Back Again!

Bonjour!  Gosh, it's been an age since I last wrote, I'm the worst.  In my favour, I do work full time as well as writing four days a week for Hills2City, and I also have a personal life, haha.

Since I last wrote, my amazing man S proposed!  We were on holidays in my home town of Perth and he proposed on the beach in Margaret River.  It's so wonderful to be planning our wedding (for March 2013) and all that goes with that.

So far we've found our venue, I've found my dress, heels and bag and we've chosen our bridal party.  I have an idea about the venue styling we're going to go for, and my graphic designer brother is designing our invites.

Speaking of beautiful things, how lovely is this look above?  It's from Christian Dior's 2012 Resort Collection - major love hearts.  I can totally imagine this working in an Australian summer.

you're the birthday, you're the birthday, you're the birthday boy or girl!

So guess what, it's my birthday today!! I am one of those weirdo's who LOVE their birthday - but having said that, I pretty much love everyone else's birthday too. What is better than having a whole day dedicated to making someone feel special and fantastic?

My boyfriend surprised me this morning with balloons and then he took me out for breakfast at one of the local cafes. People at work have been fantastic & I've had lots of birthday wishes, plus tonight the BF is taking me out for dinner. I'm going to be a little rounder tomorrow I think!

Cheers to a fantastic year ahead - I'm feeling really inspired and positive.

Know Your Colours & Know Your Fabrics, That's What I Tell All My Girls

So unless you're under a fashion rock, you'll know the Emmy's Red Carpet just happened! My favourite gowns have been either textured or included that slightly off-beat sense of detail like the aqua gown work by Cobie Smuthers (above) or the fire engine red gown worn by Lea Michele (top).

Something that must have all the stylists jumping for joy is the fact that the various Fashion Weeks (New York, London, Milan & Paris) co-incide with the Emmy's, making it easy to nab a frock hot off the runway.

My fave looks from NY Fashion Week coming soon btw.

Back in my real world in Melbourne, it's crazy town as far as the weather goes. Today 29 degrees, tomorrow 18 degrees. What to wear, what to wear? Luckily we're doing casual clothing at work this week because of various in-house meetings, so it's not as challenging as trying to work out layered office clothes imo.

It's Been Way Too Long

OK, it's been 100 years too long since my last post! Truthfully, a lot has happened, so I do have a small excuse :)

The main thing is that I have a new job! For two whole months now I've been out of the recruitment world and back into the creative world, which has definitely been a breath of fresh air. I think it was one of those circumstances where I didn't realise just how unhappy I was at work until I was out of that situation, you know?

Of course nothing is ever going to be 100% perfect, but my new role is pretty fab. The hours are shorter in general, I only work half a day ever Friday on top of that, and the role itself is a lot more "me". This even comes down to wearing what I want and listening to music all day - woohoo!

I've also been a lot healthier since I started my new job. It just goes to show how stress really can impact your immune system.

My sister is currently in town, and I can't wait to go shopping with her. We've also got a beauty day planned, which will be lovely.

On top of this, B & G are in town for their Melbourne wedding! B was the one who introduced me to S, so as well as being a great friend to both of us, she will always have the kudos for our relationship too. Can't wait to see her get married, and I'm sure I will tear up a little.

My friend D is pregnant with her second baby! I'm so excited for her and M to bring another gorgeous child into the world. Makes me quite clucky too :)

I hurt my foot toward the end of last year, and even after months of physio it didn't improve 100% so I have recently gone to a podiatrist. Looks like I will have to have shoe inserts....thank goodness for shops like Camper and Ecco who stock pretty, comfy shoes. It's a bit of an adjustment for me, who has loved heels for so long, but hopefully if I'm good for a while the issue with my foot will resolve itself or at least improve mostly.

Things are still amazing with my S...he really is the most fantastic guy and I love him to pieces. I get to laugh with him every day and feel loved...what more could you want?

Well I'd better sign off - but hopefully now I've broken the blogging drought and will be back sooner rather than later.

xoxoxox

More A/W 2011 Inspiration

How cute is this outfit from Paper Crown? Love! Can totally see this working for different occasions and even reworked a little for the office.

So Sydney was AWESOME! The whole weekend was 20 degrees, sunny and gorgeous. In comparison, this morning in Melbourne it's 4 degrees! Crazy.

We went to a few cool pubs - The Local, The Lord Nelson, The Argyle, had cocktails at the Opera Bar, great dinners (mostly asian), found the Sydney equivalent to Weekender and spent a day in Manly by the beach.

Zara was a real disappointment though! My friend C and I both felt it was like a big jumble sale with clothing hard to see, hard to find the right sizes, massive lines to even try stuff on...and in the end we decided to leave without trying anything on. We both ended up finding really nice things at Witchery, French Connection and General Pants, which of course we could've done in Melbourne too, but oh well.

Maybe when people get over the excitement of Zara it will be better? The Melbourne shop opens in June I think, so we'll see. Oh, and I also found out that typically the Zara sizes are only for skinny minnies, which sucks a bit. A UK friend told me that they really only go up to a size 12. Hopefully the Oz versions will be a bit more figure-friendly.

This weekend is going to be a nice, quiet one for me. Next weekend is a Hens Night and the following weekend my brother's birthday, so I'll need to store up some energy I think!

Holidays & A Trip To Zara

I've been pretty neglectful of this blog lately - just been quite busy with writing for Hills2City, as well as doing my full-time job.

But in exciting news - my trip to Sydney is finally here! My boyfriend is going to be up there all week for work, and I (as well as our friends C & P) fly up Thursday after work. We're staying until Sunday afternoon in a serviced apartment in the CBD.

Even though it's been quite rainy in Sydney lately, I'm so set for a holiday I don't even mind. Me and C are really excited to check out Zara (the Melbourne one doesn't open until June) and I'm really looking forward to catching up with my Sydney-based brother, H.

Next trip after this won't be until mid-August and is a trip home to Perth for my sister's 30th birthday. Then S & I will be back again at Christmas.

We've just had the fantastic 5 day weekend for Easter & ANZAC Day so this weekend at it's standard two days has certainly felt quite short. I've completely decided that I could definitely do the three day work week from now on. At full pay, of course! If only.

Hmm, feels like I'm stuck a little right now. Bring on the long weekend holiday in Sydney-town!

Inspirations for Autumn

How gorgeous has it been in Melbourne lately? I really do love this early to mid-20's business so keep it up! All the better to try the new season trends...

It's been a whirl of work and parties lately in my life, so this weekend I'm very much looking forward to sleeping in, hanging out with my boyfriend and taking it easy. We might go see a movie and do a yoga class or something but that is it.

Work has been up and down - things have gotten extremely busy for various reasons this year and unfortunately a lot of it is on my shoulders to take care of. Most of the time here I'm treated really well too, but recently there's been a bit of stuff happening that makes me think twice. I won't say any more but there's my little vent.

Still having fun writing and it's motivating me to be creative in other ways, or at least I'm planning some creative projects. Now to find the time to actually execute them!

Payday this weekend thank goodness, so time to start dreaming and plotting my new season wardrobe I think. I'm absolutely loving all of the camel and neutrals mixed with black (see Lauren Conrad above for one of my inspirations) and am in serious lust for a pair of flat ankle boots, black of course.

Mwah x

Bella!

Something Old, Something New

I'm in the process of going through my old Mac and transferring all my files, so have been going through a lot of old stuff and came across these styling pics from years ago in London!

Have heaps more so might do a few extra posts with them :) Makes me wish sometimes that I was still styling, or at least that it was still a part of my life. Really enjoying the writing I've been doing the past few months and will be covering New York fashion week in a couple of days, so that will be fun!

Hmm, what else has been going on? Work has been pretty insanely busy with me taking on some more duties too, so apart from spending time with my parents on their recent Melbourne trip I haven't been too social.

It's the boyfriend's birthday this weekend though, which should be a big one! Have a few fun trips planned this year too - Sydney in May, Perth at the end of July and several weekends away (romantical of course).

Swoon

Two things I am currently in love with - these shoes worn by Olivia Palermo (pretty sure they're Manolos) and this photo of Keiser Karl and Blake Lively. Swoon!

Christmas-time is here...

With only a few days to go until Christmas Day, I'm feeling very excited but at the same time quite worn out.

I met up with friends last night to celebrate Christmas at our local pub, which is coincidentally called "The Local" and the consensus was we are all very tired.

Work has been slowing down this week, but socially I've been mega busy and also running around trying to get all my presents bought and wrapped, and the food for Xmas lunch.

I'm having Christmas in Melbourne this year - the BF and I are staying with his family. We're off to Midnight Mass on Friday night (my first one!) and then will have a relaxed lunch on Christmas Day. Then on Boxing Day is a big party with his mother's side of the family at their property.

I have some time off work too - two whole weeks! No big plans as of yet, other than a few movies, lunches and maybe a road trip to Daylesford.

Merry Christmas lovelies & I hope 2011 is everything you want & need it to be.

Ooh La Love

Argh, it's been too long between posts again. I don't want to be one of those bloggers people give up on, you know, you check their blog week after week to find sweet nuthin.

Well it's been an amazing month, I was in Perth to visit my family and see my lovely friends Kate and Gareth get married. The wedding was fabulous, on a winery in the Perth hills, and although temperatures were forecast to hit 39 degrees, we were very lucky with 28 degrees.

Then we got the fantastic news that our friends B & G are engaged! B was the one who introduced me & my boyfriend, and has been such a close friend to both of us for a long time.

A day or so later, we got a call with the news a couple friend of ours are pregnant with twins!

So after a lot of people having a difficult year, it's been fantastic to have three great moments in one month. Kind of funny as when I got back to work my colleagues were looking for an engagement rign on *my* finger...I had to say "not yet"!

We'd been back from Perth about a week or so when my sister Bri arrived for a holiday in Melbourne! She has been here to celebrate the wedding of one of her good friends, and also have a bit of a vaycay. It was so nice having her here (she flies back to Perth tonight, to graduate from her Nursing degree on Friday) and we had lots of great sisterly bonding time.

Anyway, better fly. How lovely are those pics btw - makes me want to be in Paris too - only thing missing would be S by my side.

Girl Crush!

This is Aimee Farrell - not only does she work for British Vogue as a Junior Features Associate, but she is also wearing a droolworthy (and very me) outfit of an Acne cardigan, Rag & Bone top, leather skirt from a thrift store in Brick Lane and Kurt Geiger ankle boots.

Oh yeah - and she looks adorable! I wanna be her :)

Top Shop love

Has anyone been keeping an eye on the latest collection from Top Shop (Demi Couture)? I'm not able to post any pics here, but it's a beautiful collection of 60's inspired shift dresses in lush jewel colours and also, of course, black. Only the smaller sizes are left online now, so I'm really hoping that come autumn/winter 2011, some of the Australian high street shops and designers will follow in Top Shop's footsteps.

Having a great time writing for Hills2City so far; it's really fun to have a writing assignment again.

A new job

Ok, so you know how much I love reality tv - The Hills & The City in particular? Well guess who just scored a plum new job, as Fashion Contributor for the site hills2city?

I've only just started, but if you go to http://hills2city.wordpress.com/ and check out the trend alert...well that's me :)

I'm really enjoying having a writing assignment again, and hopefully people will enjoy my writing!

(In other news, how beautiful is Lauren Conrad's coat in that photo? It almost makes me happy that it's still freaking freezing here in Melbourne...in November.)

I'm off to sunny Perth in one week! It really came up soon, and I'm so excited. Probably won't be any sailing though, as my Dad has hurt his knee again and is on strict instructions to rest for 6-8 weeks. It's probably driving him crazy, as he loves sailing so much.

This Sunday I have a spa day, a massage during the week and will be out to dinner with my beloved. I'll be in Perth for a week before he flies over, and we haven't been apart that long since we moved in together, so it's going to seem a little weird. I will miss waking up next to him for sure. On the upside though, it's going to be great spending time one on one with my family and friends - we're already organising catch-ups!

Miss Jerry Hall

LOVE her! Just found out she's bringing out an autobiography - v exciting.

Speaking of books, I flicked through Lauren Conrad: Style the other day in Dymocks and come pay-day, it shall be mine.

Having hair done tomorrow...

Happiness is a warm Zuel

Wow, I was in such a down mood yesterday! Working much harder today to believe in myself, and so far it's a success. Had a really chilled night in last night, some red wine, some Glee = perfect! Snuggles with the bf helped a lot too, I'm sure.

Tonight will be more of the same, and then Friday night we're heading to the country for a 30th birthday, with a rock star theme. I am going as Cyndi Lauper...funny cos when I was 12 years old, I also dressed up as Cyndi for our primary school fancy dress ball :)

Dropped into General Pants the other day and saw this gorgeous, relaxed, leopard print tank designed by Jess Hart (neon hart), and I also really like the way she's rocking the double leopard:



Am also really loving this skirt by Faith 21, but not sure if it's too bulky?



It's 25 degrees here in Melbourne today - very exciting!! I have heaps to look forward to at the moment as well - this weekend in the country, next weekend we're staying at his family property for a romantical time away (it's in Hurstbridge, so near some wineries), then a week's grace before it's time for Perth! Can't wait to see my hometown friends, go sailing on Dad's new boat, go shopping with Mum, and see my gorgeous friend Kate get married.

This is me

This is from the recent Yohji Yamamoto show - I want this t-shirt!

Have been rather hard on myself lately, my stomach has been playing up a lot and so I've been really bloated and feeling so fat....I sometimes feel like I have a pretty face, but my body is this mis-shapen lump. Grr - have to also remember that is most likely hormones talking, and my oft-poor-body-image, and I need to try and be positive.

Self-acceptance is so important, and it's something I have to work on most days. But my goal is to accept me for me, and to focus on the positives that I do have rather than unobtainable perfection.

Have started making better food choices as of yesterday, after not really thinking about it for a few months. I also went to the gym, which for me is to keep active rather than killing myself to be skinny. (Meh, it's still boring, but I do like the endorfins afterwards).

Anyway - onward & upward! My holiday in Perth is coming up soon, and I'm very excited.

Birthday surprises

So yesterday was my birthday - and it ended up being a really nice day, even if I did have to work! I was serenaded by the office (and blushed a lot), and treated to a yummy flourless orange cake, plus had so many messages and calls from friends, it was so nice. In the evening, the BF and I went out for a low key dinner and to see the movie "The Legend of the Guardians", which was super cute.

The big surprise on Friday night was dinner at Little Press, and a trip to the Arts Centre to see this awesome ballet called "Come, Been and Gone", which was to the music of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, The Velvet Underground and Kraftwerk.



He's such a good listener - I had been flicking through the program for the Melbourne Festival a little while ago and lamenting that I couldn't afford tickets to the ballet. Good work :) I also was given a beautiful pair of earrings from Samantha Wills, so am feeling very lucky and spoiled.

The only downside has been the past few days I have been feeling sick on and off. Nausea, dizziness, sore upper back, upset stomach, grr. It's not consistant though, so I don't know if it's this stomach bug that's going around or what. Of course my biggest paranoia is always "what if I'm pregnant?", but considering I get sick pretty easily, plus have stomach issues anyway, I'm sure that really is me being paranoid.

Off to acupuncture tonight - which I love, as it's so relaxing! Ohhh, just looked out the window and it's grey/black as far as the eye can see - what happened to yesterday's sunshine?

Oh and I found a dress for the wedding! It's a gorgeous, drapey, black & white abstract print, silk satin dress by Charlie Brown. It's the perfect weight and style, so I was so excited to find it my first shopping expedition for the event. Hurrah!

Zuela Zuela Zuela, does Prada Prada Prada!

I have always been more of a Miu Miu girl, but oh emmm geeee, I freaking loved the Prada SS 2011 Collection. How gorgeous is this dress, in particular? Swoon!

Off for an early birthday celebration with my fantastic boyfriend tonight - I am to meet him in Fed Square after work, and that's all I know! He's pretty great at doing a surprise - I on the other hand, get so excited I almost always spill the beans right away :)

Hope everyone has a brilliant weekend and we get a little bit more of that Melbourne sunshine. xoxo

p.s. - speaking of "xoxo" I haven't even seen most of Gossip Girl S3 yet, but am simply hanging out for S4 in Paris. Yay!