My immaculate dream~

Ten cool points for whoever knows where/what the title is from!~

Everything here (apart from the wedges- they're way old from when I was still in India!) has been purchased to support some sort of charity; the shirt is from the PDSA charity shop local to where I live, and the jacket/cardigan and skirt are both from the lovely Second Chance Dog Rescue Charity, who hosted an open day event last Sunday.

It was such a treat, with lots of adorable mutts milling about with their doting owners (or shall I say "their humans"?), with music and food (that we didn't actually sample, as we were saving ourselves for the Thai festival in town which promised delicious delicacies- more on that in a moment, though!). It was just such a fun little shindig to go to, and definitely the sort of thing I want to do more often. It wasn't even so much about the clothing I bought (even though any money raised goes straight to the darling dogs!) but just the atmosphere of the place. You know you're at home when you can look about you and spot people simply mad about their pooches, just like yourself. Unfortunately (or fortunately...) I was so engrossed in cooing over all the gorgeous doglets around, I completely forgot to take any photographs, even though I had my camera right with me! Oh well- hopefully I'll have more opportunities to go to events like that in the future that I can document properly!

After the open day, we dropped the puplet home, and after a quick cuddle and feeding, drove off to the Thai festival I previously mentioned. I cannot begin to explain what an intense riot of colours, sights, smells, and sounds it was; definitely something to experience. I've found that Southampton's pretty brilliant when it comes to multiculturalism- there's an Indian mela (fair) that takes place every year, I think, at the same Hoglands Park that the Thai festival was hosted at- and so you're never short of opportunities to experience little tasters of other cultures. I haven't been to the mela yet, however I believe it's on some time within the next two weeks, and I'm definitely looking forward to going to that!

Can you believe that they actually had a "Miss Thai Southampton" beauty pageant at the festival!?

I can't say I was a massive fan of Thai food, which is slightly weird, considering I totally adore Chinese food, and I think the two are pretty similar, really. Oh well, each to his own!

This is turning out to be a massive post, but we just did so much that Sunday! I loved every second of it. When we got home, mum and I did a bit of gardening and sprucing up the front garden, and it made us even more exhausted, but there was something very peaceful and soothing about planting flowers and just generally tending the garden. I think I'll be trying my hand at more gardening at some point! Also, I got a few photographs from the activity, so overall, it was absolutely worth it.

Let me know how your weekend went! Did you do anything exciting? What did you get up to? I'd love to hear all about it.

~Ash

My immaculate dream~

Just a quick update!

Going through my reader today, I stumbled upon this post by "forevertheuglyduckling" talking about ELF brushes being made from animal hair!? I had no idea. I'm not big on brushes, and own only a few cheap supermarket branded ones for my limited blusher and eyeshadow needs, but I know a lot of people are really into brushes; especially ELF ones. Personally, this totally shocked me- and the fact that they don't even state that they're made from animal hair makes it seem all the more dodgy!

Were you aware of this? And how do you feel about it? Does this make you more or less into the brand? Let me know!

~Ash

Just a quick update!

"Belty"

This post is the first of its kind on my blog; not an outfit post, just a "what I did with my day" sort of ramble.
It was my stepdad's birthday yesterday (the 29th, in case of time zone differences!)and I was supposed to be at college, but out of sheer coincidence, my alarm didn't ring in the morning, and so I overslept and didn't end up going in at all. How convenient, seeing as when my parents got home from shopping and picking my little brother up from town, I was prepared to go out- practically begging to go out, seeing as I was bored out of my mind!



We went to dinner at Rancho's Steakhouse, in Southampton, and I've got to say, the place is a total violation of pretty much everything I believe in! It's got cow skins up on the wall, on the backs of chairs, and a very limited selection of food if you're vegetarian. But I'm not yet, and so I actually had the chance to sample the food they pride themselves on- only to find out that it's all actually rather yum. We ordered the ribs, nachos, and chili con carne for starters, and they do the best ribs I have ever tasted- and this coming from someone that isn't even a fan of ribs! The chili con carne was more like soup, but I was feeling in a ~soupy~ mood, so it was fine. The nachos were practically gone by the time I'd left the restroom, so I can't quite comment on them, except the dip that came with them was totally lush! (By the way, the restrooms in there are amazing. Immaculately clean, and so stylish! Personally, I thought the restrooms put the rest of the place to shame, ha!)




For our main courses, we all had very different dishes, and I've got to say, I've never enjoyed mushrooms and spinach that much before! The chicken could have been better, but it was definitely above average- I think, though, that the place's forte is steak. Both my parents ordered variants of steak, and they both really thought it was well cooked to their liking. I think that was the main idea- I wanted them to have an amazing time, and I think they did.



I think the highlight of the evening was my mum asking my stepdad how his new belt felt, and my stepdad responding with, "~belty~". That sounds like an awful highlight, but I suppose it was one of those "you had to be there" moments, you know?

Ever had any "you had to be there" moments? What were they? Let me know!

"Belty"

how the hell am I supposed to leave?

Am I the only one that goes into shop sales and starts sorting out all the clothing that's in the wrong place, replacing clothes onto hangers and shelves off the floor? Because that's exactly what I did at H&M's massive sale. Really. I just sorted stuff out.
I initially went in to look around at things I could buy my mum for her birthday on the 9th, but ended up spending about £25 on myself. Whoopsie daisy! I did buy her some nice jewellery that I hope she'll like, as well as a bunch of other bits and bobs from different places. Went into Dorothy Perkins too, as that's her favourite high street store, and got her a few bits from in there. Hopefully she'll love them!

I bought this jumpsuit at H&M, in the sale, for £10. It was the last one in my size, too, so I was dead chuffed! But it was the only one on the rack that didn't have the sale tag on it- and I'm always paranoid about things like that as I get all flustered when asking about things and whether they're on the sale or not, etc. But I did it anyway; very proud of myself, of course!

Do let me know what kind of sale shopper you are, though- are you vindictive and relentless in your hunt for a bargain? Or do you sort out other peoples' messes?!

how the hell am I supposed to leave?

The hottest spot north of Havana.

The hottest spot north of Havana.

'Cause if you're not really there

black jaeger blazer - charity shop - £6.75

heather gray woollen tights - New Look - £5

black basic shorts - Matalan

black legwarmers worn as knee high socks

light blue boyfriend t-shirt - New Look - £10

black flower corsage brooch - Claire's
I'm so in love with my new blazer- and I'm rather pleased I managed to get it for only £6.75. Charity shops can be brilliant for stand-alone pieces and rare finds like this one.
This entire outfit is sort of inspired by a lot of people I see both at college and on Lookbook, and I think it's actually quite adventurous of me to have attempted to pull off a semi-formal look like this. I was absolutely bricking it about the legwarmers/knee highs! To be fair, I spent the majority of my day pulling them back up my legs as they kept slipping down towards my calves. They're an old pair, and the elastic is now, sadly, non-existent. Hopefully I'll be able to invest in a couple new pairs at some point, although even if I don't, no harm done, really.

Anyway, I hope you're well, and that the winter isn't treating you too harshly. Keep warm! x

'Cause if you're not really there

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Part I of my birthday weekend "haul".

This is my first ever post here, so do excuse me if the fact that I'm a complete newbie is obvious. I have a blog on Tumblr- this one- and while I am primarily a photo-blogger there, lately I've been very interested in fashion blogging- therefore the creation of this blog. I follow some really amazing people, such as Bekah and Lily, whose posts initially inspired me to create this blog/to start fashion blogging.

To begin with, I think I should talk a little about myself- my name is Anshika, although I am known as "Ash" by almost everybody. I'm of Indian origin, but I currently reside in the small port city of Southampton, in England. I love it here, and think of this as my home, as compared to anywhere else in the world.

I turned seventeen two days ago, and I suppose you could say that I'm beginning a new project by creating this blog- new start and all that jazz.

I'm five feet, seven inches tall, and weigh about eleven stone. That's overweight for my age/height, but I'm working on it. I suppose this blog will (hopefully) document my progression towards being a healthier weight-

not only so I look better, but feel better and more confident too.

I go to sixth form college, and take photography, media studies, English literature/language, and communication & culture. I'm not a massive fan of college, but mostly because I just miss school. It's a permanent ache inside me, and I'm fine with the fact that it won't go away.

PS: Here's some people I think you need to follow. 1. 2. 3.

Part I of my birthday weekend "haul".