I don’t really see how things will improve if all you want is to stay loose.

Bright orange sheer blouse, "Lindy", Monki. Black coat with shoulder details, Romwe. Light grey knitted over knee socks, Asos. Black Everest boots, Jeffrey Campbell.

(Photos by me.)

I'm not feeling that great; haven't left the house since we got back from the hospital and yesterday I didn't even turn on the computer (seriously, that basically never happens!). But today I remembered these photos that I took a week ago and then never posted, of my gorgeous Romwe coat with "gold" buttons and shoulder details. Now at least you have an awesome coat to rest your eyes on until I'm back on track. ;)

Oh, and these shoes happen to be one of the pairs I would choose to keep if I had to get rid of all but five. Find out what other pairs would get to stay in my wardrobe, what I'd do if I won a crazy amount of money and what shoes are next on my wish list in this interview with YourNextShoes!

I know I felt like this before, but now I’m feeling it even more.

Red Union Jack knitted sweater, Romwe. Navy blazer, black pants and bowler hat, Monki. White patent leather boots, Doc Martens. Lipstick, "British Red" by L'Oréal.

(Photos by me.)

It seems that every time I put on an outfit, I subconsciously decide that there's a specific pose that goes with it. Last time, it was this one; now we have a new outfit and obviously a new, ehmmm, "pose of the day":

I have no idea I'm doing the same poses until I look through the photos in the computer, and though I've made a zillion different ones, the pose of the day-photos are always the ones that look the best. Weird.

Don't know how much there is to say about this outfit, except that I adore this sweater from Romwe. Warm, cozy knitted sweaters and cardigans definitely are the most important pieces in my wardrobe these chilly seasons, especially since I'm not a huge fan of heavy winter jackets - and the bolder the prints, the better! It's so easy for me to fall into the whole black-and-grey-from-head-to-toe rut, and I'm grateful for every pop of color I can fit into my outfits.

Last night, I felt possibly even more down than usual and didn't really feel like doing anything at all. But Ronnie insisted we should drive into town and go see a movie, and since we won't see eachother for a few days - he's now at a literary festival in Norway - I agreed. And I'm so glad I did! We ended up seeing not one movie but two, having greasy hamburgers for dinner in between, and I had such a wonderful time. It made me realize we should absolutely go on dates more often! It's probably even more important right now, when I'm not in the best place, to say the least. Leaving the house seems like such a hassle, so it was great to be reminded that if I force myself to get out there and do stuff, it doesn't have to be that bad. Or bad at all.

At the moment I'm pretty stressed out, with loads of things to get done and simply not enough time. But I try to tell myself that come on, I've been in this situation countless times before, and I've always managed to get it together in the end. (And I do my best not to remember the fact that no, it's not true, there have been times when I've pushed myself too hard for too long and been this close to ruining everything.)

In my dreams last night, someone gave me a horse. My own horse! Coincidentally, we happened to have a stable here in our yard - how neat is that? Gosh, I was so excited about this horse, you have no idea.

Then, the dream shifted, turned into something completely different. Weeks passed by in this dream, maybe months; the details are not important, but suddenly, right before I woke up, I realized it wasn't another dream at all. It had been the same one all along. And that beautiful chestnut horse had been left alone, no food or water, for ages.

Someone gave me my first own horse and I neglected it. I forgot about it and I killed it. I'm the Horse Slayer for cryin' out loud!

I can't even tell you how many times I've had dreams similar to this one. (If it's not a horse, it's a baby. Let's just say the baby dreams are a lot worse.) You don't exactly have to be a psychologist or professional dream-reader to figure out what it means. Basically, I take on more than I can handle, and I'm terrified I'm going to lose control. Destroy everything. That it will all crumble around me like a poorly built house of cards.

Well, there's only one thing to do: keep making lists, keep crossing things off those lists. One by one.

And, oh - if any of you remember giving me a horse, please remind me, okay? I have a tendency to forget these things. Apparently.

PS. This is the last time I'll beg for you to vote for me in the 2011 Blog Awards - tomorrow the results will be in! Since one of my competitors have about ten times as many readers as I do, I'm very busy practicing my "slightly disappointed but still dignified" smile. Though I can't say I wouldn't absolutely love if I didn't have to use it! :) DS.

The last rays of sun.

Black leather jacket, Sofifi. Black hat, Romwe. Cropped t-shirt and black denim shorts, Forever 21. Leopard print tights, H&M. Black platform boots, Jeffrey Campbell Everests from Nelly. Baryshnik and Biianka wear amazingly fluffy cat fur (baby, they were born that way) and collars from our local pet store.

(Photos by me.)

It's proving to be a real challenge to take outfit photos as it keeps getting darker and darker with every passing day. The low, right before sunset light I'm depending on for my photography seems to think it's a great idea to hide behind massive rain clouds almost every night, turning most of my shoots into very wet and not exactly successful occasions.

In other words - managing to capture a couple of rays of sun last night was quite the pleasant surprise! Unfortunately I still wasn't that happy with how the photos turned out, at least not the ones of me - my kitties never fail to look sensationally cute. It's in their dna, they can't help it!

As you can see, I simply cannot get enough of this leather jacket. It's just like with red lipstick - sure, outfits might look good without it, but they look so much better with it. Let's say that I will try to change it up a bit, but I can't promise I'll succeed! Well, I guess that if I must have a "signature item", I can easily think of a lot worse items than this. It's so soft and warm, and I love the fact that the sleeves are the perfect length. (What can I say - tall people generally have long arms, and I'm no exception - which means my wrists are usually uncomfortably cold from October all through March.)

Yesterday, I received a comment that said my photos are "booooring", because they "don't look different". At first, I thought that was a bit rude - come on, I'm doing the best I can, I never claimed to be frickin' Annie Leibovitz! - but after seeing these photos above, I must agree that Ms/Mrs/Mr Anonymous does make a valid point.

Ooops. Ummm... Well. I have no excuses. I surrender. You're right! Oh, and my boyfriend agrees with you, as well. He really can't understand why people would want to look at photos of the same person every single day. I tried reminding him that he has to look at the same person every single day as well, and I don't hear him complain. (And he's not even the slightest bit interested in what I'm wearing.)

Plus - hopefully the photos - boring or not - aren't the only reason why you wonderful people keep coming back here. I guess I'm hoping that you, for some reason, think I'm nice/funny/whatever in other ways, too. Because as sad as it may sound, I'm not a person who's surrounded by a lot of friends in real life, and it's a true blessing to get the chance to communicate with all of you through this blog.

I'm not saying I don't have friends. I do. I just don't have that one person that I can call and tell all of those random things that come to mind, that I can discuss my thoughts and feelings and ideas with at any given time. I used to, but I don't anymore. They say relationships might come and go but friendships are forever; well, when your best friend is an angel looking down on you, it still gets pretty darn lonely. So if you've found that one friend that you can share everything with, the huge, life-altering moments and the tiny randoms, don't ever take that friendship for granted. Cherish it, nurture it, and make sure you're the best friend you can be.

Thank you for everything. You make this life less lonely.

And the winner of the Romwe black lace shirt giveaway is...

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the Romwe giveaway! The higher powers, also known as the random number generators, decided that the person who gets to strut around in this black lace back t-shirt is Laura of Fêtes vos yeux. Congratulations, dear! Hope it fits perfectly.

To all of you who didn't win this time - two more giveaways will be announced these following weeks, and if I may say so myself, they're pretty darn awesome!

And, of course, a million thanks to Romwe.com for sponsoring this giveaway.

It's Giveaway Time! Black Lace Back Top from Romwe.

Last week I ordered this t-shirt with lace details from online shop Romwe.com, and as it turns out, Annabel of Romwe wants to send one of these to one of my readers as well!

All you have to do to have a chance to get your hands on this oversized cuteness is this:
1) Make sure you're a follower of my blog on google friend connect and have liked my page on Facebook.
2) Follow Romwe on Tumblr, here... (if you use Tumblr, that is)
3) ...and like them on Facebook, here.
4) Comment on this post and tell me you entered, and leave your e-mail so I can contact you if you win!

This giveaway is, of course, open to readers from all over the world. The winner will be announced on Wednesday the 31st - you're free to enter until then.


I know I can't wait to wear mine with a high-waisted skirt, boots and my new (faux) sheepskin jacket!

The story is in the soil, keep your ear to the ground.

Sheer shirt with sequined shoulders, Romwe. Levi's denim cutoffs, Urban Outfitters. Headphones, WeSC. Glasses, Chanel. Black boots, Nilson. Leopard print belt, Monki. Lipstick, "British Red" by L'Oreal.

(Photos by me.)

Got this lovely sheer shirt from Romwe in the mail today, and immediately had to pair it with boots, ripped denim cutoffs and a somewhat weird attitude.

I think I have to stop using the word "somewhat". Or at least cut down a lot. I've realized I use it in every other post - I guess you could say I'm somewhat obsessed with the word somewhat and that's somewhat annoying.

I haven't been able to use my tripod during the past three weeks (when I left New York my tripod plate was still in Emiliano's camera bag), and I'm psyched that I can finally take my own photos again! (Though I must say I feel like in the end I mastered using our ladder as a tripod, with the camera propped up on different steps for different height - at least here and here.)

I like the bright, almost orange-red color of this lipstick, "British Red" by L'Oreal Colour Riche, but I'm not sure I would recommend it. Not because there's anything wrong with the quality, but the smell... well, it reminds me of how lipstick used to smell in the 1980's. And that is not a good thing. Like a strong, cheap perfume gone bad.

Now I'm going to have dinner with this awesome young man who's back from NYC after being gone way too long. Our house has been ridiculously empty without him. (The cats are the best, but they don't fill out all of this space very efficiently.)

Thank you for your sweet comments on the post about it being Fanny's birthday. You are truly extraordinary people. Thank you so, so much for caring.