Visits For A Little One

Peter and I made a quick stop at a friend's house to meet their newest addition to their family and give them presents which we made for the little bub. I'm actually quite proud of the bowtie/tux bibs that I had made and for some reason forgot to take pictures of how adorable they were. The little one still has some growing to do until he can wear our bibs and get them dirty. Although I have my 3-4 year olds on Sunday mornings, I think it's been years since I last gently carried a newish-born baby in my arms. He was super tiny and very light, yet I had this feeling like he'd fall through my arms for some reason. It was such a joy to measure his hands and feet to my fingers and listen to him grunt as he lay there. The Graham's are such a lovely little family and it's wonderful to know that Peter is in complete awe and admiration for them. He's obviously known them longer than I have and I know for a fact that he loves them wholeheartedly, he's inspired by them and he looks up to them greatly. They are beautiful people and it's so so good to know them.

New Season's Happiness

Summer has come short of its season as the temperatures begin to drop in time for autumn -the season of vibrant earthy hues falling from the trees onto the streets and pathways as the cool air sends through me under the sheets. Lately I've been thinking of quite a few changes that I'd like to make for this year like one dramatic one which is to sort-of renovate my whole room and turn it from the yellow that it is to a more neutral white. I've also decided to avoid going stationary shopping for the first time because I mean, when does a girl ever turn stationary down when when the opportunity arises for the start of uni? But I just know and have learned that I just won't use them all. Along with this, on most days after or before work, I have actually been in and out of Lush just to smell their products over and over again. I'll admit that I am a sucker for colours and good marketing. I felt like buying half the store most of the time. I've tried a few body and face products in the store and I finally walked out with a bag of goodies. They don't have a big or great selection of bath bombs and bubble bars at the moment as they usually do BUT I must digress when I say that I walked away with a box full of a few of my favourite things. I was lucky enough to have the last Bunty box which the sales assistant was really happy to hear that it was actually for myself and not a present for someone else. I was definitely most excited about trying the Creamy Candy bubble bar because I love sweets and creamy smells as apposed to florals and musky scents and this was exactly what it's called. And so I finally had a bath. As soon as I crumbled a bit of this under the running water, I promise it was like an explosion of candies in the bathroom. The more you crumble, the more bubbles you get, and that my friends... instantly sells me. I can still smell it right now. I am in love with this because when I got out of the bath, my skin was thanking me for it. I also dropped the Think Pink ball ballistic in as well and it was just really exciting to watch. While it fizzed up, it was literally shooting pink and red heart confetti's which sank to the bottom or floated around. It was beautiful and I still can't believe how excited I was to try it. 

I don't actually often take baths. In fact, I wasn't a fan. My bathtub is a little too small, I don't like the bumps where my feet rest and every time I drain the water, it makes loud suction noises that scares me to death. But I did quite enjoy my one tonight and I feel nice and relaxed and warm too. I've never scheduled pamper nights, although tonight wasn't exactly that. But I might just re-reconsider the whole bathing experience because I highly doubt I won't be walking into Lush the next time I walk past it. Plus, I liked being able to watch an episode of The Originals and see Nicklaus on my screen once again while I was warm and happy.

Sweet Scents

My mamabird and I both usually know which perfumes or candles smell really nice but we also prefer much different scents compared to each other. She's more drawn to anything with floral or minty scents whereas I love and will continue to stick by fruity smells. I find that the smell of fruits is much more awakening than anything else really. Besides the mango candle that Peter got me a couple of years ago, I was lucky to purchase the last of this in the store. I got this 140g jar from Sussan for $14.95 in their pyjama/bedroom department and never have I sniffed something so pleasant in my life. It's actually pear and ginger by Aromabotanical and on the website they come in 357g and 700g. Because I love this so much, I'm possibly going to buy the 700g which is currently out of stock but I still want it. If you happen to walk by a Sussan, stop by their candles and try this one out. It even comes in a handwash... just saying.

Valentino A/W 13

Gorgeous collection by Valentino last A/W runway show.

Vogue

Marc by Marc Jacobs A/W

Although I don't watch the television show at all, I feel like some of these pieces reflect the character, Virgina Johnson (Googled it first just to know her name). Very similar A lines, skirt-wise. The darker tones with subtle pops of red, green and navy very much remind me of her. As much as I'm looking forward to my placements, I think I'll be find in blouses, pants and baby heels but I don't mind collaborating Marc's pieces into my teacher-attire wardrobe. As much as Ms Johnson and myself are two different people with completely opposite careers in mind, I think we have a connection here.

Vogue

Priceline Mini Haul

I've probably haven't done a haul since way back in the day when I tried Youtube as a creative outlet but I since either became busy or too conscious about the way I spoke to really continue anything on my old channel. For weeks (or months) now, I've realised that I'm quickly running out of a few things that I often use for my skincare/face/hair. Today came the day that I would have to make sure I bought all those things at once. I was compelled to show you what I bought since I only ever buy a product at a time  -when I've actually emptied my own. I've been super lazy with my skincare routine as of recent since there was no where to go most weeks and I don't see people too often but of course, my skin suffered for that. However, my routine would be a post for another day. I went to Priceline and bought exactly all I was out on and I'll list them below from left/top-bottom to right.

• Rimmel London Scandal Eyes eyeshadow stick/crayon $12.95 - this along with the lipsticks weren't on the list of things to buy but rather things that I've secretly wanted since last year and I haven't had the courage or willingness to buy them but today seemed like that day I should. This was more for my classic cateye's that I often wear and I finally bought it and I swatched it on my hand in-store and it's nicely pigmented with a bit of a nice give for subtlety.
• St Ives Body Lotion Coconut Milk & Orchid Extract $8.99  - I'm not particularly fussed when it comes to my lotions just as long as they keep my skin moisturised the whole day. I particularly find that lotions that come on silky are the ones that are usually the best kind and aren't sticky which this was as soon as I tried it on -not to mention, the scent of it is creamy and just divine. 
• Olay moisturising cream $12.39 - I've been using this for years now because it's perfect for my face. It keeps me moisturised for the whole day as I'm a combination of dry and oily skin.  I also use it before I sleep as well so I end up with a soft face in the morning. I highly recommend this to people with normal to combination skin but I'm not too sure about oily skin. 
• Savvy by DB kohl eyeliner $4.99 - I've been out of a kohl liner for probably 6 months now? I'm not sure. I'm not too fussed with them either just as long as they're black and Savvy is highly underrated as everything they have is heavily pigmented and doesn't come off easily and is super inexpensive. Although I've never tried their foundations so I can't speak for those.
• Rimmel London Lasting Finish Lipstick in Cutting Edge (120) $9.95 - I never buy lipsticks solely due to the fact that I'm too scared of the wrong colour for my skin tone and just wasting all that money. In fact, my first lipstick I bought was only last year and it's a pinkish nude from Rimmel by Kate Moss in 07 which surprisingly didn't turn out very bad or washed me out and it has a nice creme finish. I still use it from time to time but since then I've acquired the perfect red lipstick for myself by MAC which is the infamous Ruby Woo. It's beautiful and once again, it isn't the wrong shade. Ever since then, I've just been thinking of all the shades that I want like browns, burgundies and corals. This one in particular is a rather vampish burgundy. It's dark and I tried it on before buying it. I love this colour and the finish is also nice and creamy but just like Ruby Woo, it's so bold that I'm just going to accumulate all my wanted shades until I'm brave enough to wear them. But I most likely will be making a post on my MAC one soon.

* Realises this post got longer than expected*

• Savvy by DB lipstick in Rich Coffee $4.99 - I know I found my perfect nude but I had been wanting a go-to lipstick in browns that I could wear everyday. I've eyed this one out for quite some time with the same reason as I'm just self-conscious about wearing a lipstick everyday. This one is a shade darker than my natural lip colour and it is perfectly subtle. I actually really love this one so much that I decided to wear it as soon as I got home.
• Pantene Pro-V Always Smooth Shampoo $5.00 - Mum never condoned buying Pantene because it was evil... or something like that. Trust me, she's not coocoo. My hair doesn't like using the same shampoo and conditioner all the time but it does love this one in particular so I was rebel enough to buy it again. 
• Head & Shoulders itchy scalp care conditioner $6.75 - if you know me, then you know that I'm an itchy person. The one thing I wake up to is myself scratching my itchy head and admittedly, Head & Shoulders helps calm that down.
• St Ives Apricot Scrub $3.49 - I've also used this scrub for years because I love how intense the micro beads or (actual) sand? is on my skin, taking all my dead skin away after I use this on my face. I concentrate this only my drier areas and I highly recommend this to people with very dry-prone skin.

Gosh, I know this is a long post for something that's merely even a haul and I don't use expensive products because these seem to work just fine. Perhaps some of the things I've mentioned could have helped but I hope it wasn't all boring for you.

River Luna

I'm currently enjoying these water colour illustrations by Marissa Redondo at River Luna. With a collection of pretty patterned feathers and dandelions, I adore the illustrated animal cameos with distinct patterns on them. I'd list some of these as tattoo inspirations with their unique soft-colour designs.

Days Off

Peter has recently been blessed with a new job along with a couple of offers he received from other places whom were undoubtedly impressed by his skills and potential as a bartender or the sort. Congratulations to him by the way and I'm so glad he works where he does now. He's been badassing it for a couple of days and I even had the pleasure of meeting a couple of the people working with him. On a day off I was torn between picking places to go for the day's trip. But we managed. The heat to and from in his car from the lack of a working air-con was all worth it once we walked over the small hill to the beach. The breeze was cool and peaceful. Sadly, we hadn't stumbled across any rock pools but we caught glimpses of fish swimming near by in the shallow parts of the beach. The water was both hot and cold, keeping our temperatures cooler for the day and we relaxed for a bit before heading back to the car. I've mentioned this before but I don't fancy beaches much however, taking your toes for a dip or just the scenery is rather satisfying, indeed. 

Growing Out

I think my fringe has gotten to a point where it's beginning to annoy me and this is usually about the time that a new trim is due out of frustration with the fact that it'll take a million years to grow out. But this time I won't give in. I don't think I can actually recall the last time I successfully grew my fringe out since all I can really remember is having a fringe practically my whole life. I know many of us girls who have had fringes for years tend to just keep cutting once they're too long to either keep that same hairstyle we have or purely because of impatience. I must say that even now I'm struggling to keep my mind occupied from thinking too much about how my hair looks like in the mirror without wailing over how boring and useless my fringe has become. My goal right now is to grow it out so I can experiment different styles that I otherwise couldn't achieve with side sweeps or blunt cuts. At the moment I've been surviving with bobby pins and little girls teeth clips that I found lying around from when I was much younger. Pinning them back really does help with the waiting process since I'm at ease when it comes to styling it. I'm not entirely sure how long this will last, but I do hope it does. 

On another note, knowing Melbourne, our heritage stands in small buildings or museums that are open to the public. We don't have ruins or ghost towns as the infrastructure continues to develop. But there is this one place that is yet to be turned into something new as if it never existed at all. There was nothing seedy about the place. Just walls and buildings filled with empty spray cans and walls covered in graffiti. I've seen pictures posted of this place and thought to visit. The cardboard on the windows give a rather echoing bang against the window panes and the pigeons coo only adds to the thrill of their flapping wings. There were shadows and shade and right in the middle, some of the roof has probably caved in over time, but even just standing there, it felt like an urban atmosphere. 

outfit

glassons denim pinafore

cotton on striped shirt - blue version

dangerfield bag

rubi sandals

Lady Crush: Sarah Paulson

It's remarkable how we can become emotionally attracted to a certain character who is none like ourselves as we begin to consume their lives slowly and vicariously within the four walls of a much smaller screen to our own lives. Recently becoming an American Horror Story fanatic, I've been well-absorbed by the intelligently filmed series of brilliant creators, producers, directors and most importantly; the actors to convey their characters so perfectly. I find the different plot lines in each season rather creative and the hard working people who put it together have to be complete geniuses to come out with these intense series of different aspects to horror films in merely such a small show. My admiration grew very quickly towards Lana Winters in Asylum. A persistent journalist who becomes much too interested in a case which lands her a whole season of trouble. Despite her endless run-ins with tragedy and evil, I think she is probably the best and strongest most optimistic protagonist I've seen on TV lately. I felt like the whole season was a long thriller with her in it. I won't mention any spoilers but the creators know their eras down pat. The props and costumes, fashion and hair. Character development is well interpreted by the actors too and I'm still just impressed at how quickly my mood would shift according to their circumstances. If I were to re-watch the season, I'd screen shot my Lana favourites because besides the fact that she wears the same rags throughout the season, as a reporter, her dresses, suits, jackets and hair still gets me rather jealous. I'll admit. I'm obsessed. 

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