evaporating years

The first couple of pages of Meg Worlitzer's The Interesting reminded me of Ryan McGinley's photographs. At times, it's like a glimpse into a Neverland paradise; full of freedom, fireworks, and sunsets. Other times, the subjects are dwarfed and almost swallowed whole by the enormity of the world they live in, unable to comprehend forces bigger than they could possibly imagine.  

solo

This is for you. You don't need your friends, your boy, your husband, your kids, or your mum and dad. Here's the equation. Money for a plane ticket to the places of your choice + Free time + You = the world. Don't be afraid. Here's what I've learnt:

Travel in summer. Daytime hours are longer for sightseeing and dinners out. I travelled around Italy and France in winter and it was beautiful but bleak.

If you want to meet people, stay in hostels and go on tours. If you're not fussed on meeting people to travel with like me, stay at hotels and pensiones which I find through Lonely Planet or Expedia.




Mealtimes are the loneliest parts. Either self-cater by scoping out the nearest food hall, market or grocery or suck it up and sit down at the restaurant of your choice. Bring a book, write your postcards, even your laptop. Don't miss out on the food, whatever you do.




Getting from the airport/wharf/train station to your accommodation, I find the most stressful, especially if you land in the middle of the night or very early morning. Have a plan. Get directions from google maps, splash out for a transfer, know the nearest subway or metro station, ask at the Tourist Information desk for a map.




Don't be afraid to look like a tourist. Take those pictures, get that map out in the middle of the street, ask strangers for directions. Suck it up.




Use commonsense. When its dark, stick to well populated places. All that sort of stuff. Need I say more?




Do what you love, not what guidebooks tell you. This is the best thing about going solo. You're the master of your day and the mission is to indulge yourself.




Forget good pictures of you. I travelled with a Yashica, a Polaroid, and a Canon SLR with a Nikon lens so auto-focus wasn't an option. Thrusting it at a stranger and asking for my photo to be taken was never going to be easy. Or possible. Let the classic "LOOK AT ME! I'm standing in front of this SUPER FAMOUS sight thing" tourist photo go.




Go solo. You won't regret it.

♥ Pictures by me on a Yashica Electro 35GSN with Kodak Ektar 100. More pictures here ♥

playing hookie and terarriums

Surprise!!! I missed you guys but I was playing hookie from the internet. Work has been very busy and when I got home, I couldn't stand the thought of more hours at a desk in front of a computer. But I am back and ready to see what you all have been up to as I get back to comments and emails. While I was on my internet break, I made a terrarium! I've been dying to make one of these ever since I saw Katherine's tutorial here. Please visit Katherine. Her blog is one of my favourites. Her taste and her eye for beautiful things is impeccable.

Another quite cool tutorial which I think YOU should try is at Design Sponge here. As an aside, the jars I used were quite narrow and had to navigate the plants in place with a plastic fork. I recommend using large jars with wide openings. I used Irish moss, pratia, and baby's tears with soil and white pebbles. I think these were alright for a first try. Not being the craftiest person, I was a little surprised I didn't muck it up completely.

♥ Cardigan, Singlet and Skirt from Glassons ♥ Necklace and Ring from Diva ♥ Sunglasses from Cotton On ♥

6.786 Miles Apart

Lovelies, I am leaving on a jet plane and will be unavailable for at least 2 days. Be assured I will be back with a bevy of beautiful travel photos and not-so-beautiful tourist outfits, probably consisting of my black Crocs, a battered handbag, and an elasticated skirt of some sorts. I am excited to be taking you all with me on my travels.

Meanwhile, I have an exciting surprise for all of you. Diana at our.city.lights and I have been madly emailing each other all week, collaborating on a photographic project which we love truly, madly, deeply. It's being unveiled RIGHT NOW --> Click the pic below to visit Diana at our.city.lights who'll be your hostess for our collaboration...

conversions

I'm currently sprawled on the couch in front of the tv with my right foot resting on a million pillows and an ice pack, watching Fashion tv and blogging. I hurt my foot during tennis this morning and I actually cannot walk! Yeouch! I have really rubbish flat feet to start with, exacerbated by my love of high heels, cheap flats, and absolute conviction that I look horrible in sneakers. I'm contemplating ripping into a bottle of wine.

To happier thoughts - the thrifted skirt-worn-as-dress trick is always a fun one for me. I wore it yesterday as a beach dress. But I've also worn it three ways below! To score one of these for yourself, haunt your favourite Salvation Army/thrift store, and grab any patterned maxi-skirt that takes your fancy. Hitch up to your chest, check that it's not too tight around there, and wear it with or without a belt.

♥ Skirt/Dress is thrifted ♥ Purple top from Jeans West ♥ Green bangles from Equip ♥ Grey clutch is vintage ♥ Necklace is from Diva ♥ Bangle from a fair ♥ Ring from Diva ♥ Black singlet from Charlotte Russe ♥ Bag from Farmers ♥ Black belt from Glassons ♥ Shoes from Mi Piaci ♥
Backgrounds are paintings by Henri Matisse

I wore this skirt-worn-as-dress to vote last year. Posted here.

♥ Skirt/Dress is thrifted ♥ Cardigan from Max ♥ White belt is a random lace ribbon ♥ White clutch is thrifted ♥ Silver chain is thrifted ♥ Shoes from Mi Piaci ♥
Background is painting by Claude Monet

tea for one

This is an automated post. Sorry! But I thought these pictures of my lunch from yesterday plus a fruitful few hours spent wrapping Patient Photographer's christmas presents would be far more palatable than photos of what I am (no doubt) currently doing. And that is doing all of my Christmas shopping, baking, cleaning, and general running around in one. day. On Christmas. Eve. When everyone. absolutely EVERYONE. is out doing the same thing.

I think my next post or two will also be automated. But after that things will be as normal. I just want to say that I've only been blogging for a short while but I am just blown away by the community. I look forward to all of your comments which I view as little presents for me throughout the day. You girls are so gorgeous, funny, polite, quirky, fun, and just beautiful. This blogging community of ours is truly something we should all be proud of and something which I am so excited to be included in. Merry Christmas, everyone!

I Will Have My Cake and Eat It Too

I always thought I had a funny-shaped head for hats and so avoided them like the plague. Then I found this hat from the men's section at the Warehouse, decided on the spot to stop caring, and now am wearing it free of worries. I know there is a whole industry built around instructing women what items will best suit their body shape, skin colour, eye colour, hair, etc etc. But don't you find these far too formulaic? It ignores the visceral, heady rush of encountering a dress or a top which you know would look terrible on you but you just want want want. Yes that triple-tiered ruffled satin mini skirt will add volume in places you don't want to add volume, but isn't it just fab?! I have a soft spot in my heart for ruffles. So, even if I know that items like these will sit in my closet, rarely touched, it's the fact that I posses a thing which is beautiful and makes me dream which really matters. Said triple-tiered ruffled satin mini skirt is like that bad but oh-so-gorgeous heartbreaker. We've all had at least one of these types and if not, watch out! You know he is bad for you and it will all end badly. But you've just got to have him anyway. Pragmatism, be gone!

p.s. to muchlove - this post here made it clear you were not having the best of days - i offer you the dandelion below to blow and make a wish on. I hope you are feeling better today.

♥ Hat from men's section at the Warehouse ♥ Dress worn as skirt from Max ♥ Top from Farmers ♥ Sandals are thrifted ♥ Wrist hardware from Equip, Diva and thrifted

Here is a sneak peak of the statement jewellery which I D.I.Y'ed during an epic "playing dress up" session that I had at my mother's. You would think I was too old to play around in my mother's clothes. But, as you will soon see, my mother's closet is stacked full of amazing goodies befitting an amazingly stylish and timeless woman. Hope to get this to you guys by tomorrow or Saturday!



pics from driesvannoten.be

Rainy Day D.I.Y.

Yup. Still raining. So I cut up the art posters from Frankie magazine and sellotaped it to the back of a plain old black bookshelf thus transforming it into this! Considering my limited D.I.Y. skills, this is an historical moment.



And the Patient Photographer is still away! *sigh*stickoutbottomlip*sigh* So alas I have unleash this terribly uninspiring photo of the outfit I wore to work today accompanied (in a desperate bid to distract you guys from the outfit photo) by what I saw and a picture of the thrifted pink shirt cavorting in a field full of daisies during happier, sunnier times.

Pink Tulle Covered Almond Shaped Doohickeys?

My uncle and his partner braved missed flight connections and a storm in LA to fly from New York to NZ for my admission to the bar. Part of their precious cargo was a sackful of goodies from Forever 21. For those unfamiliar with this now-infamous American chain store, Forever 21 is to the US as Glassons is to us girls in NZ as H&M is to Europe. Well, in my opinion. Correct me if i'm wrong ;)

When I pulled out this frothy, pink tulle creation from the bag, I instantly ran to a room, ripped off my clothes and dove into it. The thing just screams "Party! With me! Now!". With my best friend's brothers' engagement party to go to, the occasion had come. Except I had to do this...



Shamefully for me, this is the closest I get to sewing...



Headband: Portmans Vest: Valley Girl Dress: Twelve by Twelve by Forever 21 Shoes: Mi Piaci

The engagement party was a lot of fun. I got to spend time with my best girls, one of which is Nicola (Congrats to her brother on his engagement!). She is the queen of elegant and chic style! Standing next to her, I am all kinds of tacky ;) I had a great time with her in Japan and on Saturday she busted out all her Tokyo specials! The assymetry and the sheer pleats elevate the LBD into magic!

White Top: Random shop in Roppongi, Tokyo Dress: Sisley bought in Osaka

And did I mention there were cupcakes?

Background by: fotolia.com

A D.I.Y. Morning

I made a headband!

Ingredients:

x 1 ribbon (long enough to tie around your head twice)

x 1 clip-on earring (mine is from my mum's 80s collection)

x courage (when ppl look at you then look at your head, quizically)

How To:

Tie ribbon around head twice and tie a bow on top of your head. The bow should be small enough to be hidden by the clip-on earring. Attach clip-on earring on the ribbon, placing it to cover the bow tied. Move headband to your favoured place.

Looks a bit weird in the photo. But it was passable. I even wore it to a meeting at work! So there you go.