DIY Action

Love a little Masquerade action

Who said all those doilies in the dowry box are useless!

Bring out the candles

Coffee?

Confetti bowl. Who needs a wedding!

I love a bit of DIY action.  I never actually get the time to make anything, but if I did I would make these top 5.  In fact, I made all 5 DIYs above this weekend - in my head.  Does that count?  Baby steps!  

Friday

10 Questions

1.      What is your favourite word?

2.   What is your least favourite word?

3.   What turns you on?

4.   What turns you off?

5.  What sound or noise do you love?

6.   What sound or noise do you hate?

7.  What is your favourite curse word?

8.   What profession other than your own would you  like to attempt?

9.   What profession would you not like to do?

10.  If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

Have you heard of Inside the Actor's Studio?  I can spend hours (and have done) on you tube watching James Lipton conduct candid, relaxed interviews with Hollywood stars.  At the end of each show, Lipton asks the interviewee these 10 questions.  They're based on the Proust Questionnaire.  I have answered these 10 questions as part of my profile.  I recently asked The Boyfriend these 10 questions.  It was a fun little exercise (over a couple of glasses of wine) and I got some interesting results.  What are your answers?  

Top links for your web surfing pleasure this long weekend: 

# Cute shoes 
# Stupid and mildly entertaining
# Random Prada
# Seals
# Love this cuff and this cuff
# Carb it up
# Want this

Happy Friday!

Easter Long Weekend

It's Easter this weekend and more importantly it's a 4 day long weekend!  Can't wait.  Easter brings up a heap of memories for me and thoughts of tradition, including lots of food and family.   In my late teens/early 20s friends and I would pile into my car and head off (about an hour away from home) to a beach setting for a long weekend of drinking, dancing and general partying.  The obligatory Sunday family Easter lunch would mean we would all pile back into the car on the Sunday to join our families for lunch for a couple of hours, only to head back (another hour - the things you do) to our rental to spend our final night partying before ending our long weekend and heading home.  Ah, the "Glory Days".Nowadays, the Easter long weekend is all about getting much needed sleep and doing very little (other than eating a lot of delicious Easter goodies). 

Dying eggs for Easter was (and still is) one of the top traditions in my family.   Are you dying eggs for Easter this weekend?  Here are my favourite Easter egg dying (and one strawberry) links:

Strawberry Easter Eggs


Pantone Easter Eggs


This would be a cool way to propose over Easter


Black & White

 

Lace Pattern

Would you...

Wear this beanie out on a cold day?

Yokoo Gibraan

 

 

Buy a $3,000 bag?

Celine





Entrepreneurial Women




Baby Batches - Deluxe Baby Shower Hamper



Baby Batches - Scarlet Sweetheart Deluxe Hamper



Do you know brilliant, smart, entrepreneurial women?    I'm lucky to know quite a few.   They generally juggle work and/or kids and/or running a household and their own business - all successfully.  The two women behind Baby Batches (a sister act) are a prime example of this.   I love their baby hampers - so you need to know about it!   I co-hosted a baby shower a couple of weeks ago for a dear friend of mine and a beautiful Baby Batches hamper turned up.   It was beautifully packaged and the quality and range of products in the hamper was really impressive.  The Tahitian Gardenia Body Cream smelled good enough to eat.   For a split second, I wanted a baby just to get one of these hampers - ok, just for a split second, and I think it was the bottle of Moet in the hamper that brought that crazy thought to mind.   I raise my glass of bubbly to Jane & Liz and their beautiful baby hampers! 

Happily Ever After?



I remember reading fairy tales as a child.  I must say, that other than the fascination I had with the evil stepmother/villain and the dresses and shoes that the Princess was decked out in, I wasn't really sold on the whole "happily every after" piece or the recurring theme of the Prince miraculously "saving" the Princess from all her woes.  I remained unconvinced by it all and in my late teens I bought myself a book of fairy tales with a twist.   When I recently came across the work of Dina Goldstein and her Fallen Princesses,  the photos resonated with the realist in me and I felt a sense of vindication (followed by mild sadness) that these Princesses got a dose of reality.  Is that dark?   Either way, Goldstein's photos give a view of what may happen (even to the prettiest Princess) the day after "happily ever after".   The pictures deal with reality and modern issues including cancer, addiction, obesity, vanity etc...    As it turns out, I was onto something, there is no such thing as fairy tales.  

The End.

Monday Mood Board

1. Nicholas Kirkwood

2. Chanel Vintage

3. Bliss

4. Dolce & Gabanna

5. My favourite Mexican beer

6. True, all true

7. Would you paint your nails yellow?

8. Where I'd rather be

It's going to be a beautiful warm day in Sydney today!

Happy Monday!

Two Random Monday Morning Thoughts

1. Monday Morning Pick Me Up - Nothing picks me up on a Monday morning like waking up and having a new outfit to wear.   I went on a bit of a shopping spree on the weekend (to be honest I have been in a bit of a shopping drought – i.e. know what I want, just can’t find it).    One of the pieces I bought was a black leather tote from Zara.  I have been coveting this tote for about 10 months now and it’s back in stores this season!    It really is a bit of a carry all for me because it’s big enough to fit my laptop and all the other bits and pieces I carry to and from work to home each day.   It comes in other colours too, including brown (which I love) and I did consider buying it in both colours...  



2. Must Read - This morning I put Grace Coddington's book "Grace - A Memoir" on my reading list (and in my online shopping bag).  I'm a sucker for autobiographies, memoirs etc... so I'm looking forward to reading this. 

Going Japanese

Have you heard of Kintsugi?   It's a Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with a lacquer resin sprinkled with powdered gold.  I'm feeling pretty shattered today after another big week at work.  I'm glad it's Friday.  I need to pull myself together for the weekend.  I will do what the Japanese do and fill the shattered pieces with gold.  I'm going Kintsugi.   Pull yourself together, fill your shattered pieces with gold and have an awesome weekend!

To help kick it off, get inspired with these www links:

#  Tech  it up: see the colour in your home before you paint
#  There is a family in my street with two little boys who need this
#  Bath time with ducky
#  A useful little man
#  Cutest doggy door
#  Craftsmanship - a dying breed
#  A fun weekend challenge?
#  Random craziness
#  WTF?
#  Love this

#  Cup of tea? 

Meet...

This month, meet Vanessa F @ Melbourne

Lawyer - Commercial Real Estate. (It's not nearly as dull as it sounds!)

My Style

"A mix of conservative (what lawyer isn't?) with a huge streak of anti convention (this is because I am an Aquarian... and we are astrologically programmed to be different and contrary).

When I go to gym, people stare because my socks never match.   Aquarians may also LOVE attention.

Black is good but I love wacky colour combinations.    Why can't everything be coloured pink, my all time favourite colour?  I love jewellery (the bigger and wackier the better) and should actually list that

under my obsession...."



 Favourite Fashion Piece

My new pink sneakers....LOVE.  In this picture they are resting in my newly

acquired plastic shoe organisers...why didn't I do this 10 years ago?"

 3 Things I Can’t Live Without

Gym

Lollies…and all things sweet

My stuff 'n things

The smell of baking"

(I like being contrary so I mention FOUR things not 3) 

Current obsession

"I have a passion bordering on obsession for skulls - I brought back a 20 pound plastic skull with removable teeth from NYC....it's ridiculous!"

Favourite Urban Space

"I love my bedroom in my house (it's a space and it's urban).  My bedroom is my comfort, no shoes, no make-up, cool picture montage on the wall (relaxing is one of my few "vices", next to buying quirky jewellery)." 



Independent Labels

Galisfly



ARTisan Boutique - UK



Make Pie Not War - US

Scabby Robot - San Fran



Mahlika Jewelery -UK

I love independent designers, I love the unique and innovative pieces and I love supporting their creativity.   Always on the hunt for indpendent and unique pieces!  Here are my top 5 this week.  What are your favourites?

Would you...

Wear a gold retainer around your neck?

Kiel Mead

I don't know if you had teeth accessories growing up but I did. I wore a plate for longer than I care to remember.  It seemed to get upgraded every few months into an even bigger piece than the last one.   I still remember the pain in my gums and teeth for the first few weeks of getting a new "piece".  I then upgraded to braces in the finale year before I was finally free of the teeth bling. I do have lovely straight teeth now and am eternally grateful to my folks for dishing out all that cash on my teeth.  Would you wear this gold retainer around your neck?   It looks much less painful than what I had to endure.  I'd give it a go!

Walk around in these Louboutins for the day...



8" of Louboutin Love!

I love Louboutins.   Whilst I'm no ballerina, I have been running around 3 of the major cities along the East Coast of Australia in super high (sometimes completely impractical and bordering on the ridiculous) heels every day for a good 10 years now.  I would love to give these Louboutin ballet heels a whirl!  

Megan Hess

By Megan Hess

By Megan Hess

By Megan Hess & Fendi

By Megan Hess & Marc Jacobs

By Megan Hess & Laduree

By Megan Hess



By Megan Hesss



By Megan Hess



I love hearing stories about successful women, particularly successful Brisbane women (being a former Brissy girl myself I am somewhat biased)!  Megan Hess, is an ex-Brisbane girl (now living in Melbourne) and she creates these beautiful illustrations for magazine editorials, book covers, fashion house advertisements etc.  I absolutely love her work - it's so chic and elegant.  No wonder she has an enviable list of clients from Chanel, Bvlgari, Marc Jacobs, Rolex - the list goes on.   I raise my glass of bubbly to her success! 

Schiaparelli Relaunch





Musical Gloves

Rhodaid necklace with insects



Schiaparelli's original salon in Paris - revived



Illustration for Schipparelli

"Shocking" Perfume (1936) - very Gaultier

Shoe Hat (1937) - Sketched by Dali

Silk lobster Dress (1937) - Lobster painted by Dali

Tears Dress (1938) - Rips and Tears designed by Dali



We all know (and love) Chanel, but in the 1920s-1950s, Chanel had a fashion rival – Elsa Schiaparelli (pronounced Skiaparelli), an Italian fashion designer.    Schiaparelli’s designs were influenced by Surrealists and she collaborated with artists, including Salvador Dali (one of my favourite artists) to produce some amazing designs.    Unlike Coco, whose fashion world took off in the 50s, Schiaparelli’s fashion house closed in 1954.  Schiaparelli continues to inspire the fashion world today – and I love her edgy, artistic designs.  Good news is that the Schiaparelli brand is going to be relaunched - the brand was bought by Diego Della Valle (founder and CEO of Tod's)!   I can't wait to see the collection scheduled for June/July 2013.   Schiaparelli had a love of pink so I expect pink all over the runway!   I wonder whether we are as brilliant in this day and age to produce such unique and innovative fashion and whether a Schiaparelli vs Chanel showdown is on the cards.  Time will tell.  In the interim, here is a Schiaparelli reading list so you can get on the front foot before the launch!