You turn around and you don't know where you've been.

American Apparel silky collar tee: £18. Topshop leather skirt: £13.50. Topshop buckle boots: £76.50. Zara navy coat: £30. Brit-Stitch mini satchel. Rotary watch: gift. Miss Selfridge knitted snood: gift.

Photos by Charlotte.

Last month you may have heard me mention on twitter or see some of my instagrams of heading a little North to Berlin. Sorry for the radio silence on that front, but I typically managed to get a little distracted, and now I'm only just getting round to showing you my photos.

Despite having wanted to visit since I started learning German in year seven, this is the first time I've managed to make it to Berlin. Now I'm living in the same country, we managed to nab a really cheap return bus journey (taking nearly four times as long as it would be to fly from London, but let's just ignore that painful memory for now) and a few of us headed to the German capital on Friday night. Of course the Berlin Wall memorial was on our to-do list, and we headed to East Side Gallery in the biting cold. It's always odd to see something you've seen in photos millions of times before, but it does hit home quite a bit more in real life. From learning about various Fluchtversuche in A Level lessons (the fact I actually remember that word says a lot, in the above photos the words "freedom", "history", and "euphoria" have been woven into the art work) to seeing the iconic graffiti on instagrams worldwide, it was a bit of a surreal experiencing it first hand. Unfortunately the freezing cold got the better of us and we didn't manage to walk to entire length of the Berlin Wall, but we headed back to the edges of Kreuzberg for a warming hot chocolate.

I was determined to bring my Brit-Stitch satchel to Berlin, purely to photograph the B in a city starting with the same name (me? perfectionist?), so it made its way on the coach with us. I decided to pair it with my favourite Topshop leather skirt, which has definitely seen better days, so I'm on the look out for a new one - please let me know if you see any good'uns! I've recently been looking at Zalando's leather skirts as they're a German company (based in Berlin, funnily enough) so it'll arrive a lot more quickly than if I were to get another Topshop one, but I'm currently undecided. Add in a collared blouse and buckle boots (and, obviously a warm coat, ain't nobody got time for colds), and I had a thoroughly 'me' outfit. Not bad for panic packing in about an hour...

Read more

I've seen those English dramas too.

Polkadot blouse: mum's, vintage Sarsaparilla. Leather skirt: £4, charity shop (similar here, and probably won't fall apart the first time you wear it). Two-tone flats: 50p, Russell and Bromley via ebay. Shopper bag: c/o Laura Ashley. Lipstick: Topshop Really Ruby.

Apart from the obligatory burger snaps, you may have noticed a few bloggers' instagrams had a slightly different backdrop than usual yesterday. Lucy, Kristabel, Carrie and I headed West to visit our pal Dina in her university city of Oxford. One of the most beautiful cities in the country, with undoubtedly some of the most awe-inspiring architecture around (yep, I'm the girl who walks round staring up at the buildings rather than looking where she's going), I couldn't wait to head back after my two years away. 

If you don't know much about the system at Oxford, applicants apply to a college rather than to the university as a whole, and each college has its own mini campus. Dina's at Lincoln, so we headed there first to have a wander around the quad and check out the Harry Potter-style dining hall (they actually filmed it down the road at Christ Church), which put my own university's carnatic halls to shame. We meandered around many of the city's colleges, including Magdalen (where my outfit photos were taken!), which has its own deer park, and New, home to some of the most colourful flower gardens I've ever come across. The location for our mandatory group shot (taken by the ever-patient Sonia) was underneath the bridge of sighs, which should probably be renamed the bridge of lols after the amount of failed jumping shots we attempted to take - you can't have everything, after all.

We probably needed the exercise after our lunch at Atomic Burger on Cowley Road. In true fashion, we piled in at peak time, and squeezed around a table with Dina's university friends. I sampled the Jake n Elwood (blue cheese, bacon, and onions), although I noticed a Messy Jessie and Bandit around our table. It's definitely worth popping into if you're in the area, even if only for the Barbie-themed toilets. We rolled (nearly literally...) into Pierre Victoire for dinner for something a little more refined, if that's how you classify eating with a knife and fork. Sadly we then went our separate ways into the night, after our day of being tourists. Looks like I'll be heading back soon though - we didn't even have time to go punting!

Read more

A dream is a wish your heart makes.

Blouse: gift, French Connection. Skirt: £33, Luella, via ebay. Belt: 20p, charity shop. Shoes: 50p, Russell and Bromley, via ebay.

It wouldn't be a twenty-first without acting like a child, would it? Sabby bounded onto the RER A with me, Sophie, Tom, and Brad in tow, and, as we wound our way East, the train slowly filled with little ones, each of us heading to Disneyland Paris. A weird mixture of food and stomach-churning rides (my ten and twenty-first year old self's dream combination), the day was spent wandering between the two parks, bringing back memories from when I went on a surprise trip a whole twelve years ago. Now I'm tall enough to go on Space Mountain and Tower of Terror (twice), and it certainly hasn't lost its magic.

We ended the day sitting by the side of the castle, watching Disney Dreams. It was slightly different to the bonfire night celebrations of November (namely that I wasn't in about three coats), but we were all still clutching our hot chocolates as we watched the spectacle unfold. By the time we got back to our room, we decided it probably wasn't a good idea to go out, particularly as we'd missed the last metro, so instead made ourselves a pasta box or five, and settled down before heading home via St Pancras the next day.

Read more

You can't just give it away like it means nothing.

Blouse: gift, Hobbs. Skirt: £1.50, Jigsaw via charity shop. Denim jacket: £63, Hobbs. Belt: 20p, charity shop. Bag: £3, charity shop. Shoes: 50p, Russell and Bromley via charity shop. 

Gem recommended I head to Le Marais if I had time, and with my favourite falafel vendor residing there (sorry 3am Camden van, you serve your purpose, but it's just not the same) it was hardly a push to get the metro to Hôtel de Ville and sample that chickpea goodness at L'as du Fallafel again (check out my very happy face in the last photo). Whilst in the area, we also headed to Kilo Shop, one of Paris' vintage shops that sells its wares based on how much it weighs. Unfortunately I left empty handed, but Sabby picked up another belt for her collection. When trying to find a London comparison to the area, the closest I can think of is soho, with bars residing next to cafés, then boutiques such as The Kooples and Sandro happily nestled alongside; it's the kind of place where you're bound to find something worthwhile if you just keep meandering up and down its connected streets, but our feet were getting a little tired, so we headed back to cité université for a bite to eat before heading to Le Poulailler.

Read more

When the music's over.

Midi dress: £13, Primark. Belt: 20p, charity shop. Necklace: Sabby's. Shoes: 50p, Russell and Bromley via ebay. Bag: £3, charity shop.

Bon soir!

My whirlwind trip to Paris feels like a lifetime ago, even though I only came back on Tuesday. For Sabby's twenty-first, we headed to the Continent where she's been studying for the past few months as part of her course. I visited last December, but this time a whole cohort of us ended up jumping on the Eurostar to wish this girl a happy birthday. This time it was certainly a lot hotter (no need for fur hats), so I whipped out my only midi for a wander to the twentieth arrondissement. 

Before the rest of our sorry lot turned up, Sabby and I visited Père Lachaise. Admittedly not the jolliest location for a day trip, but I've always wanted to pay my dues to a certain Mr Wilde (thanks for the 2:1!), as well as Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Balzac, et al. Thankfully the sunshine took the edge off the dreary occasion, and we could wander the wiggly pathways without too much trouble, before heading to a café for mojitos, just in time to avoid the sudden downpour. We did, however, have to brave it to pick up Biggs from Gare du Nord, so I can only apologise for the wild hair in my outfit photos. Unlike my local club, there aren't pay-per-minute straighteners on parisian street corners.

For dinner we headed to Blend on Olivia's recommendation and, in short, it was good. Very good. We got there just before it opened at 7, and were worried as we were the only diners. Give it ten minutes, and we were glad to have got there, as a queue had formed, and we were able to stalk (or roll) past the rumbling bellies, full with burger and chips. 

Read more