5 Ways to Wear: How to Style a Dark Floral Pencil Skirt

Click here for other item details on Polyvore
 
You might remember I featured this skirt last week in my Australian Shopping Picks! Well, I went in store again this week to actually try it on. It is absolutely stunning!  I am in love with it. It actually has quite a sheen to it too  (this shows more in the video online) which lends it more to dressier/night time looks. I thought I’d style it for all occasions here though as a general example of a dark floral pencil skirt.
I didn’t end up buying this in the end – I bought the dress instead! I was planning to feature that here too but it looks like it’s sold out online (there were only a few left in store too- doesn’t surprise me). The dress in an identical print but doesn’t have quite the same sheen to it. It’s every bit as lovely if you’re lucky enough to see it in stores :)
Click here for other item details on Polyvore
Jacqui-E does post internationally starting from $25. If you check it out make sure you double check the sizes as Australian sizes are a little different. If I get a chance in the next couple of days I’ll try and track down some more dark floral skirts available internationally too.
Which look is your favourite??? Are you in love with dark florals as much as me??

Linking up with: Funday Monday, Whims Wednesday, Three-Fer Thursday,

Baked Sweet Potato Chips with Chilli, Sea Salt and Coconut Oil

It was a bit of a grey drizzly day today (it’s really starting to feel like Autumn now) so I thought I’d treat myself to something warm, nourishing and delicious for lunch. My brother first taught me this recipe about a year ago now and it’s since become a favourite. It’s super easy and a great quick, healthy snack idea. This would be just as delicious with a number of different seasonings and vegetables too (I wrote some ideas under the ingredients list). Have fun making these!
Baked Sweet Potato Chips with Chilli, Sea Salt 
and Coconut Oil
Ingredients:
Sweet Potato
Ground Cayenne (Chilli) Pepper (a good couple of pinches per potato)
Sea Salt (a good couple of pinches per potato)
Coconut Oil (about 1tbs per potato)
Extra Coconut Oil to serve (melted)
You good also add/use: Any sweet, citrusy or spicy herbs/spices – cumin, coriander, paprika, sumac, cinnamon, nutmeg, rosemary, thyme, sage, curry powder, garlic powder, honey, maple syrup. Olive oil, butter, ghee, sesame oil. Sour cream/chives, cream cheese, sweet chilli sauce to serve. You can pretty much make these with any root vegetable too – carrots, beets, potatoes, turnip, parsnip, pumpkin.
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 190oC (375F). Peel potatoes and slice into thin, even rounds with either a knife or mandolin. Don’t worry about the ends, they are kind of tricky – I save them to roast with other vegetables later. The thinner you are able to cut them the crunchier they will be, the thicker – the chewier.
2. Mix potatoes with oil, salt and chilli in bowl, making sure they are coated evenly.
3. Arrange slices on baking sheets and cook for 10-15mins. Flip pieces over and cook for a further 10 or until pieces begin to brown slightly. You may have to take some of the thinner pieces out earlier as they will burn otherwise. If you find they brown too quickly you may need to drop the temperature of the oven slightly.
4. Yay! You’re done – some chips will be crunchy and others chewy. I think it’s really nice to have a mix of both. As soon I take them out of the oven I placed them on baking rack to cool down for a couple of minutes as they are quite steamy.
Eat them hot. My absolute favourite way to eat them is by dipping them into warm coconut oil – it’s so delicious. I think it’s the best part of eating them! You could also use olive oil, butter or sour cream too or just have them on their own. You might want to add extra salt and chilli too.

These are yummiest dipped in melted coconut oil – Sour cream in rather nice too.

The chips don’t tend to keep too well so eat straight away (I imagine you probably will anyway)

Have you ever made chips at home? What sort have you made? Let me know how you like these :)

PS: I did a (quick) recipe for apple cinnamon chips a couple of months back too

Where to Find and Buy Specific Items Online – 5 Great Sites for Fashion

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 Click here for item details on Polyvore 
(Shoes from ASOS and Wittner)

I love browsing shops when I don’t have anything in mind to buy but when I am in need of something specific I can find it a real headache. Since I’ve started blogging I’ve discovered some great sites that really help you search for and track down a specific item. I have 5 favourites and I thought I’d share them with you today :)

I love Shop Style! This site is AMAZING. I was blown away when I first discovered this. Shop Style is basically a search engine that allows you to search for products across hundreds of online stores all at once. You can specify price range, colour, brand, shop and sale/discounted items. It’s available in lots of different countries too. I use the Australian site which includes lots of local stores (like Myer and the Iconic) as well as larger international sites (such as Boohoo, Forever 21, ASOS, Nordstrom). You can create an account on this, favourite items, create lists, specify favourite shops and get sale alerts too.
The Find is a a similar site to Shop Style in that it searches across hundreds of online stores all at once and collaborates results into one simple list. The Find has some different stores to Shop Style and I usually get quite different results when I search there. Like Shop Style you can specify price range, colour, brand, store and many other things in regards to sales and payment. The Find has both a US based site and a UK one. It currently doesn’t have a way to search for internationally available items, so if you do live somewhere else you will have to sift through search results yourself to discover if they are available to you. I actually save a list of shops within my account that I know ship to Australia and then only search within those stores, which works really well.
Amazon is actually one of my favourite places to search for jewelry and accessories as it has such an amazing range of product. I was searching for earrings on there the other day and got over 300,000 results! It isn’t as great for clothing but I think always worth a look. You can get pretty specific with what you search for and I find it provides great recommendations on related items too. Most stores on Amazon have great international shipping and prices too.
Etsy is like one gigantic, worldwide marketplace that’s open 24/7.  It is absolutely the best place to search for unique, handmade and vintage clothing and accessories. You will get a ridiculous number of search results here (I just got over 1.7 million earrings) and really different sorts of things too. It’s easy to tweak search results in terms of price, colour and shipping destination. I think Etsy is particularly great for searching for specific gift ideas as it has such beautiful, one of a kind items.
I’ve had mixed success on Ebay and don’t tend to shop there unless I have have something specific in mind to search for. I’m not exactly sure why as they have such an incredible range of things and the prices can be ridiculous (I think it’s the whole auction thing that stresses me out a bit and the fact you can’t easily return them). I’ve had some success finding items or sizes that I missed out on in stores when I was too slow making a decision or ones that have been discontinued – I really recommend it for that. Although I find search results a bit more patchy than some of the other sites here you can really find some unique, special items here (at a bargain).

Do you like checking out these sites as much as me? Let me know if there are any other great ones out there I can add too :)

Shopping Picks: US/International

It’s been a couple of weeks since I looked around online shopping sites and wow! There is so much new stuff about! I saved about 40 items I loved and then found it really hard to narrow down to just a few to share here – but that’s ok as I’ll have plenty to share for the coming weeks now. I absolutely adore everything here. The two bags and the little daisy studs are definitely standouts for me though.
Last week I shared some Aussie shopping picks, but these are all available Internationally (mostly from  the US). Hope you like them :)
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DISCLOSURE: Please note – some of these items are linked to via affiliate programs, meaning I may earn a small profit from your clicks. For more info see my disclosure page :)

5. Miss Daisy Studs Earring BAUBLEBAR $26
8. Sparkling Metallic Sandals FOREVER 21 $19.80
Which items are your favourite here?

Shopping Picks (from Australia)

I thought I’d share some of my favourite items from Australia this week as I’ve spent a few days shopping lately and have been seeing some lovely things. I have my eyes on these skirts in particular, both are incredibly gorgeous, I absolutely love them, and the colourful skirt comes in a dress too!
Some of these are available internationally, although the postage tends to be rather expensive – and make sure you double check the size chart as Australian sizes are a bit different :)

1. Jewel Neck Knit Top TARGET $40
2. Teardrop Stone Earrings EQUIP $12.99
3. Twisting Bead Necklace EQUIP $16.99
4. Tassel Beaded Bracelet KATIES $14.95
5. Illie BETTS $139.99
6. Utah Wittner $169.95
7. Hemingway Romantic Skirt JACQUI-E $89.95
8. Rose Print Skirt JACQUI-E $89.95

Like anything you see? What new season trends are you loving in shops right now? 

5 Ways to Wear a Cobalt Blue Skirt

Click here for item details on Polyvore
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I thought I’d do a ways to wear today as I hadn’t done one for a while and I came across this pretty skirt from ASOS too. Cobalt Blue has always been one of my favourite colours and I’ve been on the lookout for a nice, casual mid-length skirt in the blue for a while now. This one from ASOS is made from jersey, which is one of my favourite fabrics for skirts and dresses. It has a nice panel detail too. Alright so I’m not entirely crazy about the scrunched elastic waist band but I guess it’s kind of ok for casual looks and could be covered with a wide belt for more dressy ones (which looks nice with skirts anyway and which I probably should have done here) – I managed to find two other options though that are sort of similar which I’ve linked to at the bottom of the post too :)
Click here for item details on Polyvore
Click here for item details on Polyvore
 
Cobalt Blue Skirts: US/International
 
 
 
Are you in love with cobalt blue too? Which is your favourite look?
 
Linking up with: Style Sessions, Funday Monday,
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