going back in time, pt. 4

Leather jacket - Aunt's old

Dress - Vintage

Owl ring - Topshop

Hair ribbon - Don't even know

Shoes - Primark

Firstly, I'd like to think that the quality of my photos has gotten a wee bit better during the years. Seriously, that first photo is just hilariously awful. The whitish gray shoes I destroyed in one winter, but that bag still exists. I've given it to my mum though, and she seems happy to use it:-) Silk ribbons and bows in my hair was kind of my thing those days, and I think I'm going to bring it back! You could actually see a ribbon now without all the hair, haha. As to the dress, it continues to be one of my favourites. It's far too comfortable. And it's deep blue and has pockets and zippers. What else does one need?

eve eve and christmas lights

Dress - Self-made

Coat - Still Young Vintage

Wellies - Melissa

I did not wear red on Christmas, but I did wear this dress on Christmas Eve's Eve. It's just part of Christmas; I wore it last year and the year before. And I'll probably wear it next Christmas, too! What you've not seen me wear before is another thing.. I would never have thought I'd buy myself a coat like this for several reasons. 1. It's green, and I don't really like green. 2. It's an army coat! 3. It's not really my style. And so forth. But after I finished watching "Freaks and Geeks" (which is the best TV show, by the way), I just wanted to be Lindsay, bought the coat and love it. Anyway, I wore this when I went to see the second part of "The Hobbit" (which, by the way, is too good).

I'm leaving for my Germany&Austria trip tomorrow, and will be back next year, hehe! I've got some 'going back in time' -posts still in my drafts and will try to get them scheduled, so it probably won't be completely quiet here on the blog.

P.S. I also recently joined Instagram and if you fancy seeing strange pictures of my life, you're more than welcome to follow! Or at least leave a link so I can follow you! I'm @elsummerviolet there (,as well as on Twitter) :-)

thursday thoughts pt. 20

I love this. How true is it that we don't often even realize that we are actually happy? Hope you're all having a beautiful Boxing Day!

christmas eve will find me

 Dress - H&M

Cardi - Mum's old

Earrings - New look

I don't know if this dress has been seen on the blog, but I've owned it for over a year. Instead of wearing red every Christmas for days and days, I decided that white lace could be just as festive. But couldn't get rid of red nails, lips and cardi..

Hope you've all been having a wonderful Christmas Eve, and that the Christmas Day tomorrow will be even more delightful! I'll soon be on my way to midnight mass, and possibly start opening presents once I get back home:-) And tomorrow I'll most likely be sporting one of my biggest dresses so that I can eat loads. (I wouldn't risk wearing this white one!) Merry Christmas❤!

non-existent snow

Skirt&Over-knee socks - H&M

Top&Shoes - Primark

Cardi - Grandma's old

Leather jacket - Auntie's old

Bag - Dad's old

Bracelets - Gift/Avon

I've been enviously looking at all the photos of other bloggers in snowy climates. I don't really like snow that much once it's here, but I do wish for it when there's none. I mean, who doesn't want a white Christmas? And having lived in Finland for most of my life, I'm pretty accustomed to having snow for ~6 months. I'm even prepared for snow this year and have bought two winter coats, haha! One of them arrived earlier this week and I'm still waiting for the other one. I'm not needing them that much at the moment, as I'm still dressing pretty lightly. I do occasionally zip up my jacket though, and think about taking mittens and/or a hat with me when leaving the house.

But even if there isn't any snow in Leeds for Christmas (which there probably won't be), I'm hoping there will be in Germany and Austria. I'm going on a wee trip after Christmas/for New Year's and am rather excited. If anyone has ever been to and has some nice tips&places to visit in Munich, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Innsbruck, I'd be more than happy to hear them! And in the mean time, I hope everyone's pretty much ready for Christmas!

thursday thoughts pt. 19

Remember my Thursday Thoughts? It's not as I stopped writing quotes down, only left them unfinished. Hope you're glad to see this, because I'm making it a thing again! Anyway, I love this quote; so clever, hopeful and optimistic.

nailed it

These photos didn't turn out too great, but it's just my nails. I have a hard time not adding glitter to my nails every time I do them. Now that it's holiday season I think it's maybe a bit more acceptable. (Although I'll be doing it even when everyone's really sick of it, aha!) I don't really have a preference for gold or silver, so I added both equally over the black nail polish.

we're never done with killing time

Jumper - 2nd hand

Dress (as a skirt) - Vero Moda

Leaher jacket - Auntie's old

Shoes - Primark

These were taken a wee while ago, and that was one windy day! Both my hair and the skirt of my dress were all over the place. One thing I've not been wearing lately is make up. I've had a stye in my eye for three weeks and it's been awful. I know you should actually go and see a doctor if it lasts over two weeks, but I'm not too keen on that. I'll go if it hasn't healed completely in a month or so... It's better though, and I even dared to try what it'd be like to doll up again these past two days. But I've gotten so used to having no make up that I really just wanted to get home, wash my face and rub my eyes, haha! So, I think all this has happened because I've been doing my make up more regularly after getting my hair cut, and especially used a lot more eyeliner. (Because obviously, my lack of sleep and watching too much TV can't have anything to do with it.) The Rimmel Exaggerate liquid eye liner has been a member of my make up bag for years and years, and I thought maybe changing the eyeliner I use would help? If anyone of you, who wears eyeliner pretty much daily, has anything (not too pricey) to recommend, I'd very much appreciate that!

going back in time, pt. 3

 Leather jacket - Auntie's old

Body - 2nd hand

Skirt - Self-made

Clutch - New look

I really like my hair in the original picture, there's so much of it! I'm not wishing I still had it though, I'm very much enjoying having short hair. The only thing I've changed in the outfit is the bag, but that's not too much and at the time I did own the one in the newer pictures too. The older bag was 2nd hand and the clip that was supposed to keep it shut never worked. I still used that bag almost religiously and felt quite sad when I finally decided to throw it away. Then there's the skirt; one of the first things I've sewn for myself and I still love it. I have the fabric in pink too, and plan to sew a dress out of it at some point! As winter is coming (Game of Thrones, anyone?), you'll also see that I wear my leather jacket all the time. It's been in the use of my auntie, my mum, myself and I plan to hand it down to my future children too:-)

Also, the biggest thank you for all the beautiful comments left on my last post. They really made me feel better, and you're all so sweet❤!

daddy

I can't really remember ever talking about my dad on the blog. I might be wrong, but in general I don't talk about him a lot. Sometimes it's because I can physically feel the awkwardness it causes to other people when you casually mention your father is dead ("Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know.." "Oh, it's fine! Nothing to be sorry about!" "..."), sometimes it's because I still don't feel like talking about it. Most of my friends never met my dad so they don't know what he was like and I can't talk about him with them. And my semi-dysfunctional family hardly ever mentions him either, so at times I strongly feel like he's being forgotten about and I hate that. Because I still do remember everything like it was yesterday. I remember how I stopped going to the hospital as seeing the cancer literally eating up my father and him getting so weak was too much for me. I remember mum coming home from the hospital with dad's suitcase and myself asking if he was coming home. I remember the look on her face, and holding my sobbing mother in my arms. I remember my teacher telling about his death to my whole class the next day and how most of them thought it was a joke. I remember how much everyone cried and I didn't. I also remember the night I first cried about dad's death years and years after it all happened. And I remember the first time I couldn't remember what he looked like and how shocked that made me. Remembering it all can be so painful, but after all the memories are all that I have. It's been 11 years today. The 7th December is always the hardest for me and today I cannot believe how much I miss having a father.

It's also my mum's cousin's funeral today. He was my favourite of all her cousins (my mum actually has so many cousins that I haven't met even half of them), and I'm really disappointed in myself for not making the effort to be there. All in all, it's been a pretty forlorn day.

st. john's

 Leather jacket - Auntie's old

Cardi - 2nd hand/Topshop

Shirt, Socks&Shoes - Primark

Bandeau - Gina Tricot

Skirt - H&M

Bag - Dad's old

I'm still really liking the whole print on print on print thing. You can't really see the polka dots on the bandeau under the shirt, but they're there alongside with the wee boxer pups and lil' hearts. And I've started wearing a jacket, so I suppose it's officially winter! Anyway, this is a church I sometimes walk by in the city and it's pretty. I don't really have anything to say 'cause I'm busy watching "The Dick van Dyke Show". Catch you later (, maybe I'll actually make sense in the next post)!

footwear

 Over-knee socks - H&M

Shoes - Primark

 I know I'm still on a shopping ban (only a month to go!), but I actually needed to buy myself a couple of items. Which is allowed when it's almost an emergency. The sole of the shoes I usually wear to uni half-dropped off, so I was in a desperate need for a new pair of winter shoes. And, to be fair, last spring I threw away my winter boots from last year, and would've needed a new pair anyway. I was determined to get brown ones, as too often one buys black shoes that'll go with everything. Brown goes with everything too, right? I suppose I didn't really need a new pair of over-knee socks, though.. But it's about to be winter and these are so nice&warm. They aren't the kind of socks that are too tight, making it look like your legs are overflowing from the socks. Yet they aren't too loose to fall off. However, sadly, I'm a bit of a grandma and  most excited about these slippers:

Slippers - Primark

P.S. Don't forget to open your advent calendars today (and for the rest of December)! I can't even remember when was the last time I was this excited for Christmas, which is a bit odd as this'll be the first Christmas I'll spend alone. But now that it's December, I'll start listening to Christmas songs and watching Christmas films, starting with Love Actually. Hooray!