Daytime sequins?

Yes please!

Ballin'

I very rarely browse Etsy.  I find it's a black hole full of things I want.  I can easily spend 5 hours discovering the most beautiful items and getting lost in the beauty of everything I come across.  I suddenly imagine myself wearing long kaftans, silk jumpsuits and outrageous jewellery.  Etsy totally sucks me in.  Luckily I'm pretty good at avoiding it.  It's too annoying to browse on my phone and I rarely open my laptop these days.

I didn't however have much luck avoiding the beautiful and dainty jewellery of Illuminance Jewelry.

Everything is exquisitely made and insanely beautiful. Some of favourites that are headed my way...

 

 

 

 

 

all images below to Etsy seller.

Birthday thoughts....

 

It's been a year of learning for me.  As I enter the last year of my 20's I am grateful to have had the opportunity to grow up and become an adult.  The life of many I know was cut short, much, much too soon.  But this year has also forced me to slow down a lot.  I simply don't have the energy to live the life I was used to.  I sometimes miss the old pace, but I know that I need my 9-10 hours sleep now and I don't battle against it.  It's been a long 10 months and learning about auto immune disease took me longer than I expected and distressed me more than I would have liked, but the forced changes have got me on the mend.  Maybe I seem a bit selfish now, often saying no, but there is no alternative for me.  I eat a lot of apples, do some light exercise and sleep.  A lot.

And my consumption has truly minimised.  Instead of buying I now sell.  And besides, acid green crop tops hold no appeal to me.  Even my old faithful Scanlan & Theodore isn't what it used to me in my eyes and for my style. 

So the dilemma around what to do with my birthday money started to consume me over the past few weeks.  I wanted to reward myself with something nice, as was my goal at the beginning of the year (to only buy quality items) instead of spending my birthday money on a couple of small things that later down the track disappear.

I'd had my old Fendi wallet since 2008 when I spent an absurd amount of money while trapped at Bangkok airport for 14 hours.  If there's an airport designed to suck every cent out of your bank account (and put a huge dint into your credit card as well) it's certainly Bangkok.

So now I'm a proud owner of a new and much needed wallet.

A review post to follow...  

Last weekend of winter

 

  

Green door at Redcliffe

 

 

Sea shells at Burleigh Heads

 

 

Surfers from Burleigh

 

When the real life gets the better of me I'm fortunate enough to be able to escape and spend time with my parents, who love doing the same thing as I do - hanging out by the beach.  The winter dragged on, like it usually does, so I spent the last weekend of August (also being the last day of winter) on the Gold Coast, doing a huge coastal walk at Burleigh Heads and lounging in the 26C warmth.  It was the best holiday ever, even if it was only 48 hours long.

This year has truly flown by, maybe a little bit too quickly.  It dawned on me yesterday when I ordered my new Moleskine diary for 2013 (it's all about the Peanuts limited edition!!).  But with a new diary comes the permission to plan my annual holiday in January! Can't complain about that.

Also, right now I'm trying to organise my mum's 50th birthday, which is next month.  If anyone has any ideas for what I should do and buy, please share them with me... I've got the cake ordered and I've also got the 50 red roses lined up (my mum adores flowers)... but I'm stumped on a proper gift... HEEEELP!

 

Winter wonder

I am well and truly over winter and layers and jackets. Dreaming of sunshine and vitamin D in natural form. And new clothes.

Quick dinner outfit post. Sorry they've been lacking.

Dress-Shakyhachi
Jacket-Zara
Brooch-lil shop in St Germain in Paris
Necklace-sass&bide
Leggings-sass&bide
Shoes-Georgina Goodman

Summer lovin'

I'm going to embrace the warm weather when it finally rolls around (which at this rate may be never) and wear a lot of yellow.

Tales from New Zealand: Life in Queenstown

I've well and truly been missing from the blogosphere and I'm sincerely sorry about that.  Winter sees a real lull in energy levels for me.  I run from the office, straight home to the ducted heating and don't dare leave the house much.  And this year my energy levels have been the lowest in years, so I figure it's best not to post much at all.

Queenstown was an amazing place.  It is like a fairy tale.  You could fool anyone that you are at any ski resort in the world and they would be non the wiser.  Photos do not do it justice.  It is picturesque, warm, friendly inviting and relaxing.  As soon as I arrived I didn't want to leave.  I take heart in the fact that it is a cheap 3 hour plane ride away.

The weather was warm, perhaps a little too warm which meant that all the mountains were closed for skiing, but the amazing house that I got to call home, as well as the delicious food I got to eat surely made up for it.  I think I will reserve a post just for "eating my way around Queenstown".

The descent into Queenstown through the mountains from Wanaka.

 

The view from my bathtub on a cold and foggy morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long, LONG walks along the lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just me and the ducks. And my backpack.

Tiny bit of snow.  And I did quickly tire of wearing the same clothes every day.

Little guy!

Notes from New Zealand - Day 3 - Lake Tekapo to Queenstown

As the trip wears on, I am getting extremely tired as there has been a lot to do and explore but it's nothing that a nap by the fireplace hasn't been able to fix.  I didn't know I had this many muscles that could hurt.

Back to day three.  After a wonderful overnight stay at Peppers and a quick breakfast in town, we hit the road for our final destination and what would be home for the remainder of the trip.

From what we were told, it was rather unusual to get such a huge covering of fog, it was hard to see anything at all, including the Church of the Good Shepherd, which is one of the most photographed buildings in New Zealand.  The church is on the shores of the lakes, which was not visible due to the thick fog.

A frozen lake and fog surrounding Peppers Resort.

About 70km from Lake Tekapo is Lake Pukaki.  This lake usually has a distinctive blue colour created by the finely ground rock of the glaciers, but of course the fog continued so we didn't get to see much.  I did manage to score two bruises on my hike down (and then back up) the rocks, but all is forgiven.

The afternoon coffee pit stop was in the stunning town of Wanaka where we fed ducks and walked the shore of the lake in the rain.

The clouds were again hiding the mountains, which were huge.

Hooray, Queenstown is close!!!

And then onto Queenstown and our beautiful house, which I cannot wait to show you.

Notes from New Zealand - Day 2 - Methven to Lake Tekapo

After a much needed night sleep and a breakfast pit stop in town, we left Methven and headed for Lake Tekapo, which was where our second night's accommodation was booked and plan.   The 160km drive is relatively easy.  You are surrounded by rolling hills, snow capped mountains and 50 shades of red leaves.   Rosehip bushes remind me of my childhood.  And then there's sheep (New Zealand has 3 million people and 60 million sheep).  Every turn is worthy of a photo that is screaming to be a postcard.

New Zealand reminds me a lot of my childhood which is the happiest time of my life.  The best memories were those of travelling through mountains with my dad to spend weeks with my grandparents, climbing steep rock faces and chasing sheep with their dog Meri never find behind keeping an eye out on me.  The fresh air and the freedom back then is exactly what I'm loving here in New Zealand and I see myself taking more of these holidays in the future.  

Lake Tekapo is an idyllic, albeit huge lake and an untouched perfect place to star gaze.  It covers 83km square.  We spent the afternoon walking the banks, breathing in the fresh air, drinking tea and thanking our lucky stars that such places exist in the world.  I am in awe of how untouched a lot of New Zealand is, there are no barriers on observatory hills - we are trusted to keep ourselves safe.  Real life seems a million miles away.

One thing I must remark on are backpacks.  This tiny backpack contains a 1.5L bottle of water, a thermos flask, a book, snacks, camera and a whole lot more and feels like a feather.  I am a total convert now.

The stillness, calm and beauty of this lake is incredible.

Up a steep, unsealed road is Mt St John, which provides spectacular 360 degree views and a cafe which serves a pretty good chocolates which hits the spot.

Lake Tekapo is also a wonderful family destination with plenty of activities for children.  And you can't go past staying at Peppers.  

Notes from New Zealand - Day 1

The night before departure I decided to do my tax return, so while stressing over my packing and cleaning the house, I was also finalising deductions.  Lunacy.  After falling asleep at an ungodly hour, the airport thing was an easy affair.  Except that the flight was around 3 hours late thanks to a closed runway (which was passed by lunch at Movida, no less-thank you brilliant international terminal).  Add to that a severe seizure by a passenger on the flight, which made me question whether this trip was a good idea.

Christchurch is in a sorry, empty and eery state, especially at 9 o'clock at night after a 12 hour ordeal.  The city centre is closed and people are leaving en masse due to the persistent earthquakes.  We wanted to start the road trip to Queenstown that night, but only made it as far as Methven before the fatigue and darkness stopped us in our track.

But waking up to this out the window the next morning certainly made up for the slow start.

Tales from my suitcase

I travel with a small, purple suitcase purchased in Target in 1997 for $39 before I went on my first trip to Sydney.  It's seen half the world and most of Australia.  I can't bear to let it go.  It's still in one piece so there's no need to replace it.  And what I love the most about that suitcase is that it cannot possibly fit more than 22 kg, so there's never any danger of being over the weight limit.

The New Zealand trip is completely glamour free, so the make up bag contains the following, as carried in a linen Aesop drawstring bag and a small make up bag.

tissues, antibactorial wipes, contact lenses, cotton balls, cotton tips, gloss, microfibre cloth, Rosebud Salve, Twizermann Tweezers, Bandaids, La Prairie SPF Day Cream, Eye of Horus Mascara, Giorgio Armani Lumious Silk Powder (just enough coverage and a bit of colour,) Bloom Cosmetics Illuminator, Natio Kabuki Brush, Mini Dove soap bar, hair ties, Sebastian Light shampoo & conditioner in Muji travel tubes, Kielh's Creme de Corps, Aesop Ginger Flight Therapy, Aesop hand balm, Trilogy Rosehip oil to soothe my windburnt skin at night, La Prairie cream cleanser, Garnier BB cream, Schick Quattro - the best razor everrrrrr, Embryollise Lait Cream - a French pharmacy delight. The skin miracle worker.