sunshine, fun times...

Welcome to the weekend! And such a beautiful weekend it has been so far - lovely and warm, and wonderfully relaxing

Yesterday's market haul - I was so excited to find bunches of irises AND lilies, gorgeous!

This morning V and I had brekky at lee&me (I know, *yawn* haha)

Mmmmmm scrambled eggs infused with white truffle oil, seriously to die for

Today it was definitely pretty-little-dress type weather!

♥ Rodarte for Target tulle dress

♥ Tony Bianco "maya" ballet flats

♥ Cotton On sunnies

Another awkward cross-legged pose - seriously, did someone break me off at the knees?!

Aaaaaand pose!

V bought me this gorgeous Wish "sharker" dress today - I love it! I've never owned a strapless dress before (I kind of lack the, ahem, assets for them!), but this one just fits me so perfectly and looks really fantastic on. I think I have found my "spring party season" dress!

Aaaaand then I made these amazing raspberry and dark-chocolate muffins from Stonesoup - I know the ingredients look a little daunting in number, but its such an easy recipe

Sooooo yummy!

Hope you are all having lovely, sunny Saturdays!

xoxo

seaside brunch and vintage finds...

Today, V and I went for a drive up north to Austimer/Stanwell Tops - the weather was perfect for a nice walk along the beach and a late breakfast

We dropped in to the Austi Beach cafe for brunch - the coffee was excellent. And that was probably the highlight of the meal unfortunately

V had vanilla french toast filled with caramelised apples, and served with honeyed ricotta - the flavours were really quite delicious, but the french toast itself was very soggy and slightly undercooked

I ordered the poached eggs on sourdough with roasted tomatoes (and bacon for V to eat) - the toast was most definitely not sourdough, and it was buttered, ugh! One of my pet peeves. The eggs were nicely cooked and very tasty, but the tomatoes and toast were pretty much stone cold. The service was patchy too, slow and almost unfriendly - they were rushed off their feet, but all in all, not the best experience *le sigh*

It was lovely and warm when I dressed this morning, hence the Bardot maxi dress - but it had just started getting a bit cool and windy when this photo was taken, hence the slightly I'm-not-impressed-right-now face. Possibly the lacklustre breakfast was also a contributing factor

We drove on up to Stanwell Tops and visited the gorgeous art gallery and antique store up there, and I made the most AWESOME score - a vintage Oroton glomesh bag for $25! I literally gasped out loud when I found it buried under about half a dozen other mesh bags

This photo isn't the best, but its authenticity is pretty clear when you see the inside and the labels. It is in very good condition too! Its currently sitting pretty in my cupboard inside a LouLou shoes dustbag

We took a drive across the Sea Cliff Bridge - the scenery is absolutely breathtaking up that way

The ocean was really starting to churn, and the skies were darkening...

Definitely time to head home!

xoxo

loulou shoes - I die!

Ok so I may have gone a leetle bit crazy on the shoe-shopping front this week - I can blame it all on these two lovely ladies from the Vogue Forums who put me onto the amazing 50% off sale on the loulou shoes website.

And yeah, I kind of bought 4 pairs - oops! Such a bargain though, and such gorgeous shoes!

Cannot wait for them to arrive!

xoxo

because sometimes you have to spoil yourself, just a little...

I have officially found the perfect pair of spring-time sandals...

From Tony Bianco of course, where else do I buy my shoes from? (Obsessed much!) Lovelovelove these SO much, I think they will be so cute with a little minidress and a pair of white cotton socks with lace trim.

As I was in Sydney today (settled a client's matter, woohoo!), I went into David Jones, naturally. And I went over to the Jo Malone counter, naturally.

And I caved and bought myself a new bottle of her divine French Lime Blossom cologne. This was my wedding fragrance and whenever I wear it now I am instantly transported back to my wedding day. Its such a deliciously fresh, light floral scent, I absolutely love it.

Image Courtesy of Google Images

In other exciting news, I have to confess to a new addiction - I have recently discovered the joy of watching tv episodes on my iPhone to while away the long, boring 2-hour commute to Sydney (whilst I no longer commuter daily thank god, there is still the occasional day where I am required to be in Sydney for work). In preparation for last week's train trip I downloaded an episode of The Rachel Zoe Project - and I am completely obsessed! Its SO trashy but I love it! The fashion is absolutely amazing (I die! LOL), and I love the drama of every episode - will Brad and Taylor ever be able to work together? Will the "hero" dresses arrive in time for awards night? Will our good buddy Karl let Rachel alter the pink Chanel for Cameron????? The suspense!!! Absolutely trash-tastic, I love it.

I am so thrilled that Friday has rolled around again so fast, I hope you all have beautiful weekends planned!

xoxo

jumping on the bandwagon...

I finally caved and bought myself a pair of leopard-print wedge booties from the dreaded Rubi shoes *gasp* - shock horror! I know, I know, they are synthetic and cheap and ill-made and all things evil in the world of shoes - but I just couldn't resist any longer! I tried to be strong! But they were just too cute for me to walk buy without purchasing a pair. Would you forgive me if I told you that I put on my oversized sunnies and wrapped a scarf around my head before I ventured into the store? :D

I know there is a lot of shoe snobbery and loathing directed towards Rubi shoes and their ilk, but damn, you cannot deny that these look HOT! They are incredibly comfortable too

♥ Cotton On ballerina dress

♥ Rubi wedge booties

♥ Sportsgirl tote

My pretties! I am officially in love with them. They attracted a LOT of stares and people telling me they loved them, and asking where I bought them from - and of course I laughed and said, "Rubi shoes, thirty bucks!" Cue gasping and cries of "Shut UP!"

We grabbed a coffee at Lee&Me this morning, creatures of habit that we are

The waitress told me I looked very "off-duty model" - which I took as a massive compliment (I hope it was intended that way!), and told her I loved her

I am also jumping on the Moo Goo bandwagon - I have several friends who absolutely rave about these products, and have been meaning to give them a try for a while now. As I have just run out of shampoo and conditioner, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to give these cute cow-themed products a whirl. I have very long, thick hair that is happiest when its washed only once or twice a week, and the Moo Goo shampoo and conditioner promises to leave my hair soft and shiny and not dried out, so fingers crossed it works for me - will keep you all posted!

In other news, I am literally jumping out of my skin with excitement, because after coffee this morning V and I ducked into my fave shoe shop to drool over their Docs, and, as the owner was there, I asked/begged him to order me some floral Docs. He told me that they actually had some of these beauties coming in their next order, and he would hold a pair in my size, and call me when they came in! I am not ashamed to admit that I squealed and did a little dance - I've only been lemming a pair for MONTHS now! Wheeee!

Happy Saturday all!

xoxo

interesting facts about me...

Interesting fact #1 - I get excited over cleaning products

I lovelovelove nice, environmentally friendly cleaning products - my home is always clean but I like it to also be green! And my day was complete when I arrived home from work to be greeted by my latest order from the lovely people over at Murchison Hume

Hello, lovelies...

A bamboo cleaning caddy, natural bristle pot brush, 'Effortless Floor Splash' (Australian white grapefruit scented), and 'Boys' Bathroom' cleaning spray (Juniperberry scented).

The products are all made in Australia - they are organic and free from formaldehydes, caustics, parabens, SLS, phosphates and silicon. And they look so PRETTY!

Can't wait to use them!

xoxo

i ♥ lush...

Yesterday, I went shopping at Lush!

I picked up some more of my ultimate, all-time favourite moisturiser - Skin's Shangri-La. Full of cold-pressed organic oils, its the best moisturiser I have ever used, and is so beautiful and rich and soothing on my dry, sensitive skin.

I took advantage of the Big Hair promotion, and picked up a box of sample-sized haircare products for $14.95...

I chose: Godiva and Trichomania solid shampoos, Curly Wurly liquid shampoo, American Cream liquid conditioner, Jungle solid conditioner, H'Suan Wen Hua conditioning treatment and The Big Tease styling gel

It all came packaged up in the cutest little box - how adorable does that look! I love little mini-sized cosmetics...

This morning, I tried out two of my new products:

Curly Wurly shampoo

This smells AMAZING! Deliciously coconutty! It has a strange texture that gets a bit of getting used to, as it is full of chunks of coconut, but it does lather up nicely in the hair, and left my hair feeling nice and clean and soft, but not stripped dry.

Verdict - Whilst it is quite off-putting finding bits of coconut in your hair after you've rinsed the shampoo out, this is a really lovely, gentle and nice-smelling shampoo. I would definitely buy this and use it again.

American Cream conditioner

Another delicious-smelling product, like strawberries and cream! Sadly, my love affair with this conditioner ended there. I had to use nearly the entire pot to get my hair feeling even a little conditioned, and it was like my hair literally just absorbed it all up. After combing through, my hair felt dry and straw-like, almost more dry than it had been prior to applying this conditioner. I actually had to 'top up' and add some of my usual Sebastien Cellophanes conditioner, just to be able to comb all the knots from my hair and get it feeling soft and shiny, like it usually does.

Verdict - Definitely not very Creamy! If this is their 'double strength' conditioner, I would hate to try the normal strength one! Whilst it smells amazing, it is not a strong or rich enough conditioner for me, definitely not as it is marketed. I would not purchase this product.

I look forward to trying out the rest of the samples over the coming week

xoxo

I am a rebellious sweetheart...

My sretsis windsor purple double bow dress arrived in the mail yesterday - completely made my day!

I have been wanting this dress for so long, and finally managed to track down one in my size online. It fits me perfectly, the right length and everything - I absolutely love it

I lovelovelove anything with bows on it - and these little beaded ones are so damn cute!

My little well-done-on-getting-your-fantastic-new-job-and-hooray-for-starting-in-a-fortnight!  gift to myself

I tried it on with a black Country Road singlet underneath for modesty. Think I can probably get away with wearing nothing underneath at all *shock* (not much cleavage to worry about revealing!)

♥ Sretsis double bow dress

♥ Tony bianco "maya" flats

chanel, c'est belle...

Would you ever get a tattoo done? How about wearing a temporary tattoo? What if that temporary tatt was designed and produced by Chanel...

I have recently put my name on a wait-list for the soon-to-be-released Chanel Trompe-L'oeil tattoo transfer set. Designed by Chanel's artistic director of make-up, these stunning designs have been featured in Karl Lagerfeld's SS/2010 Paris collection.

It is admittedly a strange juxtaposition, using the word "Chanel" in the same sentence as the words "temporary tattoo". I guess I think of them more as body art than tattoos.

I know many Chanel fans hate these already, branding them tacky, or too similar to little kids' tattoos. Personally, I think the idea is innovative and fresh, and the tattoos themselves are so delicate and ethereal and gorgeous.

I would never have a real tattoo done - I love my skin just as it is, I am petrified of needles, and I hate the idea that I could never get rid of it easily if I grew to hate it. I think Chanel has produced the ideal temporary tattoo for grown-up girls. Now I just have to wait patiently for them to arrive in-store!

Thoughts? Opinions? Love them or loathe them - would you wear these?

Images courtesy of Google Images.

it's here, it's here!

My Rodarte for Target dress ("the Dress") arrived in the mail this morning, all the way from California. I was so excited when I saw it in the mailbox, I may have actually squealed a little. It is such a beautiful dress, these photos really don't do it justice (the gorgeous blush/nude shade doesn't really translate so well on digital film).

I took the Dress on a nice little outing to have lunch with my good friend W (and baby Z). I was concerned I might look overdressed, but paired with black opaques and a pair of nude flats I think the Dress did quite nicely for a lunch date with a girlfriend. I imagine pairing it with killer black patent heels for a more dressy look.

I think I could probably have afforded to go down a size, and bought the XS instead of the S, but I thought it best to err on the side of caution, especially as I had never tried any of this line of clothing on. Buying online can be so difficult! I think it fits fairly well and looks okay, albeit quite loose in the bodice - I might have it taken in if it annoys me too much. Otherwise, it's just perfect! (EDIT: I have just realised that the reason the bodice looks so loose is because of my atrocious posture in these photos! I went and stood in front of the mirror and stood up tall and straight and it looked MUCH better. Problem solved!)

The tulle over-skirt is so light and delicate and gorgeous - I will have to make sure to keep well away from the cats when I am wearing this!

The Dress makes me feel like a ballerina...

♥ Rodarte for Target dress

♥ Tony Bianco flats

♥ Bow headband from Diva