Bright Pink Lipstick Day

I've had 3 of 4 grandparents pass away.  Both my maternal grandparents passed away from cancer when I was very young.  I actually have no memories of my grandfather as he passed away when I was only a few months old; sadly he never met any of my younger sisters.

Today Pink Hope is encouraging us to wear bright pink lipstick to raise awareness, and encouraging us all to Kiss and Tell.

As horrendous as this is, I actually didn't know what types of cancer affected my grandparents.  So I texted my Mum this morning and asked her.  Apparently my grandfather passed away at 70 from prostate cancer and my grandmother at 65 (only 5 years older than my Mum is currently!) from colon cancer.  Needless to say, my Mum gets tested regularly as she is relatively high risk.

My paternal grandfather also passed away a few years ago from pneumonia and heart problems/complications.  My father's side of the family certainly has a history of heart problems, with my uncle and great-uncle passing away from heart attacks.

It's so important to understand your family's medical history so you know what types of things to be wary of.

Kiss and Tell is something everyone can do for their own benefit.

Donating is something you can do for the benefit of women's health research.  You can donate via sms below, or transfer funds into their bank account (details on their website) or fundraise.

NB this is not a sponsored post but a great cause.

Chanel Timeless CC soft

I went into Chanel a few months ago to buy a pair of earrings and fell in love with this bag.  Price tag: $4500. Ugh.

I walked out with just the earrings but couldn't stop thinking about the bag.  Then a few months later it popped up on ebay with a local Aussie seller (therefore no $1000 goods tax).  It was a sign.  A few days later it arrived in my hot little hands and I couldn't contain myself.

Here she is....

Black caviar with silver hardware.  Matches (almost) my wallet which is black caviar with gold hardware.

What I love about this bag is that the chain isn't the normal thick Chanel chain, making it lighter and therefore easier to carry.  It also has many compartments unlike the flap which is just one big compartment.

Even though I wanted it as a work bag, it's actually quite versatile and I've worn it out more times than I've taken it to work!

This is how crazy Sydney weather has been.  The 2 pics above were taken a few days apart!

Health Kick

I'm not one of those "let's get healthy" people.  I don't make new years resolutions.  I also believe in moderation and so have never put myself on a diet.

But lately my body has been in pretty bad shape.

I'm having constant (every hour of every day) neck, shoulder and back pain.  My headaches are coming back (had a headache for half of last week) and my period pain has come back with a vengeance (TMI?).  I'm even getting said period pain not when I have my period.  Cool.

Seriously, I'm 28.  If I'm having these physical issues NOW, what on earth is going to happen when I'm 35 and pregnant?  Or when I'm 70?  Just the thought of it scares me.

SO.  What am I doing about it?

1. Started seeing a physio and being diligent about doing my home exercises
2. Will also start doing Pilates with my physio (due to my hypermobility - more on that later)
3. Joined the gym today!  Yet to walk inside the gym though.... 
4. Drinking my recommended 1.4L of water a day (apparently that's what I need to drink for my weight)
5. Eating healthy - have always been reasonably healthy so not a great deal of change there
6. If I do need a mid-arvo snack, I've stocked my desk with nuts or I'll reach for a piece of fruit
7. Go for a walk if I'm starting to seize up in my neck/shoulder/lower back

All these things are minor adjustments to my life so I'm more likely to stick with it.  I'm finally listening to my body and investing the time and money now.  Hopefully this will prevent longer term problems.

What kind things do you to for your body?

New Kid on the Block

Today I was the new kid on the block and started a new role in a different team.  I've come to realise and accept that I am just not the type of person that can do the same job day in day out for years on end.  For a long time I struggled with the expectation that job hopping is frowned upon and that stability and longevity are desirable traits when it comes to work experience.

As awful as it might sound, whilst I love learning about new things I also get bored quite quickly.  Once I feel like I have mastered something I lose interest very quickly and want to move onto the next thing.

An opportunity popped up in HR for a similar role to what I was doing so I jumped at the opportunity.  I had worked with the Hiring Manager before so I didn't even have to interview for the role!  So today began my new adventure into HR systems, and it started in a red Asos skirt from a few years ago.

It was sad to say goodbye to my old role but I felt I had gotten everything I could out of it.  One of my stakeholders on my last day sent me this lovely email:

It really made my day.  It made me feel like the midnight conference calls and all the weekends and public holidays spent in the office were worth it.

Here's to a good 9 months work-wise!

Adding more Mimco to my collection

I would never pay retail for Mimco.  RRP is not worth the quality of products, especially their bags and wallets.

However in the past 2 weeks I've acquired 2 new Mimco bags.  Both were on sale (of course) and the sling bag I bought for almost 70% off!

I've needed a laptop bag ever since I started fulltime work (some 8 years ago).  I had been known to carry my laptop around in a Sheike shopping bag (yep those thin cardboard bags) or in my hands (not good when you are juggling your normal handbag + laptop + power supply + mouse + coffee).  I hate those bulky laptop bags work gives you and I find they add unnecessary weight.  This Mimco bag doesn't scream "I have a laptop in here please rob me" but has an inner padded section for your laptop.

I've also needed a sling bag since forever.  I had been eyeing this hip bag off but was certainly NOT going to pay $250 for it.

I punched some extra holes in it to shorten the strap and now it sits perfectly on my hip!

Have you made any new purchases recently?

MNG now shipping to Australia

Have a look.  Prices are a bit on the exxy side ($500 for most of their leather jackets) - I hope the quality is decent but I find Mango quality a bit hit and miss, which makes things difficult when you are buying online and cannot inspect the item beforehand.  Having said that, they have a 30-day return policy and for $5 they will come and pick up the item from you.  Pretty good!

There is a lot of paisley on the site and I know many people object to paisley.  I don't mind it myself, but everything in moderation, people!

This also applies to leopard:

Delivery is free for orders > $100 and they have a LOT of stock.  Might spend some time tonight going through it to see if there's anything worth buying.

Spring has sprung!

What a glorious start to Spring Sydneysiders have today!  I walked to work with a certain skip in my step, excited about the impending warm weather and hopefully sunny days.

My weekend started with drinks and tunes - a work colleague's farewell drinks which saw me order a cocktail that came with a side of whizz fizz (seriously just whizz fizz).

Then dinner and more drinks with family and friends before Tom's gig.  Tom's band performed at The Metro, selling the venue out (1,100 tickets!) on their first ever headline show, which is kinda cool.  They're already planning their next show!

Saturday was cold, wet and dreary all day.  I demanded Vietnamese beef pho for dinner which always makes me feel better despite the bleak outlook outside.

My friend S took me to Lady Gaga at Allphones Arena.  Admittedly I loved Lady Gaga when she first came out 6 years ago (I even went to see her perform at Oxford Art Factory for a measly $22) but in recent years I've felt like she's been controversial for the sake of being controversial, and I've not liked her music as much as I used to.

I have to say though, she is an amazing talent.  She hit all her notes, she's a good dancer, and spent a bit of time at the piano singing ballads.  Her fans monsters are a bit outrageous and made me feel so old and prudish.  One guy was wearing 15 inch platforms.  He literally could not take any steps.  Another guy wore HALF a pair of black leather underpants - his right exposed butt cheek was dangerously close to my face.  There were people dressed in fairy lights, women in fishnet stockings, pointed bras (a la Madonna) and panties - thankfully no one in a meat dress though!

Yesterday I spent much of the day on the couch in front of the telly watching reruns of Friends and Food Safari.  Great weekend, all in all.

How did you spend your last few days of winter?