Weekly Recap #6, 2022

Beach day in Scotland! I snapped the above photo yesterday while on an East Coast tour to Aberdeen (more on that in tomorrow’s blog post). Since I grew up in Washington state around the Puget Sound, I love being by the water and find so much peace in it. A little relaxation by the North Sea was the perfect way to recharge after a long week—one I am now realizing involved an unusually high amount of dancing! No complaints here.

Monday, February 7

I spent the day doing schoolwork, attending my online Celtic Civilization class, and taking blog photos. After my usual Monday night Scottish dancing class, I was invited to attend the intermediate dancing lessons on Thursdays instead—woohoo! I already shared this outfit in Tuesday’s blog post, but I love how the colors came together for a perfect wintery look.

Buffalo Plaid Shirt: JCPenney, $30 ($1.20 per wear), last worn here | Maroon Moto Jacket: BB Dakota via Wish Boutique, $25 ($0.61 per wear), last worn here | Grey Mom Jeans: Express, $19 ($0.70 per wear), last worn here | Black Knee Boots: Clarks via DSW, $100 ($1.72 per wear), last worn here

Tuesday, February 8

I met up with a friend this morning to try a nearby donut shop—the donuts were delicious! This was a very exciting outing for me because I haven’t eaten real donuts since the year 2011, which is when I found out I’m allergic to wheat (gluten-free donuts just aren’t the same). I ordered the Pistachio Brûlée filled donut and the jelly filled powdered donut—both were mm mm good.

In the afternoon, I spent a lot of time working on my thesis. I finally cracked down this week and have been working on it at least two hours every day. I have been having the hardest time motivating myself to write this dang thing, but it feels good to have finally made some progress this week.

Maroon Embroidered Sweater: Francesca’s, $45 ($3.21 per wear), last worn here | Skinny Jeans: Express, $42 ($3.00 per wear), last worn here | Black Knee Boots: Clarks via DSW, $100 ($1.69 per wear), last worn here

Wednesday, February 9

My friend and I met up this morning to go on a thrifting extravaganza! Next week we are going to two themed events that I am so excited about—a Y2K themed club night at the school’s union and an ABBA disco at one of the acclaimed event venues in town. We both needed outfits for the events, so we wandered around all the charity shops near campus looking for 2000s and 70s inspired attire. I found lots of options for Y2K outfits but didn’t find anything suitable for ABBA yet. We stopped for a short lunch break to try Japanese soufflé pancakes, which I guess were a big thing on social media a few years ago? Either way, they were delish.

In the afternoon, I had my Scottish culture class, followed by a salsa club meeting where we practiced some of the moves we learned last week and added to our repertoire of moves. This outfit was pretty bland, but I didn’t have much to choose from, as it was laundry day.

Strappy Tee: JCPenney, $18 ($1.29 per wear), last worn here | Maroon Quilted Vest: Francesca’s, $45 ($1.41 per wear), last worn here | Black Skinny Jeans: Express, $42 ($4.20 per wear) | Leopard Rain Booties: Ralph Lauren via Macy’s, $60 ($1.15 per wear), last worn here

Thursday, February 10

Thursdays are always my really busy days! I had my stained glass class downtown for three hours, during which I finished my first project and got to take it home. My Celt Civ tutorial in the afternoon was cut a few minutes short when the fire alarms in the building went off and we all had to evacuate—that was quite the exciting end to the school day. In the evening, my friend invited me over for dinner before we went to the intermediate Scottish dancing class together. It was SO much more enjoyable than the beginners class, and the steps are way easier to pick up when everyone else knows what they’re doing (the beginners class is utter chaos because nobody knows the steps). We went back to her place after class to plan a few trips together, woohoo!

I thought this outfit was cute aside from the hat… The beanie feels like a very different vibe than the rest of the look—it kind of clashes with the skirt and riding boots. But what can I say, my hair was too dirty not to cover it.

Grey Turtleneck: Bohme, $30 ($1.88 per wear), last worn here | Maroon Moto Jacket: BB Dakota via Wish Boutique, $25 ($0.60 per wear), last worn here | Black Corduroy Skirt: Francesca’s, $35 ($1.13 per wear), last worn here | Black Tights: DSW, $10 ($0.37 per wear), last worn here | Black Knee Boots: Clarks via DSW, $100 ($1.67 per wear), last worn here | Grey Beanie: Love Your Melon, $30 ($3.33 per wear), last worn here

Friday, February 11

I spent the morning getting all dolled up with the intention of taking blog photos in the afternoon, but the wind on my walk to class basically blew out all of my curls! Grrr. I took a few blog pics anyway and then went on a sub crawl with the Salsa Society later in the evening. We finished the night at the Latin dancing club, which was so much fun! There was a mix of salsa, bachata, and merengue dancing… which I had never done before, but thankfully I had a good lead. It was raining on my walk back home, hence the wet jacket and hair in today’s OOTD pic.

Pink Sweater: JCPenney, $18 ($0.40 per wear), last worn here | Black Pleather Jacket: Blank NYC via Gracie’s Boutique, $25 ($0.64 per wear), last worn here | Black Skinny Jeans: Express, $42 ($3.82 per wear) | Black Knee Boots: Clarks via DSW, $100 ($1.64 per wear), last worn here

Saturday, February 12

I went on another day trip today with International Student Tours along the East Coast of Scotland. I’ll be sharing a whole blog post about the trip tomorrow, so stay tuned. I thought this hairstyle would make for cute photos during all the sight-seeing today, but I quickly realized this style is not so cute once it gets wet. Now I know for next time—I think whenever I go on a day tour, I should just braid my hair into pigtails for the sake of wind and surefire cute photos (even with the half-up look, half my photos are just of hair in my mouth).

Maroon Embroidered Sweater: Francesca’s, $45 ($3.00 per wear), last worn here | Black Skinny Jeans: Express, $42 ($3.50 per wear) | Leopard Rain Booties: Ralph Lauren via Macy’s, $60 ($1.13 per wear), last worn here

. . . . .

I’m trying to get a little work done this morning before a busy night tonight—I’m going to bachata lessons at 5 pm, followed by dinner with a friend and a Super Bowl party at one of the unions. Yes, I guess Scottish people still care a little about American football because several pubs will be playing the game tonight (which doesn’t start until 11:30 pm Glasgow time!). I’m not sure if I’ll make it that long…

In other news, the heater and hot water in my flat are broken… so I’m really hoping someone can fix that today—I’ve been freezing the last few days! Last night I slept in my long puffer all wrapped like a burrito in my comforter, and I haven’t been able to shower for fear of never warming up again after getting out of the frigid water, lol.

Which of these looks is your favorite, and do you have any fun Super Bowl plans tonight? I don’t really care about American football, but I do enjoy the *event* of watching the Super Bowl with friends and eating all the yummy snack items (my mom’s artichoke dip is my fave). No matter how you spend your afternoon, I hope you have a great rest of your Sunday!

 

Miles of smiles,

Grace