Outfit details:
Lipstick: Chanel, "Monte Carlo"
Vintage japanese soft pink 70's pussy bow blouse: Standard vintage
Powder pink angora cardigan: Sale find
Heavy blue/green and golden ring: Birthday present from Anna
Parrot print skirt: H&M
Bright green stockings: Oroblu
Light brown brouges: Vagabond

I was so tired of the cold one day that I thought I would try to dress the winter away. And I was actually going to shoot these photos at the tropical garden (wich is very close to where I live) but it was closed so that will have to wait for another time! 

Instead I chose to show you a little part of the botanical gardens that are so typical for Uppsala. It was founded by Carl von Linné (1707-1778) who was a swedish botanist and who was one of the greatest in his time. He was pioneering in categorizing plants and animals and has left a big mark on Uppsala where he worked as a professor and also founded gardens for study and collecting. 

Well, now you can see his name on basically everything from candy to cafées and furniture here in Uppsala. A couple of years ago we had a jubilée of some sort and you could run into local actors portraying Linné and his gang all over town. 

So, I may not be so fascinated with him or with some of his work but I do love to visit the gardens during every season of the year. When you live in the city there is not many places to relax and this is one of mine. In summer time I go here with some picnic-food to sunbathe and read a book, in autumn I visit the small fairs they have where farmers sell their locally and ecologically produced commodities, In spring you can see the snow melt away and the first little flowers appearing and in winter, well, in winter most of it is covered in snow.

 The cold and white snow gives the gardens a harder and more rough edge where the big stones covered in moss, the red metallic sculpture and the high and dense winter trees takes center stage. In some sense it's quite saddening but the feeling of everything resting under the covering snow and how all that energy will start to evolve when the sun returns with spring still gives it a sense of hope. 

With that in mind I thought I would wear my beloved parrotskirt and one of my more colourful outfits, just to remind myself that spring is coming, soon.

Ps! If you want to see how the gardens look in summertime, check out this post that I did this summer!

I will have me some pastels, pretty please (with sugar on top)!

When I buy things I usually end up realizing that I'm in to a certain colour scheme. The past months it has been all pastels, dusty pink, minty blue and all summery! I guess I am missing spring even more then I give myself credit for (If that's even possible!). Any who, I thought I would share some of my more recent purchases!  

Cute little pins from Modern Girl Blitz, I bought a bunch and gave some away as small christmas presents, but these two I kept for myself.

Freshly cut flowers is my one weakness, I live right next to a flower shop and it's hard not to brighten up the day with some lovely flowers. I thought these pretty ladies suited my kitchen very well!

A toothbrush with cupcakes! I don't know if it's plain crazy since sugary cupcakes isn't the best thing for your teeth or if it is meant as precaution images. Either way it was so weird that I had to buy it! 

This lovely calendar with it's amazing print I found at a book shop in december. Since then it has been waiting on my desk until now. It has a solid place in my handbag and the little pink pen was an absolute must! It's the perfect size to carry with you.

This gorgeous hat from Poppycock Vintage is just waiting for the sun to come out and I think it will suit so many dresses! Right now it's resting on a bureau in my bedroom and now and then I put it on for a twirl or two around my small apartment!
 (You should definitely check out Poppycock if you are looking for some fantastic headpieces, this woman has an amazing selection of vintage hats! I almost think that I have to do a post about her wonderful etsy shop soon.)

I found this little sugarcup at an antique store. It is just on the border of being too much but I could not pass it up, even though a sugarbowl isn't exactly what I'm in desperate need of. Instead I think I will keep my brooches in it or maybe some candy as a secret candy stash! 

And finally, an fabulous angora cardigan that I found for half price of the sale price! It is a little bigger then I like my cardigans to be but it's ever so soft and warm! Another con is that it looks amazing paired with my vintage 50's cigarette pants (which you can see here) but the fabric of the pants really sucks up all loose hairs from the cardigan. After a while it looked like I have a very friendly and hairy pink cat at home that likes to roll around in my wardrobe.

Well these are the colours I'm in to now but I'm almost sure this will change, in a while I will probably be looking for electric hues and spring shouting fabrics! But in the mean time I can't wait for a certain minty parcel that is waiting for me at the post office! 

Rocky road nails

Because of the cold I have been finding myself small projects to do inside. The latest thing I've been dabbling with is nail art! At work I'm not allowed to wear anything that sticks out so instead I try to use my nails and my hair to still show some personality! I have posted some pictures on Instagram (where my name is simonastreet) but I thought I write down the "recipe" here so you can try it at home if you want to.

First, I bought these amazing nailstickers from ebay. I found them trough The Dainty Squid who always has the most beautiful nailart. (If you want some wonderful inspiration you should check out her "Weekly nail" posts.) And you can read more about the stickers in her blogpost.

So here are the nail polishes that I used. From right: China Glaze "Life preserver", O.P.I. "Malaga wine", O.P.I "Servin' up sparkle".

I started by painting my nails with the China glaze polish and then waited until it had dried. I would recommend that you do your nails in steps because it's very important that every layer is really dry before you put on the stickers. So for example I can do the first coat of colour on the evening and next morning I will do the second one. 

When the first layer was dry I used the stickers and placed them on the middle of my nails. Depending on wich way you place them the triangel either has it's base at your cuticles or at your nailtips. They are quite sticky so I usually try and rub off some of the glue so that the sticker dosen't chip the first layer. Then I used O.P.I. "Malaga wine" for the second layer (wich turned almost marron because of the orange colour underneath. It's just like painting, the colours react to each other.)

To top it of I used the O.P.I. "Servin' up sparkle" laquer just to give it an extra sparkle and to even it out. You could also just use a clear top coat for a more refined result. Here are some of the pictures I've posted on Instagram, I'm usually to restless to do more then two colours! Haha!

And, that's it!
If you don't have the stickers and want to try this straight away, you can also use scotch tape. Hope you got some inspiration to decorate your nails!