Printed Denim

I have to say upfront that I am not a fan of printed denim. It has been around for a while and I was kind of hoping that it would pass me and the rest of the sartorial world by with nary a glance back. Unfortunately though, the buggers have hung in for all they are worth and it seems as if they will still be around for the Southern Hemisphere summer so I thought to myself " What the Heck, if you can't bet 'em, better join 'em" and jumped on over to the dark printed side.

I need to be honest, I am not as daring as a few others I know and I humbly admit that florals in bright and crazy colours are a bit too out of my comfort zone (sorry Simone, sorry Beady). And whilst I do like a bit of animal print, I can't be doing it splattered all over my jeans. So I thought that a subtle lace pattern in grey on grey jeans would be a step in the right direction. So may I present my lace print crop jeans from Free People. They were on sale at Shopbop which makes me very happy in that it wasn't a big layout to be bang on trend. After a bit of lounging in my wardrobe (with tags intact in case of return), they have finally made their debut. The jury is still out on whether they will be a wardrobe staple worn until they wear out sometime in summer 2012/2013 or if they will just be a little fly by night fancy. One positive is that at least Honey Boo seemed to like them!

Impending arrivals

This weekend just gone was spent in the lovely surrounds of Melbourne, attending my cousin's baby shower. Her little girl is due to arrive in less then 4 weeks although just quietly, many of the Mums in attendance suspect that baby hanging on for another 4 weeks is really only an outside chance - the money is well and truly on an early arrival (which my cousin would probably be VERY happy with!). The great thing about baby showers, apart from catching up with everyone and seeing all the baby cuteness on display, is the amazing food on offer - just like a high tea only with all of my childhood favourites including jelly cakes, woo hoo! Even better, I came home with a prize. As my only claim to mothering fame is that Honey Boo, the cutest puddy in the world, is still alive after 7 months in our house, no-one was more surprised then me. The facts on babies that I have stored away in my head is mind boggling as it turns out. Mind you, I am sure it is all down to me being a marketing department's dream - everything I have learnt about babies has come straight from TV ads on Huggies and J&J baby shampoo.

There was also some shopping to be had too. What is a trip away without shopping after all. I don't know why it is but although the same shops are in Sydney, when you visit them in another location, they seem so much better. Maybe it is having Mum and Auntie S there to provide helpful advice makes it more fun. Anyway, I splurged in Zara (yep, it was a weekend of suprises), Target and even picked up some new tan ankle boots on the way back to the hotel to collect my baggage. It was brilliant visiting all of the old lane ways and arcades I used to know so well when I lived in Melbourne and I loved the Collins Place display which was a cheeky nod to Melbourne's rainy weather...

Oh Hawaii, how I miss you!

Well it is back to reality and a wet and drizzly Sydney and whilst it is nice to be home and snuggling up to Honey Boo, the cutest puddy cat in the world, I am pining just a little for warm and sunny Hawaii. Not to mention our new second home, the Moana Surf Rider Hotel in Waikiki. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this hotel! For it's early 1900s elegance, relaxed vibe and prime position on our favourite shopping strip in the whole wide world, it just can't be beat. 

As for the shopping, the haul this trip was truly spectacular thanks to a strong Aussie dollar and some clever and well-planned purchasing by Eady and I. A trip to the outlets where we bought amongst other things 3 pairs of Sketchers trainers for Mum for less then the price of 1 pair here in Oz, my favourite Calvin Klein bras for less then half price and some preppy gear from Polo Ralph Lauren. A trip (or two to be precise) to the Alamoana Shopping centre for lots of J. Crew and some Gap items for people back home and even the odd purchase or two from the boutiques near our hotel after early evening cocktails by the pool (Seriously, this must be the smartest business move ever - Happy hour at the local bars followed by a late-night trading until 11pm every night by the local retailers...). It all made for a bountiful haul that literally covered our hotel bed by the time we were ready to leave. Luckily we just managed to get it all into our bags and come in under the Jetstar weight allowance...

On the food front, there were some notable meals. Wolfgang's (New York style steakhouse that had us digesting red meat for days), The Beach House at Moana Surf Rider (romantic table on the balcony overlooking the water) and of course our perennial favourite, the Cheesecake Factory, where you are guaranteed to come out three sizes larger and 5 kilos heavier then when you came in. I pondered how the wait staff could stay so slim working at a place that offers no less then 30 different cheesecakes on the menu each day so decided to ask one of our waitresses:

Cole K: How do you guys manage to stay so skinny working here?
Waitress (in an incredulous tone): Oh, we don't eat the food!
Cole K: Ha, Ha!
Waitress: No seriously, even our salads are fattening
Cole K: Oh
Waitress: Yes, you can always tell the people that eat our food
Cole K: Hmmmm
Waitress: Would you guys like some cheesecake?
Cole K: No, we might pass this time.

One notable disappointment on the food front was Nobu, a modern Japanese restaurant that is critically acclaimed not only in Hawaii but around the globe too. We have dined here previously (as well as a few other Nobu restaurants in other locations) and were so excited to be dining there again on this trip. In fact, so excited that we planned to go twice in the 9 nights we had in Waikiki. Unfortunately though, we only made it once as whilst the food was impeccable, the service was absolutely appalling. For a while there we completely forgot we were dining in the US, usually the home of exceptional customer service. It appeared as if we were not the only people on the night to have this experience judging by the reactions of customers at nearby tables. Some of the issues we had were waiting 20 minutes for our wine despite making 3 requests for it, Eady being told to ensure he finishes his cocktail before the wine is brought out (WTF?), asking questions about the food and cooking techniques and having the waiter just read out the menu description rather then answering our questions (if you don't know, just ask the chef!) and even having one waiter interupt us in mid-conversation with another waiter by phsyically hip-and-shouldering him out of the way like a professional AFL player. And these were just a few of the complaints we had. It was so disappointing that we didn't leave a tip at all (crazy move in the US I know but it almost ruined the night for us) and even made a complaint to the manager via the concierage at our hotel. Thankfully a strawberry daiquiri and some soothing Hawaiian tunes from the local duo playing back at our hotel meant the night ended on a high for us anyway. Yay for the Moana Surf Rider!

All in all, we had a fabulous time in Hawaii. Lots of shopping, sight-seeing, eating and chill-axing which is pretty much the perfect holiday for us!

My boots are made for walking!

When you wake up to a weather forecast of 26C and showers in the height of summer, you just have to make the best of it and for me that usually means warm weather clothing paired with wet weather footwear. Strappy shoes (or god forbid, anything as delicate as a Chanel ballet slipper) are definitely not the best choice in my personal opinion, for traipsing from the grassy carpark to the office and back again. So, taking the glass half full view of Sydney's crazy summer weather, I decided to debut my new tan Belstaff boots. They were purchased on our recent Christmas trip to ye ole Blighty, where on the last Saturday before flying home the combination of a quick one hour madcap shop in Hampstead with my sister, a strong Aussie dollar in the post-Christmas sales plus my sister's own desire to buy herself some boots, resulted in a purchase of a pair of my very own. I have wanted a pair of tan boots with a wooden stacked heel forever, ones that looked a little bit 70s mixed with a little bit country and preferably well below the knee so they could be worn all year round back in Oz. It just so happened that these were the ticket. Add to that 25% off plus a VAT refund at the airport, it was just too good a deal to pass up. So my feelings after my first wear? I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these boots!

Shopping the Sales

Today seemed like the perfect day to hit the high street sales. Bizarre I know, considering most stores went on sale weeks ago but for me, missing the first mad days of sale time is purely a safety measure. Once all of the craziness dies down I figure that the risk of copping an elbow to the head whilst checking over the Chloe shoes on sale at DJs is much reduced. So whilst it might seem that I'm slow on the uptake, I'm actually a thinker (or a very big coward, depending on your point-of-view).

I decided that instead of all of the usual spots that a trip to Chatswood Chase, a shopping centre just north of the Sydney CBD was the place for me. Normally I would avoid this retail monolith purely because of the issues with navigating the carpark but figured that as it was not school holidays, the number of 4WDs driven by harassed parents of bored children would be low thus making the carparks much more friendly to cute-little-car drivers like me. So I hoped into my cute-little-car (affectionately known as Shimmer to Eady and I because of her lovely silvery grey colour) and parked with the minimum of effort. The shopping expedition was off to a good start.

After a mad dash around, I picked up some great pieces for The Office wardrobe in under 2 hours. Amongst my haul, I got a lovely winter dress from Fleur Wood which ticks all of my winter dress boxes - long sleeves, knee length, merino wool and easy to dress up with heels and jacket or dress down with boots and long cardigan. The best bit was a drastic reduction in price. Yes people, we are talking well over 50%! Bingo.

Considering my purchases and the good old "It's not what you spend, it's what you save" credo that was my inspiration today, it was a very succesful trip. I am sure my goodies will form part of my outfit blogs over the coming days!

Note: No Chloe shoes were purchased in the interests of this blog post. Thankfully (in Eady's mind anyway) my size had sold out in the pink suede scalloped edge ballet flats. Although I am sure my size is available somewhere in the great cyber shopping mall ....just kidding babe!

HOT Leggings

Last night, Eady and I caught up with Sammy and his lovely wife Dine who was due to give birth to their first baby the day before. Yes, Dine was 9 months and one day pregnant. But luckily for us all, baby wasn't quite ready to venture out into the big, wide world so a final night of freedom (for Sammy and Dine at any rate) was in order by way of tapas at a local restaurant. Apart from a good dose of yummy tapas and catching up with friends for the last time pre-baby, the night out also gave me the opportunity to try out my latest favourite thing for keeping the winter chill at bay. Fleece-lined leggings. Yes, that's right, leggings that have a thin layer of fleece on the inside to keep my pins nice and warm. And let me tell you, they worked an absolute treat! I wore them with a thin merino wool dress and riding boots and despite the icy wind and winter temperatures, I was toasty warm on the walk to and back from our night out. Even better though, I didn't overheat or turn into a sweaty-betty indoors either. Bingo.

I had first heard about fleece-lined leggings a few months ago via some US shopping websites but the reviews seemed quite mixed and for the cost of them (about $70 USD per pair), I was a little reluctant to purchase in case I fell into the category of people who didn't rate them. Instead I did some investigation and found that there were some fleece-lined leggings available locally at a much cheaper price at Myer store in Pitt Street Mall. They are  Ambra fleece-lined leggings and cost $19.99 AUD and are very much worth the small outlay. They are opaque and not bulky at all, being only a teeny bit thicker than standard leggings. I can imagine wearing them with skirts and dresses, with boots or leggings-style with shoes and also under pants or jeans when one layer alone isn't enough to keep my chicken legs warm in the depths of winter.

Seriously, fleece-lined leggings are the best invention since sliced bread! A word of warning though, I am a firm believer in the cardinal rule that "leggings are not pants" and that there are no exceptions to this rule, even if your job title begins with "super" and ends with "model". Although the picture on the front of the package suggests that these fleece-lined tights could be worn out to yoga class or to the cafe with your converse trainers, the cotton gusset which is on plain display should be an extra incentive to remember that leggings are actually hoisery. Meaning, don't take the photo on the package literally - if you can't style tights like this then you can't do it with leggings either!

One Fabulous Dress

You know it's going to be a great day when a courier arrives on your doorstep at 7am with a box addressed to you. And what a great day it was - my new winter dress was finally delivered! I have wanted a long sleeved, merino wool, knee length dress for the last 2 winters but just couldn't find the right one...until last week that is. In a quiet moment during my working day, I decided to have a quick peak at the website of one of my absolute favourite New Zealand brands, Moochi. There I quickly fell madly in love with the appropriately named "The Fabulous Dress". It had all of my afore-mentioned requirements plus the added extra benefit of being an empire line (fitted under the boosies with a flowing skirt that graciously hides a tummy that has been filled with my own body weight in easter eggs, twice over, since Sunday). It was perfect in every way, right down to the sheer panels on each side of the skirt which made it just that little bit special. Me thinks that this dress is going to get me through the coming winter with great aplomb even if I do say so myself!

I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new dress.

Infact, it is probably safe to say that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE everything about the Moochi style and asethetic. I discovered the brand on one of my many work trips across the Tasman, the store in Auckland is right across the road from my regular hotel. So convenient - why thank you Moochi! Such is my obsession that before they opened an online store, if I wasn't going to be in Auckland when new stock arrived in store that I desperately wanted, I would put in requests with my colleagues who were already there. Nuts I know, but love makes you do crazy things