It all feels like gold to me.

Zara coat (old): £30. Oasis ripped jeans: £28. Petit Bateau marinière: €42.50. Karen Millen boots: £25, sample sale. Tartan scarf: £3, charity shop. Bag: gift from Jazmine. Becca Cosmetics 'Hotel California' lip gloss.

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you may have noticed that I've spent the last few days in the Welsh capital, Cardiff. We popped over to visit my friend and drink to all things politics before getting home just gone nine last night, when I prioritised cooking pasta (I hadn't eaten for nine hours - that's pretty much a diet) rather than making sure a post was scheduled for today. So, apologies in advance if there are more mentions of the pug I saw at Cardiff Bay than chat about ripped jeans.

Leigh-on-Sea is one of my favourite places in Essex. When we were little, my brother and I knew it as the place we went to first before walking to Southend (photos of it here - my first "proper" outfit post!), claiming a cone of Rossi ice cream on the journey. It's not filled to the brim with clothes shops and bars, and it's distinctly lacking in sandy beaches, but it will always have a little place in my heart reserved for nostalgia, right next to sequinned dance costumes and the water fountains you could jump in at Victoria Park. My mum and I like to drive over there every few months for a browse of the gift shops, a walk along the seafront and some mandatory fish and chips - what could be more perfect?

Are there any places you always go back to, no matter how many years it's been? This isn't your classic "ask people a question at the end of your blog post, it'll drive engagement!!!" thing, I'm genuinely interested in which places people love, so please do comment with yours.

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Maman les petits bateaux qui vont sur l'eau, ont-ils des jambes?

T-shirt: c/o Petit Bateau. Asos petite jeans: £28. Brit Stitch satchel. Urban Outfitters fedora: £26. Vintage white pumps: mum's. Rotary watch.

Cohen's back, tell a friend. Seeing as I tend to take photos in advance (thank god, seeing as I haven't had the time to take any in the past week, because life) it seems weird to think that these were taken just two days after flying back, which technically makes this the first UK outfit for a while. I'm now very much in a schedule: I've completed jury service, am now three days into my internship at Cath Kidston and back to complaining daily about how appalling Greater Anglia's service is. Tonight I'm headed in a Nando's direction - the one direction I'm interested in, heh - before staying at a friend's, which isn't really leaving that much time for sleep.

On a more legitimate fashion blogger note (when I'm tired I tend to go on rather obscure tangents, the above is actually pretty focused), I was incredibly excited when I got an email from the people behind Petit Bateau. You may have seen that I'm a fan of the Petit Bateau marinière I picked up in the sale from their Munich store, and it's nice to wear a t-shirt that's good quality and not an arctic monkeys band tee, which are still going strong a good five years from first purchase. Of course, I took this nautical motif very seriously and headed down to the water to watch the Thames sailing barges with their distinct brown sails float on the river Chelmer at Maldon . I do like to work on a theme.

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Loving you is easy.

Zara double breasted coat: £30. Petit Bateau breton top: €42.50. American Apparel chiffon skirt: £30 (similar and much cheaper). Ark cut out boots. Marks and Spencer bag: £43. Urban Outfitters fedora: £26. Charity shop belt: 20p. Rotary watch.

Photos by Lauren.

Well, it's not every day you get a backdrop like this. Gone are the days of the wall and and my old flat's roof, we've moved on to mountains. Unfortunately, this isn't going to be a permanent feature as Munich tends to be on the flat side comparatively, but it makes for a nice change. When Lauren came back from a business trip last Thursday we reluctantly came to the realisation that Zurich simply wasn't going to happen in such a short time, so we looked closer: Innsbruck. Despite very nearly reaching Austria for our christmas party, I'd never quite made it over the border until we managed to snap up return bus tickets for €16(!!) and began winding our way down the German autobahns towards a lot of snow.

I didn't really know much about Innsbruck before we got there (and, in all honesty, I'd hardly call myself a tour guide now), but I'd recommend giving it a visit if you're ever in the area for the views alone. I probably said it more than enough times to annoy Lauren, but I just couldn't get over how you could see mountains poking out from behind the supermarket, between buildings, and just generally everywhere - spot the girl who comes from the flattest place in the UK. We spent most of our time exploring mainly by foot, aside from getting the cable car from Nordkette back to the centre of town. As regards touristy things, we spotted the goldenes dachl right in the centre of the altstadt (Maximilian I knew about bling long before Joey Essex), and also explored the Hofkirche, which had a pretty interesting way of telling Maximilian's life; I don't want to spoil it just in case you go, but don't skip the presentation as it's worth it.

We went just for the day, getting a coach that left Munich at 7.45, and returning by 10pm and think we'd managed to exhaust Innsbruck's possibilities. I've heard that Salzburg has a lot more to it, but I really enjoyed my first Austrian experience, with Vienna remaining on my "top places I'd like to visit" list - one day!

ps, if you like my top, you can buy a £50 Petit Bateau voucher for £25 on Vente-Privee. I wasn't asked to share this at all, but I think it's a pretty sweet deal, so thought you'd like to know! 

pps, I purposefully went out of my way to use title lyrics of an Austrian artist. So enjoy "Loving You is Easy" by Camo & Krooked.

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I feel unique, not yet complete.

Petit Bateau marinière: €42.50. Vintage suede skirt: £8, via charity shop. Urban Outfitters panama hat: £26. Missguided boots. Rotary watch: gift. Initial necklace: gift. Topshop "really ruby" lipstick: £8.
Photos by Carmen.

Now, if there's something I like to wear, it's a stripy t-shirt. You may have noticed my Aubin and Wills number cropping up a fair few times, and I nabbed a cheap H+M one when they were on offer last year, so I think I've proved that I wear them enough to invest in another (or head to bretons anonymous). When it comes to stripes, Petit Bateau know what they're doing, and I'd always wanted one of their marinières (and yellow rain coats, but we'll save that for another day) to finish off my collection, but they're pretty pricey. When I saw they had a store in Munich, I made the mistake of heading in during the January sales, and ended up making a rather rash purchase upon seeing the 50% off signs, but I'd argue that it happens to the best of us. I'm generally a pretty thrifty shopper, and stick to googling for voucher codes when buying online, or, my personal favourite, rummaging through the shelves of charity shops, but every once in a while it's nice to treat yourself to something a little more luxe. This Petit Bateau marinière (posh word for stripy top) is certainly a lot thicker than the H+M one, and is so soft inside that you can tell they make a lot of clothes for children and babies. But enough of me trying to justify this purchase, we all know it's completely down to it having a pocket.

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