Feeling Like A Vegas Showgirl

Well, S and I are back up in our hometown. I am starting a new job in just over a week but up until then, my days are filled with nothing. My car is currently out of commission - it was rear ended a while back, and I have been seriously lazy in getting fixed. Fingers crossed it is ready by the time I start work! The town has no public transport so I am effectively confined to the house. At the moment my daily routine is as follows:

- Wake up at about 5.30 when S' alarm goes off
- Go back to sleep
- Get out of bed at about 7.30 when my alarm goes off
- Drink three glasses of water and have a banana
- Do a body workout and then go for an interval run
- Have a shower
- Eat breakfast
- Go on the computer/read/watch TV
- Have lunch
- Go on the computer/read/watch TV
- Wait for S to come home at 5.30
- Either go to boxercise or go for an endurance run
- Shower
- Have dinner
- Go on the computer/read/watch TV
- Go to bed


Every. Single. Day. Except for weekends. I am going a tad stir crazy!

Anyway, I caught up with some friends for lunch shortly after we arrived (before S started work). I wore this:

H&M sequinned top, Zara waxed denim black shorts (not seen)

I hate to admit, I absolutely LOVE sequins. I know that some people can find them tacky - especially during the day - but I am most assuredly not one of them! I grew up dancing and now sequins always calls to mind the glamour and excitement of dance concerts, costumes and competitions. I figure it is fine to wear them during the day, as long as I dont go TOO overboard :) What do you think?

C xx

Radio Silence

Argh! I can't believe that yet again, I have let this blog lapse. Although to be fair, I have had quite a few things on my plate. Since last I blogged:

- A, S's sister came and stay with us in Paris
- we went to Portugal for a long weekend
- S's parents came and stayed with us
- We flew back to Perth
- my parents came and stayed with us
- applied for various jobs (I have a job interview tomorrow - eeep!)

... and this afternoon we are flying back up to my hometown. OH and of course, we got engaged :)

So this is just a quick update post to say, I am alive and we (hopefully) get back to regular blogging very soon.

Quick outfit shot, as this supposed to be a fashion/life blog after all! Not the best photo - we are leaving for the airport any minute now, so I am rushing slightly ...

Check out my eyebrows - A and I just got our eyebrows and eyelashes tinted this morning. I am loving my brows fully sick. I like my lashes as well, but wish I was able to them permed as well - they are so straight that you can't see them properly unless that are curled and I am pretty crap with the ol' eyelash curler!

Signing off for now, but will definitely be a better blogger and post more regularly :)

C xx

News

Bit of a crappy photo (and a bit of crushed macaron!) but ... ENGAGED :D

A Parisian Birthday

I have always had a love/hate relationship with my birthday. I build it up so much in my mind - it is my favourite holiday of the year! I make countless plans and write countless wish-lists, the majority of which never comes to fruition. I usually end up leaving everything to the last minute and thus become my own kryptonite. Once the day rolls around, I am already over it and it never lives up to my expectations. It doesn't help that I haven't spent my birthday with family in years.

This year, I was lucky enough to spend my birthday in Paris; the City of Lights; the City of Love. Yet again, I was full of plans. I told S that I didn't want a present this year - instead, I wanted to create memories (as corny as that sounds). We discussed going to Angelina's for brunch, picnic-ing along the Seine, eating crepes and macarons, strolling through the Tuileries and going to a wine bar for a wine-tasting course. Yet again, things didn't exactly go to plan.

The day before my birthday, I started to get a sore throat. During the night, this intensified and by the next morning - my birthday morning! - I had a fully fledged cold. Unfortunately we had to call off the majority of the birthday plans. However, I managed to drag myself out to Angelina's for champagne birthday brunch. Pastries (croissant, pain aux raisins and pain au chocolat), juice, tea, bread rolls with honey and jam, fruit salad, soft boiled eggs with toast and a glass of champagne. While I ate WAY too much, I am really glad we went.

After brunch, S and I spent the rest of the day either in bed or on the couch, watching TV shows that we had saved on our hard-drive. While I can't say my birthday lived up to all my expectations, it was still an amazing day :)

C xx

Bonjour a Paris!

On the 19th of April, S and I landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris. We had decided after our first Europe trip last year to return to Paris - to live here for three months. I have to admit, I felt a bit conflicted about this decision. On one hand, it is something that I have always wanted to do. On the other, a part of me was eager to start working full-time, to be living in Perth, to not be scrimping and saving anymore.

Now that I am here, I am SO glad we made this decision. Living in a city for an extended period of time is (obviously) so different to visiting it for a number of days. We are able to see and experience so much more, as well as get a real 'feel' for the city. We are staying in an apartment on the rue Saint Honore, right by the Louvre and the Jardin des Tuileries - one of my favourite places in Paris. We are also super close to another of my newly favourite places, the Jardin du Palais Royal. We are able to walk down along the Seine, stopping to look at the wares of the covered booksellers, and end up at Notre Dame. Or go the other, through the Tuileries, and go past the Grand Palais and hit up the Champs Elysees. We are discovering the best places (for us) to eat, drink and shop. We are taking French classes, and more and more things and starting to make sense - sometimes we are even able to short and simple conversations in French!

While I am developing my own personal style more and more - Paris street style is always inspiring! - I haven't gone crazy with the shopping. I have managed to save quite a bit, which I intend on using a lot of on the June sales. And although it sounds quite cheesy, I think that S and I have even grown a bit as a couple. Which is always a nice thing. I have been thinking more and more about my future and have made a decisions that I really hope I can stick to. Living in Paris really seems to clear your mind, haha.

Anyway, stay tuned for more updates on my life in Paris.

C xx

The courtyard of our Parisian apartment.

Catch-Ups

So, I thought I should fill in the six-month gap of my blog. S and I arrived home in Perth in mid-ish December. S only stayed for a few days before heading north to our hometown so that he could spend Christmas with his family. I stayed in Perth with my family. January was spent in Kalbarri with my parents, helping them pack up their house. Last year my dad had a pretty serious boat accident and I think because of that (plus a few other reasons) my parents decided to move to South Australia where they own a house. It was fun, but a little bit sad at the same time. I LOVE Kalbarri and have never seen the other house. Plus, it is now a lot harder to see the - about 5ish hours by plane from Perth. Although we haven't been spending much time in Perth.

While our Europe trip was coming to an end, S and I came to a decision. We decided to delay 'real life'- work for me and a dip ed for him - for a little bit longer. From the end of January til mid April, we have been back in our hometown working. During this time, we went through the edges of two cyclones, I showed my old host-sister and brother from Sweden around Perth and I had my graduation ceremony from university.

And now, we are back in Paris. We decided to come back to Europe for three months but instead of travelling around, just stay in the one spot. We rented an apartment in the heart of Paris and have been taking French classes and living the bohemian lifestyle. It has been absolutely amazing so far. The weather hasn't been perfect (quite cold and rainy for the most part) but that doesn't even matter. At times I still can't even believe that we are here. We are unfortunately past the halfway mark and I REALLY don't want to go back to Australia just yet. I wish that we had decided to live here for a year but that just isn't a viable option for us at the moment.

I have to admit, I am a little worried that we are going to take our time here for granted and miss out on stuff - like today, for example. I have been lounging around our apartment, reading and relaxing. But I feel like I should be out there, EXPERIENCING stuff. Hopefully the blog will help force me out the house, so that I have experiences and stories to record.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from my six-month gap:











C xx

Starting Over

The longer you leave something, the harder and harder it is. Returning a phone call. Responding to a message on Facebook. Replying to an email. Getting back into the blogging world after a LOT of time off. The more time that passes, the greater the pressure that builds. I haven't blogged for about six months. Half a year. A lifetime for a six-month old, and for the blogosphere as well. But here I am, back into it. Hopefully for good this time. During my absence, I have thought about writing post after post - about what's going on in my life, my experiences, my thoughts, my outfits ... but just never seemed able to make that final jump. The aforesaid pressure as well as feelings of inadequacy when my words and photos don't turn out the way I want them to or imagine them in my mind. However, I am not going to let fear and insecurity and time stop me any more. So take note: this is me turning over a new leaf. C xx

Balenciaga, baby!

While S and I were in Portugal, S's vovo (grandfather) took us around so that we could get a feel for the country and S's familial heritage (his mum was born in Portugal before moving to Brasil and then Australia). We travelled up to Familicao, where S's grandmother was born and buried. There we met 'the cousins' - Fatima, Grasse and Alice - who were S's gran's cousins and second cousins. Slightly convoluted, but the cousins were LOVELY. Just absolutely beautiful people, inside and out. Apparently they also took a bit of a shine to me as well - they kept telling S how lucky he was to have such a beautiful, sweet, lovely girlfriend like me! Haha, little do they know how whiny and bitchy I can be! :) On the last night we saw them, Fatima gave me an early Christmas present - a Balenciaga coin purse. I of course tried to refuse (while try to overcome my instinctive reaction of clutching it to my chest and yipping for joy), but she made me keep it. I think that it is such an elegant and classic piece, much like Fatima herself! I know that I will always treasure it, not only because I think it is beautiful, but because of the memories I know associate with it.

C xx

Alana Santos - Makeup Artist

I thought that it was high time that I wrote about my friend's freelance business. I have been meaning to do this for absolutely ages now, but the time never felt right. As I sit in the communal lounge room of the riad we are staying in in Marrakesh, watching an array of flickering candles, the time feels right. I have just realised that my introductory paragraph sounds hopelessly over the top and dramatic, when it really wasn't meant to be. The beauty of my surroundings is so complete and overwhelming that I think it has seeped into my writing :) My friend (and sister of my boyfriend), Alana, started her business as a make up artist a few years ago, after completing her year-long Diploma at Napoleon Perdis in Sydney. Using a broad range of makeup brands, Alana specialises in looks for fashion photography but is also brilliant at event, bridal, special effects and film/tv makeup. I have to admit, I am close to Alana and I am meant to be her unofficial marketing person (at the moment this consists of being an admin of her Facebook page and sharing photos and updates on my own news feed) but I can honestly say that I really do think she is talented. Check out a few of her photos below and if you like them, please go to her Facebook page and 'like' it, especially if you are from Perth. And if you are indeed from Perth, then def think about hiring her! Seriously, she's awesome.

C xx

Dreaming of a Moroccan Sunset ...

Tomorrow S and I fly to Marrakesh ... 'excited' is a definite understatement for what I am feeling. I am been wanting to visit Morocco for years and I cannot quite believe that we will be there tomorrow evening. The souks, the desert, the magic ... Apparently throughout the day and evening the main square, Djemaa el Fnaa, boasts snake charmers, storytellers, magicians, jugglers, medicine peddlers, acrobats and more. It will be like something from 1001 Arabian nights. I can't wait to just soak it in, take as many photos as I can, buy jewellery and other knick-knacks and watch the sunset from the rooftop terrace of our riad. C xx

Ole!

Ola! S and I are currently relaxing in Madrid, trying to soak up the sun and warm(ish) weather. I have to admit, this has been my least loved leg of the trip so far. I am definitely regretting not spending more days in Paris instead, or longer in Portugal - the weather was BEAUTIFUL. On Monday we head to Morocco and I am deliriously excited. S keeps trying to bring me down to earth with bad expectations so that I don't get disappointed, but I am not sure how well it is working. A few quicks snaps from one of our wanderings in Madrid the other day.

Coat: Zara, Shirt: Marcs, Singlet: H&M, Leggings: H&M, Scarf: Rome street vendor, Socks: H&M, Boots: Zomp. C xx

Everyday I'm Tumblrn' ...

I have succumbed to the cult and joined Tumblr. I am aiming for this to be a more visual incarnation of the blog, where I mainly just post images that capture my imagination. These will more than likely just be inspiring fashion and beauty images that I find on the net, in magazines, reblog from other Tumblrs and from an amazing makeup artist friend of mine (whom I will talk about in greater detail another time). If you feel like it, check it out here and if you have a Tumblr yourself please feel free to post the link in a comment so that I can follow! C xx

Shopping!

I went SHOPPING! Now, I know that that seems like a rather normal thing to do, but I honestly feel like I haven't been clothes shopping in ages. It probably hasn't actually been that long, but oh well. During the trip, we have been saving all of our shopping for London, so that we don't have to lug extra clothes around Europe, but I couldn't resist. While in Bordeaux, I bought new socks and tights (I know, super exciting) and a new coat, which I LOVE, all from H & M. I really miss H & M, it is pretty much where I spent all my spare money while on exchange in Sweden.

Coat: H&M, Leggings: H&M, Shirt: Marcs by Marc Jacobs, Scarf: Rome street vendor, Boots: Target, Bag: H&M I just realised that I am wearing a lot of stuff from H & M ... Woops! Sneak peek into the future - there is going to be a lot more before I leave Europe! :) C xx

Slave to the Wage

I have to say, I am not normally a fan of Louis Vuitton. I don’t like the ‘in-your-face-ness’ of the logo, or the customary colour scheme, or even really the shape of the bags. However, when I was flicking through the pages of the French Vogue magazine I bought, this golden little number caught my eye.

I didn’t even realise it was Louis Vuitton, which I like. I also really like the idea of it, of cuffing your clutch to your wrist. It combines and toughness with a touch of glamour, which really appeals to me. I realise that this bag is kind of old (AW11), but I haven’t noticed any knock-offs or ‘inspired by’ pieces in any chainstores, so I am thinking that I may just have to try and DIY this when I get home to Australia! C xx

Père-Lachaise

Hello my lovelies! My European adventure continues. S and I have just spent the last 5 days in Paris and in all honesty, it was truly magical. I love Paris. The City of Lights has captured both our hearts and our imaginations and I believe that It will never let go. The only downer was that out hostel had no internet, which made it a tad heart to update the blogs, research sights and attractions and plan ahead, but we managed. We are now in Bordeaux (and thankfully have internet - yay!) and loving being to just relax a little. I have also told S about my blog, and he has become my official photographer! It was not as embarrassing as I thought it would be, thank goodness. As I thought it was going to be SUPER embarrassing. One morning we decided to head down to the cimetière du Père-Lachaise, a beautiful old cemetery filled with famous graves. Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Heloise and Abelard, Edith Piaf and Balzac are just a few of those interred here. A word of warning: if you plan on visiting the cemetery, set aside a LOT of time. The cemetery is huge and made for simply wandering :)

Jumper: belongs to S, Leggings: H&M, Scarf: random vendor at the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Shoes: Zomp After looking through my photos, I realised that I haven't yet blogged about a lot of previous places and events. Apologies in advance for the next few posts being extremely out of order! C xx

Hipsta Highlights

Hey all!

Sorry for continuing to be a bad blogger ... Still not inspired clothing wise. I think I brought too many basics and not enough 'stand-out' pieces. We are now in Italy, so at least the weather is warmer and I don't have to rug up quite as much! Previously I was wearing stockings, thick socks, jeans, singlet, shirt, hoodie, thick jacket, scarf, beanie and gloves. It feels so good to not have so many layers on!!

I have been taking a few hipstamatic pics of the sites, and thought I would share some with you :)

















C xx

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