It's always better on holiday

 So this afternoon my dad and I went to see the newest Potter-movie. What an experience! I mean the movie was really really amazing (but I expected as much :P ). What I didn't expect was that there was just one other group of people in the full-sized theatre! Talk about a private viewing. While the room itself was rather modern, the rest of the theatre was beautifully nostalgic with movie-posters from the 40s and 50s. What surprised me the most was that there was an intermission right smack in the middle of all the action...I've never experienced that before. It was a really lovely experience, but unfortunately the volume was way too high and I came out with a nasty little headache.

Straight from there we took a tram and a metro to Taksim, the bustling business center of the metropolis. We walked down a shopping street lined with familiar names (topshop, mango etc. ). We had dinner in a lovely Italian-looking courtyard (the best chips ever, stuffed wine leaves and turkish meatballs. ahhh, I'm in food heaven). We ended up stocking up on t-shirts for 5 Lira (2,5 euro) each. I bought an over sized anchor-T, an Elvis one and one with Jimi Hendrix.

Outfit of the day: maxidress from New Yorker in Stockholm and a thrifted waistcoat

My highly employed sandals from H&M

Such a cute street musician. When I tossed him some coins the biggest smile spread on his face and the music turned into a super upbeat jig :)

A tram in taksim

Our gorgeous (and RIDICULOUSLY cheap) dinner spot.

The shopping street in Taksim. Paradise. Lined with cute cafés and restaurants. ahh.

Tomorrow we're heading out to the Princes Islands off the coast of Istanbul where the creme de la creme spend their summers. Tanning oil? check. Bikini? check. Camera? check!

Lots and lots of love, millions of dresses and happiness to you all!

xxx

Ninja

Fruit of my labours

Here's a bit of a taster of our shopping (in addition to gifts for friends):

A good stock of nailpolish for less than 5 euros. I really can't contain myself sometimes...

A beautiful, beautiful bag. ahhh :)

Some eastern inspired shoes. I still don't quite know what to wear with these, but I couldn't leave them there (they reminded me of aladdin)

There's so much more, but as I said: this was a taster ;)

xxx

First impressions

These post might come in a bit of a random order since whatever is finished loading first gets published first, but hopefully you can keep up. I had to split my photos into different post because the internet is CRAZY here, it wouldn't let me upload more than 5 photos for each (at least for now).

I arrived in Istanbul with my dad at around 4 (but made it out the airport just before 5). Here's a quick recap or what's happened so far:

We took the tube downtown and then took a taxi, which got lost and just sort of dumped us on the side of the street (plus TOTALLY overcharged). Somehow we managed to find our hotel (thank goodness). It's very neat, has AC, perfect location.Went out for a bit of a walk and dinner in this gorgeous city (I have a few piccies for you :). Now I'm blogging and the dad's watching the news (shocking about Oslo...). Cherries. mmm. Such an adventure just to get here, but I've tackled it with a sense of humour and loved every minute!

A local ice cream, dondürma. Flavour's pretty average but it "stretches". Also the vendors put on a bit of a show (almost dance-like) when they serve it, quite peculiar but lovely.

One of many beautiful mosques we've seen

A tunnel with lots of little stores (I bought a top there)

A bridge under which you can walk, drink and dine. We had a lovely sea-food dinner at a restaurant with an amazing waterfront view. Shrimp salad, fried crablegs, fish on a skewer, chilly shrimp cocktail -and a rose from the waiter, who seemed to take a liking to me after hearing that my dad is in fact my dad, not my boyfriend. 

I'm really cherishing this time with my dad since he lives in Sweden because of his job. And I always love to experience new places and cultures. Tomorrow I think we're heading to the grand bazaar. This is going to be a full week, but I'm hoping that I can catch the final Potter-movie while I'm here as well.

Any Istanbul travel-tips from those who've been here?

Hope you guys are well!

xxx

Ninja

You can't touch this

I've been indoors for quite a few days studying, reading magazines and watching tv and eventually this lead to me feeling a bit under the weather. I decided that it had to come to an end so I rang up my friend for a shopping date in the city. I came back with an abundance (at least for my usual standards) of lovely sales items for some pampering and beautifying. And venting to someone really helps with the frustration. Just what I needed!

This morning I opted for my floral H&M jumpsuit and a denim jacket. As I got dressed I feel I was possessed by MC Hammer. All I wanted to do was that silly little dance, so here's to one of our greatest fashion icons. Mr. Hammer!

Floral jumpsuit from H&M and denim jacket from H&M kids (boys section!)

combined with some *cough cough* wicked dance moves.

My mini-statement piece of the day: an Alchemy England ear-chain with the words "coeur noir" inscribed on the cuff

And dinsko strappy heels.



Sometimes when you're having a not so pulled-together day, it's good to have a bit of a giggle at yourself :)

Shades of grey

 So, one thing that proves that I'm a girl is my undying love for chocolate. We've had a rather intimate relationship for a while now and today we hit a new high...more about that soon...I've had a pretty perfect day: woke up next to my boyfriend and surprised him with breakfast in bed (yes, I'm the best girlfriend ;) and in the afternoon I went shopping with my friend (I found a great pair of earrings!). We came back to my house and made iced choco-mocha drinks, brownies, watched friends and went for a bit of a pizza-run. Perfection! Although after a few days of not eating too much (out of laziness) today's binge is hitting me pretty hard :P Here come the chocolate sweats...

Gorgeous sheer blouse from ASOS (like 50 sizes too big, but that's the way I love it) and a pair of high-waist shorts from Gina Tricot.

Notice the dangling earrings with little pearls on them (LOVE!). They were only a euro at the fleamarket.

Based on the way I'm feeling, the diet starts tomorrow...after I finish off the brownies...and the pizza ;)

xxx

all the best

-irinja