Little Spotty Teapot

I wanted to try and do another "miniature" style photoshoot (see my first attempt here). This is actually my fourth attempt though, not my second... but the other two were so embarrassingly bad, that they will never be uploaded here or seen by anyone else, haha.  sweater - Thrifted cardigan - Thrifted overall dress - c/o Sheinside necklace - c/o Merrin & Gussy socks - c/o Romwe shoes - c/o Sammy Dress hat - c/o Wholesale I wanted to set up the scene with a monochrome object. I found this super cute teapot lying around the house, owned by my housemate Kalynda, and thought that it'd go well with my mostly-monochromatic outfit, as well as contrasting my stripey socks. I then spent hours on photoshop trying to get the angles and shadows right - but I think it mostly worked out, in the end. What do you think? In science news, the first synthetic meat was taste-tested! (I'm pretty damn excited about this. Meat with no animal cruelty = awesome). P.s. sorry for the super short science bit today. I just started working in a lab today and I'm super dooper busy - more on that later ;) Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Firenze and Galileo

Florence must be one of the most beautiful cities in the world - it certainly is the most gorgeous city that I have ever been in (Tokyo comes close, but it is beautiful in an entirely different way). I regret not getting more photographs of Florence, but both me and my camera were melting in the heatwave that's been hitting Europe over the last couple of days - which is why I look so sweaty in these photos, by the way - and I spent the majority of my time either in air-conditioned museums or sipping on iced orange juice in the shade! Being the massive geek that I am, I wore this painting skirt to visit a bunch of Renaissance art museums (even though I don't have any idea what the painting on the skirt is - maybe I was hoping to find its original, haha. Can someone more art-literate than me help me out?) I got to see Michelangelo's David, a whole heap of Renaissance artworks and sculptures, and basically act like a hot, sweaty tourist all day. It was pretty great. shirt - Sportsgirl skirt - c/o Romwe shoes - Asos socks - c/o OASAP bag - Thrifted belt- Thrifted necklace - Claire's One of the most famous scientists of the Renaissance, from the Florence region of Italy is Galileo Galilei, who is probably more responsible for modern science as we know it than any other single person who has lived. The first person to point a telescope at the sky, he confirmed that the Earth revolved around the sun as well as discovering the moons of Jupiter and that the Milky Way was made up of stars. He set up the foundations for Issac Newton's laws of motion. He also came up with the concept of the modern experiment, featuring a hypothesis and the comparing of two conditions with controlled variables; in his time, the idea of "science" largely consisted of sitting around and thinking about things rather than conducting objective experiments. More recently, the Galileo spacecraft, launched by NASA in the 1980s, explored Jupiter and its moons, collecting evidence for water on Europa and exploring Io's volcanoes. And that's your little bit of science history for the day ;) I just arrived in a little town in Croatia, and am planning on walking around and taking photos all day! I can't wait to share them all with you. Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

The Flash & Forever a Geek

Apologies for my semi-absence from blogging lately! These photos sum up much of what I have been up to for the past two weeks - spending hot days in the pool trying not to get heatstroke. Because of this, my outfits haven't exactly seen much variation, apart from throwing on a t-shirt and skirt when "dressing up" to go out for dinner. I did, however, want to blog this Romwe swimsuit which I received a few months ago - and was never able to wear in Sydney because it was the middle of winter (oops). This swimsuit has sold out - so you can't buy it anymore (from Romwe, at least), but before you get grumpy at me about dangling some unobtainable treasure in front of you and then teasing you about it, I wouldn't recommend this swimsuit to anyone - it required far too much alteration with a sewing machine to become wearable. The top is actually pretty cool, however the measurements were a little off and it ended up too big for me. I fixed that easily with a bit of sewing, and it's become a great cropped summer camisole. The bottoms, however, were far from ideal. The elastic in the waistband was way too tight - meaning instant muffin-top territory for anyone with even the tiniest bit of tummy fat (I'm hiding this by putting my hands on my waist and sucking in my stomach in the top photo, haha). The elastic can be replaced, but again, it's something that you shouldn't have to do. I'm usually really happy with Romwe pieces, but this was a reminder to always double check your measurements, and a lesson in buying swimsuits online. Though I set myself up as a purveyor of online shopping, I think that when it comes to swimsuits and underwear, you are probably better off getting these things in a real-life store, unless the measurements are really detailed and you are super certain about your size. swimmer top - c/o Romwe swimmer bottoms - c/o Romwe skirt - Paper Hearts shoes - c/o Yeswalker necklace - Claire's My dad sent this to me this morning (via Unearthed Comics) and I thought it was a very appropriate thing to blog about right now - this is very, very true of me! Going to a whole other part of the world has sent my brain into science-geek-overdrive - the animals, clouds and climate are all so different to what I am used to, and hence super fascinating. In addition to below, I would also be wondering about the entire ecosystem that the crab is involved in (and everything that is hidden underneath the sand), and how its seashell was made (something I have already posted about after my last time on holiday, in fact!) Source: Unearthed Comics I hope that you're all having a wonderful day, Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Polar Bears and Telescopic Eyes

I looooove cropped tees! They're my favourite trend to come out of the whole 90s-revival that's been going on, because they're the easiest thing to wear. You can pretty much style them with anything - as long as it's not low-waisted pants. They look great with high-waisted-anything (shorts, skirts, jeans and leggings), layered over dresses and especially cute when worn underneath pinafores. Add a cute animal face, and you've definitely won me over. t-shirt - c/o Romwe skirt - Thrifted necklace - c/o Les Folles Marquises belt - Thrifted shoes - Asos hat - c/o Wholesale Here's something amazing - have you ever used a zoom lens on a camera? Or thought about using coloured eye contacts?  Now imagine putting the two together. The world's first telescopic contact lenses have just been developed. Obviously, the lens has to be really thin to fit comfortably on your eye. This is where the technology has been hard to develop - making something this thin also have decent magnifying qualities is pretty difficult. The image has to bounce 4 times inside the lens, using mirrors, before being projected onto the back of the eye (the retina) where it is "read". Users can switch between normal and telescopic vision simply by putting on a pair of polarised 3D TV spectacles - the contact lens also has a polarising filter on its surface, and so can interact with the 3D glasses. Zoom vision through the contact lens. (Image source) The glasses are intended for people suffering from macular degeneration, who find it harder to make out fine details in their vision, however you could wear them if you have healthy vision, to give yourself super-human zoom vision. Read more here. I hope that you're all having the best of days! p.s. these photos were taken back in Sydney, if they are confusing you with their non-Italianness. Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Paint by Numbers and Italian Scientists

Ciao! I am currently writing this post from a vineyard in Italy! I took these photos back in rainy Sydney, though - I haven't coincidentally found a wall that looks exactly like the same one back at home to take photos in front of. Ahh, and Italy... what can I say. There are not enough superlatives to describe how amazingly awesomely wonderfully beautiful it is. There will be photos. blouse - Thrifted skirt - c/o Romwe socks - c/o OASAP bag - Thrifted hat - c/o Wholesale shoes - Yeswalker As I am currently still very jetlagged, I am re-posting a science story I wrote back in January (originally here) about one of my inspirations, the Italian scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini. So if you've seen this before, I apologise! But as she was such an awesome person, this might be worth re-reading anyway. Rita Levi-Montalcini was an amazing, fiery and bad-ass neuroscientist, who sadly passed away in January, aged 103 years old. Image source and article Italian-born, she pursued a career in science at university despite both her father and 1930s society being generally against women in higher education. Then, she had to go into hiding when Mussolini came into power, as she was Jewish and thrown out of her university. To continue studying science, she built a secret research laboratory. Despite this, in 1986 she won a Nobel Prize for discovering something called "nerve growth factor", which greatly advanced our understanding of how neurons (nerve cells) work. Being at this point 77 years of age, she never slowed down - she went on to found the European Brain Research Institute in Rome, and a foundation encouraging the education of young women in Africa. She gave lectures and spoke out about promoting equality for women in science. And she turned up to work every day super well-dressed, with perfectly manicured hands and coiffured hair, even after turning 100. Basically, I want to grow up to be Rita. Read more about her amazing life here. Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Neapolitan Feet & 30,000 Ft Microbes

Today I aimed for my feet to look like melting ice creams! Do you think I succeeded?  These neapolitan-coloured brogues sent to me by MartofChina are only $15 - and they have sizes which fit my big feet, too! I really like them - although I think I will swap the laces for something a little nicer (the ones that came with them are a bit like pieces of string). Otherwise, I'm very happy with them! Also - this overall-style skirt is from a physical store in Haymarket, Sydney, that is actually called "Internet Shop". So if you're getting confused as to why there is no link below, and going "but it's called Internet Shop!?!", that is why. blouse - c/o Romwe skirt - Internet Shop shoes - c/o Mart of China necklace - c/o Les Folles Marquises socks - Tutuanna hat - c/o Wholesale Bacteria rule the world. For every human, Not only is there about 10 times more bacterial cells on and in your body than your own body cells, but there are probably about 5 million trillion trillion (5 with 30 zeros after it) bacteria on Earth. They are also extremely adaptable - bacteria can live inside hot springs and volcanoes, deep underneath the ocean and also, apparently, 9 km (or 30,000 ft) up in the atmosphere.  (Image Source) Very recently, scientists at Georgia Tech hitched a ride on some NASA airplanes, took samples of clouds and searched them for bacteria. They found about 100 different types of bacteria living in the clouds. And the bacteria might even affect how clouds form - at 30,000 feet, ice crystals which form the clouds need a particle to grow around - and that position could possibly be filled by bacteria. That means that bacteria not only rule our bodies and our land, they could also be controlling the weather. Read more about it here, it's super fascinating (I've been reading about it all morning). Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Lilac Stripes and Recording Your Dreams

Would it ruin these last few posts if I told you the main reason I took the photos all knees-up is because I fell down some stairs, hurt my ankle, and couldn't wear anything but giant comfy socks? Haha. Just *imagine* that I'm wearing some super cool lace-up creepers here, not fluffy pink bed socks.  I'm particularly in love with anything zebra-like lately, so these shorts from Sheinside are a welcome new addition to my wardrobe. They look great paired with a cropped shirt or cropped sweater of any kind. I can't wait to wear them together with some highly impractical shoes ;) blouse - c/o Romwe shorts - c/o Sheinside tights - c/o OASAP Enjoy this amazing video from ASAP science! Even though I'd already been introduced to most of the concepts in it, it still blew my mind! I hope you're all very very well! Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr