Unlock Your Style book launch

Happy Sunday, lovelies!

I was lucky enough to get a spot at the Unlock Your Style book launch, and meet the beautiful author, Nikki Parkinson. Also I got to meet the gorgeous Carly, of Smaggle.

If you looked up the word Charming in the dictionary, you would see a pic of these two ladies.

The message was very much that every woman deserves to feel good about themselves.

There are so many messages out there, both implicit and explicit, that try to make women feel less than gorgeous, that they must improve on something. Multi-million dollar businesses are predicated on making us feel needful of something, or feel inferior. If you don't believe me, just look at a few ads and think about what they imply. But I digress.

Nikki breaks down the method to looking and feeling fabulous into something that all of us can confidently and simply achieve. It's about wearing things because they give you mojo, or boom chicka wah wah, and if they don't, they don't deserve to be taking up valuable real estate in your closet (or money out of your account).

It's also about looking after your skin, and how a bit of simple makeup can lift you into looking super.

"Fine Feathers Make the Bird", as my crazy Auntie used to say.

I can't tell you how much people like her have improved my sense of style and, subsequently, body confidence.

Also Nikki and Carly are genuinely friendly, warm ladies.

Here are some pics.

Carly, after she introduced the guest of honour.

Nikki, 'splaining things.

Me with the Doyenne.

watching a thoughtful inscription on the book

cuddling with Carly. She is tall and I felt safe....

And I have been putting a bit more thought into my outfits lately. Here are some. My little bro told me that my full length mirror has been seeing lots'o'selfie action recently. It has. Believe in your selfie, they say.

Now some weekend baking awaits. Some food shopping. Some internet shopping. Patting/teasing the dog. Our neighbours have thrown a welcome drinks thing this arvo. A nice Sundee arvo.

What are you up to?
What have you been wearing recently?

To jog, perchance to wine.

Happy Sunday evening to you all.

I spent a lot of the weekend talking myself down from Friday. In retrospect, the tasks (work and non-work) of the last month or so have built up a bit of stress; it's been creeping up on me. I've made a very active effort to de-stress, be mindful, ie stop building up situations in my head that are in all likelihood not going to happen.

A large proportion of what we worry about never actually eventuates, am I right? And if it does eventuate, we deal with it often a lot better than we imagine we will. Or at least, we get through it.

To this end, I did my usual Saturday morning boot camp with my group and trainer. A good bit of sweat builds up a good bit of happy.

The fella then decided we would go for a traipse around the new hood in the drizzle. I put some glad rags on, and we lunched.

Dinner was at a Greek restaurant. If you don't walk out of there without rubbing your inflated belly and murmuring "foooood baby", you aren't doing it right. We did it right.

Today we took the dog for a walk out to a cafe. She is quite difficult to walk on the lead as she pulls and gets overwrought at the sight and smell of other dogs, and has slipped out of her lead and chased cats before. The fella was very stressed out, and I had to be firm and calm with them both.

I had a hipster breakfast. GF bread, avocado, fetta, seeds and asparagus. Was healthy and yum. There was a lemon slice there and did I eat that too? You had better believe it!

We have been doing, to quote Faux Fuchsia, some hard core decluttering.


I went for a jog. Now I can have wine.
Cheers to what will hopefully be a successful week.


Ooooh, speaking of glad rags, I won a dress, which I took possession of this week. It is made by Ann at AudreyLane, and the competition was at the blog of the delightful iCurvy (who I believe is very soon to give birth.

Hotch-potch.

Harro!

Don't you hate it when you have to squeeze five days' work into four? That was me last week.
Another monster week looms this week, with abstract art painting, running and such. And work. Always work.
(HOW GOOD WAS OFFSPRING??????)

So, what in this past week or so has been particularly blog-worthy?

Thursday night, the fella and I went to a beer vs pig (the Kiwis) event at Atticus Finch in Brunswick. My fella is Kiwi and loves his brew and swine. Me, I am much more a wine girl than a beer girl. I actually gave most of my beer samples to him. They were very complex brews, a bit too funky for me (when I must drink beer, it is Corona or something light and fruity). There were many matched smallgoods on offer. It was good, but more of a man-thing. Plus I woke up at night with palpitations, probably related to the nitrates. But now I am sounding like a tool so I will shuddup about that.

I tried a bit of pattern-mixing in my work outfit on Friday. Behold:

All of the clothing is stuff I have had for a while - the frock is very old concession Leona Edmiston ($70 bucks, but never fails to get compliments and washes up beautifully), the cardie is Witchery, the scarf was gifted and the boots are circa-2009. The toilets are my work building, circa-1960.

And a closer look at the pattern mixing, and my chins.

Friday was a tough day. It was, as somebody said, Fuckwit Friday. Fraught with frustration.
I found myself at various times about to lose my cool, but held it together. I always feel bad for getting angry, and find it might come out in my voice, but a lovely colleague said that I held up admirably. That was good of her to say and made me feel better. Though these situations, plus being busy and a bit tired, certainly bring up the aggro factor.

Hence, when I got home on Friday, I was very tempted to go "fuckit, I want a pizza, then I want a bottle of wine, and screw driving across town to visit my brother".

(ie doing the very thing that I had told my patients not to do in clinic a few hours earlier.)

I thought "NO, I am going to LOOK AFTER MYSELF!" A bigger and better act of defiance against the world, don't you think?

I had some mexe beans with capsicum and salsa and corn, and ate them with some oven-baked corn tortillas. Kind of like healthy nachos.

Go. Me.

On Saturday, I had a facial, which was part of a birthday present. It was lovely, and my skin really did look and feel nice after. They slopped on some off-milk and shone some special light or some such on it. It is something I need to do more often, being on the downhill side of thirty and all. Part of LOOKING AFTER MYSELF.  The fella and I then made a trip to the city to wander about, and have a nice dinner at geriatric hour. However, on arriving at the Meatball and Wine Bar in the city we were told that the wait would be an hour. I got distressed at that point. But, always clear thinking, I bundled us in a cab to Collingwood and made an emergency call to Josie Bones. Luckily, they had one table of two left, which I promptly nabbed. The Porkstravaganza of Thursday evening extended into Saturday evening.

I have been to JB a few times, it is always popular with people of the man-variety, so I figured the fella would like it. The menu is based around beer and meat. There are vegetables and wine too, if one is so-inclined. The beer menu is encyclopedic. There is something for everybody there, even me. They have a little counter on their wall which, Julia tells me, is the number of people who they have managed to convert to beer drinkers. (Not, as I guessed, the number of dumbass references to Masterchef the owners Chris and Julia get).

Behold, some pork crackling. And other deep fried deliciousness. Behind is a meat cutter thingy. This photo contains approximately 500 grams of saturated fat. Just looking at it can clog your arteries. But YOLO, right?

And here is some beer that I liked. The first one is a Belgian Raspberry Lambic. Kind of like a tart raspberry cordial, for grown ups. It went down a treat. The second one is an apple beer - the front part of the taste was apple-y, and the second part was a very beery, hoppy, fragrant taste. It was very yummy, and will have to get my mitts on some.

We ate the rolled pigs head, some confit chicken, some vegetables and some cheese to finish. No sweeties.

Sunday was a quieter day. I had to do some work, making amendments to a paper which is due today. Yes. I know. Distasteful.

I have been quite good, food wise, during the week, and this is starting to show up on the scales, which is good.  The weekend is where I like to let my hair down a bit, but the next goal is not to be a complete glutton. Just a little bit of one. Contained gluttony.

I am already looking forward to Friday.

On another, more navel-gazing note, a couple of years back, I never used to look forward to weekends. Mostly because I was bored shitless. We would never do anything.

Then, when I separated from my ex, I jammed my weekends with stuff. Mostly because I was like a puppy being let out of a laundry, doing happy laps, but also because I was scared to be still. Scared of what stuff might pop into my mind.

In the end, I had to find a balance between doing cool stuff and relaxing. Both are important.

I hope you all had an interesting, but still relaxing, weekend.

Also, what is your favourite drink?

Some outfits. Some thoughts.

Hey there, I hope everyone had a good weekend.

I was a bit under the weather on Saturday - it's a long story (no not morning sickness), but am better now. I took it easy on Saturday as I had a big day on Sunday - road trip with the Prof to present some of my work to the other big cheeses.

I think the big cheeses liked it. Apart from one particularly curmudgeonly one. He gives everybody else a hard time. Luckily the other big cheeses dish it back as good as they get it.

Here I would like to present some outfits I have worn... (please disregard sinks - it is the only full length mirror in the building)

1. The rather controversial peg-leg pant

Pants - Asos
Wrap around Cardie - Witchery - 10 years ago
Beads - Country Road - 7 years ago.
Ankle boots - Clarks 4 years ago.

I have to say I am not entirely sure about these pants. They certainly are comfy I will give them that. They are made of a jersey material. Perhaps I need a pair in a stiffer material.

2. Channelling Nina Proudman.

This is my take on the look. Like my sassy pose?

Gratuitous Scarf close up.

Denim Jacket - Esprit - last year
Dress - Sussan - 2 years ago
Ankle boots - seen in previous post
Scarf - Mimco - Saturday (YES I said I was going to be frugal, YES I was, but the fella bought it for me. Cos he wanted to. I graciously said yes, he could)

In anticipation of Offspring being back soon (have already pencilled in a Lady-date in front of the telly with my friend Y) I am style-jacking Nina Proudman. Cept she doesn't wear black much. But she certainly does the denim jacket over maxi skirt thing. And she has a team of stylists perfecting her look, and her couture budget is a bit more generous than mine. I just have my own resources.

I love this scarf, yellow is so cheerful. Yellow and blue are a very cheerful colour combination, made popular some years ago by Vincent van Gogh, who was decidedly cheerless in himself. All that ear cutting off stuff, I tell you..

This denim jacket was a great buy - it is a fantastic fitted rather than boxy cut. I don't do boxy. It makes me look like, well, a box.

You know how I was talking about money recently? How I had decided to embrace frugality? (For instance I cut some runner insoles down and put them into a pair of uncomfy shoes to make them comfy rather than buying a new pair, I know, yeah, revolutionary).

I had a call on Friday afternoon. My financial situation may be changing, for the better.... will not give away too much now, we shall see how it all goes - will believe it when the first payment is in my account. For the moment, Frugal is the Watchword round these here parts.

I am developing a theory.

It goes a little something like this.

If you are longing for things to be different, change them - this takes guts and sometimes ruffles other's feathers. They will get over it. Or not.
Find a place where you are happy. It may not be perfect but it should be "yeah, I am doing fine".
Embrace the circumstances. Make the best of them.
This is the time when nice things tend to occur.

Me - spent months longing for a fella to sweep me off my feet. Then actively made decision to stop longing for things like this, they seemed so hard to come by. Then - whoosh- fella.

Nanna had a plaque thingy she had on her mantelpiece (I miss nanna). It said "things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out". True, dat. Some things just cannot be sugar coated, and are just crap, but most stuff is eminently bearable and potentially, with the right attitude, enjoyable.

OOTD - the declutter.

Inspired by one of my favourite bloggers, Faux Fuchsia, I actioned a declutter on my closet yesterday. If the item of clothing didn't give me mojo, it was sent off to Savers, where hopefully it would give somebody else mojo.

I really need to capitalise on fairly minimal space. To that end, I took myself off to Howards Storage World to get some things to store things in, plus a very nifty garlic crusher.

It is always fun doing a clean out, as you are again acquainted with clothes and accessories that you forgot you had. Kind of like shopping, but without the spending and the telltale shopping bags.

What I learned about my couture collection.
1. I have too much black. I am not to buy any more black things. Black is not the new black.
2. I have lots of tops in a cream colour
3. I have heaps of accessories and need to make sure I wear them to put more oomph into an outfit.
4. I have a lot of Frocks (would NEVER say I have too many because a girl can NEVER have too many frocks). Many of them are Leona Edmiston Ruby (ie the cheaper line she does). Don't even get me started about Leona, I love her frocks.

Anywho, here are the after shots from the declutter. Behold:

Got me one of those little makeup caddy thingies, looks tres professional.

Accessories hangy thingy, with lucky running cap hanging atop.

So without too much fuss this morning, I could assemble a snazzy ensemble. My job has seen me go from "need to look very respectable in clothes that I don't mind ruining with (other's) body fluids" to "I can look less respectable (but no jeans), I sit at a desk and am not at risk of copping errant body fluids but I need to be comfy". ie. PhD candidate.

Here is

outfit

Cardie: Cotton on
Cream top (one of a few I own :/): Country Road, last season, on sale
Leggings: Sussan
Ankle Boots: Django and Juliette, from Cinori in Brighton
Necklace: Gifted, from a friend who bought it at "A Quirk of Fate" in Northcote. Incidentally, the beads are made of silicon and are good for babies to grab a hold of. My friend was at pains to tell me this. I am not expecting a baby so I don't know why (? Auntie Aspirations)  but you will agree they are nice beads

I had always been a proponent of big neclace/not big earrings and vice versa, but for such a blank canvas I went both. The Earrings deserve a closeup

 

Earrings: Klei, from a little shop in East Brunswick called Five Boroughs. These were gotten ages ago but they have similar still there. The grey works in well with the Grey in the beads.

Regarding leggings, I will wear them but they have to be thick and sturdy enough not to show every little bump and nook and cranny. Also, I am slavish about butt coverings when I wear leggings. Just a thing I have. I am considering colourful pant purchases for the winter - perhaps some skinny jeans in a block dark colour, or peg leg pants with a fine pattern or block colour. Peg legs look the business with ankle boots.

I am loving ankle boots at the moment, probably even more than knee boots (but seeing Nina Proudman in long boots soon will modify this). I am looking forward to the weather where I can wear my knee high boots - I have a couple of pairs that are stalwarts and always draw compliments. I am currently lusting after the blue leather ones she wears on the ad for Offspring - if the shoe shops had any sense whatsoever they would be making cheap knockoff copies quick smart.

OOTD - The internationalist.

I have been lucky enough to do quite a bit of travelling, on both business and pleasure (mostly pleasure). And I love to go and look in the shops, marvel at the couture, and marvel at how comparatively cheap the couture is. It is really little surprise that Aussie Fashionistas (and Fashionistoes - the male equivalent) are heading online - the choice and price is superior.

However, I love a bit of skin-on-skin, real life clothes-buying action. And there are clothes shops like Anthropologie that just are not available here.  I could easily spend a whole day in that shop. I have - in London and SF.

Last night, I went out with my dear friend Y, for dinner in Northcote. As I clothed for dinner, I realised that everything I was wearing, barring bra and undies, were from trips overseas. It is a sort of uncomfortable-in-betweeny- weather in Melbourne (I believe the lingo is transeasonal) and I had to pick a weather appropriate outfit, which is hard.

Behold.

Lacy Top - Shop in Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco (on my first trip there)
Camisole - New Look, Dubai, 2011
Jeans - Adriano Goldschmeid (AG), Anthropologie, San Francisco (my second trip there)
Shoes - Pilcro, Anthropologie, San Francisco
Beads - From Airport in Bilbao, Spain. They look a bit Spanish, no?


Here is a gratuitous close-up of the shoes. The photo above does not capture their true fabulousness. See:

 

I really recommend AG jeans. Normally jeans buying makes me fly into a rage; I have short legs, big thighs and a big bum with a smaller waist, and a lot of jeans manufacturers don't make stuff that flatters me. I now own 3 pairs of these jeans (the first two bought on sale) and they are flattering, comfy and stylish - the holy trinity. And also, no exposure of butt crack. Hallelujah.

What is the best couture you have bought overseas?