splendour in the grass

 

 

I just got back from Byron Bay this morning, and went straight to work, so I'm dead tired at the moment.  But pulling my photos off my various cameras was a priority so I thought I'd do a quick post on Splendour before I collapse into bed!

The boy texted me on Thursday (as he was already up there working on the festival) and told me to buy gumboots, as the site was nothing but mud.  I obliged, but wondered how much I'd actually need them - until I got there.  He hadn't exaggerated, the entire site was like a swamp.  Like sink-to-your-ankles deep in mud, everywhere.  Thank god for my pass, which meant I could watch the bands I wanted to see from side of stage - all the atmosphere without the crushing and of course without the mud.  Speaking of my pass, I felt a bit of girlish glee when I saw that the production manager had put my to-be married name on it.  It's the first time I've seen it in print, which was very exciting!

A definite highlight was meeting Lana Del Rey after her show on Saturday night - I was wandering around behind the stage waiting for the boy to finish working and she came out with her tour manager to leave, and she stopped to chat to some fans and take some photos.  Normally I'm terribly shy so I don't know where my confidence came from, but I decided to walk up and say hi and that I loved her show, and got her tour manager to take a photo for me.  I didn't realise until after that I still had my glasses on, I wish I had taken them off!  Oh well, it's not like I'll get another chance!

nails inc launch

 

On Monday night I went to the Australian launch of UK nail brand Nails Inc.  I was bit nervous as I'd never gone to an event like this before, but luckily Elyse stepped in at the last minute to be my date and to rescue me from a night of standing by myself in a corner clutching a glass of wine.  I needn't have worried too much though, it was great to see the lovely Maria and Chelle there too!

I was thrilled to be invited to this, Nails Inc is a brand I'm very familiar with from overseas nail blogs but was just another one of those amazing brands we'd never be able to access here in Australia, so I was very excited to hear they are now being stocked here.

It was a fun night, in a penthouse suite at the Establishment Hotel, with wine, cheese, sandwiches and free manicures, which were very popular!

Nails Inc are being stocked at select beauty salons around Australia and soon to be at department stores.  They retail for $18.95 each.

outfit post: faded

Saint James 'Meridien II' breton stripe top;  Dotti faded blue jeans;  Witchery taupe suede ankle boots;  Mulberry black oversized Alexa;

On Friday morning I had to go get an MRI done on my knee, and when we were driving back to the city to go to work, we drove down this street and my first thought was 'this street would be so pretty to do outfit shots on!'.  So when the hospital rang me on Friday afternoon and asked me to come back the next morning, I of course jumped at the chance to bring the camera along and do outfit shots in the street.  Excuse the sour expression, I wasn't as miserable as I look I promise, but I did have the flu!

I've started bringing out my Alexa again, I haven't used it since the day we got engaged. I just felt the soft slouchiness worked better with this super-casual outfit of striped shirt and faded jeans.

I'm very excited to be going to Byron Bay this weekend for Splendour in the Grass!  It was a very last minute decision, my boy is working there and has passes to the festival, but I wasn't going to go because I couldn't get time off work.  On a whim we looked at flight prices if I went early Saturday morning and came back early Monday morning, and they were pleasantly cheap!  So I booked straight away.  I'll miss the festival on Friday (and Jack White! *cry*) but it should still be good.  I need a weekend away, especially since our Thailand trip seems to be approaching at a snail's pace...

outfit post: khaki + stripes

Sportsgirl 'Ella' navy + white striped skater dress;  ASOS khaki anorak;  Acne Pistol ankle boots;  Alexander Wang Rocco handbag;  Sportsgirl gold tiny skull necklace;  eBay sunglasses (House of Harlow Chelsea copies);  Michael Kors watch;

China Glaze Poinsettia nail polish; 

This was the outfit I wore out to breakfast with the boy on the weekend, I rugged up as usual but it was soon way too hot for a jacket!  Fine by me, it gave me a chance to show off the back of my new gorgeous stripey dress from Sportsgirl, the cross-over V back makes an otherwise simple dress just a bit more interesting.

I haven't worn a dress, let alone a girly dress with a full skirt, for a very long time.  It was nice to get out of my jeans + tee rut for a day, even if I did ruin the effect a little with an anorak and ankle boots.

outfit post: florals, neons + pastels

Dotti floral pants;  Zara sleeveless blouse (similar here);  Tony Bianco 'Norman' black suede wedges (similar here);  Sportsgirl gold tiny skull necklace;  Michael Kors watch;  eBay cuff;

NARS Schiap lipstick;  OPI Do You Lilac It nail polish;

It was so lovely and spring-like in Sydney over the weekend that I just had to pull out my new floral pants, neon pink lipstick, pastel lilac nails and as close to wedges as I'm allowed right now.  I'm crazy about these pants, the floral pattern is just gorgeous and I love the pinks and purples.  The weather didn't stick around long, we're back to wintery cold now, but it was fun while it lasted!

In other news, we booked our wedding photographer today!  We met with her last night and pretty much decided on the spot.  She's within our budget and takes beautiful photos, so we're very happy!  Now the big 3 things are done for the wedding (venue, celebrant, photographer), still with 15 months to go!  I've never been so organised in my life.

weekend in food

It occurred to me, while going through my camera and phone, that I took a lot of photos of food this weekend.  So why not make a blog post out of it?

1.  Bacon, poached eggs and roast tomatoes on english muffins with cream cheese and pesto, for breakfast on Saturday morning.
2.  Chocolate milkshake with said breakfast. Yummm.
3.  Mojito made by the boy on Saturday night when we had friends over.
4.  Delicious dinner cooked by my friend Laura in our kitchen on Saturday night.  Use our kitchen any time! ;)
5.  Nutella, flake and strawberry crepes for dessert on Saturday night at Doughbox in Enmore.
6.  Classic sausage sizzle for lunch on Sunday, when we went to Officeworks to get thank yous and save the dates printed.  I can never go past a good sausage sizzle.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! x

engagement party

Yay, I finally have some photos of our engagement party!  Unfortunately I can't post as many as I would like, as most of them are of people, and I don't want to post anyone's face without their permission.  But hopefully you can still get a feel for the night, although I didn't realise until afterwards I didn't get a proper shot of my dress or outfit!

As I said before, it was an amazing night, and after a rocky start (mainly due to my anxiety, an iPod dilemma, and several glasses of wine on an empty stomach), it went perfectly and we had a great time.  There was so much love in the room, so many old friends (especially those that have been with us since the beginning, in high school!), beloved family and even a gate-crashing by cardboard cut-outs of royals from the British themed party in the next room.

purchased: florals, stripes + skulls

Dotti floral pants;  Sportsgirl navy + white striped 'Ella' dress;  Etsy skull earrings;  Sportsgirl skull bracelet;  Sportsgirl skull necklace;

I haven't done a purchased post for aaaages! Don't worry, I'm still firmly on a spending ban, I had a few vouchers to spend as we received some as an engagement present and the boy very kindly let me use them to buy some clothes, considering I've been so good with not buying anything!

I felt the need for another, brighter pair of floral trousers as I'm still obsessed with my Zara ones, and I can see myself living in these in summer with a white tee and sandals.  I love this stripey dress and am planning on wearing it the rest of this season with my khaki anorak and Pistols and into spring with bare legs.

I bought these skull earrings from Etsy a while ago for some ridiculous price like $10 and they just arrived the other day, I'd forgotten I'd bought them!  I loved the tiny skulls so much I bought this matching necklace and bracelet from Sportsgirl, they're soooo tiny and dainty you can barely tell they're actually skulls.

I forgot how exciting buying new clothes can be, I've gone almost cold turkey with not buying anything and surprised myself with how easy it has been.  I'm firmly of the view that excessive spending is a habit, I'd often find myself browsing the shops or online on pay day looking for something to buy, which is absolutely ridiculous.  I've been wearing the same clothes for what seems like so long, and while I love everything (due to my excessive culling), it's such a nice treat to have lovely new things to play with.

outfit post: the morning after

T by Alexander Wang long-sleeved mini dress;  Forever New faux fur gilet (similar here);  Witchery taupe suede ankle boots;  Alexander Wang Rocco handbag;

Thank you all for your well-wishes for our engagement party, we had an absolutely amazing night!  If our wedding is half as fun as the engagement party was I'll be very happy.

Unfortunately I was way too busy to take photos so my lovely FSIL was the photographer for the night, so I won't have any photos to post until she gives them to me, hopefully I can have them up soon so I can share them with you all!

This outfit was from yesterday, a very lazy and warm outfit for a very lazy day.  Normally I feel so sluggish and guilty spending the whole day doing absolutely nothing, but we were so tired and hungover it was bliss!