It's Easy Being Green

Lately I've been trying to increase the ways in which I can be environmentally conscious. I've always recycled for as long as we've had recycling service where I live, but I want to do more.

As it's nearly a new year, I've made some resolutions which I hope to stick to as much as possible. Here they are!

* Buy products with less or no packaging, and recycle everything that is recyclable
* Try to use environmentally friendly cleaning products where possible
* Switch off lights and appliances when I'm not using them
* Avoid using the car for short trips when I can
* Get rid of the junk residing in the car & reduce the amount of fuel I use
* Try to buy vintage or make my own clothes instead of labels from chains

Another thing which I always do is to buy audited barn-laid eggs. A common misconception is that free range are best for hens, but to get a 'free range' label, the farms only have to let the chickens out for say 10 mins a day and the rest of the time they could be in cages. For 'barn laid', they have to be in a large enclosure, able to wander around. Sunny Queen do barn laid eggs where the chickens have free access to food and dirt to scratch around like regular chickens. Another brand I bought recently (sadly I forgot the name but will let you know) comes from a family-owned farm where the chickens are fed only organic grains and food, and treated humanely. The eggs cost $2-3 more but I think it's worth it for the chickens!

Of course the best eggs are one that come from your own hens, but as we are unable to keep any, being choosy about which eggs we buy is the next best thing!

Now to the pictures! I've had a few dresses which I bought during winter & hadn't had a chance to wear yet, but with the weather heating up they've been great versatile pieces to take with me on my travels, easily dressed up or down :)



In these pictures I'm also wearing my new prescription sunglasses, they're red-brown DKNY frames. Still getting used to the graduated tint! bonus was, I didn't pay a cent for them as they're covered by my private medical insurance. If you have HBF/medibank etc, make sure to check that you've used your yearly entitlements, as the re-set on the 1st of January. I'm planning to get some new everyday glasses next year!


Dress: Boutique in Sydney
Necklace: Diva, I think, it was a few years ago!
Sunglasses: DKNY from OPSM
Sandals: Shoe store in Bondi Beach

Serenity...

When I was younger I went through a phase of being completely obssessed by the anime series 'Sailor Moon'. The tale of the Moon Princess and her loyal Sailor Scouts completely sucked me in. I managed to amass a HUGE collection of pictures during my graphic design class (which sadly, were lost when my old PC died). My love of all things Japanese first began in grade 6 when we had a Sensei (teacher) come on exchange from our sister school in Japan. Doraemon was my first character that I loved,

yes even before Hello Kitty & her Sanrio friends.

As I went through my teenage years, I particularly loved the romantic story between Queen Serenity and King Endymion, characters from the future of Sailor Moon.

There's some really beautiful artwork out there, like this, one of my all-time favourites.


And a cute one of them asleep with their daughter, 'Mini Moon'.


As you can imagine, I was pretty happy the other day when I discovered these at my local markets. 2 whole series (4 discs) on DVD for $20 each!


HAPPY!!! ^_^

Grape, Eggplant, Plum...

I love how so many colours have fruit names... or maybe it's the other way round, the colours are named after the fruit! :P

I've been working on taking better photos for my blog and thinking a bit more about the outfits that I put together. I enjoy styling different pieces in my wardrobe and reading all of your blogs gives me ideas and inspiration that I wouldn't otherwise have thought of.

Lately I've been travelling a lot so I took advantage of the nice hotel rooms to take some pics. The decor in this one happened to fit in really well with my purple theme today ;)

I fell in love with the arty floral print on this skirt, and the shape is really pretty & flattering. It came with the belt shown but I think I'll add my own or wear it without, depending on what I pair it up with. I think a grey tank would look really bqasic but nice.






And lastly, as Lady Melbourne often says, you should never pay retail for anything! I've been a longtime bargain hunter, always looking in the discount bins & racks, and finding things that might be a little flawed but repairable. Recently I saw these shoes on sale for a measly $9.95. I'd been coveting some jewelled sandals for summer for ages, and these had originally been $89.95. I gave them a careful once-over but couldn't see anything wrong with them aside from some slight trying-on marks. SOLD! :)


Top: Valleygirl
Skirt: Temt
Belt: With Skirt
Sandals: Forever New

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Just a quick post to wish you all a happy & safe festive season, wherever you may be and whoever you are with.

I'm lucky enough to be spending it with my nearest family having a nice lunch, after my fellow crew decided to be nice and not call sick for any flights! :)

We have a nicely decorated table (done by me) roast chicken lunch (by sister) and desserts and salads (by aunt & uncle). Our kitties look so cute in their Christmas collars (which they keep playing with and taking off each other)

We started with prawns & thousand island dressing, having main lunch then having antipasto plate while we chill & watch movies afternoon into the evening. Yay!

Of course there will be photos to come over the next few days. Until then, have a great time all!

One Necklace, Two Styles

Earlier this year, Lady Melbourne was a stylist for the GPO 'Win Your Spring Racing Outfit' competition. In one of her blog posts about the shopping day, Lady M commented that she admired the necklace which her winner, Claire, was wearing on the day.

(Photo from Melbourne GPO's Flickr stream)

It just so happened that I had bought a few of these on sale, and they had been sitting unworn in my jewellery box. I thought what better home could it have than to go to Lady M who I was sure would make it feel more than welcome in her wardrobe! :P

I still have the same necklace in the white/clear version, and here it is in some photos I took last month. At the time I didn't have access to the outfit that I REALLY wanted to wear, so I tried to do something a little different to usual. I was also trying to get some photos that didn't look like I held out the camera and pressed the button!





Necklace: Diva
Top: Bought in the UK
Skirt: Temt
Belt: Random purchase in Brisbane
Purple Ring: Diva
Silver Twist Ring: Bought in Florence
Silver Band Ring: Found on a remote beach when I was young
Sunglasses: Vintage

Lady M also styled the jewellery in her own interpretation, pop on over to her blog for a peep!

A Nuffnang Christmas!

I attended the Nuffnang Christmas Party last week, my first such event for meeting other bloggers & it was really fun!

The theme for the night was blue, and plenty of it to be had, from blue clothes to blue table decorations and blue candy canes on the table.

It was great to meet other bloggers (and find new blogs to read!) and the food was really great, especially my favourite, the calimari :)

Like true bloggers/Twitter addicts, we spent most of the time Tweeting or updating Facebook status. In any other company this would be rude, but under these circumstances it was entirely appropriate :)

Anyway here's some photos of the night, taken by Olengjus


The group of Perth Nuffnangers!

Our welcome sign

The blue girls

Making quick work of all the food & drinks.

Playing with the table decorations :)

Thanks Nuffnang for a good night!!!

Dress: Dotti on sale

Bracelets: 1 glass bed bracelet from Venice, 1 blue mosaic cuff from somewhere I don't recall, blue metal cuff- gift from Mum

Necklace: Dichroic glass purchased from the Rocks Market, Sydney

Hunter/Gatherer

Just in time for the festive season comes a great competition from Trish at Trish Hunter Finds, to celebrate her new online store. All you have to do to be in with a chance is to head over to Trish's blog, and get the link code for THF. Then post it on your blog, mentioning the comp and you're done! :)

It's a great prize, with a copy of Love Vintage and more importantly, a THF tote bag so you can get rid of those nasty plastics at the checkout in Coles :)

To check out the goodies in the online store, just click here to visit!

Candy Shop

I'm a bit of a sweet tooth normaally, but I simply couldn't pass up chocolates in such a cute box...
they make me imagine Marie Antoinette daintily eating truffles while she has her pompadour hairdo done by a lady-in-waiting...


These are also available in a larger tray-style box, but I had something else in mind when I chose the smaller treasure-chest shape.

Ooh how yummy do they look! (They tasted even better!) And they're different flavours to the normal Lindt selection, as well.


Now when the chocolates are finished, I plan to line the little gold tray with felt circles & squares in the bottom of the tray, and use it as- a jewellery box! How adorable will that be! (I'm going to try flatten the box out, and have it laminated or something, so it's stronger.)

I think it will be a very girly, royal way to store one's earrings! =D

Aurora Dior

I don't own many (actually, any) designer items aside from perfumes.

Recently I managed to rectify that situation on a trip to Melbourne. I don't usually like spending money on expensive items that aren't clothes or household appliances, but figured I could make an exception.

I went to Swarovski Crystal World in Austria while in Europe but I didn't buy anything for myself aside from a pen with crystals inside it. I really wanted some jewellery but as it was near the start of trip I didn't want to spend too much. I regretted that later, until I saw this little jewel at the Dior counter...


The Cristal Boreal came about in the mid 50's, when Christian Dior asked the Swarovski house to create a crystal that 'evoked the reflection of the sunlights going through the famous Galerie des Glaces in Versailles'. This led to the creation of the Aurore Boreale crystal with the unique multi-coloured reflections.

Even the box is pretty.... and it says DIOR *squeak*


The jewel resting in its case... so pretty, the colours are always changing.


Pictures really don't do it justice, I love the rainbow of colours, how can you not be happy with all the colour? :D Inside the pendant is a clear or subtle pink shimmery lip gloss. I liked the pink but went with the sheer as I can wear it over other lip shades. The pendant has 52 Swarovski Elements stones, 4 of them are Aurore stones. As this item is part of the Christmas collection it was much more accessible to me than regular Dior jewellery, which runs into the thousands. This was less than $150 and would be a great thing for a mother or sister as well.

Read All About It...

When I was little, I read books all the time. I read so much that I could get through books in a matter of days. I remember reading the Lord of the Rings (all 3 books) within a week when I was around 9 years old. Sadly, being an adult and having to work means less time to read, and the internet has taken over my life a little bit more than books, but I still like to occasionally sit down and read a book.

I also like collecting vintage books, specifically ones about flight attendants. I managed to find some really cool ones on Etsy & Ebay. I'd ordered one back in September but sadly, it seemed that it had got lost in the mail. Then last week, I got a card from the post office saying that there was a parcel for me to collect. Yay! It was my long-awaited book...

It was well-wrapped which is always good.


How nice is this cover illustration?


Even the spine had a cute 'stewardess' in uniform on it.

I read this book on my day off in the park. It was a really good story, part of a series written in the 60's to give young girls an idea about what kind of careers they could have. I wish there was more than one about 'World Airways' though, the characters were good. I even ended up with a bit of a crush on officer Maitland, the blonde-haired hero of the story ;P

I Am...

Reading... various magazines including a slow savour of Peppermint

Listening... the clock ticking & wind in the trees outside

Watching... TweetDeck notifications appearing as I type...

Buying... Groceries & a few little treats which will be posted about :P

Wanting... to be home for Christmas & lazy sunny days on the balcony

Cooking.... not as much as I should be. Salami, cheese, tomato & pickle sandwich for lunch :)

Making... room for new things by clearing out the old

Loving... my gorgeous kitties who are both curled up, asleep, on the staircase

Pretty & Pink

Check out what my gorgeous sister bought me on her recent trip to Europe:

This super-cute pink sequinned clutch bag from a vintage store in... Paris! She said she just about had to fight the lady to let her buy it as it was meant to be on display only... but my sister knew I was going through a 'pink thing' and so got it for me... can't wait to take it somewhere nice! Maybe for New Year's Eve (if I'm not working...)

Musique dans un Rêve

Ever since I was a little girl, I loved the story of the Secret Garden. The sadness of Mr Craven losing his pretty wife, being so devastated that he locked away that garden forever, then one young girl finding it and bringing it to life again with love and attention.

One day when I was home sick from school, my mother put on the tv and there was a movie adaptation of the book for the family movie. It was really well done and throughout the movie a variation on a musical piece was used as the theme. It remains the one piece of classicial music that 'gets' me every time I hear it. It's so achingly, hauntingly beautiful that I love it more every time I listen, and the last part is so pretty it makes me want to cry.

Here for your listening pleasure is Chopin's Nocturne #19 in E Minor. I dare you not to fall in love!



(PS the fact that Colin Firth was in this version of the movie is reason enough to watch it ladies, love me a man in uniform! ;)

Pin-Up Pretties

Out running errands the other day, I happened upon the cutest vintage-styled storage tins. Well, they're actually meant to be biscuit tins but currently they're holding my drawing pencils and suchlike.



Aren't they ADORABLE? Of all the places, they came from Priceline! Now I *love* Priceline anyway, but who wouldn't love them when they have cute stuff like this? The best part was, they were only $7 each on sale (including biscuits!) Yum yum vintagey goodies!

What A Cute Kitten...

One of my favourite stores is the lovely and oh-so-French "Kitten D'Amour" (formerly known as the Sex Kitten Boutique) in central Brisbane, just off the Queen Street Mall.

Kitten D'Amour specialise in handmade, limited-edition clothing for day and evening wear. Their boutique alone is worth a visit, the layout & visual feast is to die for =D

Anyway, I wanted to show you some of the goodies I have bought from them. The service is absolutely brilliant, whether I'm spending or just browsing, I always feel like a valued customer. Last time I was there, the fabulous & friendly Tegan helpped me, and she always remembers me even though she must have a zillion customers spending way more than me! But, I love the half hour of escape I get wandering around just looking at all the cute clothes & accessories :)

Ok, on to the pictures:

I love their bags, they just make me think of Paris & Shopping! As you can see, this first bag was before they changed the name. According to the manager, the liked their name but they want to expand to other countries and some places you can't get away with a boutique that uses the word 'sex'- plus they had lots of men coming in thinking it was a classy lingerie shop! ^_^
Attention to detail is really cute, your purchases are wrapped in pink tissue and sealed with a lovely little sticker. Makes you feel like you just spent a million bucks!
This is the latest pretty I bought,a cute handmade brooch/hair accessory. I just love the polka dot ribbon contrasted with the red feathers. It looks great on a plain cardi or on a stripy top. Very Parisienne...
A cute flower scarf/choker. The number of ways to wear this that Tegan showed me was amazing, things I'd never even thought of. She alsso combined it with their pink polka dot scarf to create a whole new look. I really need to wear this one more, it's so cute.
I just *love* this adorable little mirror & comb set, it looks so cute on my dresser. (It reminds me of Anna Sui as well) This would be a great little gift, as it was only $15 the set. Tegan was so good at her job, the service ethic is great, she even polished the mirror with Windex before she wrapped it up, how cute!



On my last visit, I even got this lip gloss as a gift, very nice of the girls...


All the goodies together :)


If you want to see what else is on offer (and you should, it's GORGEOUS!) Check out the Kitten D'Amour website by clicking here.