Thursday 27 March 2014

ALIA National Conference Follow-up

Hello kiddies!

You may remember back in this post where I vented my frustration at the huge fees involves with attending the ALIA National Conference. I also ranted to my lecturer about it and she encouraged me to do something about it and send some emails to people who might be in a position to help. I sent an email to the local delegate as well as to the national Executive Director saying much the same thing as I said in my blog post - that it is important for events like this to be affordable for everyone, particularly students. Today I got a reply from Sue, the Executive Director, who is lovely by the way, I've met her a couple of times and she's just a joy to chat to. She basically said that due to their overheads in hosting the event, they can't possibly drop the price of tickets any lower. She also said however, that she is trying to arrange funds for one sponsored student position and that she'll let me know how to apply if she's successful in organising it, which is certainly better than nothing.

The whole thing got me thinking really. So, I'm sitting here at 1am contemplating the library and information management industry, as I'm sure you all do! (No Amber, no we don't). I was thinking back to the points I raised at the ALIA Advisory Congress last year about needing to get children into libraries while they're young I order to foster that interest and understanding of libraries' importance early in life. I also thought about how high school students thinking about what they want to do with their lives aren't often offered the avenue of the library sciences, I know I certainly wasn't. I wondered to myself why ALIA aren't going to high school career days, speaking at school assemblies and otherwise advocating for libraries as an interesting, rewarding and important career to students considering their options. Then it occurred to me, why don't I do that? Sure, there are people far more qualified than myself, but those people aren't doing it and I feel like it's ridiculous to leave that potential source of growth untapped. 

I feel like it's a bit of a pie in the sky goal for me, and certainly nothing I could accomplish alone, but I'm going to run it by Kathy and see what she thinks of the idea. It would be great to get staff from different types of libraries and with a range of qualifications who can offer varying perspectives on what is a huge and diverse industry. I'm all excited thinking about it, but lurking in the back of my mind is the fact that sometimes what seems challenging but achievable in my crazy tired brain sometimes turns out to be unrealistic and impractical to go through with. But it doesn't hurt to talk about it and see if I can get something happening!

And now here are some gratuitous Ava pics!


Also, if you miss me between posts, don't forget I'm on Facebook! I'm also trying to dust the cobwebs off my Instagram account, so feel free to check things out over there too!




Tuesday 18 March 2014

The Dark Side of the Closet

I'm an avid online shopper. A vast majority of my wardrobe was purchased online, and I can't see myself ever relying on actual in-person shopping for most of my purchases. Online shopping has some great advantages like access to a huge range, competitive pricing, and you can shop in your pyjamas and no one will judge you! But it also has some disadvantages, the worst of which is SIZING! Some places offer returns, but if you're buying pieces from some random Ebay user, you can't really return an item because it doesn't fit you. And if you're ordering from an international site, often returning items is too costly to even bother. And given that I'm super lazy about trying to re-sell items, I have a section of my closet which is like a graveyard to purchases that didn't work out.

So I thought I would, over time, share with you some of the pieces in my closet that never get worn, just in the interest of letting them see the light of day once in awhile. So without further ado:




Cue thunder, lightning, a lone crow cawing and the cackle of a crazy old hag. Now that I've set the mood, on we go!

For today's Dark Side entry, I submit two items. They're both the same dress so I thought they should be included together. I bought them both at the same time, which turned out to be a big mistake, because the style just doesn't sit right on me. The top half fits super weirdly, I'm not sure if its a weight issue or a boob size issue, or that it was just designed poorly, but the front is very tight while the back gapes. I can't tell you a great deal about the dresses unfortunately. I bought them both from an ebay seller rather than from a store or  particular brand site. Neither dress has any information about the designer or brand on the tags, just a size and care instructions. There are quite a few brands I've seen that have dresses in this style, but I've been too wary to try another brand in case I have the same issue. I was really quite gutted when these dresses didn't fit. They're really quite pretty and I had great plans for them. But considering how many items I buy online, I have to expect that sometimes I'll have bad luck with the fit.




Friday 14 March 2014

Doctor Dresses!!!

I don't exactly make a secret of my Doctor Who obsession, similarly I'm pretty out and proud with my love of a fit and flare dress. So when I got an email from the Doctor Who store showing me a fit and flare Doctor Who dress, I was pretty freaking excited. And it gets better. I immediately clicked the link and looked at the sizing, I felt like all my christmases had come at once when I saw they go up to a 3XL. And it gets even better! They have three different style of fit and flare dresses to choose from (10th Doctor, 11th Doctor and Dalek) AND two bodycon dresses for those who like to cut a more sleek silhouette!


I've placed my order for the 11th Doctor Dress (top middle). The 10th Doctor is actually my favourite (as in the actual character) but I feel like I'm much more likely to wear the 11th dress. I actually feel like a bit of a traitor to my favourite Doctor not buying his dress lol! I may yet buy it, depending on how this first one goes once it arrives. I so hope it fits!!!

If you'd like to get your own, or browse the rest of their range of amazing Doctor Who merchandise, you can find the Doctor Who online store here. Or if you're in the US, some of the range (as well as loads of other coolness) is available through Think Geek.



Tuesday 11 March 2014

Box of Goodies!

A few weeks ago I ordered a whole bunch of stuff from Cotton On Group, they have several different retail stores which each focus on a different part of their range, but if you order online, everything gets sent together, which is an awesome way to save a bit of money on postage, especially when they do free shipping for orders over $50! They had 30% off all of their Typo range, so I bought a few canvas prints I've had my eye on, and they had 3 pairs of shoes for $10!!!! I bought a few pairs for myself and a couple for my oldest daughter who can now fit into grown up shoes.

I was so excited to get my order, the box was huge and full of goodies for MEEEEEEE (I have my Smeagol moments from time to time). I'd had a really long day and by the time I got home and opened it up, I was feeling ultra lazy, and as a result I really didn't get the best pictures of my haul, but its enough to give you an idea of the overall purchase hopefully!


Yes, there are duplicates of a couple of pairs of shoes, one in my size and one in my daughter's. She didn't know what shoes I was buying myself when she chose hers. What can I say, she must have great taste lol. The mint green poncho I bought for me but its rather tiny, so she ended up scoring that as well, and she loves it. She's been wearing it every night to lounge around the house before bed. I've yet to put my canvas prints on the wall. I'm still not 100% certain I'm going to keep my room layout as it is, and I'd like to be sure before I go hanging more pictures so I don't have to move them in 2 weeks time when I change my mind. I'm really eager to get them up though. I'll be sure and share pictures when that happens!




Saturday 8 March 2014

"Uniqueness"

The other day I shared a new blog that I'd found with a friend. I had just discovered it the day prior and added the blog to those that I follow, and that blogger then followed me in return which is super nice. I was sharing this news with my friend because it actually is kind of a big deal to me to know people enjoy what I'm doing here enough to want to come back. She took a look at the blog and said to me that she doesn't know how I can feel unique when there are all these other people who look the same. I kind of bristled a little, even though I know it wasn't meant in any malicious way. But it seemed a strange thing to have to explain this to someone who I thought knew me much better than that. I don't look the way I look to be unique, I'm not trying to be anything other than myself. I went through a long (and quite depressing) period in my early 20's when I was actually too afraid and self-conscious to be myself. I suddenly felt pressured to "grow up" and "dress my age", and as a result I ended up living day-in, day-out in jeans and t-shirts or business trousers and plain blouses. There is nothing wrong with that if that's what you're into, but for me it wasn't what I genuinely wanted to be wearing, but what I felt I was expected to wear.

It wasn't until the break up of a 7 year long relationship that I felt a massive urge to reclaim my identity and I felt brave enough to experiment and try new things with my appearance. I became comfortable with a particular style and found a way to represent myself that felt really authentically me. It is not, and never has been, about being "unique", its 100% about being ME, really truly me, the kind of me that I can be proud of instead of feeling like I'm hiding behind some fake persona.

That break up was 3 years ago now and I'm so much happier than I was during those crappy years. I think the caterpillar has morphed into a butterfly and come out of the cocoon, although sometimes I feel I'm still all sticky and wet and bedraggled, waiting for my wings to dry before I look really spectacular lol. I think learning who I am is still an ongoing process but I'm very happy with the progress I've made so far, and I feel like being able to throw on a gorgeous swing dress and leave the house feeling myself has had a great influence on me. I hope that everyone finds their "happy clothes" and feels really good about what they're wearing. Whether you dress like a peacock or more of a wallflower, I hope you're comfortable being authentically you! :)

Remember what Genie said!





PS: To my friend - I hope you aren't mad at me for using this conversation as blog fodder! <3

Thursday 6 March 2014

Time Flies

Where has the week gone??? Seriously, I can't believe its Thursday already. I've been keeping busy organising the house and a few other activities that seem to have made the week just disappear on me!

Yesterday I went on a tour of the CDU library as well as the NT Archives. They were arranged as part of a particular unit of the Cert III course I was doing last year, but I asked if I could tag along for interest's sake and my lecturer was happy for me to join in. I've visited the CDU library many times, but it was still interesting to have a guide to explain more about the library's inner workings. I also found out they take on casual workers as shelvers quite often, so that might be a foot in the door of the library industry for me! It was my first time visiting the Archives, in fact I didn't even know they existed until I began the course last year! It was super informative and a really great opportunity for me to find out more about another potential career path once my studies are finished. To be perfectly honest, I don't think a job like that is for me, they do amazing work and certain aspects of it are absolutely fascinating. But I don't think I possess the required patience to pore over paperwork for hours on end, especially when its a completely uninteresting topic like financial documents or something!

I really wanted to wear my Ikebana skirt from Modcloth (aka my favourite skirt ever), but I wanted to wear it with a different top than usual just to mix things up a bit. I had the hardest time trying to decide what to wear it with. I didn't really have any other tops that matched but thought I'd try layering it over a dress for something different.

Some combinations I was considering

I ended up going with the outfit on the top right, which is actually one way I imagined I'd wear the skirt when I first got it. I wasn't 100% happy with it for some reason. I can't quite put my finger on why. I think maybe the colour or style of the dress just doesn't feel delicate enough to go with the skirt. I wanted to wear my super long string of pearls, but it just wasn't working for me, so I changed to my trusty gold chain combo and felt a little more put together.



I don't know, I'm still kind of 'meh' on the outfit. I may give it another chance sometime and see how I feel about it then. It wasn't terrible, just not quite what I hoped it would be.

Hope everyone is well!


Monday 3 March 2014

Sunday Spotlight: Polka-dots

I'm crazy about polka-dots. I love them. Every colour and every size, I want them all! I have many polka-dot items from dresses and hair bows to underwear and pencil tins. It may actually be considered some sort of unhealthy addiction. So it seemed only natural for my second Sunday Spotlight to focus on the spots I love so much.

I've kind of given up on Polyvore, its great for creating the collages but for some reason I'm just having no luck sharing them here lately. As usual I've included a link below the pic so you can head over there if you'd like more information about any of the items.

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=115081052

And an post dedicated to polka-dots would have no integrity at all if I failed to include my absolute favourite dress. You've seen it a few times on here, I have it in navy but I honestly want it in every colour. Its so gorgeous and flattering and perfect for every occasion. I definitely want to buy more!

You can find these dresses and many more here:
http://stores.ebay.com.au/Hourglass-dresses?_trksid=p2047675.l2563
I was rather busy tonight so I've technically missed Australia's Sunday by an hour or so, but the rest of the world has a Sunday too so I went ahead and posted anyway!

Do you have your eye on any spotty items at the moment? I'd love to see them in the comments! :)