Last week, I spent a few days with a friend sightseeing in Stockholm, Sweden. I have to admit I wasn't expecting much because I don't hear a lot of stories about travelling in Northern Europe from my friends. But Stockholm turned out to be seriously gorgeous and so comfortable.
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The weather was absolutely perfect -it was cool, breezy and sunny. The weather definitely made the whole experience more comfortable and relaxing. Not to mention it made the sky and sea look especially blue for photos!
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We first went to the Nobel Museum. Admittingly the exhibition was very short and there wasn't much to see. But there is a video room that plays short videos of past Nobel prize winners (mainly old interview footages.) You can sit there for hours and just watch -the videos are mostly pretty interesting. Coincidentally, we got the timing just right -we went there after 5pm on Tuesday so it was free entrance!
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The next day we went to the Vasa Museum. It's basically a display of the old, sunk ship with many supporting displays of the old sailor days. It was definitely interesting to see such an old, authentic ship up close. After seeing the exhibition, we were very grateful we weren't sailors (despite our love for the nautical trend)! Afterwards we went to the Nordic Museum, which was frankly boring and not worth the visit.
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Afterwards, we went to the Moderna Museet (Museum of Modern Art). The art there was actually fun and interesting to look at as it was modern and made up of artwork of a variety of medium, such as photography, sculptures and paintings. It's a nice change from looking at old paintings.
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On the third day, we ventured out to see the Millesgarden, which is used to be the house of an architect. It's basically an exhibition of an amazing garden, his house and collected art pieces. I loved his garden! The fountain at the centre was absolutely gorgeous -especially with the amazing view behind it. It was so nice and relaxing to just sit there and feel the breeze!
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Afterwards we went shopping, or at least we tried to. It turns out that the clothes in Stockholm were expensive, even more so than in London. We checked out NK, one of Stockholm's big department stores and were not impressed by the range of clothes or by how messy the sale was. So we ended up chilling at a park nearby, where a band was performing.
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On the last day, we went to the Royal Palace, which is one of those must-see sightseeing spots. It was not a very grand palace (compared to the French or some other European ones) but it was still fun to walk in and around it.
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Overall, I think it was just the weather and whole chilled out atmosphere of Stockholm that made it such a fabulous holiday! Seriously, look at the view!
The weather was absolutely perfect -it was cool, breezy and sunny. The weather definitely made the whole experience more comfortable and relaxing. Not to mention it made the sky and sea look especially blue for photos!We first went to the Nobel Museum. Admittingly the exhibition was very short and there wasn't much to see. But there is a video room that plays short videos of past Nobel prize winners (mainly old interview footages.) You can sit there for hours and just watch -the videos are mostly pretty interesting. Coincidentally, we got the timing just right -we went there after 5pm on Tuesday so it was free entrance! The next day we went to the Vasa Museum. It's basically a display of the old, sunk ship with many supporting displays of the old sailor days. It was definitely interesting to see such an old, authentic ship up close. After seeing the exhibition, we were very grateful we weren't sailors (despite our love for the nautical trend)! Afterwards we went to the Nordic Museum, which was frankly boring and not worth the visit.Afterwards, we went to the Moderna Museet (Museum of Modern Art). The art there was actually fun and interesting to look at as it was modern and made up of artwork of a variety of medium, such as photography, sculptures and paintings. It's a nice change from looking at old paintings. On the third day, we ventured out to see the Millesgarden, which is used to be the house of an architect. It's basically an exhibition of an amazing garden, his house and collected art pieces. I loved his garden! The fountain at the centre was absolutely gorgeous -especially with the amazing view behind it. It was so nice and relaxing to just sit there and feel the breeze!Afterwards we went shopping, or at least we tried to. It turns out that the clothes in Stockholm were expensive, even more so than in London. We checked out NK, one of Stockholm's big department stores and were not impressed by the range of clothes or by how messy the sale was. So we ended up chilling at a park nearby, where a band was performing.On the last day, we went to the Royal Palace, which is one of those must-see sightseeing spots. It was not a very grand palace (compared to the French or some other European ones) but it was still fun to walk in and around it.Overall, I think it was just the weather and whole chilled out atmosphere of Stockholm that made it such a fabulous holiday! Seriously, look at the view!Image Credit: My camera
I love this dress, especially the pink and teal-coloured ones. It's not exactly unique and it really reminds me of the early Rory Becca and Lauren Conrad designs but that's why I love it. It's simple, colourful and looks very versatile. I imagine it would be fantastic for many occasions in the summer. Plus, it's made of chiffon and looks like it's worth the 48usd price tag. 
Even I think this dress is boring, but if I still had to go to school everyday, then this would be a great throwing-it-on-in-a-hurry piece. And judging from the photos, the dress provides a good canvas for the accessories to liven up the outfit if you feel like it.
I really liked this dress when I first saw the photo although now that I stare at it more, I'm liking it less. Maybe it's because the design's actually more interesting than the plain dress above. But anyhow, it looks like a fun dress to wear during daytime. And it somehow reminds me of Lauren Conrad too. Oh gosh, why does everything remind me of her?
Even though this dress is really not my style, it just looked too pretty for me not to post it. I can imagine Peyton wearing it in One Tree Hill.
Barneys Girl recently emailed me about this shirt and I love it! It's got small flowers all over the pattern but it's nice in that it doesn't look fussy. The design is clean cut and looks easy to wear. I find it so hard to find pretty blouses like this because most of the high street designs are there are either too boring or has too much detail on them. But this one is just right. I want a red one!
I've always related Urban Outfitters to graphic tees -that was one of the sources for its original success right? Anyhow, I'm a fan of most white tees that have simple or black and white designs on them and these fit the bill. I especially like the scribbled tee -it's all about the designed messiness!
I've been looking for a mid-waisted, structured mini dress for ages. There are loads of black minis out in shops now but they're usually not structured or skintight. The slight A-line silhouette this skirt has is so much more flattering.
I've been looking for simple, long necklaces in the UK Urban Outfitters and found nothing. This necklace (from US UO) is exactly what I'm looking for, and it's so affordable at 18usd (although I would probably wait for it to go on sale.) 
The first thing I thought was, this looks like a Goyard bag. But after staring at the bag closely for awhile, it occured to me the print is of little puppies. And after staring at it for even longer, it starts to remind me of LAMB bags, which I didn't think was totally original either. What a web! (Or maybe just a triangle.) 
The Gucci one is too cutesy for me and the Juicy one is too preppy and seems to be made of terry cloth (-says it all.) While the two technically have very different designs, they superficially look similar to me.
Reminds me of a Gucci F/W07 bag. I think it may even have been featured in an ad. Does anyone remember it and think so, or did I just imagine it?
It doesn't look exactly like a Gucci bag but that gold, circle metal piece in the middle is like the metal piece on a lot of the Gucci 08 bags.
Again, it's the metal plate on this Juicy bag that reminds me of another designer's bags. Can anyone guess? 
I love this type of gold hardware that looks like a lock on handbags. The designer bag that has a lot of gold fake locks is by... it starts with the same letter as the one above.
This one is sort of obvious. One is by Dior and one is by Juicy. One is super expensive and one is relatively affordable. To be fair, both are equally cute, though not exactly my style..jpg)
The double-breasted jacket with skinny pants combo is nothing new but it looks young and super sleek here. And I'm usually not a fan of jumpsuits but it looks oddly cool and glamorous and again, sleek..jpg)
These two dresses are so cute and look so easy to wear. I like how the designs are special enough to make the person to look different but not too out-there. Plus the colours are so sharp..jpg)
One of the key elements to the effortless casual and sleek look: neutral colours. .jpg)
Imagine walking in the city in these outfits next summer (or if you can replicate them, this summer) -uber-stylishness! I've got to figure out a way to imitate the outfit on the right -it's such an amazing combination of girliness -the loose, bow tie blouse -and androgynous -the long blazer..jpg)
These day dresses are so cute. I love the colour combinations -of the jacket with the navy dress and of the light green dress with the dark green belt. I'm really loving the long jacket with mini dress combination at the moment..jpg)
Phillip Lim's cocktail dresses never disappoint. They look so customer-friendly and imagine if you had loads of events to attend about town, then the dresses look like they'll be suitable for so many dresses.
Everything is so delicate and so etheral looking (-maybe it's just the models,) with a bit of edge. .jpg)
The Lanvin collection was great to ooh and ahh over as usual, but there's a bit too much of eveningwear and expensive dresses to truly imagine them being worn by myself in real life. I love the loose-fitting, silk, white jacket with those large pockets (on the right.) It's so casual yet cool and luxurious at the same time..jpg)
There were a lot of sharp colours, as expected from Lanvin, although it seems to be the general trend for next year too, especially yellow and orange.
High street stores have really supported making the Luella look into the street look of the season. The easiest stores to find those cutsey floral skirts are Top Shop and Urban Outfitters.
The Luella skirt is of the tiny flower printed on ra ra skirts. The left skirt is by Top Shop and the right one is by Miss Selfridge.
For something that are less obviously Luella-wannabes and more 'individual', there are other cute options by Top Shop. The one of the left has that found-in-a-thrift-store look to it, and the one the right gives off a rock chic vibe.
If you're wearing a floral top then make your skirt a solid-coloured one. A mid-waisted, A-line skirt that ends above the knees is the way to go. 
If you want to adhere to Leulla's Superheroes theme, choose a superhero-themed t-shirt. The two shirts in the image are from Urban Outfitters UK. But really, any t-shirt will do. Just make sure it is solid-coloured and the graphic have solid colours too.
Sneakers (normal or high-heeled) will make your outfit hip and unfussy. 
The key to this look is making sure that the floral skirt or top is the only fussy item in your outfit. The other items should be solid and tough-looking, like a leather jacket and patent leather booties. Your hair and accessories shouldn't be overly girly either. Take note of the messy, imperfect hairstyles, the very natural makeup and if you can carry them off, the oh-so-trendy nerd glasses. (This image is by the Urban Outfitters UK website from awhile ago. Just more styling ideas for you!).JPG)
After spending last Friday in Paris (more on that later,) I headed off to meet up my friends (who flew in from London) in Amsterdam for the weekend. We met at the Centraal Station and took the tram to our hotel. The trams make getting around very easy and convenient, although we stayed pretty much within one area for the whole weekend so we mostly walked..JPG)
Once we got out of the Centraal Station, we saw this church on the left. We took pictures because it looks so pretty but we weren't bothered to get closer. Throughout the trip, we see other churches around. Afterwards, we went to the famous Anne Frank House, which was very interesting. Unlike most museums you don't actually see a lot of artifacts in the House, but the presentations you see when you walk through each room of the House really gives you a sense of what happened and how it felt. .JPG)
At night we visited the Red Light District, which was very interesting. I've definitely not seen any 'shops' like the ones there before. It was also really uncomfortably crowded so we didn't stay long.
On Sunday morning, we went to the Van Gogh Museum. I thought it was going to be just another art museum (-I've never studied art so I can't say I know how to fully appreciate art museums,) but it actually turned out to be pretty interesting. The museum splits Van Gogh's work into different time periods and the presentation boards have good descriptions that explain those time periods. As you walk along, you can really see the development and influence in his artwork even if you're not an artist yourself..JPG)
My favourite thing to do there was just walking along the canals, admiring the quaint little town feeling of the area and relaxing in the many coffee shops. So pretty and relaxing!.JPG)
Along the canals, there were some boat houses. Not that I would ever want to live in one but isn't this one look so cute?.JPG)
Before leaving on Sunday afternoon, we went peddle-boating (-is that the correct term?) Basically we water-cycled in the canals. Even though we didn't seem to be able to master the steering device and kept bumping into the walls and boat houses, it was so fun! It was a great way to just enjoy the sights without getting bored. 
The dress that I've been ogling since the start of the season is the Ray dress. I love that even though it's covered with beads, it's not too sparkly and I love the combination of pale colours in horizontal stripes. I don't have an event in mind to wear it to, which is why I can't quite justify paying full price (120 pounds) for it. But if it goes on sale, should I get it? Or is it too disco-y?
I'm a fan of t-shirt dresses so I briefly considered this dress, but the ruffles were too small for my taste and the edges had that cheap-looking ripped effect.
Like I said, I love t-shirt dresses. The weird purple and green beaded pattern made me hesitent at first (-the dress is named Alien dress,) but I think it's growing on me. It looks so easy to wear and it's colourful without being too multi-coloured. 
Then there is this tank dress, which is similar but less weird looking than the Alien Dress. It's sold out online though, so I assume it's sold out in stores too. I actually like the horizontal patterned stripes more but the t-shirt style is so much easier to wear.
A cute shift dress with a classic design. 
This dress makes me think of fancy lunches. That's it. Since I have no fancy lunches to go to, perhaps it's not quite useful for me. But it's so pretty!
I thought this dress looked frumpy on the French Connection website, but I love it on the model. It's such a cute, fashionable twist to the polo shirt dress. The skirt bit is high-waisted, which is supposed to make one's legs look longer. Plus a daytime dress would be so much more useful to me than a going out dress. I didn't see it at my local store but hopefully I'll see it at the Oxford Circus store. Isn't it cute?
I touched this top at a store and the quality is great! You can wear it as a loose top, or as I saw it on display, tucked into a high-waisted skirt, which is oh-so-fashionable these days. It's so versatile, but I imagine the reason why there are still so many left in stores is that it costs 50 pounds!
I've been eyeing this Veronica top ever since the start of the season. I'm not one for blouses but the bow is just right and the slightly puffy sleeves are cute. I'll definitely be looking out for this.
I didn't think much of this top until I saw it (in another colour with yellow spots) on a salesgirl and it looked great on her. The design is a bit too interesting for me and it looks more like fall clothes than summer clothes but maybe I should just try it on first.
