Founder's Day Brunch

The other weekend I had the pleasure of going to our Founder's Day Brunch. Basically, it's a brunch that commemorates the day the hall I'm living in was first opened.

But... I feel the reason most people go is because you get free hotel brunch! It was held at the James Cook Hotel, and everything was very nice. Especially after having not eaten out at all since I moved back down here! There was all your typical brunch foods, buffet style.... I was so so so full afterwards!

I  had expected other people from my flat to come, but they all dropped out at the last minute. It almost made me not go because I really didn't want to go not knowing anyone. But, when I got there, everyone was super friendly and I met a new group of friends.

I LOVE Gossip Girl. So when I saw this dress at General Issue (sells brands like Hollister, Abercrombie and now, GAP), I fell in love! Especially with the sleeves! 

I have discovered however, that GAP clothes are pretty large! This dress is actually a GAP girls XL (12). It was very cute, and made out of a soft knit/jersey material that makes it more snuggly for winter. 

The only thing with buying children's clothes is that they aren't particularly designed for a more womanly shape. The high neckline with a little bow (it's underneath my hair in this picture) also tends to make it a little more childish. To solve the issue of shape, I got my lovely Mum to overlock down the sides, creating more of an indent where my waist is. So it's a lot better now. 

I wasn't sure what to do with the bow. For the moment I have just left it, because I don't want to remove it and ruin the fabric. However, it makes the dress look funny with scarves/necklaces. So perhaps that will be something to do for future wears. 

To add a pop of colour against the black dress, shoes and blazer, I wore it with the burgundy tights that have been a recent purchase. They are very versatile and really make this outfit a lot more interesting. 

I also deliberated about the choice of shoes. I had NO idea how formal/causal the function was meant to be, so I didn't want to turn up in sky-high (but tasteful, of course) shoes and everyone else was wearing jandals! So I settled on these Suede/leather Isabela Anselmi shoes (size 5) from Overland. They have a very small heel (5cm) and so give the illusion of a slightly heightened ballet flat, which I thought was quite nice and not too overdone. 

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

A ridiculously sweet lunch

This afternoon I had the pleasure of going out for 'lunch' with my super amazing flattie Ping! We lived in the halls together last year and are now flatting together.

Since we are both pretty stringent on saving money, this is actually the first time we've eaten out! (Oh, the fun times of student life!). To top it off we actually used a coupon to get everything you will see for $10! (Value:$20) - You've gotta love Groupon!

Jacket: Size 10 Children's blazer from Target (only $17!) - How big are these American children??

Top: Long-sleeve V-neck from Supre, XXS (good for small sizes!)

Skirt: Size 6 Portmans from Dotti outlet

Shoes: Size 5 Pulp from Hannah's

Pearls: Inherited from Mum

The cafe was actually a chocolate cafe, so everything was super sweet and super rich (probably worth  a couple of weeks of chocolate in one sitting!)
Butler's Chocolate cafe:
Ping had:
A ginger slice - very gingery, wouldn't recommend if you don't like ginger
Chocolate afogato - This was like a shot of coffee over vanilla icecream, with chocolate sauce drizzled over the top - very yummy!
I had:
Macadamia Chocolate slice - This was very good apart from that it didn't really taste like macadamia. It was more of a chocolate caramel slice. Very sweet and rich.
I also had a cookie hot chocolate, because it just sounded so interesting! Generally I probably would have had either a slice or a drink, because they were both very chocolately and very rich, but this was a one-time deal! The drink itself was even more chocolately than normal hot chocolates from a cafe, and also had some semi-crushed oreos in it. Delicious!

This was our treat for it being the end of term! And handing in our law assignments! And a chance for feeling a little classier!

After tomorrow I'm heading home for a week of holidays and birthdays!
Have a good weekend!

Nautical Navy & New Online Purchases!

I absolutely LOVE navy. Every time, I'm always attracted to it, and I have to force myself to stop buying navy things. These photos were taken a couple of weeks ago, and in the mean time I have managed to (freely - yay Mum!) acquire another silk scarf that goes even better with this outfit! But....

 Tshirt: Temt, size XS

Cardigan: Abercrombie & Fitch from General Issue, size XS

Jeans: Levi's from Onehunga Dressmart - these are my super skinny jeans - I can always tell if I've gained weight when I wear these! They are in a size 6, and the style is 831 - Extreme Skinny. After I bought these, I've never seen another pair like these (although I must I haven't looked very hard).
I love them because despite being a bit long, they were the first pair of jeans that actually fit me in all the right places! And have continued to do seeing as they are good quality!

For anyone that lives in the Auckland area, Dressmart in Onehunga has a Levi's Outlet store, and they are often having really good specials, so if you want some cheap(er) Levi's head over there! (And it's often the small sizes that are left over if you are little like me!)

Shoes: The first picture was what I would have LIKED to wear with this outfit ideally. However, uni and hills meant it was just not meant to be.  I really have no idea how people manage to wear heels to uni! I couldn't manage it!! (However, they are Sz5 from... Either Wild Pair or.... somewhere which escapes my memory!)

The second picture is what I ended up wearing on my feet that day - reliable Chuck Taylors, again from Dressmart Outlet.

Here are the boots from the first photo closer up. I bought these a couple of years ago, but find it hard to style them with anything as my jeans are always too long, and I don't wear leggings very much. I also have a personal thing against wearing an all black outfit with brown shoes - any opinions on how to wear these? Would very much appreciate it as I think they're super cute but just can't find any way to wear them!

On another note... My online purchases just arrived!! Yay!! Here they are in photo: (Excuse Iphone photos)

Pants: Dorothy Perkins Petite Black Trousers, size 4. They are a perfect fit on me! Right now they are only available in size 4, 12, and 14 (note these are UK sizes - same as NZ), for 12 pounds + shipping, which came to about $36NZD for me. I found an additional 15% off coupon by googling as well, so that helped too! The quality is a little cheaper than I expected (polyester/cotton/elastane blend) but the silhouette is nice so I don't mind. I really wanted a nice pair of pants that I could wear out that weren't jeans, and these fit the bill. The only thing I noticed is that I will DEFINITELY have to wear seamless underwear with these - otherwise I will be risking serious VPL!

Dorothy Perkins is a UK site, but the reason I came across it is it offers discount to students (only on non-discounted things I think though).
If you are a university student, you can join UNIDAYS, which shows websites that have signed up to give discounts to students (although there are probably a lot more not listed here), but it's where I found the Dorothy Perkins site, and some others.
ASOS is a great site that has amazing deals (and petite sizes down to UK size 4) that offer free shipping worldwide - and 10% discount for students! It also does men's clothing so if you are looking for something for a boyfriend or brother, it's available there too!

 But... These were my big splurge! They are Ann Taylor Perfect Pumps in Sweet Biscotti, from the international site. I did get them on a promotion that included free shipping (which would have been $65!) so if you can maybe look online for some extra international codes. And for any American reader, you are so lucky to have so much choice in clothing/promotions!

Mine are a size 5.5 US, because their sizing chart suggested that the 5 might have been too small. But oh my, these shoes are AMAZING. They have a heel height of 8.25cm (3 1/4 inches) but don't feel in the least bit high! (Side note: You have no IDEA how many times when looking for shoes, or for that matter, clothing in general, I have to google inches-cm conversion! Why must people only list things in inches??) They are soft and cushy on the inside, and the leather inside feels as if its caressing your foot! I'm in love! If only I could afford them in every colour...

I did buy these as an investment piece, in the hope that they will last me until when I need to do job interviews! I had been looking online and in stores for a nude pair for aaaages with no luck until I found these. I would suggest however, that these suit a pale, yellow-toned skintone. I am not very tan at all, but these are slightly lighter than my skintone, and online I noticed some people commenting that they were too yellow. However, that's a bonus for Asian skin! If you're in America you have no excuse not to get yourself into a pair of these!
Note: I have noticed that online the size 5 and 5 1/2 seems to be sold out, but they still had them in black last time I checked.

Since I started this blog, I haven't had any feedback so far, so... If anyone has any thoughts, please feel free to leave me some comments!