Anni Long Stockings and Memory Metals

One problem with having a thrifting buddy who has a very similar style as you is that you have to fight over clothes. I found this shirt while thrifting the other day with Katie, and I nearly made her cry because she wanted it so badly. Katie begged and pleaded and I eventually had to give it to her - mainly because she looks exactly like Pippi Longstockings - with the caveat that I got to borrow it whenever I liked. So, being the great friend that I am, I stole it back off her almost immediately ;) You may have noticed that I titled this post "Anni Long Stockings". Anni is actually what my family and close friends call me, rather than Annika. This stems from me being a bratty 12-year-old who, deciding I loathed the name "Annika", violently attacked anyone who decided to address me so. Soooo, my family basically got this weird pavlovian reaction where they flinch upon accidentally calling me Annika (probably still thinking they're going to get punched by an angry 12 year-old), and the name Anni stuck, even though I actually prefer Annika now. I was a super bratty 12-year-old. The more you know.  Update: My mum (my blog's biggest fan hehe) just messaged me to tell me that one of Pippi's best friends was called Annika, which I totally didn't know. My mum loved Pippi as a kid, and it could be one of the reasons that I am called Annika! Top is thrifted | skirt is thrifted | necklace c/o Ginger Pickle | socks are from Clear It | shoes are Naot Memory metals! They're a thing! I can't actually believe that this exists: A nickel-titanium alloy, this metal is able to revert back to the shape that it was created in using "heat memory". To create the desired shape, it needs to be heated to a "transformation temperature" - usually around 65 - 80°C. When it cools down, it becomes flexible and can be molded into any shape. However, once it hits that "transformation temperature" again (like being put into a hot water bath), its atoms remember their previous arrangement, and it springs back into its previous shape. Called Nitinol, the metal has proved useful in medical applications, helping arteries retain their shape and removing clots from deep inside the brain, and has even been used in eyeglass frames. So cool. I hope that you're all having a beautiful day, Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Best Fr3ndz & X-Rays

Me and the gorgeous Katie had planned to spend all of Friday crafting together, when I remembered last minute that I had an appointment for an X-ray, smack-bang in the middle of the day. I was going to have to cancel our craft date - something we'd both been looking forward to all week - and spend the day being irradiated instead. Yay. But because Katie is amazing, she insisted on coming with me on the 2-hour long train trip to the radiologists, to sit with me in the boring waiting room and hold my hand. She even starved with me in solidarity (I had to fast before the X-ray). There is a reason best friends are called best friends - because they are the actual best. Katie turned a potentially crappy day into a really lovely one, and we even did get to do a bit of crafting in the end - I'm helping Katie to make her very first dress (using my DIY dress pattern tutorial). These pictures were taken a while ago now, but I think they're perfect for today's post! Dress and jacket are thrifted | tights are from Japan | shoes are c/o Chicwish (ages old, no longer for sale) | Katie's dress is thrifted (a gift from me!) Also, in honour of the amazing science and diagnostic tool that is x-rays, here is a wonderful series of gifs by Cameron Drake and Dr Noah Weiss that show the joints of the human body in motion: The knee cap Shoulder joint Wrist and Hand Human beings have a few different types of joints, including hinge joints (just like a hinge on a door, like in the knee), ball-and-socket (like in the shoulder, which allows wide rotation) and pivot joints (like the one at the top of your spine that allows you to rotate your head in a "no" motion). You don't really think about how they work until you start to have problems (or you are an anatomy student), but when you have a closer look, you can appreciate what an amazing machine the body is! You can see a few more joints in motion on the IFLS website. Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Oh Mickey You're So Fine + Dorky Video (Get Ready With Me)

Shirt, skirt and jacket are thrifted | socks are from Clear It | shoes c/o Choies (out of stock, ages old) | necklace c/o Ginger Pickle (Eclectic Eccentricity) | badge is a vintage gift from Katie WHY AM I SO SURLY IN THESE PHOTOS? Clearly I have a lot of angst. However, I'm pretty happy with my mostly-thrifted outfit today, and the fact that I found both this Mickey Mouse shirt and varsity jacket on the same day - score! I also decided to make this super dorky outfit/"get ready with me" video to accompany this post. Wait. "What's a 'Get ready with me' video, Annika?" OH GOSH! Have you been living under a rock, or have you NOT spent all your time watching beauty bloggers on youtube?  Tsk tsk. Never fear, I'm here to educate you. If you haven't seen this particular style of video on youtube before, here is a salient example. Now watch my video. Just your average day for an average gal with fashion superpowers ☼ I hope that you're all having a wonderful day! Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Nautical Astronauts & The Tree of 40 Fruit

Shirt, skirt and cardigan are thrifted | necklace c/o Ginger Pickle (Eclectic Eccentricity) | shoes are Naot | socks from Clear It | Lace shorts are years old (Wholesale) I am back at university and have been having a few health issues - nothing too scary, hopefully - but that might mean that my blogging/video-making will become more sporadic over the next little while (I hope it won't, but just a warning!) Because uni has started again - and I've started being recognised by strangers from my blog/instagram/youtube - I've been aiming to look stylish & cute on campus - but I've also wanted to stay cozy because I haven't been feeling 100%. The perfect solution? Stealing my boyfriend's super comfy cardigan!  No matter how many clothes you have, I think that it's always more satisfying to wear someone else's! Does anyone else agree? (By the way - I think the shirt that I'm wearing is a little kids shirt, hahaha. Oh well, it fits! And looks cute!) Now this is just the coolest combination of art and science - the tree below produces 40 different varieties of peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, cherries and almonds (which are NOT nuts - what?!) Image source: Sam Van Aken The tree didn't start out like this - each different species has been carefully grafted onto the branches of the tree as it has grown, over a process of 5 years. It looks like a normal tree for most of the year, but during spring it blooms into a variety of different colours, and then grows 40 types of fruit in the summer. It's a project of art professor Sam Van Aken, who has made 16 of these trees so far, and is also used to conserve rare varieties of fruit that would otherwise be lost! To make the trees, the technique of chip budding is used - the bud of the desired tree is inserted into the working tree, left to heal over the winter, and if all goes to plan it will grow like a normal branch on the working tree!  Read more about the process here. I hope that you're all having a wonderful start to the week! p.s. I was featured on the beautiful blog B-looom today, sharing my everyday make up routine! So if you were ever interested in how I do my make up - something I have actually never shared on my blog before - go and check it out! Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Tartan Dresses and Paper Folds

Dress is from Renew Vintage | tights are from Japan | shoes are no longer available I am so glad that Katie convinced me to buy this dress while we were at Sydney's Finders Keepers a couple of months back! I noticed it early on in the night, but didn't try it on "in case I loved it", and proceeded to fret for hours while creepily returning to the store 3 or 4 times to stare at it. Sick of me being a weirdo and possibly freaking out the store owner, Katie forced me to try it on, "and then, when it doesn't fit, you won't regret anything!" Unfortunately, it fit perfectly. This caused much more fretting on my part. Katie told me I had to buy it. I said no. Then a stranger walked by and told me how good it looked, and that I had to buy it. "Oh, maybe I should buy it!" I exclaimed, and proceeded to buy the dress. "Cool, don't listen to me then, listen to a stranger," grumbled Katie. So that's the story of this dress. I'm really happy that I bought it now, regardless of the fact that I have way too many dresses in my wardrobe (psst! Buy my clothes! You know you want to!) Speaking of Katie, she is still gallivanting around Finland and isn't going to be back for another two weeks, boo! I miss her so much! Alright, want your MIND TO EXPLODE?! (Not literally, obviously. I promise that all mind explosions that may result will be of the good kind.) If it were possible to fold a normal piece of paper in half 104 times (it isn't possible, by the way - the record is 12 times - if you don't believe me, go and try it yourself) then the resulting width of folded paper would be as BIG as the entire observable universe. Cool!... wait. How?! Exponentials, baby! Watch this video: And I hope that you're all having a wonderful day. Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Donut we all?

Necklace is c/o I Love Crafty | blouse, pinafore and cardigan are thrifted | tights are DIY | shoes are old I felt that I needed some absurd way to express my love of I Love Crafty's new Donut Shop range of jewellery, so I decided to make it look like it was raining donuts in my backyard! Image via Rebloggy I've been a fan of I Love Crafty for years now, and this donut shop range is one of my favourite collections of theirs, featuring donut-themed collar tips, necklaces and rings in all the different flavours! They will go perfectly with any pastelly outfit, but will probably make you want to eat some real-life donuts (like I had to the next time I went out shopping, hahaha). Not only is the jewellery just wonderful, but Laura is also the queen of cute packaging! Donut science! (TW: diets and food) Have any of you watched the documentary Sugar v Fat that aired a couple of months ago? If you can find it, I highly recommend watching it!  Basically, two identical twins who also both happen to be doctors wanted to see what was healthier for you when "dieting" - a high-fat or a high-sugar diet? For one month, one twin went on a high-fat diet, while the other went on a high sugar diet with little to no fat.  The demonisation of either fat or sugar in fad diets has been a point of debate in pop-nutrition - one moment, you're told to avoid all fats and the next, it's sugars that seem to be evil - with high-fat diets like Atkins, and low-fat diets all claiming to be the healthiest for you. Well these twins wanted to cut through the bullshit, and study the physiological changes that occur when going on either of these diets. What they find out is interesting - neither fat or sugar seem to be the real problem (and cutting out either one or the other is pretty unhealthy). Rather, it's a highly addictive combination of the two, usually when they occur in a 1:1 ratio - such as found in Krispy Kreme's original glazed donuts.  As neuropsychologist Paul Kenny demonstrates, when lab rats are given free access to a food that is only fat (like cream) or only sugar, they will not overeat. However, when rats are given free access to food that is a combination of fat and sugar, they will absolutely gorge themselves, and the ratio of fat to sugar is very important. To prove their point, the twins offer people a choice between three donuts - original glazed, sugar-coated or creme-filled donuts. What would you choose, given a choice (and you aren't allowed to say no?) Most people, it turns out, would choose the original glazed donut. This 1:1 combination of fat and sugar is apparently not found anywhere in nature, rather it's only found in human-made, processed foods, and apparently it's super addictive to us mammals - so no wonder donuts are so appealing! * Note that this wasn't a proper scientific study, but it does aid what most nutritional scientists (with actual science degrees) have been saying for years - eat a balanced diet and don't eat too many processed foods if you want to eat healthily! NB you should always aim to eat to be healthy, not to change your body to look like some "ideal" shape because all body shapes are beautiful :) So enjoy the occasional donut now and again! I hope that you are all having a great day! Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Mustard, Sunflowers & Women in Science

Sweater and shorts are thrifted | space shuttle c/o Eclectic Eccentricity | astronaut c/o Ginger Pickle | tights are from my shop | shoes are Naot | earrings are handmade by me Because it's the middle of winter and my house doesn't have any heating (#studentlyfe) I have been wearing mostly warm colours like orange, red and yellow - as if I'm trying to trick my brain to make up for our lack of heating. I have also been ~constantly~ wearing this new Lime Crime velveteen lipstick (Wicked) because it's also a lovely, warm colour and it goes perfectly with my hair! Seriously, this lipstick is tha shiz - I put it on after breakfast, and it's still there when I'm getting ready for bed, without any reapplications! Now how's that for staying power? And then there's these tights - they're my absolute favourite right now. Even when I'm just wearing a pair of plain black shorts and a sweater, they make that outfit interesting. I've been wearing this floral pair for the last week to check out how durable they are, because I have them for sale in my shop - and they're super good quality, I have not gotten a single ladder or tear, and I've even been taking them bike riding! So with that little plug, if you want to buy a pair I have about 8 pairs for sale in my shop! "Our words can have a huge impact. Isn't it time we told her she's pretty brilliant too?" This video from Verizon shows us how both society and parents unintentionally dissuade girls from going into science, and oh boy, it gets so many things right. And yeah, it's an ad for Verizon, but it's a really great one. First off, it's a video all about female empowerment that doesn't resort to how women look - such as those ads that emphasise "don't worry, you're beautiful whatever you look like", and in doing so perpetuate the idea that appearance is still the most important thing to strive for if you're a woman. As slate observes, the ad makes parents and society into the problem, not the girls themselves. "So much of our efforts in trying to encourage girls end up treating them like they're the ones who are screwing up, either with too much "body talk" or being lame for playing with certain toys. This ad shifts the focus, arguing that girls are born fine and it's the rest of us who screw them up" says Slate's Amanda Marcotte. The idea of young girls being "ladylike" - of not getting dirty, not playing with things found at the beach, staying safe, being quiet and letting the men handle potentially dangerous tools - is also telling those girls that they shouldn't have an interest in science and technology, because it's not a very "ladylike" profession to strive for. Yes, you can tell a young woman that she's pretty, but that should never be her most important quality. Because "she's pretty brilliant, too". Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr