Endings & Beginnings

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

I'm back with my first post for 2013! My 2 weeks long hiatus turned into 4 weeks long...woops! Anyway, here I am now. Hope you've had a fun-filled holiday season! Mine was fun but so tiring, I feel like I need another holiday to recover from it!

Holidays are a chance to catch up on lost TV-time. As you all know by now (you better) that I'm a huge Gossip Girl fan. And as any fan would be, I was excited to see the Finale but sad at the same time that one of my favourite shows was coming to an end! While the Finale was a bit predictable (partly because some idiot posted on Facebook who GG was and somehow it showed up on my News Feed before I watched the show), the fashion as always was MIND BLOWING!

Spoiler Alert

Like Blair's gorgeous Elie Saab wedding dress in a Pale Blue (who would have thought!) was so...Blair! Elegant and appropriate but with a twist. Complete with a tiara-like head-band.

And Serena's Georges Chakra wedding gown, made me go waaah at first, but then it made sense, it was perfect for the "Golden Girl". And needless to say, Blake Lively owned it! (I am so biased towards her, aren't I? ;))

But just like when one year ends, a new one begins - now that Gossip Girl is over, fashion-fanatics like me will (hopefully) have a new show to drool over in The Carrie Diaries! Can't wait! Hope it lives up to the sky-high expectations being the prequel to an epic show and all. No pressure.

It's funny how the beginning of a new year makes us all so philosophical; looking back and analysing the year gone by and expectations of what lies ahead. 2012 was one hell of a roller-coaster for me. Some wonderful things happened in my professional and personal life, which I'm very thankful for. And hard as the journey was, it's the good-stuff that stands out when I think about the past year which is what one strives to achieve every year, I suppose. And of course, starting my Blog which has been such an enjoyable experience! Hope I can continue on this journey for a long, long time to come with your support...

I leave you now with these inspirational words from Maya Angelou to start your year with:
"My mission in life is not merely to survive but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour and some style."

Spend or Splurge

I must have some kind of magical powers or something, don't you think? I'm getting really good at disappearing into thin air! ;) 'Tis the "silly season" after all. And I'm going overseas next week, so its fast-tracked silly season on steroids for me. Anyway, whilst I've been shopping (more like window shopping because I've already blown my budget) online and instores, I've found a few perfect-for-party-season pieces. And since I'm not buying anything for myself anymore, I thought I would share it with all my readers - 'tis the season of spreading joy after all ;)...'tis also the season of legitimately getting away with wearing bright red, gold/silver, green or all 3 together - okay, may be not all 3 together but you know what I mean - of looking festive! So, whether its your end-of-year work party or a Christmas dinner with the family, it's all about being bright and bold but elegant. In my quest to find these perfect outfit, I came across styles for different kinds of fashionistas - the Spenders and the Splurgers! So, here's my very first compilation of a Spend or Splurge list...

The Dress:

Spend: Asos Lace Dress - $76.50

Splurge: Lover the Label Dress - $740

The Clutch:

Spend: Witchery Paris Sparkle Clutch - $89.99

Splurge: Jimmy Choo Candy Clutch in Champagne - $525

The Shoes:

Spend: Forever New Misty Diamante Platform - $89.99

Splurge: Peeptoe Miss Indulgence Heels with Swarovski Elements - $599

 The Jewelry:

Spend: Lovisa Crystal Chandelier - $29.99

Splurge: Kate Spade Fragment Pearl Earrings - $78

Hope you find your inspiration in these! And no matter what you do, say or wear, I hope you enjoy the Holiday Season!!

Date Night

After a busy few weeks and weekends, both Mr. Pre and I decided to take some time out to enjoy a nice, quiet dinner - just the 2 of us - and brace ourselves for the silly-season. A Groupon Voucher I had for a 3 course dinner for 2 at an Italian restaurant in Port Melbourne (Pane E Tulipani) came in very handy at this time. It was the perfect summer's (date) night!

A glimpse of my outfit...

We started off with an Antipasto platter to share.

Followed by Mains

Gnocchi in Napoli Sauce (not great, unfortunately :( )

Linguine with Prawns (not bad)

 Desert to share (thankfully, as this is bigger than it looks!)

Tiramisu (yummmmm!)

There was also a Salad to share and a glass of Wine each. All this for $29 and I had bought the voucher with a $10 promo code - so all this for $19! Not bad, eh? The food at that restaurant was decent, their desert was fantastic! Although, I probably wouldn't go back there as we don't normally venture out that way, but the voucher was a good excuse to go some place different. Plus the perfect balmy weather made it all worth while. All in all: I'm not complaining.

More about what I wore...

Maxi Skirt with Slits: *$29 (Forever New)

Black Silk Tank: *$5 (Dotti DFO)

 Gold Sandals: *$10 (Rubi)

Clutch: *$20 Colette

Earrings: *$12.50 (Portmans)

Date Night Outfit Total: $76.50 

* = sale prices

VIP nights, Sales and Special events

My calendar has been so full these last few days! All these sales and special offers! Click Frenzy (which was an epic fail), Chadstone VIP Night, Melbourne Central Shopping Event, etc. etc. I just love this time of year! Has anyone else been taking advantage of these pre-Christmas, post-Black Friday (so confusing!) events?!! Don't worry if you've missed any of these or if you're not a Melbournian....

BARGAIN ALERT: There's one more One Day only Shopping Event for everyone to take advantage of all over Australia (minus the crashing of websites) - Westfield Super Saturday on 1st December. More details available on their website.

Chadstone VIP night ended up being more a night out with the girls for me, I only bought one top (the first one below) as we spent most of our time sampling free bubbly, having dinner (at Oriental Tea House which was ah-mazing) and stopping at every store everyone wanted to visit. I got more shopping done today at Melbourne Central as I was alone and focussed on the task at hand. Here's what I bought from the Chadstone & Melbourne Central Sales...

First Stop: Forever New - 20% off all stock (even Sale items)

Scarlett Lace Top - Soft Gold

Vanilla Lock Front Bag

Stevie Neon Trim Tee - Neon Orange

 Next Stop: Portmans - 30% off Storewide (including Sale stock)

String Back Maxi Dress - Jade

Cropped Jacket - Derby Pink

Beaded Contrast Hem Maxi Dress

With these gorgeous maxi dresses, a white crossbody bag (which is something I've wanted for a long time), a top that I can take from day to night, a trendy gym top & the MOST comfortable blazer you'll ever find (it looks more coral than pink in real life, not like the photo) I think I'm all set for summer! Plus I've blown my budget so I'm going to lay low now.

Happy Shopping to all those who are planning to go to Westfield Super Saturday, I'm sure there will be similar offers there on the day.

Online Shopping

I've been a busy-busy-bee! But haven't been doing anything blog-worthy. Just work and other stuff. But in all this busy-ness I managed to grab a few moments to myself to do some online shopping. I haven't bought anything from ASOS in over six months. Mainly because I haven't had the time to browse through their gazillion pages of products to see if there's anything I like and also because when I saw what I saw, I wasn't impressed. But I had come across this Maxi Dress as I was wanting to get a few for summer so I put it my Saved Items to mull over it. Then I saw this Holster  Ad (and I wasn't looking at the Holsters) on Vogue Forums and everytime I went on there, it kept teasing me and reminding me of the ASOS Dress...

...And this was my (s)inspiration to buy this Asos Dress (AND there was a 20% off Code going around)...

Asos Maxi Dress

 ...and while I was there and I had the discount code, I even decided to sneak this into my Shopping Cart...

ASOS Wrap Dress

 Also, while browsing through Pinterest the other day, I came across this Shirt-Dress (remember a Shirt-Dress is one of the things of my Summer Wishlist) and it was selling on a website called Pinkbasis.com. I didn't buy it because a) I've never heard of this website before and didn't know if it was safe - although they do have the option to pay with Paypal and b) the shipping costs more than the dress - although the dress is pretty cheap and even with shipping doesn't come up to much. So, you see how I'm in a dilemma right now of "to buy or not to buy". 

Pinkbasis.com Shirt Dress

If anyone has ever bought from Pinkbasis and can provide some feedback, do let me know by commenting below. I've actually wanted a turquoise/teal silky shirt-dress ever since I saw someone wearing it at South Yarra train station, but I was on the train and she was on the opposite platform so it wasn't like I could ask her where she got it from (not that I go upto random strangers every opportunity I get and ask them where they bought what they're wearing from).

Anyway, hopefully this coming week I'll have more to share. My prediction for this week is that Venus looks to be moving into the house of Mars, which, loosely translated, means that I'm going to be spending money and Mr.Pre is not going to be happy about it ;). Yes, it's that time of the season again - 

BARGAIN ALERT: Chadstone VIP Night is on Wed. 21st Nov. And they're keeping stores open till Midnight this time! Hope to see you there!

PS: I don't work for/at Chadstone, I just do this purely out of the goodness of my heart. ;)

Pre - the Picky Picker

My updates are a week behind now. So here are some photos of our adventures from last weekend. Last Saturday was the perfect Spring day. 22 deg. C. and sunny. So we went to the Sunny Ridge Strawberry Farm in Mornington for yummy strawberry deserts (oh they were so sinfully yummy!) and strawberry picking (much needed exercise after all that food).

Strawberry Sundae, Belgian Waffles, Pancakes with Maple Syrup and Vanilla Bean ice-cream

The farm

 It was cool at first so I had my cardigan on, but soon after walking around in the sun, it was warm enough to take off the cardigan, yet not so warm that we were uncomfortable being in the sun. And even with all the screaming children, running around, strawberry picking to my surprise was actually quite a calming and relaxing experience.

I was being a very picky picker and the area we were meant to pick from hardly had any decent strawberries left by the time we got there.

After about 20-25 minutes of picking (may be more, I'm not quite sure, I lost track of time) my punnet wasn't even half full because I was only after the most flawless berries. 

After the first 25 minutes of picking

My picky-ness paid off - just when I was considering lowering my standards, one of the staff members came and announced that they were opening up a new area to pick from so we had more choice. This was really helpful, as in the new area I found lots of my kind of berries - the kind you see in photos and drawings. Perfect!

The Perfect Strawberry!

And in after about 15 minutes in the new area, my punnet was filled with these!

Full punnet! (Sorry about the hazy photo. It was too bright, I couldn't see what I was doing)

Ah and the most important part! A picky picker's outfit must be comfortable so that all the focus can be on the task of finding the right fruit. I was worried if I wore a dress or flowy skirt the wind would distract me and all I would be worrying about is having Marilyn-Monroe-moments with my skirt flying around. Still, I wanted to wear a skirt so I could walk around without getting too hot. So, I wore a more fitted skirt. Flat, comfortable walking shoes, of course - and it is quite mucky there so they had to be ones that I didn't mind getting dirty and then could easily clean later.

Off-white Lace Top: $39 (Zara)

Pastel Pink Bow front skirt: $19.95 (Valleygirl)

Coral Ballet Flats: *$15 (Rubi Shoes)

Necklace: *$7 (Valleygirl)

Assorted bracelets: Gift (Lovisa)

Sunnies: $35 (Sportsgirl)

Navy Crochet Cardigan: $25 (Temt)

Outfit Total:  $140.95

* = sale prices

After all that toiling in the farm, we got really hungry, but all the cafes around had closed. So we went to the local grocer in Shoreham (I think it was) and had a late lunch-early dinner (or "lunner" as I like to call it). It was exactly what we needed! Carb-a-licious!

 

Meatlovers Turkish Pide & Coffee

New York Pastrami Sandwich

It was a perfect day! It was only last week but it feels like a long time ago... This last week has just been one long roller-coaster ride. Perfect at first - and then far from - and then a little better again. I just hope it all settles down soon as I'm starting to feel a bit dizzy.

Fashion Show

Hello fashionistas & fortunistas! Sorry I've been MIA ah-gain! Exciting things have been happening but I've just been waiting to gather photos to show...Last Friday (so not the Friday that just passed but the 26th of Oct) my lovely friend and budding designer Dewi co-hosted a Charity Event which included lots of fantastic dance performaces, a live band, a fully-charged drumming session and a fashion show showcasing her gorgeous designs. And the lovely Dewi asked me to walk the ramp in one of her dresses. Naturally, I jumped at the offer! But the more I thought about it, the more I believed that beauty must truly lie in the eyes of the beholder. We had a couple of rehearsals before the show where I (secretly) swore to myself never to do something like this again as I felt really inept. Also, the show was on Friday night which meant I had to rush straight from work on a rainy day, which meant I had to get my hair done the day before the show as I only had just about enough time on the day to get to the Venue and do my makeup. But when we actually went through it on Friday night, I couldn't wait to do it again!

Now that the photos are officially out, I can share them with you. And there's also a video at the bottom of this post of Dewi's beautiful, feminine dresses. Enjoy! xx 

This is what I wore: A lovely black, satin evening gown with blue sequins on the top and back straps

Clearly not a Professional - I look like a deer caught in headlights so I've cropped my face off ;) But it's all about the dress anyway

Walking the ramp - I wore my favourite Neon Pink Shoes

Here's a video (sorry not a professional one) of the Evening Wear round. I enter at around 1:51 on the timer.

Thanks again to Dewi, Reshma and everyone at Multitude Events for a great night!!