It's been a pretty boring few days. Boyfie's in Queensland visiting family, and I've spent the evenings reading on the couch at home after work. Or, like today, watching Sailor Moon and painting my nails blue. We applied for our first rental property today as well, mind you, so it's not all couch potato. Just mostly. Hashtag sloth lyf.
I did make plans on Saturday night, to catch a movie and scoff pancakes with a friend (who loves Geelong F.C. and Alice in Wonderland pancakes). We did the same major at uni, so in our time between dining and film-going we discussed film studies, good lit classes and great novels. So easy to kill time with this girl! We were almost late for our movie. Speaking of, if you haven't been to see Brooklyn yet, you absolutely definitely should. Unless you're completely not interested at all in the tale of a young Irish immigrant in Brooklyn in the 1950s, feeling homesick and finding love. Then maybe don't. But it's a breathtaking film; visually dynamic with lovely characters and some really wonderful acting... It's just beautiful. I'd been so keen to see it for weeks, and it didn't disappoint one bit. Go see!
Please take a moment to drool over my pokeball knit. I got it from a stall at PAX Aus 2015. It was expensive, but totally worth it. I refuse to wear it around the house; it gets saved for special fun days out. I don't want to get it dirty. It's made from nice heavy wool, so it hangs all floppy like. And it feels super well made. I did some quick snooping, and it looks like you can get it from a few online retailers, like welovefine.com. The pricing will probably be in USD though, so keep that in mind! I think I paid $70AUD for it. Same black Cotton On jeans. Same little black hand-me-down bag. Grey rip off Keds from K-Mart. x
P.S. While we're talking Pokemon, how exciting is the news that Nintendo will be releasing gen 7 later this year?! I've already decided on Pokemon Moon. Boyfie and I will probably attend the midnight launch at EB Games. We're going to keep ourselves occupied with the re-releases of gen 1 (I've just downloaded Yellow; he's getting Blue) and the new Mystery Dungeon (ordered today and waiting to arrive in the mail). Happy 20th anniversary, Pokemanz! What would my life be without you?
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
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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
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
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
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
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
January 4 is my birthday, yay. If you can guess how old I turned this year, then... you'll have the satisfaction of being correct (and who doesn't enjoy that?). I was weird about my birthday this year. I love celebrating other people's birthdays, but honestly, I didn't really want mine. The older I get, the more uncomfortable I am about being the centre of attention. It's probably because I was an attention-seeking asshole when I was a teenager, which I've come to find detestable in young people.
Anyway, it ended up being a lovely day. Traditional birthday breakfast with my family at our favourite brekky cafe, then cake with my grandparents, a summery walk through Sherbrooke Forest (no, not Sherwood Forest) in the Dandenong Ranges with boyfie - to a waterfall! - followed by afternoon tea with my other grandma, and polished off with dinner at Meat & Wine Co., a trendy steakhouse in a converted old bank. Plus boyfie transformed his bedroom into a temporary day spa and gave me a massage complete with meditative music, candles and delicious massage oil. Pretty awesome. He did good.
This dress is my birthday dress. I ordered it last year during a barrage of deadlines, as a reward for surviving that particularly difficult week. Hashtag unilyf. It's so gorgeous, all covered in cupcakes and strawberries and sprinkles, and I absolutely adore it. Look at that polka dot netted sweetheart neckline. Ugh. Even more amazingly, it's completely handmade by the lovely girls over at bonnechancecollections. Definitely check their shop out, they hand make beautiful one-of-a-kind party dresses with the most adorable designs and prints. Completely affordable, too. Mine cost about $50AUD. I belted it with an off-white belt that came with the Polite and Day dress from Modcloth. The wedge sandals were about twenty bucks from Famous Footwear, and my super rad soft-serve handbag was a gift from boyfie. x
