Port Macquarie Weekend

Last weekend we went up to Port Macquarie - about 4 hours north of Sydney.  Port Macquarie is far enough away from Sydney that you feel you're getting away, but close enough for you to get away for the weekend.

We did some lounging around, some "shopping" (groceries and Supre basic tees), cooking and eating.  Before we went down I did some research for breakfast options and decided on LVs on Clarence as they seem to have the best coffee in the Port Macquarie area.  The coffee was great and the food was also great. I had the LV's Big Breaky which was far too big a serving for me.

After breakfast we visited Port Central Shopping Centre where I grabbed some Supre basics from their 30% off sale (as Sydney Westfield had completely sold out of all XS and XXS).  I love Supre basics because they are completely plain so great for wearing under jumpers, cheap, and fit me well.  Also grabbed some groceries for dinner and some Bakers Delight goodies for lunch/arvo tea.

Side note - I used to work at Bakers Delight back in the day when they made spinach and feta twists.  Let me tell you, getting a spinach and feta twist straight out of the oven and into my gob was one of the best culinary experiences of my life.

That night I decided to make Hungarian Goulash which sounds easy enough but when you're in an unfamiliar kitchen with unfamiliar tools, it's more difficult than you would think.  Nonetheless, goulash was good, washed down with red wine and then finished off with a fruit tart (strawberries, blueberries and kiwi fruit).

A friend recommended Milkbar Cafe so on Sunday morning we decided to get coffee and go for a walk along the beach.  Disappointed is an understatement.  We waited 15 minutes for 3 coffees which were so weak and milky.  LVs coffee was so much better in comparison.  Across the road is the beach and we had a brilliantly sunny and warm day (despite it being cold and very wet in Sydney).

We also walked down to Flynns Beach to have lunch on the water before our drive back to Sydney.  As soon as we hit the Pacific Highway we hit the rain.  And rain it did for the past week.

I'm not really one for politics

I don't support any political party and have been known to cast the occasional donkey vote (thanks to my Year 6 teacher for teaching me about that!).  When I was younger, I did this because I had no interest in politics and really didn't know much about it.  As I got older, I did this because I didn't think there was one party or one leader that I preferred over the next - it was much of the sameness to me.  All politicians lie to some degree, all politicians slander each other to some degree, and after 27 years I cannot choose which party I prefer to lead the country.

What I will say, however, is that Julia Gillard is a strong woman and I respect her for that.  She stood up for herself when Tony Abbott made those arguably misogynist comments.  She took only a few days off work when her father passed away in September last year.  She has copped a lot of flak by the media and general public for her marital status, childlessness, partner's occupation, and dress sense.  And through it all she has maintained dignity. 

Admittedly some of the things she slash her "Advisers" did were a bit misguided.  A photo shoot of you knitting?  Really?  Living in the Western suburbs of Sydney for a week?  How transparent of you...  But I don't think that gives anyone the right to throw sandwiches at her.

I listened to Rudd's and Abbott's speeches last night.  I have to say Rudd is a much better speaker and much more inspiring.  I found Tony Abbott to be a bit clumsy in his delivery and taking cheap shots at the Labour party (which I realise the Labour party do to the Liberal party all the time but I'm just comparing the 2 speeches last night).  I feel like it cheapened his image whereas Kevin spoke in a more refined and respectable way.

ANYWAY, sorry for the text-heavy and serious tone of this post. In photographic news, this is my doggie after his shower yesterday.

Drunken texting

I HAVE to share this conversation with you guys because I could not stop laughing/crying when my sister showed me.  So my sister got drunk hammered on the weekend and this is the conversation that ensued with her boyfriend....

Sister: No worries p cone

Sister’s boyfriend: sorry?

Sister: Come pixel be

Sister’s boyfriend: come and pick you up?

Sister: Tees

Sister’s boyfriend: hahah okay, ill call you when im nearby
stay cool
from the star?

Sister: Yah.

Sister’s boyfriend: okay im coming

Sister: So ruby

Are you wearing the wrong bra size?

I was.  For years.  Until today.

Let me give you the back story.  I have never been fitted for a bra.  Back when I started buying bras in  highschool, I locked myself in the Myer change rooms one afternoon and tried on a whole heap of sizes.  I chose the one that fit best and it happened to be a 12D.  Now I was about 1.5 dress sizes bigger in highschool (I think it's called stress eating and the HSC) so I probably was a 12D.  However as the years passed, I dropped weight without dropping my bra size.  I continued to buy 12D out of habit and nothing else.  I realised a few years ago that it was probably the wrong size but didn't think it was enough of an issue to try and fix it.....

....until I googled "wrong bra size symptoms" earlier this week.  My biggest problem is that the band at the back rides up something savage.  I keep trying to pull it down but it keeps riding up.  And I've always worn bras on the loosest clip; whenever I did up the tightest or even the middle clip I felt like I was being constricted.  So apparently the riding up band means the band itself is too big.  Which makes sense when you think about it - how can a size 6 woman wear a size 12 band?  Crazy.  You'd think I wasn't University educated.

Another problem I have (and only in some of my bras, not all) is I don't fill out the cup.  Which you'd think was another telltale sign but some of my 12D bras I can fill out no problem, but most I can't.  Go figure.  I read that if you go down a band size you need to correspondingly go up a cup size, but given I don't fill out my cup size in most 12Ds, I decided to stick with D but go down to a 10.

bendonlingerie.com.au was having a huge sale and I managed to pick up 2 Pleasure State bras and an Elle Macpherson bra for $44.85 all up (that's about $14.95 each!).  It's still on but a lot of the good stuff is gone.  Still worth a look though - RUN!

Anyway I ordered these 3 bras in a 10D and was so nervous waiting for them to arrive.  I got home last night, dropped everything and tried them on.  And can I just say......  my boobs have never been happier!!  They are finally being supported properly, the band is staying down and I feel so comfortable.  Funny thing is, as I still haven't been properly bra fitted, 10D might still be the wrong size but let me tell you it feels MUCH better than 12D.

I will be going into bras n things next week hopefully to get fitted properly and I urge you to do the same!  If you have been fitted previously, did you find out you're actually a different size to what you had been wearing?

PS - I measured my underbust and bust and entered the measurements into various online calculators and they all told me I should be a 10A.  Which I know is very wrong.  I would advise against trusting these calculators without question.

PPS - sorry for this pictureless post.  I don't think you want to see pics of me in my ill-fitting bra anyway!

Mad Hatters High Tea @ The Westin, Sydney

I'm a sucker for anything with a novelty factor and this High Tea has loads of it.  Called the 'Mad Hatters High Tea' it's got an Alice in Wonderland theme to it, complete with bottomless tea and coffee and an optional alcoholic beverage if you are feeling that way inclined.  I decided to stick with my tea and coffee because 10am is too early to have champagne, even for me!  My girlfriends didn't disappoint though - they opted for the champagne and cocktail alternatives.

I took the opportunity to wear my outrageously fancy Louboutins which hadn't been worn yet.   I tried these on at David Jones which, at 40% off still had a price tag of $1,800ish.  Couldn't believe my lucky stars when I found the same pair in my size on UK eBay for considerably less.  They were snapped up in a quick second.

(On a side note, I didn't realise how many rose gold accessories I had in my wardrobe til I was trying to match these shoes.  I'm wearing my marine YSL Arty in rose gold, a Mimco rose gold mesh pouch, and a rose gold bracelet from eQuip!)

Back to the food - how pretty does it look!  The savouries were amazing (I've always been a savouries girl) but I found the purple macaron (aka clock) was sickly sweet and I peeled off all the fondant on the top hat and just ate the chocolate cake inside. 

Loved their Earl Grey and also loved their mini teapots hehe

Here's a photo of some headless bodies to prove I didn't go to High Tea by myself :)

I freaking love scones.  Mainly because I love cream.  The raspberry jam was delicious!

On our drive home we got stuck in an awful traffic jam.  They had closed down one lane on the bridge for repairwork, then there was also trackwork along the bridge.  It took over an hour to get home.  At least we had a good view though :)

The outfit catchup post

Forever New sequin sweat, necklace chains from Diva & prism pendant from Asos (it's a men's ring)

Felt like an air hostess with the silk scarf tied like this.  Wearing a Forever New leather skirt, Asos knit, vintage silk scarf from Vinnies, YSL Arty, Christian Louboutin Pigalles in bleu saphir

Nudie Tight Long Johns in flat blue, Forever New navy/grey raglan tee, random leopard print scarf my Mum bought for me from Korea, Chanel ballet flats

Asos polka dot sweat, Nudie Tight Long Johns in black, Tony Bianco Santana ankle boots

My jumper has heart elbow patches!  

Marcs blue pants, Forever New silk blouse, Diva necklace, Christian Louboutin Love Me 100

T by Bettina Liano oversized tee, Asos Petite faux leather leggings, Valentino bow couture peeptoes

Burberry trench, Longchamp le pliage, boots from Italy

Have sales, will buy

Eeeek.  I have picked up a LOT during the sales.  I think the "it was so cheap I HAD to" excuse is wearing thin by now.  But really, $5 Havaianas??  You'd be silly not to.

$2 Puma socks - I don't have a pic as the sale ended (ozsale) but they were just plain socks for wearing with boots in winter.

Amrita Singh jewelry

 The 4 pieces retail for $475 and I got them for $80 total + $10 shipping!

Cotton On

L: fur lined hoodie $27.96, R: Angie black cardi $20.96

 Kath hidden wedge boot $27.96

 

Birdcage shelf $9 - might use it as a spice rack

Aaaaand the rest of this stuff was $5 each -

Bonds

 Black Active Tights $27.24

 Collectibles Bikini $5.42

Asos

Strangely enough it's all black and white which is very unlike me!

I'm hoping this skirt isn't too short - shouldn't be given how short I am.  If all else fails I can wear stockings underneath.

What did you score in the sales?