Dress - Spitalfield. Shoes - Dorothy Perkins.

Fishnets - Sydney flea market. Cuff - Flea market.

Beret - Present from Hanshen. Necklace - Made by my mother.

Estimated temperature: -2 degrees.

I wore this festive linen dress for a holiday party in my dorm. I love the lovely, old school, almost-pencil-skirt shape of it and the demure length of the hem.

The wonderful man I bought it from told me actually designs the template of the dress, picks out different fabrics and send them to a dressmaker to be made. "You have a good eye," I told him. 

"Bless you," he grinned.

The weather here is so fickle, by the time you read this, all the snow in this picture will have melted completely and rain will be pelting down upon us.

But life is completely unpredictable that way.

I will admit now that I was pretty depressed for a large part of 2010. I woke up feeling lacklustre and like crying, dragged myself to work and there was more than one day when I burst into tears sitting at my desk, feeling my life was forever going go on stagnant and wasted, doing things I hardly cared about.

Friends like Mie and Mavis were great comforts to me then, but eventually, I had to get off my arse and take action.

I am here now, living my dream completely by chance. I almost didn't make it, twice. But somewhere along the line, someone dropped out of the course, someone liked my portfolio, someone decided to keep one space for me.

And as much as the weather or the darkness depresses me sometimes, or I miss home and my friends and my family and the food, every day, I know I should be thankful. 

For most of 2011 I get to continue do this. My year is made, and I am so, so, grateful for that.

I hope all of you have a great 2011! Thank you for reading, I love the online community and it's been great getting to know everyone.