St Andrew's Day

I apologize for being such a lazy blogger these past few days. Time just flew by before I realised that I hadn't really updated my blog! I've been following other blogs with great interest and I've made a few comments but somehow I've forgotten to 'comment' my own! It must have something to do with my (just over) two-month bloggiversary!

Anyway, last week was nothing special in some ways and very special in others. I hardly had any outfit pictures taken - just didn't feel very imaginative - but I will show you some pics of the most lovely surprise I got from a very dear friend. She lives in the capital and we don't see each other very often but we talk on the phone and she follows my blog. Or, should I say, reads it, as she isn't registered with the blogger and can't comment on it. But, she nevertheless decided I deserved a blog award (fancy that!) and she made me a box of the most delicious sweets you can possibly imagine (have I mentioned that, apart from being a professional singer, she's one of the best cooks in the whole wide world?).


You can see the sweets on the pics: they're sweet dates with marzipan pistachio filling and fig balls with marzipan, rolled in crushed roasted hazelnuts. Just putting everything into words made my mouth water again... And to top everything off, the packaging was absolutely adorable as well! See this pretty tartan ribbon? She knows all about my love for Scotland, so there I have it! Thank you so much, R.!


The best part of the week was Friday when my Mum, my daughter and I went to Ljubljana to the book fair. My cousins (one of them writes poems for children, the other one, her sister, illustrates them) had their latest book presented at the fair. We just had to attend! And, I got some really great news - but this deserves a post on its own, definitely. There are still some things about me that I haven't yet shared with you, dear bloggers...

My outfit on Friday was similar to the one I'd last posted on the blog, but I'm afraid that you will see a lot of my lovely green coat in the following months as well... (and the boots... and the beret... and angels... and blossoms...). I think this coat is one of the best purchases I've made in my life, honestly, that's how much I appreciate it!

We had a lovely time at the book fair and a lovely 'girls' day-out' as well, we really enjoyed our time together, the three generations... The weekend was less eventful, I came down with the flu (or something similar), I spent the entire Sunday in my PJs, sleeping on the sofa. I'm all better now, though, and I promise to be a better blogger this week as well.

Last Friday I wore:
boots - Humanic
tights - Polzela (local brand)
skirt - Labod (local brand; shortened)
pink top - TwoWay
gray roll-neck - Mana
tan belt (under the scarf) - H&M
scarf - Etsy (AliceCaroline)
beret - Seeberger
corsage (on beret) - TopShop
coat - Boden
leather sporran - Heritage of Scotland (web shop)
umbrella - 'Thistle' (Scottish shop in Ljubljana), bought ages ago
angel pendant!

As far as the title goes, happy St Andrew's Day to all Scots and to my son, of course - his name is Andrej (Slovenian for 'Andrew') and it's his nameday - and yes, he got his name after the patron saint of my favourite place in the world!

Fun Week!

Last week was wonderful in many ways. First, on Monday, I got my first (very early) birthday present from my Mum & Dad (my birthday is January 6...) - I tend to get my b'day presents early because come November (i.e. two months before the actual date) I start getting these birthday cravings and imagining presents and thinking about things that I need (or would really like to have, for that matter...) and sooner or later someone from my family (either my husband or my parents or... myself, actually...) is willing to give in and actually purchase the desired item...

Anyway, the one I got on Monday was not actually on my list but here's the story: my Mum, who is a very stylish lady - she's my style icon, actually, and one of these days I will ask her if I can post a photo of her on my blog! -, sometimes buys things on the spur of the moment. When she comes home and tries the thing on once again, she decides she doesn't like it on herself and then either returns it or - which is better...- asks me if I want it. The same happened with a very sweet, stylish, chocolate brown, 20s'-style hat she'd bought earlier this month. Would I like a chocolate brown hat for my birthday? As you already know, I love hats, so yes please! It's an absolutely gorgeous hat and as soon as I get a picture taken of me wearing it I'll post it on my blog. You'll see, it's yummy!

The next wonderful thing was - oh, dear - another early birthday present. This time it was me who made the purchase... Here's the story: remember the pink hat I posted some time ago? When I bought it last year I immediately imagined it with a lovely moss green coat - which I unfortunately didn't have at the time. I spent the entire autumn/winter '08/'09 season hunting for a moss green coat in Slovenia but I couldn't find one (not one I would really really like). This autumn, it occured to me that I could search the web and try to find one. And if I was lucky, I thought, it might even be delivered to Slovenia (not all labels do that, you know). I managed to find my absolutely dream coat at Boden and - they did (they do!!!) deliver to Slovenia! It said on the order form that the coat in my size would be available in four weeks, which at that point meant at the end of November. I was definitely willing to wait and I placed the order. After two weeks I got their mail that the coat had been shipped! And it arrived at my doorstep in a lovely box last Wednesday! You can see me wearing my new absolutely gorgeous moss green 'effortless velvet coat' on the pic! Isn't it just adorable? So, this was Wednesday (Thursday's outfit on the pic).

coat - Boden
boots - Humanic
tights - don't know
skirt - S. Oliver
purple top - TwoWay
grey roll-neck - Mana
belt - H&M
scarf - Etsy (AliceCaroline)
beret - Seeberger
corsage (on beret) - TopShop

Then, on Thursday, came the best part of the week. My husband and I drove to our capital in the morning (my husband commutes to Ljubljana anyway) to have lunch with a very dear friend. Before that we stopped at a shopping centre where I found another 'dream' item, a pair of tan leather MaryJanes I'd been searching for - for only 15 euros. Now, that's a bargain. Again, a pic to follow...

And now back to the main event of last week - lunch with our dearest friend. He's been away for a while, he hasn't been too well, but now things seem to be fine, he's his old self again and I'm over the moon! We had the most pleasant time together, my husband and I really enjoyed ourselves... the world seems once again to be a wonderful place!

Pink & Green

I told you about my new favourite colour combination in my last post, mustard & purple. My all-time favourite combination, though, is this one: pink & green! You might have noticed that I wear a lot of these two colours, if nothing else, they appear somewhere in the accessory department. I like them together because they remind me of a garden full of roses (pink, possibly...) with their lush petals and green stems.

These two outfits were both built around my lovely skirt & dress from Kesidov (I've already told you about them and you have seen my green corduroy skirt) - I have some more pieces from them which I will show you in a later post. I think their clothes are really fabulous, definitely one of a kind. They're a bit expensive but they have a sale throughout the year for pieces from previous seasons, so there actually is a possibility of a bargain!
This skirt is called 'Hana' (all their items have names) and what attracted me to this piece in the first place was the colour - not a very pretty shade at first sight but it offers tons of possible combinations. And, of course, the applique flowers. I love them!

I'm wearing:
boots - Humanic
tights - don't know, love the colour, though
skirt - Kesidov
pink faux-wrap top - TwoWay
pink top (worn underneath) - Get
belt - H&M
angel pendant & bracelets!

This dress is called 'Forest Tunic' - I guess the colour was very inspirational! It's extremely versatile as it can be worn either as a dress, a skirt (just put a top over it) or a tunic, over trousers. It's quite warm as well as the material is rather thick. The best thing about Kesidov clothes is that there is always a detail at the back - hence the 'rear pics' today! Something funny happened when I tried to do away with my red eyes - now I have a green circle around my left eye on one of the photos!

I'm wearing:
boots - Humanic
tights - no idea
dress - Kesidov
pink top - TwoWay
belt - H&M
scarf - TwoWay
angel bracelets! (no need for the pendant here...)

Hope your week so far has been as enjoyable as mine - and why mine has been so much fun will be the topic of the next post!

Mustard & Purple

My new favourite colour combo! I used NOT to like purple but now I'm all for it (I still don't like just any shade of it, though, the one I'm wearing is fine). And I really like purple paired with either mustard or green or grey, but not black.

I've already told you that black is not one of my favourite colours. I quite like it on other people but on me, I prefer bright, happy colours (for some reason, I have never associated black with happy, it probably has to do something with black being the colour of mourning in many cultures).

This is what I wore yesterday - this Brora skirt is one of my favourite skirts and it has a lovely story behind it. I got it two years ago, from London (I should say IN London but it wouldn't be quite true...). I spent a long weekend with some friends in London in July 2007 and before we left for London I had seen this skirt on Brora's website and thought - I like this skirt, I would really like to have it! To top it off, they had the same skirt for little girls (MY little girl!) and I was definitely going to come home with a skirt for my daughter and a skirt for Mummie (ie. myself).

After we'd done the sightseeing (my friends 'used' me as their tour-guide because I had spent quite a lot of time in London before I had children) we went to a Brora shop (can't remember which one it was anymore, though) - they had the girl size skirt but they didn't have the right size for me (tears on my pillow...). But, the lady at the shop kindly offered to get it from another shop or their warehouse and could I please pop in next Monday and it would be waiting for me? Unfortunately, 'next Monday' I was going to be back home already so there was no way I could collect it... No problem, apparently! They asked for my address, I was trustworthy enough to leave them my credit card details (I bought the little skirt anyway) and after a few days, my skirt came in the post! And they were both on sale at the time! So my daughter and I are now two very proud owners of two lovely matching mother - daughter skirts (my girl will soon grow out of it, though, and then I might have her skirt re-made into a bodice for me - still thinking!). Even though I don't really want to post pics of my girl on this blog, I will probably have to show you our matching outfits one day...

It is a linen skirt and actually meant to be worn in the summer but I don't really care. With opaque tights and boots it is warm enough for autumn/winter months as well. And I still love it to bits!

boots - Humanic
skirt - Brora
mustard top - Mana
purple top - TwoWay
belt - H&M
angel pendant & bracelets!

Friday Wear

My outfit last Friday - not my usual colour, I don't particularly like black, but spiced up with green and tan it made me quite happy. The colourful burst of the necklace & corsage did the trick as well.

I wore:

boots - Humanic
tights - local brand
skirt - TopShop
roll-neck - Dorothy Perkins
belt - H&M
cardi - Tulchan
necklace - TwoWay
leather corsage (on necklace) - Etsy (designedbyjane)
beret - Seeberger
corsage (on beret) - TopShop
angel bracelets!

Weekend wear was more relaxed, I wore my corduroys (I don't know why I don't bother taking outfit pics when I wear trousers, I've only done it about twice). We celebrated two birthdays, my brother's on Saturday and our friends' little girl (same age as ours) on Sunday, so the weekend was fun, lots of chatting to family & friends and delicious cakes all around!

Church outfit on Sunday was the same as last Monday's, so I didn't have another pic taken.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Pink Hat

I promised to show you my pink hat, didn't I? Well, this is it! I didn't actually wear it yesterday, I had my trusted charcoal beret on, but I thought I'd model it for you as it really matched yesterday's outfit. I love this hat. I bought it last year, it was love at first sight! I love its shape, I love the colour. In fact, I wouldn't mind owning more hats like this one in different colours!

boots - Humanic
tights - don't know
skirt - handmade by my Mum's seamstress
top - H&M
jacket - Tom Tailor
belt - H&M
corsage (embellished by me) - H&M
angel brooch!
beads - made by me (paper beads dressed in Laura Ashley scarf)
pink hat - Seeberger

Surprise Package Safely Home

I have just got a note that the surprise package I'd posted about a couple of weeks ago finally reached its destination. I was getting really worried as it usually takes one week at the most for the post to arrive from Slovenia to Great Britain; I do realise however that the postal strike must have had something to do with it.

Anyway, this is the surprise: a bead bracelet! And it travelled all the way to Alison from Tweed thoughts, my very first blog follower - which is why I thought she deserved an award!

Same Old, Same Old (Same New?)...

Right, it's been a while since my last outfit photo, so here come two. I realise I'm getting a bit boring with my footwear but I can't help it; this is the most comfortable and the most versatile pair of boots I have ever owned! Since I bought them, not a day has gone by that I haven't worn them (hence the title of the post - surely they can't be considered new anymore?).

As far as headgear goes, I'm on the same front - the same charcoal beret on all posted photos so far! And I own lots and lots of different hats and beanies and berets... I wore this gorgeous pink hat to church last Sunday, but, obviously, forgot to take a pic. I do promise, however, that in the days to come you will definitely get a glimpse of it. And my other hats. And beanies. And other berets. I love hats! In fact, I adore them! I also love scarves, I've got a closetful of those as well. But every season there is usually one item (of each) that I am particularly fond of and wear most of the time (if not all the time). This is the case with my boots, my Liberty scarf and my charcoal beret this autumn. And I'm waiting for this gorgeous pair of handwarmers from Etsy - I'll let you know when they arrive! They'll definitely be my staple, this I can already tell you.

My outfit on Saturday was casual and comfortable - as usual - but you won't see me wearing crisp white shirts very often. This one is my favourite, though, and I occasionally put it on so that it doesn't feel neglected...

So, on Saturday I wore:

boots - Humanic (never seen before...)
tights - Calzedonia (I think)
denim skirt - eK jeans
belt - H&M
cardi - Tally Weijl
shirt - Nara Camicie
silk scarf - Laura Ashley
leather sporran - Heritage of Scotland (web shop)
angel bracelets!
(and I have only just realised, in horror, that I took my wedding ring off & forgot to put it on for the pic! I must have been doing the dishes before that or something...)

Yesterday I wore one of my all-time favourite outfits - I was quite pleased about how it came together, actually; it consists of my favourite pieces - plaid skirt, corduroy jacket, roll-neck, scarf, beret, boots, belt... and I felt comfortable wearing it.

boots - Humanic
tights - no idea
skirt - S.Oliver
roll-neck - TopShop
waistcoat - Miss Selfridge
belt - H&M
jacket - Tom Tailor
Liberty scarf -Etsy (AliceCaroline)
beret - Seeberger
corsage (on beret) - TopShop
angel brooch!

Until next time, then!

Working links!!!

Just to let everyone know, I have finally mastered my links (hurrah!!!!!) and I have 'linked' my previous posts as well. I'm so excited! To make sure it works, here's a link to one of my favourite on-line shops (from Croatia; I've blogged about it already, remember my green skirt with applique flowers?):

http://www.kesidov.com/

Enjoy!

P.S.: Thank you so much for all the tips, everybody!

My Very First Blog Award!!!

Yay, I'm so excited! I've only been blogging for about a month and a half and I have already been awarded the most wonderful Blog Award
by the lovely Alison from Tweed thoughts :

http://idreamoftweed.blogspot.com/



The instigator of the award is Aunt Pitty Pat:

http://www.auntpittypats.blogspot.com/

The rules of The Aunt Pitty Pat's award are: Accept the award and post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I won't be able to find fifteen newish blogs, I'm afraid (not this afternoon, anyway), so I'll just follow Alison's example and choose five. They aren't exactly new, most of them already have many many followers but they're fabulous and really worth checking! So these are the blogs I'm passing the award to:

http://applique-designedbyjane.blogspot.com/
Jane is a very skilled artist, she makes the most beautiful felt flower brooches; she writes about her work and her family life. Charming!

http://doyoumindifiknit.typepad.com/do_you_mind_if_i_knit/
Vanessa illustrates books for children (fancy that, and I write them!) and she has the most amazing sense for colours in her life. Great read and absolutely gorgeous photos!

http://blog.fensismensi.com/
Another blogger from Slovenia. An extremely skilled artist, makes the most gorgeous purses and brooches. Do check her shop, there's a link on her blog! Lovely photos, too.

http://orangesapples.blogspot.com/
Franca is the best! Hers was the first blog I'd encountered (I might have mentioned this a few times...) and her colourful life really is an inspiration. Highly recommended!

http://thesmallfabricofmylife.blogspot.com/
Not a new blog, but recently discovered by me! Great outfits, great lady!

Right, this is it. I hope the receivers will not mind getting this award. I really enjoy following their writing and the gorgeous photos. Do check them!

My Tweedie Purses

I have already mentioned my love for tweed, Harris Tweed in particular. Unfortunately, there aren't many places in Slovenia where you could get anything made of this absolutely divine fabric, but - thank God for the internet! And skilled crafters like Alison from Tweed thoughts...

But, a resourceful girl as I am, I have found many an opportunity in my life to become a proud owner of (basically) anything made of Harris Tweed. These are my most treasured possessions:




My Glenalmond Harris Tweed rucksack. It was the first Harris Tweed item I bought (oh so many years ago, but - strangely, not in Scotland; it came from a lovely little shop in our capital called 'The Thistle', where you can buy all sorts of goodies from Scotland and Great Britain in general). It was love at first sight, I must say. It was quite expensive, but worth every penny (or cent... or whatever the currency was back then). My lovely Harris Tweed bumble-bee from the lovely (above-mentioned) Alison is currently dwelling on the rucksack.




My tweed purses - I sort of collect them. They arrived last year by post - directly from the Outer Hebrides! I embellished them myself, with hand-made felt flowers and various brooches: the purse with the kilt pin is used for change; the one with the bagpipe brooch is my make-up-to-go purse; and the one with the vintage silver brooch (I adore this brooch, it used to belong to my late Grandmother) is my jewellery-to-go purse (I keep a stash of earrings and bracelets in my bag in case I forget to put them on when I get out of the house in the morning; I feel 'naked' without my jewellery!). I ordered the purses from a lovely on-line shop Harris Tweed and Knitwear; this is the link to the shop:

http://harristweedandknitwear.co.uk/





This is my all-time favourite Harris Tweed purse which I keep with me at all times: it's my 'mobile phone and house keys' purse. I ordered it quite a while ago from Glenalmond (same company as the rucksack) and - again - embellished it with my favourite things: a pair of tassels and felt flowers on a string (which means I can wear this beauty round my neck or as a wristlet).





And, last but not least, my two bags from another wonderful on-line shop, Blackhouse Bags. On the left you can see my wristlet (I use it as my big bag organizer), and on the right, my beloved pink book-bag (I don't use it for carrying books, though, I just use it as a normal little cross-body bag).

Right, this is it. I mustn't forget my gorgeous Harris-Tweed-covered buttons from Alison, they 'live' on my trenchcoat, and the coat looks so much better now! Apart from that, I'm still waiting for that perfect Harris Tweed coat or jacket to come my way. All in due time...

New Corsage

Yesterday I felt a great urge to do some crafting again. I finished my work early and embarked on making this little corsage which had been dancing in my mind for a while. I hadn't made a corsage for quite a long time (I bought a few, though...) so it was quite nice to feel the felt and the ribbons and the beads under my fingers again.
I quite like the result, even though I'm not entirely sure I'll be wearing it myself - I own tons of corsages, so I don't really need it. It might make someone else happy when she unwraps her Christmas present...



What do you think, dear readers, would a corsage like this one have any chance on Etsy? By which I mean that there are already many people on Etsy who make corsages and some of theirs are much prettier and more sophisticated than mine. I've been playing with the idea of opening my own Etsy shop one day and such a corsage is one of the items that I would list in my shop (next to my beaded bracelets and necklaces with/without corsages...). Would you wear a corsage like this one?

As far as outfits go, this is what I put on yesterday. The weather was awful and I wanted something comfortable yet not too wintery. You'll be seeing a lot of these boots and the gray beret this winter...



boots - Humanic
tights - not sure
denim skirt - Urko (local brand)
top - Bennyfish
belt - H&M
shirt - Playlife
scarf - Laura Ashley (husband's gift on our honeymoon in Vienna 14 years ago!)
angel pendant
angel bracelets
beret - Seeberger
corsage (on beret) - TopShop

St-Michael-on-the-Moors

As promised, a few words on the beautiful little church we went to see last Saturday. It was built in the late 1930s and designed by the most famous Slovenian architect, Joze Plecnik (1872-1957). He designed some most extraordinary buildings, he was extremely avantgarde in his time. His work is very much acclaimed across Europe, as he worked in Vienna, Prague, and Belgrade as well. This is the link to his Wikipedia page: Joze Plecnik.



The church on the outskirts of our capital, Ljubljana, was designed as a temporary church for the architect's nephew, who was a Catholic priest. As it was built on the moorland, the church floor is lifted. On the 'ground floor' there's the parish office and on the 'first floor' there's the church. A beautiful stone staircase leads to the first floor, it looks like a bridge. The whole building is clad in ivy (or something similar).

The interior of the church is made of wood, it feels like stepping into someone's living room!

Happy Bloggiversary to Orangesandapples!

Yay, I'm all excited! The lovely Franca from Orangesandapples is doing a give-away on the occasion of her 250th bloggiversary! I left a comment on her blog, as requested, and now I'm patiently waiting! I love reading Franca's blog, hers was the very first blog that I started to follow and it was because of it that I decided to start my own! I still follow her every day, I love her sense of style and I love her hand-knitted goodies from her Etsy shop. I'm sure that the parcel she'll send out to the winner will be absolutely delightful, whoever gets it!

Holiday Weekend...

...here in Slovenia. Reformation Day on Saturday and All Saints' Day on Sunday (but as a remnant of not so ancient history, November 1 is considered the day when we remember our departed loved ones).

The weather was absolutely gorgeous so we had a day-out on both Saturday and Sunday. We visited the graves of our grandparents. My grandparents are buried in the capital, Ljubljana, and my husband's grandparents in the south-east part of Slovenia, where his mum and dad come from.

We went to Ljubljana on Saturday; even though it was holiday some shops were open and I got a gorgeous pair of new boots (you can see them on the pic, I haven't worn any other shoes ever since I got them!). They're made of super soft tan leather and they're extremely comfortable ('These boots were made for walkin'...'). I'm happy!!!

On the way home we stopped at one of the loveliest churches I've ever seen. More about it and its architect in a different post!

On Sunday we went to the south-eastern part of the country. It was another lovely autumn day and we enjoyed our trip very much. It's where we spent a few days during our summer holiday, exploring the land of our forefathers. It was nice to be back and to meet the family again.

My outfits on both days were built around the boots (on Saturday morning I didn't have them yet but I knew I was going to get them so I put on clothes that would match perfectly... I even found an old belt in my closet that I hadn't worn for ages and it was a perfect match!).

This is what I wore on Saturday:





boots - Humanic
tights - local brand
skirt - kesidov - my favourite! It's a Croatian label you can purchase on-line (unfortunately they don't deliver outside Croatia. I have a friend whose mum lives at the Croatian seaside and she orders the things for me.)
They make fabulous stuff. If nothing else, it's worth taking a look! http://www.kesidov.com/
jacket - Tom Tailor
belt - Jack Jones
top (underneath jacket) - Mana
scarf - Etsy (lovely Alice Caroline, beautiful things made of Liberty fabric; love it!)
beret - Seeberger
corsage (on beret) - TopShop
bag - Blackhouse Bags (on-line shop)

And my Sunday outfit:





boots - Humanic
tights - local brand
skirt - Labod (seen before!)
jacket - InWear
belt - Jack Jones
scarf - Etsy (Alice Caroline)
beret - Seeberger
corsage (on beret) - TopShop
pink Harris Tweed bag - Blackhouse Bags
leather bag - Mango
corsage (on bag) - Etsy (from the lovely Franca of Orangesandapples; I added some green felt leaves this time and some wooden beads)

Sneak Peek

Only a quick update on the surprise package - my guess is the receiver should soon find it in her post-box! As the guess was correct - there's a beaded bracelet inside the package - I might as well give you a not-too-clear look at it!



More outfit pics to follow...