Diary of a Shopaholic

My Photo Journal

2010-10-05T21:37:00.001+11:00

Hi!!!

I promised that I'd keep you updated on my photography website so here I am delivering. It's easier for me to photo/micro blog right now so I've created a new Tumblr blog that you're all welcome to follow should you wish to.

http://myeverydayadventures.tumblr.com/

I'll be blogging pics, quotes, poems and anything else that comes to mind on there now but I will eventually come back to you Dear Diary, don't fear!

Lots of love,

LilMissB xo

Taking a break

2010-09-28T22:49:00.000+10:00

Dear Diary,

Sorry to disappoint you but I fear I will have to take a break from blogging right now. There is a bit too much going on right now what with my dad going into surgery today, me going to Melbourne and New York for work for three weeks which means I have to work extra hard to get all those things done that fall due when I'm away, and trying to pack, find a new place and move by mid November.

I might set up a sister site that photo blogs my adventures so that way you all know I'm still alive but I'll keep you updated should that actually happen. Or I get time to set it up.

I hope you will still be here to listen to me when I return but I apologise in advance if I can't update you on my adventures for a month or so.

Dita Report

2010-09-19T21:13:00.002+10:00

Happy Sunday Dear Diary!

I know you waiting with baited breath for a report yesterday but truth be told I was a bit occupied yesterday doing a few odds and ends so apologies my friend.

As you know, I won tickets to go see Dita Von Teese perform her Cointreauversial act on Friday night. The routine is a more spectacular version of her famous martini glass act which I've only heard about and seen pictures of. I was super excited to see it performed in real life!

The event started at 8pm so I met up with my plus one and had a few sparkling wines beforehand with some work mates and then off we tottled to line up for THE event of the century.

Outfit: Cue dress with Christian Louboutin Madame Butterfly Pump 120mm in peacock satin

The invite said the doors opened at 8pm for 8:30pm so we dutifully got into line to wait. Many different people were there to see her, grannies, Dita wannabes and men dressed in flannel (WTF? Really?!). This one woman looked AMAZING! She had red hair with a purple fascinator, leather waist corset, laced leather full length arm things (not sure what they're called), black shorts and knee high leather boots. I'm not really into fetish dressing, but man, if there was ever a reason to wear a corset, her teeny weeny waist would be it! I need one STAT!!

Anyhoo, I digress...we were patiently waiting in line and my beautiful heels were KILLING me because I was standing in one spot. Unfortunately this was also the maiden voyage for my Madame Butterflies and the sole is shaped like a rocking chair. This mixed with the fact that I'd already had a couple of glasses of bubbly was not brilliant, I kept almost falling over and making my friend laugh!

They finally started checking ID's at 8:40pm and letting us in. As soon as we got into the main bar area I snagged the first available stool to sit on as my poor feet were aching like nothing else. Luckily we'd already had dinner as the canapes were not filling. They were quite tasty though.

The hostesses were dressed in the 50's style dark blue dresses serving some delicious cocktails as we walked in and I was introduced to the Cointreau Blush which was quite a refreshing drink. I didn't actually know what was in it and when I read the ingredients I thought it would have been a lot more sour than it was.

After about 10-15 minutes mingling we were hearded through to another bar for the actual performance. We also got another cocktail along the way which I think is the newer one.

It was actually quite sweet and I probably couldn't drink more than one of them in an hour. And I have a sweet tooth.

The stage was set with the giant martini glass and my excitement level started going through the roof as I realised that the show would start any minute! Not to mention the fact that I was in the 3rd row and there were probably 100 people there in total, a lot of them standing at the back. I think this is when I started bouncing up and down in my seat like an excited school kid!

The MC came out and did his small spiel and then we were off! Dita came out on stage sparkling and smiling and the crowd went nuts. There were screamed declarations of love, catcalls and wild applause. Dita is stunningly beautiful in real life and you can tell she really loves and enjoys what she does. She just glows! She's so elegant in her movements (a tribute to all the pilates and ballet she does) and everything is done with utter femininity. And she has the smallest waist ever! I think she has said in interviews that she's wearing about 300,000 crystals in her outfit so it must be pretty heavy. Her whole costume was orange and white to reflect the colours of Cointreau and apparently the last thing they do before she goes out onstage is wipe her down with Windex so the crystals sparkle!!!

Sorry for the lack of pictures but we weren't allowed to take photos and as much as I wanted to take pictures, I respected her wishes enough not to. I don't think pictures could ever compare with the memories anyway.

I did however find some pics on the net.

This is the exact martini glass she used complete with the sponge and jewellery. Isn't she stunning?

Also, some great pictures from Dita's Cointreaversial act can be found on this photographer's blog.

I can honestly say that it was a great honour to witness Dita's first public performance in Sydney and I look forward to catching her act again somewhere in the world!

On that note, I'll speak to you later!

It's going to be Cointreauversial!!!

2010-09-15T21:43:00.000+10:00

OHMYGODIWONTICKETSTOSEEDITAVONTEESEPERFOMRLIVEONFRIDAYNIGHT!!!!!

I'm so sorry, did you understand a word of my excited babble just then?

Just in case you didn't: this is where I'll be on Friday night!

I CANNOT WAIT! I'M SUPER EXCITED TO SEE THE BEAUTIFUL ICON LIVE!!!!

Weekly Catchup

2010-09-07T21:45:00.000+10:00

Well nothing really that new to report here. Just thought I should pop my head in to prove I still love you!

Most of my time is being consumed with research and budgeting for my trip to Melbourne/NYC and also trying to find a place to move into once I get back. Talk about a few things to do!!! Oh, plus I'm avoiding all forms of socialising since I'm on a spending lock down for my trip.

I have been a bit naughty though. I did make some purchases last Friday that I had to have before the disappeared. This shop I like has a million and one things arriving every second but they always sell out within days if not hours. I have to buy it when I see it otherwise they won't have it tomorrow. Especially in my size!

Aren't they adorable? They're military inspired and I'm just a sucker for anything in this style. I've always wanted harem pants too! Sorry the colours are a bit off, hate night time photography with weird lighting. Never looks right. Well at least I haven't quite learned how to make it right in any case.

I also found some shoes that were perfect for work. I've been basic, closed toed black pumpless for a while now and whilst it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, I have to really think about which shoes I want to wear in the morning because I'm missing my go to black pumps since they fell apart. These are the PERFECT solution and whilst not being from the house of my favourite designer, (guess who?) they are Italian and have a leather upper, innersole and lining. The best part? I was prepared to pay a great deal of money on my fave designer's shoes in plain black but I got these for a bare $100 AUD on sale!! SCORE! I know I shouldn't be spending the money but come on, how could I refuse such a good deal fr something that I'll wear every second day if not almost every day?

Here's some of the food I've been having in the last week....

Lamb and barley soup with sourdough

Thick home made (by me of course! :P ) pumpkin soup with sourdough

Salmon with frozen veges - my lazy, I-don't-want-to-cook dinner

I've decided for my own good I need to start eating regular and healthy meals again. It's been so-so for the last few months and I think that's why I feel fat. Duh! I started with a ham and cheese roll yesterday and it was soooo good!

See that beautiful freshly made roll? It's absolutely delicious and whilst I don't normally like sandwiches for lunch because they remind me of school, I really loved this roll. It had a great flavour and a bit of crunch!

Today: banana & honey yoghurt with oats, handful of natural chicken flavoured rice & corn crackers, small banana, 2 small macadamia & white chocolate cookies (had to sneak in a sweet treat!) and salmon & veges for dinner.

Hopefully I can keep that good eating rolling! Stay tuned to see whether I succeed or fail miserably.

Okie dokie, gotta get back to my researching. Catch y'all later! xo

Going, Going, GONE!

2010-08-29T00:02:00.000+10:00

Dear Diary,

Well, it's been an age since I last spoke to you hasn't it? So much has happened in 20 short and furious days!

Ok, so where do I start? The last thing I told you about was the first open house wasn't it? Well our place was so popular that a couple had exchanged contracts by Tuesday and we sailed through the cooling off period no worries. I was a bit peeved at the real estate agent for showing more people through the following Saturday when it was already under contract. From a buyers point of view it's quite annoying when you go to see a place only to find out it's not available!!!

Anyhoo, so the place is sold and we have to be out by the 13th November. That still leaves us 2 and a half months to find something else which is plenty of time. We're still undecided about whether or not we'll buy or rent. Oh the joys of the fickle property market!

What else has gone down? Oh yeah! I got told that I'm going to the US for work in October!!!! I am over the moon about that but I'm also pretty scared because I'm not sure how much money I'll saved by then as it's such late notice. I just hope I save enough for a week after home office training! You can't go to the US without shopping!!

You know how I've been itching to take my Nikon D5000 out for a whirl? Well A and I met up and walked through the Botanic Gardens to hone our photography skills and I must say that whilst I took some horrendous pictures I did end up with a few I really liked.

The picture with the tree trunk was completely natural, no photoshop involved. I think it's so cool! Oh and that egg thing surrounded by plants? Believe it or not it's made of metal! Another cool thing I found in the gardens. Such a fun day that we have to do again. Somewhere else though.

After our hour or two of wandering around the park we decided to call it quits because we felt some rain starting to come one. We quickly legged it over to the Ship Inn for some gourmet pizza and cocktails. We got there just in time as it started raining heavily with strong winds about 2 minutes after we got there! Sorry, no pics of the food, just a description as I felt a bit self conscious pulling out my dslr in a crowded pub!! I had a kir royale cocktail and a cripsy duck pizza.

Oh, um...those Valentinos I said I wanted? They were sold twice on the bay but for some reason the transactions never went through and I was fortunate enough to finally snag them.

Aren't they super cute? They are going to get some much wear over summer and I think they're work appropriate when I don't have any meetings scheduled of course.

I finally pulled the trigger and bought a T-Bags dress that I've been drooling over from this ebay seller wendell_62vae

Photo belongs to wendell_62vae

And to finish off my post I'm going to show you some food porn! I don't know about you but I ADORE Mars Bars and rice bubbles so combining them in Mars Bar Slice is absolute heaven for me. I try not to make it too often otherwise I would be the size of the Michelin man by now since I eat a batch in a couple of days flat!!

Look at all that caramelly, cripsy, gooey goodness *faint* And it's about the simplest recipe you can find.

Ingredients: 6 Mars Bars, 50g unsalted butter, 3 cups of Rice Bubbles

Dice Mars Bars and butter and melt in mixing bowl over boiling water. Once melted combine Rice Bubbles and pour into slice tray. Set in fridge.

How easy is that?! That particular one above will fill most of a slice tray. You can add less or more Rice Bubbles depending on your preference.

Now that I've made y'all hungry I think it's time to say goodnight!

Our First Open House

2010-08-08T00:06:00.000+10:00

Dear Diary,

I am so angry at tradesmen right now! You know how we had carpet laid on Monday? Well turns out that they left a hole in the wall at the top of the staircase.

Shocking huh? And before you say I should have seen it I didn't have my glasses on and I thought it was just a ding that I could putty up and fix. Well I jumped up and down since they also broke a trolley we had under the bed by crushing it to death. I was more concerned with the wall as we are trying to sell the place!

Anyway, I spoke to some douchebag "problem-fixer" at Carpet Court who just tried to weasel his way out of the damage claim and said "oh well, we can't take any responsibility for any property damage we may cause". I don't think so buddy!! You cannot legally contract out of negligence in this country. I don't even know if you can do it anywhere in the world.

I finally got some resolution and the carpet layers were going to come out either Thursday or Friday first thing in the morning to "help" me fix the problem but they would text me confirmation even though they said it would more than likely be Friday morning. I hadn't heard from them by 7am on the Thursday and figured they weren't coming so off I go to work. I get a call at 7:53am from the carpet layer saying he's outside my place!!! WTF? So there went my Thursday morning...at least the wall looked a lot more presentable when all was said and done!

Much better now isn't it? Barely noticeable. And I discovered a great product, liquid gyprock!!! It's fantabulous stuff.

I've had a pretty bad eating week so far, chicken fried rice and fried potatoes to name a few dishes in the last week or so!

Today was our first open house inspection and I was blown away by how many people wanted to see our place. We had 11 groups through and 2 of them have already requested contracts. I did also feel quite violated by the open house as people were not respectful of personal space and opened cupboards up left right and centre checking everything out. Of course my cupboards were stuffed to the gills with everything I didn't want them to see, weren't they? The thought of having a quick sale makes me happy and very, very sad at the same time. To think I may only have 6 more weeks in paradise.

I was a little naughty tonight and got some takeaway from my fave Japanese place Edoya Sushi Bar in Devonshire St. Tempura udon and age-teriyaki tofu! I shouldn't really be spending money but I was a little depressed over our place possibly selling really quickly and having a fight with M that I just had to have some comfort food.

Oh and I took this picture last week as well. Shot on my baby Nikon on colour setting Vivid+1. This is why I don't want to move out *sigh*.

Well that sorta wraps the last week up for me. Might head off to bed now.

Catch ya later alligator!!!

It's finally done!

2010-08-02T21:21:00.000+10:00

Today the real estate agents took pictures of the unit today and our advertising campaign starts Wednesday....the unit has never looked so good.

Dear unit, you will be missed :(

I want....

2010-07-29T20:45:00.000+10:00

Packing...blech!

2010-07-25T20:45:00.000+10:00

Hello Sunday night and MasterChef finale!

Nothing new to report here really. Still haven't found a new place, just packing up the old one and getting some basic repairs done before it goes on the market. Can I just say how much I abhor packing?! I'm not sure there's anyone in this world who actually enjoys packing and unpacking. If there is, please put your hand up and I'll beg you to come do it for me!

A couple of new outfit pics for you to look at too. I love the pictures my Nikon takes, such good, clear pictures. If I hadn't blurred out the background you'd be able to tell but I'm sure no one wants to see my toilet. Maybe in the new place I'll have a mirror that's not in my bathroom.

19th July: DVF Tessa with Scooter ruched kitten heeled boots

Friday night was casino night with the work girls. I have to say I was very good, didn't gamble or drink. I was on a budget so that might be why. I also don't have any photos because M took my little point and shoot with him. I didn't particularly feel like lugging my Nikon around like a tourist!

Luke Nguyen has opened a restaurant in Star City casino called Fat Noodle. I have to say it wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as his restaurant in Surry Hills called Red Latern.

23rd July: Portmans cotton stretch pants, panda singlet, black zip jacket with cream leather jacket over the top and my Christian Louboutin Penny Girl flats

Saturday night I got my cook on and made a honey mustard chicken from scratch. Just look at it!

Easy peasy - cream, seeded mustard, mild American mustard, honey and chicken are the ingredients.

Brown the chicken in olive oil, add the cream and seeded mustard, stir, add honey and mild American mustard and simmer for 10-15 mins. You could have it with pasta or rice. I had rice as I love soaking white rice in the sauce.

Today I've done nothing but finish off my book and pack some more. I now have 10 boxes packed and about half my wardrobe to donate to good will. I can't believe how quickly you accumulate clothes you don't wear. I've been a bit ruthless in my cull but I've had to be as I know I haven't worn quite a few things in more than a year.

Dinner was a pizza with the lot and the best thing about it is I still have at least 2 more dinners out of it - YUM!

Now I'm just kicking back watching the finalists battle it out!! On that note I'm off to have a cup of tea and watch the rest on the couch. Night!

Six months is not a lifetime

2010-07-18T15:13:00.003+10:00

Dear Diary,

I'm so sorry I have neglected you!! Things have been a little crazy here and I'll tell you what I've been up to in a second. How have you been? Have you missed me? C'mon, don't be so cold! I'm here now aren't I?

Ok, since you don't want to talk to me I'll tell you what's been going on with me lately.

Well M finally finished uni and he got a job with a major construction company. That's great right? Bad news is that he has to move to Coffs Harbour for 6 months. That's 5 hours away!!! And I'll probably only get to see him once a month or so. I shouldn't be complaining but he finally finishes uni and I can spend time with him and he gets sent far far away! Not fair.

I mean it'll be a great experience for him and I don't begrudge him at all. Unfortunately I can't move as my job is based in Sydney CBD. So I guess I'm in a long distance relationship now. What makes it worse is that he'll be away for his birthday next month, our 5 year anniversary in October and my birthday in November :( C'est la vie!

We've said farewell to a bunch of friends trekking the Kokoda trail in PNG. Personally I admire their guts and drive to do it but think they're crazy!!! If I were super fit I would maybe consider it..even then....

We met them at a bar that served 1kg of ribs with chips for $20! You cannot beat that for value. And it was DELICIOUS! I wish I hadn't shared with M and got my own. I might have been sick though as that is a lot of ribs.

We've celebrated a 30th and boy did that make me feel old! Aside from the fact that it was the week before payday and I was skimming the bottom of the tin, I just didn't feel like being out that late in Kings Cross. I remember the days when I could party all night and still feel refreshed in the morning. Those days are long gone! I think I made it to 11:30pm, eep!

Oh yeah, I cooked a dinner of lamb steaks seasoned with rosemary and garlic with roasted potatoes and green peas. Delicious!

We're also putting our unit up for sale as we are sick of living in a one bedroom unit. We need something with more space and room to grow. We want kids one day and a 1 bedroom unit is not going to cut it. There have been real estate agents trampling through the house non-stop and we, sorry I, have to de-clutter the unit since M's has gone off to Coffs now.

We thought we had found a new place and our offer was accepted. Unfortunately the agent neglected to tell us that there were other contracts out for the same unit and then before our solicitor could get the contract someone else had already put a deposit on it. We were heartbroken as it was exactly what we were looking for! I guess there is a better place out there waiting for us.

Bailey has been shipped off to mum and dad's whilst this take place as we won't be home much and it's better for him to have fun in the country chasing bunny rabbits, echidnas and goannas. He's even getting walked every hour! I certainly can't live up to that.

I've been promising myself I'd buy myself a new camera for a while. I was hemming and hawing over which camera to get but finally settled on a Nikon D5000 dslr. I did a post previously on all the things I want and I believe this was on the list. I had slated it in for February/March but shoes got in the way as usual. At least now I can take top notch pics of my shoes!

Isn't she pretty? I am so excited about this baby and she takes wonderful pictures. I just need to learn how to use an slr all over again since I've forgotten a lot of things. Here are some pics I've taken with it so far.

Accessories

Traffic - love the vibrancy of colours in night time traffic

Baked ricotta cheesecake from our farewell dinner downstairs at Fratelli on Cooper.

M left this morning and I promised him I wouldn't cry and that it wasn't a big deal. I mean six month is nothing right? Wrong, I broke my promise and I started bawling when it was time for him to get in the car and drive away this morning. Such a big sissy I am. But I will miss him very much, I already do. He's my best friend and I hate that I can't run into the next room and scare the shit out of him and then laugh myself silly over it, or tell him about the auction I just won or snuggle up with him when we watch tv at night.

Six months is a long time but it's not a lifetime.

2010-07-06T22:15:00.002+10:00

Dear Coco,

Thank you very much for your wonderful card. It made me feel a whole lot better!!

I hope you are enjoying spring/summer as it's FREEZING down here in Oz. I can't wait for summer to come round again so I can get out and about and see all my friends and sniff the trees and roll around in the grass.

I'm currently enjoying a holiday with my granddogparents in the country where I get to chase birds, goannas, echidnas and bunny rabbits and dig holes in the garden to my hearts content!

Woof you,

Bailey

Celebration!!!

2010-07-05T22:44:00.000+10:00

There's a party goin' on right here
A celebration to last throughout the years
So bring your good times, and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate your party with you

Kool & The Gang had it soooo right. I am in fine form tonight and ready to PAR-TAY!!! June 30th was rough and I barely made it through by the skin of my teeth and I still have A LOT of tidying up to do but hey, I'm in July now :D

Now a couple of things came in whilst I was slaving away last week but I didn't get a chance to photograph them because since it is winter our light appears after I get to work and escapes before I get home. I finally got a chance to photograph my new arrivals on the weekend. Maybe I present with great price my new Christian Louboutin Lady Claudes in Marron Glace metal patent. The colour is a superb neutral and I can see these getting a lot of use in summer! They are a little loose in winter though as I found out tonight.

Another item to arrive last week were my Gilt items. I have waited a long time to get my hands on some Amrita Singh jewellery and now I finally have some. Thanks to R for her fabulous help!!! xo This is me on Saturday before going to my great aunt's 90th birthday celebrations.

And now the reason for the party mood, you ask? Well today I found out I got a well deserved promotion if I do say so myself! I have been working towards this goal for the last 3 and half years since I decided that I would give the insurance industry a go. I cannot even begin to tell you how ecstatic I am. I know that with this move comes more responsibility and more accountability but I am more than ready for it. I'll have my bad days and I'll my great days. You can't have one without the other and like any job I'll love it and I'll loathe it.

I couldn't sit still this afternoon after I got told and I rushed off after work as M and I had plans to have a celebratory dinner. He has a great job and now I have a new position so all the more reason to celebrate.

The pub downstairs has a new restaurant open as of today called Fratelli on Cooper so we decided to give it a whirl.

Garlic crust

Bacon & boccocini lasagne

Fettucine Gamberi

Outfit: jeans, singlet, Anthropologie Spilling Ruffles cardi & Christian Louboutin Lady Claudes in Marron Glace patent

Well I'm off to bed now so I'll catch up with ya'll soon!!!

Stuff I've been doing, buying and wearing

2010-06-29T22:32:00.000+10:00

Well hello 7am!!! I don't often leave for work at this time so I am pretty wowed by the fogginess of the morning. It's not shown in the picture very well but it was kinda cool. I've been doing long hours lately and I've pulled a few 12 hour days since it's end of financial year. Blech!

For the first time in a long time I found some non-designer shoes that I adore. They have the cutest zipper rosettes on them and I'm a sucker for anything with zipper embellishments on them!

Poor Bailey was sick on Friday night. Something must have upset his stomach as he wouldn't stop vomiting. His bed and blankies went into the washing machine and the poor thing had to sleep on towels and a set of pj's I had been given but never wore. I would have had him sleep on the bed with me except for the fact that I didn't really want to wake up to a sea of dog vomit! I don't think anyone would to be honest not matter how much they loved their dog.

Saturday night we had a birthday dinner at El Bulli for a friend's birthday

Outfit: jean leggings, black top and jacket with Christian Louboutin Madame Claude in leopard patent.

The boys being cheesy!

This is the most extravagant paella I've ever seen!!!

The paella confirmed my belief that crab is not worth the hassle. It's so much work to get to the meat and then there's not a lot of it!!! I prefer lobster for sure!

It was a cracker of a day on Sunday and we decided to go for a wander around once our heads were firmly back on our shoulders after the festivities of the previous night! I got a chance to wear my new Christian Louboutin Almeria wedges and they are simply the best!!! Stylish, practical, and they get major points from me in stability too. I didn't walk for hours but I think I might have been able to in these! Can't wait to really work them out.

Didn't quite get the picture I was after here - wanted the soles to show too, dammit!

I'm off to bed now to prepare for one of the most hellish days on earth, followed by one of the biggest nights on earth....June 30th! I'll let you know how I pull up on Thursday :)

Is this a new Australia?

2010-06-26T16:21:00.000+10:00

Hmmm, something must be in the air down under! It's a pretty historic week in history in Australia.

Our first female Prime Minister Julia Gillard being sworn in by our first female Governor General Quentin Bryce... WOW!

PM on left and GG on right

I didn't think I'd see the day the world progressed like this. New Zealand has their female PM, the US had the choice of Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama and they elected the first black president. Now it's Australia's turn to prove they've climbed up the evolutionary chain.

Ok, whilst it wasn't a voted result by the public it was a party decision. In Australia we don't actually vote for our head of country we vote for the party that we think will do the best job and they in turn chose their puppet. It's not the greatest systems on earth but then again, what kind of leadership system is? They all have their flaws.

Actually Australia is a bit more progressive than I remember as we have several women in power right now and in the past. Carmen Lawrence was the Western Australian Premier, Anna Bligh currently rules Queensland and now Kristine Keneally leads New South Wales....wow a few more women in power and we'll be an all female powerhouse! Who said women shouldn't vote?! Now they're making the decisions!!!

Naughty, naughty, naughty me!

2010-06-20T01:45:00.000+10:00

I've gone a bit nuts lately...we had a long weekend last weekend and I'm afraid I kinda bought a whole heap of goodies! That's what happens when I have time to trawl through the internet and call around stores...eep!

A few things popped up (or I found them) and I couldn't resist. Well, some of them I had had on my mind for a while and then finally took the plunge on buying them, some were impulse buys and others were things I thought had disappeared and when they reappeared I just had to snap them up quick smart! Am I convincing you that I needed all of them yet? Hahahaha!!!

First up, a couple of items from Asos that I justified I needed as I haven't got a yellow dress or black jacket yet. Plus the yellow dress will go perfectly (I hope) with a future shoe purchase of mine.

Next up, some Gilt.com purchases - a dress from Torn and Amrita Singh Napea earrings in turquoise. I had been drooling over these earrings on Gilt for a few weeks but only the red version was available and I was only interested in the turquoise version. All of a sudden they popped up and I just had to nab them before they disappeared again!

I have been anticipating the arrival of my next purchase for a few months. I am waitlisted for them in London in both peacock AND prune satin but they had looked like not appearing until September/October as part of the main Fall/Winter collection. All of a sudden I found them on one of the smaller stores in Europe and it was instant love/lust and I just had to have them...may I present my gorgeous Christian Louboutin Madame Butterfly Pump 120 in peacock satin!!!! *swoon*

I will have to post some outfit pictures of them soon. Can't wait to wear these babies out and about to show them off! I'm also waiting for another parcel to arrive but I'll leave y'all to wonder about what it is. That way I can leave something to the imagination and so that you tune in

Oh, how could I forget to post food shots? We went to brunch on the long weekend last week and I just realised that whilst I actually took pictures I forgot to post them on here!! We went to one of my favourite brunch cafes, Omlette.

Mine: potato hash with wilted spinach and poached eggs

M's: french toast with banana, bacon & maple syrup

M's brother T's: eggs benedict with double smoked ham & avocado

Now it's Saturday night, well Sunday early am and we've gotten home from M's cousin's party just in time to watch Australia vs Ghana. I'm steaming with annoyance here with the rubbish refereeing at the World Cup! Plus I'm constantly annoyed by those bloody stupid horns blowing in the background.

I mean, Harry Kewell got RED CARDED for not moving his arm in time while Ghana tripped us and only got YELLOW carded...WTF? UNFAIR!!!

Anyway, I'll leave you with that little rant before I really explode over this travesty of a game!

Thursday Funny!

2010-06-17T22:27:00.003+10:00

A real man is a woman's best friend.

He will never stand her up and never let her down.

He will reassure her when she feels insecure and comfort her after a bad day.

He will inspire her to do things she never thought she could do; to live without fear and forget regret.

He will enable her to express her deepest emotions and give in to her most intimate desires.

He will make sure she always feels as though she's the most beautiful woman in the room and will enable her to be the most confident, sexy, seductive, and invincible.

No wait... sorry... I'm thinking of wine.

Never mind

Hurrah for the Queen!

2010-06-14T22:56:00.009+10:00

I'd like to personally thank the Queen for having a birthday holiday this weekend. Really it's just another excuse to eat, drink and be merry!

There's not too much to update y'all on this week as I've been flat out trying to cope with June. I think the most interesting thing I've done all week was some cooking and catching up on some tv!!! I promise I'll have some more interesting adventures once June 30th is done and the winter chill lets off. I tend to hibernate in winter, sorry!

Without further ado, may I present my photo journey of the last week or so...

I am so proud of M for making these delicious burgers! As you can see they're a work of art and very, very tasty!!!

7th June dinner: beef burgers with egg, tomato, lettuce, bacon, carrot & BBQ sauce

I don't think I told you but I have been slowly running out of my current foundation Nars firming foundation and wanted to try something different. I've heard great things about Shu Uemura and being part Asian I thought I should try something that was uniquely formulated for our skin.

Off I trotted to get made over by the Shu Uemura artist and apparently I'm a shade #764 which is a medium light beige. So far, excellent results! I think I will also have to get the cream version as I love a thicker, smoother, glowing look during winter. Plus the cream has a SPF 10 in it whilst the fluid doesn't have any SPF.

10th June: Cue dress, black shirt and tights, Christian Louboutin Penny Girl flats in grey

On Friday I received some sweets treats from my Hawaiian cookie angel. Thanks T!!! xo

You know how I have the creative cooking bug right now? I decided to buy some chicken tenders and make some homemade crumbs. I love having a food processor as it opens up possibilities for creative ideas that I haven't been able to do before.

I made the crumbs from a couple of slices of bread, mixed herbs & garlic. So easy!!! Dip tenders into beaten egg and then onto the crumbs to coat and shallow fry in a pan.

11th June: Chicken tenders with steamed vegetables

Our long weekend has been basically spent with M's family as his grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. It's so rare for people to celebrate 50th anniversaries let alone 60th's!

After a weekend whirl with the H clan we finished off with tapas at El Bulli tonight and it was heaven as always. No pictures because it's always too dark to take any but we had a feast and I introduced M's family to churros. If you don't know what they are, they are the best desert ever! Fried dough sticks coated in sugar with caramel & cream for dipping.

14th June: Supre pinstripe skirt, black singlet & cardi, Pinet boots

I'm very full after a weekend of wining and dining so on that note, I'm going to try and roll off to bed.

Girls night out!

2010-06-06T16:23:00.000+10:00

Friday night was girls night out and what better way to do it than cocktails dinner and an exotic romp in the desert? The company was sensational, the cosmos were awesome and the movie...well the movie was fun but unnecessary. Don't get me wrong, I'm a great fan of SATC but I just felt like they were trying to milk the cash cow on this one. I loved the shoes and clothes so I was easily pleased but seriously there were some cringe inducing moments in it.

And since I was going to see a brightly coloured, fashion forward show I felt it only right to wear my own very brightly coloured outfit to honour it.

DVF Julian mini in ruby spotted cat, Diana Ferrari boots

The big news of the week? I've actually sold 3 pairs of shoes that don't fit. I couldn't bear to part with them but I know that the homes they are going to will love them just as much as I did. This takes my beautiful collection back down to 6 pairs. I was actually looking forward to having 10 pairs soon too! Oh well, gives me something to aim for now doesn't it?

Saturday was a great day with a brief reprieve from the rain that had drenched us all week. Good thing too as we were going to a BBQ for a friend's birthday that night and the BBQ area of their house is outdoors!

And now it's Sunday...I had plans to do stuff but since it's gone back to raining & miserable I delayed them. Plus we stayed a lot longer than we intended to at the party so motivation levels are sitting at about -10 right now!!

I've recently started getting interested in cooking again. Not that I ever really lost it as I would cook dinner etc but I mean the passion and creativity and the gumption to get off my ass and actually cook stuff from scratch. No packet stuff.

Just last weekend M and I went to Victoria's Basement and drooled over pots and pans. Sounds extremely daggy I know but I get excited when I think of all the good food we could cook with a better set of cookware. We ended up getting a nice kitchen knife block as all our knives are getting a bit old and ratty. It's such a fresh change to be able to cut something first go with a knife that's as sharp as it needs to be!

We also went to Ikea to get an idea of building our own kitchen island as we have ideas to help us increase the storage area in the kitchen to accommodate all these pots and pan we want to buy plus help us store the stuff we already have. Our one bedder isn't exactly crawling with storage space unfortunately. Why are home improvements so exciting? Well I find them exciting anyway and if that makes me a giant nerd, then so be it!!! :)

Speaking of all this desire to cook from scratch I have done a bit of cooking lately and I'm loving it. I made a chicken drumstick casserole I haven't made in ages. I browned some onions and herbs in some olive oil, added the drumsticks and panfried till a nice colour had been achieved, then added some diced tomatoes, tomato paste, some wine, water & bacon and simmered for an hour or two. The result? Some seriously tasty, tender chicken!

Another great favourite I had to pull out of the archives was shepherd's pie. Not done the traditional way with left over lamb roast but with beef mince. I know I seem like I'm cheating but it was tasty. Mince, carrot, onion & red wine done like a bolognese sauce and then baked in the oven with a fluffy mashed potato topping until brown and slightly crispy. Delicious!!

Today I made pancakes from scratch which I haven't done in more than 10 years! Those shake bottles are just so easy! I had forgotten that batter takes 30 minutes to rest and I was starving by the time I got to eat but the end result was so worth it!

Don't they awesome?! And the best thing is that we have enough batter to do desert tonight - apple & cinnamon pancakes! I'll keep you updated on how I go with dinner and desert!

Just another manic Monday

2010-05-24T23:43:00.000+10:00

Another week has started!

I have to admit I did only work the first two days of last week so I can't complain too much. But I was actually pretty busy those days as I did have to pop into work for a couple of hours on Wednesday even though I was on annual leave! On the bright side two or the three parcels I was expecting arrived before I left so I got to take them home! I'm a bit peeved that the third one isn't here yet...grrr.

Say hello to my Balenciaga coin purse from SS10 in cyclade!

And my black Pauric Sweeney Overnight Sport!

Thursday I raced into town to help one of my friends get some shoes from a local department store.

Friday was wedding #3 for the year. It was raining in the morning but it fined up just in time for the ceremony!

I was a little concerned about the park's safety though...

Is it just me or should guard dogs and children not be in the same area?

How pretty is the cute little gazebo type area for the wedding? The groom is South American and we were pre-warned that South American weddings are slightly different....I wasn't quite sure what that meant.

Here I am caught having a chuckle as everyone was staring at me while I was trying to be pose for the blog. Outfit: DVF Tessa Chinese Trellis print & Christian Louboutin Alta Iowas. My dress was one of the packages I received which is lucky as I was hoping to wear it to the wedding.

This would have been a great photo if M hadn't pulled a face....!

With the girls!

So this is how the South Americans roll huh? Festivale is such a colourful affair. There were plastic fruit maracas, these twirly noise clackers, whistles, horns, headbands, hats, masks and leis! If nothing I've learned that South Americans take their partying seriously.

Saturday was recovery and then onto to dinner at a friend's house where she cooked up a Mexican fiesta! OMG, her food was so delicious!!! We had this hot, creamy salsa dip with corn chips as entree then the mains were chicken enchiladas and beef & chorizo tacos. I died from food bloat and pure taste sensation heaven. Words cannot describe but it was good.

Sunday was a lazy day and I finally caught up with Grey's Anatomy and can I just say - W O W ! ! ! I cannot believe how it ended and I can't wait to see season 7...finished the night with the Godfather. Can you believe I've never seen the movie? I need to watch parts 2 and 3 soon.

And this brings me back to today, Monday. Today was great because due to my friend C, I was able to score 2 tickets to a FREE ADVANCED SCREENING of Prince of Persia!! It was great adventure movie and I loved every minute of it. It opens on the 27th and I think it's a must for all game enthusiasts and adventure/action lovers.

And now I'm off to bed to recharge my batteries for tomorrow which will be considerably less enjoyable than today!

A new week begins

2010-05-16T23:04:00.002+10:00

I apologise for not updating you in a while but I've been a bit sick. Ate something that didn't quite agree with me and then while I was down a stomach bug got me! Doh! Not a great week to spend a busy week.

I did manage to get out to collect a few things during the day and then to a hen's night dinner on Saturday.

15th May day outfit - jeans, panda singlet, Cotton On wrap & Penny Girl flats

15th May night outfit - jean leggings, black top, Scooter boots and a whole load of makeup to disguise my pale face!

The dinner was at a place I've never been to before called the Gazebo Wine Bar in Elizabeth Bay. It was a cute little restaurant that was an outdoor area with trellises sheltering the dining area. It really was a garden dinner. We had a set menu of $45 and this included starter plates, a choice of main and desert.

Starters were salt & pepper squid, stuffed mushrooms and ciabatta bread with olives, pesto, prosciutto & cheese.

Mains were a choice between:

Medallions of beef, roasted field mushrooms, fondant potato, béarnaise

Tartlet of warm leek, goats milk cheese & twice cooked cherry tomatoes

Ocean trout, sweet garlic mash, chunky tomato & lemon dressing

Desert was chocolate brownie, ice cream, fairy floss, chocky sauce.

I have to say I was really pleasantly surprised with the menu and I did manage to eat my way through it but paid for it.

Here are some random breakfast shots. I was drooling over these creations but was unable to eat them so M got to reap my cooking rewards. Well, I did have a bite or two but my tummy was way too tender to eat a full one.

8th May - bacon, egg, hash brown & cheese wrap with tomato sauce

16th May - bacon, egg, garlic mushroom, cherry tomato & spring onion wrap.

This is now known as M's hangover cure since he was severely hung over this morning and asked if I could make him a breakfast wrap!

Oh, and a little something I won on the bay for under $100!!! What a bargain, right? And a great get well present to myself. Another one of my holy grail Diane Von Furstenberg dresses.

DVF Tessa in Chinese Trellis pattern.

I also have another couple of items on their way to me and will post them when they get here.

Oh and in case you were wondering what was happening with my fall shoe wishlist, it's completely crazy! The shoes coming out this season are doing my head in already and they've only got the pre-fall colours/styles in so far. I'm going nuts over the purple patent, cerise (cherry red) patent, flannel booties, satin bow embellished pumps, sky high heels...way too many styles for my poor abused wallet to handle! I'll update you when I have a better idea of what I want, not sure when that will be though!

Surprised Kitty!

2010-05-14T07:15:00.000+10:00

This was way too cute not to post!!! It makes me want a cat again *sigh*

Lazy days

2010-05-04T21:45:00.003+10:00

You know those weekends when you basically do nothing at all but it's so enjoyable and very relaxed you want to keep doing nothing for a very long time? Well I had one of those last weekend.

Saturday was a late-ish wakeup, indulgent brekky and nothing but catching up on some sunshine and all my recorded shows. I know that to some of you that would be very very boring but after being flat out all week it was pure bliss for me.

Sunday we met some friends for yum cha at Zilver. Nom nom nom!!! I rarely use that term but yum cha at Zilver is worthy of that Cookie Monster phrase. No photos as I was way too busy devouring everything in sight!! We had prawn gow gee, shumai (dim sims), prawn rice noodles, seafood dumplings, chicken spring rolls, combination dumplings, greens, salt & pepper squid, char siu (BBQ pork), char siu bao (BBQ pork buns), duck pancakes, egg tarts & mango pancakes.

Bailey was so sad when we left even though we gave him a bone to chew. He was uber cute staring through the window at us with his bone chew in his mouth though so I had to take a picture!!!

Oh, that's right, I managed to get a picture of the deserts!

After brunch we decided not to waste the wonderful weather and went for a drive down south. There's nothing like the wind blowing in hair and the sun beaming down on you. Even Bails got into it by hanging his head out and howling!

All the drive photos were taken on my phone's camera since I forgot my camera at home! The pics turned out ok considering it's wussy pedigree!

I'm dead meat...

2010-04-29T22:59:00.006+10:00

It's almost another weekend! Thank god for that as I've had a stupendously feverish week trying to get about 10 million bits and pieces done and split my time between my two bosses. It's actually harder than it seems when one line of business is easy and quick but volume driven and the other one is complicated and time consuming but in smaller quantities. You'd think they'd even out wouldn't you but it doesn't quite work that way!

Anyway, enough of my whining...I'm popping in to post an outfit and tell you about how dead I am right now.

Good news - I got my one of my holy grail DVF's at long last! I've wanted it ever since it was cut down on the Nordies website but missed out. I can't believe I missed the auction for my normal size a while ago but luckily another appeared on the bay in a size above my regular size and being a wrap dress I knew I could make it work!

May I present my DVF Julian mini in ruby spotted cat print! With my obligatory favourite pair of shoes, my nude clichys!

And to top it off, I'm dead meat...all the shoes I've been lusting over for FW10 have suddenly arrived. ALL AT ONCE!!! <insert fainting smiley here> My bank account won't recover until January 2011 at this rate!!! More of an update on which shoes I'm eyeing off too come...if I recover from the spy pics that is!

Hehehehe, and this part is just for fun. I somehow wandered onto a site that had personality quizzes. Not sure why I felt the need to post them as CSI Miami is not a favourite series but it's pretty close to reality!

On the other hand, Chuck is one on my all time favourite series but I'm a tad disappointed to be Anna. Don't get me wrong she's cool but she's not me I would have thought!

With that I will leave you to enjoy whatever you are doing right now and I'll chat to you later!

Back online!

2010-04-24T17:34:00.002+10:00

I can't believe it's been over two weeks since I last did an entry! Time just seems to evaporate lately and it's going to get worse leading into June.

I recently decided to dip my toes into the wonderful world of MAC due to the influence of my friends and I have not regretted it at all! I will still remain loyal to my first love NARS though so I'm not a complete traitor.

I also got a YSL lippy while I was at it. I've been searching for a deep purple, almost gothic shade for a while and Rouge Pur #149 Black Tulip fit the bill! Do you know how hard it is to find a nice dark purple right now?

How cute is the packaging on the eye shadow? The colour is called Birds & Berries from their Liberty of London collection.

I must confess that I have made some larger purchases recently that I deemed mission critical. As you know I've been trying to get fit again and something that has stopped me from achieving this was a good pair of sneakers. Introducing my new Asics Kayano 16 runners in purple/white! Aren't they fierce?

I really wanted some Nikes as they allow for the iPod/running function but maybe next time. Speaking of Nikes I really want to get a pair of customised Nikes from NikeID but they don't ship to Oz :( I'm sure I'll find a way of getting them when the time comes.

Also, part of the reason I haven't been blogging is that my laptop had started to meltdown and it was just easier not to actually use it at all so I've been a bit isolated from the big wide world. M and I went to check out some computers get a feel for what was out in the market. I certainly didn't intend to come home with this!

Shall it be third time lucky with my Mac? I've been down this road before. Twice actually. Each time I've gone back to PC but I have a feeling this time will be a permanent switch. Especially since M has changed to Mac too and our house is pretty much a full Mac setup now. I'm loving it so far! YAY!!!

What else haven't I told you? Oh, I received my Fink dress and it's gorgeous! Got so many compliments when I wore it to work with my Christian Louboutin Alta Iowa's in black suede.

Look at the stitching detail on the side. Such a lovely garment from such talented ladies! Love you guys.

Here are some outfits from the last couple of weeks.

Monday 12th April: DVF Aggie in freedom trail with Christian Louboutin nude Clichys

Tuesday 13th April: Cue knit top, Portmans pants, Christian Louboutin City in tan

Thursday 15th April: Review skirt, cheap top, Christian Louboutin Alta Iowa's in black suede

Friday 23rd April: M Missoni silk dress, Christian Louboutin Alta Iowa's, leather cuff

Today was an awesome day weather wise so we took the car for a spin to Centennial Park for some exercise and some sun. Bailey had a ball but was slightly more interested in the park life than posing with me!

Chat to you next time!

Family Time

2010-04-06T22:16:00.001+10:00

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!

I had a fabulous one. It started with a picnic in the park with friends and ended with a visit from my parents.

Saturday I spent with M as he was flying out to QLD on Sunday to visit his parents. We just hung out and relaxed.

Sunday we woke up early, had breakfast together, he then he left for the airport and my parents arrived around lunchtime. That night I treated my parents to some tapas at El Bulli. I LOVE Spanish food!!! The best part is that El Bulli is just around the corner from home!

Monday we met some other family for some yum cha. I can't believe how much I ate for lunch! I ate so much I skipped dinner that night.

Not the best pic but you'll get the idea of what I was wearing. Mum and dad laughed at me for taking a picture of myself! They don't understand....

Outfit: Sasoo jean leggings, panda singlet, black zip jacket, Scooter flat scrunch boots, owl & key necklaces and tribal brass earrings.

Necklaces from lovespelljewels on Etsy.com

A Picnic in the Park

2010-04-04T12:27:00.001+10:00

What's better than spending Easter Friday eating seafood, picnicing in the park and spending time with friends?

This Easter we decided to get a little group together and do something a bit different. Usually we have a party on the Friday or Saturday night of the long weekend.

First stop, Sydney Fish Markets. The smell of seafood was in the air and the markets were packed being Good Friday. When we finally snagged a bench in the sun we wandered off in groups to get some delicious seafood goodies to eat. M & I shared a half lobster mornay with chips and salad plus a couple of oysters - one mornay and one kilpatrick.

Here's me on the way out to meet everyone at the fish markets!

Outfit: Chica Booti dress/top, shell earrings, key and beaded necklaces, Morelle mini patchwork, Onitsuka Tiger shoes

Next stop, Sydney Botannical Gardens to spend the rest of the day lazing around in the sunshine. I had been to the gardens a few times but had never really explored them. The plants there are amazing and the wildlife is pretty cool too.

Look at the size of that eel!

What a beautiful make duck. At least I think it's male as I've heard the males have the beautiful colours to attract females.

What an interesting species....are they for real?

This is the biggest tree I've ever seen! It's definitely a couple of hundred years old!!!

This bamboo was AMAZING! It was so tall and the sound and it makes when the wind blows it around is awesome. There's this crackling/popping sound and a moaning that sounds ancient and powerful.

Frisbee action shot

Hanging out on the wall

After we'd been kicked out of the gardens we sat in the Domain watching the bats fly into the city. This was a sunset shot of the said city with it's neon lights.

A wedding by the beach..

2010-03-31T22:37:00.000+11:00

Dear Diary,

I'm back! A little sunburned but happy and somewhat relaxed after my 4 day mini break. Of course then I went to work on Monday and that relaxed feeling evaporated didn't it? At least it's Easter this weekend so 2 x 4 day weekends ahead!!!

Thursday was a lazy day, packing, cleaning, watching tv and bumming around. Did all the things you do when preparing to go away. Then the excitement began!!! Our friends M & S picked us up and we headed up the coast, stopping at maccas for dinner and then off to do some grocery shopping for basics. That was also the start of the weight gain clearly!

We woke up to a glorious Friday morning and proceeded to woof down this heart stopping breakfast! How good does it look?

What a great way to start the Friday? Yummy bacon, egg, hash brown, mushroom and tomato wraps cooked BBQ style.

After breakfast we all did our own thing so M & I headed over to the best coffee in town - the Kahveh Cafe. I don't usually drink coffee being the tea person I am but M's mocha looked so good I decided that I just had to have one the next morning when we went for coffee to clear our hungover heads.

The day was so lovely we took a walk down to the beach and stood there letting the waves lap over our feet. It's been a while since I've done that and it was pure heaven. You know that feeling you get when you're fully clothed and you're chasing the waves but then a really big one comes along and almost wipes out the spot you're standing on? And you have to run away from it but you get disappointed that you didn't get your feet wet? I love that game!

Oufit: floral dress, diamante bracelet, sparkly hoop earrings and Christian Louboutin Nude Clichys

Anyhoo, onto the wedding. It was beautiful! The bride looked stunning in her dress and the groom quite dapper in his suit and as per any wedding there were loads of pictures!!! The reception was at a really posh restaurant called The Cowrie. It's a bit of a big deal on the central coast. It deserves it's reputation as the food was orgasmic!!!

This is what I had for dinner and as usual didn't take any pics....

Entree: Crispy roulade of pork belly with apple and pepper chutney, honey and mustard salad and calvados jus

Main: Pan roasted blue eyed cod fillet on a clam veloute with vongoli, chat potato, bacon and mleted leeks

Dessert: Passionfruit creme brulee with teardrop shortbread

The next day there were some pretty rusty heads. Not mine as I'm not a huge drinker.

Mike with his mocha on Saturday morning proving how good it is. It was pretty good!

S had told us so much about the famed Wambie whopper so we starved ourselves so we could fit one it for lunch/hangover cure. I have to say I was defeated by the whopper. But then again I wasn't really that hungry to be honest. It was probably 15-20% bigger than a normal burger and with the lot it was stacked and pretty darn delicious!

I think the aim after lunch was to get down to the beach for a swim but we got engrossed in Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit & Uno.

Random activites for the day!

Sunday was a busy day as we had to check out and drive back to Sydney. We also had M's grandfather's 80th at Clovelly Bowling Club to attend. What an awesome day it was, the weather was beaming, the bowling was keen and the company was fabulous as usual.

It already seems like last year I was away! I'm back at work and we've just had a busy end of month/quarter so haven't had time to update you yet.

I hope you didn't get too lonely while I was away. Well that's it from me!

Night!! xo

Off and away!

2010-03-26T10:25:00.000+11:00

Dear Diary,

I know you think I don't love you but I think you've got it all wrong. I have been pretty busy with work given that a colleague has been away getting married so I've picked up the slack, my new promotion (although it's not the promotion I've been hoping for) which means I've been working longer hours, getting sick, going to engagement parties, eating and sleeping. I've also been trying to get healthy by going for walks/runs and working out. That has stopped though for the time being as I need new sneakers :(

I have restricted myself from shopping but not for the essentials such as work clothes (I need an overhaul of my wardrobe) and a couple of new bags as my old workhorse is past it's prime. Other than that I am being pretty good. I did sell a pair of shoes so I can legally and morally buy another pair to replace them. Yeah I know, legal doesn't have anything to do with it but a verbal promise can bee seen as a legally binding contract in some lights...especially if it concerns M not smoking!

Since I forgot to tell you afterwards, just a recap of what happened last weekend. We went to a friend's engagement party on the 20th and had a blast! I forgot to take a pictures before hand of the outfit but I figured this would double as an action shot and outfit shot. I'm on the train on the way home so take into account it is at the end of the night and don't judge me too harshly!

White 3/4 pants with purple singlet, Supre bolero, RAOK gift necklace and nude Clichys

Also, I've got a couple of new items (and some old ones I haven't posted but might get to at some stage) that I wanted to show you. I'm very excited about them!

Diane Von Furstenberg Aggie in Freedom Trail print - something I've been lusting after for a while

Lilac Mini Patchwork messenger bag by Morelle - she hand crafts all her bags with the finest Italian leathers and colours with vegetable dyes! Smells deliciously leathery!!!

I hope you'll be ok with the fact that this weekend I'll be away on a mini break and won't be able to write to you. I have a friend getting married so we're making a weekend of it. What more could you want, sunshine, the beach, and cocktails?

See? I'm all packed and ready to go! I hear my name being called so I better get going. I'll update you on all the goss when I get back.

Love,

lilmissb xo

Weekends are for partying!

2010-03-09T22:13:00.001+11:00

Hola amigos!

What have you been up to lately? I've been up to the same old same old myself. Nothing too exciting unfortunately :(

I did manage to sneak an engagement party into the weekend though so all was not lost. I had to wimp out of Saturday morning dance class though as I am flat broke till pay day this Friday. Well not flat broke, just broke enought not to splurge on extras like dance class. On the positive side I have been using the gym downstairs and going for a walk/run with M most days so I am getting my fit on. Hmm, maybe that's part of the reason I don't update my blog as much as I used to. Plus the fact I am working back later at work these days.

Anyway I'm getting a bit off topic! A good friend of mine finally got engaged about 6 months ago and she decided it was about time to have a party. M & I headed out to the The Victoria Room in Darlinghurst on Saturday night to celebrate this occassion. I can't believe I forgot to take pics of the food! I made sure I have some of the place though.

The hors d'oeuvres consisted of:

Caramelised Balsamic & Red Onion Tart With Goats Cheese

Zucchini & Haloumi Fritters

Salmon Cakes with Herb Mayonnaise

Blue Swimmer Crab Cakes with Coriander Salsa

Grilled Prawns with Saffron aioli

Grilled Lemon Chicken Kebabs with Gremalata & Paprika

Baby Lamb Cutlets, Cypriot-style

Dark Chocolate Cups with Chocolate Mousse & fresh raspberries

Mini Lemon Tarts

Here are the pics!

Doesn't it have a great Indiana Jones jungle vibe to it? I totally picture it as a bar in the 20's, a hip hangout joint for adventure seekers.

Outfit - Supre dress, Sportgirl handbag, sparkly hoop earrings I blogged about here, crystal bracelet and Christian Louboutin Lady Claudes in Blue Acid Wash Python.

A great night was had by all and the next day we decided to leave the house in search of some fast food to combat the Sunday blues. Sorry, again no photos but we did get just about the most delicious pide and kebabs on this planet! Yum!!!

We took Bailey with us and he waited eagerly under out chairs for any scrap of food we dropped. He did get a fair few hot chips! How can you resist that face??

As we sat there enjoying our late lunch there seemed to be quite a ruckus going on as a soccer game was on at Moore Park. There were some mad fans all war painted and chanting anthems at the top of their voices. I missed out getting a photo of the freakshow marching but I did manage to get a picture of a car following them...

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I did laugh at that. I had no idea they had specially marked cars or even a dedicated squad for riots.

I also thought I'd chuck in this photo as I took it whilst testing I had enough battery in the camera. I thought it was quite artsy!

On that night I will say good night! Chat to you soon.

So, what's a ban again?

2010-02-28T22:53:00.001+11:00

Well you know how this blog was supposed to keep me from buying stuff? It hasn't really been successful has it?

Hmmm...so maybe I should rethink my expenditure...

Things have come to a head anyway so I will be taking a mini break from buying shoes. I want M to quit smoking all together (he's a social smoker) so being the deal maker than he is, he struck a bargain. If he has to quit smoking I have to quit buying shoes. It kinda sucks but I can deal with not buying shoes for a month or two...it'll give me a chance to buy the clothes, bags & accessories I want. Shhh! Don't tell him though, it'll be our little secret. God help me if he checks my blog! I stupidly told him I was blogging...I'll never make that mistake again!

I haven't updated you in a while but somewhere along the line I've seen Avatar 3D, eaten some Thai, bought some goodies, had several serious chats with M about shoes and cigarettes, had lots of meetings at work, been in charge of a project that just finished up, eaten some more Thai, had a fight with the self checkout system at the local grocery store, disciplined Bailey, freaked out, watched a bit of TV, listened to some music, celebrated a birthday, caught up with friends, attended my first dance class in years, had countless random thoughts and slept a little less than I'd have liked. Phew!

Anyhoo, this entry is a little gallery of what I've been up to lately. I did get a bit slack and forget to take pics towards the end of this week though. Not that exciting but I keep forgetting to take the pics of my phone.

Enjoy and I'll chat to you soon!

Taking time out at last

2010-02-21T23:09:00.000+11:00

Didn't I say I would make time to blog for y'all last week? Well obviously I lied! I'm so sorry I haven't kept my word. Work has been flat sticks and I didn't know whether I was coming or going half the time. Plus I've had to deal with some personal issues over the last couple of weeks. Everyting is fine now though.

What have I been doing I hear you ask? Nothing too exciting to be honest, just working my butt off really.

Monday & Tuesday - one of my bosses was up from Melbourne and I tagged along with him and met some clients. Was all very interesting but I did break my heels first thing Monday morning so I went emergency shoe shopping and got these Chanelesque Diana Ferrari flats for everyday use and they're proving their worth.

Cute aren't they? Super comfy too!!! And the best thing? I had a voucher for $48 credit so they were even cheaper.

Wednesday was spent playing catch ups at the office.

Thursday had a business lunch.

Friday was another catch up day, and an exhausting one at that. Back to back meetings all morning. I did manage to meet some friends for lunch though and that provided my sanity hour. I didn't get home until about 7pm as I stayed back to do a few things and then had to wait 30 minutes for a stupid bus. Grrr...

Saturday I met my friend's new baby while M was out playing laser tag in the bush somewhere. We had the best baked ricotta cheesecake ever! And today I went to the markets with M and enjoyed a nice day out in the sunshine.

I've also been a little naughty...here are some of my purchases this week:

arm warmers

Short sleeve jacket

Batwing/poncho sweater top

I also received two of my holy grail shoes last week. I am beyond ecstatic to finally get my mitts on these gorgeous shoes!! I'm still stretching the Alta Iowas but I wore the Lady Claudes to work on Friday and they got rave reviews from all my co-workers!

Christian Louboutin Alta Iowa in Black Suede

Christian Louboutin Lady Claude in Blue Acid Wash Python

My outfit on Friday - Myne silk top, Sasoo denim leggings & Lady Claude in Blue Acid Wash Python.

RIP AMQ

2010-02-14T22:35:00.000+11:00

I apologise for my recent quiet patch but I have been quite busy with work and haven't had a chance to breathe let alone blog. I promise I will make more time in the next week or so, they've just been a few things happening lately.

You may have heard that the fashion world lost one of it's icons last week. British designer Alexander McQueen died last week and whilst I do not own any of his pieces I do admire his work from afar. My deepest sympathies go to his family and friends.

Farewell AMQ, you will be missed!

Comic relief for the week

2010-02-08T22:22:00.002+11:00

Something funny happened in Australia recently. It might seem a little pedestrian but keep your attention focused on the poor financial analyst checking his emails around 1:08....

Wedding #1 of 2010

2010-02-03T07:30:00.000+11:00

January was kicked into February with a great wedding up in Manly in Sydney's Northern Beaches area. It was a brilliant day for it, the sun was shining, a nice breeze was blowing and the people were ready to get down and boogie!

Here are some pics from Saturday's festivities.

St Mary's Immaculate Catholic Church - love the stained glass windows and the organ

The view from the rooftop of the pub we went to between the ceremony and the recption

The CND nail polish I blogged about here

Action shot with the girls

We had to get a picture of this lounge and background. It was a pretty cool rooftop bar.

We took some 'arty' shots on my friend's compact with some weird settings

A screen displayed all the wedding snaps they had taken plus they had a photo booth where people could dress up and take photos that were later displayed on the screen.

Totally unexpected was a South American floor show of samba, lambada, capoeira, salsa and a few other styles I couldn't recognise. It was brilliant!

A cheeky bathroom outfit shot - Princess Highway dress, SES metallic knit bolero, "chainmail" necklace, diamond drop earrings & stainless steel ring.

The happy couple striking a pose above the dancefloor light.

Dinner this week

2010-01-28T22:18:00.004+11:00

These are the pics I remembered to take this week. I have to admit I've been a bit social this week and I've forgotten to take pictures. Sorry!

Dinner on the 23rd - Gnocchi in tomato, mixed herbs and mozarella sauce sprinkled with parmesan

Dinner on the 25th - 3/4 jeans, DVF top, CL nude clichys, silver neck cuff

These are a few of my favourite things

2010-01-24T21:54:00.004+11:00

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
Brown paper packages tied up with strings,
These are a few of my favorite things

Hmmm, not quite what I had in mind...don't get me wrong, I do love rain, rose, kittens, mittens and packages but I thought I might do a post on some of my favourite accessories. I keep mentioning different accessories I commonly wear but I haven't really shown you what they are in any great detail.

Firstly earrings - my one true love! I have tonnes of earrings but these are my favourites.

These are the ones I wear the most.

L-R: Chanel CC earrings, 3 x dichroic glass & silver earrings, 18kt white gold diamond drop earrings, silver crystal dangle earrings

These are my absolute favourite pairs of dichroic glass earrings. They change from blue to green depending on the light. Aren't they special?

Love these two, sparkles and colour, what more could you want?

I'm not a huge ring girl and I don't have that many yet but I feel I need to branch out and get some more.

L-R: white gold & jade ring, stainless steel ring, Bvlgari white gold Astrale ring, silver mother of pearl

Ok now for my necklaces and bracelets.

Black and white pearl, mother of pearl pendant & random costume jewellery necklace I've had forever.

Silver plated cuff - one of fave pieces!

L-R: wood & cotton bracelet from the markets in Cairns I picked up for $8, leather cuff (another market find in Sydney), blue multi-stranded beaded necklace I got from M's mother for my birthday a few years ago.

I get a lot of compliments on this one. I jokingly call it my chainmail necklace!

One of newest acquisitions - $5 from the Diva sale (I'm wearing it my last outfit post)

So there you have my little accessories collection. I have a few more pieces but none of them what I would class as 'favourites'. Hope you've enjoyed my little display and I will update as I collect more pieces!!!

Dinner - Dumplings in Sate Glaze

2010-01-23T21:02:00.001+11:00

Since I was talking about cooking this morning I should probably show you some examples of my daily cooking habits. It's nothing fancy but it's certainly tasty! I will have to try out some fancier recipes soon.

Wow, I was momentarily distracted from my post by American Idol, some guy sang Amazing Grace and he sounded like a dying, yowling cat playing a violin in it's belly! It was horrid. He wouldn't leave and security had to 'escort' him out. They had him on the floor in cuffs!!! High voltage stuff in Orlando. Eep!

Anyhoo, back to the food!

I love taking the ordinary and making them a little different.

Mix a sauce of water, sesame oil, sherry, sate sauce & soy sauce in a cold frypan. Measure according to taste.
Take an amount of frozen pork and chive frozen dumplings and heat in sauce.
Sauce will reduce and start to glaze the dumplings. Keep turning dumplings over every minute or so and make sure there is enough sauce to keep the dumplings from sticking to the pan.
Once dumplings have browned to your satisfaction (approx 10 mins) take out and place in bowl.
Flavour with your choice of any of the elements you made the sauce with just for extra taste.
Enjoy!

Now I've made y'all drool I'll leave it there for today. Sweet dreams!

Resistance is futile...

2010-01-23T10:37:00.003+11:00

Wowsers, how has another week flown away from me?

On Tuesday night I caught up one of my best friends and we had thai at this unbelievably cheap place. The food was fresh and came in big serves. The best part was that it was only $6 a meal!!!

And we weren't done, we had a date with Robert Downey Jnr playing the title role of Sherlock Holmes. I actually didn't mind the film, it fulfilled my requirements for entertainment - good looking men, action ahoy, and a reasonable plot.

Then work, work and more work until Friday. Since we'd been talking cupcakes on the forum I finally caved in and went and got some for afternoon tea.

How good do they look? Cupcakes on Pitt is one of the cutest little cupcake shops to have sprung up over the last few years. They're mini cupcakes but seriously you shouldn't need more than 1 or 2 of these suckers to satisfy your sweet tooth. I got the rocky road and lemon meringue ones. My fave will always be the lemon meringue as it uses real meringue and lemon curd! It's the BUSINESS! Im drooling again just thinking of it.

Speaking of lemon, you what I recently discovered? Krispy Kreme have stopped making their lemon filled donuts!!! WTF? They were my favourite flavour! I am severely disappointed. I only have KK once every 6 or so months and I really wanted a lemon one and they tell me they're no longer in production! Grrrr...!

After work M met me and we went to the cheap thai place again. Spring rolls, money bags, red curry chicken & chicken pad hokkien with satay sauce this time. DELISH! Sorry, no pic of the meal as I was starving. I tend to focus on the food when I'm hungry...

Here are some action shots from the afternoon/night though.

M looking pensive

My Christian Louboutin Penny Girl flats peeping out the window

Playing with Bails at home

My outfit of 3/4 jeans, Bonds singlet & Supre bolero, accessorised with Diva necklace, cotton & wood bracelet from the markets in Cairns, stainless steel ring & Chanel earrings

Now it's all quiet on the western as the boys have gone camping and I'm home alone. I'm actually looking forward to it in a way. It'll be like I'm living by myself again. I was thinking I should pull out my apron and start baking again this weekend but it's going to be about 39C (104F) outside today and whilst I do have airconditioning I think putting the oven on too would be ludicrous. Then we're supposed to get a change tonight and it's supposed to thunderstorm! WTF is with this crazy weather lately? I've heard LA is getting hail and were on tornado warning plus Arizona had a tornado...the world going crazy! Or God's gonna wipe us out soon. Not sure which one scares me more.

Anyway, back to cooking/baking. I've been inspired by my friend V who linked me to some cooking blogs. I'll have to update my links column with them but the things on there are so inspiring and they make me want to do more creative cooking again. I'll keep you updated on my cooking plans!

Anxious and broke

2010-01-20T23:09:00.005+11:00

Just a quick one tonight, hope you've all been well.

I've been admiring some bright nail polish hues on the forum of late and thought I should give it a go. I tend to steer towards natural pinks, dark reds, blues, purples and a certain grey/brown that I've just discovered. In fact I'm wearing it right now, it's OPI You Don't Know Jacques.

I recently branched out and bought a sensational shade by CND called Smoochie. It's a gorgeous bright watermelony neon pink.

It's not the best colour representation but it's dark and I can't get a good shot of the actual bottle. Can't wait to try it out though! I'll show you the results when I test it out next week. The test coat I applied to my finger was positive so I can only imagine how stunning it will look when applied in full.

I don't want to jinx it but I'm also awaiting some good news so I'm hoping that comes through tomorrow but could take up to Friday to come through. Eek. I can't stand the suspense...!!! And if it does come through then I will actually be broke. For the month...

Anyway, hope you have a great day/night, whatever it is in your part of the world.

A whole weeks worth of catchups

2010-01-17T22:12:00.001+11:00

I can't believe it's Sunday night and I've got to back to work tomorrow! This week has whizzed by and I seem to have lost it somewhere. I guess time flies when you're busy. Last week was a bit of a fmily week as M's parents are down from Queensland.

Tuesday 12th Jan

Went to dinner at Bay Tinh in Marrickville with M's parents, uncles and aunts. The food was sensational! We've been there before and I just love Vietnamese food to death. I would eat it everyday if I could. Actually I almost do as I try and have beef pho at least once a week. Noodles, beef, onion and soup, what's not to laove I ask you? And it's not that bad for you either as there isn't too much that's deep fried. Unlike Japanese where I love all the fried stuff like katsu and teriyaki tofu....anyway, I'm digressing!

Here's what we had for dinner:

Doesn't that look great? There was crispy vietnamese style pancake with prawns & chicken, soft shell crab, grilled beef rolls, prawn meat rolls wrapped around sugar cane, prawn & chicken volcano (rice paper wrap your own rolls) & a vegetable soup with noodles to finsh up with (no pic). Sooo full by the end of it all!

We got home at about midnight or so to find out our darling puppy had peed on our bed!!! Not happy at all! So I've decided if he doesn't want to act like our usual adorable fur baby he can be treated like a dog. Time for a manners refresher course. He spent the night outdoors and we spent an hour and a half fixing up our bed.

Thursday 14th Jan

Had one of my bosses up from Melbourne today and we had a workshop on going paperless. FUN....

Went to dinner at M's uncle's place and had this beautiful dish his mother cooked. Didn't get a picture of it but it was salmon poached in mango pulp served with a macadamia crust, and a rocket & roasted tomato salad sprinkled with balsamic. It was soooo good!

Since Bailey is still serving time we put him out on the balcony for the night. He whined for 1.5hrs and finally stopped at 1am!! Then he had the hide to start up again at 4am. Needless to say it took me a while to get started on Friday. Bad timing as I had to go through something with bossman 2 and I wasn't really coherent enough to make sense.... (>.<)

Friday 15th Jan

Couldn't wait to get home and veg out with the boys (I should clarify here that I am talking about M & Bails!). Had dinner at home and watched a movie. Conked out. Bliss!

Saturday 16th Jan

Since this weekend was a dedicated "us" weekend we wandered into town around lunchtime after a nice homemade brunch of scrambled eggs and bacon.

That night we decided to have a spontaneous dinner out at El Bulli around the corner. We started with a drink at our local water hole, one that I've been dying to try out as it always looked good from the outside. To our surprise we enjoyed it and found out they served a great pub menu. Must go there for a meal one day next week or the next.

Anyway, when we finally got a table at El Bulli (note: you cannot book for 2) we had a smorgasboard of:

PATATAS BRAVAS - crispy fried potatoes in tomato chilli sauce
GAMBAS a la SEVILLANA - Panfried prawns in tomato based garlic, chilli & olive oil salsa
GNOCCI con PICOS AZUL - Homemade crispy gnocchi in a serano ham, blue vein cheese & white wine cream sauce
Bread
Carafe of red sangria

I promise to take pics of the tapas next time but the lighting in there is quite low and I couldn't get any decent ones with my phone.

That brings us full circle to Sunday. We watched a few episodes of Top Gear and a movie called RocknRolla. I love Guy Ritchie and his films never fail to amuse and entertain. It's not in the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrells range but it was great in it's own right.

Sorry there weren't many pictures so I'll finish off with a nice random cartoon for you...

End of the week...

2010-01-09T23:41:00.003+11:00

As you know I've just gone back to work after being off for a heavenly 10 days. It's been a bit of a hard slog but I've made it to the other end of the week with no casualties! Plus M and I have been pretty good on the spending front as we've made our dinners for the last week. Pretty yummy ones too I must say, so we rewarded ourselves by going to our favourite local restaurant on Friday night.

Teriyaki beef bento box

Chicken katsu don

Sorry the colour is a little funny but my phone doesn't take great pics in weird lighting. Probably not helped by the polaroid program. Oh well!

Came home and watched a movie on Foxtel. The new Star Trek. I don't know if anyone's seen it but I thought it was ok. Admittedly I don't and have never followed the series but as a stand alone movie I though it was good.

Saturday morning was a bit of a lazy affair but we did have a schedule to keep as we had a family lunch with M's grandparents out at Bronte. But you couldn't have a weekend morning without at least one indulgent breakfast so we cooked up some french toast, bacon & hash browns. YUM!

We got to take Bails with us to M's grandparents place and he had a lot of fun rolling around on the grass and barking at birds. He doesn't get to experience a lot of grass at our apartment!

Took some really cute pics of him today.

Cheeky face peeking under the barrier we put up to stop him coming into the main part of the house

Out in the garden. Love the fact this pic is upside down.

And here's my outfit for today: a floral sun dress and my nude Clichys. Love those shoes! *sigh*

Now I'm just enjoying a quiet one at home catching up with a few things that need doing while M is out at his friend's bucks night. I mean, a boat, harbour cruise, strippers, music and food...what more does a boy need for a batchelors party? I don't know what time to expect him home but I did say that as long as I see him by Monday morning it's all good and that if he rings me from either Mexico or jail not to bother coming home!!! *roll eyes*

I was going to meet a few friends in town for the opening night of the Sydney Festival as it's usually a great night but by the time I got around to dinner and thinking about heading in it was already 9pm so I opted to stay home instead. I mean I was already in my PJ's...I know, I'm being boring but I think it's just one of those weekends where I'm quite happy to vege out and catch up on some tv.

Anyhow, I'm getting a tad sleepy so I'll chat to y'all later!

January Blues

2010-01-07T22:29:00.000+11:00

Why is it after the hustle and bustle of Christmas and New Years Eve do you sink into a sort of post celebration blues? I'm sad yet relieved that silly season has passed and that life as we know it can go back to normal. I can also start saving money again. That is if I don't spend it on shoes or bags! Although I do have the urge to travel this year so that may cure the spending as I would have to save up quite a bit to go travelling.

But I guess after a big couple of months celebrating the festive season January always seems to crawl by at a snails pace. And you're always broke as you've spent last months pay already and are eagerly anticipating this months pay. I've pretty much spent my pay in my head! It's amazing how how broke you can be before you get paid!!

So what's on my wishlist I hear you ask? Well here are a few of the things I've been thinking about getting and doing.

I've been wanting a dslr for a while now. I think it's been about 6 or so years at least. I always buy myself a good point and shoot and then my urge for a dslr goes away for a while. This time I think I should actually get it.

I have chosen the Nikon D5000 as I love Nikons and in the reviews it has the teeniest edge over the Canon 500D. I personally like Canon for compacts and Nikons for slr's. One of the reasons I'm getting sick of my compact is that I hate the way a flash blasts the subject which is why I've included the SB-400 flash in the pic as it bounce off vertically or with a diffuser will give a soft glow to the area of the subject you're photographing rather than a strobe light effect! Just think of the pictures I can take of shoes now in low light!!! Woohoo!

Hmm, what else is on that list? Well I have to include the bags and shoes of course!

CL Alta Iowa in Black Suede (picture from trenduet ebay auction)

CL Bianca in Coral Patent (picture courtesy of tPF)

CL Banana in Lavender Patent (picture off www.christianlouboutin.fr)

CL Simple 100 in Nude Acid Wash Python

CL Lady Claude in Blue Acid Wash Python (picture from Sabrina Greco at NM)

Chanel Camellia WOC

Balenciaga Spring 2010 colours (picture from http://incultstatus.blogspot.com/)

I think the colours in the picture from L-R are black, olive, sang, papeete, canard, cyclade. I have twiggys in olive and canard on pre-order and they should be arriving some time in February/March. Hopefully I like the colours I've pre-ordered. I'm a bit sad I didn't order anything in papeete or sang! I think that's better for my wallet anyway.

And last but not least I have a burning desire to these places. Not that I don't want to visit anywhere else such as Europe but I just want to see these places first. Plus I want to meet a lot of good friends I've made off tPF who live in the States. Ok, I won't lie, plus the shopping. That was a given, was it not?

Vietnam

New York City

Las Vegas

As you can see I have a few things I want to do and get this year so which ones should I prioritise??? Hmmm, tough choice isn't it?

I think I'll sleep on it....

Welcoming 2010 with a banging weekend!

2010-01-03T20:14:00.003+11:00

Hope you've all had a great New Years!!! I've had a great New Years weekend packed with celebrations with friends. Pity I have to go to work tomorrow!!! *sigh*

Thursday was NYE and we were running around cleaning, mopping, moving furniture, setting up visuals & getting ready for the party that night. I did something that I've never done before and went and got my hair set in curls and spoilt myself with a manicure and pedicure. I couldn't believe how much the pedi tickled!!!

Here's the result of all my primping:

I love my hair curly, gives it a bit of an edge. I can't wait for my hair to grow a bit (apparently just past my shoulder blades is not long enough!) so I can get a digital perm which will give me a natural looking curl similar to what I got done for the night.

My outfit for the night: a LBD and my CL Madame Claudes in Leopard Patent.

Bailey decided he wanted to have a picture with me so I had to include it! I've also just realised how big the shoes look here but it's only because I'm leaning forward.

This is what our place looked like at the end of the cleaning and setting up effort!

Making sure the decks work

I love this shot

Just before mignight!

Officially 2010!!! YAY!

So cruel but oh so cute!

I'm not sure what time we all crashed but we had some people staying over so when we woke up we all had bacon, eggs and hash browns for brekky. YUM! What a great way to start the year!!!

Nothing much happened yesterday (the 2nd), just spent the day recovering and cleaning up really. I'd forgotten how much damage jager bombs can do... I always think it's so ironic how much cleaning and tidying up goes into hosting a party, you have the party and you have to clean and tidy all over again. This time with a hangover.

Today (the 3rd) we had a friend's birthday lunch at a restaurant/bar called The Deck at Luna Park which is right under the Harbour Bridge on the northern side. I'd never been there before but it was pretty good. We just kept ordering nibblies such as aranchini balls, lamb kibbeh, fries and wedges to go with our cocktails. As usual I forgot to take pics of the food didn't I?

The girls

I was stuffed and little tired.

Well, I think that wraps up what we did for the NYE weekend. My annual leave is over and I must return to work tomorrow to earn my keep! How I wish I was still on holidays but I guess all good things must come to an end. It's not like I'll never have another holiday again!

I hope 2010 brings you all you could ever wish for and let's make it a special year for all!!!

Christmas Trip

2009-12-28T17:16:00.005+11:00

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!

2009-12-23T07:16:00.002+11:00

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 ♥

2009-12-19T23:35:00.000+11:00

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.

2009-12-16T21:55:00.002+11:00

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!

2009-12-10T22:59:00.001+11:00

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

2009-12-09T23:31:00.002+11:00

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!

2009-12-07T21:20:00.000+11:00

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...

2009-12-06T22:54:00.000+11:00

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

2009-12-06T00:49:00.001+11:00

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

2009-12-04T20:17:00.010+11:00

Please look in my new BLOG BOUTIQUE for this item!

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

What happens after Tuesday?

2009-12-02T22:38:00.005+11:00

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

2009-11-29T22:49:00.000+11:00

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...

2009-11-26T21:29:00.003+11:00

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!

2009-11-25T22:43:00.008+11:00

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...

2009-11-20T23:22:00.006+11:00

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!

2009-11-17T23:32:00.003+11:00

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!

Dinner and a wedding

2009-11-15T23:07:00.004+11:00

Wow, what a busy weekend! I know I promised I wouldn't leave it so long between updates but the truth is I've had a herd of elephants stampeding through my head all day.

Ok, so let's start at the beginning of this epic weekend.

Friday we had jeans for good means day. I work at a really conservative company where 'casual Friday' doesn't really exist but once a month we raise money for a good cause. I wore jeans (obviously), a Woosh tshirt and my nude Clichys.

After work I rushed home to get ready for my partner's 4th year engineering dinner. We didn't know what the dress code was so we erred on the side of caution and went formal. I must say M scrubs up all right when he puts a suit on!

I wore my Herve Leger ash colourblock tank with my CL Coxinelles.

The next day was an absolute cracker weather wise. The sun was shining and everyone was ready to celebrate at one of my best friend's wedding. The ceremony took place at Clark Park in Lavender Bay right on Sydney harbour.

What a view!!! The reception took place at the Kirribilli Club. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures of the wedding and reception as my camera battery died. I'm still kicking myself about not charging the battery the night before but my camera was showing a full battery...grrrr!

Now please don't hate me but I did kinda spend some money...I went into town on Saturday morning with M and I was only going to check out this Cue dress for work and possibly layby it so I could pay it off over 8 weeks. Honestly. I was trying to be sensible but M insisted I buy it and wear it to the wedding! What was I supposed to do? At least I made it to 17 days!!!

Here is said Cue dress paired with my CL Very Galaxy in platine.

It was the shoes first outing and everybody loved them. I think I spread the CL virus to my friends as they all seemed very fascinated with my shoes. I think I may be lynched by some put out boyfriends and husbands!!

Here's a better picture of the shoes..

Totally to die for aren't they? Anyway, it's been a long weekend and I think I'm going to get into my pj's and snuggle down for the night. Talk to you soon!

Boot Camp

2009-11-11T21:59:00.006+11:00

I know I'm not meant to be spending money but do you know how hard it is? My last purchase was on the 28th of October and my blood is singing out for some more goodies. I can't deny the blood can I?

Today I took a trip down boutique lane at lunchtime. Not a good move really! I slipped into Gucci to see if they had any boots in stock and whaddya know? I got a first hand glance at the Riddle boot. O-M-G!!! They are to die for and soooo HOT! Do you know what they look like at all? If not see below.

Aren't they divine? They're made of some pretty tough leather. For anyone who follows Jane of Sea of Shoes, I first saw these boots on her blog and I have been dreaming of them ever since. I just can't get these boots out of my mind. Thankfully the boutique didn't have my size because if they did, I would have been in some serious trouble! They retail in the US for $1,690 and in Oz for $2,195. Ouch!

The other thing I'm really digging at the moment are OTK boots. I thought at first I might look like a tranny hooker in them but the more I think of it the more the idea is growing on me. I really hope I'd never EVER look like a tranny but that's a different issue...I'm talking about boots here so back to topic.

Christian Louboutin produce a stunning boot called the Supra Fifre which is one that I fell in love with straight away. Only in the black suede silver button combo though.

There is something about this boot that I find incredibly sexy!! I could imagine them with a cute pair of black cuffed hot pants, a raceback singlet top, a black boyfriend blazer and some long multi-layered necklaces. Perfect outfit in my opinion! These retail for US $1,995 (double ouch!!). I wonder if we'll even see them in Oz.

For the more budget minded (like I'm supposed to be right now) I noticed that Victoria's Secret has a nice selection of cute OTK boots. I liked these Chinese Laundry ones in grey suede for US $119

Gorgeous aren't they? I love the button up detail and the flatness.

Or the Barneys Co-Op Ivetta for US $535.

Delish aren't they? I want them all! Even if we are going into summer I should probably stock up on boots for winter shouldn't I?

Oh what a night

2009-11-09T22:51:00.014+11:00

Wow, apologies for not updating you for a while but I've been off recovering from my friend's hens night on Saturday night. I meant to post something before I went out but no such luck! I did however post a quick outfit pic for my lovely friends on tPF so some of you do know what I wore out that night.

Ok, well I'm guessing you want all the juicy details of what I did, what I wore and what I spent?

Let's start at lunchtime. I didn't know exactly what I was going to wear until the last minute but I figured I'd start with the most important thing - nail polish! It does take about 40 minutes for me as I apply two coats of polish and a top coat.

I put on OPI Russian Navy which is the most gorgeous shade of navy blue with sparkly red flecks shining through.

It almost looks purple. Sorry the pic is not that great with the flash. I totally recommend this colour for all of you who love dark colours. I'm a dark or light polish girl, no in between colours for me! To give you an idea some of my favourite nail colours are OPI Relight My Sapphire (dark purple), OPI You Don't Know Jacques (taupe/grey), OPI Mrs O'Leary's BBQ (deep red), Chanel Rouge Noir (dark brown/red) and Chanel Flamme Rose (light beige/pink).

Next up, my outfit. You'll be pleased to know I didn't spend any money on my outfit. I managed to rifle through my wardrobe and find the perfect outfit. And I've learnt how to master the polaroid program so that I get the WHOLE outfit including my head and feet in the shot!! YAY! Only took me a week, eep!

Ok, here I am, you finally get to see my face! I am wearing a tartan skirt with a black racer back top, mother of pearl necklace, diamond earrings, a bracelet I got up in Port Douglas and my Christian Louboutin Coxinelles again. You'd think I don't own any other shoes but I do, I swear I do!!

Here's proof!

See I do own more than one pair of CL's!

Anyway, I digress....we started the night off by attending a cocktail making class at a local establishment, then moved on to tapas. Once we'd eaten our fill we proceeded to a club to shake our a$$ on the dance floor. A great time was had by all and poor little old me stumbled back through my front door at 5am! <insert faint smiley here>

And the big question, how much did the spenaholic spend? All in all I only spent about $80 so I'm happy seeing as it was a hens night!

I would post a picture of our fun night but I'm afraid I should preserve what little dignity I have left and also I don't know that my friend's would be too keen to see themselves on my blog! Maybe one day.

I should get going as it's getting late and this has been a long enough post. I promise I won't leave it so long next time!

Lead me not into temptation...

2009-11-05T23:08:00.009+11:00

ARGH!

I've just got word that some Balenciaga things I pre-ordered are due to arrive at the end of the month or early December!! I can see my savings plan going to hell in a teacup right now. I guess I should have seen this coming but in my defence I did pre-order them in the first week of October so shopaholics anonymous wasn't exactly where I thought I would be in a month and a half's time. And I have been good, I cut out more than half the list! You don't want to see how many items I had myself down for.

My love affair with Balenciaga only started recently with the purchase of a SS09 Giant Silver Handle clutch in Anthracite followed very quickly by the snapping up of a very beautiful FW09 Day bag in Tempete as seen below.

Look at that bag....*sigh*...isn't she simply marvelous?

The leather is lightly distressed and super smooshy and thick. She's a great shade of stormy blue (hence the apt name of tempete) and goes with everything from black to denim. You can dress her up or down.

Now can you see why I'm jonesing for another Balenciaga? This time I have a Drum in black on order. I don't know what the Drum is supposed to look like except that it's similar to the old Box style. I don't know how many of you are Balenciaga experts but the box style is like the current Twiggy but not as east/west. More like a box shape. I've been looking for a Box in good condition but now if it's similar I won't have to!!! YAY!

Hmmm, can the Bal classify as my present to myself??? Or should the Chanel and exotic Louboutins I want to get next year be my present? Tough decisions need to be made soon. Ha!

Oh yeah, I wore my Coxinelles again today and here's the outfit. I'm wearing a Cue dress with a bolero style long sleeve cardi.

Sorry there's no head or feet, the polaroid process is a bit random so it tends to cut off the picture at nonsensical spots.

They are my go to shoes right now! Sorry if you're getting bored of them already, they're just the perfect work shoe.

Anyway, it's getting late and I have a busy Friday ahead of me so I should probably stop boring you to tears with my ramblings and try and get some sleep.

Night!

It's November already!

2009-11-03T20:34:00.008+11:00

My name is B and it has been 6 days since my last purchase.

Today is the 3rd of November and spring has sprung...there is so much to do this month. Weddings, formal dinners, spring racing and of course my birthday. My wallet has entered witness protection to get away from me!!

Speaking of which, today was a big race day in Australia. Melbourne Cup. Melbourne get a public holiday for the race that stops the nation but us Sydney siders usually spend the day celebrating it too! Unfortunately I was at work but we got to take an hour out to watch the race.

Oh! I totally forgot to let you know that I got my Coxinelles yesterday.

They're gorgeous aren't they? Hopefully these will keep me on the wagon for a while...

And this was the outfit I wore them with today.

Wearing a Portmans shirt and a Cue skirt. Both items are new but they don't count as they were bought on the 16th October before I entered rehab....plus I need new work clothes. I can't possibly be banned from buying a new work wardrobe, it's a necessary evil.

By the way, shoutout to my friend shockboogieninja who taught me how to achieve the polaroid effect! You rock!!!

Anyway, time to go think about dinner!

Help My Friend!

2009-11-01T17:48:00.005+11:00

What is the current Hollywood craze? HERVE LEGER!!!!

I have a friend who is selling some brand new with tags Herve Leger dresses on Bonanzle and eBay.

Bonanzle

Ebay

Please show her your support by visiting her booth! For god's sake, I need you to buy it so I'm not tempted!!! I am supposed to be in rehab after all....

New beginnings...

2009-10-31T22:36:00.011+11:00

Hi, my name is B and I'm a shopaholic! Well to be perfectly frank with you I'm in rehab but shhh! Sometimes I don't quite stick to the program but I'm new and I don't know all the rules yet. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I think it all started when I got my first full time job. That rush of earning your own money and the freedom of being able to blow it all on whatever you want. It was the biggest high I'd ever been on in my life. Unfortunately as you get older and somewhat wiser (or in my case, choosier about which brands you blow your money on) you realise that you can't just spend all your money on designer goods. As much as you'd like to believe you can. You get a REAL job, acquire a partner, gain a companion in the form of a man's best friend, buy property and BOOM....you are an adult!

When in the hell did that happen? Yesterday you were playing in your neighbour's swimming pool and eating fairy floss! It just about knocks the breath out of you when you realise that.

Well anyway, that's how I ended up here. Rehab for shopaholics. Don't worry I do get let out occasionally to snag the odd bargain or two. Speaking of which I did manage to snare a pair of Christian Louboutin Coxinelles for bargain basement price so stay tuned to see them! Just have to sneak them in without the warden seeing them!!