H&M Outlet in Our City Opened Last Week, But It´s Boring

I was always up to date regarding the building and opening of H&M outlet store here in our tiny city in Germany. My husband works for an engineering firm which was hired to handle the planning and drawing for this mall. My husband was personally involved, he drew the construction plan of the building.

Through him I knew how long the construction would take and when exactly would the outlet open. It was supposed to start operating in April, but it was postponed to May.

After more than half a year of waiting, I was so excited that H&M finally opened last week, Thursday. I made sure I go shop on the first day. There was a sea of shoppers and everyone seemed like frantic to get everything. I walked around in each of the four floors, but my excitement was replaced with a surged of disappointment. I thought, "Seriously? Is this what I´ve been looking forward all these months?"

I hardly found anything to bring home. Honestly, I felt like most of the displays were nothing creative. And many of the items looked cheap. Generally, the displays looked depressing.

I planned to spend time digging through the displays however, in less then thirty minutes, I found myself outside the mall. I did posed for a souvenir photo, you´ll see me here carrying my purchases which include a clutch and some socks for hubby.

I have a friend from Montreal who commented on my photo in facebook. She asked if I found good stuff in our H&M because according to her, she went to H&M Montreal last week but it was boring. Well, I told her, she just echoed my mind.

What about you? Is there an H&M outlet in your area too? How do you find it? Do you think H&M is getting boring in general?

Everything Mint for People Who Love Mint

I don´t know about you but I love mint. It´s cool and refreshing to the eyes. I remember how this color came as a trend in 2011, and it way embraced by many fashionistas as much as hey embraced pastels. I remember too how many articles I published featuring this color.

But while color trends shift from season to season, my love for mint did not fade. I´m still a big fan.Here are five pieces in mint I´m digging right now.

Dress $118, Purse $39, Pumps $25, Flats $20, Watch $20

My Birthday Outfit: Denim Jacket, Blue Knitted Tunic, Denim Shorts and Cowboy Boots

Yesterday was my birthday, I turned thirty. Yay! I was surprised that this is how it feels to be thirty, it feels exactly like twenty-five ... and twenty-six. I used to dread the day when my age drops the two in front, but it´s not as bad as I thought. Instead of fearing it, I´d like to embrace thirties. I´m excited for the many good things to come in the next ten years. I know I will enjoy it.

Instead of going for a typical dress birthday outfit, I went for non-traditional. Today at the blogazine I´m writing about how to wear denim jacket. True to what I write, I love wearing denim jacket.

Here, for my birthday attire worn to a shopping spree sponsored by my hubby and dinner afterwards, I layered a light washed denim jacket with blue knitted tunic top, matching light washed denim shorts, rose pink infinity scarf, and brown, tall cowboy boots.

I had a simple, quiet celebration for my birthday, just me and my husband. No big parties and stuff ... thus a casual look suffice.

How to Wear Army (Camo Print) Slippers

Army trend made waves last season, every where I´d look in malls were camo print pieces from tops to jeans and shoes. But while I love wearing army-inspired outfits, I don´t want to rock it like a uniform. Also, the army trend was embraced mostly by the teenagers here in our city. So I didn´t wear it even if it was rending. I waited ...

But now that army trend is kind of taking dusts, it´s my turn to wear it! But I don´t want to large camo print. I want it to be a feature in a look but not to take center stage. So I went for a pair of army flat slippers. Here are two ways I´d wear them.

Camo Print Slippers, Sunglasses, Bag, Tee

With tank top and denim shorts. I like this look because of its cool, comfy casual appeal. I´d wear the camo print slippers with a white sleeveless top and denim tattered shorts. Then I´d add a brown crossbody bag and of course, black sunglasses.

Camo Print Slippers Khaki, Shorts, Bag

With lace shorts and cutout top. Camo print has a masculine appeal, I´d like to clash it with very feminine pieces such as lace shorts and pastel/nude cutout top. The blend of girly and tough attitudes in a look is priceless.

How about you, how do you wear camo print?

My Casual Outfit, Brown Shorts, for a Stroll in the City

Yesterday was warm and sunny and we took advantage of it, we spent the evening strolling the city. I was happy that before my husband drove home from work, he gave me a call telling me that he´s picking me up and we´ll drive to the city. It was simple yet loving gesture from him.

The problem with people who work from home is that they rarely get to go out the house. That´s true with me. I sit in my computer working and before I knew it, it´s already evening. Then I´d prepare the dinner and after that, the day is almost over. My husband does his best to encourage me to go out. I like it because when I get to spend time outside, walking around, I feel recharged.

I wore a very casual look - white graphic tank top, gray lightweight crop cardigan, brown denim shorts, and gray flat shoes. I also added a leopard print cross body bag, it´s more comfortable for walking.

Cute Orange Bandage Dress Outfit

I was writing today about printed dresses and I don´t know, beautiful bright patterned dress just kind of obsess me right now. I was close to finishing my article for the blogazine when I found this gorgeous orange bandage dress. I imagined wearing it ... and this how I´d wear it.

Dress $59, Clutch $47, Heels $53

The dress is fit and flare style and it has a bell shape. It comes with a fitted strapless bodice and a lovely, bell-shape pleated skirt. The pleats are boxy making the skirt´s hem more flare.

I´d wear with it this coral and brown woven purse because I find perfect to complement the dress. They match beautifully. Another item to complement both the dress and the bag is this peach and taupe high rise high heels, very adorable.

This look is great for evening affairs, a date with my hubby or a night out with friends. But for a classy evening wear, I´d probably swap the peach bag with a black tiny clutch. 

Need Something Moved? Where to Hire a Van

When I came here in Europe middle of 2011, I and my husband moved to a new flat. As a newlywed couple, we had to design our new home, we had to buy new furniture and appliances. Buying brand new furniture and appliances isn´t a problem because they come with free delivery.

Because purchasing brand new furniture, upholstery, and appliances all at once was too much for our budget, we secured the most important things first. We did not buy a sofa immediately. We accepted the slightly-used sofa set from a friend which was given to us as a wedding gift.

The problem was the moving. The set has one really large sofa, one middle size, and a single sitter sofa. We had to hire a van which could move the entire sofa set. Looking for a van to hire wasn´t easy. My husband had to canvass and see which service is the cheapest.

If you need to hire a van, I found an online delivery auction site which offers courier and delivery services. It is called an auction site because if you need to move something, you just have to list your delivery at the site for free. In your list you describe what you´re moving, where and when. You need to specify the date of move but if your date can be flexible, the more quotes you will receive.

Quotes are responses from transport companies who will compete for your job. So as someone who needs to hire a van, you´re in a position to choose which quote sounds reasonable to you and which to accept. Choosing from all the quotes is easy because you can do so without pressure, the transport company is unable to contact you directly unless you have accepted their quote.

I like this van rental service a lot because their listing and auction feature allows you to save money by linking you with vans that are already travelling in a certain direction.

So the next time I need to move something, I know where to go.

photo credit: weheartit

Hair Style to Try: Bouffant-Inspired Dos

I saw these photo of hair ideas last night shared at TeenVogue Facebook fanpage. I love the idea of adding volume on top of the head. Whenever I curl my hair of add just some tiny curly at the end, I hate it when the hair is flat on top. The more volume is there on top, the more gorgeous.

Bella Thorne and Olivia Holt pay homage to the ‘60s with their retro hairstyles.They look beautiful in bouffant-inspired dos- Definitely a hairstyle perfect for summer.

My Top 5 Summer Esssentials

Summer comes quicker than you think; so while spring is still in full swing, we better talk about summer early. What are your summer essentials? If you´re to pack for a week of summer vacation, what are the five items that you would first put in the suit? If you ask me, here are the five items that I can´t live without in summer.

Cutout Floral Print Dress, $46

A floral print dress. Floral print is first in my list. I need a floral mini dress to wear for a stroll in the city in a warm summer afternoon. I think that it´s an item every girl should have. And since cutout came back as a trend this spring and summer, I would pick this cutout floral print dress from Lulus to pack in my bag.

Strappy Cuffed Thong Sandals, $37

A pair of strappy flat sandals. Because my feet tend too sweat a lot in a very warm day, I can´t wear ballet flats or other types of closed shoes flats for an entire day of walking. That makes strappy flat sandals my go-to shoes because since the toes are open, my feet can breath well keeping them from sweating.

I also like this type of sandal because they´re very versatile. They can be worn with a mini dress, with a maxi dress, with shorts or skirts.

Acid Washed Jeans Shorts, $79

A pair of denim shorts. While I love all types of shorts, denim denim shorts come first in the list. I love that I can create many styles with it. I find them more versatile than dressy shorts.

Seafoam Green Top, $37

A roomy top. I find comfort in a roomy top for a hot summer day. I prefer wearing it over tight tops and tight tank tops. I love teaming it with short shorts and strappy sandals. This look is both cute and comfy.

Yellow Tortoise Sunglasses, $9

Gorgeous sunglasses. Not only are sunglasses effective in protecting your eyes from the sun, they also keep the skin around your eyes from wrinkling. Notice that if you don´t wear sunglasses in a sunny day, you wrinkle you eyes to avoid the blinding sun. That really is bad on your skin.

But more than just the protection, sunglasses are also quickly add attitude in a look. They´re your go-to polishing for any summer look.

How about you? What are your top five summer essentials?

Improve Your Brand´s Visibility Effectively with Shopper Marketing

As a pro blogger, my focus in building my online business is SEO marketing. There are too many companies available on-hire to improve the SEO standing of my websites that it becomes a pain to decide whose help to hire. But now that I consider branching my fashion website with a fashion retail shop, my focus has expanded. I try to understand how brands effectively market their products and how do they communicate with their consumers.

Shopper marketing is the process of understanding how your target consumers behave as shoppers and then you leverage this knowledge for the benefit of your brand. It includes in-store marketing activities as well as an overall integrated marketing approach. You identify possible opportunities to drive consumption and the type of shoppers who would consume your products.

But as a business owner especially for an online retail shop, there are just too many key things to handle. The two toughest yet most important keys for a brand´s success are online marketing and shopper marketing.

In my case, I plan to build a retail shop for high street fashion that caters the need of women in their twenties and thirties. So I need to understand what twenty and thirty something women actually want to wear, how much are they willing or capable to spend for clothes, and so on ... Can I manage all these by myself? How much time do I need to spend in research?

Fortunately, you don´t have to do all these by yourself, you can outsource people who are well-experienced in doing a specific type of marketing. So for a future small business owner like me who dream to someday make it big, it´s necessary to find the right marketers who can deliver effective marketing results with significant proofs of success.

Online and shopper marketing already crack my head, throw in the legal sides of putting up a business especially here in Europe and it already scare me. But it´s my dream to expand my fashion business. I´m already a pro in terms of online marketing and now I´m on my way to understanding the essentials of shopper marketing.

Image Source: weheartit

I Joined Zalando´s Birthday Competition

Yesterday was the last day of Zalando UK birthday celebration contest and I´m happy I was able to submit my entry for the last minute. My schedule last week was really crazy and I couldn´t make a pause to take photos until the weekend. I´m glad the deadline for the contest was extend to yesterday, May 5.

On my post, Happy 2nd Birthday Zalando UK!, you´ll see my entry photo with me and my cat posing while celebrating Zalando´s birthday. I really love that shot because my cat, Orange, was as excited as me to win the contest. Check it out.

Today is a beautiful sunny day and it´s a really good start for the week. Wishing you girls a wonderful weekend! Hugs.

Threeasfour Shocking Colorblocking for Spring/Summer 2013

Threeasfour spring 2013 runway

Ever since colorblocking came as a trend in 2011, I´m a big fan of it because I love bright colors and I like mixing two or three striking colors with one or two neutrals all in a single look. The rule of thumb when it comes to colorblocking is wearing at most three vivid brights at a time and use neutrals to balance the colors.

After the big wave of first colorblocking, three solid separates in a look, many new interpretations arrived. There´s this said new colorblocking when you mix pastels, or when you mix different shades from the same family of colors.

I think that Threeasfour´s idea of colorblocking seen in their spring 2013 runway is mixing shocking colors but from within the same family.

I say it´s shocking because the dresses bear really bright colors with up to eight colors in a single dress. The good thing is there are two or three neutral colors included so it´s still kind of balanced.

I love the dresses and I find them truly creative although I would admit, they´re not for the faint hearted. You gotta have enough confidence to pull off these looks. What do you think?