I Got a Watch!

That is actually surprising news, y'all.  I haven't had a watch since 5th grade.  I had one of those giant Baby G watches that was absolutely hideous, but I loved it and wore it literally constantly until I got the grossest watch tan and I haven't worn a watch since.   I really dislike the little 'girly,' dainty watches, but I don't feel like I can pull off the oversized men's watches that I really love.

I've had my eye on these La Mer bracelet watches for awhile now.  At first I thought they were too trendy to invest in, but they've come out with some more classic styles recently and I've been itching to get a watch so that I'm not so tied to my phone all the time, so I sprung for one as a Christmas present to myself.  (Apologies in advance for the shitty iPhone pictures.  My camera kicked the bucket on me).

I got the Moscow Braided Chain Watch, which is $110 at lamercollections.com.  The website describes it with: "Extra-long soft brown Italian leather strap topped with one large Antique Brass Chain Braided with thin natural Chain. Wipe clean. 22" long and 1/2" wide strap, Buckle closure. 14 K Gold Plated Square Signature La Mer Watch Case, .875" wide Watch case, seiko watch movement, Nickel Free. Due to the handcrafted nature of this product, each watch may vary slightly. Made in the USA."  It comes in this nice leather box.  The watch itself has an extra-long brown leather band, with the actual watch-face in the middle and a thick, copper-colored chain (with a little chain woven through that chain) attached to one half of the band--the chain runs between the buckle and the watch-face.

So basically I wrap it around my wrist haphazardly and try to get the chain all tangled in there, and it comes out looking like this!  The watch-face is pretty small with Roman numerals, but it does the trick.  I've always loved leather wrap bracelets with chains woven in, so I probably would have bought this without the watch, but that does make it so much more convenient and useful.  I really love it.  The strap has a couple different holes for different sized wrists and I think the leather will wear really well.  Overall, I think I'm gonna wear this all the time.  It's low-key, but refined, I think it'll go with a lot of outfits, and it's really easy to wear.  I'm super pleased with this purchase.

Hair Dye Adventures in Espana

I know, I know, I'm a bad little blogger.  To be fair, I have been traveling a lot and my internet is so slow it takes 3 hours to upload an album to Facebook.  Excuses, excuses, I know. (I also have to read all of Don Quijote, parts 1 and 2 for class.  Please, kill me).


I don't have that much news, but I did dye my hair!  Again.  So long story short, it's naturally a dark blonde/light brown.  Then I dyed it brown for year, and for about the first 6 months of the year it was red.  Like red-red-red.  But I got tired of it, and I wanted it to go back to brown.  So I dyed it medium-dark golden-brown literally 3 separate times.  It was still red, and worse than that, it was strawberry blonde on the bottom half because I have too much hair for one box of dye and the color on my ends had faded away.  This made me very frustrated.  So one day,  I freaked out and grabbed 2 boxes of a neutral dark brown and dyed my hair.


It's dark!  Dark dark dark.  It also looks like I have highlights because now my hair isn't taking dye evenly (damn you, red hair dye), but I guess that makes it more natural looking?  Either way, I really like the dark.  I had it this dark when my hair was way shorter--just over chin-length--and that felt a little harsh.  I think the extra length softens it up a lot, and I feel much more Spanish now!  Haha.  But no, really, the red hair + epic paleness was getting stares and comments from creepy old men on the street.  So.  Oh, and I slept with it in braids last night and attempted to make it wavy today.

I've been bouncing around Spain quite a bit since I got here.  So far I've been to Madrid, Toledo, Cadiz, Sevilla (obviously haha), Huelva, and Granada.  Here are some pics I took of the Alhambra in Granada--the last Moorish palace built in Spain in the last city conquered by the Catholic Kings.  Sigh.  Isn't it gorgeous?  It was abandoned by centuries and random squatters lived there before it was reclaimed and restored by the state. 

And on a totally random note, I've been doing a lot of online shopping in my downtown.  Being in Spain without being able to use my beloved iPhone and being stuck relying on my stupid little Movistar piece of junk has gotten me thinking about watches.  I'm normally that girl that walks around clutching her iPhone in a death grip so she always knows what's going on.  But not being able to do that has gotten me thinking, and honestly...it's a little obnoxious.  I'd like to be able to have a watch so I'm not constantly playing with my iPhone.  The one problem is that I HATE how watches look on me.  So when I found these bracelet-watch hybrids from La Mer, I got really excited.  La Mer Collections Moscow Braided Chain Wrap Watch, $110 at lamercollections.com, Brown Leather-Copper Motorcycle Chain Watch, $120 at lamercollections.com:

I know these are basically the same.  I really like the combination of skinny watch face, long brown leather straps, and chunky chains mixed in.  The watch face is so delicate and lady-like, the leather adds an equestrian/slightly preppy-aristocratic feel, and the chain brings it all back down to earth and gives it some grit.  The basic dilemma is between silver or gold.  I think I like the silver one better.  And all the rest of my rings/bracelets are silver too...hm...And momma, if you read this, I may or may not be asking for this for Christmas.  Love you! 

That's all for now, darlings.  Hasta luego!

Images via lamercollections.com.