Two great reads (book reviews)

I love reading! So I thought today I would talk about two books that I read this year. You may or may not have noticed that at the side of my page, I have a list of books I read this year. If you want to know about any of them, feel free to leave a comment asking!

Summer at Tiffany

-by Marjorie Hart

This book was a memoir written by the first female sales page at Tiffany. The book documents the Summer of two young university student as they work in Manhattan at the famous Tiffany's. It also intertwines with the end of the war and what it was like to experience it in New York.  The book was really good, well written and easy to read. It's language is simple and does not require too much concentration. It's not one of those books that ropes you in and you can't stop reading, but it's not one that you have to force yourself to finish. It was funny, interesting and overall very enjoyable. Might be a good book to read on the plane. 

Seraphina

-by Rachel Hartman

Set in medieval times, this book is definitely one of my favourite books. It deals with a teen leaving her home to work as a music assistant in the court. Her father urges her too stay out of the lime light, for good reasons too, but her exceptional talent gains interest. Seraphina lives in a world where humans and dragons have an  alliance, and neither species trusts the other. Dragons can take the form of humans. This protagonist is half-dragon, half-human in a world where interbreeding is taboo. She does not believe that any others like her exist until visions in her "mind garden" lead her to others like her. There is an evil plot within the castle and dragons are suspected. She works to try and stop it, uncovering many secrets along the way. This book was very gripping and well written. My only complaint is that it contains talk of all their saints, it was confusing and not vital to the plot. Beware, the book will seem strange when you begin to read it, but you will soon get into it. All in all, it was a fantastic book.

Hectic month

Ahhhh! I can't believe five months have already gone by this year. To top it off, I have barely blogged this whole month. I have an excuse.

Let me just give you a break down of my entire month...
At the beginning of the month, I left home to celebrate Meggyums' graduation up in Texas. I was there for two weeks, and when I came back midnight last Sunday, I was overwhelmed by school work. My entire last week of living has been filled with school work. I went to sailing on Friday, and ended up sitting in the restaurant copying History notes. I woke upon Saturday to copy more notes, then left to go rankings. There was a bad squall when we were launching, but we launched anyway. The squall sucked out all the wind so our racing was not very effective. I sat in the same place for about 20 minutes. Whatever wind that pushed me forward, was going against the strong current.
We went to a "beach house" down the islands right after rankings. That was fun. Dad shot a little baby eel with his spear gun while we were snorkeling that night. We came back on Sunday evening, after which I proceeded to copy the last bit of my history notes. I made no progress on my science notes this weekend.
This week I only have school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I think I am spending Thursday, Friday  and Saturday sailing/doing sailing related this since we have a regatta over the long weekend. I haven't been to gymnastics in almost a month! Tomorrow hopefully.

A little sneak peek at our trip. Photos to come soon!

OOTD: roses and turquoise

Sorry for my absence. I was extremely busy with school and such.
This ootd was just from when I went to lunch with my family.

Also, lets wish Happy Birthday to my cousin Vana! Love you!

Dress: Roxy (similar)
Cardigan: Talbots
Shoes: Birkenstocks
Please ignore my face

Earrings: Etsy

Headband: Forever 21

DIY bow clips + fun ways to wear them

Bows are clips such a cute accessory and so easy to make, so I thought I would show you how to make them two different ways.

Some fabric of your choice ( <1 yard)
Hot glue gun
Pinking sheers
Clip of your choice

 1- Decide how wide and tall you want your bow to be. Double the width and add an inch, and triple the height and add an inch.
2- With the wrong side up, fold the bottom up to the middle, and let the top overlap the edge of the bottom. Glue down this flap to make something like a tube.
3- decide how wide you want your center to be and triple it. I like mine about ¾ inch so my width will be
3 ¼ inches. Cut a rectangle 3 inches × 3 ¼

  inches.
4- Create a tube using this piece of fabric the same way you did in step 2.
4½ (Forgot to take a picture)- With your larger "tube", fold the left side into the middle of your tube and  fold the right into the center, overlapping the left side. Using a dot of glue in the middle, glue it down.
5- Glue the end of the smaller tube onto the seam you glued in step 4½. Fold as shown in picture 5, wrap the tube around tightly and glue over the other end of the tube. Trim off the remainder of the smaller tube.
6- Glue your clip onto the back and enjoy!

front and back of the completed bow

two different ribbons, one 1½ inches wide and one ¾ inches wide
glue gun
pinking sheers
clip of your choice

 Using ribbon is a lot easier as the ends do not have to be "finished"
The length of the wider ribbon needs to be three times the width you want your bow to be. The wider ribbon   is about three inches long.
1- With your wider ribbon, fold the left side into the middle of your ribbon and  fold the right into the center, overlapping the left side. Glue the ends together.
2- Glue the end of the thinner ribbon onto the seam you glued in step 1. Pinch the center where the seam is together, wrap the ribbon around tightly and glue over the other end of the ribbon. Trim off the remainder of the thinner tube.
3- Glue your clip onto the back and enjoy!

Here are a few cute ways to style them!

On the side if a high bun looks adorable

I love how bows look tucked under a bun. I saw this on
@monogrammedprep 's instagram. I love her instagram and
recommend that you go follow her. Follow me too
@mimmyums

bows also look cute when you clip them onto a strap on your purse!




I thought it might be cool to include the songs I listened to while making these bows! I just put my iPod on shuffle, so it's a little peek into what's on my iPod
Twilight Omens- Franz Ferdinand
Send him away- Franz Ferdinand
Carried away- Passion Pit
Little talks- Of Monsters and Men
Red Paint- Matt and Kim
Rolling in the Deep- Adele
Golden Skans- Klaxons
Milk and Money- The Fratellis

sailing camp- where memories are made

Hello! The week past and next week I am on Easter vacation. I've been assistant instructor-ing at the Easter sailing camp and it's been pretty funny for others, not so much for me. Just a break down of my week.

Tuesday: This was the first day of camp (Monday was a public holiday). After lunch, one of the 420s capsized too close to shore and the mast got stuck in the mud. Add to that the fact that this is an old 420 with leaks in the hull that takes around 10 minutes to right. The two adult instructors went out to right it, leaving me (14) and Noah (13) with around 15 miserable under-12 boys to teach. One boy tried playing cricket with an almond and a piece of wood, hit another one in his face with both the almond and the wood. He had to get NINE stitches.  Oh, I had gymnastics right after!

Wednesday: During the camp itself was ok, it was after that was bad. Some of the other monitors and I decided to go in the pool after camp. I left my towel on a bench by the pool and when I came out, it was gone! I walked around the club looking for it for about half an hour in a bikini. I was cold. By the way, I still haven't gotten my towel back.

Thursday: This was the normal-est day of the week. I almost ran over a mark with the power boat and the campers in the boat thought they were going to die. They didn't. I was supposed to go sailing afterwards, but Mum got sick so I couldn't stay back. :(

Friday: Last Easter camp I told a guy in 420 he wasn't evolved enough to learn to sail. He came back this year and threw me in the pool about three times. I was supposed to go to gymnastics afterwards but Mum got sick again so dad had to come pick me up. He would come too late for me to go so I went sailing in my opti. There was so much nice wind! (18-20 knots) I tacked and went to hike, but my foot wasn't under the hiking strap and I fell head-first into the water. Noah stopped his boat to laugh. When we came back in, some of the 420 campers and two of the instructors were still there, playing with fire. (Dumb!) One of the instructors tried it, got scared, fell back and broke a table in the restaurant. They got in trouble. It was pretty funny.

P.S. The Suave leave-in conditioner has been saving my hair and making it easier to brush when I come home too late to wash it. I put it in in the morning before I go sailing, or if I wash it the night before, I will just shampoo and put this in when it's dry. It really strengthens my hair and protects it from the chlorine and salt. I found it in the grocery. 

Easter outfits

Hello everyone and happy Easter and holi to you. I hope you have a fantastic and blessed day. I just thought I would share my two Easter outfits with you today, and look forward to some extra blogs this week!

I went to church this morning and I am about to leave to go for Easter lunch at my aunt. I may post photos tomorrow!

Church Outfit
Tank top: J.Crew
Skirt: Lilly Pulitzer
Cardigan: Lands' End
Shoes: Anne Klein
Earrings: H. Stern
Headband: Home made

Lunch Outfit
Tank top: J.Crew
Shorts: J.Crew
Sash: Kidnapped from a Lilly Pulitzer skirt
Shoes: Birkenstock (mine are an aqua colour)

bows are the best gift in life!

Yay! I'm back! Sorry for not posting, but I had end of term exams. I won't be home for my holidays, but I should get up at least one post a week for you.

Now can we please take a moment to love and admire bows? They are adorable, and I am sure not one girl is without a bow somewhere in her cupboard. Bows can be on anything, and just as they finish off the wrapping of a present, they can pull your entire outfit together.

Without a doubt, J.Crew makes the BEST bow tops. Bow tank tops are an essential to any girls wardrobe. Whenever I  don't know what to wear with a skirt or pair of shorts, I just say "I guess I'll wear my bow top!" I have mine in the preppy girl's staple colours: white, navy and hot pink.
Meggyums got me this long sleeve bow top on sale and I love it! J.crew long sleeve tops are the comfiest. Basically the same rules apply to this top as the tank. This is a tad bit dressier and is an essential in all colours for anyone living in a cold place.

Bow belts and high waisted skirts go hand in hand. If you own one waist belt it should have a bow on it. I wear this nude one with ANYTHING. Forever 21 has a wide variety of the cutest bow belts, all under $5. I wish someone would buy all for me.
The first two bow hair-clips were homemade my me. Aren't they the most adorable things ever? Comment if you want me to show you how to make them. If you aren't that crafty, my sequin bow is from Forever 21. I don't usually wear black but I got this one because it bends my school uniform. (Shhhhh!)

Finally, Meggyums got me my ultra-cute tea-time bow earrings on etsy. I love how mismatched they are! My pearl and bow bracelet is super adorable and not to mention cheap.I got it from Forever 21. 

OOTD: Eyelet and polka dots

from left to right:
home-made, China Town ($10), home-made

Top: Justice $15
Skirt: Land's End (mine does not have the smocked waist) $30
Cardigan: New York & Co. $30
Sandals: Lands' End $10
Purse: J.Crew (gifted but similar ones can be found at Target)

I'm just glad I got through an entire outfit without pink (except the bracelet but that doesn't matter)
The point of this post was to show you that preppy fashion does not have to be expensive and CAN be bought at Target.

Comment if you want to see how to make the bracelets.

Fix your boxy dresses

Sometimes (mostly when shopping online) you see the cutest dress ever, buy it and when you try it on you realise it fits like a box. Sucks right? the solutions to your woes are easier than you think. Just head over to Forever 21 and pick up some skinny waist belts! Honestly, they have the best belts at the best prices. Three belts for $10, not on sale? 

Here are two examples of a box-turned-not dress

had this dress for a couple of years but never wore it. Love it now and just itching for an opportunity to wear it!

 Belt: J.Crew (paid about $5 for it during a sale, but if you're not as lucky, forever 21 has a similar one)
Dress: Roxy (love their dresses by the way)

 

 

Could only wear this with a cardigan, the bow belt dressed it up!

Belt: Forever 21

Dress: Lands' End (similar)

P.S. Don't you love the puppies that I added to the page?