Wedding shoes

I think the most common wedding question I've been asked is what shoes I'm going to wear and let me tell you it's tough.  It's like a mother choosing her favourite (Louboutin) child.

I definitely did not want to wear white shoes.  I'm just not that traditional.

SO.  I've decided on these babies for the ceremony and photos:

And then more reasonable/less neck-breaking heels for the reception.  I can't decide between a pair of custom strass peeptoes or a classic nude peeptoe:

Opinions?

A week in my wardrobe

Monday:

Forever New green blouse, Karl Lagerfield white stripe pants, Prada patent pumps 

Tuesday:

Burberry trench, Sheike dress, turkish silk necklace from Buenos Aires, Asos stockings, Bloch ballet flats

Wednesday:

Loft Petites jumper, Chanel necklace, Marcs green coat, Uniqlo pants

Thursday:

New Look Petites polka dot blouse, Marcs blue pants, Christian Louboutin Corneille, Diva necklace

Friday:

Random r&w stripe top from Amsterdam, Nudie jeans, Seed boots, Mimco scarf, Marcs grey coat

Introducing my Louboutin shoe closet

I have been wanting to do this for years but it didn't make sense in any of the previous places I lived.  Now that I'm pretty much settled in the new place I decided it was time for a trip to Ikea to buy the Billy bookcase.

I bought the 28cm deep shelf (other option is 38cm) because it's the perfect depth for my size 5.5-6 shoes and attached these glass doors.  Admittedly I don't like the wooden bar across the middle (would've preferred one uninterrupted pane of glass similar to this but without the Japanese cherry blossom print).  I also bought 2 extra shelves as my shoes are pretty small.

A few hours later I had an amazing looking shelf ready for my shoes but the weight of the glass doors tipped the entire shelf forward and I was worried the entire thing would smash on the ground.  You're meant to attach the shelf to the wall but being a tenant I can't go drilling holes wherever I want so I decided to attach hooks to the top of the shelf and using rope, attach the hooks to picture railing hooks above the shelf.  That seemed to help a bit and then once I started piling shoes onto the shelves it became even more sturdy.

Fast forward a few hours and this is what my second bedroom now looks like:

YES there are still some shoes that didn't fit in the cupboard sitting on the left

Price Discrimination?

I read an article in the Sydney Morning Herald a few years ago.  It basically said some online retailers were trying to charge different amounts for the same item depending on where you live.  The theory was the suburb you live in dictates how much money you earn which in turn dictates how much you should pay for goods.  (On a side note, if they are going to discriminate against where people live, can we talk about discriminating against size??  My size 5 feet and size I-J fingers require much less leather/gold than bigger sizes yet I pay the same price.  I'm not saying we should start discriminating based on the size of an item but isn't discriminating against a consumer's postal code the same theory??).  Anyway I found it absurd at the time and thought nothing of it again.  Until today.

I was browsing the Louboutin sale on the Outnet on my phone last night (don't bother - not worth it).  Then today I thought I'd have another look just in case they added more stock (wishful thinking, right?).  I saw a pair of flats for £217 which I could swear I had seen for £250 the night before.  Clearly I've lost my mind and the lack of sleep is getting to me.  Then tonight upon coming home to an empty apartment and wanting some retail therapy after an obscene day I decided to have ANOTHER look at the Outnet (obsessive!).  Aaaand guess what - they were suddenly £250 again!

Not believing my eyes, I sent my sister the URL for the flats and asked her what price they were.  £217 she says.  Send me a screenshot I tell her.  So here you go, my sister can buy these flats for £217 but I have to pay £250 for them.

Have you experienced this before?  Have I been paying more for months?  Years??!

A good day for parcels

There's nothing I love more than receiving parcels.  I'm like a little kid in a candy store.  Today I got not one but TWO parcels I've been DYING to receive (dying is an exaggeration, but that's how I roll).

The first parcel was from VirginMobile - my brand spankin new HTC One.  I am an HTC convert and can say that with full confidence as I have used iPhone and Samsung in the past with great dissatisfaction.  I've used HTC phones for the greater part of 7 years and was so excited when the HTC One came out.  I also switched over to VirginMobile so I could use 4G capability.  Take that 3G!

Obviously I've been a little distracted today by the shiny new phone on my desk.  Can't wait to get home and set it all up properly.

The second parcel I got was from a US store and contained my Louboutin black peeptoes ('Flo' for those in the know ;).  I was eyeing this off at the Sydney boutique when they first came out 6 months ago but flat out refused to pay Australian retail for them.  Ended up getting them at sale time from the US at 50% Aus RRP!  Can you believe that in my sizeable shoe collection, I do not have a single pair of black peeptoes??

I had 2 male colleagues comment on my nails by 11am this morning.  I didn't realise they were so controversial!  The glitter top coat is from Australis which I bought ages ago during their 40% off all cosmetics sale.  Got it home and realised I could only apply it on top of white nail polish.  Of course, I didn't have any white nail polish.  I call them ny confetti nails :)

DIY glitter shoes for cheap

I thought I would try my hand at DIY shoe restoration because I've seen all these ladies do it on tPF with great success.  Also because Lincraft had a 30% off storewide sale last week so I dropped in and grabbed everything I needed.

• Shoes (leather, canvas, or fabric)
• Acrylic paint/leather paint
• Paintbrush
• Fabric glue (needs to be waterproof and flexible)
• Glitter (2 sizes - fine and chunky, mixed in a container)
• Container for glitter + spoon

I started with a pretty scuffed and worn pair of Louboutin flats...

Easy as 1-2-3:

1. Prep the shoes - I would wipe them down with baby wipes to make sure they're clean and you're painting onto a smooth surface.  If you're not lazy like me, you should tape the sole to protect it from the paint.  I didn't bother because I plan to re-paint the soles red anyway

2. I squeezed the paint directly onto the paintbrush and used a flat-ended brush to paint the shoes.  I found painting from the back of the shoe to the front was easier than front to back.  Wait 1 hour (or whatever the bottle specifies) before applying a second coat.

After 1 coat of paint

After 2 coats

3. I let them dry overnight and then brushed on the glue in segments of about 2 inches before spooning the glitter on.  I tapped the shoes to get the excess glitter off before gluing another segment, repeat.  Again working from heel to front would make it easier.

Dried them overnight and voila!  Glitterised ballet flats!!! 

I used about one third of the bottle of paint, half of each tube of glitter, and about one tenth of the tube of glue.  The amount of paint, glitter and glue I used cost me about $5 and took me about an hour in total.

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

 

 

Crazy Family Weekend and Macarons Galore

A few months ago my Dad decided to organise a HUGE family reunion, and I don't use the term 'huge' lightly.  The reunion included the descendants from my grandmother's father.  My grandmother was one of 12 kids.  My grandmother's family comprises 36 people (not including people who have married into the family or boyfriends/girlfriends).  You do the math.

We had guests who flew in from Brisbane, Gold Coast, Korea and Papua New Guinea.  We had 4 generations represented, from 3 months old to 90 years old.  We had many nationalities present including HK Chinese obviously, but also Caucasian, Papua New Guinean, Italian, African, German, Argentinian, Samoan, Mainland Chinese and probably more that I'm not aware of.  To say that I have a rainbow family is an understatement!

My Dad painstakingly drew up a Family Tree by hand which took him months.  We booked a function room.  Food, cameras and nametags galore (yes nametags - it actually helped a LOT).  It was so good to catch up with relatives we haven't seen in a while, and also meet new relatives we'd previously not been in touch with.

I wore an Asos dress, Louboutin Jennys and usual silver jewelry.

Me and Tom

My sisters and I, and my cousin

Although the Family Reunion consumed most of my weekend, I did manage to squeeze in some macaron making.  Salted caramel galore!!

Oh PS - on the job front: I got really good feedback from my second round interview.  They said I am the strongest candidate and that I should receive the formal offer tomorrow so crossing my fingers and toes.
Oh PPS - I have been shoe shopping again.  Naughty naughty.

It's my Birthday and I'll cry if I want to

Well I didn't cry.  But I could've.  If I wanted to.  Because it was my Birthday.

I had a great day and spent time with most of the important people in my life.  My birthday always makes me realise how lucky I am to be surrounded by people who I love and who love and care for me.

Had breakfast with my boyfriend and our flatmate in Neutral Bay.  I just love Chaos Cafe - we always get great service there and the food is fantastic, especially for the price (especially being lower North Shore).  There was an adorable 2 year old at the table next to ours and she decided she would give me stickers, then proceeded to take them all back haha.  Then as we left her Mum told her to give me one back, so she did smilingly.  Adorable.

I wore my new shoes that Tom bought me for my birthday.  The boy has good taste.

He also got me another little surprise - a book about the history and construction of shoes.  There's a section on prominent footwear designers and before I even said anything, he said "Don't worry, I checked and Mr Louboutin features in there" hahaa

Last night we headed to Stitch Bar for a few drinks and a feed.   I wore a Forever New dress, Louboutin No Prives in Jade Patent, Chanel double flap, 2 Arty rings and a whole heap of random gold costume jewelry (please disregard the horrendously dirty mirror).

Was so good to see all my friends (some of whom I haven't seen in close to 2 years).  Stitch Bar was also great - excited by the retro sewing machines everywhere (I feel like I'm the only person under 30 who can sew and thus gets excited by sewing machines) and the staff were great and accommodating.  Apologies in advance for the cropping - I don't want to violate my friends' privacy by posting pics of them publicly but I also know this detracts from blogposts.  Any tips on how to maintain a balance?

Mixture of uni friends, highschool friends, and those friends where you can't remember how you met them but it's now a decade later and all you know is you're just friends

Me and my sisters - #3, #2, moi (#1), #4

Am having dinner out with my family tonight which I'm looking forward to.  In the meantime, it's back to the books to study for my exam on Wednesday.