Leather Coat – Gift from mummy (Massimo Dutti), Stripe Top – Uniqlo, Jeans – Replay, Khaki heels – Primark, Necklace – DanniJo

Over the weekend I had a chance to dig at the blog archives, that token a-day-in-the-attic tour where you peel open just about every dusty photo album and realise how much has changed in the years past. It really is about time to acknowledge that this blog has entered into the latter years of toddlerzone (fwee years old and some) and has so far learnt to use the potty and has grown a decent set of milk teeth; this mummy is also gradually starting to patch together what might resemble a life. Amidst pockets of embarrassing moments (defined by outfits wherein enthusiasm was far from curbed) I realised how much my attitude to dressing is now vastly different. The so called life I’m patching now involves mornings of a regular alarm+snooze pattern, and attempts at giving the wardrobe a rattle yet falling straight back to the fail-proof outfit of jeans and a top of some cotton variety. The transport option: bicycle, dictates what I wear, and the common jeans happen to be the only thing I own that doesn’t get caught in the back wheel. On other – enthusiastic – days I get a few honks from bus drivers who are either trying to alert me of the skirt-in-wheel situation… or to make me disappear from the road altogether, both likey. So over the past 6 months or so the number of jeans have tripled, and when Replay got in touch with their Laserblast jeans (always read ‘laser’ in Dr. Evil voice), I must confess – I revelled. Not just because at the time all my other jeans were pickling in the laundry basket, but it so happens the Laserblast technology eliminates chemical treatment and ensures there’s 85% less water involved in production; green jeans, in other words. This also means no blue smudge on my white accessories or this chair I now sit in for 8 hours a day. (They also sent over the Trailor for the Laserblast but other than the model’s butt, please know that my sentiments to the video can be summarized with one word: Cringetastic.)

Above is a collection of images from previous blogposts and other sources (sources linked – photos 2,3,6,10), to highlight the Giorgio Armani Acqua for Life water awareness campaign

If I’m visiting a new city the first thing I’ll Google once connected to the hotel wifi is ‘can you drink tap water in [insert city]‘, then sometimes I’ll double-check with ‘but are you suuuuure‘ and Google will ask me ‘are you suuuuure you’re wearing the right size bra?’. Just about drops the issue every time. However, the question whether tapwater is drinkable in Warsaw… still not answered after 16 years. The hubby who looked over my shoulder to read this just said ‘yeah, you wouldn’t die, but I honestly wouldn’t’. Growing up in Warsaw, thirty 5-litre bottles would be delivered every other month and the biggest chore for me and my brother was to carry them all into the house because we’d find them dumped at the bottom of the porch one random morning. You don’t leave twenty bottles of water in the lawn with the tigermum prowling in the kitchen. So my brother and I would compete whoever can carry in more at once and we’d hobble in and out carrying 6 bottles at once (30kg); and of course the next day we’d wake up and feel all the muscles in our arms torn and absolutely refuse to go to school. (Then we’d spend the free day swinging broomsticks ‘lightsabres’ and end up being schooled by mother with one, or both.) I guess my point is, 30L is undoubtedly a hell of an ordeal to transport for an average person, but get this, through Giorgio Armani’s Acqua For Life campaign, one ‘like‘ will deliver 50L of safe water to those in real need. So unhide yo

kids, yo wife, and yo husband and tell them to get clicking. Unless you’re planning on doing it personally (and challenging airport security with 50L of water in your suitcase on your way to Bolivia) a click will do.

Shirt – Zara, Jeans – Levi’s, Sweater – Geiger

Will you hold my gurgling bag of cynicism and misanthropy for just a little while longer while I go titter looking at these photos again and occasionally squeal some? Mind, I’m doing this all in an ill-fitting (Age: 12-14 to be exact) Belle dress, but you couldn’t tell anyway because I’m also twirling like a maniac. Usually I’d trust the hubby to half look up from his Dungeons & Dragons game to tell me to snap out of it, woman, and go fetch him a sandwich but this time he’s also quite preoccupied with being prince Aladdin. ‘Prince Ali, fabulous he, is going to use the bathroom!‘ et cetera. It’s been nearly 2 weeks since we’ve been back from Disneyland, courtesy of Vienna International and Dream Castle Hotel, but the magic’s stuck with us, like it’s stuck with me for the past 20 years or goodness knows how long since my mother found out a Disney VHS is the best pacifier man has ever made. We had about 5 hours to play in the park (by we I mean the Jen & Fred couple + the hubby and I), so we busily fluttered around from ride to ride, getting salt-shaken here and spun around there… yeah, there really comes a time when you realise your body is not as compact and nimble as you like to think and that time is while you’re rattling up a dark tunnel and the rails suddenly disappear further up. Then it’s spit flying everywhere (think dog’s head out the window at 120kmph) and wondering if all your limbs are still intact. At the end of the day the stomach just seems to let go of any notion of what’s North or South and resigns to happy napping after being fed some cotton candy. It really was the most fun since watching girls trip on 5 inch heels on the cobblestones during the fashion week season and that’s saying a lot! Now give me back my gurgling bag. CACKLE.

Thank you Vienna International & Dream Castle Hotel for the best idea for a presstrip ever.

1    Cotton Shirt – Uniqlo Men, Jeans – Zara, Shoes – Friis & Company (via Zalando), Bag – Marc Jacobs via Monnier Freres, Boyfriend Watch – ASOS
2    Black trench – Calvin Klein (gift from mummy!), Cotton Shirt – Uniqlo Men, Trousers – Uniqlo, Shoes – secondhand Alexander Wang via Vestiare Collective, Diary – Filofax Enigma
3    Leather Cap – Ebay, Cotton Shirt – Uniqlo Men, Dress – ASOS, Jacket – H&M, Leather trousers -ASOS, Shoes – Chloe Sevigny x Opening Ceremony

The irregular geography of the warehouse conversion that is our flat lends a lifestyle not unlike a 11-year-old’s birthday party held in one of those kiddy indoor-playgrounds with rubber obstacles and plastic-ball pools that generally smell of feet and pee. OK, the latter probably not so much – on most days, at least – unless I once again decide to be clever with the pantry arrangement and place a melon on the top shelf and then 5 weeks later find out it’s leaked pee-like substance throughout the entire shelving unit. Rotten melon reeks of sweaty feet, why naturally! Anyhoo, from the mezzanine level I have a sweeping view of the entire flat, so by default anything that needs to be taken down to the lounge, or the general direction of the exit, is simply thrown down over the rails. With an accompanying ‘weeeeeeeeee’ noise at that. Said items either land on the bicycles or squarely on the couch, which is in fact where a haphazard pile of junk now lives – aka my new closet. Consisting of this Uniqlo Men’s pink cotton shirt, a few crumpled ‘silk’ tops, two pairs of jeans, a jersey dress, four jackets for the daily season-change and of course socks of unknown cleanliness sprinkled in between… these are things I’ve been pulling out for the past how many months I’ve had the day-job. If I’d known growing up was to be this messy I think I’d have followed the boy out the window when I had the chance, but then again looking at the state of the flat I’ve clearly convinced him to marry me and sign Neverland over in a prenup. From time to time I slide down the stairs’ handrail fireman-style and wail siren-noises to alert the hubby that I’m hungry.

Please do check out Uniqlooks to see what I’ve been up to and join in on the Uniqlo dress-up fun! Thank you Kit for helping with the first outfit and hubby for the rest!