Opshopping With Mum

Like my title suggest, I went opshopping with mum. It'll be quite the plot twist if it turned out I went ophopping with dad *dun dun dun*. 

Mum and I have been shopping nonstop the past 3 days and never returning home empty handed. Mum usually is one to hold me back from buying so much but every thing I asked for in the past 3 days had been given the green lights. Actually things I ask for usually get a green light but I have to have to do a lot (and I mean a lot) of self evaluation beforehand but I these past three days I only second guess myself a few times (down from the normality of a hundred times) and then asking mum for the item.

I think mum is picking up her habits from her early 20's that drove her sister and (secretly) my dad, insane. Yep you guess it, excessive and compulsive shopping. My aunt used to beg dad to control her spending but what was dad to do? Tell his beloved that her shopping habits are a huge concern and risking the biggest female tantrum known to mankind? No, he kept quiet. 

Mum eventually grew out of that phase but the aftermath of her early 20's are still hand-me-downs to today. 

Now however? I think she got the bugs again. 

Usually when we go shopping no matter how much I restrain myself from wanting, I will always end up with more goods than my mum at the end of our hunt but now? Mum has twice as much as me and I find myself having to wait for her to finish with a store every time. Yeah, me, waiting, finish, store. Say what? I take so long when it comes to shopping. I usually tone it down when I'm with friends, I can't imagine how irksome it would be to watch someone rake five times through every rack the store offers.

I thought, 'hey it only happened twice, forget about it', and so I suggested we go opshopping. Opshops have never been mum's thing. She thinks it's very likely to contract some type of disease from secondhand clothes and always give me a grimace when she see me bring home secondhand clothes. I though 'sweet, it's just an opportunity for me to go in and out quickly with new DIY items'. 

Ha ha ha ha.

SHE TOOK THREE HOURS.

I must have made 20 circles around the shop before getting exhausted and retreating to a coach while waiting for her.

Who are you and what have you done with my mum?

All in all it's great that she enjoyed it as well as me but I've got to say...I'm a little concern. I won't be suggesting a shopping trip any time soon.

Here's my haul (and at the end of it imagine my haul x5 to get an idea of how much mum bought):

Levis high waisted black jeans - Babes n' Dudes - $5

My favourite thrift for today! I've been searching online for black short shorts but for some reason that's not as easy as it sounds. The site doesn't ship to NZ, the shipping in too expensive, the shorts are too expensive, the cut is probably going to expose my bootay, my size ran out, not the style I want, untrustworthy site, and these are just some of the problems I encountered. 

Imagine my delight when I found a $5 - black - high waisted - Levis - jeans - THAT FIT MY LIKE A GLOVE. I have come to the conclusion I love buying jeans from opshops and turning them into shorts myself because I get the security of knowing my money's worth and adjusting it to exactly how I want. The only problem is I HATE going though the jeans sections in opshops. They are always so disorganise. So far the only opshop that I find has an orderly racking system of jeans is Retro Metro but that's only because their variety isn't extensive so no matter which one you pick up it's the one you want (that is if you're after vintage high waisted jeans in the smaller sizes). Everywhere else go luck trying to find your size, it's like playing needle in a hay stack. 

I picked this one up by pure accident. I skimmed through the jeans section with absolutely no expectation of finding one that will suit my needs, even though the store said '50% off all jeans'. Even after being shocked when I discovered them my hope still weren't high because I knew the fitting room is what comes next. BUT all my negative thoughts all melted into love at first sight (or first mirror sight) when I tried them on. 

You know what's even better? I've been looking for rolled up black shorts but was willing to settle for one that doesn't fold up. I though these pants legs wouldn't allow me to roll up the hems like most jeans as it's fitting around the thigh. I fully intended to distress the hems when I got home but during the adjusting procedure I couldn't resist trying to roll up the hems and oh sweet baby cheesus the pants legs whispered 'go ahead child, I was meant to be rolled up'. *Haaaaaaaaaaallelujah-lelujah-lelujah*

Victorian oil painting style button down - Babes n' Dudes - $5 

This may not be everyone's cup of time (I know it's not my mum's) but it sure is mine. I love this so much. At first I thought it was very Rococo but after a while I realise it's more Victorian. I think this is such something that will be perfect to wear on days I'm feeling artsy fartsy. C'mon, fat naked cherubs, who doesn't want to sport such a thing on one's shirt???

Tie dyed peasant top - Babes n' Dudes - $8 

I have a problem. I'm drawn to bohemian styled clothing, yet it's the middle of winter. I love this, it's quite an ambitious top. It's pursuing tie dye and the ink blue porcelain detailing.  

I was actually looking into tie dying some of my own things until I realised how expensive dye is yesterday when I checked in Spotlight. Finding this top today was like the universe looking out for me. 

I saw another top that also had the ink blue porcelain detailing AND scallop hems. It remained me so much of the architect of Greece (that I've seen in pictures) and of fine China because the blue was so magnificent against the white canvas. I would have got the top too but it had two equally major flaws. The first flaw I could have let it slide, which was it being a strapless top. I don't usually wear strapless top so it was a turn off but I would have bought the shirt anyways because it was that beautiful but it was the second flaw that made me want to cry. It had the ugliest satin sash across the stomach. I contemplated buying it anyways and turning it into a skirt but the fabric was much too thin to be a skirt and the fit was not as flared as I would like a skirt to be too. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. 

As you can tell, I'm very specific when it comes to clothes.

Floral chiffon dress - Salvation Army - $8

 Mum actually found this for me after I gave up on the dress rack. It has a tiny tear at the back that I can easily fix. Even if I don't fix it no one would even notice unless they insist on placing their face 3 inches from my body while I turn my back to them because of the busy print. I will fix it however, I just don't really want to wear a holey dress.  

Paisley halter top - Salvation Army - $1

 I'm not crazy about this top but I do think it's cute. It was only $1 so I couldn't leave it behind in store. The best part of this top is I feel a little like Gillain Zinser in it. This will probably be the closest I'll ever get to looking like a blonde beach babe surfing the waves of California since in reality I'm not blonde, I can't surf and I've never been to California.

Top - Glassons (Central city)

Cardigan - Tempt (Manukau)

Shorts - TradeMe (Anh's hand-me-down)

Shoes - Cambodia (Flea market)

Headband - DIY

Hype this one here.

This was the outfit I wore to go shopping. My current colour crush is mustard yellow. I've been wearing this cardigan religiously.

A GIF!

I ran into Gailene in the store which is the third time I ran into someone I know while shopping in this entire 2 weeks. I'm not good with seeing familiar faces in public because I literally don't see them. SS have told me I've snobbed a bunch of people, UNINTENTIONALLY. Julie swore I looked her in the eyes on Friday but I swear differently. I didn't see her at all until she called me out. I fail at being human sometimes. My new life's goal is to stop accidentally snobbing people.

Hope you guys enjoyed this post. More is on the way! ♥ (It's been a while since I've wrote my heart out in a post huh?)

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED THE ADDRESSES FOR THESE OPSHOPS ARE:
Babes n' Dudes: 49 Cavendish Dr, Maunkau City, Auckland.
Salvation Army: 16 Bakerfield Pl, Manukau, Auckland.

_____________________________________________

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They call me a little wound up

I was meant to go to hockey training today but it was cancelled, last minute. I had plan to go shopping after so I pushed that plan forward. I was too lazy to get change and went to the mall in sport shorts.

I had to pick up a new sim number (yes my new number was deleted AGAIN). I also had to pick up some things for business. Hopefully my business class will start to get better from this week forward.

My family have been faithful customers to McD since B.D.

 Oddly enough I didn't own a single LBD until today! Make that two.
Both are from Pagini. Most girls my age joke about Pagini being the go-to store during their "dark ages" (that weird stage during puberty) and how embarrassing it was. Though I also don't shop there anymore, I don't think the entire store is half bad. I just think it's aimed at an older target market. It was a surprise to find these two dresses to my liking after it's been years since my last purchase from the store.
Both dresses were in the sales rack and the last size 6 in their style! Lucky me.
The lace dress was $25 (coming down from $50). I've been meaning to buy a simple black go-to dress for some time now but never managed to find one.
The baroque style dress was $30 (coming down from $60). I've been obsessed over the brocade and baroque inspired style for some time now.

I think this is the flattest my face has ever appeared on photograph. Diksha likes to touch my face, she find it fascinating how incredibly flat it is. I should join a circus or something. I understand what she means since I like to touch SS's face and feel all the crevasse of a face with depth.

Anyways, i thought I might just want to help change your life and blow your mind with the video below.

My life has been a lie. After watching this video everything make sense. The cup size I've always worn have fitted me funny but considering how small my boobs are I thought there was no way in hell I'd be any sizes up and I've tried the cup sizes down but they also don't fit me... Until now I learn  YOUR CUP SIZE IS RELATIVE TO YOUR BAND SIZE. Now when I say I'm the cup size I am people are going to think I'm lying because my boobs are as flat as pancakes and everyone's understanding of my new cup size as it being enormous.
Like Bubz said you can be a "36A cup can actually be bigger than a 32B cup".  If you still find it hard to comprehend, think of it this way, your bra is reflective of your boobs relative to your body size. Your might think you have small boobs but RELATIVE to your body size your boobs may be a G cup. Similarly if you think your boobs are watermelons, compare them to your body size, they might be an A cup. You know how when you complain about your boobs and sometimes your bf or your friend will comfort you by saying "for your size, you boobs are fine", turns out they're not entirely lying to you because that concept is what cup sizes are all about.

I need to go bra shopping.

Goodbye for now my lovely readers!

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The last few drops of the holiday

I'm back! I'll try to fill in every thing that has happened since my last post to the best of my abilities.

Thursday

 A screenshot from the 02/05/13. I've reached 600+ fans! Thank you, thank you, thank you! My next goal is 10,000 karma, wish me luck. My lookbook: Serynastar.

 I made pho on Thursday too. I cheated because it was in a ready to made package BUT I added meat and onion.

In the evening I went shopping with my mum and brothers.

I took my brother jeans shopping, though he protested. In the end he picked a black/gray loose skinny jeans. I bought him jeans last year too for his birthday. He really hates getting clothes but I forced him to this time with good intentions. The last jeans I bought him he wears 24/7 and now hopefully this one one while split the working hours with his old dark blue skinnies. I also got him a game card, that was the deal if I were to buy him jeans.

Since mother's day was coming up I took mum to Strandbags and she picked out an evening clutch!

After wards the four of us went to McDonald's for dinner. I ordered the McSpicy, and it was not spicy. This happens a lot to me. I expect spice because well, they promise me so in the name but all the food does is tickle my tongue. Every time I make a remark like this people always get as-a-matter-of-fact on me and explain that it's because the food providers are catering for their general majority, which, can't handle spicy food.
First of, I know.
Second of, why would people who can't handle spicy food, order spicy food?
I dare you to go as-a-matter-of-fact on me for that question. Go on.
It's like me who hate celery going to order ants on a log. It. Doesn't. Make. Sense.
What made me laugh was McDonald's description of the Burger. They used words like "spicy" (obviously), "scorching" and "flaming".
You're cute. You're real cute.
One time I used the sauce in Nandos expecting spice because the restaurant is literally build off the Portuguese style and I figured they're one to handle spice. Nope. I was convinced the bottle was accidentally switched with tomato sauce or something until it happened to me a few times now. WHY POPULAR FAST FOOD RESTAURANT, WHY?

Once home my brothers moved two mattresses in my room and we had a sleepover while watching movies and tv series.

Friday

 I made cupcakes for SS and my brothers.

♥Varsity - Gifted from SS
♥DIY studded shorts - Dotti
♥Love belt - Valleygirls
♥Army green tee - Valleygirls
♥Platform sneakers - Hannahs

Hype my look here:  My heart is filled with you

 SS helped me take these outfit shots on Friday.

I then went to D's home to do a little studying.

A arrived later and we had take-aways before falling into a popular sport played by girls called talking.

A had to leave before me so while I was still at D's we watched more of Sword Art Online.

Mum picked me up in the evening and took me shopping with dad.

I third wheeled my parents while they walked hand-in-hand. I felt bad for dad when mum was shopping for clothes. The poor guy walked around like a lost puppy.

 My Body Shop peach scrub is nearly finished so I topped up on a new one. This time I opted for the Mango scrub (the peach one is in a tube). I've used their scrubs in a jar before but it was the lemon one which they discontinued. I remember the lemon one left behind oil on my legs every time I used it and at the time I didn't release how nice it felt until now where my legs are dry.

The very same night I fell for a new girl crush, Cara Develingne. I know she's been all over tumblr for some time now but only recently that I developed a level 2 girl crush on her (please refer to Jenna Marble's video explaining the level of girl crushes).

(source: http://www.modelinia.com/)

I'd wear everything she wears in a heart beat if I was as tall and skinny and pretty and perfect as her. She has such a lovable personality too!

I was stalking a few blogs dedicated to her and saying how I wish I was her when my 9 year old brother lectured me.
"You shouldn't want to be her because it'll make you depress and won't let you see the beauty within you. You look nice anyways, you don't need silly make-up to look better."

WHOA BACK IT UP. Since when in Pokemon did they teach you lines like that???

Saturday

 After work on Saturday I baked cupcakes again! The icing this time is raspberry flavoured and hardens.

 Later in the evening my family went out for dinner because no one was bothered to cook. This was what I wore.

♥Guess? singlet - Given to me by my cousin Beverly
♥Blazer - Given to me by A (but I know it's from Dotti)
♥Jeans - Glassons
♥Heels - The Warehouse
♥Bangles - Given to me by Emily (both on two separate birthdays too!)

You can hype my look here: Don't you know?

 It was my first time having Carl's Jr. Still deciding if I ever want to step foot in there again! Their burger was nice, I'll give them that but it was huge. I felt like dying afterwards and maybe I am on my way to because their burger looked like a heart-attack in digestible form.

It's strange because when I go to places like McDonald's, no much how much I eat, I always seem to have room for more.

Example, my Macca run above (shopping on Thursday) I had a burger, fries, drink, 6 pieces of nuggets and a frozen Fanta. If the opportunity had called, I would have eaten more.

At Carl's Jr, I had a drink -okay it was a large drink and given that Carl's Jr is pretty American the cup was huge, about as big as NZ's standard milkshake cup (with the giraffe on it). I then had a burger and their *chilli* fries. Afterwards I was full and wanted to crawl out of the store. I guess their portion size is humongous. Their burger is the size of someone's head, nearly. Their chilli fries were in a box, not a carton because that's not big enough, a box. I asked for a large drink because I was expecting a NZ conventional large size not an Amurekah large size (actually this size in America is probably medium).

Sunday

 Green tea and lemon.

 Today I went shopping with dad to pick up some tramp things and SS's birthday present.

 My tramp equipment so far.

 I'm taking two bags for personal hygiene.

 In the Lancome bag.

In the clear zig-lock travel bag.

 Grapefruit sprinkling soda while reading Listener.

 Outfit of the day.

♥Jacket - Valleygirls
♥Shirt - Cambodia
♥Shorts - Valleygirls
♥Studded Guess? belt - Farmers
♥Boots - Number One Shoes Warehouse
♥Satchel - Just Jeans
♥Pins - Personal collection

You can hype my look here: Dash of chakra

Don't forget to follow me on bloglovin if you like my posts♥

Shopping in the city on Anzac day

Hello my dear readers! Yesterday I went out shopping with D in central Auckland. Unfortunately we picked to go shopping on Anzac day, which isn't so bad but our initial plan was to go earlier but since the shops didn't open until 1 we arrived at around 12:30. 

Did you know from Flatbush it only takes about 25 minutes to get to the city despite contradictory belief? I suppose people think it takes longer because of the motor way but given that traffic is flowing you'll be in the city in no time at all.

Emily once bought me a few bracelets from Fiji and one of them fashioned these eyes. It wasn't until today that I found out what they are for. For those who don't now it's called Nazar and it wards of the evil eye (pretty much everything bad like jealousy/injuries/ill wishes). I'll be definitely wearing Nazar more as before I suspected it was religious and didn't want to offend other's from that religion but after educating myself I know this symbol has spread quite a bit from its origins, even as far as South East Asia where I'm from.

My first time trying AriZona. Mine was the Green tea with honey. It's nothing out of the ordinary and if you ask me, it tastes exactly like Lipton. Not to say it's bad, I like the drink, I'm just saying if Lipton is cheaper I would opt for Lipton. Though AriZona does have very pretty packagings.

We stopped by a Turkish pizza house before shopping as we did arrive slightly before 1 o'clock.

Stealing chips from Daisy.

Don't worry she had some of my pizza too, after all I had more than enough to share as I accidentally ordered the large pizza instead of the small. (I even had three slices left to bring home for my brothers)

First time I went into the underground Japan Dollar Mart. They sold high end Japanese skin care brands too! I was very tempted to grab an Aqua gel called Cure that Tricia Gosingtian had blogged about but it was $50+ and that would have broke half my budget for the day already. I guess next time if I still want it, I'll arrive at the store mentally prepared to spend that much.

D and I fumbled our way around the city trying to find hidden stores off the main street and we found this little plaza.

I wish this store was open, I would have liked to see what I'd look like with different coloured hair.

One of the many Asian stores in the plaza.

Stumbled across Ippondo after D desperately failed to find Dolly Wink eyeliners. I was a little curious myself as my cousin bought me one and I should like to be able to buy more for myself in future.

I wanted to try everything! However I had hardly bought any clothing item at the time and I know myself well enough to know I would fall in love with a lot of clothes that day. I refrained myself and only bought one thing from the place.

Having a break. D treated me to Starbucks because she thought I deserved it for reasons I shouldn't brag about here. I bought the mango (for D) and cappuccino (for myself) macaroons to test out Starbuck's quality. Taking D's word for it, she says it's a lot better than McDonald's macaroons since I've never tried their's.

Find this look on LookBook: Cause this city is my city

♥Dress shirt- gift from my cousin
♥Tights - Glassons
♥Shoes - Cambodia
♥Necklace - Diva
♥Bag - gift from mum

At least I know where to come if I'm overflowing with money.

Going up to D's hotel room (well her dad's but for the purpose of this post say "D's hotel room" is a lot easier to say than "D's dad's hotel room", but I may have defeated the purpose as I write this lengthy explanation).

The lift only works if you have a card, not creepy-stalker-friendly.

"Guess what floor."
"No I'll get it wrong."
"I'll give you 5 guesses."
"I'll get all 5 wrong."

The wind carried my dress.

Daisy took this one because I was too scared to lead over the railing.

I finally plucked up the guts to stand on the step and D caught my initial reaction on camera (on the left).

Jack I'm flying!

A day well spent, and by spent I mean we really spent.

View of the Harbour bridge.

D in her new shirt.

A better look of my make-up, though my orange lipstick had long came off since I ate pizza.

Here is an instagram shot I took before leaving the house where you can see my lipstick better. @serynastar

I originally was preparing for colder weather as the previous day was rainy but after sitting in my room before heading to D's house the sun beat down hotter and hotter, until I was forced to remove the beanie.

Haul time:

The Dolly Wink eyebrow powder was what I ended up getting from Ippondo. My old fake lashes came to their due date and so it's time to replace them.

This was actually the last thing I bought that day but it was the first thing I had decided to buy.

$16 for a belt is a bit much for me but it's very rare I ever come across a belt that fits me snug. Given that they hugged me with so much affection I'd be cruel to not take them home.

I had been eyeing out plain khaki green military style jackets for so long! I found one online which I was committed to buying but I found this one which were cheaper so it made sense to grab these instead. I bought quite a big size, two sizes up in fact but I think this style of jacket looks best over-sized anyways.

These cause a dilemma I face too often for my liking. They would fit my snug around my hips but hoola hoop around my waist. I bought them anyways because I figured I can always wear a belt (hint hint look above).

The whole day I had looked around every store for a basic baggy white tee but they were all $15-$25. Insane. Valleygirl was my last hope but I only found one in army green. I don't mind the colour so I decided to get them instead. I bought a bigger size because I was after the baggy look.

All and all I loved the day! Is it weird that I don't mind the crowded stores and busy cross roads? Though if I could change one thing would be their public toilets, they were...I don't even know how to describe them. Another point, the city has Valleygirl. You can not win me over any more than this. Valleygirl is my all time most shopped at store.

Let's end on a cheesy note:

I actually heard this in a store yesterday and that's how I discovered the song.

I'm off to play LoL now because I'm finally home for the whole day with nothing to do since holiday has started. Love, S xo