Too Tired for Titles!

I feel exhausted today! It's 6:30 pm and I'm feeling quite ready for bed. I honestly can't wait until I can go to sleep.

I've spent the past week (almost) unpacking, shifting and organising a whole big pile of my junk that has finally been sent up from NSW. I kind of didn't intend to stay here long term so I left loads of my stuff down there when I came up, but recently I finally bit the bullet and decided to bring it all up here and begin the tedious process of sorting it all out. A vast majority of the stuff is stowed away in a nearby self-storage facility and I've been steadily working my way through it, but some of the things I've found have made their way here, and as a result my house is a mess! A real proper mess. There are books and clothes and sheets and toys everywhere I look. I can't cope with clutter, it drives me batty, so my top priority is trying to find places for everything. I'm fighting an uphill battle I'm afraid and some tough decisions must be made as to what stays and what goes. Traditionally I've been quite the hoarder but I'm trying very hard to let things go, so wish me luck with that!

Today I had to do some shopping and take Ava to the vet to be desexed, microchipped and vaccinated. Everything went swimmingly though I brought her home and she immediately started chewing on the stitches! I had to take her right back to the vet to be fitted for a cone of shame and make sure she hadn't done any damage. She's quite unimpressed with the cone, but she's eating and drinking and playing and seems in good sorts.

I wore my blue spotty dress with a red belt and cardigan because it seemed like a bright colours sort of day. You may have seen it here before styled a little more neutrally.

Sorry the pic is blurry! It was a blurry picture sort of day too I suppose. My camera was having a little tantrum and wouldn't play nicely.

ALIA National Conference Rant

If any of you were reading my blog back in October of last year, you would have seen my post about the ALIA (Australian Library and Information Association) Top End Symposium, which I had the absolute pleasure of attending. Having had such an amazing time at the "local" conference, I was super excited to read about the National Conference occurring in September of this year. That is until I saw the cost. The student concession price is $650! Plus there are additional fees to attend the dinner and breakfast workshops to the tune of $305. So if I wished to attend all of the events (and I would) it would cost a total of $955.

I'd would LOVE to be able to attend. As a student looking to enter the industry, there is simply so much for me to learn, and to be able to be at the cutting edge of what's happening in libraries is really something that should be encouraged and facilitated. Having tickets cost almost $1000 would obviously be pretty prohibitive for a lot of people, but particularly students who are typically on tight budgets. And on top of the cost of attendance, many people would have travel and accommodation costs to worry about. As a student, its simply out of reach for me. And that is most unfortunate in my opinion. Students should be at the forefront of new learning opportunities, they haven't been in the industry so long that they're jaded or daunted by change. Students coming in fresh, unafraid of bold ideas will be the innovators and groundbreakers of tomorrow. To deny them these sorts of opportunities is to potentially deny the industry invaluable perspective and infinite possibility.

I sent an email to the events team in hopes that some sponsored positions may be available, and received a reply saying there will be no sponsored positions, but I may wish to consider a single day registration "are a bit more affordable at $565 per day". To quote my best friend's reaction when I told her "genius". I'm not sure if there are any other avenues to pursue, but at this point being able to go seems out of the question, which is more than a little disappointing.

Hope you're all well!

Strictly the Necessities

The other night I had a sudden desperate urge to watch Roman Holiday, which I didn't have on DVD! I decided it was absolutely imperative to go out the next day to buy it. And buy it I did! Along with several other things I decided were essential to my life at that point.

Shopping haul!

I bought an Audrey Hepburn box set on sale and a Marilyn Monroe set that was also reduced. Fourteen movies between the two sets, loads of special features, plus a disc dedicated to Audrey's influence on the fashion world. Woot!!!

I also found this brand of makeup I'd never heard of, W7. All of their products were $5 each at the pharmacy, AND they had an offer where you get a free eyeliner pencil with any purchase over $15. So I bought two eyeshadow palettes in natural shades (one with lots of shimmer and the "Naked Nudes" pallete with less), and an eyebrow pencil in a blondey-brown shade. I got a free black eyeliner with my purchase, which I honestly probably won't even use, I rarely use pencil or crayon, but hey, it was free! Also pictured here is an Essence brand nail polish which I bought at Target. Such a pretty colour, I don't think the photo does it justice. I'm such a huge fan of Essence. Their products are consistently quite good and so cheap!

By the time I got around to photographing the eyeliners and eyebrow pencil, Ava was pretty ready for me to move my crap and get the hell out of (what she suddenly decided was) her spot, so I forgot to include close up shots of the two pencils. They're pretty stock standard pencils though, so you're not really missing out on anything special.

So, AWESOME shopping trip for me! I've spent the week watching childhood favourites and becoming acquainted with a few that I hadn't previously seen. I've been watching a lot of them with my kids too, hopefully I can spread the love on to the next generation. Both sets were definitely worthwhile purchases!

How about you, have you had any great purchases lately?

Bye Bye Baby!

So today is a happy day, but also a sad one. My baby sister is moving interstate to start university. I'm really happy for her and I'm sure she'll love her new city, but I'll also miss her terribly!

To farewell our darling girl, we went out for a family dinner together, our parents, my kiddies and our two other sisters. We went to a lovely little Thai restaurant I'd never even heard of in the city. It was all outdoor seating on a large covered balcony, fortunately the night wasn't very hot and was quite windy so we got a good breeze to keep us cool. The seating arrangement was on cushions around a low table, which was actually really comfortable and the atmosphere was very cozy and intimate despite being a fairly busy night.

Everything felt normal, like any other dinner together, until it came time to say goodbye. Its strange saying goodbye to her and not knowing when I'll see her next, knowing she's not going to live nearby anymore and I won't have infinite chances to spend time with her now. And I'll be honest, I've done my share of crying tonight!

It was a lovely night though and I'm so happy we all got to spend it together.

Rain, Libraries and Dinners Out

We had some wild weather here yesterday. A storm this time of year is not news, but this one brought sudden heavy wind and even hail in some suburbs which is very uncommon! There's a lot of bushland in my neighbourhood and today on my way out to dinner I saw loads of branches and even whole trees which had been brought down in yesterday's gale. A tree fell in the backyard of my friend's neighbour, fortunately the tree missed her yard, though their other neighbour was not so lucky and the falling tree destroyed their shed.

Yesterday I had my second day of work experience at the school library. It didn't feel quite as busy as last week, probably because I was focused on two main tasks for most of the day rather than skipping around as I was the previous week. I managed to finish compiling the list of books assigned a lexile number and I also finished checking the catalogue entries for a certain area of the library, making sure everything was accurate and up to date. The librarian suggested I organise an activity for the pre-schoolers to do during their library lessons, which is really exciting for me, but also a huge challenge as the kids are very young and I'm just not sure what I can do to for them which will be interesting and engaging but also quick and easy. I've got my thinking cap on for that one!

I went out to dinner tonight and had a really nice time. I ate a huge steak and enjoyed every bite. I was very tempted to get some dessert, but I had such a big dinner that I felt it would probably be overkill. I really hate having to think so much about what I'm eating, but obviously not thinking about it and just eating whatever I wanted did me no favours! I've let myself get to an unhealthy state, and I do feel good for being more conscientious, but when I go out for dinner I do sometimes wish I could just forget about being good! I decided to wear a dress tonight that I haven't worn in probably a couple of months. I don't even really know why I haven't worn it, probably just because I don't like the slip that I have to wear underneath, the dress is too sheer to go without one.

Happy Halloween!

I love halloween, but I really haven't had the time or money to plan much this year. I didn't even bother with costumes really because the kids were going to a disco at a play centre so they need to be able to run around and have fun without worrying about spoiling costumes. So we just used things we already had at home and had a very simple halloween.

I spent the day at the library hammering out assignments, then after the kids finished school got them showered and changed and went over to my best friend's place for an hour or so because her mum wanted to see the kids. They ate cake and got hyped up on candy and cake, then we went to the disco. It was packed with kids and parents and was super noisy. I actually get kind of flustered in situations like that, but it ended up not being too bad once I sat down and got settled. I even won a silent auction they had going! I bid on a t-shirt with a pikachu dressed as batman. Its super cute! I'll be giving it to my son once I go pick it up, I hope he loves it as much as I do!

Weekend Rundown

Yesterday I went to a classmate's house for a study session. We have some pretty full on units this term and are on pretty tight time constraints with assignments so we thought it would be a good idea to get together and pool our research and ideas. Corinna, Sam and I spent the afternoon working on our study materials and then had dinner together and got stuck into a few bottles of wine while chatting about life. I had a really great time, I'm glad to have made some new friends, I don't tend to venture outside my comfort zone too often so I don't meet new people much. Its nice to be pleasantly surprised by awesome people when I am in a new and different situation.

I'm feeling pretty disheartened about the weight loss situation. I've lost weight every week so far but in smaller and smaller amounts. I feel like I have SO much weight to lose to get to a healthy range that losing less than a kilo a week makes me feel like I'll never get there. I have decided though that I'm going to change my weigh in day to the middle of the week. I've been doing it on Sunday and if I go out to eat or have drinks or whatever its almost always on a Saturday, so I feel like Sunday is the worst day to weigh myself because I haven't had a chance to recover from the previous night. So I think I'll do it on Wednesday from now on. I've been exercising and eating well so I feel like the lack of weight loss this week is mostly due to the eating out and drinking I did yesterday.

I got a package from Forever New the other day which contained a bag that I've wanted for ages! I didn't want to pay $70 for it though so I waited until it went on sale. The bag is nice and big and functional and obviously really cute! I've been trying to build up by bag collection so I always have a handbag to suit the occasion. Until recently I'd really only have one bag at a time, using it until it needed replacing. Now that I'm wearing more pastels and lighter colours I needed more than just one black bag. So I've been looking for a large and a small bag in a neutral colour as well as a large and small in black. I now have both my neutral bags covered (this one being the larger one) so I have to keep my eye out now for black ones! I also bought two little pairs of fingerless lace gloves which are ever so pretty and I look forward to having an appropriate occasion to which to wear them.

When the Stars Align

Today was so amazing it was almost like a suspension of reality. Today was the first day of the 8th Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Top End Symposium (yeah perhaps it doesn't flow of the tongue quite as nicely as it should) and I had the opportunity to attend. I was really excited but also nervous to be meeting tonnes of people from the library industry, I'm taking any chance I can get to meet people and learn all aspects of the job I'll eventually be doing. So I wasn't sure if anyone I knew was going to be there but as it turns out three of my classmates did attend.

Now let me try and jump through the day as chronologically as possible. When I first went in and got my name tag I looked around and saw one of the girls from the Northern Territory Library who had given my class a tour. As she was the only person I sort of knew I went to where she was sitting and chatted with her. She was also talking with three other women and we all chatted merrily and laughed and joked and whatnot. We got onto the topic of jobs and I mentioned there was one I'm applying for, one of the girls I've been chatting with is on the interview panel and another works at the library the position will be. Both of them strongly encouraged me to apply because they think I'd be great. So that was win number one for the day.
During the tea break I was standing on my own for a moment when an old lady comes up to me and reads my name tag and says "oh, you're Kathy's student! I've heard wonderful things about you, she says you're doing really well!" Apparently she used to teach library studies and after she retired Kathy took over. So that felt like a huge win to have a total stranger come and acknowledge me because she's heard good things!

Third amazing thing happened at the after party. The Executive Director for ALIA came up to me and said she'd seen me sitting up the back while she gave her presentation and she thought I looked amazing. She said she wants to do a piece in their magazine early next year on chic, stylish librarians and revamping the library image and she wants me in it. I honestly don't know if that was all hot air or if it will actually eventuate, but regardless it was an amazing compliment. Of course I told her I'd love to and she took my details and we chatted for awhile. She seems like such a lovely person. She gave a great presentation on the future of the industry and how libraries can continue to meet the needs of the public.

So after that I was chatting with several other attendees when the Brisbane Manager of Library Services comes up to talk to me. She gave me her card and told me if I want to fly down there for my work experience she'll make sure she has a place for me. She was great too. In fact, everyone was so lovely and welcoming and supportive. I feel extremely lucky right now. And to top it all off, in addition to the informative talks and amazing social experience there was swag! They gave us all a sample bag which had in it a whole bunch of pamphlets and brochures as well as a bunch of little goodies. My two favourites are the coffee mug with cookie holder groove in the bottom and a little stylus I can use with my phone, but there were also a few nice pens, and who doesn't like pens!

I know this whole entry sounds super braggy and gauche but I'm really happy and excited about the way the day panned out and I just want to share. Its not everyday everything goes this well! ^_^

Dress by Lindybop

Goodies!

Salty and Spicy

This is called the Salty and Pepper dress from Modcloth. The brand is Hell Bunny, who don't appear to have their own website, but if you google it I'm sure you can find stockists that service your area. I've been a fan of Hell Bunny for ages and have a few of their items so I had high expectations for this dress, and it met them. It fits very nicely, perhaps just a tiny bit loose in the bust but not so much that it would be visible to others. The skirt comes down past my knees, it skims nicely over my hips and swings and flows and the hem. I also love the cute little heart-shaped pockets, adorable and functional! I love these big voluminous skirts, they just feel great to wear.

In other news I went out for dinner last night with some friends. I had a steak and guinness pie which was pretty good. Afterward I went home with my best friend and stayed the night at her place. We tried to set up her karaoke set which wasn't working, then tried playing Lips on the Xbox but there was so much lag it proved unplayable even after reconfiguring the microphones. So we decided to watch a movie, I chose Spice World because I haven't seen it in a million years and , like most girls my age I think, I was crazy for the Spice Girls back in the day. It was everything I hoped it would be, still so much fun. It was a bit strange to see Posh Spice actually displaying some sort of personality. I'm so used to seeing her as skinny, big boobed Victoria Beckham that I had kind of forgotten she might have a personality. But for me it was always all about Baby Spice (I bet you're super shocked), and I owned as many babydoll dresses and platform sneakers as my mother would let me have. That wardrobe phase didn't last terribly long, but it was fun while it did.

So how about you? Did you like the Spice Girls? Who was your favourite?

The Good and The Bad

So lets get the bad out of the way first. I picked up my Modcloth dresses today and out of 6 only 1 fits perfectly :( One is still okay even though its loose around the top, and there are another two which I may be able to get altered to make them work. All in all really disappointing though. I've just gained too much weight recently and my body is all out of whack. I do love the one dress that fits me well though. Its gorgeous, I'll take photos as soon as I get around to wearing it.

Now for the good! I went out with the bff today and she gave me my birthday present. I also did a bit of shopping so between the two I came home with quite a haul! The gifts I got were a pretty lacy bag, a little shimmery coin purse with a birdy clasp, and three pretty rings!
As far as my shopping purchases go, I bought myself two pearly necklaces, one that has a little pendant and looks more fancy/formal and one that could be more for everyday use. I also bought a chunky cold necklace and a smaller silver one both for wearing with audrey dresses and other higher-necked items, and some earrings.

I love the pressies Snow White bought me ^_^ The bag is so pretty, the pictures really don't to it justice, same with the little coin purse, its much prettier when my camera flash isn't washing it out. And the rings are gorgeous, I love the blue/green one. Its really big and chunky, which isn't something I'd usually pick, but It looks great on and is such a pretty colour. Everything was awesome, she knows me too well!
Here are pics of my new pretties!

Parrrr-tay!

It was my daughter's birthday last week, and we had the ritual family dinner last Saturday, but due to my total lack of organisation and time just getting away from me in the weeks leading up to her birthday I decided to postpone her party with her friends until the following weekend, which is NOW. I'm proud to say I survived her birthday. It was not nearly as stressful or nightmarish as I imagined it would be lol. Don't get me wrong, I love kids, I do, I just love them a lot less when they're running around screaming. But it was great. We hosted it at an indoor play centre and for the most part the kids were occupied with running and sliding and climbing and jumping and left the grown ups to do boring stuff like drink iced coffees and talk. A super pleasant day for all I think.

I didn't get many photos because my friend was taking a heap with her good camera, and the few I did take came out pretty poorly. SO glad to be getting a new camera tomorrow, I only wish I could have bought it before the party! Better late than never I suppose.

Playgrounds, Procrastination and Pottermore

Today I had an awesome day out with my kiddies. I woke up over an hour late and rushed to get everyone ready. We met up with my friend Paul and his three little ones and let them loose at a local play center. They ran around like crazy for a couple of hours and then we headed out to get lunch. We got fish and chips from a shop around the corner and had an impromptu picnic in the park across the road, which involved some more running and swinging and climbing before it was time to go. They had a great time and haven't shut up all afternoon/night about when we're going to do it again! I'm so glad the kids all get along. I knew they would, they're all so adorable, but seeing them all running around together having fun made me super happy.

This evening I'm trying to get some work done on an assignment. It has me tearing my hair out, I swear. I've been working on it for hours and seriously have nothing done. It sounded incredibly easy but its proving quite frustrating finding all the information I need. I'm really tired, last night was another night of little sleep, so I'm thinking I might just have to give up for today and try it again in the morning. I feel a little defeated and deflated, but hopefully I have more luck tomorrow.

I registered for Pottermore ages ago but at that stage there wasn't much going on there so I never used it and forgot my login details. A few days ago my friend said new features had been added and she'd been using it again, so I re-registered and have whittled away quite a few hours on there. Its fun and relaxing, and interesting! So on that note, I think its time for some Pottermore before bed.

Movies and Shopping and Sewing, Oh My!

Today was my son's day off school for his birthday, which was yesterday. We went out to one of his favourite restaurants for breakfast, where we stuffed ourselves with bacon, eggs, danish, fruit, yoghurt, and other breakfasty treats. After that we went shopping to kill time before a movie. My son had some birthday money and he spent a little of it on megablock and lego, and I bought him a Playdough set that comes with little molds of some of the Transformers, which I thought was super cool. I also found a little monster plush toy that had to come home with me. He was simply too cute!
We then watched Despicable Me 2 at the cinema, which was great. My son's aunt was with us with her two year old daughter and even she was transfixed through the whole movie. I had actually already seen it last week when I went to the movies with my friend and his kids, but it was still extremely enjoyable, which says a lot for it I think as I'm really not a huge fan of going to the movies.

Awful photo booth pictures, awesome day :)

After finally getting home, I decided I really needed to get a start on making myself a skirt. I bought myself all the materials I needed including a sewing machine, but have been putting it off for a week or so. So with the aid of this tutorial and this Youtube video I set about drawing up a pattern and cutting and sewing fabric and all that jazz. While cutting out the fabric, I realised I'd made a mistake when measuring, as I totally forgot to allow for a seam at the waist, but by the time I realised there didn't seem to be much I could do about it so I just kept going with it in hopes it would all work out. The good news is I made a pretty nice skirt, and this is my first attempt at doing anything like this really. The skirt I fashioned from a table cloth already had the pattern, all I really had to do was the waist, so I'm pretty proud of myself for doing as good a job as I did. The bad news is that because I forgot to account for the seam when measuring, I ended up making the skirt a little too small for me. But its not the end of the world, because I am working on losing the weight I've gained since I moved, so hopefully as I start slimming down, the skirt will become wearable.

I am a little disappointed, because I really love the fabric and was looking forward to having something I could wear now, but I'm pleased I managed to get through it and ended up with a decent looking skirt without breaking a needle or injuring myself with my sewing machine!

My skirt!

Beach Birthday

Last night we went to a dinner for my best friend's dad's birthday. The restaurant was right on the waterfront and had really pretty views across the beach and out to all the little boats floating in the harbour. We arrived a little late for the picture perfect sunset, but I got some nice photos nonetheless.

It was all outdoors and fortunately the weather was quite nice. A little warmer than I'd like, but at least not HOT. It was a pretty enjoyable night, other than the fact I barely got to talk to my best friend. There were lots of people so we were split up into two tables and she was seated at the other one. Still, had a nice night taking in the view and the food.

Happy Days, Sad Days

Yesterday was supe busy and long, but really enjoyable. First I had an amazing day out with an old friend. We knew each other in high school here in Darwin, then lost touch for many years. When we reconnected via Facebook we were both living in Sydney, but soon after I came back to Darwin. Now he's up for about two months visiting family so I spent a few hours yesterday hanging out with him and his gorgeous kids. I love hanging out with him and I have a real soft spot for his three little ones. They're so adorable! His kids and mine haven't met yet so I'm hoping we can arrange a play date for next week. It will be a cute overload!

In addition to spending several hours with him and his kiddies, I also hung out with extended family, did some shopping, went over my sister-in-law's place for dinner and had uni squished in there somewhere. I left the house at 9am and didn't get home until about 10:30pm so I was pretty exhausted.

I actually feel really low today. I guess after all the fun an excitement yesterday, sitting at home is pretty boring! Fortunately a package arrived yesterday with some lipsticks I ordered from Priceline while they were having a sale. I decided, in an effort to improve my mood, to make myself up and try them on!

Brand: Savvy
Shade: Blushing Pink
This isn't quite the shade I was expecting, I was hoping for something a little brighter. But this is the risk you take when you order using only swatches as a guide. Its alright though, it is a nice colour. Its a very natural pink on me, quite similar to the natural colour of my lips, but a little more vibrant and pearlized. I'm not sure how often I'll wear this as I don't love pearl, but I'll see how it goes. Might come in handy when I least expect.







Brand: Savvy
Shade: Mocha
This one was actually pretty damn close to the online swatch. I had a really hard time choosing colours for the Savvy lipsticks. They had a three for the price of two deal and I changed my mind about shades so many times before submitting my order. I think it looks nice, not too brown, though I do prefer the brighter reds on me.









Brand: Savvy
Shade: Cherry
This was the one that stayed in my basket no matter how many times I changed my mind about colours. I really like it! Its a gorgeous classic red, exactly what I was hoping it would be. I'm pretty happy with these Savvy lipsticks. I haven't tried them before, but I've used their nail polishes and been pretty satisfied. For their price (which is $4.99 regular price) they're definitely worth it.









Brand: Rimmel
Shade: Show Stopper
I have a few Rimmel lipsticks now and I really like them. They go on super smooth and creamy, they last well and they smell delicious. They're also a really good price, especially when you get them for 50% off! I really love this shade. Its a nice glamorous red.











Brand: Rimmel
Shade: Starry Eyed
This is the shade that started me shopping online in the first place. I went to my local Priceline store while they were having a sale on Rimmel cosmetics. They had a tester of this shade and I loved it, but they didn't have any left for sale. So I went online, and didn't want to pay shipping on just one item, so I ended up buying five! I'm getting pretty happy with my lipstick collection now. I'm starting to wonder how I lived without it!





I do feel much better after doing my makeup and getting pretty. It really does help boost my mood. Now I'm off to continue playing my game. I'm playing Limbo right now. I resisted HUGE temptation yesterday and didn't buy a game I really wanted when it went on sale. I'll get it one day when I've played a few more of the games I already own. BUT I WANT IT NOW!

Karaoke!!!

I really do love karaoke. We went again tonight and had loads of fun. There was a far-too-drunk young guy bothering everyone and making a fool of himself, but other than that the night was awesome. We used to go to karaoke every Wednesday as well, but we quit when the weather got too hot for sitting around outdoors, and just never got into the habit of going back when the weather cooled down again. So we're thinking we might start going again while temperature permits.

Just a short one tonight because I'm terribly tired and looking forward to sleep! I was really happy to get to wear one of my new outfits today, AND my magical Sportsgirl lipgloss that I bought the other day. Its the sparkliest thing in the world! It looks awesome over my Dragon lipstick. It doesn't show up as well as I'd like in photos, but in real life its just gorgeous. It has loads of glitter and lovely orange, gold and pink iridescent sheen. I'll take the time to get better photos of it sometime soon.

Clockwise from left: Shameless selfie; New shoes (love); Best pic I could get of the lipgloss;
Failed attempt at photographing my whole outfit

Colours and Compliments

Its such a nice feeling when strangers pay you a compliment, and even more when they actually want to take time to talk to you about it. I've been receiving a lot of compliments on my purple hair, and many people wanting to pull me aside and ask me if I do it myself and how its done. I tried getting some pictures of my hair in the sunlight, but we only get a tiny little patch of sun in our yard, so I was very restricted in where I could take photos from. I literally had to stand in one spot and not move to take all of these.

I'm loving red lipstick so much lately. I'm not sure if I've said it previously, but I was never brave enough to wear it before. I've tried wearing it a few times over the years and always felt overdressed and ridiculous. I'm not sure if its that red lipsticks seem much more commonly worn now, or if its a change in my perception of myself (probably a bit of both), but I'm wearing it every day. I can fast see it becoming an addiction as I've ordered a few more lipsticks online on the weekend! I blame Priceline for having irresistible bargains! I got an email today saying they've been dispatched and I'm super excited to receive them.

I went to karaoke on Saturday with a friend. We used to go every week (sometimes even twice weekly) but we haven't been in ages. We got there and our usual DJ guy wasn't there, which made us both a little sad. I'm not sure if he doesn't do that venue at all anymore or if he was just off for the night or something. But once we got past that initial disappointment, everything went well. We took our daughters with us and we all sang, it was so much fun. I think we both probably forgot how much fun we have there, but we're going to try and make it there more regularly again.

I have a friend who is moving up here next week. I'm really looking forward to it, he has three young kids too and its nice to be able to hang out with other parents. He and I were friends in high school, then lost touch for years, and coincidentally we were both living in Sydney later when we reconnected. I moved up here soon after that, so we haven't seen each other in awhile. His kids are absolutely adorable so I'm happy I'll get to fawn over them again. And it will be nice to have another friend in town.

Friday Fun

Last year I went a few times to a swing dancing group that met at a local club on Wednesday nights. I moved out of that area though and getting there is quite a hassle now so I haven't been in probably about a year. Last night they came to do a demonstration at the weekly markets near where I live, so I went along to watch and maybe join in. It was so much fun. I'm really not a good dancer, I get all tangled up in arms when it comes to doing spins and turns, but its fun and there were loads of other amateurs too so we all had a good laugh. I'd really like to start going again. I don't do much these days in terms of opportunities to meet new people so I feel like it would be a positive step for me. My kids also joined in at the end and had an awesome time, so I'd  love to take them along too. I think dancing is a dying art and I'd  love to help preserve it. Getting there is still a problem. I don't have my own car and the buses here are often full of people who smell like they're allergic to basic personal hygiene, but I'll try to work something out.
All of the regulars were remarking on how nice it was that I got all dressed up for the occasion. I thanked them and internally giggled to myself because I just showed up in the outfit I'd worn out shopping with my best friend. I wore the tablecloth skirt that I made with my spotty halter top that I haven't worn in ages due to lack of anything to wear it with.

Please excuse the blurriness of the full body pic.
Didn't realise it was blurry until I saw it on the big screen!

Speaking of red lipstick. While shopping today I went to Priceline to look at makeup, and they had 50% off all their Rimmel cosmetics. WOOT! I would have gone nuts but most of the things I liked were already sold out! I did buy a new red lipstick though. Its a really nice purpley red. The reds I have are all on the lighter side, so I wanted something darker for when the mood strikes. The shade is #120 - Cutting Edge. I had A look on Priceline's website and the swatch they have for it shows a bright fuschia, but its really quite a lot darker than their swatch would have you believe.

Rimmel Lasting Finish - #120 Cutting Edge

I've also dyed my hair again. I've done purple again, although I tried a different shade this time. It was meant to be much MUCH lighter than it actually turned out. I always go too dark! But I'm not too concerned as these sorts of dyes fade quickly, so in a week or so it will probably be something around the shade I wanted anyway. I didn't have a lot of time to dedicate to photos today so they're not the best.

Purple hair! And my new Rimmel lipstick ;)

Shopping Part 2 - The Thrift Edition

So I mentioned yesterday that my friend and I hit a few op shops (thrift, charity, what have you). My purchases have now all been washed and dried, and photographed for your viewing pleasure! So without further ado:

Purchases 1 & 2: I am a cardigan addict and never leave the house without some sort of cardigan/bolero/shrug, no matter how hot the weather. Most of mine have long sleeves so I was pretty happy to find these short sleeved ones, which will be a little more comfortable to wear in the constant heat where I live. I've grouped these two together because they're actually the same brand and style, just in different colours. The brand is called Master & Margarita, which I've never heard of before, but they feel like good quality and both are in really good condition. The black one cost me $5 and the mustardy yellow one was $3.

Purchase 3: Another cute little bolero I found was this this black one. It has a lacy trim and ties up in the front, so its a little more delicate and feminine than the other two I bought. Again this one is very light and feels like it will be comfortable in the hot weather. The brand is Jacqui E and the cost was $3.

Purchase 4: This dress is definitely one of my favourite buys. Its a brown floaty layered dress by Jacqui E. It fits really nicely, except that the shoulder straps have been stretched out, but I can easily take them in. I love the light, flowy fabric and cinched waist. I don't know how much this would have cost new, but Jacqui E isn't cheap, so I was thrilled when I saw the price tag on this one was only one dollar! That's right, $1. Simply because the straps are all stretched out so it needs a little sewing. Awesome score, I think!

Purchase 5: I love this top. Its in perfect condition and is so pretty and feminine. I've been on this kick of wanting everything to be delicate and floaty. Maybe I just want fabric that flies in the wind when I go on bike rides lol. In any case, this is another light, flowy item that fits the bill. I love the lace and the little buttons. I love dainty little buttons, they're a weakness of mine. The brand is Target and I got the blouse for $5.

Purchase 6: A tablecloth. Stay with me. I've been looking at online tutorials on how to make circle skirts, and  found quite a few which make them from old sheets, tablecloths or whatever else you may have available to re-purpose. With this in mind I kept my eye out for such things while shopping, and saw this gorgeous tablecloth. Its already circular, so that saved me some time in cutting it to the right shape, and it had this gorgeous little detailing on the edge that I thought was perfect.
I'm not much of a seamstress, my sewing skills are pretty much limited to fixing the occasional fallen hem and such, so I was pretty nervous (but super enthusiastic!) to start this project. I stayed up much of last night finishing it and I think I did a decent job for my first attempt. There were a few problems, the first of which was that the waist hem (where I cut) was fraying more than I had hoped. I'm going to get some ribbon or something to trim the waistband so prevent further fraying. Secondly, I finished sewing in the waistband, tried the skirt on and it was too long! So I'm going to need to unpick all the stitching in the waistband and sew it down lower to shorten the skirt. This will actually work out well because then there will be more fabric to gather around the waist and I think that will look nicer. Its just so much work! I should probably mention I don't have a sewing machine so all my sewing is done by hand. CHORE!
Anyway, I'm still pretty proud of myself for doing it, and I'll be prouder still when I shorten it and actually have a wearable skirt!

Sha-sha-sha-shopping! :)

Today I went shopping with a friend and our daughters. She's studying beauty therapy and gets industry discounts at the warehouse stores, and when I go with her I do too! So once every month or two I'll go with her to stock up on essentials like bleach and shampoo, and get some treats for myself too. In addition to the beauty supply place, we also went to a discount store and a few op shops (also known as charity or second hand stores, we call them op shops here). I forgot to take photos on my second-hand treasures before I put them in the washing machine, and now they're all wet (but clean!), so I'll share them tomorrow.


Firstly, I snagged this OPI nail polish. It was on clearance and only $6.50, so a freaking bargain compared to their normal retail of around $20. The shade is called Goldeneye. I  have quite a few glitter polishes, but I didn't have a gold so I'm pretty pleased that this one was on special!








The next three nail polishes were purchased at the discount store we visited. I haven't tried them yet so I don't know how good the quality is, but I use cheap nail polishes all the time with very few problems.
This one is a really nice browny nude, kind of like the colour of very milky tea. Actually I might even call it that! These ones only have numbers for the shades and not names. The brand is one I've never heard of, Tips and Toes, and the shade is 05.





Onto much brighter shades! The Tips and Toes brand also had a few neon shades. I'm not really a neon kind of person, but I thought I'd grab a couple anyway because they were so cheap, and I love adding to my nail polish collection. I like to have a lot of options and hate when I decide on an idea for nail art and then find I'm missing a colour. Fortunately as my collection grows, I'm finding that happens less often! This is a neon orange, the shade is number 81.





What? More nail polish? Yes. I have a problem, okay! Another Tips and Toes one. These were all only $2 each by the way. This is the only other neon I bought, although they also had blue, pink, purple, yellow and maybe others.









I thought the ends of my hair could benefit from some sort of treatment to help smooth them and make them feel a little stronger and healthier. I use De Lorenzo for my shampoo and conditioner and have been really happy with them, so I decided to give this product a try. Its called The Ends and it claims to "seal, strengthen and protect stressed out ends". I'm going to put it in before I set my hair each night, so I'll let you know how it goes.





Perhaps the least exciting to read about is the purchase of my regular toning shampoo. However, I'm sure you can understand my excitement when I tell you that usually in a salon or retail store, a 250ml bottle of this shampoo would cost around $30. I got this 500ml bottle for only $18. WHOO! I love this shampoo. I even use it as a leave-in toner when my hair is too yellow after bleaching. I just lather it onto dry hair, pop a shower cap on and leave it for however long suits me (usually at least an hour). I don't know how "good" this is for my hair, but it does a good job when I'm out of proper toner and works out a lot cheaper.



So I had an incredibly productive day. I'm very pleased with the beauty supplies I got and equally happy with my op shop purchases (can't wait to share!). I'm buzzing from the retail therapy and had a lovely day out with the girls. Hope to do it again soon!