Cheap and cheerful

Apologies for my crazy post yesterday - I drank a can of Coke out of boredom and got a bit crazy/hyperactive/disruptive.  I feel much calmer today.

Has anyone been outside to enjoy the 34 degree weather we've got in Sydneytown today?  I went outside to read my book and 15 minutes later I have a very sexy skirt tan-line ;)

Today my outfit is cheap and cheerful:

Cardigan: Cotton On $30
White tank: Supre $2.50
Skirt: Asos $9
Shoes: Ted Baker $100
Grand Total $141.50

(Don't mind the pair of scissors in my left hand - I went to the bathroom to cut the tag off the top as it was scratchy and pissing me off).

Last night I had dinner with my best friend for her birthday.  I wore my Christian Louboutin Biancas with black Nudie jeans, cyan blue H&M blazer and a beautiful silk scarf I picked up from Vinnies over the weekend.  I decided to take my Dior out which is rare because it's white canvas and I'm super paranoid about getting it dirty (clearly not a thought out purchase)

The birthday girl wanted to go to Chefs Gallery near Town Hall.  I had the Dim Sum Sampling Platter and Egg Noodles with Shitake Mushrooms and Golden Fried Shallots.  I know I'll probably get flamed for this but I've eaten at Chefs Gallery twice now and haven't loved it either time.  Maybe I don't appreciate asian food?  Yes I see the irony!  Anyway, I bought her a dozen macarons from that Town Hall place which I mentioned on the Vogue Forums but we were wayyyy too full from dinner to have dessert.

Happy Birthday Dani!!

Also - thank god tomorrow is Friday.  I have a very leisurely day planned with a work lunch slash drinks slash piss-up so I might not get a chance to post.  Have a good weekend!

I think I have ADD

I can't sit still.  More than a day of not much work at work and I go a bit crazy.  I need to find things to do.

I've already done the following today:

• Go for a walk
• Go 'window shopping'
• Chat to the sales assistant about art even though you have no interest in art
• Drink some tea
• Drink some water
• Annoy work colleagues
• Eat your lunch slowwwwwlyyyyyy
• Go on Vogue Forums
• Read Sydney Morning Herald
• Read Sydney Morning Herald again in case there are new articles between now and 10 minutes ago
• Organise NYE (I might be going to Opera Bar)
• Reply to work emails as soon as they hit your Inbox

Anyone have any ideas to pass the time for the rest of the day?

(btw I hope I'm not being insensitive by using the term ADD.  My cousin has ADD so I know the real effects it can have).

ETA: Sorry for the lack of pretty pictures today.  As you can tell from my post, nothing exciting has happened.

Quinoa - the new superfood

I'd heard a lot about this mysterious grain (grain?  I think it's a grain...) and finally decided I would try it out.  I didn't let my embarrassing mispronunciation of it (quin-oh-ah) and having my sister correct me (keen-wah) deter me.  I googled a few recipes but nothing really stood out to me, so I decided to make my own (bit dangerous, especially with a food you've never cooked before).  I can't give you the recipe unfortunately, because it was made up on the spot slash in my head.

 It was pretty good - there's beef mince, rice, quinoa, and green lentils in there.  I've also got white wine vinegar, thyme, Moroccan seasoning, salt, pepper, lemon juice and cumin.  The seasoning might seem over the top but they actually worked really well together.  Topped with greek yoghurt nomnomnom.  I made HEAPS last night so we'd have some for leftovers tonight.  I think tonight I'll shread the capsicum and toss it in with the rice/quinoa/lentils as a side (maybe add some zucchini and or carrot?), and cook up some beef eye fillets.

I'm continuing the healthy eating today with 2 wholemeal wraps for lunch - rare roast beef, cucumber, spinach, grape tomatoes, cracked black pepper (with some sneaky real egg mayo).

Btw how crazy was the rain yesterday Sydneysiders?  I passed through 4 suburbs between 4pm and 6:30pm and the weather changed between each suburb.  Sunshine and blue skies at Olympic Park, horrendous rain at Gladesville, light rain in the city, then no rain in the city, then horrendous rain and dark storm clouds at Chatswood, then bright skies and sun came out again at Lindfield.  Ok that's 5 suburbs.  I can't count.

Louboutin #3 and #4 - Jenny Natural Canvas and black Hyper Prive with red tip

I found these on ebay from the same seller and grabbed both.  To me, the black peeptoe with red tip is the quintessential Louboutin shoe and I always thought it would be the first pair I would own.  I'd never tried the Hyper Prives on before but they look similar to the Very Prives and both contain 'Prive' so they must fit the same right?  Wrong.  You'd think by now I'd learned my lesson about seemingly similar Louboutins NOT fitting the same.  This is another one.

The Hyper Prive is exactly the same as the Very Prive except the platform at the front of the HPs is taller (1 inch) than the VPs (I'd say 3/4 inch).  I think the higher platform actually pushes my foot up and out so my foot doesn't sit as comfortably inside the shoe and I have the dreaded muffin top foot.  I've also got an issue with the left shoe so all in all, the fit is not great.  I'm not sure if the fact I got them half a size up from TTS contributes but it probably does.  I'll probably end up selling these, but not before perving on them a LOT.

Research had told me Jennys are great for a wider foot and I took these TTS.  Let me tell you, they are amazing for wide feet.  They fit me perfectly and despite the heel height of 150mm, they are probably the most comfortable Louboutin I own.  I still have to stick heel grips in the back because of my skinny ankle but otherwise they fit like a glove!

Crows Nest Festival 2012

The sun didn't come out today like I had hoped so I ditched the beach and went to the annual Crows Nest Festival instead.  Street parking and carparks were free all day to encourage patrons.  It actually spans a decent distance, running from the top of Willoughby Rd (at the huge intersection with Falcon St and Pacific Hwy) all the way down to Chandos St.

It was actually a lot more family-centric than I was expecting.  The animal pen unleashed my inner child and I wanted to jump right in there with the little kiddies:

There were also a few jumping castles and that thing where you wear a jumpsuit covered in velcro and try to stick yourself to the wall (no idea what it's called).

 ^ Free Haribo gummies

There was live music in 2 locations, a few clowns walking around, an endless number of food and shopping stalls and some promotional stands for Fitness First, St George, etc.  It was no different to any other street festival (I mean they're kinda all the same, right?).  It was super humid and the sheer number of people  made it really uncomfortable for me.  I ended up getting a slurpee for 'lunch'.

Xenos Cafe (one of my fave cafes in Crows Nest) had an outdoor beer garden-type setup just to the right of the pic below (blue balloons).  We contemplated stopping and having a drink but it was so humid and stifling we were pretty keen to get back in the car and come home.

Random helicopter

It was a good thing to do if you haven't got anything else planned.  I wouldn't cancel other plans to attend unless you have young kids and want to entertain them for a day.

To the festival, I wore:

Cheapie singlet from SES, Forever New pale blue skirt with gold flecks, Nine West gold flats, Marc by Marc Jacobs bag, Mimco bow cuff

T2 Tea Society and a colourful outfit

T2 has a Tea Society which is free to join, and you get a cool card like this:

You accumulate points every time you make a purchase much like fly buys.  There are different tiers of membership based on how much you spend - I'm on the most basic one because I only just signed up.  Periodically they hold VIP events at one of their stores in NSW, VIC and QLD (I think the other states miss out unfortunately).

I went to 'a must-do Spring Thing' this morning at the QVB store at SEVEN THIRTY AM.  Well.... being the morning person I'm NOT, I rocked up closer to 8...  which is already an accomplishment in itself, trust me.

There was a demonstration on making iced tea with various teas and fruits, and she answered questions people had.  After the demonstration you could roam around eating some yummy scones with T2 jams and honey, and there were also fruit platters.  There were pitchers of various types of iced tea around, and there was even a pot of hot tea with milk for people like me who need a morning hit of caffeine.

There was an abundance of helpful staff around, pouring tea and answering any questions you had. 

I bought a tea strainer as my current one I also got from T2 is made of this rubbery thing and is a bit of a pain in the you know what to use and clean.  On the advice of one of the staff I bought this one:

No fuss she says.  I hope so.

After I made my purchase, they handed me another bag full of goodies.

The goodie bag contained more than I had bought!

Thanks T2!

On a fashion-related note, I'm accidentally matching the T2 orange today.

Asos linen 3/4 sleeve orange blazer, Supre white frill tank, Nudie Tight Long Johns in Flat Blue, Christian Louboutin Numero Prive in Jade Patent

Colourful accessories day:  Rimmel 60 Seconds in Funtime Fuchsia, yellow diamond cocktail ring (not real yellow diamond haha I wish!), Louboutin No Prives, Mimco bow acetate cuff, T&Co midnight titanium band

I'm VERY colourful today.  I think I'm trying to compensate for yesterday being such an awful day (incompetent people, lazy people, food poisoning, bleurgh).

Going for drinks tonight at Ambar at MLC Centre, and then watching Taken 2 on Extreme Screen at Chatswood later.

Are you having a fun Friday?  What have you got planned?

Louboutin #2 - Chantilly Lace Very Prives

I stumbled across these babies in David Jones one day and HAD to have them.  I was a bit nervous because I had just bought the blue/yellow Architeks on eBay and was expecting them to arrive that week.  I thought maybe 2 in one week was a bit OTT (little did I know this would degenerate over the coming weeks).

They were 1/2 size up from my TTS (my TTS is 35.5 and these are 36) but they're the smallest size DJ stocks (attention David Jones - us smaller footed ladies would like some Louboutin love) so I couldn't get them in my TTS which I probably should have.  They're a tad too long but nothing heel grips can't fix.

I noticed the lace on the heel was ripped and of course they didn't have another pair in size 36 so they knocked 10% off the purchase price (after already being 60% off) and gave me the business card for a cobbler to take them to.  After DJs I visited the recommended cobbler - he took one look and told me there was nothing he could do for me.  Sad face.  He suggested I get some paint and an artistic friend to draw fake lace on....  Ummm...

So they've been sitting in my cupboard since I bought them.  I'm saving them for a special occasion since the lace is so delicate.