2013 has been a good year / pt.2

Here's the second installation of my two-part run through this most awesome of years.  If you missed the first part, you can still find it here.  On to the second half of 2013 now ...

JULY

The highlight was certainly my boo's birthday and our day out with the Crazy Guides guys round Nova Huta. We also got to visit MOCAK's Economics in Art exhibition where I saw my first Banksy, and almost had a heart attack in the process lol!

AUGUST

To celebrate our anniversary we took a train ride to Zakopane, which, despite the heavily tourist oriented atmosphere, remains a most beautiful place and definitely a must-see for anyone visiting Poland.  This month also gave me another 'first': my first music festival - the Coke Live Music Festival in fact where I got to see Biffy Clyro, Franz Ferdinand, and Florence and the Machine among others. A few days earlier, I had even seen French metal band Gojira live during a separate event.  Never a dull moment! Unfortunately, this month saw me return (certainly not of my own free will) to Malta, but ...

SEPTEMBER

Confessions of a Former Size 6 is one year old! This month was pretty intense, what with settling back on the island, invitations for events flowing in (was I so missed!?!), and, of course, the greatest of surprises - my boyfriend showing up totally unannounced for a week! It was definitely the best and most welcome surprise ever for me!

OCTOBER

This month, I graced your Style on Sunday pages together with fellow bloggers, designers, stylists as the Maltese 'Fashion Pack', something that has truly humbled me, as I still don't see myself as big as others I was standing next to.  The month ended with my much longed for trip back to Krakow where, as an early birthday present I got to see another favourite band: Editors. It's all happening in Krakow, isn't it?!

NOVEMBER

Oh lord, I aged another year.  Am I any wiser? I doubt it.  Still. This month was possibly one of the busiest and craziest ... but definitely enjoyable with loads of quality time spent with great friends, and fantastic shopping events!

DECEMBER

The last month of this supercalifragilisticexpialidocious year (of course, I had to use a Mary Poppins reference ... it's the time of the year you re-watch it for like the millionth time!).  There's still some of it left ... and still more to happen, including my Christmas / New Year trip to Krakow next week.  But this month hasn't been short of highlights already - certainly the biggest one being moderating a workshop during an EU Commission conference which also saw the likes of Commissioner Johannes Hahn as one of the speakers (in my line of work, that's a HUGE thing ok?!). Oh, and from a more tasty perspective, I actually managed to accomplish my dream of making a rainbow cake. I am mighty pleased about that!

Well, well, well ... that was a little whirlwind round-up of what for me was one, seriously good year.  I do hope that you are closing off the year as well as I am ... and of course, that you keep following this petite place on the web I call my own! xoxo

the coke live music festival 2013 experience

alas, my time in poland is nearing its end.  eight months have flown by like a dream and while the decision to leave this land was not mine to make, i will look back on this time with fond memories and immense gratitude at the opportunity i was given.  but enough about that for now, as i'm planning a tear-jerking 'see you soon krakow' post later this week.

as i mentioned in an earlier post, last week was my 'music week' with a gig by french metal band gojira on tuesday and the climax of my week - and to an extent my stay in krakow - the coke live music festival 2013.

i have always been fascinated by the whole festival ambience and culture; however, for one reason or other, there had never been a time or opportunity to experience it until last weekend.  in all truth and fairness, i skipped the camping aspect of the two days ... i can't even imagine myself glamping, let alone the rougher and tougher version of it! anyway.

band to watch: magnificent muttley

having pored over festival reviews and lookbooks i knew that i had to add a little extra something to my outfit to fit in with the crowd.  the topshop peony headband which i bought in london came in very handy on both days ... and, it seems it was liked by the press doing the rounds as i was snapped not once, but twice! the photo below can be seen on the coke live festival facebook page, while the other, snapped on day 2, can be seen here.

me and my friend steph who flew in for the festival ... possibly the only two maltese among the tens of thousands!

even though the photo above shows us wearing summery dresses, we soon headed to a stall selling plastic ponchos as the rain poured rather heavily for a good part of the evening.  regretfully, i hadn't worn my newly - purposely - bought hunter boots as the day had started off nice and sunny ... but then again, this is krakow, and i should have got used to the idea that the 4 seasons can occur on the same day!

of peonies and plastic ponchos ...

in any case, despite the cold and rain, i quickly warmed up as my favourites hit the stage: biffy clyro followed by franz ferdinand.  i was like meters away from biffy's leading man simon neil ... as my friend steph aptly put it 'i could easily smell his sweat!' well, may be not so much - being short, there was a lot of tip-toeing and rubbernecking i had to do to get a good enough glimpse of the god-like heavily inked and bearded creature.  (have i mentioned i like beards?! oh, yes i have here!)

biffy clyro were certainly my highlight of the day, but admittedly, franz ferdinand got me dancing and bouncing along more than ever.  partly because my mobile battery was holding on to dear life so i couldn't video their set, and partly because the group of kids next to us were bopping around and dragging anyone around them with them, including us, not that i am complaining about it!

day two on saturday was an afternoon long build-up to the star of the whole festival: florence and the machine.  suffice to say that tickets were sold out for day 2.  oh, and everyone - guys included - wore glitter and flower headdresses in florence's honour! the funny thing about saturday was that we seemed to come across as rather exotic, with at least two groups of people sitting close to us at the food court, asking us what nationality we were!

even pikatchu made it to the festival, twice

unfortunately, we didn't manage to secure our place as close to the stage as on the friday night, so my line of vision was even more impaired.  but listening to florence welch's incredible voice and seeing her theatrical performance on the big screen was more than enough to get me all aflutter.


all in all, i think the whole two days are going to go down in my personal memory as one of the best weekends ever.  and, after this first, relatively tame introduction to a summer festival, i feel it is now more than likely my going to a bigger, better one in the coming summers.  and maybe, why not, even camp while i'm at it?!

what i wore:
day 1:
lace body suit - h&m; denim sun-dress with cut-out back - h&m; geometric necklace - h&m; ballerina pumps - h&m;
day 2:
cap-sleeve skater dress - club l @asos; denim jacket - stradivarius; floral wellingtons - hunter boots
both days: messenger bag - massimo dutti; peony headpiece - topshop