confession #000035

... or, my first love

back in the day when i was a wee kid, i fell in love for the first time.  it was a strange kind of love, because it was with a music video.  and till this very day, i can't fall out of love with it.  

my first (and long lasting) music video love is *bows head in pure embarrassment* is a-ha's take on me.  hitting the uk charts in 1985 when i had just turned six, the video was impressively avant-garde for the time, cleverly blending animations with reality, bopping to a heady mixture of glorious 80s synthpop.

that most captivating of scenes...

every so often i close my eyes and picture the romance between the gorgeous (yes, i suppose i still fancy the voice behind a-ha) morten harket and a cute-looking bunty bailey, revolving in between hand-drawn sketches and a somewhat misty diner.  that's when i don't have prompt access to youtube.  otherwise, i can catch myself clicking on the repeat icon.  i know, it's somewhat sad.  

certainly, pitbull and christina aguilera's recent revisiting of that most iconic of cheesy synthesizer tunes has not done much to lessen my undying love for this song, or video.  hearing it every other hour on my radio work companion, it comes as a surprise to me as well that i don't just break into a song and dance.  

in honour of this musical throwback thursday, here's my polyvore take on bunty and morten's looks for a modern-day casual date.  

take on me by tikkamars featuring lace socks

confession #000029

...or, petite pleasures

being short has its advantages.  i'm not sure how many they are, but they are there, i promise.  

fair enough, the fact that people pick on you because of height, any extra kilogram - nay, milligram - shows up immediately as it doesn't have anywhere to spread, and the fact that practically all clothes need to be hemmed, may not make life as rosy as one would like. but still. 

after years of being the shortest in the group (whichever group i was in, i was always the shortest), i've finally learnt how to accept my lack of height and look at the positives as much as i can.  i've learnt to take note more of those who find my lack of height endearing (in maltese we use the word jiggustawni) rather than those who make fun of it.  and besides - no offense to the tall girls out there: you are the ones who can walk down a catwalk, not me - i'd much rather be my height than towering over everyone else, including my better half! maybe i'm a hopeless romantic, but i love the fact that i'm small enough to be enveloped in his hug rather than have it the other way round.  

as i mentioned earlier, clothing when you're blessed with my height, does come with a few challenges.  and i like nothing better than a challenge.  if you're in my below 5' height range, allow me to let you in on a few secrets to make the clothing issue a thing of the past: 

• shop: yes, shopping petite can be a struggle and i know that in malta there are very few shops which stock petite sizes, and most times these are limited in range.  but girl, there's online stores as well! asos usually has a good range and luckily they stock some items in both regular and petite ranges.  topshop also stock a good petite range and i'm sure there are other sites.  be wary though: check before or do a test buy to see if the online store you're shopping at understands petite in the same way as you do.  some stores may stock only sizes 4 and 6 as petite and not regular 8, 10, etc but with shorter proportions.

• cheat: regular calf-length or ankle-length trousers make for perfect full-length trousers for us shorties. and you don't have to worry about hems either, or losing out on the intended trouser leg shape.  another option is actually to look at youth and children's clothes - but steer clear of anything which is too obviously 'young'.  you do want to look youthful, but not in a 'mutton dressed as lamb' kind of way.  when taking this approach, you also have to be wary of logos or brand names which would give away the fact you're wearing kids' clothes.  scotch r'belle make some fantastic kids clothes that i sometimes like more than the maison scotch range (evidenced by this morning's online purchase). 
• trick: the french have that gorgeous sounding expression trompe l'oeil (trick of the eye) which is something that every petite lass or lad should know about and should learn how to master.  one of the main trends this season is stripes, preferably vertical.  use them to your advantage! vertical stripes create the illusion of length.  i'm not advocating head-to-toe stripes but find that area of your body which you want to 'lengthen' and wear them there.  avoid colour blocking as that will cut up your already small figure into smaller bits but opt for ton-sur-ton (oh, i love the french for these expressions) to make the silhouette appear leaner and longer.  use shoes that are of the same colour as the trousers or hosiery you are wearing and if you're going bare legged, stick to nude coloured shoes or at least to colours that do not jar with your complexion.  

• props: and by that i mean accessories. these should become your bff's, no questions asked.  keep away from ruffles, frills, peplums as these will only add bulk - and we don't want bulk on our petite shapes.  on the contrary look out for simpler cuts in dresses and tops and accessorize these with statement necklaces or earrings.  hair pulled back or in a top-knot adds the illusion of height, as does a trusty trilby hat.  go crazy with oversized bags as these will (a) help you conceal any bits you don't like in the tum-thigh-butt region and (b) allow you to create an interplay between your tiny shape and the bag's corpulence. 

and finally ...

• strut: who says that because you're short, you can't walk as though you own the runway, or the corridor at least.  square your shoulders and tilt them backwards, lift your chin and keep your back straight (gosh, i sound like my mom) and walk the walk, baby.  whether you're in flats or heels, keeping a straight posture while walking or sitting will immediately make you look taller - and, will straighten out any tummy-tires which would become so evident when you're slouching. 

confession #000026

... or, breakfast like a queen

oh god, i've done it.  i've done that which i was so hoping to avoid doing.  i pigged out in that most typical 'maltese family at an 'eat as much as you like' buffet'.  and i'm feeling the worse for it. 

i've just got back from the breakfast at the maritim proarte berlin hotel where i'm staying for these couple of nights.  in all truth and fairness, the abundance and variety at this breakfast somewhat triggers you into indulgence.  whether you're a carnivore, herbivore, health freak or sweeth-toothed individual, you're sure to find something to tickle your taste buds. 

as a lactose intolerant vegetarian, i could have opted for soy yoghurt and soy milk.  instead, i decided to have one of my lactase pills which help me digest milk products and had my way with the 'real' dairies on display.  well, i did opt for the bio / organic yoghurt, goat cheese and brie versions ... but still.  tomorrow morning, i promise, i will opt for the soy versions - and other healthy stuff, i.e. less or no bread, more fruit, no fried mushrooms or baked beans ... and no pancake with nutella to end on a sweet note.  promise.  

as some of you know, at the moment i'm conducting a little find-out on where i should take this blog.   if you haven't yet answered my little questionnaire, i would greatly appreciate if you do so here.  from the feedback received so far, more outfit and travel posts are being requested ... so i'm going to be pro-active about it and let you in on a few travel points about this trip, as well as some outfit shots.  hope you enjoy them!

basically, this is the second time i'm visiting berlin and i'm lucky enough to be here for a practical seminar on social media which i need for my full time work, and which honestly speaking, interests me very much from a personal perspective as well.  i'm staying at the maritim proarte which is on friedrichstrasse - the main shopping street in berlin.  i couldn't have asked for a better location! the hotel is just a 5 - 10 minute walk from galerie lafayette and 3 h&m stores so i'm pretty much in heaven! 

having just a few hours to spare during this stay, i don't have much time to visit the sites.  i had done that about a year ago when i first came to berlin, though i must admit that in such a historic and culturally diverse city, i'm sure i haven't managed to cover them all.  i'll write an entire post on the 'must-go' sites in berlin another day as i soon have to go to register and start my first day of the seminar.  some little points about the hotel and its location though before i go ... the hotel itself is pretty fantastic:  the room i'm in has just about everything you can ask for (though i did request an additional, firmer pillow!) and the front desk staff are very kind and friendly.  i think the only thing i'm not keen on in this hotel is the over-abundance of art pieces which welcome you in the lobby and as you walk along the floors to the rooms.  i mean, i love art, especially modern and contemporary, but the sheer abundance of pieces, battling for attention, render it more of a cluttered art shop than a contemporary art space.  i'm not really sure which look the hotel designer was going for, but i suppose s/he wanted to live up to the 'proarte' tag in the hotel's name.  

as i said earlier, i'm here on work-related training, so while the atmosphere at these events tends to be a little more relaxed, an element of professionalism still needs to be retained.  that is why i chose to wear dark skinny jeans and a boxy tuxedo blazer for the first day.  i find the blazer-jeans combo to be such a 'safe' combination that you just can't go wrong with it.  i teamed these with my burberry brit vest - since i'm in the so called 'upper east side berlin' - and leopard print flats.  being (very) short, i could have done with some heels but lately i'm opting more for flats and saving heels for occasions which really call for them.  i decided to pull my hair in a low ponytail, to retain a little air of professionalism about the look (and not give much prominence to my more hipster dip-dye!).  also, i find that blazers tend to look better with hair pulled back or in a top knot, thereby emphasizing structured shoulders and making the look an altogether cleaner one. 

blazer: miss selfridge; vest: burberry brit; jeggings: suite blanco; leopard print pumps: h&m (i'm not proud of the black stockings peeping out but a girl needs to keep warm somehow!); leopard print earrings: h&m; ring: independent store

ok, it's actually time for me to start heading off to the welcome coffee but i promise to write more about this trip later today or tomorrow. have a good day my lovelies xx

confession #000025

... or, the sleep deception

i have a feeling that overtiredness and insomnia have joined forces last night.  despite having an early start to catch a flight back to krakow - make that two actually, with all the hassles of baggage pick-up, second baggage drop-off, second security control, and the occasional air pocket - i could not manage to fall soundly asleep, despite the obvious fatigue. the result is my being online since 04:30 this morning, sporting a pair of luggage sized bags under my eyes. 

in all fairness (and to my defence, in a way), i haven't been just aimlessly browsing.  the quiet morning hours can still be somewhat productive.  even though i have barely unpacked from yesterday's travel, i am already planning my packing for the next trip this wednesday.  i'm off to some work-related training which i'm very much looking forward to, both out of work and personal interest. another plus is the fact that it's in berlin - a city which i've already been to and quite like actually.  alright, alright, it's not up there with my personal top three: krakow (duh!), prague and ljubliana, but it's somewhere on the lines of london and brussels where, if you manage to avoid the tourist traps or the hustle and bustle of daily cosmopolitan life, you're in for a few quirky and interesting surprises.  

the weather for next week seems to promise some more inclement days, but (un)luckily, i'll be spending most of my days away inside.  ever since i discovered polyvore, i tend to start my travel planning there. i usually look up the one item which i'd be dead set on packing for the trip, and work the rest of the outfits around it.  i always try to find the exact items i own or, the closest to.  for instance, the black boxy blazer featured in the set below is river island, whereas the one i own is exactly the same but miss selfridge.  likewise with the jeans - mine are stradivarius, while these are mango, but they're essentially the same.  planning online first, allows me to make the actual packing procedure much quicker since i'd already know what to fish out of the wardrobe.  also, since it's still the early hours of the day, and the mister is still fast asleep (bless him!) i don't want to be rummaging around and wake him up. 

check out the individual items here

as you darling followers know, initially this blog was meant to document my umpteenth attempt at weight loss.  this journey is somewhat proving to be a tad more difficult that i hoped for it to be.  firstly, the regular travelling between poland and malta means that every time i go back to the motherland, i go back to lovely home-cooked traditional meals which are not necessarily diet-friendly.  mind you, i'm not complaining and if mum is reading this: please do not stop pampering me with your lovely meals! there is also the fact that certain things are just not found here in poland.  there's no pastizzi, qassatat, pizza tac-champs, mqaret, figolli, kwarezimal ... all things that i would usually not give much thought to, but when their availability is somewhat scarce if non-existent, become objects of unbridled craving.  after two weeks of indulgence, i find myself ridden with guilt at having sabotaged myself, yet again!

and this week won't be any easier.  airport / airline food, hotel breakfasts, buffet lunches and coffee breaks ... where can i find some discipline to stick to just the healthier, low-fat, low calorie options? can i buy discipline online? does it do next day - nay, immediate - shipping? whenever i'm having a hotel breakfast i catch myself sneering at the other guests around me eating yoghurt and fruit while i'm scoffing a buttery croissant after having already eaten a toast or some cereal.  where do they get that stamina to say no to trying just about everything on display? if anyone knows the answer, please do let me know ...