Day Trippin'

Today my friends (minus S) and I went to the Swan Valley for some gastronomic fun times - after meeting up at Bec's house, we drove into the valley to stop at a few places to feed our faces.
Then we cuddled the cuddly animals at the Cuddly Animal Farm (too cute) after which I hightailed it home whilst the rest went on to play a round of Supa Golf.

I always enjoy the long drive to Bec's house, cutting through the Swan Valley.  There's just something so peaceful and lovely about wine country and the hills that start to pop up as you get further away from the coast.  To be honest, I'm not quite the country person at heart - I thrive on the hustle and bustle of city life, and I like having everything I need close by.  But I do relish the serene beauty of being out of town, whether it be in small doses (such as a day trip to the Swan Valley - not very rural per se) or in vast amounts (like our drive across Australia to Melbourne - so much to take in!).

I haven't done a photo-journal entry for a little while, so here's some shots from my day's adventures!  Whilst I was hoping to use the D90, I ended up shooting with my D60 using the 50mm f1.8 lens with which auto-focus (with that lens) is incompatible (so I was in struggle town from time to time), but most of the shots came out pretty well I might say!    

Our trip was all thanks to Bec, who organised the whole lot!  

You can check out here blog here and see some of her illustrations here.

Mmmm baked ricotta at Mondo Nougat...

Houghton Winery - perfect for that picnic you're waiting for

My Nikon buddy Dylan

Honey and beer!

Scrummy German feast at Elmar's

Followed by some fooling around with German hats...

Then on to the cuddly animals!!

Hope you've had a wonderful day too!

xx T

The annual makeover

Every year, once exams are finished my room comes out looking suitably trashed with small mountains of books, scrap paper lining the floor, and my "comfy" (read: daggy) clothes hung up haphazardly.  Thus the annual clean-up and re-arranging of furniture happens.
This year I decided to pick up a new book case, since my old one was starting to die under the weight of my textbooks.  So mother dearest and I went on an adventure to Ikea and found the one in the pictures below.  (there was a perfect one at another furniture store, only $600+ dearer and made out of MDF as well.  And I refuse to pay $800 for MDF - I used to work at Bunnings of all places, so I know what that stuff is worth!)  

Here's the finished product of an afternoon of DIY-cabinet-making, a morning of re-sticking photos onto my wardrobe, and a few minutes of banging picture hooks into the wall.  I also cleaned the inside of my closet, but that has skeletons in it so I wont show you ;)  (quite literally actually.  I am a crazy med student after all)

The daily essentials (I'll be starting a daily photo diary next year!  Let's hope I can keep it up...)

xx T

Like a spider's web

I was looking at Chanel's Spring 2011 ready-to-wear collection, and I really liked the statement necklaces that many of the models were wearing.  

Since I'm in the mood for some more DIYs, I chose this one as some inspiration for my next project (I seem to be making a few necklaces... hmmm).  I'll keep you all posted on how it's going - watch this space!

It reminds me of a spider's web with water droplets.  I remember taking some photos of one a while back, but due to the great computer crash of 2009 I'm quite certain it's gone forever.

On a side note, whilst looking at a few Spring 2011 collections, I can quite certainly say that sheer is in.  Or at least it'll be hanging around from the last season.  Perfect for our hot summer when you don't feel like baring it all!

See the rest of the Chanel collection here.

xx T

P.S.  I've actually done quite a few more DIY projects, but you'll have to wait patiently for those until after Christmas!  I'll give you some hints anyway - they involve fabric markers and blue yarn... (though not necessarily together).

Sheer bliss

Some of Hannah MacGibbon's beautiful creations from the Chloe Spring 2011 collection.  

S was taking about another DIY project to do before she left, which included sheer skirts.  If she was thinking along the lines of the pieces above, I am quite convinced.

Enjoy the rest of the collection here

xx T

Lettuce in, it's cold outside!

We have been working VERY hard researching for our respective trips.  

Perhaps a little too much time spent on coat-browsing, though, seeing as T is taking one she already has, and I'm probably buying one when I'm abroad (that is now!  And it's super cold...).

Here are a couple of styles I like from Zara, Topshop and Sefridges.

Classic Duffle Coat

Plaid coat

Military/Pea Coat

xx S&T

The Clone Wars...?

Whilst I was on a little Net-A-Porter rampage, I came across this:

Which instantly reminded me of this:

Supershadow.com

Clearly a must-buy for any fashion-forward Jedi out there.

T

Ahhh Paris!

After S gets back before Christmas, we'll be having a bit of time together before I head off on my own adventure to Paris and London after the New Year with my family.  I am already getting very excited about going, and mother dearest has asked me to plan some of the Paris leg of our family holiday.

Whilst reading some travel guides has definitely given me some ideas of where to go, I've been doing a little research via a few of S & my favourite French blogs.  Of course these would be The Cherry Blossom Girl, Le Blog de Betty, Le monde de Tokyobanhbao, and Miss Pandora (who are incidentally all friends).  

My favourite of them would definitely have to be Alix of The Cherry Blossom Girl - her photos are always beautifully composed and her blog just looks divine.  She also has a Paris guide which I am going to trawl through now for some more ideas. 

Just a few photos from her blog just to whet your appetite!

If you do know any cool places that aren't usually featured in the travel guides, be sure to let me know!

xx T

App-tastic

After exams I was feeling a little bit drained to say the least.  I guess that's what you get for spending more time at night in the library than in your own bed for 3 weeks.  

So I decided to fix that with my self-imposed tradition of a post-exam gift to myself.  Needless to say, I am very pleased with my self-gift-giving for this year!

Now on to the actual topic of this post.

I should let you know now that I rarely buy fashion magazines (I don't think Frankie counts as a fashion mag does it?).  Whilst I do have my favourites when I do decide to buy them, such as Harper's Bazaar or Shop, I don't really like the idea of purchasing something every month or so, which I probably won't ever look at again once I've read it (I'm not much of a re-reader).

But what this post is about is this nifty little (FREE!!!) app that I found, made by Style.com.  If you're familiar with the website already, you'll know that Style.com reports on all the latest shows of the major brands, and puts up lovely magazine-quality photos for you to peruse at your leisure.  They also have videos and reviews for you to watch and read.

The app lets you access photo libraries of latest shows (and also shows going back to 2000!), as well as photos of parties and men's fashion.  It also links to the look of the day poll, and the Style File blog.  There is an issue with the videos though - you get the audio but no video...  (I'm sure they'll address this in the next update since people have been complaining about it on itunes).

But it's free (who doesn't like free stuff?), and it is definitely a very comprehensive resource which you can now use on the go! (if you have an iPhone/iPad that is).

Give it a go and tell me what you think - xx T

Holiday Goals

Ooops - should have posted this one before S went away!
But I can report to you that she is having a ball in Europe - I'm not exactly sure where she is at the present but she did mention pub crawls (Ireland?), and spending food-money on Zara.
S has also taken plenty of photos, so hold tight for some of those when she comes back in 3 weeks.

We documented these here so that you (out there in the great wide world) will hold us accountable if they are not fulfillled!

T's holiday goals

Save up enough money to splurge it all in January

Start exercising regularly again

Get crafty a-la-Martha Stewart
Master the art of making macarons
Re-learn some French 

S's holiday goals

Make it home from Europe alive

Whip out the sewing machine and spend earnings on fabric

Go to the beach and get a healthy glow, but not get sunburnt (melanoma is not your friend)

Restart pilates

Bake and take the results on a picnic

Spend time with my favourite person and favourite people

Eat, sleep and be merry!

DIY: Flower Power

So... S is leaving for Europe tonight (so she's been busy with last minute packing), and Simon was losing some wisdom today (har har har! - he had his wisdom teeth out), so that left me on my lonesome all day...

It's really quite nice, doing nothing study-related for a change!  I can report to you that I am almost up to date with the latest season of Gossip Girl, and I have started a few more DIY projects that might just make it onto the blog in due time.


But today I was feeling particularly productive, so I decided to take some inspiration from the following pictures to come up with my own take on the ribbon-rose bib necklace!

Vera Wang

Foreverandaday at etsy.com

Lots of inspiration from here!!!

Why I came up with this idea, I really have no clue.  But I think there's plenty of potential with these ribbon roses (i.e. headbands, bracelets, etc.)

Firstly I made a lot of these... (or you could buy them at Spotlight)

Then I cut out a piece of fabric in the shape that I wanted it to be.  (I had to glue a few layers together to strengthen it)

I did think of adding some beads - perhaps I'll do that when I replace the ribbon later.

Assembling it with old-school needle & thread!

Individually sewing on the roses - a bit time-consuming, but worth it.

The finished piece before I sewed the ribbon on

Et voila!

xx T