Christmas Trip

I'm back!!!

Christmas was a brief 4 day holiday with my parents up in country NSW. I have to say I love the drive back there as well as the dry heat of the country. It was 40 degrees C (about 104F) and it only felt like a balmy 30C! Not to mention my fur baby Bailey loves the wide open space to run around and explore. He's met all sorts of creatures up home like rabbits and hedgehogs.

I thought you might enjoy some pics of my trip. Unfortunately I didn't take many outfits pics but you'll be glad to know I did get to wear my Coxinelles for Christmas Eve and my Fetichas for Christmas dinner.

Have car will travel! Driving out of the city

 

Bails chilling in the back seat - such a sweetie pie!

How dry is the country side?

 

The sky is such a vibrant blue out in the country, you just can't describe it. Picture taken from inside the car.

My parents wanted to go into town (they live 28kms out of town) as the shops were open till midnight  on the 23rd which is a BIG novelty as the town only just got Sunday trading approved a few years ago!!! Bailey was pretty indignant that he was not taken along.

M is buggered after driving all the way to my parents, 4 beers, a bottle of red wine and 2 hours of shopping. We were waiting for my parents to finish last minute grocery shopping. I think this picture says it for both of us. It was only 10:30pm but we were tired! Thanks goodness I was driving us all back home.

Even the dog was buggered!

Our trip back home was quite different to the trip up!

So that's our Christmas trip wrapped up in 8 pictures! Hope everyone had a safe and merry Christmas and that your New Year's Eve plans are shaping up to be good ones. I'll chat to you later!!!

HOLIDAYS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I just wanted to pop in and say that as of today I am officially on annual leave!!! M and I are hiring a car and driving into the country to see my parents for Christmas.

See I'm all packed and ready to go!!!

Bon voyage!!! I'll speak to you next week.

CraMberry ♥

Well you know how I'm really bad at NOT spending money? I kinda bought another pair of shoes....

I couldn't resist! They're one of the hottest styles and colours around!!! AND they were on sale, what was a girl to do? Seriously!

I have to give a big shout out to my wonderful SA Reghan at the SCP boutique. I spoke to her for the first time this week and we had a great chat. It's always nice to speak to people after building up an email rapport. If anyone wants a great SA in the US please contact Reghan.

Introducing my gorgeous new ladies - Fetichas in cramberry metal patent!!!

Yes, I said cramberry. That's how it describes the colour on the box, I'm not lying.

See? And yes, I know, I have a baby sized foot. You're not the first to say that! Anyway, how gorgeous is the metal patent? See how it sparkles under direct sunlight? It's pure berry coloured heaven!!!

The only thing that worries me is that I have stuff two lots of foot petals into these puppies as they're a tad too big. Will they stretch and be too big one day or will they never stretch and leave my poor toes in eternal agony? Would I have been better going for a 35 instead? I'd forgotten the pain of stretching out shoes! Ouch!!

Whilst I haven't worn them out yet I have already made an outfit of them. I wore them around the house stretching them out today. I don't think it's worked yet but another few days and I should be right.

I can't say enough about this colour and style! See how it goes with what I'm wearing and spices up an otherwise pedestrian outfit? It's a shoe that's not shy to party yet will earn it's keep and go to work with you. Wear it with black, white, blue & purple. For a bright colour it's quite a neutral. Can't wait to wear them around town!!

Well that's it from me tonight. Just wanted to show you my Fetichas, night!

Turkey, Ramen, Steak, Vampires & Werewolves.

Friday night was our work Christmas party which I must say I thoroughly enjoyed as it was a harbour cruise and buffet dinner. The buffet certainly wasn't anything to write home about but all we needed was basic stuff. I don't have any photos on my camera as I forgot to take any! Too busy having a good time I think. I know my friend was taking millions of pics with her dslr so here are some pics of the party!

I look like such a travel brochure in the second pic don't I? Also check out my blue contacts in the third pic. Love it!

Saturday was a bit of a lazy day and we wandered up to our local restaurant strip for lunch. Our favourite Korean run Japanese restaurant had recently opened a noodle bar where they served miso or soya based ramen. OMG! It was soooo good!!!!

Karage chicken ramen with soya base

Pork & kimchee ramen with soya base

The soup was just what we needed and soothed booth of our heads and tummies. We were so full from the sheer amount of noodles in the bowl and wodnered if we could fit a BBQ in that night. But we did! Don't have any pictures from the birthday BBQ but trust me, we had fun!!!

Hmm, Sunday and Monday don't really rate a mention but on Tuesday a friend and I finally got to see New Moon! Oh PHWOAR! I don't know which team to go for!!! I think I'm in team Jacob for the abs and team Edward for the Heathcliffe-esque demeanor.

Oh I sold my Orlans - RIP my dear friend. I hope you are loved well by your new owner.

Anyway that about sums up my week up till now. I'll chat to you later on, night!!

Tweet Tweet!

Here's what I made tonight! A tweety birdie.

I think he's kinda cute. This time I did it completely from scratch. I didn't have a tutorial, just a rough idea of what I wanted. I think I've run out of animals to replicate though as all the other animals I can think of are more complex. Maybe I'll try a dog or cat next.

I actually made the body shape by accident but I'm glad I went with this shape rather than the original pear shape I had planned. I have to say the pen tool is a bit tricky for a beginner but I'm sure that I'll be a pro in no time...maybe. I get very frustrated with it when it doesn't do what I want it to!!!

I'll keep you updated on what I do over the weekend. Night!

Learning the basics

Have I had a busy couple of days! I'm finding that work gets in the way of real life at the moment. I'm sure most people feel like that most of the time.

I guess for me it's because I've got this burning desire to learn how to use Adobe products, namely Illustrator. I have this fire inside me to do something creative. I always have. But at the same time I also have a need to be very precise and calculated. My favourite subjects in school were maths and english. What kind of freak was I? Nobody likes BOTH as you're usually a lefty or righty (and I'm not talking hands here). I think that's why I've struggled to find something I truly love doing.

I have a passion for science which is the path I've taken (sort of) and yet the creative arts pull at my heart strings and to be honest I think that is where I will find my ultimate nirvana but I haven't taken the leap yet. I've always dipped my toes into both ponds and I keep flipping backwards and forwards as if I'm waiting for something to just drag me under.

As a child I performed in school choirs (I've even performed in the Opera House twice with choirs!), elected to do the art and computer animation classes, did ballet, tap and jazz and a whole swag of other creative stuff. I used to bake a lot and do a lot of scrapbook/stamping. As an adult I further indulged that creative streak by taking a makeup course which I pursued, and worked for a top tier cosmetics company as a makeup artist/sales consultant.

So why am I in the job I'm in now? Well quite frankly because it pays well and I'm good at it. And it's somewhat reated to what I studied at uni. I would love to say I could live on air and love but that would be a complete load of horse manure. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy it and it has it's challenges but ultimately I don't know that it completes me. But I have to get money from somewhere to do all the things I want to do like take design classes, photography classes, buy a dslr, buy craft products to make things etc etc etc. And to buy my bags and shoes of course!!!

Anyway, I had my first attempt at Illustrator with the guidance of an online tutorial and little bit of help from M.

This was what I was supposed to replicate:

Isn't he hilarious??? I didn't really want to have a stoned panda so I kinda did my own thing with the face.

Whaddya think? I think he's pretty damn cute! And I have plans for him which I'll let you in on a little later when it becomes more tangible.

On that note, I'll leave you to have sweet dreams! Night!!

Check this out!

My friend k1ng who taught me how to make a blog shop has a pair of gorgeous glittart Louboutins in her blog shop!!!

VISIT HER SHOP HERE

It's beginning to smell like Christmas...

M and I decided to take a stab at doing some Christmas shopping today but it didn't really work out on so many levels.

First of all M got home at 5am this morning as he went to see a friend DJ. When he finally got up we had breakfast at about 11:30am and then we caught the bus into town so it was about 1pm by the time we finally got to do some shopping!

This picture is sooo cute! I was getting M to take a pic of my outfit for the blog and Bails decided he wanted in on the action and stood in front of me. Trust a male to stand in front of the shoes!!! You can see my Christian Louboutin Citys in my reflection so not to worry.

We saw a few things that might be nice but nothing we bought right away. I did happen to score some sunglasses though as I wasn't happy with my current aviators.

I think these suit me a lot more than my current ones which are a bit too small for my face. The problem is my last pair were polarised and my new ones aren't. Oh well!

We really didn't have any ideas about what we wanted to get people for Christmas so there was a lot of aimless wandering around. Our afternoon was cut short at about 3pm as M got a phone call to say that a friend of ours from the UK was around our area and did he want to catch up with him and another mate. It was a bit of a pain as today was supposed to be just an 'us' day as we didn't really see each other yesterday but what the hell, if a friend is out from the UK I think that's a bit more special. Plus we didn't really know what presents we wanted to get yet so it was only window shopping at this stage.

One more thing before I head to bed, I know I seemed like I had a hard attitude in my last post to homeless people and yes, to a degree I am jaded, but I have to say there is this homeless man called Brian who hangs out in Pitt St mall who polishes shoes to earn money. He's one of the few homeless men who seems to be doing something for himself. He has his shopping cart and a sign telling people he is homeless and thanking people who help him out by allowing him to clean their shoes. I think the sign even says "God bless" or something to that effect. I haven't read his sign in a while. He always seems happy when you see him but today he looked a little down. I wonder if it's because Christmas means something to him or if he was just having an off day. Either way my heart kinda went out to him.

No one should be alone at Christmas...

Urban Decay

Seeing the ranting homeless man really got me thinking about society. We tend to shun the homeless and the crazy, if we ignore them they can't really be there can they?

How can we have supreme wealth and abject poverty in the same city? How is this possible in a first world country? Aren't there societies that take care of homeless people? Soup kitchens? Homeless shelters and so on and so on. Why are we still seeing them on the streets?

The problem is more and more people slide into homelessness every year whether from addictions, a lack of a job, insanity or just plain carelessness and there seems to be nothing we can do about it. The homeless shelters are overflowing and there is only so much homeless organisations can do as most of them are volunteers.

I guess being a city dweller has made me a little jaded because every time I step out of our apartment and walk into the city I get acosted by beggars asking for a dollar. I know they don't really need it for the train fare or the burger they want to buy so I refuse to give them anything. They'll just use the money to score their next hit. I know this because I have offered to go with them and get them some food or the train ticket and all of them turn on me and tell me to f*** off! Now I don't bother so I could actually be dismissing someone who genuinely needs help.

I began to notice some interesting things around me.

Isn't this a great photo? I live in an area of Sydney that is quite hip and trendy but at the same time it's got it's fair share of homeless bums and decaying buidlings. I've always noticed this one and I think this building could be virtually anywhere in the world. It has that shabby, used up old look. I don't quite understand how anyone lives there as I am told the building is in pretty much the same condition on the inside. I gather a lot of "struggling" artists live there as there are always so many arty people hanging out front smoking.

Ok, now am I the only one who finds this next picture odd?

I never really saw it until the other day and then the penny dropped. I have been working in the city for ages and I can't believe I have never seen this incongruous placing before. We have a diamond jeweller right next to a mission centre...am I the only one who sees the irony of this? Wesley Mission for those who don't know are a organisation who provide counselling services, homeless help & care, crisis accommodation, drop in centres, soup kitchens etc etc etc.

It really makes you think about what we have evolved into doesn't it? I for one can't speak as I splurge copious amounts of money on unnecessary luxury items every month. But I am thankful I have a stable job with a very stable company and a roof over my head every night. I don't have to wonder where my next meal is coming from and I can afford to feed my dog who depends on me.

I feel extremely lucky right now.

FOR SALE: Christian Louboutin Orlan in Black Suede - Size 35.5

Please look in my new BLOG BOUTIQUE for this item!

Thanks to k1ng for helping me figure it out!!!

What happens after Tuesday?

Welcome to Wednesday, or hump day as it's commonly called. Now I know some minds have wandered into Dodgyville but keep it clean people!! For those who are unfamiliar with the term, it simply means that like a speed hump, the middle has passed and it's all downhill from here. Great analogy for a week really.

The other good one I got from from a friend of mine:  After Tuesday even the calendar says W T F !!!

Thank one made me laugh hysterically as it's sooo true!

What's happened in my week so far? Hmmm...good question.

Monday - Just work really, nothing exciting. Couldn't wait to get home but there were sooo many things to do so I worked back a bit. I did however find time to make this picture up on my mobile phone. I have only just discovered this app called PicSay which is FABULOUS for novelty pictures.

Above picture is of my pirate dog. Clearly! Just kidding. It's my lovely little fur baby Bailey. Isn't he handsome? I know it's hard to tell with an eye patch on but use your imagination! I showed him his picture but he wasn't particularly interested in it. Oh well, his loss.

Now just to prove I do actually wear my other shoes, I shot this pic especially for you guys. Went to dinner on Tuesday and wore some 3/4 length jeans with my gray patent Penny Girl flats.

I guess you've never seen my casual outfits yet have you? Went to Burger Bar to celebrate M getting some great marks in his exams. Had a BLTA - Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato & Avocado - pure heaven! I'm drooling now just thinking about it. Sorry, I keep forgetting to take pics, naughty I know. Cruel to taunt you with the food but not show you.

Wednesday (today) - saw a crazy man yelling at passing pedestrians outside work . I tell you, Sydney has the gamut of people from the crazy homeless to the crazy corporate sharks. It's amazing to see really. Especially when you work in a building full of lawyers (I'm not one by the way but I am corporate) and then walk out and get confronted by Mr Crazy yelling mumbo jumbo at you!!

Not a great pic as I was trying to take it on the sly and it's on my mobile phone.  I did intentionally blur the other people in the pic just for their privacy. His face was all ruddy and he was smoking multiple cigarettes at once and stuffing his face with drink and food. I'm sure in his world he was having an awesome time.

And tonight we had jap for dinner. I love my japanese food! California rolls and agedashi tofu. Sorry once again no pics. I took my camera and everything but obviously once food enters the equation I forget everything and just eat.

To cap off the night I do what I normally do and browse the net dreaming of what to spend my money on. Sad but remember I am a shopaholic. And blogging is my rehab. Sort of. I'm currently obssessed with CL coral and a style I'm coming to want more and more is the Bianca.

Picture taken from Horatio or Madison boutique - can't remember which one

Voila! One sexy beast aren't isn't it? *sigh* I'm also drooling over the Giuseppe Zanotti Cindy OTK boot. I can't find a picture of them right now but they are HOT!

Anyway, I'm going to stop boring you and go to bed. Hope you enjoy your day or night and I'll chat to you soon!

Spring racing

Attended spring racing at Randwick on Saturday and I must say the standard of dress has severely gone downhill. Although it may have always been like that and I have never noticed. I'm sure it's gotten worse. There were some atrocious "dresses" (I use that term very loosely as some were more suited to being garbage bin liners than party frocks!) and there were men there in jeans and t-shirts! Some people were wearing shorts and thongs!!!

Why is it I don't win on the horses? I put two bets on great horses but neither one of them even placed! They weren't exactly dogs and they're names were awesome. How could you not want to bet on horses called Sequinella and Lotus Flower? Sequinella reminds me of Rachel Zoe - "I do love me a sequin"

The one thing I am kicking myself over is not taking the advice of a drunken bookie. Sounds odd but one half of my group got out of their taxi and a drunk bookie was yelling "horse 1, race 6!" at them. They all put $5 down on the horse which I think was called Wasted Emotions and the darn thing won!!! If only I had put down $10 to win I would have made my money back as $5 paid $19.

Oh well! I wore a Princess Highway strapless, bubble hemmed, checked dress with my Coxinelles. I wish I still had my Scissor Girls in pewter as they would have gone perfectly. I didn't manage to get a decent full length pic but you all know what my Coxinelles look like by now anyway!

Accessories worn are my silver cuff necklace, diamond drop earrings and Bvlgari Astrale ring. I should probably photograph my accessories too but I never remember to. You're lucky enough you get outfit pics!!!

The weather was perfect for the races and a good time was had by all. Afterwards we all headed back to our place and continued on. My head was a bit sore this morning but hey, that's what happens when you consume 5 bottles of champagne and a bottle of vodka between 6 people!

Anyway, gotta some sleep for work tomorrow, sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite!

Je suis triste...

This is probably my first sad post. I'm sooooo disappointed in myself right now. I had the opportunity to buy these super cute Louboutin flats and I didn't jump on them. I wanted to hear back from the seller about shipping costs in case it was ridiculous. I hadn't heard anything by lunch time so I went to lunch a little worried. I decided while out that I should definitely buy them but when I went back to work someone had already snapped them! I'm such an idiot!!! And the worst part? They were only US $85!!!! That is UNHEARD of for brand new Loboutins. And they were totally cute and perfect for me. I was already building outfits around them...just goes to show I should snap things up right away when I see them. Grrr...

pictures taken from ebay listing

They super cute aren't they? I don't even know what style they are. If anyone ever gets any leads on them please, please, please let me know!!!! I need them in a 35.5 or 36.

I couldn't believe I didn't just buy them...what was I thinking. Oh yeah, that I am trying to stop spending money. Even M told me he can't believe I didn't buy them and they were an absolute BARGAIN and that's saying something coming from him.

In better news, I did receive my first Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress in the mail today. I was so depressed that it didn't cheer me up until I got home and tried it on. It's the Jessica style in the Spotted Frog print.

Beautiful pattern isn't it? I blurred the backgound because you don't need to see my dead plants! I do not have a green thumb at all. The thing I love about DVF is that she designs very feminine, flattering clothes for all types of shapes. I've paired them with my CL Coxinelles and they could easily go with my nude CL Clichys.

Well, enough of my whining. It's time to eat dinner! Night!!

Life is a garden...Dig it!

Hey strangers, I'm baaack! Sorry I've left you hanging for an update, got back to Sydney and enjoyed my day off  on Monday, then got thrown back into work like a banana in a blender!

Phew, what a weekend. You know what I've discovered? If you're going to have a wedding the best place to have one is at a winery! You NEVER run out of wine!!! And the food was still coming out at midnight! I'm sure some of you are shaking your head right now but I've never been to a wedding at a winery before so I didn't realise how good it was.

Look at the view! What a picturesque venue. Must have my own wedding at one someday if I get around to it. It was a fairly casual even with the bride and groom wearing thongs and sandals so we dressed accordingly to the wedding invite - "after 5, ready to jive, formal or funky, however you feel funky".

See the purse my cousin gave me in action? Oh and you know how I bought some clothes, these are them. I paired my maxi dress with my CL Citys in tan. I should have worn my bronze flats in all honesty but I wanted to wear my CL's. I am a bit of a melting pot of colour but it wasn't that bad in real life. And I'm so glad I bought the bolero jacket as it was drizzling during the ceremony and it was a rather cold day! I had a silk scarf as well that I ended up using too.

Much was fun was had by all and we needed big breakfasts to cope with the aftermath of it all...

Poached egg, tomato, grilled mushrooms, eggplant, wilted spinach, hollandaise sauce on a toasted english muffin

 Smoked salmon scrambled eggs with mushrooms, spinach, tomato & bernaise sauce

Yes I know, I finally remembered to take pics! Crappy phone pics but hey, better than nothing, right? Anyway, that's enough from me for now. Have a great night and I'll chat to you soon.

Busy times...

You would not believe how slammed at work I've been! I have not had a chance to scratch my butt cheeks let alone blog or chat or breathe!!! Well, I may be slightly exaggerating on the breathing part since I'm still alive.

I'll keep this one short and sweet as I have to pack for a weekend away. I'm off to another wedding, this time a super casual do in the Barossa Valley, one of Australia's best wine regions in my opinion . Can't wait! And it's even more special as I have Monday off too so I'm having me a loooong weekend, woohoo!!

Anyway, I thought that I would share some pictures I took on Wednesday of the city I call home.

The above shot is of our majestic town hall which houses the below organ which I've been lucky enough to hear even though at the tender age of 12 I couldn't appreciate it like I can now:

Handel's Messiah sounds ethereal blowing out of the century plus old grand organ! It was a really beautiful experience and I know I felt at peace even at 12 listening to that music. I'm not religious by any means but I felt it was a religious experience if you know what I mean.

Next we have the icon Queen Victoria Building or QVB for short which is opposite where I work. Love the architecture and glasswork. M's grandfather was a glazier and he actually did the roof of the QVB!!! How's that for being a small world? I've seen the pictures.

 

 

Pretty spectacular isn't she? Not too shabby for an old lady. Sorry, no pics of the Opera house as I was out and about on my lunch break so not enough time to get there and back.

Oh and yeah, purchased some clothes today so I'm really sucking at this ban thing aren't I? I did need a little bolero style shrug/jacket for the wedding...

Anyhoo, I'm leaving now before you shoot me. Plus I have to pack and rest for my 6am start!!! Enjoy your weekend and you'll get a full debrief when I get back. Night!

It's my birthday!

Today's my birthday and I had an awesome day! I have to admit I spent money but it was mainly spent on birthday and Christmas gifts for others so I think that lets me off the hook. Oh and I don't count the breakfast or dinner I treated myself as I wasn't going to cook on my birthday now was I???

I traditionally take my birthday off but since I was having next Monday off I decided to go to work anyway. No one usually expects you to do anything on your birthday anyway. I was leaving work at 1pm so my plan was to slip in and play it on the down low but that got blown to smithereens with people passing by wishing me a happy birthday!

Look what was waiting for me when I got into work:

What a lovely bunch of flowers!!!

Then I got surprised by cake (no photo sorry!) and a card and present. It was so sweet of my colleague to organise the whole thing. I got some beautiful Body Shop body butters which are just heavenly.

Then I got taken to lunch by M and we pigged out (again no photos of food! I think I can't wait to eat that's my problem, plus I'm not used to taking pics of everything!!) and then went shopping. Still can't decide what I want for my birthday/Christmas present.

I did however sneak into Gucci and try the Riddle boot on. Can I say it is extreme HOTNESS!!! The smallest they had was a 36.5 and my foot slipped way too much in them as I knew they would. I NEED them in my life. You don't understand. Even M thought they rocked!!!

M and I have this tradition that we only buy each other one big present a year. It's usually cash and goes towards whatever we want it to. I think it's a great idea and we don't really have to think about what to get the other person. Sounds sad I know but it's extremely practical. I usually put my money towards designer items. Predictable!

Anyway, getting off track there. I had a lovely day out and then we wandered home to meet my cousin and her partner for dinner at a local Japanese eatery. The people who run it are actually not Japanese they're Korean but if you give me sashimi, tempura and udon noodle soup you're Jap to me! Food wise not nationality wise I should clarify. We were eating with vegetarians so we had a lot of tofu but I don't mind. Agedashi tofu is the bomb!!! Plus we had tempura vegetables, sashimi, teriyaki tofu, miso soup and tuna hand rolls. Soooo good!!!

My cousin is a bit of a hippie and works for a place called Bird Textiles. It's such a cool job for her as she did design at uni and actually created the pattern on the wrapping paper which was made into fabric and then made into all the different items in the store. She gave me this climate neutral, organic cotton handbag that I just love to pieces. Such a cool individual item to have. The design on the bag was actually made by her boss.

Cool huh? Anyway, I am full, content and very sleepy now so I will leave you with that and chat to you soon!