Burgundy & Gold (Outfit Post)

I've always liked the combination of burgundy & gold, especially when accented with black and/or white.

I remember seeing Nicole of Gary Pepper Vintage wearing an amazing burgundy pleated skirt in one of her posts, and when I was last in Sydney, pleated skirts were popping up everywhere in the store windows including Dotti and Valleygirl. Sadly, they looked kind of wrong on me.

While on my visit to AdelaideI was very happy to discover a similar, non-pleated skirt in Supre. It also came in black, bone and a tan colour. I really liked the tan and if it's still there next time I get to Sydney I think I'll buy it as well. In the last couple of years I've thought Supre clothes are quite expensive for what they are, but as I wear long skirts all the time in Dubai this purchase would be worth it.

Today I wore it for the first time in Dubai, this test run was to the mall for a nice dinner on my own.



Detail Shot:

This shows what I like to call my 'Lord of the Rings Tree' necklace. I can't recall where I bought this but I know it was $5 or less. I LOOOOVE this necklace & have been wearing it to death lately.



These are also the first pictures of my new hair colour. The lighting is not that great but it's quite red now. Last time I got it coloured it was more a darker, red-brown than a true red-copper brown.

Skirt: Supre
Cardigan: Crossroads, about 4 or 5 years ago
Belt: ICE Brisbane, about 3 years ago
Necklace: Bargain, probably Diva or similar
Shoes: Forever21 New York City
Hair Colour: L'Oreal Excellence #44 ;)
Makeup: Dior Lip Glow, Maybelline Colour Sensational #55 Pinkalicious & Dior Addict Ultra Gloss in #557 with CoverGirl TruBlend Mineral Powder (no longer on sale) :(

Brisbane Buys

Earlier in the month I had a trip to Brisbane. This trip was an overnight flight which left at about 11pm and we landed in Brisbane first thing in the morning. Usually I like to go straight to sleep but on this occasion my room card did not work. So I had to schlep down to the lobby again to get a new room card. By this time a bus full of tourists had arrived. The staff at this hotel aren't exactly helpful, and instead of noticing that I had come back mere minutes after getting my key, I had to stand in line with my luggage and try not to fall asleep.

Eventually I got my key working and went up to my room. Lately my routine is to unpack and set out my clothes, toiletries etc then put on my iPod on the travel speaker and nap for 5-6 hours. I don't like to sleep all day as I feel tired on the flight home. As we only had a 12 hour layover I wanted to get outside a little. After my nap I headed over the river from the city to Southbank. As it was the weekend the markets were on, and I wanted to have a look around.

Southbank is a great area, there's the art gallery and museum, and also a great man-made beach/swimming pool and plenty of gardens and scenic things to see. (As it was Easter weekend I wore these)


At the market I bought a cute bird pin and some sweets from the old fashioned sweet shop. And some black cat earrings which I forgot about until I posted this pic, hehehe.

I got tired of walking so I bought some sorbet and sat down at the beach area for a rest. After I had rested a bit I crossed the bridge back to the city for a walk around and to get some food items from the supermarket to eat on the flight home.

Made a quick detour to Sportsgirl for a look around and picked up some makeup brushes and a blush on sale.


I've used this shade before, it's similar to a Nars one I used in a class once but way less pricey!! :)

I also got this eco-bag,how cute is it?! Only $4 too so a good happy buy ^_^


In one of the malls there's also a good discount cosmetic store. I saw these Cutex red nail polish on sale. I thought it would be good to practise with, and it's the long last formula and chip-resistant topcoat which I like.


I also got a red lipstick and lip liner (just from the super-cheap K.K. line) so I can practise doing mymakeup with it but not have to worry about making mistakes and wasting a lipstick from say M.A.C. or Dior ;)

After that I made a quick stop at the internet cafe to check my emails/Facebook and scan some documents for my EK application. So easy this online uploading business... :)

Then Subway for dinner before heading back to the hotel to get ready. Flight home was good, great crew and the passengers behaved and were happy.

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

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.