Going cold turkey

I'm going cold turkey with online shopping where people are involved.  This means eBay, gumtree, and various facebook shopping groups.  I don't want to sound anti-people but..... I hate dealing with people!

In the past few months I've had people offer me ridiculously low and insulting Buy It Now prices for designer stuff I've listed on eBay.  I've had winning bidders contact me immediately after an auction ends asking me to cancel the transaction as they can't pay for the item.  As a seller who cannot leave negative feedback to a buyer, what else can I do?  And then there's those buyers who win an auction and just never pay and never respond to your messages.  And then there are those sellers who you pay for an item, and then they turn around and tell you they want to keep the item and that they will refund you.

Maybe it's the IT nerd in me but I only want to shop when computers are involved.  The computer shows me there is stock in my size, I put it in my virtual shopping trolley, I pay for it, and it magically appears in my hands a few days later.  I am much happier in these circumstances.  And as a seller, I think I might try my luck at markets instead of eBay.  Yeah I know there are people involved there but only for the day.  When you go home you never have to see them again.

Also, here is a turkey.  He's cold.

Also, this is a conversation I had with my sister yesterday.  I had to share...

me:  seriously

I feel like a cake

sister:  me too!!

me:  where can we get cake?

sister:  a cafe?

me:  oh there's a bakery on harris st

wanna check it out?

sister:  i cant leave!

i'll just have to eat my caramello koala at my desk

me:  grrrrrrrrrrr

why did you bother having a conversation with me about cake if you cant leave your goddamn office for some freaking cake

ok now i'm angry

sister:  i didnt think you were actually serious

me:  IM ALWAYS SERIOUS WHEN IT COMES TO CAKE

sister:  haha ok

now i know

Back to cooking basics

I love cooking and baking.  I find it therapeutic and relaxing.

But when you're busy at work and don't have a lot of time to think of recipes to try or to spend time grocery shopping, you end up making the same tried and tested meals.  Not that there's anything wrong with that but I was feeling like I was stuck in a rut.  Same non-exciting meals made in a rush with no care or effort.

Last weekend I said no to some social engagements and decided to clean out my pantry and tried to use up some stuff in my fridge/freezer.  I'd heard of using sour cream in muffins before so I thought I'd try it out with some leftover frozen berries.  They actually turned out really moist and fluffy.

Last night I made some fish pot pies which I washed down with some freshly squeezed watermelon, carrot and ginger juice.  I love ginger in fresh juice!

And today I decided to make some chicken and vegetable soup as I'm feeling a little under the weather.  How have I never made this before?!?!?  It's so tasty and easy on my upset tummy.

The best part is it only cost me $10 for about 3L worth of soup.  Bargain!

Winter Coats

Sydney has cooled down a lot in the past week which means I've been able to wear the coats I've purchased recently!  I am head over heels in love with this pale blue Marcs coat I picked up last month.

 

I've been meaning a plain black short coat for a while now and took advantage of Marcs $100 off selected coats sale.  It's very similar to the green short Marcs coat I bought last year.

And of course my amazing Burberry trench that I did end up receiving after the whole shipping fiasco.  Unfortunately the thread on one of the buttons has already started to unravel which is disappointing.

The other day I left my office to buy a spoon to eat the soup I had brought from home (my office has no cutlery!).  I came back with 6 spoons (Coles only sold them in a 6-pack), a bag of nuts, 2 apples, masking tape, a permenant marker, and a Harper's Bazaar.  Not because I read Harper's Bazaar but because I wanted the free scarf it came with (and mainly because it was a freezing cold day and I wasn't warm enough).   

It's supposedly a Ginger & Smart design.  When I told my boyfriend I got a free Ginger & Smart scarf he said, "Oh that's nice.  What brand is it?"  haha clueless males!

10 points if you recognised my new Arty!

Lunch break's over, back to work!! (and Happy Birthday Holly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

A further 30% off sale stock at Forever New

I'll tell you why I love Forever New.

Firstly, because their quality is pretty good for their price point.
Secondly, their price point.
Thirdly, their sizes haven't strayed into 'vanity sizing' territory so most of the time I actually fit a 6.
Fourth, for the rare times a size 6 actually is too big, they have a size 4 which is tiny beyond tiny.
Fifth, they have free shipping and their online shopping and delivery processes are so easy!

I can normally be found over at asos.com but on the rare occasion I buy from an Australian retailer, most of the time it will be Forever New.

At the moment they are having a further 30% off their sale stock, so I picked up a few items I've been eyeing.

 Bella peacoat - $48.97

 

 

Beth Raglan tops - $17.47 each

Sequin sweat top - $34.97

They had website issues this morning I assume due to the high volume of traffic but it's been better this afternoon.

Kx.

My Christian Louboutin Collection

I finally sat down last weekend and took some photos of my Louboutin collection before I sold a few of them.  Whilst I had the shoes out for their "photoshoot" I took the opportunity to re-organise the shoe cupboard and display the shoes instead of keeping them hidden in their shoeboxes.

Without further ado....

Homewares ban over! New quilt cover set and sheets

I've been on a boyfriend-imposed homewares ban for about a year.  I take his point - we live in an apartment with a limited amount of storage space and we're only renting.  It does make sense not to buy things until we buy a house and can choose the colour scheme, etc.

Well, a breakthrough happened a few weeks ago.  My boyfriend decided we needed another set of sheets.  He's a sheet snob - his Mum only ever bought Sheridan sheets and the crazy boy thinks he can tell the difference between 100% cotton and polycotton sheets (I can't).  I already have a set of 1000 thread count sheets I got from Target years ago, but when they are in the laundry we've been using a set of I think 300 thread count sheets that according to my boyfriend aren't 100% cotton.  He was right.  So he demanded another set of 100% cotton sheets.  I reminded him about the homewares ban he had imposed on me.  So he kindly lifted the ban so I could buy a set of sheets.  Whilst the ban was lifted, I sneakily popped a new quilt cover set into my shopping trolley as well.

I dislike all the quilt cover sets we have.  I bought one many many moons ago when I thought it would be cool to have rainbow polka dots.  It now looks weird thrown over a bed slept in by two 27-year-olds.  Another one my Mum bought for me - it's black with embossed circles on it (which I love) but it has a terracota brown border.  I hate brown with a passion.  A few I've inherited have floral prints which is almost as bad as brown to me.  I wanted a new doona cover which said "no, a 5 year old girl doesn't sleep here".

SO, here are my new quilt cover sets and sheet sets:

 

 

Haven't tried Linen House before but 1000 thread count sheets are 1000 thread count sheets right?  (Don't shoot me).

In other news, I've become best friends with the mailroom lady at my work.  It's not hard when I'm getting parcels almost every day :$

Happy Engagement!

One of my best friends got engaged yesterday!!

Her and her boyfriend (now fiance) have been holiday-ing in Europe and he proposed at the top of the mountain in the Swiss Alps!

The ring is a beautiful princess cut and looks absolutely stunning on her.  She is absolutely thrilled and super duper excited.  She has a side business where she makes wedding stationery (and is bloody good at it if I say so) so this will be her chance to make beautiful wedding stationery for herself.  She's also one of the most caring, loving and loyal people I know and I'm so happy for her.  Can't wait to have her home so she can tell me all about the proposal!

Congratulations S and N!!

Mothers Day, Bruno Mars and other goodies

My weekend was HECTIC, much like most of my week was, much like the past 6 weeks have been :S  The only time I had to myself all weekend was Saturday morning until midday which I spent booking some hotels and flights for South America.  The rest of the day was running around to buy my Dad a birthday present, buy my Mum a Mothers Day present, my boyfriend had a 'jam session' with my cousin's boyfriend (an excuse to get together and play guitar on the new equipment he bought), watch the Swans lose miserably against the Hawks, go Strike bowling, have a brunch with my family for Mothers Day, set up a new modem, router and range extender at my parents' place, and have a 'games night' with my cousins. 

Me and my Mumma in Papua New Guinea in the late 80s.  You know it's the 80s by my Mum's perm and jumpsuit

This past weekend and following week is always busy for me because I have Mothers Day for my Mum and Tom's Mum, then my Dad's birthday on the 15th May, then Tom's Mum's birthday the very next day!!  On Saturday, my Dad made his gourmet baked beans with chorizo and we had a nice brunch on the pergola at my parents' place.  I bought my Mum some flowers and bought her a fancy schmancy kettle which boils water at different boiling points according to the type of tea you are drinking (green tea requires water that's cooler than black tea). 

We also gave my Dad his birthday present although his birthday isn't until Wednesday - a new modem/router and wifi range extender.  I bought him a tablet last year for his birthday as he wanted to get into this 'internet thing' and he is loving facebook life!  His only gripe is because my parents have thick double brick walls in the house, the wifi signal is often very weak.  Set all the hardware up for him yesterday and he's thrilled!

We also celebrated Mothers Day with my extended family.  My family never has to worry about going hungry because we over-cater like crazy people.

 

You know you've overcatered when THIS is only HALF of the leftovers

What else have I been up to?  I bought a new phone - Samsung Galaxy S3 4G....  Still setting it up and playing around with it but will let you guys know what I think of it soon (thankyou to the kind man at the VirginMobilestore who punched out my SIM into a micro SIM even though I'm not a VM customer).

A ridiculously bright pink phone cover is required

I did end up getting a High Distinction for my final semester of my Grad Diploma of Applied Finance.  Done and done.  No more study ever (I say that now....).  I bought myself a little present for getting an HD because despite working my butt off, I really didn't think I actually would.  Ordered from NAP on Thursday night and LITERALLY arrived on my desk as I was typing this....

Work is so crazy, I'm getting better at managing to eat all of my lunch though!

Oh also these arrived in the mail for me last week.  There are no words to describe how amazing they are.

I also received a pair of red bow peeptoes from Valentino last week but I have no photo readily available and I really need to get back to work (if you're on my instagram you would've seen them anyway).

Shop my wardrobe!!!

Hokai.

I have FINALLY gotten round to listing a whole heap of stuff I have sitting in my apartment.  I've got stuff from Asos, Seduce, Marcs, Oxford, Sheike, Forever New, Country Road, T&Co, YSL, Marc by Marc Jacobs and of course Louboutins!

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/hermosa_vogue/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686