimalist version of the seven deadly sins!

And now for some photographic evidence that I am not in fact, inventing everything I write here.

 Just one little piece of a beautiful garden!

Love this cat. History!

These are wonderful and don't hurt your feet, even after hours of walking and/or dancing!

 Herne Bay.

The bed I've slept in most aside from my own and someone lucky's birthday present!

Gluttony nails!

So now you could watch this video of an old Indian man laughing or listen to Oh Land playing a live acoustic version of White Nights or you could go outside and run around topless. That is one of life's beauties: Although we often feel inhibited, the truth is we are free to do almost anything at all.

Albion, I'm coming!

I couldn't tell you how many times I have nearly posted something here.
Regardless of the fact that I am clearly not the most dedicated blogger, I think I can excuse myself by admitting I am out of practice and have had a lot of other things on my mind that have stopped me from pouring my heart out to my second favourite audience: an nonjudgemental white box (my favourite would be Carl the cat, as he is unable to speak but still manages to curl up and purr on my lap, miraculously when I'm feeling really down).

As a lot goes on in three weeks (or has it been four?!) I've come to the conclusion that I should perhaps start writing lists of things I don't want to forget to write. What's important right now is that I am finally on Easter holidays and am flying to England on Thursday morning, together with legions of business men in black suits on the 7AM flight. It's always more than a treat visiting England, because although it is home, circumstance doesn't allow us to go too often. I've got the added bonus of going alone, and although I love people I can't wait to get away from everything here for seven days.
I can't wait for the friendly, smiley, open people of England, I can't wait to forget Germany for a week and am already anticipating the bitter disappointment of unfriendly passport-checkers upon my return to Frankfurt.
I get to see my family, I get to see History (a regal old ginger cat) and Winston (a depressed golden dog)!

I spent a lot of time talking over coffee this month, perhaps more than usual. I am thankful for my caffeine addiction.

I am perhaps slightly late in acquiring the Lana Del Rey album, but I love it. I've missed the feeling of listening to something new over and over again. I read somewhere, Lana was "sadcore pop. Agreed.

We all went to Bavaria for my uncle's 40th birthday party and it was hard work, like family gatherings often are. Cake and sekt anyone? Also, I am now fascinated with the Neuschwanstein castle.  Ludwig II of Bavaria only lived there for around 8 months after is was completed. One day he went out for a walk with his psychiatrist. They were later found dead in a lake nearby.

Fräulein is the best German magazine I have ever come across. It may only come out four times a year, but it's brilliant.

I bought a second-hand dip-dye jumper. First I loved it, then I regretted it, now I like it!

Mint is without a doubt currently my favourite colour! What would people in the middle ages think? What would the Virgin Queen look like decked out in a minty frock? Oh questions!

And finally, Wet Cement and Promises by the Morning Benders.

PS. (You could follow my blog with Bloglovin.)

A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants.

It's utterly unbelievable how fast time passes. It's been about a month since I posted something here.
My mind isn't working fast enough to produce a lovingly written text so instead have this list again!

I have finally inherited an old iPhone 4 which my Dad sent from Singapore.

Carl the cat was ill again but is now back to being a lively black ball of fur.

Was really ill with Strep type A. Off school for nearly two weeks on a diet of vanilla ice cream.

Worked two days in a row and nearly killed myself in the process.

Ordered a dress off Romwe.

Mum came back from a short trip to London, bringing Topshop gifts and Cadbury delights.

Did some Yoga with my friends 6 year old sister last night, she's a pro.

I bought these bits a while ago when Accessorize was having a massive sale. I'm especially fond of the earrings.

This wall is destined to be wallpapered with beautiful vintage floral wallpaper, but until then I'll clumsily cover it in photos and pages from magazines. Note the Christmas-y mug on an unbelievably untidy desk,

It snowed. It was also -20 degrees for a week.

Can we discuss Mini from Skins?! She's become my favourite after her episode in the new season. I love her style, the bright colours and fearless accessories, but I've also started to love her character.

Instagram!: 1) I wish I was confident enough to wear these cherry trousers I tried on in Zara. 2) OPI Glitzerland! 3) Class excursion to Bonn 3) Starbucks cookie from Mum 4) The love of my life 5) iPhone 4 has a front camera, ok?! 6) DIYed chest of drawers 7) Scribbles.

I am so tired and full of sweets from last night so I will now sit and enjoy some silence. I am in love with this song.

("A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants." - Schopenhauer.)