Beside the seaside.

Aaaand then two days later it was back to scorching summer heat. Hot enough, in fact, to hit the beach. Which boyfie and I did, because somehow despite how hot this summer has been, we hadn't managed to get to the beach once. Apparently our beaches are kind of famous or something (wink), so pretty poor form really. Not going to the beach in summer is the pinnacle of un-Australian. The weather was absolutely beautiful, so we hit the sand down at Franga for fish and chips on the beach, and some lazy reading in the sun. And the biggest ice creams the world has ever seen. Seriously. My ice cream was pretty much the size of my head. Hashtag value for money.

This black knit thing is from Valleygirl a few years ago. I've always found it hard to wear and style, but it worked for a beach day. Black shorts from Uniqlo. Bikini from Bras'n'Things; I like it because its similar to the Triangl Swimwear collection last year. Same floppy black hat and Ray-Bans as always. Roman sandals are from Famous Footwear. I should wear them more often. Surf's up farkin' CHOMP. x

 

 

Mars power, make up!

Pretty much by complete chance, I ended up invited to my manager's birthday party. In Cranbourne. With a bunch of people I don't know, and that she also didn't know. It happened last week, when she showed me a snapchat of her dressed up as Sailor Mercury, and when I asked what it was for she said her birthday. And then she immediately invited me, and when she asked if I had a costume I couldn't lie, because I do and here it is, and it was too perfect so I couldn't not go, even though I had work that day and that would make us (boyfie came too - what a champ) late. So we went. And we were late.

It was a pretty decent party, actually, even though her cousin (the only person she knew) and all her friends were dressed up like famous movie axe murderers, which was utterly terrifying and made us look awkwardly, obviously out of place. They were nice people though, and they'd ordered - kid you not - fifty pizzas and a tower of garlic bread loaves. I've never seen so much pizza. It was heaven. Despite how weird things got (watching your tiny manager play beer pong dressed as Sailor Mercury tops the list), it was fun - until their dog (they brought their dog to the party) ate rat poison and had to be rushed to the emergency vet hospital. Several hours and much vomiting later, he was fine, and we drove them back to the party, then scarpered for home. Shit got real. The night was not at all what I expected. I'm sure we'll all laugh about it fondly one day.

This amazing dress is an imitation of a limited edition range Living Dead Clothing ran last year. Unfortunately the authentic one was too expensive for me at the time, so I had to get this rip off from eBay. It's pretty good, considering. Rei is my favourite sailor scout. It's impossible not to love Usagi, but Rei is just mint. She's so driven and passionate, and she's stunning. So badass. My wig isn't a perfect match for Rei's hair, but I'll invest in a better one at some point. This one was for my gender-bent Ash Ketchum cosplay for PAX Aus last year. I think it did all right. Sensational red pumps are from Famous Footwear. I also wore elbow-length white gloves from my debutante, but I'd forgotten to put them on here. Mars fire, ignite! x

Maximum Frey.

OOTD featuring Cornflake the bun. This is what I wore to a house party at a friend's place. We had our first taste of the cool autumn weather to come, and I wholeheartedly embraced it. Autumn is my jam. I was very tired and feeling pretty anti-social, but it was nice to hang out. They'd made a yummy punch and a bunch of our mates started a raucous game of Drunk Quest, which I've yet to play but am still keen to. Sadly we didn't stay long enough to witness Maximum Frey - which is when our mate Frey reaches a level of intoxication that requires full nudity, apparently - but I'm unconvinced that it's terrifically sad we missed that.

This is not a Cotton On sponsored outfit, but coincidentally I am a walking advert for Cotton On. Sweater is new, from their autumn 2016 range. It also comes in white, and a maroon version of this grainy pattern. Black jeans are also Cotton On; same ones I always wear. Red booties are from Hush Puppies and I love them. So sassy. Little black handbag is a hand-me-down from my mum. x


*smooch*

Roses are red.

We shamelessly love Valentine's Day. For a lot of people it's a gigantic waste of time - a soul-sucking, money-grabbing ploy masterminded by our great enemy Capitalism - but for us (although it is also all of those things), it's a dedicated day for celebrating how much we appreciate each other. Sappy. Lame. Totally romantic. We celebrate our relationship every month on the 8th with a dinner, and buy each other little gifts and tasty goodies and treats all the time anyway, so we don't even need Valentine's Day. But we like it. We celebrate it. We use it as another excuse to spoil each other rotten, and we make the most of it.

This year we spent the day in the city. My mother bought us a Scoupon voucher for a box of Walker's Donuts (we have a serious relationship with Walker's Donuts), which we promptly redeemed and consumed. Then we visited everyone's favourite pop culture specialists down at Minotaur and bought manga, because why not. The boys were having a rough day - a blue-haired teen vomited all over their carpet, and not five minutes later a man heavily under the influence of something illicit had to be forcibly removed for refusing to leave and getting aggressive. Bad day at the office. From there we did some casual shopping along Bourke Street, then wandered up to Good Games where I napped for a solid hour. We saved a poor discarded rose from a sad and lonely death on the floor of Melbourne Central station and took him adventuring with us, and killed the last of our time at Flagstaff Gardens, because the weather was gorgeous. Then boyfie took me for our surprise Valentine's dinner. We had a seven course... experience? at Hibachi restaurant - miso soup, takoyaki (fried octopus meat), gyoza dumplings, prawn sushi rolls, assorted tempura, fried tofu in sweet and sour sauce, with sake to accompany and green tea ice cream to follow. The food was fresh and delicious; I'd highly recommend eating there if you're visiting the city one night. Just typing it now is making me hungry; I already want to go back. So good. And then we jumped on the freeway and headed to the planetarium at Scienceworks for their special Valentine's weekend show. Sadly the sky was too cloudy to be able to use the telescopes to stargaze afterward, but it was still a lovely night.

I wore this knit especially, obviously. I've had it for a very long time, and honestly I think I'm ready to part with it. It did its job well, but it isn't my style anymore and I wouldn't buy it if I saw it in a store now. It came from one of those affordable, cute Asian fashion stores. Shorts from Uniqlo. White tennis shoes were not my footwear of choice, but I had to switch my black boots out when I realised how much walking we'd be doing all day. I swapped them back again for the planetarium and felt much better. If you celebrate Valentine's Day, happy Valentine's Day! If you don't, I hope your weekend was as wonderful as ours. x

Not a hero.

Oh, god, life got so busy. Massive updates incoming.

Anyway, we saw Deadpool on Friday 12th. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't what it was. The movie is pretty great - cinematically dynamic, hilarious, great casting, good plot without trying to achieve too much (which often happens with action movies, I find, which is why I get so confused). But if you're not into gore - like me; minimal gore please - steer clear of the first twenty minutes. Seriously the most graphically violent NPC deaths in a film that I've probably ever seen. There's one guy and a billboard... I was shocked. But the rest of it is awesome. Ryan Reynolds is a beautiful human. You probably should go see it; everyone should. It's just not at all like the rest of the superhero films, which is 1000% absolutely the point. I should have done my research first so I was prepared. Yikes.

Sailor Chibi Moon tee is sold through tons of good online J-fashion retailers. My fave is Spreepicky (have fun!). Black jeans from Cotton On. Super awesome sparkly gold sneakers from Sportsgirl a few months ago. Bad hair day completely organic (sigh). x

Happy b'day, boyfie.

Boyfie's birthday couldn't have had better weather. It was warm and sunny and we were outside all day, catching up on some vitamin D. Our idea of a good time generally involves copious amounts of our favourite foods, and I'm one of those assholes who feels compelled to photograph everything I eat that looks nice on a plate, so prepare yourself for the onslaught of food pics. You were warned. 

I presented boyfie with his birthday present and mandatory birthday cheesecake, then shoved him in my car and we hit the freeway for Cheltenham, for a come-and-try session at AIM archery. Can archery. Was fun. It was the perfect day for ice cream, but Cold Rock was CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE WORK ON BOYFIE'S BIRTHDAY ONLY, so we zoomed up to Glen Waverley for Nitro Lab instead, which was a good decision. If you haven't tried the Fererro Rocher concoction yet, you definitely should. It's their best invention to date. We'd skipped lunch doing archery, so since we were already there it seemed silly not to share a bowl of Japanese curry (because katsu curry is life). From there, we were supposed to head into the city on the train, but we couldn't be bothered, so instead we headed over to Box Hill to Good Games to look at Pathfinder stuff and play a Magic the Gathering pack war. And buy cute Pokemon cards to use as bookmarks. The day was topped off with cheesecake and a lazy TV night with his parents.

If you want a flattering, well made dress that sports a gorgeous design, look no further than BlackMilk Clothing. Their clothes are a bit pricey, however they offer free express postage within Australia and their pieces are seriously amazing. I love this cherry blossom dress. It is so comfortable and feels so nice on. I actually have no idea where I got this little pink bag from, or when, but I found it in my cupboard and it kind of matched my shoes, so I grabbed it. Speaking of, these obnoxiously neon pink pumps came from a tiny little shoe shop in Keswick, England. We were just exploring the cute little village, and they were a totally unexpected discovery. I had to have them, naturally. I think this might have been the first time I've properly worn them out - I've been preserving them because I love them too much! Raybans as usual. x

Somebody wife me.

Honey, I baked. No really, I did. Last Sunday was the day before boyfie's birthday, and his favourite kind of cake is cheesecake, so it's become a sort of tradition that I bake him a lemon cheesecake for his birthday every year. I'm not complaining; it's ludicrously easy to make. And nobody complains about the same cake every year, because it's damned delicious. It was a pretty crazy day, though, for a Sunday. My Sundays never turn out to be lazy Sundays, like everyone else's. I dashed to Glen Waverley in the morning, braving the Chinese New Year crowds (regretful decision) to pick up an assortment of Japanese sweets for boyfie's birthday, then an old friend from high school (who loves the beach and is a dedicated dancer) visited while I baked the cake. We exchanged Christmas presents - it had been that long since we caught up. And then I had to run to the shops for coffee with my potential room mate. We had a scuffle that needed sorting out. It appears to be sorted. We were supposed to be having a Pathfinder sesh with friends in the evening but luckily that was cancelled, so I could put the finishing touches on boyfie's birthday plans, and relax a little. 

This cute plaid dress is from Boohoo.com and was cheap as. It gets quite a few compliments, probably because it's pretty unusual. It kind of has a Clueless vibe to it; despite its 60s babydoll shift cut, the pastel plaid schoolgirl pattern reminds me of the 90s. It's not a great choice for hot summery days, because the fabric doesn't breathe too well and you end up a bit muggy. But it looks nice and bright in summer. White rip-off vans are el cheapo from K-Mart. x

And then there were strippers.

Saturday I worked the afternoon (lame), then rushed home to hyper-quick get ready for a hen's night. It was one of those days where everything that could go wrong, did. Somehow left my makeup bag at work and had to use cheap, old stuff that clumped all my eyelashes together and smudged black all around my eyes. Couldn't find my phone when I had to leave. Broke my necklace. My hair didn't work (but then, my hair never works). Lost one of the earrings I wanted to wear and had to settle for a not-as-good backup pair . Ended up running late looking for my phone. You know the kind of day I'm talking about. It was not a good time. But I got there, and everything turned out fine, as everything always tends to do.

One of my oldest friends (who loves Disney, and is very good at drawing) is getting married next month. We've known each other since we were born; we met in a baby group, then went to pre-school, kindergarten and primary school together. Even though we diverged at high school (literally went to different schools), we've stayed friends all this time. Due to her love for Disney (and, as it turns out, snowflakes), the hen's was kind of "Frozen" themed (think snowflake fairy lights, blue and silver sparkles everywhere, snowflake icing on the cake, etc), so I dug out my nicest blue dress. I think the paisley kind of worked. And the party was great fun. There was a lot of alcohol, dirty innuendo based party games, phallic accessories (straws, party horns, etc), you get the idea. Sadly I left before the strippers arrived, but I heard it was a real ripper of a time. I've seen photos. I hadn't been to a hen's night before, and can now vouch that they are memorable experiences for those who do not drink the entire night from memory (ie: me, obviously). Also, I won a donut-cake flavoured Lip Smacker, which was in all seriousness one of the highlights of my evening. It smells delicious.

My paisley dress is from Valleygirl last year and was very inexpensive. It's flattering, and quite adventurous for me. I rarely wear blue, or bold patterns. You can't really see because of the light, but I'm wearing the same statement necklace from this post. And the same London Rebel nude heels from last post. Simple, lady-like, and above all comfortable. x

That's amore.

So, after those two crazy days where I wore the same outfit and ended up in the city twice in a row, Friday was a reasonably uneventful day. After work, boyfie and I went for dinner at our local Italian restaurant, for our usual gorging of cheesy garlic focaccia and the signature pasta dish - gnocchi with chicken, bacon, shallots, mushroom, curry, cream, and more delicious, delicious garlic. Garlic is life. Incidentally, I used to work at the restaurant. Hashtag small town life. 

I really dug out some rarely worn stuff for this outfit. The pale pink, floral summer dress is from Valleygirl many years ago, and I'm surprised it still fits. It has a cute little rosebud print and a sweetheart neckline. I don't even know why I don't wear it very often. This bolero/cardigan thing is absolutely adorable, and it's pretty special, too - which is exactly why it doesn't get worn much. The Japanese friend who collects perfume bottles came back to Australia for a year on student exchange, and she lived with us for a little while. We went shopping one afternoon to Bridge Road, back in the glory days, and the Alannah Hill store was having an amazing sale. We browsed in the dreamland that is Alannah Hill for many hours, and ended up buying these matching cardigans. She recently told me she still has hers. It's kind of like a friendship bracelet. I love the heart-shaped pockets, and the diamante trim is really exquisite. I'm always worried I'll lose them, so it stays carefully tucked away in my closet and brought out for special occasions. Nothing more special than lazy pasta at your local restaurant on a Friday night, right? At least it got worn again. Nude heels are London Rebel from Famous Footwear, and they are so comfortable. Definitely would recommend. They're pretty much always available there. x

Small feet.

Hello, internet friend. Long time no post. I hope you had a wonderful weekend. My week was so intense, I pretty much completely unplugged from the world wide web just to be able to juggle it all. And now I can tell you all about it, so let's play catch up.

I actually wore this outfit twice in a row, because life is crazy. Last Wednesday after work I drove into Richmond for the HardieGrant-Edgmont summer roadshow, which a few of us from work attended. It's basically an evening where publishers and authors talk about new books that are due to be published throughout the year, and they often come with free hors d'oeuvres and goody bags (reading copies of said new books). Free stuff is always extremely exciting. It was a good night - sometimes roadshow can really drag on, but this one didn't run dramatically overtime - and they had the best miniature cupcakes I think I've ever had at an event. They come pretty close to beating out Matt Preston's miniature creme brulees at Macmillan's roadshow last year. Not quite, though, now that I'm reminiscing. Those creme brulees were absolutely amazing. Anyway, I drove my colleague home afterward, and we stopped for Maccas and ended up sitting there for hours. I think we were both too tired to leave, to be honest.

The next day - Thursday - I hopped in my car after work and drove to my friend's place (the one who likes Sailor Moon), where I changed (in my car, in the street - classy dame), and jumped on a train to the city. Here I am in a shoe shop at Melbourne Central. Photo-taking opportunities didn't come frequently last week. My friend invited me out to a pre-organised dinner with her friend (who recently returned from travelling the U.S., lucky lady; she also has delightfully curly hair) because I was feeling a bit like I needed a pick-me-up. Good friend is a good friend. Melbourne was busy preparing for Chinese New Year this weekend, so we joined the buzz of Chinatown and dropped into Fukuryu Ramen for delicious ramen bowls, alcohol and matcha soft serve. It was a really lovely evening, and I think I really needed that time with my friend. I don't socialise too often, and sometimes I think being a hermit can make you go a little crazy. I should probably try to get out more.

Peach knit is from Valleygirl several winters ago. I have the same in pale blue. They're comfy and versatile, and often I just swap the colours out of this exact outfit and wear it numerous times, because lazy and comfortable. These intricate, fleur-de-lis-eqsue leggings were from Cotton On the same year. I have a feeling it was 2013. I've worn them almost to death. Peach handbag came from Kate Hill only a year or so ago, pretty much specifically to go with this outfit. Black ankle boots are from Payless Shoes as far back as 2006, because my feet stopped growing when I was eleven (I was not eleven in 2006, though) and somehow my shoes last pretty well. I think this year will be their tenth winter. They have cute buttons down the side that you can't see here. Maybe I'll show you next time. Gold fleur-de-lis (see the emerging theme here?) statement necklace was also Valleygirl, I think, or Temt, a couple of years ago. This style of necklace hasn't gone out of fashion yet, so there are probably very similar designs still floating around. Aaaaand my almost invisible scrunchie (lol, greasy hair days) came from the children's section - like, kindergartener age - at the Pokemon Center in Japan. It's cute. It's pink. It has fennekin on it. I wear it. Don't judge me. x

Beetlejuice.

The first thing anybody over the age of thirty says when they see these pants is "Beetlejuice!". I should probably see the film. I get the reference, but I don't really get the reference, you know? I kicked off February with brunch in St Kilda with a friend (who likes good coffee and dining out) and her cocker spaniel. It was a glorious day, and we made the most of it, playing with her dog in the park and enjoying well-made hot beverages outside a trendy cafe in Chapel Street. Then home again, home again, jiggity-jig. I put Cornflake on her leash and tied her to the clothesline so she could nibble the grass and run around a bit, and spent the afternoon reading in the garden. Considering the rest of the week is work, I'd say that's a day off well spent.

This blouse is from Supre many years ago, and has been worn many times. I've always loved the ribbons at the neckline, and the way the sleeves billow at the cuffs. My Beetlejuice pants are from Sportsgirl, and, thanks to my still not having been to the gym, slightly too tight. Naughty Monkey wedges. Sailor Moon cat bag from last post. x

So long, January.

The last week of January was work, work, work, and house hunting and inspections (still) all of Saturday. Sunday was meant to be a day off, but the supervisor rostered on was sick, so I worked for her. I'd packed this dress to wear to dinner with boyfie after (Sunday was meant to be our fun date day, so we planned to try to make the most out of the rest of it) but we ended up meeting my parents and going to the movies to see Spotlight (about a team of journalists in Boston in the early 2000s who investigated allegations of Catholic priests having molested children for decades). It's a dramatically eye-opening film, based on true events. Worth a watch if you're interested.

This dress is from Modcloth and reminds me of Madeline. I adore it. Plain black cardigan is from Coco-Latte. Cotton tights are basic. Same Naughty Monkey wedges. The Luna bag is Sailor Moon inspired and available through several online retailers (try kokopieshop). I got this one from a seller on eBay. They'll definitely still be available; it was only a few months ago. It's been my favourite handbag ever since. It has ears! x