Sequins, Metallic Satchels & DIY Wrap Bracelets

Tags

11 inch Silver Metallic satchel, Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC), DIY wrap bracelet, eBay, House of Harlow 1960, life as a student, sequin dress, The Cambridge Satchel Company, Villa

 Dress: Vila, Ring: House of Harlow, Satchel: Cambridge Satchel, Belt: Primark

A simple outfit mixing golds and silvers together! I wore it to a friend’s birthday dinner in Las Iguanas in Newcastle after my Monday exam, and it was a really warm night out! Good company, good food, and there were cute men too. Hehe.

Oh, and that DIY wrap bracelet as mentioned in the title?

Just like Minty (and looks like a few of our blog readers too!), making jewellery has been quite stress relieving for me whenever I do find the time or make the time for it. After numerous attempts at finding my way around eBay just 2 weeks ago (yes, I am slow at keeping up with you savvy eBaying people!), I managed to buy basic tools and ingredients (pliers, jumprings, cord ends, beads) really cheaply on the UK eBay site!

Since I am currently into wrap bracelets (but they cost SO much), I decided to make one with whatever limited resources I had:

I was quite happy with my first attempt at making a wrap bracelet! Those cord ends are SO difficult to close though. Nimble fingers, I need.

I like the simplicity of the bracelet, the gold with hints of lime-green stones. I wore it with the above outfit last night to a friend’s birthday dinner and it was complimented on so I’m pleased! 😀

This bracelet was made the night before my Monday exam (Professional Ethics) which I was groaning about, and I was clearly stressing out over the exam. I took a break and decided to concentrate on something other than studying. Result!

Unfortunately, the exam itself was HORRID and everyone was complaining about it. 😦 As it is the first centrally assessed paper (we’re the Bar Standards Board’s guinea pigs), all the rest of the Bar schools in the UK (11 in total) had the same paper. Reaction? Difficult. Vague. Ambiguous. Contradicting.

HOW DO YOU EXPECT STUDENTS TO DO ANSWER?! *rantrantrantrantrant*

It’s very worrying when the passing mark is 60%. Besides that, BOTH sections [multiple choice questions (MCQ) and short answer questions (SAQ)] need to be passed at 60% each too, to actually pass the whole bloody paper *cry*

Now do you understand why I am freaking out? 😦 😦 😦

So what did I do? I went straight home after the exam.

…and made another wrap bracelet.

The next exams I have are on the 11th and 12th of April, so I am sitting in the library all day everyday envying those sitting out in the sun on the warm grass.

Sigh.

Life of a Bar student.

I hope you’re all having a better start to the week than I am!

♥ P E A C H E S

Hearts & Bows

Tags

Bibi's Bakery Edinburgh, cropped top, cupcakes, Edinburgh, Hearts & Bows, House of Harlow 1960, macaroons, The Cambridge Satchel Company, Urban Outfitters

Cropped top by Hearts & Bows; Knit skirt by Urban Outfitters; Sunburst ring by House of Harlow 1960; Bag by Cambridge Satchel Company

Hearts & Bows is one of my current liked labels (especially during sales) to get clothing from, especially since they’ve got a pretty awesome Aztec range right now and I do love them! I wore this on a movie date…Puss in Boots in 3D is just ultra cute you simply have to watch it! 😀

Was in Edinburgh over the weekend to celebrate the mister’s birthday and I’m NEVER wearing 5-inch platform heels out to party anymore! *groan* 😦 Edinburgh’s cobbled streets meant death to my feet so the mister decided to piggyback me (and run) down the streets and across roads to reach the taxi rank! It was a pretty hilarious sight.

Ever since my brother’s wedding in December, I’ve been rather lenient on my eating habits and have decided to allow myself some sweeties which led me to find a cupcake shop in Edinburgh!

So we found Bibi’s Bakery on 37 Hanover Street, Edinburgh!

The shop looked great and so did the cupcakes but…looks can be deceiving. I’ve tasted better cupcakes and for £1.95 a piece, at least I had a decent amount of cream cheese frosting! 😦 These were a tad too dry for my buds.

What I loved? Their massive macaroons! Approximately the same price as cupcakes, but it was actually pretty delicious (I tried their raspberry one) 😀

Mmm. I’ve still not found a nice cupcake shop in Newcastle, if you do know of any please do share!

Have a great mid-week 😀

♥ P E A C H E S

PTW: Feel-Good Tees

Tags

13" berry blue limited edition satchel, blazer, cool tees, H&M, House of Harlow 1960, pro-bono, sequinned collar, The Cambridge Satchel Company

For Minty:

(Heheh you know you can’t resist sparkly stuff, Mints! It’s also sparklier in real life… *nudge nudge*)

***

It’s the start of a new week (again), and things are picking up at this pro-bono (free legal aid to the public) where I am ‘working’ at in my university. I’ve always liked the idea of free legal service but sadly in Malaysia its importance is not emphasised enough.

There were times (when I was working in a law firm back in Borneo during my gap year) when we’d have people walk in, in desperate need of legal service but unable to afford to pay for the services. The ones who walked in were mostly from the rural jungle, who spent their fortunes just to get into town. It’s a sad sight, so we do give free legal service (my dad comes from the Highlands, so he helps out when he can). It’s very satisfying to see such huge relieved smiles on their faces, especially on the little ones! 😀

That is why, whenever I feel shitty (which is most times while doing the Bar), I remind myself how privileged I am to be studying overseas and that the Bar will be over soon! 😀

Therefore, this tee never fails to make me feel that much better:

Blazer by H&M; Bag by Cambridge Satchel Company; Ring by House of Harlow 1960

Sometimes it’s the thought on knowing you can make someone’s life easier, that gives me the motivation to work harder.

Because even if I may not be perfect, but parts of me are pretty awesome.

Yeahhhhhh.

♥ P E A C H E S

PTW: Of Graphic Tees & Metallics

Tags

Asos, Christmas wishlist, graphic tees, H&M, Havaianas, House of Harlow 1960, Merry Christmas, metallic skinny belt, Polaroid Spice Cam

It’s Christmas TOMORROW! 😀

I shall be spending it in the highlands of Borneo where my dad came from. I’ve never actually spent Christmas in the lush jungle situated in the heart of Borneo, but my grandparents are getting old so we’re spending as much time as we can with them now. Grandma will be pleased! 😀

It’s not your typical secular Christmas setting, Christmas up in the highlands is very symbolic to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It’s going to be quite special.

So before I leave, here’s an outfit post (as a lot of you wanted more outfit posts in our last poll) of a swan on my tee and metallics:

Graphic cropped tee by H&M; Metallic gold star skinny belt by ASOS

H&M has some amazing clothes at such an affordable price, including this ultra cool cropped graphic tee with a swan on it! It was only £7.99! The belt? Only £4.50! 😀 I love a good bargain!

Since my baby brother is back for the winter holidays from university (he studies in the States), he’s been my personal photographer for the past week. Good brother!

However as he’s much taller than I am, I look even shorter than I already am in the photographs (I’m only 5’2″). Oh well. Can’t be choosy now, can I?

Oh and that pink thing? I’m carrying one of my prized possessions: my Polaroid Spice Cam! I was bringing it out to take some family photos.

Lastly…Merry Christmas to all our amazing readers and have a lovely one! ♥

♥ P E A C H E S

Peaches’ Brother Gets Hitched!

Tags

Asos, Borneo, Clare Vivier, Gorman, House of Harlow 1960, Lipsy, Ringostan, Von Truese, What to wear to a wedding, Zara

Sorry for the lack of updates, but the past few days have been hectic because it was my big brother’s wedding here in Borneo! I actually missed the church day wedding by 30 minutes 😦 but I managed to take some family photos in the end!

Thank YOU all so much for helping me choose what to wear, from this post! Imagine wearing a tight dress on the plane while doing makeup (especially when I’m not great at it)…is not easy!

My sister-in-law (I have a sister now!) looked extremely beautiful in her wedding dress! Here’s the beautiful couple:

Dress by Lipsy; Sunburst Ring by House of Harlow

My 3-week diet/exercise plan to fit into this size 6 dress worked too, the dress fit me like a glove! 😀 In fact, I had a lot of comments I lost weight (yes!) and then they started laughing at me in disbelief when I told them it was specially for the wedding.

“But it’s not even your wedding! HAHAHAHA” 

Grandma was especially shocked. “Why so skinny! You better eat more!” 

Er, have they seen my thighs yet?!

In fact, I was so focused on losing weight to fit my 1st dress that I forgot about my dinner reception dress. It was a size 8 dress and throughout the night the dress kept slipping southwards! FML.

If you didn’t know that this blog is made up of TWO awesome people (hehe), well, now you know. It’s Minty and I at my brother’s wedding dinner reception! Say hello to us:

On Minty: Top & Skirt by Zara; Shoes by Gorman; Clutch by Clare Vivier; Necklaces are DIY Von Truese chains & Ringostan.

On Peaches: Weaved dress by Lipsy; Earrings are Vintage; Shoes by ASOS

I’m so happy to be back in Borneo (for 3 weeks) after a few taxing months of studying the Bar in the UK. It’s such a great break after so much work and late nights. I just hope my exams went well and I’m definitely not looking forward to classes in January 😦

Have a great start to the week everyone! Just 5 more sleeps until Christmas!! Yay!

♥ P E A C H E S

Peaches’ Christmas Wishlist

Tags

Butter by Nadia, Chan Luu, Christmas wishlist, Havaianas, House of Harlow 1960, iwhore tees, Polaroid film, The Impossible Project

Here are some items I’d love for Christmas *hinthint* 😉

#1: Polaroid film from The Impossible Project

I need stocking up on my polaroid film (mine is a Type 600 camera, which was a present)! These film are high in demand, and low in production at any one time (it was a dying industry before The Impossible Project revived one of the Polaroid factories).

#2: Least Weasel

Found out about these wild cuties from BBC’s Frozen Planet documentary! Besides being cuties, they are a bunch of bad asses catching pesky rodents for you like so:

AHH SO CUTE RIGHT?! That rat is SO much bigger than the least weasel as well! Also, did you expect his body to be so long? I didn’t! I love surprises.

So please surprise me with one! Yes…I know they’re wild but…they’re SO DARN CUTE!

#3 Watches

I used to wear watches when I was younger but they were always prone to falling apart so having a good sturdy one would be beneficial for me in the long run (instead of looking at the time on my phone). I just don’t know what brands are good (AND affordable)!

Here are some of the colours I’ve fallen in love from Toy Watch:

I love it matte, classic and if it were glow-in-the-dark that’d be even more fab!

#4 Chan Luu Friendship Bracelets

These are ridiculously expensive but are SO gorgeous! Please get me one?

#5 House of Harlow 1960 cuffs

These textured and vintage cuffs from House of Harlow 1960 are a must-have! Both can be purchased here and here!

#6 Wrap Dress

A million dress in one, this is a style-saver! I am spoilt for choice by Butter By Nadia!

#7 Havaianas Slim Fitinhas

If you didn’t already know, I am a major fan of Havaianas and one of my childhood dreams was to be the CEO of Havaianas. I guess that’ll never happen… Anyway, ‘fitinhas’ in Portugese means ‘ribbons’, and these add a cute feature to the Havaianas! Please get me one? (Psst. I am a USA 4/5 and Europe 37/38) Hehe!

#8 iwhore t-shirts

T-shirt from iwhore tees, at £25! How badass is that?

“STOP STARING AT MY BOOBS, F*** You!”

Very strategically placed, eh? Found here at iwhore tees!

#9 Darth Vader LEGO Alarm Clock

Need I say more?!

The only sad thing is that the beeping alarm sound is NOT the Imperial March 😦 It just beeps. However, I’m pretty sure this huge LEGO Darth Vader would still make a good alarm clock!

#10 Pass the Bar

No explanations needed.

So what are YOU wishing for this Christmas? 🙂

♥ P E A C H E S

Always have 2 dresses when in doubt!

Tags

Bodyrock, Dukan diet, House of Harlow 1960, Lipsy dress, metallic skinny belt, Sunburst Ring, ThePopLook, www.thepoplook.com

I’d like to give a huge THANK YOU to ALL of you who helped me to decide on what to wear to my brother’s wedding here! Your comments and advice were most helpful, and so…I have decided to wear dress number…….TWO!!

I did mention that the dress is a wee bit tight around the waist and so I decided to take action to tone up my physique a bit. I am normally a Size 8 due to my curves (sigh), but this dress is a Size 6!

Therefore, to feel comfortable after a long-haul flight (20 hours-ish) and drive straight to the airport, I would need to trim down. I had 3 weeks to go for the wedding so this is what I started on: the Dukan diet. Basically, it is a tamer version of the Atkins diet (which completely cuts out carbs) where it starts with a protein-only diet followed by a more balanced diet regime (when veggies + carbs are re-introduced) which is designed to ensure you never put the weight back on.

My Healthy Diet

Now I’m not a fan of diets, but this diet proved appealing to me. So I tweaked it a bit. I did completely cut out carbs for 1 week (last week) but I made sure I had vegetables in my meals. I made a lot of broths, soups and rarely fried.

This week, I have started introducing carbs but only eating it during the day (before 3pm) either for breakfast OR lunch. When I do get cravings between meals, I depend on my Weight Watchers yoghurt.

It has also helped that I have stopped drinking alcohol for more than a year now, and have recently stopped eating chocolates and cookies!

So how am I feeling so far?

Just to let you know…weirdly enough I feel…GREAT! 😀 I feel healthier, my stomach doesn’t perpetually feel bloated nor do I feel guilty for being such a glutton. I have been able to make my number 2s with ease daily, and I am not bothered with bad smells in the toilet (which happens when you go on a protein-only diet). Best thing? My dress fits me quite comfortably now! Yay! 😀

Now before anyone goes strict on this diet, I HAVE been doing exercises in spite of my very hectic schedule: Pilates and BodyRock! Do check out BodyRock, Zuzana is amazing and her workouts are way intense!

I hope to do this in the long-term, and only indulge in sweeties once in a while! This is taking discipline, and if I can do the Bar…I can definitely do this. GO ME!!

Emergency Dress

Of course, just in case my body decides to stay bloated after a long flight (due to water retention in the body) I have an emergency 2nd dress for my brother’s wedding. What do you think?

It is a slinky pleat maxi dress from ThePopLook in grey which was featured in a previous post. I’ve themed it with a metallic skinny belt from ASOS, a bib necklace (for illustration purposes), and a House of Harlow 1960 ring.

So what do you think of the dress? Yay or Nay for the day church wedding?

8 more sleeps before my mock exams, 10 sleeps before my real exams, and 17 sleeps before I fly home to Borneo for the wedding! 😀

It’s the weekend!

♥ P E A C H E S

House of Harlow 1960: Sunburst Cocktail Ring

Tags

Asos, House of Harlow 1960, jewellery, Nicole Richie, statement rings, Sunburst Ring

I’ve always liked Nicole Richie’s effortless boho chic style, so when she began her jewellery line I was delighted. I LOVE big statement rings! Of course, being a struggling student meant I would not be able to purchase anything 😦

Imagine my glee during an ASOS (sheesh, free advertising!) flash sale a few days ago, which included a few House of Harlow items!

Here’s my current mini luxury item (ahh!):

House of Harlow 1960 14ct Gold Plated Sunburst Cocktail Ring

I love how the ring is heavy, the weight gives it some sort of credibility (or maybe it’s just me). Instead of £51, I purchased it at a cool £38! The ring is available here 😀

I hope you are having a great start to the week (minus the crap winter weather)!

[Edit 1st Dec]: PSST! We have been loved by House of Harlow on their official FB site!:

You can’t imagine my suspiciousness when I found 159 views stemming from Facebook alone (IS SOMEONE STALKING US?!) in a span of 1 hour, until I found out House of Harlow 1960 had blogloved us!! 😀 We were SO excited!! I hadn’t pointed out my shattered nail polish (OPI Navy Shatter on a matt white base) which they did, so that is wayy cool they had noticed it! Click the picture above to see! THANK YOU House of Harlow!! You made our day! ♥ ♥

♥ P E A C H E S