I found Annie Greenabelle’s stuff at Topshop Edinburgh a couple of months back and they are gorrrgeous.

Wore my ballerina dress for the first time today to work! And I LOVE IT. Plus all her stuff is organic and fairtrade, so my dress was a completely guilt-free purchase.

I want this next.

But I’m going to have to wait because someone just bought me theeeseee, to make up for an extra bad day. I was going nuts, it was such a horrible day but I guess every cloud has a silver lining, and mine comes in the form of Juicy Couture leggings and UO clothes.

From ShopBop.com

From UrbanOutfitters.co.uk

(on sale, steal!)

I’m sleepy. I had work then class again today. I’m so tired by the time I get to class that none of these foreign words seem to register, she must think I’m a bit of a retard. The only thing that repeats over and over in my head is sono stanca, which is probably the phrase which is most applicable to me at 8pm on a weekday night.

Rent needs to be paid tomorrow, so its living on the bare minimum for the next couple of weeks. Punishment for spending money on clothes, but it was a present from someone who thinks I deserve it, and it’s going to be so worth it when they arrive

Good night!

And my FAVORITE MJ song of alll time…

You can wear whatever you want, and still not get weird looks. I was going to put the ribbon in my hair, and figured I’d use it as a faux-tie instead

Today’s a sad day, I have to dress up to feel good.

RIP Michael Jackson, you were and will always be my favorite entertainer of all time, the times I got see you in concert live were probably the biggest moments of my childhood!

Transformers 2 has such mixed reviews. I thought it would be good because I LOVED the first one, but I’ve read reviews calling it a load of cr*p, and my big sister said it was really bad too. I don’t even know if it shows here in English, so I suppose I won’t know until the DVD comes out!

Yesterday was a public holiday i.e. DAY OFF WORK! Unfortunately for me, it was also the day I felt a little sick, so I stayed in all day and watched Lost on my laptop and played Fruit Juice Tycoon on my iPhone. I love that game, I finished it and restarted it all over again because it’s that good.

Today I actually have work, and I am ready so early. Makeup, hair and all.

This is the makeup I brought with me from St. Andrew’s, it’s only a little part of my actual stash… but flight weight limits

And these are my new toys!

- Mat Lumiere by Chanel, because I read really good reviews on it at MUA

- Highlighter by Sephora, which I do not love so much because it’s so glittery

I went to the MAC store to buy new sponges and he gave me a bunch for free, because I was in a couple of weeks ago to get gel eyeliner. Pretty neat!

I wear basically the same face to work everyday, the only thing I change up a little is the color of my eyeshadow. I have about six colors to choose from so even that doesn’t change much. So on weekends I try to do different things, like insanely bright lip color.

And sometimes I cut the makeup down by half and look like a kid again.

I love makeup. Watching makeup how-to’s on Youtube makes me SO GLAD that I’m a girl!

I think the best makeup tutorials I’ve seen online are by Kandee. Maybe it’s just me but I can’t take makeup tutorials seriously unless the person looks good – why would I take makeup advice from someone who I think even after all the makeup still looks pretty average?

Off to work, and then language class straight after. It’s almost July, so I think this is the last week that I have to work Friday’s. Which is good because after Thursday night class, I feel dead.

I get to miss work today because there were severe train delays to Milan. Unfortunately, it also means I miss the Men’s runway show

Being in Italy and having this huge opportunity has really made me think about how far I’ve come to get to this point. Just over three years ago I HATED where I was, not just the physical location but everything about my situation. I think that was probably the lowest point of my life so far, and I’m only 22 but trust me, I’ve been through more than most 22 year old’s!

Then I figured if I wanted out, it was up to me to get out. So I sent emails to universities asking if they’d take me, despite it being way past the UCAS deadline date. And I got acceptances from both the universities I wanted. And I left.

I will never regret leaving Singapore. I left a lot of very good friends behind, but I also got to start over, and it’s very rarely in life that you get to start over completely.

I love St. Andrew’s. It’s where I feel I’ve matured, I’ve become a much better person, and I met NYBoy – who is the most positive influence in my life (and who pushed me to go to Italy for this internship despite it being much more than I could ever afford!).

I realized a few days ago that it’s been over a year since I’ve been phased off anti-depressants and all the rest, and it’s because I got to start over – but it wasn’t until this year that I noticed how much things have moved on.

I’m ready to start letting go of my past, and it feels really good.

I know I don’t usually ever write about my feelings (or my past) but I heard this song today, and it is the song I listened to when I found out I was leaving Singapore for good, and the song I listened to on my flight over to the UK.

It reminds me of the long journey I’ve been on to get here, and how happy I am to have finally arrived.

I love Gilli’s. It has the best views of the square, I could sit there people watching all night.

The best thing to watch is when a cop car comes and all the knock-off bag sellers have to pack up and run. It’s entertaining.

It’s my weekend treat.

When I first got to Florence and started working 9-6 days, with classes twice a week from 7-8pm, I felt so drained every night… but I think I’m starting to get used to it. It’s probably made a hundred times easier for me because my apartment is literally 2 minutes away from work, so I can wake up at 8 and still make it into work on time and looking presentable.

And I get to come home for lunch and have chicken salad, and use my meal vouchers on takeout desserts from Gilli’s for after work. It’s a really good plan, in theory. Too bad my slowly expanding tummy does not agree.

Over the weekend I’m going to try to finally make it to Santa Croce, and possibly the famous Vivoli gelateria which boasts the best gelato in Florence! Or the Boboli Gardens over the bridge, if it doesn’t rain.

On Monday it’s MILAN!

For the Ferragamo men’s runway show! I am beyond excited. It means catching the train at 8 in the morning, but it’s going to be an awesome experience.

I would have loved to see the women’s runway show, but that’s in September and by then I’ll (hopefully) be back in Brunei.

Temperatures in Florence are beginning to soar; a lot of people tried to warn me about Florentian weather in July but after being in St Andrews all year, I thought the heat would be a good thing!

I still love the warmth, I just need to drink a minimum of three liters of water each day or I start to feel a little nauseous! I have never drank so much water in my life. Not even in Brunei, because if it’s too hot outside, I sit inside and watch MTV or Spongebob all day.

I really need to get a card reader for the photos I’ve taken on my camera! Florence is beautiful, especially at night.

I am the luckiest girl in the world.

I love Florence more and more every day.

I love the weather, and the people; I LOVE where I live. I love learning how to speak Italian (very slowly!).

Before I came here I imagined it as being a cute little tourist place like Nice in France, but it’s a pretty big city, with pretty big shopping places. I love that even though I’ve walked up and down the same little streets over and over again, it’s still exciting.

I do not love Italian bureaucracy.

I handed in my forms for an permit to stay in Italy on Wednesday, and they told me to come back on Monday. I figured I’d go in the morning because I had a class scheduled for 2pm. So I was there by 8.15AM, and I waited 2 hours to be given a number, and another 2 hours just to be told to come back after 1pm.

I came back at 1pm, decided not to wait for another number because I was sick of waiting, finally got to the front of the crowd and was given my permit, which was…

.

.

.

.

.

.

the exact form I handed in, with my handwriting on it and everything, but with a stamp on the bottom.

DOES THAT SERIOUSLY TAKE THAT LONG?

I was sooo tired of waiting, I’d been sat there since 8.15am until when I got the form back, by which time it was about 1.30pm? Not to mention the place is a 2km walk from where I live. I was not happy.

So after my Italian class, I went into MAC and got a makeover courtesy of Marco who had excellent English and even better makeup skill.

He even showed me how to fill in my brows using eyeshadow instead of a pencil (I have really sparse eyebrows, they’re not cool)

And then I got gelato, from this really bright store with neon lights called Festival del Gelato. I think it’s the best gelato I’ve had since I got here, but I haven’t yet tried the famous Vivoli gelato that all the guidebooks rave about.

Just to make all of you jealous;

I got a cup of Kinder gelato mixed with watermelon.

The watermelon is my new favorite.

TOMORROW!

I love this, it’s NYBoy’s favorite Lady Gaga song – or maybe it’s just because I play it all the time and he picks up on the lyrics.

Anyway, now there’s a video for it and I showed it to him and he thinks it’s VERY weird, but I like it.

Going for a stroll along Ponte Vecchio, one of the oldest bridges in Italy!