parisian love

paris. The city of love. City of romance. Lights. Food. Culture. Fashion. Art. The city I fell in love with, again.

I travelled to Paris just less than two weeks ago, for my second time, for five short days. I went with one of my greatest school friends; Kristy and I, together ventured off to the city of Paris – along with our near to none knowledge of the language or geography of the city for that matter.

Five short days in Paris, but that’s enough. Enough to make you fall in love with the architecture of the delicate blend between old and modern, the rustic balconies and beautiful flowers. The sweet blends of chocolate macaroons, or the fruity tang of a raspberry tart. Aromatic smells from street stores selling chocolate crepes, deliciously made right in front of your eyes. The continual historical and artistic monuments which never cease to amaze you. Or even the gardens with statues you don’t quite know about but still are spectacular.

For our five days, we obviously wanted to experience all the tourist destinations. On our first day we caught the metro into central Paris and saw the arc de triomphe, walked down champs élysées until we got to the louvre. Walking through a garden, don’t know the name, and again past beautiful buildings which must have had loads of historical context behind them. It was a perfect day.

The next we visited the Eiffel Tower, the extremely tall statue (meaning loads of stairs). We off course went up, choosing to take the stairs for a better and more unique experience and started our journey to the second floor. Which allowed us to see beautiful views of the entire city of Paris. It was glorious.

Finally on our last full day, my boyfriend joined us for a short but sweet day in the city of love. It was everything I could have asked for and more. Experiencing and sharing moments under the Eiffel Tower at sunset, then walking up it together late at night and seeing the glistening city of Paris illuminated by thousands of lights. Sitting under the tower while we watched it twinkle at mind night. And although now illegal, doing the love bridge tradition of putting the padlock on the bridge and throwing the key into the river. It’s a day I treasure more than many and truly will never forget.

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For those still reading, I highly recommend you to go to Paris. With family, friends or a loved one. It will be a trip which will not disappoint and will stay with you forever.

For now, amber. xx>

the venture of growing up

so, with summer soon starting for the younger and possibly more naive students, its making me realise that i am officially starting my gap year. majority of my other friends are all going off to uni, us having conversations about them and their soon to be new lives in different countries all around the world has dawned on me.

i’m not going to university.

at least not for now. this common ideology that once a student graduates high school, they should go straight to university is slowly diversifying. people head off straight into jobs, take 6 months off, take a whole year off – people even take multiple years off. the way i look at it, your teenage years and brief time after that is the only real time in your life which you can make true advantage of. you can still live with your parents without seeming (to our judgemental society) like a slacker, you can still do those things which you can’t when you’re thirty and seem to old and mature to do, and you can still do things which are planned for the youngers but you can pull it off anyway. you can take advantage of not having the responsibilities like children, full time jobs, employers and so on. you can allow temptation to guide your life and achieve things you never thought you would be able to, all on the continuous venture of growing up. creating yourself as a person and concentrating on what you actually like and what you actually want to learn. not the bullshit system of school which pushes theories and logic onto students which might not enjoy it and might not understand it no matter how hard they try.  i’ve moved on from the unattainable dreams of being the perfect daughter, perfect student, perfect person. i won’t get full marks in IB, i won’t make no mistakes, i won’t be exactly what everyone wants me to be.

but i will be me. and i’m most excited for this. with many life long friends leaving to other continents it will test our relationships, many will fail and be forgotten – while there will be others which distance cannot overcome. although i do something wish i was going to university this year, a fresh start and a kickoff for new experiences, i’m starting to cherish the choice i made to take a year off. i don’t think im mature enough for university just yet. knowing that i have this time off is letting me relax and destress, and trust me i need it.

to wrap things up, this continual journey of growing up isn’t just evident in your young years. yes graduating high school and starting my gap year has made me think of my life in a different way, but there are so many milestones in life. each one unique in its ways, and each one bringing its own challenges and stories to tell afterwards. what i’m saying is, life is precious. don’t let societal norms stop you from being your own person and growing until you truly feel great with who you are. i’m on that journey now, and i can’t wait to see where it leads me.

until next time,

amber xx.

my bikini verdict!

leaving to my graduation trip to the beautiful and crazy island of koh samui, I have began my packing for my 9 day trip of intense partying and extreme hangovers, at least I’ll be able to sleep them off by the pool!

The island of koh Samui is off Thailand and is known for its full moon party. In Asia it’s seen as the place to go for graduation trips, and as I’ve now graduated it’s kind of a ritual for me to be going, and so I’m off to board my 9:00 am flights with a suitcase packed with many bikinis and other beach and holiday essentials!

it seemed like the best thing to blog about before I left was my packing, and more importantly bikinis! Summer season is here (for some people), it brings: happiness, freedom, relaxation and heat! A swimsuit under your clothes is a perfect choice, you never know when you’ll want to let loose and go to the beach or pool. Although I’m only going to koh samui for 9 days, I’m bringing 10 swimsuits… Just because I’ll wear some during the day and then when I go out at night I’ll probably wear a bikini or two! I’ve split up my chosen bikinis into a few types, hope you enjoy!

1) The branded.
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The ‘branded’. While sometimes over rated, branded swimsuits like these above, the ‘triangl’ bikini, are normally worth the price. These bikinis cost me around 700 hkd each, it seemed a bit much at first but I love these bikinis. I’m not going to lie, there is some social satisfaction you get from wearing a branded bikini, but I guess that’s what you pay for. Especially triangl, the brand is well known through the teenagers (both male and female), and I must say every time I wear them I feel a bit more confident then when wearing others. These bikinis are made from neoprene (the same materials as wetsuits), they are of a great quality and fit onto your body well! They are thicker then most bikinis. The bikinis also come in matching coloured bags which i think are so cute! As you can see I got two, traditional triangl style in the light blue and then also the bra style, which has a bronze bottom, and oh my am I in LOVE with the bottoms!! They shine and sparkle and reflect upon every sunray, it’s gorgeous!

2) the triangle tie bikinis.

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The classic bikini really, two triangles and tied together with strings! I opted for two bright and interesting bikinis, for a party and summer holiday you don’t want anything plain! These two come from hnm and primark!

3) the bandeaus. >

Bandeaus are the perfect bikinis to tan in. They allow for the most amount of skin to be exposed and don’t create wacky tan lines! I don’t advise them for walking around in because they have the least amount of support! without having neck straps they can fall off so easily! For bustier girls I wouldn’t wear many bandeaus, at least I don’t think so. They don’t compliment your body shape as much, they give no support and hide your assets! But they are the best for tanning in!

4) the full pieces!
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Here I have three full piece bikinis, like I said I’ll be going out a lot and this is a great choice! You can simply pull on a full piece and a pair of shorts, if you feel like that’s too little pull over a chiffon top, beach top, kimono, anything! They are comfy and give a lot of support!

So I hope you enjoyed, these are all the suits I’m bringing with me on holiday, I can assure you that I will be blogging LOTS about my trip so please stay stunned! It means a lot, and don’t forget, always have a little friend helping you pack! Here I have one of my dogs who snuggled up to me as I was folding everything in!

Amber.
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prom!

wowow, prom was spectacular! although it whizzed by so fast, and it felt like i barely saw or talked to anyone, it was one of the most fun nights this whole year! everyone looked and felt amazing, its the last time the whole year is going to be together and i think it was such an amazing way to end our whole high school experience. i wanted to share some photos of my experience and also some details of my prom outfit and all that! hope you enjoy!

for the year 13 prom i wanted a dress that was mature and yet still dazzling! I for sure wanted a floor length one because how often can you pull off a ball gown right ladies?! initially i wanted one with lace or mesh inserts which would allow for skin to show but still look absolutely gorgeous (many elie saab inspirations). in the end, i opted for a gorgeous dress which is decked out in sequins and gorgeousness! the dress was in two parts in a sense, from my shoulders down to my knees was the part covered in sequins and embellishments ranging from gold to pink to bronze to pale silver to ivory and so much more! the dress sparkles in the light and it also has mesh inserts through the waist and around the back. the second part is the lower legs, from the knees below there is a triangular cut which stopped the busy sequins to flow to a more calm yet sophisticated pale warm pink chiffon layer (along with a soft cotton/silky petticoat kinda layer under! trying to describe it isn’t working out as i planned so here are some photos! 

my school supplied us with a photo booth which made the night so much fun! i ended up taking a few sets of photos, everyone with loads of candid shots which i love! its such a cute way to remember the night, moments and your friendships!

with my gorgeous date, he truly outdid himself and bought me the most gorgeous bouquet of off white, light pink roses which looked perfect with my dress, AND a beautiful two white rose corsage! i truly felt like a princess living her dream! and doesn’t he look like my dashing prince in his suit and bow tie? 😉

some close up details of my dress, you can see the intricate sequins and the design of the dress a bit more! oh and the beautiful flowers too!!

the dress was a little too big for me but i didn’t know how i could get it smaller considering the material and delicity of it! but i think it went alright even though slightly too big. i paired it with nude ballet flats from maud frizon, and a gold clutch! i wanted to wear heels but the length of the dress was too short to allow me to wear heels!

last photo! anyway, prom was fantastic!

i hope yours all went well,

amber. xo

end of era

so, its over… high school is officially over.

and i have yet to let this truly sink in. being at the same school, sha tin junior then sha tin college, from years 1 to 13 has been a complete and utter whirlwind. now with it leaving me in a matter of days is something that is so amazing but yet so nerve racking. school has been a routine for me, an obligation as such, something to wake up to every day and have to go no matter how much my bed was calling me back ( which was a lot let me just say ). and now, having finished my IB exams and having graduation tomorrow and then finally prom as the last event, its all going away. i have no more school. no more work. no more stress. no more rude teachers. no more fake friends. no more last minute cramming. no more. also, taking a gap year makes next year so much easier, i don’t quite have to feel the stress of university just yet which is so great.

everyone complains about high school, and how they hate it. how its too stressful, how its pointless, how they can’t wait for it to be over. and yes, i did too, a fair share i’ll be honest. but yet, nothing could prepare me to how i feel now that its ended. i can’t quite believe that its done, its a massive milestone for me. i’ve been in two schools my whole life, each one right opposite each other, 12/13 years at the same place makes it a place for so many god damn memories, both good and bad. school has truly evolved me as a person and i will never forget my life at sha tin. above is a photo taken of my form group two years ago, when i left school for my gcses. god, how easy those were compared to the extreme IB course.

above is a photo of my ‘group’, a ‘clique’ so to say. we were called the lunchies, just because every day we would all be together at the same place having lunch HAHAH, how creative. i can’t believe this photo was only taken in october 2013, it seems yeeears ago, not just less than one year ago.

a group shot of the few school friends i travelled to hawaii with for a brief week as part of a school trip. it is one of the biggest highlights of my school life. we learnt to surf, ate the amazing hawaii and american food, saw such breathtaking scenic places and played around in the most gorgeous beaches i’ve ever been too.

a photo from my last full week of school before i left on exam leave. as a school tradition we take the 5 days and make a theme for dress up for the entire year to participate in. this was the time periods day and along with some friends I did an 80s style dress up and it was one of the most fun days ever.

 

i think thats it. school is officially over, and i can’t explain how i feel. some what lost but yet excited for everything to start unfolding. school was a place for me to learn and get taught what is seen as essential in life. and now i have been tested and waiting for the marks for my academic success, so i have to get on with life, something school can’t teach you as much as they think they do. and although that scared me beyond belief, i can’t wait to start living life without the constant pressure of education.

good bye high school,

amber.

Mother’s Day!

To all the mothers out there, well done for being so incredibly you and being so perfectly motherly!

A little word about my mother; she truly is the most fantastic woman I know. From starting her own business and getting great recognition for her brilliant knowledge about animals, to raising me better then I could ever imagine, to being the most kind, caring, generous, loving woman I know. Mum, your endless love and hope never ceases to amaze me & I truly mean it when I say I could ask for no one better and wish to raise my children and be as much as a motherly and inspiration role to them as you are to me.

Now, to mothers around the world. Although you should be loved and appreciated everyday, for today bask in your pride. You are truly amazing woman who have achieved so much. Your long pain and suffering to raise a child, from the very first day and never ending, so they can live a life like or better than yours is something which is so selfless as inspiring. Mothers have the moral ability to want more then the best for their children and would do nearly anything to give it to them. Mothers, your never ending support, love, care, joy, pride, happiness, and so much more is so spectacular and one of the most beautiful things to see and experience.

Now to all the kids, remember the pain your mother went through. Not only those 9 months of carrying you but through your entire life. Thank Your mums for everything because without them, you would be nothing.

And to all the dads.. I guess you guys are alright too. 😉

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planning paris!

So this summer I am lucky enough to be travelling to Koh Samui, England, London and Scotland. I must say the party and relaxing atmosphere of koh samui sounds amazing, especially because it is my graduation trip just after i finish school and i’ll be going with everyone who is graduating pretty much, but the trip i am most excited for is…. PARIS! although i’ve already been (with my family might i just add) this time i’m going for 5 short but just enough days with one of my closest friends. i truly think the experience will be so different this time around, i can’t wait to appreciate the food, intense culture, fabulous fashion and so much more that paris has to offer!

i cannot wait to go to paris and appreciate more the lifestyle of people there. i’ve been once and went to all the basic tourist places so this time i want to live my life and enjoy it while there. i want to focus on fashion and living life to my version of extreme happiness. taking photos, enjoying moments, eating decadent food, being creative with anything. and although it sounds like the typical ‘fashionista’, i want to look chic, fashionable, minimalist and yet daring and just fabulous HAHA!

through sites like tumblr and pinterest, i’ve gathered some ‘inspiration’ and am going to plan some outfits (the last thing you want is to be unprepared in a city you don’t know well, especially such a expensive city like paris :O ) with relevance to some of these photos! bear in mind, this will be like 10 out of hundreds!

1. stipes! i’ve suddenly fell in love with stripes! striped baggy tops with jeans or the perfect striped dress (something i’m really wanting but can’t seem to find). and for some reason stripes just screams european fashion to me! or a cropped tight striped shirt with some high waisted bottoms and a cover up! to die for!

2. patterned coats! although could lead to discomfort due to being hot (can overcome this by tying it around your waist which can be cute), having a simple outfit based on neutral colours and letting the jacket/coat be the main focus can look so good. common items like plaid/floral are good, also a new trend: kimonos, are so popular in the fashion industry right now.

^absolutely love! reminds me of cher from the movie clueless!

3. casual yet chic! outifts which are made from wardrobe essentials but pair together gorgeously! dressed up really well by a plain black pair of stilettos but would still look great with simple black books or any flats!

 

now when i actually get to and are in paris, i will be blogging NON stop! okay well maybe noting down things and blogging later when i’m not experiencing it in the moment 😉 and will for sure be sharing it with the lovely wordpress community, till then –

much love, amber. xo

 

beach inspiration

so i really haven’t been doing much since i’ve been home, trying to, revise for my up and coming exams! and i really want this blog to stay up so although i’m not going to be posting about things directly relevant to the daily happenings of my life i will be blogging about trends/fashion/interior design/art and crafts/inspiration and so on! like my previous festival fashion inspiration post, this post is going to be kind of similar, when i’m not having much stuff to blog about i’ll use online or things i’ve seen to blog about instead… if that makes sense which i hope it does.

anyways, today my inspiration is beach houses! i’m getting so excited for summer and i’ve always craved to live in a beach house, at least have one somewhere to be able to live in during the holidays and maybe rent out when i’m not using it, seems to me like a great investment 😉

 

so, part a – the exterior!

there are two ways you could do up a beach house,

1. the traditional, rustic, slightly run down but still gorgeous old and more naturally resourced exterior! the cool colour accents of the house fit perfectly with the atmosphere and scenery. the natural aspects which are incorporated with materials and slowly fade into with the actual characteristics of the natural world like the sand of the beach.

2. or the modern, and much more high tech and minimalistic design. i can’t quite decide which one i like better, the modern vibe, although gorgeous and absolutely to die for – seems like too much effort to keep up. it feels as if i was to live in one it would always have to be perfect and i wouldn’t be able to let loose and actually live in the house. but trust me, i am drooling over them.

 

now, beach houses utter simplicity and ease of life. with their calm and simple exteriors (sometimes) and also interiors. the thing i  love about beach houses is the open plan and the incorporation of the natural world. small incorporations of wood, shells, glass and so much more, so here below are some of my favourite photos of interiors of beach houses.

now i know this has been a crazy amount of photos but i simply couldn’t choose! but anyway, i hope you enjoyed and possibly found some inspiration as did i.

amber, xo.

my festival fashion!

inspired by my last post about festival fashion i thought i would post some photos of my own personal festival fashion! hong kong has got one annual music festival (been going on for three years now), which goes on for three days in december! its called clockenflap and its an art / cultural / music festival on the harbour side so not only is the atmosphere, music, food, alcohol but also the surrounding area absolutelyyy amazing!!!

for clockenflap i wore three outfits,

1. friday, a late afternoon / night event so opted for leggings and a semi cropped maroon knitted sweater! really easy and casual, also good for the cold! i did wear a red chiffon tank under so that if it got hot in the crowds i would be prepared! i paired it with my classic hunter wellies! which i don’t have any great photos offff

2. saturday! since saturday was a whole day i wanted to kinda dress it up more! I wore a grey (kinda t-shirt dress but not really) dress and again my hunters with knee high socks! I have this super baggy cream knit batwing sweater so had that with me, its good because its light and doesn’t get too hot but keeps you just warm enough! the main part of my outfit though was my incredibly cute head chain! a daisy head chain which went all around my head and down the middle too, it was a bit out of my comfort zone and got quite a few comments on it (mostly positive) but i looove it! i’m so into head and body chains now and want to get more into them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

– 3. sunday, another full day but didn’t go all out! wore a cream knitted tank tucked into high waisted black river island jeans and doc martens! i love the photo of me trying to skateboard, it really shows some of the atmosphere at clockenflap, the workers all ride around in bikes and skateboards, like i said its an art and music festival, theres so much too it especially for small hong kong!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

so thats it for my outfits! under i’m going to post some photos of the site where it is, but i assure it photos and words cannot do it justice!

the second festival, new last year, blohk party was incredible too! in the same place as clockenflap and the weekend after really made december such an eventful and crazy fun month! for its first year blohk party was simply incredibly! they had pharrell williams, pusha t and so many more incredibly rap and hip hop artists! it truly was all so great and i CANNOT wait for this years!

 

i’m sorry for sooo many photos! i simply couldnt choose :’)

hope you enjoyed, a. xo