January 30th

I thought I might do a quick sort of update post since I haven't for a little bit.

I've been working more and more on the German course I'm taking. I'm not sure if I've told you all this yet or not, but it's the first of three in the programme. I suppose I'm about half way through it so far. Ich bin bekommen besser bei es.

I finished reading God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens over the weekend and now am on to Paul Martin's autobiography. God Is Not Great is a really, really interesting book and very well written -- I'd definitely recommend it.

Also, this debate with Tony Blair is absolutely worth a look if you're a fan of Hitchens' work. He was so brilliant.

I'm trying to take more photos and am getting a bit better at doing so. I didn't do any outfit posts from mid-October to mid-January and I've had a bit of trouble getting back in the groove of things. I'd been being so lazy, just wearing pullovers and jeans and such all the time. But I wore a dress for the first time in months on Friday, so I think I'm getting the hang of this again! I took some photos of what I wore yesterday, and I'll be posting those in the next couple of days.

Here is a slightly unfocused photo from Friday.



Also, I've been on Twitter a bit more lately. If you're thinking of following me, be forewarned, I tweet mostly about politics and the inane details of my life. But occasionally I might say something half interesting or relevant. Maybe.

Abbey
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Black Lace & Denim

This is what I wore on Wednesday. After I took these photos, I realised that the outfit I was wearing was something of a cross of this outfit from July 2011 and this one from June 2010. But this is something like the winter edition, with a shirt layered under the lace shirt and dark tights (not unlike the July '10 outfit, but I think you know what I mean!).

The lace shirt and shorts are from thrift shops, and the shirt under the lace shirt is from Sirens. The tights are by Secret, and the heels are an old pair of mum's that she gave to me.

Abbey
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January Snow

As promised, here are a few photos of the snowfall we got last week. We all like to say it never snows here, but it actually does at some point pretty much every winter. It's a novelty for a day or two, and then everyone gets tired of it and is ready for it to melt away. Which it has by now, and most, if not all of it, is gone. But it was pretty while it lasted.













I love wild rose hips -- they're so neat looking, and the actual roses when in bloom are beautiful!





This is the icicle that was hanging from our eaves troughs drain -- but don't worry, no one got impaled by it, haha.

Yes, it was definitely pretty while it lasted -- but I think I'm more or less ready for spring.

Abbey
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Faux Fur & Red Lips

This is what I wore on Saturday. I absolutely love these cropped jeans, I can't wait 'til it gets a bit warmer out so I can wear them more often. I think they're just a great, retro style, and so versatile. They can be styled in so many ways, I love it.

I bought my coat with faux fur trim at a thrift shop last autumn, but I've sadly not gotten a lot of wear out of it due to it having been freezing out and the coat having slightly short sleeves. Perhaps I need to find a pair of long gloves to wear with it so I can wear it more often.

Speaking of the cold, it snowed a bunch last week -- I took a few photos and will post them soon!

I bought the white shirt I'm wearing here at a thrift shop, the coat is also from a thrift shop, as mentioned above. I bought the jeans from Forever 21's online shop, as well as my metallic silver nail polish. The heels are a pair I've had for ages that I bought from Suzy Shier. And the little ring on my right hand is from a thrift shop.

Abbey
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Ebaying

I bought this bodysuit off eBay yesterday. I'd been eyeing it and ones like it for a while now and the shop I bought it from on eBay finally got my size in so I decided I'd go ahead and buy one.

I believe it's a a knock off of this American Apparel bodysuit, but I don't mind that it's only a reproduction -- it cost less and is something I definitely like but won't likely get tonnes and tonnes of wear out of.

The shop I bought it from is called asfashion11, and they have plenty of other cute and inexpensive ladies' clothing!

On one last note, I currently have a bunch of ladies' clothes, shoes, and accessories listed on my own eBay shop. Everything I have listed is ending in roughly 48 hours and I'm always happy to answer any prospective buyers questions!

Abbey
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I never wear flat shoes

Except I did, on Saturday. I actually can't remember the last time I wore flat shoes of any kind, aside from when I go outside in the garden or for a walk round the neighbourhood (which I do often, but I don't wear flats any other time). But I love these ones, I bought them recently on a Boxing Day sale from Aldo.

They're really comfortable and I love the style. Although, I don't think even they can tempt me away from wearing heels all the time.

The floral print shirt is from a thrift shop, but again I can't remember which. The jeans are from Forever 21, but I bought them online as we don't have an actual shop on the island. And the shoes, as I said above, are from Aldo.

Abbey
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Friday's Look

I haven't posted a 'look' in several months so I've decided to try and get back into it. This is what I wore on Friday, it's quite simple -- but I've been feeling more attracted to simplicity lately than anything else, really.

My grey shirt is from a thrift shop, I can't recall which one. The shorts are a pair I bought at Stitches ages ago. The tights are by Secret. And the leopard heels are an old favourite pair from Suzy.

Abbey
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Here Today Aragon Tomorrow

I tried out a new nail polish I got in my stocking at Christmas last month called Here Today Aragon Tomorrow by OPI. It's a really pretty jade colour and it's matte! It's from their Suede Collection -- it doesn't look much like suede to me as it does like a matte, subtly glittery shade of green.

It came with a little tag round the bottle saying it's not as long wearing as regular OPI polishes, but I found it wore for about as long as any of their others that I have. Even though it says not to in order to get the 'suede' look, I think I'll try a top coat over it next time and see how that looks.





Abbey x

Knitted Tights and a Velvet Blazer

I took these photos a week and half or so ago, I've been meaning to post them but kept getting busy doing other things. They're a little '60s and Edie Sedgwick inspired, but as you can probably tell, not overly so.

I used our (currently very messy) attic as the place to shoot the photos because I thought the messiness of it might make for an interesting background. I think it did -- but that's about all that's good about having such a cluttered space!











Velvet Blazer, $4, Thrift Shop
Knitted Tights, Can't Remember
Platform Heels, $29, Forever 21
Earrings, $3, Ardene

Abbey
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Makeup Tutorial

Last month, I made a two part makeup tutorial and uploaded the videos my channel on YouTube, although I never posted it to my blog. I decided recently to re-do it as I didn't like the ones I had posted. Yesterday I filmed a new one -- and slightly improved one. Here it is.



Products Used

• Revlon ColourStay Liquid Foundation in Ivory
• L’Oreal Bare Naturale Mineral Consealer in Fair
• Maybelline FitMe Pressed Powder in Ivory
• Covergirl Blusher in Rose Silk
• Mac Eyeshadow in Embark
• Maybelline Great Lash Clear Mascara
• Discontinued Maybelline Eyeshadows
• MAC Fluidline Eyeliner in Blacktrack
• Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in Very Black
• Ardell False Eyelashes in #117
• LashGrip Adhesive
• Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Coral Queen

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Abbey
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Boxing Day Shopping

I skipped the crowds this, well, last year rather, and did a little Boxing Day shopping online. On Forever 21's online ship, to be precise. I bought a nice blouse, a pair of cropped high waisted jeans, a pair of boots, a bottle of metallic silver nail polish, and a pair of eyelash curlers.

The blouse and jeans have gotten me a bit excited for spring, even though it's still a ways off. Hopefully Victoria gets a real spring this year -- it seemed as though winter lasted 'til May last year!

Abbey
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Retro Glamour

It's been rather dreary out lately, and how I've been dressing recently has matched the weather quite well. I decided to do a little photo shoot that was something of a tribute to one of my favourite styles. I've been feeling uninspired when it comes to how I dress daily, so I thought I'd do something just for fun, for a change!

'Fifties glamour has always been a huge favourite of mine. I've admired Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, Jayne Mansfield, and Audrey Hepburn since I was little. In this photo shoot I decided to try and put my own twist on their retro style that I've always found very inspiring.

















Lace bralet, $8, Sirens
Beige cardigan, $1, Beacon Thrfit Shop
Black skirt, $20, Sirens
Pointy heels, $15, Sirens
Vintage ring, $2, Vinnie's Thrift Shop
Rose Passion Rimmel Lipstick
OPI Red nail polish

Abbey
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I'm back (I mean it this time, really)

It's a bit amusing the last post I wrote in November was titled "Back from an extended break', after having not written for eleven days. And then I took an even more extended break that lasted over a month! Anyways, I'm back now -- and planning on seriously getting back to writing and posting regularly.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday season. Mine was quiet, but nice. But this Christmas I must get my shopping done much earlier! I put it off for far too long this past Christmas.

I did an actual dress-up-for-fun photo shoot on Monday, and will be posting some photos from it later on today. I haven't done one like that since last spring, I'd forgotten how much fun it can be!

I've been growing my fringe out, as you can see in the one photo I'm including in this post above. I cut it a bit a couple of days ago after I'd let it grow for a while, and I think I've decided I'm just going to let it grow out now. It's a nice change, I think.

I've been learning German -- ich bin nicht so gut noch (I am not so good yet), but I'm working on it! I joined Canada's federal Liberal Party, but I haven't got very involved yet. I plan to, though. I've finished secondary school completely, aside from two final exams which I will be writing soon. After I write those, I'm planning to take a medical transcription course. I've yet to decide what to do in university or college.

Abbey
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