Updates

Okay so I haven't been in much of a shopping mood lately. It has been extremely hot back here ever since I got back. You know how your camera or mp3 player jams when it's in the extreme cold? Well my body jams in extreme heat. I can literally sit under the 'cool' fan yet melt away, getting up to do anything became a chore. Hopefully I am melting stubborn fats, like in a sauna. :)

So when the temperature dropped by I suppose 1 or 2 degrees, I got off my ass and finally got around to baking a Matcha (Green Tea) Chiffon Cake. I got the recipe off a blogger who adapted it from a Japanese chef. It requires olive oil instead of butter! Okay it looks like a punctured tyre because it started sinking but tastes really good. I did take pictures but ... if only the cake in the picture didn't look uglier than the real deal, I'd probably post it up. I guarantee you it tastes good!

Second update. Imma have to take up a job before returning to London. Seeing that my schedule is packed; Alvin visiting late April and South Korea trip late June (Hotel and flights are booked! I'm excited!); I'd have to manouver between high turnover rate jobs. Since I have absolutely no work clothes here, I have to get some soon to last me temporarily, which means boring stuff and painful shoes first. :( Sigh good quality bargains are hard to find when you are in a rush. No fear, I should have plenty of time in between to go hunt for pretty work clothes and comfy shoes.

Now because of the heat, dressing up is such a pain. You can't really layer and you are limited to certain materials. The only thing I can do is admire from afar on the WWW.

Hats galore! I wish for one like this to go into the sun now.
She's cool. Her shoes and blazer are really nice. I may think twice about going out with those pants over tights but she definitely has the look to pull it off.
And she's got a really cute giraffe ring! Giraffes are rare okay. I'm just sayin' from experience.

Yellow blazer that reminds me of the Karen Millen Striped Blazer we just sold off! Also I'm pining for her hair. Oh yah I forgot to mention, I went off to get a hair perm by myself without my mum's blessing hence only able to settle for the cheapest option. Not only is my hair NOT wayyyyvey it is completely wrecked in terms of silkiness, softness and smoothness. Never ever settle for less. But in this case I was that desperate, 5 years of begging and pleading but my mum never budged, not even a milimetre. Now, I have to do a Zen haircut to get rid of the horrible-ness. For now, I can still bun it up and no one will have a clue but I'd have to do it sooner or later. Oh well, new job, new life, new hair. At least there's a ring to it.

- sue

I want

Florals ....







Maybe if we dress as if it's spring, that will make it come faster?

Mr. H, So Sweet, €45.50
Accessorize, Japanesque Floral Foil Print Bag, £25.00
LoveColour LoveTights, Lullaby Peach, £9.95
Hetty Rose, Amalie 2
H&M, Rok, €34.90
Modcloth, Floral District Dress, $74.99


- Zen

Adventures in fibre arts

CK told us Lemms off for never updating our blog. I'm sadly uninspired these days -- it is too cold to play dress-up! And the sales are quietly leaving the shops, alas. I did shake a couple of pairs of tights out of them today -- 2 for £4, thank you Topshop.

The lipstick theory of recession: lipstick sales go up in an economic downturn, because they're a small, relatively inexpensive luxury that brightens one's day in a time when the days need brightening. Tights perform this function for me. They're warm, practical, there's no harm in having lots, and if you get the right kind they can make an outfit.

But they are not very interesting to photograph when you have just got basic black and dark blue ones. So really this is not a post about tights, but a post on what I've made recently with the magic of CROCHET. (And some knitting.)



How I have longed for a cowl. And now I have one! With buttons! The yarn is a wool/alpaca blend; the buttons are from my mother's button box.

My cousin 'Lina scoffs at a cowl because she says you might as well make a scarf, and it is just laziness not to, but you see buttons would not look as well on a scarf. And they are quite versatile!

Cowl - made by meeee; cardigan - H&M; dress - Cicada; tights - Urban Outfitters; shoes - Vincci Accessories

You can wear them on your neck all crumpled, or not.

Cowl sweet cowl; white top - New Look; skirt worn as dress - my mother's; tights - Uniqlo; stockings worn over tights for warmth - Japan; shoes - Vincci Accessories

You can fold 'em and wear them. (Granted, this is not a very clear picture of it being worn folded. Also please to ignore the fact that I am wearing exactly the same colour scheme as in the previous picture. My obsession with black&white&dark blue is embarrassing.)


You can wear them as a hat and put a soft toy in the top! Er, probably you'd only do that if you were Sam. But you see, I told you they were versatile!

And then I knitted a scarf out of gorgeous hand-dyed Manos del Uruguay wool. I call this my indulgence scarf, because the yarn was such an indulgence.

I'm absurdly proud of the finished product. A couple of not-very-good photos of me wearing it:



It's a proper scarf -- no cowl this -- but I like to wind it round my neck and tuck the ends in so it looks like a cowl. The advantage of this is that it's super warm.


And the effect is not uncute!

Finally, I crocheted a hat for a friend who has yet to receive it, but fortunately she does not read this blog, so I can post the pictures without spoilering her. I made it according to a pattern for a slouchy beanie that I found on the magical Internet machine, modifying the pattern to make the hat more slouchy and adding a scalloped edge basically 'cos I could.



You can wear it slouchy. (Forgive terrible morning hair; I'd just got up.)


Or you can turn up the bottom and wear it so your head looks like a grape!

That's all for now, folks. The next hill I gotta climb: fingerless gloves!

- Zen

Lemms & Hats

I bought a new hat from Urban Outfitters, again from the post-Christmas sale. Wasn't really that much of a discount, about £13? More than what I paid for my shoes (an unfair comparison). It’s dark brown/greyish-purple...and woolly/felty/fuzzy? OK I’m no good at descriptions so take a look instead...

I feel that I’ve lost my frost-proof ability somewhat this year. I’ve started wearing scarves and now I have a hat (although I definitely did not buy it as a winter-warmer)! Or maybe the London temperatures have been ridiculously low (for London that is...)! Still don’t own gloves though>_<

Am I trying to be “poser”?....yea maybe...but hats are still awesome. I might have watched too many mafia movies as a child or I may secretly want to be a detective (Dick Tracy-style – I don’t actually remember much about Dick Tracy from my childhood, apart from a trench, a hat and lot’s of yellow. Pretty much the same description I would give Singing in the Rain).

1) Hats are awesome
2) Hats keep you warm
3) Hats hide your bad-hair day
4) Hats make you look taller (or so I comfort myself...)
5) The hat hunt is not over...
6) ...at the end of it the Lemms will be holding a tea party. Scones!

Can’t wait ^_^

-Sam